"Oi mate! Quit staring at your phone, will you?" Yuta throws his boxing glove towards his friend, almost hitting his face.

Taeyong glares at Yuta, but ignores him and looks at his phone again. He just changed his lock screen wallpaper to the only photo of him and Traze together. Ever since that night, he just can't help but think about her. He feels as though his head is going to explode already, trying to get rid of her face inside his head.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Hansol suddenly appears behind him, so he quickly slips his phone back to his pocket. "Hey, isn't that Traze?"

Yuta snaps his head at them. "Who?"

"It's no one. Don't listen to Sol. I'm all warmed up," he says, trying to divert their conversation.

"You're seriously falling for her now, aren't you?" Hansol comments, chuckling.

He doesn't answer them. He rarely admits his feelings to anyone and himself. Whatever he's feeling right now, it's just so unbearable that he doesn't know anymore how else he can block it. Hence, he's at the gym right now hoping his friends can knock some sense into him.

Yuta jumps down from the boxing ring and walks toward them. "Are you going to finally commit to someone?"

He stands up, ignoring his friends. "No one's committing to anyone."

"Says the guy who just put the face of the girl as his wallpaper," Hansol teases.

Yuta squints. "Really? Bro, you've finally been captured by her. Congratulations!"

Shaking his head, he puts on the boxing gloves, proceeds to the punching bag on the side and starts throwing punches to it in an attempt to distract himself from any thoughts of her, as if that can happen.

Just then, Hansol speaks again after reading something from his phone. "Should we go to the music camp next week?"

Yuta chokes in the air. "Music camp? Are they trying to recruit members in their cult or something?"

Hansol scoffs. "It's not a cult, you idiot. It's a fundraising event organized by the Royal Family. The proceeds will go to the foundations they're helping."

Taeyong hears it, but he doesn't budge and continues punching. He's not really into socializing with strangers and he'd rather spend their one-week break to something more productive like pub-hopping and boxing and sleeping.

"TY, what do you say?" Hansol asks him, but he shakes his head.

"Why are you asking him? But I'm sure if that girl goes there, he'll probably go," Yuta says, stifling a laugh.

"Well, you can buy 2 tickets and ask her to go with you," Hansol suggests.

He pauses, realizing what his friend just said. But then again, he's trying so hard to forget about her. "You two go. I'll stay here."

****

It's been hours since he's been contemplating on buying tickets for the camp. The 5-day camp is open for everyone but there will only be a limited number of tickets. He's sure that most Eton students will go because it falls exactly on their half-term break so the competition for buying tickets is fierce. And he can't really be bothered by that. He fidgets on his phone, unwilling to stand up from his seat.

When the front door opens, he almost drops his phone in surprise. Mark comes in and looks at him weirdly. "What's up?"

He shakes his head and looks down on his phone again. "Are you going to the music camp?" He asks, his eyes not leaving his phone screen.

"I guess so. Everyone I know is going," Mark answers, proceeding to the kitchen. "Wait, do you want to come?"

He takes a breath, walking towards the counter. Maybe he can go to the camp to distract himself from thinking about her. "Yeah why not?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I can get you a ticket if you want to come." Mark shrugs, getting a slice of bread on the counter. "Why do you suddenly want to come? You've never went to events like these before."

He stands up from his seat, walking towards the counter. "I just figured I can use that time to self-reflect."

Mark stifles a laugh. "You can just self-reflect in your room, though."

He slowly nods at his brother. "Sure I'll do that."

****

Taeyong didn't expect so many people to be in the camp. It's almost like the whole population of Eton is there. After unpacking his bag in their cabin, he left Mark there and ran away from his friends Yuta and Hansol, who kept on teasing him for not inviting Traze there with him.

Sighing, he continues to march away from the students chilling in the grassy field. He just wants to find a spot where he can be alone and think. But that seems to be impossible. He suddenly regrets his decision of going there.

Just when he's about to take another step, he hears a group of people singing and playing guitars from a distance. He takes a closer look at them and when he realizes that one of them is Traze, his heart momentarily stops beating. He didn't expect to see her there at all.

He's still trying to recover from her sudden appearance, when someone abruptly catches his hand. He turns to his side and sees Zia looking at him. "Taeyong, can we talk?" She asks, her eyes pleading.

"Zia, there's nothing to talk about," he answers in a cold tone.

"I know. I just..." she pauses in hesitation. "I just want to say sorry for lying to you... about the handkerchief before."

"What?" He squints at her. He knows she's talking about that same handkerchief that Traze has. He actually forgot about that. He has never brought it up to Traze again after he asked her about it before. She also took it already away from him so he no longer has it.

"When I was around 10 years old, I met a girl who gave it to me when I got hospitalized. She thought it was cool that we both have the same initials so she gave it to me. And then, when I met you, you said that you remember meeting a girl in the park with the same hanky. I pretended that that was me so I can get closer to you and we did."

