of summer camp and first love
Summer (camp), (first) Love
for the amazing elle, with love, happy 18th birthday!
~luhan/nana, pg, 2497w
(request accomplished, with prompt 3)
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2005. Luhan had been fourteen the first time he was whisked off to summer camp. He had stepped onto the bus with doubts piled as high as a mountain, wondering with utmost curiosity as to why he had agreed to this in the end. His mother had told him that he needed to socialize, and that his obsession for MMORPG games was not healthy and definitely wasn’t the ideal way to spend his holiday. No matter how much Luhan tried to reason though, (he had replied obstinately that he was socializing, even adding to his point that he was talking to people from around the world, and there was simply no need for him to attend something as dull as a summer camp) his mother showed no recognition of fathoming whatever he had argued, and as a result, he still had to comply with what his parents had planned a fore, and attend Camp Willowbee. (“what a lame name!” Luhan had huffed to himself in annoyance.)
With a heavy heart, Luhan got down the bus and stared at the brightly painted words of ‘Camp Willowbee Welcomes YOU!’ on the main entrance, silently opting to himself if he should run away while he still had the chance, or pretend to be sick so that they would send him home. He missed his chance to make a decision as a whistle was blown then and everyone was ushered inside.
“Oh boy, good luck, Luhan.” He muttered to himself with a sigh of despair, and prepared himself for the worst summer holiday.
Luhan of course, had been deadpanned wrong. He did enjoy himself that entire month, and managed to gain many new experiences he would not exchange with anything else in the world. His mother would be pleased to learn that Luhan had also made new friends, and one of them -Oh Sehun- had been someone from his own school and town. But most importantly, through this camp he had first dreaded, he had met (and befriended) a girl younger than him by a year; Im Jinah. And truthfully, that was all that mattered.
Luhan had been fourteen when he first stepped into summer camp. He had also been fourteen when he first fell in love.
--
2013. Luhan’s grin had not falter the second he stepped down from the bus after a long journey of two hours. He was excited to be back in the site he had not seen in six months, and was even more excited to see his old friends again. At the age of twenty three, Luhan was proud to be part of Camp Willowbee; first as a camper, and now as a counselor at his fifth year. It was refreshing to see the faces of children and teenagers, all eager to participate and join in the fun that summer camp has promised. It was even more refreshing to see familiar faces of those who has joined before, and has opted to rejoin the family again.
Luhan grinned widely while he ticked off names one by one from his attendance list, even joking to certain campers that their names were not in the list and they had to go home. One of the campers, a nine year old girl named Seungmi looked as though she was about to cry when she was told that her name was not in the list. Before Luhan could quickly assure her he was merely joking, he was whacked squarely on his shoulder with a clipboard by his fellow counselor, and he faked crying at the young lady that was staring daggers at him.
The young lady however, took no notice of his crocodile tears and squatted so that she was at the same level with the little girl. “Seungmi-yah, your name is in the list, this oppa here-“ The female counselor darted a look at Luhan who began whistling, “-was just joking. Here’s your booklet and pen, you can now enter the hall and find your friends, alright?”
The female counselor stood up as Seungmi brightened up immediately and rushed into said hall. The former then glanced at the young man beside her for a few seconds and waited for a response. Luhan shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked with a cheeky grin and proceeded with his attendance list. Smile, search, tick, smile. “You must miss me so much to be staring at me for so long, huh?”
“I do not,” She protested almost immediately before smiling to the next child in line and ticking off his name from her list. “in a thousand years,” smile, search, tick, smile. “miss you, Luhan.”
Luhan pretended to sigh. “Why wouldn’t you just admit that being apart from me for six months is excruciating?” Smile, search, tick, smile.
“I will not do so,” The female said haughtily as she ticked off the final name in her list. “Because six months without you wasn’t excruciating.” She paused for a while to throw a smile Luhan knew all too well was a sly one. “It was rather peaceful, actually.”
