On the coach on the way to the glamping trip, Taehyeon barely manages to secure a seat beside Bada. Dongmin is sitting in the seat in front and keeps turning around to glare at Taehyeon through the gap between the seats. If he was going to have such an issue he shouldn't have passed up the chance to sit with one of his friends. Then again, he wouldn't have had an excuse to glare at Taehyeon if he'd done the sensible thing. Bada doesn't notice. Even when Taehyeon texts him to silently complain, the response is a smile and a shrug.
"Let's just try to relax and have fun," Bada says.
Taehyeon has no choice but to let it go.
Doing his best to play along and have fun, Taehyeon smiles. Bada smiles back at him.
"I'm glad things worked out so that I can hang out with you," Bada says so quietly and gently that Taehyeon could cry. Bada is too cute at times like this. Taehyeon really does need to let his irritation go.
"I'm glad too," Dongmin says, twisting fully out of his seatbelt to lean over the back of his seat. "You're going to have the best time in the same tent as me."
Bada grins. "Yeah we totally will."
Dongmin sticks his tongue out at Taehyeon and somehow Bada doesn't see it.
"Just think, if I hadn't decided we should room together, you wouldn't be about to have the time of your life. Let's take lots of pictures so we can remember this week forever."
"Are we allowed to use our phones?" Bada asks.
"You use your phone at school all the time," Taehyeon points out.
Bada laughs so awkwardly that Taehyeon can't get mad at that either. Bada has some sort of super power because Taehyeon doesn't even get mad about the fact that Dongmin has inserted himself into their conversation. The teachers are less impressed with Dongmin but he keeps turning around so often that the teachers seem to give up telling him off.
Bada is very easily drawn into a discussion with Dongmin about the sleeping bag arrangements. Dongmin is doing well convincing Bada to sleep on the end next to him. Taehyeon's insistence that Bada gets cold easily is somehow ignored as though he isn't speaking at all.
There is a break in the journey which offers the chance to go to the toilets and it isn't until he gets off the coach that Taehyeon realises the fourth person in their tent had been sitting there all along. Taehyeon is fairly certain that Geonwoong is in Dongmin's class. Taehyeon wonders how Dongmin proposed inviting Geonwoong to their group seeing as he seems very committed to ignoring anyone who isn't Bada. If Taehyeon was in Geonwoong's position, he'd very quickly have disagreed that this would have been a good favour to receive.
Taehyeon shuffles back onto the bus with everyone else when the allotted fifteen minutes are up and he builds himself up to talking to somebody he's about to be living with for a week. It is odd that this never came up in conversations with Bada beyond the relief that the numbers worked in their favour.
The departure is delayed apparently because they're waiting for some students who wandered further than they were allowed. This might be a better opportunity to talk than after the engine has started.
"What if we have to put the tents up ourselves?" Taehyeon asks. As expected both Bada and Dongmin pull faces. Taehyeon leans around the chair and taps the shoulder of the boy in front of him. "Jeon Geonwoong, have you ever built a tent before?"
Geonwoong turns around in his seat, his expression looking a lot like he would have preferred never to have been bothered by a pitiful worm like Taehyeon. And then he smiles.
"I haven't been camping or anything before but it's probably not difficult."
Taehyeon isn't so sure but he finds himself agreeing anyway.
The second Bada brings himself to ask a question, presumably about Geonwoong's camping expertise, Dongmin interrupts. "You don't need to have experience in these things anyway. If you need anything, Bada, just ask me. I'll make it happen just for you."
Bada hesitates and nods. He smiles at Taehyeon but their bestie telepathy isn't doing so well. In fairness, Taehyeon doesn't know what to think about anything. He elects to keep himself quiet whilst Dongmin monologues about how he is capable of taking care of Bada's every need. He's lucky Bada is too timid to ask for any of the help Dongmin is offering.
The atmosphere on the coach is different now, and it isn't just because Taehyeon feels like a bit of a spare part. Someone at the back of the coach is whipping up a sing-along. Taehyeon would love to sing along but there aren't enough people to drown out his voice if he happens to be too loud.
Taehyeon sits quietly and decides he's just happy that Dongmin is going into so much detail about what he is prepared to do for Bada this week. The remainder of the journey isn't as long as expected and the coach has pulled into a gravel car park hemmed in by tall trees before the sing-along reaches its peak.
Lining up and stretching his legs is a pleasant relief after the journey. The freeing lightness of phytoncide and the beautiful outdoors is short-lived. When packing last night, Taehyeon's focus on what would make him look good. Not once did he consider what would be the easiest to carry on a twenty minute trek across uneven, rocky ground along a narrow pathway between bare trees.
The only silver lining is the fact that Taehyeon isn't alone in his misfortune. The single-file line of students and teachers is a stumbling caravan of breathless grumbling and half-muttered swears. Without even looking over his shoulder, he knows that Dongmin is puffing hard, face flushed entirely red, as he offers to lighten Bada's load. As useless as such an offer is, Taehyeon is jealous that nobody is pretending to fancy him as a bad joke. He'd make the joker follow through on carrying every single one of his bulging bags.
