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SIX

night falls.

the forest is quiet, dead silent, different shades of olive, malachite and verdigris mixing together.

the van comes to a halt as soobin opens the boot, pulling items out of it.

"we're going for stargazing !" beomgyu jumps down the car in excitement, his hair jumping along with him.

"yeonjun, you're eating all our food ! we need it for later," taehyun huffs, attempting for a grasp on the bag of marshmallows the yellow-haired boy hugged. 

shifting away, yeonjun pulls the packet tighter to his body, as if holding onto his lifeline. "i'm tasting it for you !"

"sure." hueningkai chuckles as he takes the haversack of equipments from soobin, slinging it over his shoulder.

spotting a clear space in midst of all the green, the taller black-haired boy sets the things on the floor, taking out a lighter.

-

"hyuka !" beomgyu calls, sticking a marshmallow on the stick and shoving it into yeonjun's hands. "the girl from yesterday...is it your girlfriend?"

soobin, previously sipping on a cup of water, choked on it and started coughing uncontrollably. taehyun pats on his bag sympathetically and mouths "shut up," which the black-haired boy returns with a clueless look.

"no." hueningkai replies simply, staring at the crackling fire that glistened under the eventide.

"she's a classmate." he adds. "but why did she say you drop-" before beomgyu could finish his sentence, taehyun reaches over and shushes him, giving the rest a slightly-too-bright smile. "ignore him." he turns around, facing the group.

"don't." however, the tall brown-haired boy interferes abruptly. "i thought...i'd share with you guys anyway."

"you don't have to, really." soobin places the toasted marshmallows on a tray, which yeonjun takes one immediately. "you're my friends, right?" a rare but sincere smile crept on hueningkai's lips. "i never talked about my life, so i figured i would,"

-

"my father...owns a big company." the group shuffles to sit around the brown-haired boy, focusing on his every word. "beryl, have you heard of it?"

"the super expensive camera brand that i'd never afford?" soobin perks up. "definitely."

"they said i have the most potential to take over." ignoring the raven-haired boy's small opinion, he carries on.

"it to be me, isn't it? why does it have to be me? suddenly, everyday became a race for me. everyone expected the 'future ceo' to do well, and my brothers were dying to drag me down. it's horrifying, but it hurts more, you know? how you family - people that you trusted and loved with your whole heart, turns against you."

"i give up. i'm so tired of everything, i don't want to be like this anymore. they wanted power, don't they? i gave up my chance, so i took my share of money and left."

"i'm never going to see them ever again. if i could, i could work my way out, but not under that kind of pressure anymore."

he ends, tone so blank, monotone - like a lake on a quiet summer day. as if he didn't go through just all that.

beomgyu looks at the boy beside him thoughtfully before pulling him into a warm embrace, as the others followed in a group hug. 

"from today, we will be with you forever !"

all is well, for today.

-

whoops tea 👀