Luhan merely chuckled as she winked at him and walked away, leaving him with his group of remaining children. He turned his attention back at them and pretended to grumble. “You wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of that counselor, dear children. You might want to take note of that.”
“I heard that, Luhan.”
The children giggled in response. Luhan grinned.
--
“So we have with us, a new counselor this year!” The cheerful camp commander said upon entering the staff cabin, and tailing behind him was a tall young man. Some of the young female counselors squealed at the sight of a new male counselor-and a handsome one at that, and Luhan feigned squealing (and then rolling his eyes) when he caught Jinah glancing at him smugly. “Look who has gotten a new competition~” she mouthed to him in a sing song way and he shrugged in response. “Whatever, he isn’t even that handsome, pfft.”
“Hi, my name is Wu Yifan. It’s a pleasure to be here.” The new counselor greeted with a smile and a chorus of ‘hello’ echoed around the four walls. “It is a pleasure to have you here with us, Yifan-sshi.” Jinah said politely, much to Luhan’s annoyance.
The counselors were briefed shortly about the usual rules and regulations before they were send off to resume their duties at their rightful places. Luhan was in slight dismay that newbie Yifan was also assigned to look after children from ages eight to twelve, and was slightly envious when Jinah quickly showed Yifan all that he needed to know and left for the cabin with each other. When Luhan caught up with them, they were already laughing together, as though they had known each other for years. He coughed a few times to arise attention and finally receiving one from Yifan who greeted him with a polite hello and handshake.
“Hello Yifan, I’m Luhan. I see you’ve met my girlfriend, Jinah? I hope she’s treating you nicely.”
Yifan was slightly taken aback just as Jinah slapped Luhan’s shoulder and scowled at him for being nosy.
--
2005. It was Day 2 in this awful place, and while every other kid was enjoying themselves thus far, Luhan had not. He was never a sports person, nor was he ever interested in outdoor activities. He was aghast when he realized that most activities in the camp were carried out outside, under the blazing sun, sometimes even under the pouring rain. What are all these kids thinking? Luhan thought to himself as he stayed indoor during break, peeking outside at the screaming children playing tag under the hot sun. He tsked at the sight of the happy children and shifted his attention back to the Nintendo in his hands, only to be interrupted a few seconds later. “If any of the camp counselors see you with that, you’ll get into trouble.”
Luhan glanced up and his gaze met with those of a girl’s. “I don’t exactly care, to be fairly honest.” He replied before shifting his attention back to his game. “You’re supposed to have handed all electronic gadgets to the counselors on our first day. Why didn’t you do so?” The girl continued in a firm tone. Luhan chose to ignore her.
“Look, we’re here in this camp to mix around and have fun. You aren’t going to achieve that by playing games with your Nintendo.” The girl tried to reason with him, only to have him ignore her the second time. “Are you even listening to me?” She crossed her arms in annoyance.
“No, I’m not.” Luhan replied, still engrossed in his game.
“The only reason why I’m even bothering myself to tell you to keep your device away is because you’re in my team, and I do not want our team to lose points!”
Luhan grunted in reply.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The girl finally gave up and stomped off, and Luhan sighed in huge relief that he was finally alone once again.
Though his relief was only for a while, as ten minutes later, a counselor walked into the room and spotted him by the corner with his Nintendo. He was asked for his name and team name, and from the corner of his eyes, Luhan could see the pair of glaring eyes belonging to the girl earlier. Because of him, his team lost ten points.
And throughout his whole time in the camp, Luhan never saw his Nintendo again.
--
2013. “You aren’t still angry at me for earlier, are you?” Luhan asked the second he rushed into the line and secured a spot behind Jinah. He grabbed an empty tray and waited for a reply. “No, I am not angry at you, Luhan.” Jinah’s reply came two seconds after, albeit her back still facing him. “Are you smitten instead?” Luhan’s grin found its way back and this time, Jinah turned around to glare at him (again). “No, Luhan. I am not smitten. Are you done with your questions or do you want to interrogate me more?”
