Winter’s POV

I’m in a bus filled with many students and teachers who are excited for the trip. I’m wedged in between two girls. They’re not people I’m particularly close to, but they’re the ones who are in the same cabin as me. I was thinking about how much I wish I would be in a cabin with my friends. 

“Winter,” the girl to my left tapped me on the arm. “What do you think we are doing on this trip? Activity wise I mean.”

I thought for a moment and remembered that it was a leisure type of trip.

“We will be taking a break from technology and learning to build trust with one another.” I answered as well as I could.

“Oh!” The girl to my right came to the realisation. “It’s gonna be a trust building exercise!”

I was sitting between them as they continued to each other. I sat there pretending to be interested, but in reality my mind was far away. Taemin was with Kai, that’s enough reason to worry. At least Karina and my other friends are together in a cabin. 

The bus swung around corners causing me to be squished between the two girls. There was rough gravel on the road that rattled the old bus. After what felt like hours of sitting, the bus finally slowed down in front of the beautiful rural campsite.

After the teacher signalled us to get off the bus, people were in a hurry to stretch their legs. I would usually get off the bus last, but since I had someone wanting to get off, I quickly went for the opening between students.

I stepped off the bus and onto the dirt. It was soft and I got a whiff of nature. I was busy enjoying the breeze and feeling lighter, that I almost forgot to retrieve my bag from the bus. I collected my bag, then made my way to the dining hall where everyone else was gathering. 

“Winter!” A voice called out to me.

I looked in the direction where it came from. I saw Karina jogging towards me as she looked happy to see my face.

“You’re finally here.” She pulled me in closer to her.

I did my best not to show how flustered I felt at our close proximity. She’s so beautiful up close and seeing her smile gave me butterflies.

“Who are you in a cabin with?” Karina asked as she held my hands and inspected them.

I looked around and pointed at the people I was to be rooming with. Karina frowned, she caught me staring, she then put on a smile.

“I’ll help you with your bags.” She offered while taking the bag from me.

“It’s only one bag-” I was about to take it back, but she already hung it over her shoulder. 

I looked at my friend, she has changed a lot from when we first talked a while ago. The way she carried herself was different, more open and confident. Rather than closed and with her head lowered.

‘You’ve grown so much.’ I thought while gazing at her as she took me to my cabin.

“How are Giselle and Ningning?” I said, trying to not let the silence get awkward.

Karina let out a small groan, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing a bit.

“I think I’m going deaf.” She went on to complain how they raised their voices over the people talking in the bus. She was sitting in between them, it apparently was painfully loud.

Karina placed my bag on a vacant bed and sat on it. It squeaked beneath her.

“It’s too loud.” She frowned as she continued to bounce on it.

Her eyes met mine, I felt myself go red because of her comment and bouncing on the bed. She noticed my discomfort and put the pieces together. She immediately stood up and stepped away from the old bed.

“I better go,” Karina lightly scratched her head. “I don’t want to find out Ningning has helped herself to the bed I wanted or Giselle investigated my bag since she doesn’t trust me still.” She rambled on and eventually waved goodbye before I could respond.

Karina’s POV

I continued walking to the cabin where Ningning and Giselle are, but someone pops into my line of sight.

“Hey.” Kai looks bothered as he stares at me.

I tried to dodge him, but he grabbed my hand. I struggled to break free from his strong grip.

“Why are you so different from before?” He pulled me in close to him. “Is it because of Taemin? It is, isn’t it?”

“Let me go!” I shouted. 

I looked around and saw a crowd of students gathering around us. They were all whispering and debating whether or not to step in.

“Answer the question!” Kai shouted back at me. 

I feel like his strong grip is getting tighter. He noticed me wince in pain,  his eyes went round out of shock that he was hurting me.

“I-I’m sorry.” He stuttered and backed away slowly, releasing me from his grip.

His eyes darted around the crowd staring and whispering about him. He looked at me and saw bruises on my arms. Kai shook his head with wide eyes while staring at the damage he did. Kai looked at me with a guilty look before running through the students.

