Song of the Chapter - (Be With You, ATEEZ)

Rose POV

When Y/n suddenly hugged me, I was left speechless – and despite his warm embrace, I felt my shoulder getting wet. I assumed that he cried, but it got me worried.

"Are you okay, Y/n?" I asked. After he hugged me and cried, I started to get suspicious of him. "Don't tell me... you are moving away?"

"That's not it..." he answered with a shaky voice. "I just... I just need a shoulder to lean on right now," he added. This was the first time I heard him saying something that made him sound so vulnerable – it must've been a lot for him. He heard someone saying they hate him, and pretending to be okay with it – how can he withstand it?

We continued to hug for a few more minutes before the sky started rumbling. I looked at the sky, noticing that it was getting dark, which means that it was about to rain.

"We should get going," said Y/n as we broke the hug. He looked around us, taking a deep breath before taking my hand. "Let's go," he said as we hurried downhill. We decided not to hike further since we might just end up even deeper into the forest.

"Hey, slow down!" I told him as we were practically running downhill – it was scary since it was starting to rain.

"We can't!" Y/n answered without looking at me.

Chanyeol POV

As the rain falls even harder, I started to get worried. "Let's take a shelter first," Mr Yoo said as we went over to team A's site – it was a relief that the makeshift kitchen was able to fit us all.

"This guy..." I sighed, "if it weren't for him, they wouldn't be missing right now," I complained as I started to get worried about Chaeyoung. I looked at the other team A members and was shocked to see their unbothered looks.

I turned to face them and sighed, "aren't you guys worried about them?"

They looked at each other before Baekhyun answered, "why should we be worried?"

I scoffed at his answer, "what? Hey, what if they got injured – what if Chaeyoung got injured?"

"Don't worry, Y/n is there with her," said Nayeon as she tapped my shoulder. I shrugged her hand off before shooting them a glare.

Third Person POV

From afar, Chanyeol and the others saw Y/n piggybacking Chaeyoung. "Oh, there they are!" Shouted Sehun. Chanyeol immediately ran towards them. Y/n put Chaeyoung down and handed her bag to Chaeyoung.

After a few more minutes, Chanyeol and the others finally saw Y/n and Chaeyoung from afar – he was piggybacking her.

"Look! There they are!" shouted Sehun while pointing at them.

Chanyeol quickly ran towards them and right after Y/n put Chaeyoung down, Chanyeol pushed him.

"Hey, Kang Y/n!" he shouted before pushing him again – this time, Y/n fell to the ground. Y/n let out a soft groan as his back hit the ground. "What do you think you are doing?!" Chanyeol growled as he straddled Y/n on the ground. He was about to hit him when Chaeyoung intervened.

"Don't hit him, Chanyeol. He didn't do anything wrong," she exclaimed – her face was covered with her wet hair as she looked at Chanyeol. Y/n stayed on the ground while looking at him, pretending not to be affected by his action.

"Guys are you alright?" asked Mr Yoo as he approached them with an umbrella.

"I'm alright but Chaeyoung has a few wounds that need to be treated properly," Y/n help himself up.

Y/n looked at Mr Yoo, "I'm alright, but Chaeyoung needs to be treated soon or her wound will get infected," he said.

Mr Yoo nodded and looked at Y/n, "why don't you guys change into dry clothes first?" he advised.

>>><<<

Y/n smiled as he finished pasting the last bandage on his back, "nicely done," he mumbled before putting his shirt on. The pain was still there, but it wasn't as painful as earlier. After that, he got up and went to the makeshift kitchen.

"Oh, hey Y/n!" Taemin greeted as he saw Y/n entering the kitchen.

Y/n looked at him, smiling, "hey," he greeted before grabbing an apron. "So, what's for dinner?" he asked, putting the apron on.

Hongbin entered the kitchen as well with a pair of gloves, "kimchi stew," he answered. Y/n nodded and grabbed a knife from the table as he started to chop the ingredients for the stew.

"By the way, Y/n," Taemin wiped his hands and looked at him, "how did you guys end up lost?"

Y/n stopped chopping and looked at him with a smile, "ah, we went off the trail, that's all," he answered before laughing awkwardly. Taemin nodded, accepting the answer as it is since he didn't want to pester Y/n with any more questions.

After cooking for almost an hour and a half, they finally sat down for dinner. "Thanks for the meal!" everyone said in unison before digging into the kimchi stew.

"Mm! This is delicious!" Nayeon exclaimed with a huge smile, revealing her bunny teeth – the origin of one of her nicknames, Bunny.

Y/n smiled at the praise before looking at Chaeyoung, "how is it, Chaeyoung?" he asked. Ever since they got back from the hill, she has been quiet.

Jennie looked at Y/n before nudging Chaeyoung's side. She looked up from her meal, "huh? Oh, it's delicious," she answered, almost inaudible. Thankfully, Y/n was able to hear it.