The daydream is nice but it only gets him so far until he trips over a girl who stumbled over a root right in front of him.
"Hold on," Taehyeon feebly shouts to everyone behind him. A good person would help the girl up or make the motions of doing so. Taehyeon knows that is common sense, however his attempt involves pushing the girl back down to the floor. Thank goodness his bags are blocking the view so only people in front have a clear view of Taehyeon being a clumsy idiot.
It's one of Dongmin's cool and popular friends who turns back to help the girl up. He gives Taehyeon a dirty look. Even without that, Taehyeon would have known he wasn't endearing himself to anybody. He can only hope that if this does become a topic of gossip that he might be mistaken for one of the other Taehyeons. After they can all get moving again, Taehyeon thinks about that for a moment longer. That won't work. The boy who just gave him a dirty look is already one of the other Taehyeons in their year. His social life is potentially over and he has nowhere to go but forwards.
They reach the sloping clearing at the other end of the path without any further eventfulness. Taehyeon doesn't see any flat land around so he isn't sure how putting up tents will go but he finds out when the entire group of students are crowded around on the grass.
"Cabins," Bada exclaims gleefully, gripping Taehyeon's hand and dropping the heaviest bag in the world on Taehyeon's foot. "It really is glamorous!"
Taehyeon should be grateful. He only needs to lug his bags up a staircase of compacted dirt and treated timber before he unpacks. Taehyeon is suffering right now but for a good cause. Without the need to battle the flexible poles of a tent frame, Taehyeon feels weightless. He could even drag all his worldly possessions up the steps all over again.
Though first into their assigned room in the cabin labelled B6, Taehyeon isn't the first to bagsy a bed. In the blink of an eye Bada has claimed a bed and opened all of his bags to empty them over the bare mattress. Looking around the cabin, Taehyeon wouldn't exactly call it glamorous but it is a world away from having to pitch his own tent. There are wooden bunk beds against three walls and two bare wooden wardrobes wedged into the corners where there isn't quite enough space. The door bangs loudly against the wall and the two stragglers jostle Taehyeon out of the little walkway into the room.
"Oh, are you choosing that bed?" Bada asks. Taehyeon hasn't had time to catch his breath, let alone begin to situate himself. The question, as it turns out, is not directed towards him.
Halfway through scuttling up the ladder to the bunk above Bada's bed, Dongmin freezes.
"I… did you not want me to choose this bed?"
Bada gives one of his coy little smiles which has won over every one of their teachers without fail. "I thought I'd have this bed and Taehyeon would have the bunk above me. And you and Jeon Geonwoong could go together because you know each other from the same class."
Dongmin climbs down from the ladder and looks a little spare. Taehyeon isn't giving him any help and tries to signal with his eyes that he refuses to get involved in this whatsoever. Thankfully Dongmin looks away and glares at Geonwoong.
"There are six beds," Geonwoong says, like he can't interpret the death stare turned on him. "Technically, two of us could have two beds to themselves."
Geonwoong slaps the wooden slats of the bunk bed behind him and grins.
Taehyeon slowly steps backwards until his calves hit the frame of the bed behind him. He drops his bag onto the lower bed and wonders whether he is athletic enough to leap onto the top bunk and claim these for himself. He is the group leader. He deserves some luxury in his life.
"No," Dongmin says. "We should do the room arrangement Bada wants. So, you like to take the bottom bunk? Should me and Geonwoong take those beds opposite yours? Who do you think should go on the top this side? Maybe Geonwoong would like to be up there."
"Wouldn't it be a waste to leave those two beds empty?" Taehyeon asks. The writing seems to be on the wall and he's about to get outvoted after only a few milliseconds of being able to enjoy some extra space in this bare-walled cabin.
"If that's how you're going to think about it, wouldn't it be a waste not to be as close together as we can be seeing as it's like a really cool and fun sleepover?"
Taehyeon can think of many rebuttals to Bada's wheedling. For one, they've never had a sleepover with strangers before so it would be rude to spend every night taking ugly pictures of each other and reliving both of their most hideously embarrassing stories. Unfortunately for the argumentative side of his brain, he knows that recent sleepovers have been for the express purpose of mending broken hearts. There isn't a fight in the world Taehyeon would throw that fact into Bada's face.
"Okay," Taehyeon agrees. "That sounds good to me. Let's have a sleepover. I guess you two are invited too."
When unpacking, Taehyeon must try very hard to avoid looking anywhere near Dongmin. Knowing that he is glaring isn't a strong enough deterrent so Taehyeon constantly reminds himself that Dongmin isn't a friend. He isn't going to start a fight here, but this entire week is filled with opportunities for Dongmin to suddenly attack him.