campfire - seventeen
but i have a feeling, you might be familiar with this song;)
the teachers that were gathered around the campfire were utterly surprised when one of the doors finally opened, revealing thirteen overly excited teens who were thrilled for a cozy night around the campfire.
"i heard there were marshmallows available!" mingyu joked joyfully, running up to the teachers like an energetic puppy.
"out of all students i didn't expect our one and only kim mingyu to join us tonight! have a seat boys!" mister lee enthusiastically motioned for them to sit down on one of the tree stumps that were gathered in a circle around the big fire. there were about ten wooden benches with three of them already being occupied by the teachers and supervisors.
the thirteen boys did what was told, and took a seat. the heat that radiated off the burning flames warmed up their exposed skins, making the atmosphere even more cozy and home-like than they imagined it to be in the first place.
even wonwoo was clearly enjoying it, being pressed against mingyu as there wasn't much space on the tree stumps they had to sit on. he, who always romanticized his life by reading novels and watching the sappiest movies, now felt like he was the protagonist of his very own story. the main character.
being under a cloudless night sky with millions of bright little specks and a nearing full moon watching over him combined with the huge campfire that emit heat onto their bodies, felt like he entered a dream. a different universe. a different.. feeling.
euphoria.
it was pure euphoria that jolted through his body when he inhaled the scent of burning wood.. and the cologne mingyu was wearing. he wished he could still deny it, but at this point he was more than certain that there were feelings involved around him and mingyu as he started noticing every little detail about him.
and he wasn't so sure if he hated or loved that.
meanwhile, their favorite teacher, mister lee, had reached for two bags of marshmallows as miss kim was handing out the sticks so they could roast them safely without burning themselves. "we weren't expecting anyone anymore." mister park, who announced it in the dining room earlier, admitted. "the fire was lit at exactly five minutes to ten. we gave up on company about five past ten, until you showed up a couple minutes later!"
"who would actually skip free marshmallows! because i would never when i get the opportunity!" chan happily chirped, lacing his first cloud-like marshmallow onto the stick as he hung it dangerously close to the fire.
as expected, all teachers gave each other a surprised look on seeing the usually cocky and arrogant chan being filled with cheer for the first time. not to mention, he was just wearing a pair of simple clothes, which might have been the biggest shock in this whole situation, making him actually look like a boy from his age.
but they didn't question anything when they saw the rest of the group being comfortable about his sudden change of behavior.
"guys! guys! look! i set mine on fire!" hansol yelled, uncontrollably laughing about the torch he was holding onto, failing in his first attempt on roasting a marshmallow. it resulted in seungkwan smacking him against the back of his head, who was actually on his way to a perfectly heated marshmallow with a brown and crispy coat.
while hansol's flame died down, leaving a burnt piece of failure behind on his stick in which he aggressively threw his head back in laughter, the other teens laughed about his marshmallow as well. and even when seungkwan rolled his eyes and looked unbothered, he couldn't resist stealing glances of his way too wide smile and all the gums that was showing, the sight being oddly attractive in his eyes.
"you're such a weirdo." seungkwan couldn't suppress a chuckle when hansol moved his stick closer to his face.
"i dare you to eat it!" he said, making the volume of laughter among the teens rise up only more when seungkwan pulled a disgusted face.
"hansol i swear to god if you don't take this thing out of my face i will persona- HANSOL LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" seungkwan hysterically screamed. he lost focus for just the slightest second and his marshmallow was already nearly burnt away by the hot flames. "YOU'RE DEAD!"
seungkwan aggressively dropped his stick before attacking hansol by ruffling his hair and tickling his sides, knowing both were his soft spots. hansol dropped his stick as well and tried to stop seungkwan from torturing him, which only cracked up the group more and more, to the point where some had tears of joy streaming down their faces.
"see what i did here." mister lee spoke to his colleagues, proudly puffing his chest as he pointed out his group of students, "didn't i tell you this would be the perfect group. i've never formed such a successful group ever before!"
and mister lee was right.
the thirteen teens, from all different backgrounds, with a bunch of completely opposite personailites, outcasts combined with the most popular students in their school, from all different ranges, fit in with each other perfectly.
those who felt not understood or insecure about themselves lit up out of sudden as their group was supportive towards each other and left no one out. it was miraculous how close they had gotten over the short span of two days.
it was really something for mister lee to be proud of.
"mine is perfectly roasted!" seokmin chirped happily when he started munching on his marshmallow he just pulled out of the fire and nearly burnt his tongue. jisoo worriedly reached for his hand, pulling it back along with the stick to check if he was doing fine.
"be careful! you can be so clumsy sometimes." jisoo complained, sliding his thumb over the sensitive skin of his lips, making sure it didn't hurt as he did so.
"get a room!" jihoon said in his usually grumpy tone, which didn't sound offending to anyone as they were used to his way of saying things. "yes! get a room!" seungcheol repeated him.
"i- as if- you and jeonghan are way more disgusting than they are!" minghao yelled, defending the blushing seokmin and jisoo who just attentively listened instead of mixing into the discussion.
"you and junhui nearly had sex in the woods yesterday! don't tell us to get a room-" jeonghan butted in to protect his boyfriend, making seungcheol slam a hand over his mouth before he could give away more details, reminding him that the teachers were still present too.
"wait, weren't we playing hide and seek yesterday?" mister lee asked confused, questioning his students sanity.
"change the subject!" junhui screeched, not wanting to be exposed any further.
until their discussion got interrupted by one of the boys suddenly getting up and climbing on top of the tree stump, unexpectedly yelling something at top of his lungs, finally being able to release a lot of suppressed feelings he had been feeling for a long time. it was a sentence that surprised everyone but filled their bodies with warmth and comfort at the same time.
"i'm home!" chan screamed, throwing both his hands up in the air, "you're the best friends i've ever made and i never want to lose any of you! i'm home! i'm finally home!"
his words were so powerful, some of them were having a hard time keeping their tears inside as everyone moved a bit closer to each other, feeling the same way chan was feeling.
this past few days had changed everyone drastically but in a positive way. and they finally understood that when they sat around a big campfire, roasting marshmallows underneath the large blanket of the starry sky.