He doesn't speak. He just lets her words sink in his mind. A flashback from when he first met the girl in the park crosses his mind again. So if that's not Zia... it only means one thing.

"I'm sorry I lied about that incident. I'm not the little girl you met at the park, Taeyong," she continues to say. "But I still hope we can be friends."

"I'm not sure that can ever happen again." He looks at the direction of where Traze and her friends are, but he suddenly sees them walking away already. "Goodbye Zia." He doesn't look back at her anymore because right now, he can only see one person in that vast field.

His eyes follow the direction of Traze's trail. He can barely see her back now. When he realizes where they are heading, he stops and watches Traze cheer for her friends as they go up the stage. They're probably going to do a rehearsal for the music night later on. He's all set to go up to her, when someone calls out to him. "Blud!"

He turns around and sees Mark running towards him. "Hey!"

Mark stops when he reaches him, still panting. "Yuta and Hansol are looking for you. Are you hiding from them or something?"

He exhales. "I just want to be alone."

"Is that so? I should probably leave you then. I thought you might want to go with me at the dining hall though. I'm starving," Mark says, frowning.

Before he can respond, the band suddenly starts playing their instruments, catching his attention. Mark looks to the direction of the stage and squints. "Is that... Lotus up there?"

He's quite surprised that his brother recognizes them right away when they're quite far from the stage. "I guess so."

"So Chelsie must be here," Mark mumbles to himself, but he catches that right on.

"Yeah and Traze as well," he says, looking at her from a distance again. She's still there on the side of the stage and waving her hands along.

"Anyway, I'll just go eat blud," Mark says, turning around.

"Wait, I'll come with." Just seeing her from a distance right now is enough for him. He will tell her everything soon because in that moment, he's already sure of what he feels. I finally found her.

****

The music night has ended an hour ago. He didn't see Traze because he didn't actually go in the field where the stage is. He just stayed near their cabin, but he was able to hear the music from there so it's not all that bad. The truth is he's scared that if he sees her, he might say the wrong things and push her away. He's been rehearsing in his head how he will tell her what he really feels and it's actually stressing him out.

He's about to go inside their cabin already, when his phone suddenly rings. He groans silently when he sees it's Yuta calling. "What is it now?"

"Mark... he's..." Yuta's voice becomes faint that he imagines the worse has happened to his brother.

"What do you mean? Speak up, Yuta!" He's already yelling and getting up from his seat. He knows that Mark is there at the field with his friends. Maybe something happened, but he just hopes it's really not.

"He's unwell." That is Hansol's voice speaking through Yuta's phone. "We're here outside the dining hall."

He hangs up at once and runs his way towards the hall. It takes him a few minutes when he reaches a group of students in a circle sitting on the grass near the dining hall. An acoustic session is happening. He immediately sees Mark holding a guitar playing and jamming with the others.

Then, he catches sight of Yuta and Hansol waving at him near the balcony of the hall and instantly frowns at them. He can't believe he just got fooled. When his friends gesture him to look at the direction of the group, he finally realizes something. Traze is there with her friends. She's holding a guitar as well.

He wants to move closer, but he's afraid that she might notice him so he just stands there a few feet away. He watches her strum the guitar as her friends follow along the rhythm. When she opens her mouth to sing, his jaw drops.

I wish our skin would meet

A sting I wish would bleed

Like toothpicks sliding under fingernails

He hasn't heard her sing before. He doesn't even know she plays the guitar and sings as well. The memory of meeting her at the music store suddenly flashes in his mind.

Don't you need a breath of air?

'Cause you're biting at my head

Like starving great whites feeding in the deep end

And I wish I was just as strong

As I make myself out to be

He remembers her wearing a plain white shirt and dirty trainers. He remembers her looking at the guitars and walking away without one. He remembers telling himself that he won't ever fall for someone like her.

I'm twisting my words to appear like

This doesn't burn 'em

Staring at the sun, papercuts are in my eyes

And there he is, listening to her sing her heart out. He feels every lyric she sings. Like the song, he knows that she's trying to be brave right now. He might not be able to feel her pain, but just listening to her, he knows that it's not easy for her.

Shrinking our worth, mixing fiction

With crime like a substance

I'm addicted to

Diving into the salt tides

When he looks at her direction, he catches her looking at him. He feels his stomach turn, causing his whole body to become paralyzed. He wants to move, but he can't. He just pierces his eyes back at her, as if both of them bet their lives in that staring game. That's when he knew that he can never escape anymore. He has without a doubt fallen into her trap and he doesn't regret any of it.

A/N: Updated because it's Full Sun's day though he's not here in the chapter. XD Also, the song that Traze sang here is Toothpick by Stand Atlantic. You can listen to it if you want to. I placed it in the media bar above. :)

#HappyHaechanDay

~neozone