Luhan raised a hand in surrender. “I’m good.”
“God, Luhan,” Jinah sighed. “Tell me again why you are my boyfriend.”
“Because you love me, and I love you.” Luhan happily answered her question, and he was satisfied to see a tinge of pink appearing on her cheeks. “And because I’m Luhan, and I’m awesome.”
Jinah groaned.
--
2013.
(“Oi, kid! Is that a PSP I’m seeing in your hands?”
“N-no it isn’t…”
“Minho-sshi, it isn’t good to lie. Hand your PSP over to Luhan hyung now.”
“B-but noona-“
“Minho-sshi, the reason why you’re here in the first place is to gain more friends and have fun. You won’t be able to achieve that by playing your game, you should give mixing around a try. It’s fun, trust me.”
“Gee, that sounds awfully familiar. Where have I heard that from? Ouch! That hurts, Jinah, stop abusing me!” )
--
2005. It was Day 13, and Luhan finally knew why his heart had been beating like crazy every time Jinah held his wrist in attempt to pull him up from whichever spot he had sat, or when her shoulder had accidentally brushed past his. He did not quite understand why he would even feel that way, seeing how they sort of have a love-hate relationship going about which was leaning more towards the latter than the former. He found her to be intriguing, that she was such a brave and confident young girl. It would be a lie if he were to say he had not stole glances at her from time to time.
He concluded that his behavior was odd, and with the help of his new friend Sehun, he was abashed to discover that he sort of…maybe…kind of…most probably…has a crush on the certain girl named Im Jinah.
The days flew past as quickly as Luhan blinked, and much to his dismay, it was already the final day they would stay in the camp. He could hardly believe he was feeling down that he’d be leaving soon, and had finally-after thousands of pestering from both Sehun and Jinah-admitted to his new friends (and crush) that he would most definitely miss the camp, and that he had indeed enjoyed his stay in Camp Willowbee. (“The name of the camp is still stupid though.”)
Before Luhan boarded the bus that would send him back home the next day, Jinah pulled him to the side and made him promise that he would email her from time to time. Luhan often never made promises, because he wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep them or not. In his opinion, promise is a heavy word; one that was meaningful yet at the same time, capable enough to hurt someone, and he was afraid that he would hurt Jinah should he not remember his promise.
Luhan looked at Jinah’s hopeful and innocent expression, remembered all the times they had spent bickering or laughing at each other throughout the camp, and finally laced his pinky finger around hers. “I promise.”
And perhaps for once in Luhan’s life, he indeed kept his promise. Though sometimes he responded two days late, the emails would still be exchanged and one faithful morning, they both agreed to return back to the camp for the next holidays. Everything was going well.
--
2013. “Have you considered what I asked you last month?” Luhan asked softly, his eyes transfixed at the beautiful night sky. He felt the young lady beside him moved slightly, and he lowered his gaze from the sky to her eyes. “As a matter of fact, yes, I have.” Jinah replied slowly, still having her gaze on his.
At times like this, Luhan thought in his head silently, it was when Jinah was the prettiest. When their surrounding was serene and quiet, when there were only the both of them leaning side by side, when all Luhan wanted to do was to stare deeply into her eyes and allow himself to be lost in them. It was like watching a beautiful sunrise; that’s simply so much they hold in his heart.
“So what say you? Do you want to come to Seoul with me?”
The corner of Jinah’s mouth curled upwards teasingly. “What do you think I would say? Do you think I would go to Seoul with you?”
Luhan smiled. “Whatever it is your decision, one thing is for sure; I would love you endlessly. That’s a given.”
“Really?” Jinah couldn’t help but smile as well, just as Luhan nodded fervently and broke into a grin.
“I have loved you for nine years, Im Jinah. I am sure I would love you for at least nine years more.”
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a/n: i hope you like this, elle! i changed their characters a lil to suit the plot, so i hope it turned out fine. have a blast for your 18th birthday, love ya<3
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