three miserable weeks had passed. yet those three weeks had also caused a lot of progression to the thirteen teens who had survived their camping trip that ended in the most horrifying way a person could imagine. they had all been following therapy, both individual and group sessions, to build up trust again and find their own ways to cope with the traumatizing events they'd seen.
surrounding their private lives, a lot of changes took place as well. especially now they haven't been able to go to school in the past weeks, since the principal had prioritized them to get back on tracks with their daily lives at first.
take soonyoung and jihoon for an example, who had barely left jihoon's studio and the elders apartment located just a block away. the relationship they had developed in a beautiful way, as the two already lonely boys had now finally found a way to build something up. a trustworthy, tender and loving relationship, which they considered more serious than what they'd ever built up with anyone in the past.
seungcheol and jeonghan had spent nearly all their time at the hospital, taking care and just being a mental support for chan. since his parents clearly found their branches overseas more important than their own son, the boys felt a somewhat parental responsibility towards the younger, whose age only differed with two years.
it only took a week for chan to be strong enough to go home again, making both jeonghan and seungcheol practically move in at the lee family's mansion to still keep their eyes on chan, who'd gained enough strength to turn back to his daily life after another quick week of recovery.
no one in the group had heard anything from junhui and minghao beside the occasional group sessions. apparently they had locked themselves up in their shared apartment to let the pain and trauma sink in on their own pace, not wanting to see nor speak anyone besides each other. and the group accepted their way of dealing with the grief, knowing that they'd be reunited one day again.
everyone had to take one step at the time, no matter what pace the steps were made on. eventually they'd be at an equal height again and look back at the memories stronger than they had ever been.
seungkwan and hansol, meanwhile, decided to take a little break, as they found it best to deal with themselves first before facing each other again. though it didn't take longer than a week before hansol had knocked on seungkwan's door and knocked the boy off his feet with an unexpected kiss, telling him that he wasn't planning on going anywhere and needed the comfort they'd both been longing for equally as much.
and just like that, the two had developed a a closer relationship as well. though they both weren't ready to give it an official title yet. so they gave it all the time they needed, recovering together.
mingyu had been discharged from the hospital two weeks after the happenings, seeing he had pretty severe injuries and a lot of damage that could only be treated by certain doctors. and wonwoo had been by his side through it all, together with his parents of course who'd started seeing wonwoo as a child of their own soon after.
he'd been there for mingyu through all his hardships surrounding the damage around his lungs area, through the surgeries, and even through the therapy sessions they'd followed through a video call together. and mingyu had been there as wonwoo's mental support as well, trying to ignore the stinging pain in his chest.
and even once he'd been healed enough to return home again, wonwoo didn't budge from his side and was invited to stay as long as he wanted by the kim parents.
jisoo had lived with seokmin for the past three weeks, finding the parental comfort he'd always wished for in seokmin's parents. they had been growing closer to each other through the trauma and started realizing that they both wanted a steady and serious relationship. jisoo offered seokmin to move in with him once they had recovered enough, so they could live together in his apartment. and of course, with all the support from his parents, seokmin agreed happily.
and now, three weeks after the horrifying incident, the thirteen boys were a complete group again as they were seated at separate tables in a classroom. a nostalgic vibe hung in the atmosphere as lively chattering filled the classroom. it was so different from the first time they'd been seated here, when they had just been paired up and were still a bit against the whole trip.
"i can't wait to see mister lee again!" chan raised his volume a bit to make sure everyone had heard his statement, hums of agreement going through the classroom.
they'd all been waiting in anticipation to get a phone call, or at least an e-mail, from mister lee. their favorite teacher. to inform them about when they were able to return to school again. but it had never came. eventually they'd received an e-mail coming from mister park, the teacher who had organized the campfire on their second evening at camp, which had been oddly suspicious to all thirteen boys.
but they didn't think much of it, until none other than mister park slumped into their classroom and took a seat behind the desk. the serious gaze his eyes held silenced the students without actual words being needed, the brown haired teacher folding his hands on top of the desk. the man, thirty at most, cleared his throat before he started welcoming his students, who were still surprised by his sudden presence and had expected someone else in his place.
"good morning students. i'm glad to finally see a class without students missing." the man spoke in a monotone voice, totally unlike his usual energetic tone that sparkled joy. "i'm here to bring you some bad news."
the teacher wasn't even able to look up and face the students who were dying for an answer, the average heartbeat raising up as they feared one specific thing. which got confirmed in less than a second.
"unfortunately i have to announce that, our beloved mister lee has passed away during the incident on our last night at camp."