Winter and Giselle pushed through the crowd to see me clutching my arms. They ran to me and asked me what happened. I stayed silent while in deep thoughts.

‘Kai.’ I was thinking back to when he helped me. ‘You saved me before.’

I looked at my arms that now had fingerprint shaped bruises.

‘You made me laugh and smile with your silly behavior.’

I remembered him imitating me with an exaggerated girly voice. Then making me burst into laughter when he screamed: Bring it Brittany!

‘You even protected Taemin when I was too young to know why you were always covered in bandaids.’

Winter reached out to me and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. She brought me back to reality. I looked up at her with a blurred vision. 

“We have to find Taemin.” I told Winter and Giselle.

They looked at one another confused. 

“Kai isn’t…” I struggled to complete my sentence when my voice shook. “Kai isn’t bad.”

“But look at those bruises.” Giselle pointed at my arms.

I covered them with my hands and shook my head.

“He helped me, I want to help him.” I looked at Winter who was silently thinking. “I need to.”

Winter nodded her head with a determined facial expression. She and I went to look for Taemin while Ningning was being updated by Giselle.

Winter and I ran to the last cabin where Kai and Taemin will be staying. We banged on the door with our firsts. It’s only them in that cabin because of the amount of students that came on the trip. We heard shouting behind the door and Taemin’s soft voice. Winter and I exchanged looks before opening the door slowly.

Kai and Taemin were arguing and were too busy to notice the gap in the door where Winter and I were peeking through. We seemed to arrive late into the conversation.

“Stop trying to make everything okay!” Kai growled at Taemin.

Taemin took another small step towards his old friend, he was careful not to upset him further.

“You don’t have to fight anymore, Kai.” Taemin spoke in a reassuring tone. “It’s okay now.”

Kai’s eyes were brimmed with tears. He backed up against a wall.

“Shut up!” Kai snapped at Taemin. “It’s not ‘okay now’, it’s all over!” His tears fell, he roughly wiped his tears away. 

Taemin took the opportunity to take a few more small steps towards the vulnerable person in front of him. Kai sank down against the wall and began to cry uncontrollably. 

“It’s okay now,” Taemin’s voice was soothing, it wasn’t aggravating Kai anymore. “I’m okay, you kept me safe from all those bullies. You protected Karina too.”

Kai shook his head as he covered his face with his hands. He was shaking while crying into his large hands.

“I hurt her…” Kai spoke into his hands quietly.

But I don’t know if Taemin heard him.

“You did it, Kai.” Taemin smiled at his old friend. “You sacrificed yourself just so I could get away from those bullies each and every time.” Taemin’s voice broke. 

Kai hiccuped while crying. He slowly lifted his teary eyes to meet Taemin’s sad smile. His eyes widened when he saw that he was also crying.

“You would always come back with…” Taemin shut his eyes tightly before continuing. “Cuts and bruises.” His voice was trembling, tears were now falling from his eyes. 

Taemin kneeled down before Kai and didn’t hesitate before gently patting Kai’s head.

“I’m sorry,” Taemin said in a small voice. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you as much as you protected me.”

Kai’s eyes watched Taemin as he spoke softly. He seemed so small sitting on the ground in a ball. Kai looked at him in the eyes, he was looking deeply into his best friend’s eyes. He slowly blinked away the last of his tears.

“You don’t have to fight anymore, okay?” Taemin Kai’s hair gently. “I’m here for you now. And I’m not going to run away like before.” He smiled a genuine smile.

Kai nodded his head slowly. Taking in the fact that Taemin said he will be there for him now. He looked up at Taemin once more with uncertainty. His eyes were as round as a child’s eyes.

“You won’t leave me again?” Kai asked in a small voice. “You promise?”

Kai smiled wholeheartedly when Taemin nodded his head and promised him that.

“Is it okay if I give you a hug now?” Taemin asked his friend who looked happier now.

“Don’t push your luck.” Kai smirked at him which made Taemin laugh.