Rose POV

For some reason, I got nervous when Y/n talked to me. "You should eat more," he said before putting more rice in my bowl – I looked at him, smiling softly.

"Thank you," I said as he looked at me with a smile – I never noticed his dimples before, but tonight, they were the only things I saw when he smiled.

>>><<<

After dinner, I went to the lake and decided to take a long night walk while admiring how beautiful the moon was – it almost made me forget the heavy rain this evening. "Why are you walking alone at night?" I turned around and saw Chanyeol approaching me.

"Oh, Chanyeol," I smiled. He returned the smile with a wink as he walked closer to me.

I shivered when the cold wind hit my body. Right then, Chanyeol wrapped his arms around me. "It's warmer this way, right?"

Y/n POV

As I entered our tent, I started scanning around, "guys, do you know where Chaeyoung is?"

Eunji looked away from her phone and towards me, "I saw her headed for the lake a while ago," she answered. I thought for a while before thanking her. I left the tent and excitedly made my way to the lake while holding something in hand – I can't wait to see her reaction to what I'm about to show her.

Oh well... who am I kidding? My confidence hit zero when I saw her in Chanyeol's embrace. I mean, it makes sense since they are dating, but it still hurt when I saw them. I sighed and looked at the picture I was meaning to show her.

"Why are you acting so stupid, Y/n?" I questioned myself as I crumbled the picture. I looked at it for a while before throwing it. I headed to the makeshift kitchen afterwards, and after making sure there was no one else in it, I leaned against the counter and sat on the cold floor.

At first, I was just staring at the roof while thinking about what happened earlier today, but it must've been one of those nights where we just couldn't control our emotions since before I knew it, I was already crying.

Flashback

We were running downhill when I turned to look at Chaeyoung who slipped on the wet ground. "Be careful!" I said as I helped her up.

End flashback

Rose POV

"See you tomorrow," said Chanyeol as he waved at me before walking the opposite way I was heading. I waved back before walking along the track near the lake. As I was walking, I saw something on the track and went closer to see what it was.

I picked it up and realized that it was a crumbled picture. I tilted my head and opened it. To my surprise, it was a picture of me. I flipped the picture and saw something written on the back as I read it.

'I'm just going to let you know that even though you are with Chanyeol now, I still like you. I don't know why, so, don't ask me. I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes.'

I stared at the picture for a while before putting it inside my hoodie. He must've been around a while ago – I didn't waste any time as I quickly ran towards our campsite and searched for Y/n.

"Hey, have any of you seen Y/n?" I asked as I entered our tent.

"Oh, he was searching for you a while ago too – I think he is still looking around."

I thanked them before leaving the tent as I walked around the site, hoping to find Y/n. As I walked past the makeshift kitchen, I heard sobbing coming from inside. I slowly opened the door and peeked inside. There, I saw him, the cheerful Y/n at his most vulnerable point, crying.

I sighed softly and entered the kitchen, "Y/n..." I called him.

He quickly wiped his tears as he looked at me, "Chaeyoung..." he sniffled before looking away. I walked towards him and sat beside him.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded and continued to look away from me, "yeah, I'm okay," he replied and then we were quiet for the next fifteen minutes. After that, he finally looked at me with bloodshot eyes, "aren't you cold?" he asked.

I shook my head as I looked at him, "not really."

We stared at each other for a while before I was finally able to muster up my courage. "Hey, I've been wondering..." he hummed, waiting for me to continue. "Remember when I first entered the class? And the first time I saw you, your face was full of bruises? How did..."

He took a deep breath before smiling a bit, "it's uh... my father is abusive, you know? And he didn't want me anywhere around him. And that day, he kind of beat me for showing up at his doorstep."

"But I thought..."

Y/n shook his head, "no. My parents live separately. And if you asked me if I'd rather live with my mother or father, I would choose the former," he said, and I didn't bother asking him why. "You won't tell anyone about this conversation, right?"

I shook my head, "I won't tell a soul. I promise."

Y/n heaved a sigh of relief, "thank you..."

I smiled softly and tilted my head, looking at him. "Say, do you like me that much?" I asked, trying to steer away from the topic.

Y/n POV

I was caught off guard by her question. I gulped and cleared my throat, "well, you know... I uh..." I was shocked when she took my hand and placed it on her cheek.

"Tell me," Chaeyoung asked softly, and I was helpless when I saw how cute she was when she did it.

I was torn between answering and doing something that I would regret for the rest of my life, and after a while, I chose the latter. I leaned closer to her and after psyching myself in my head, I kissed her. I was expecting her to push me away, or slap me, but she didn't do any of that. Instead, she leaned into the kiss as well. Her lips were so soft, and they tasted like strawberry – probably from her lip balm.

We kissed until we were out of breath. I looked at her afterwards while panting softly, "I think that is sufficient to answer your question," I said, smiling softly.

Chaeyoung flashed a sweet smile and nodded, "it is."

It was a good thing that she acknowledges my feelings for her, but one problem remain – she is still Chanyeol's girlfriend.