The Retreat | Enha multi ship

[Chapter 38]

The scent of artificial lavender flooded Jake's senses, as he poured the bright blue detergent into the washing machine. Will this punishment ever end? He had already cleaned the dinning hall, and now he was forced to do all of the staffs laundry. Rei, Sunghoon and Sunoo had been sent to clean the canoes, and he could only feel jelous, because they didn't have to deal with strangers underwear. At least he had Heeseung with him, it made the whole ordeal less painful. 

"Do you think that Jay and Jungwon will make up?" He asks, screwing the cap back on the detergent.

"I have faith." Heeseung replies, continuing to hang up the clean clothes that weren't dryer safe. He grabs another damp jumper out of the basket, and begins to chuckle. "Selfishly I hope they will so that we have people to invite on our double dates."

"You're getting ahead of yourself." Jake smiles, hopping up onto the counter beside the washing machine. The cycle took about an hour, so they were going to have to wait for some time. His eyes naturally veered over to Heeseung, glued to the red head as he did his task. The boy took such care hanging the clothes on the rack, making sure they were properly spread out, so they dried evenly. It was the little things that made Jake realize how perfect Lee Heeseung really was.

Then that all too familiar question popped into his head. Why would Lee Heeseung want me? He tried to get over his insecurities, but it wasn't that easy. He'd spent years being categorized as a nobody. Everyone at school acted like he didn't exist. It was only natural to feel inadequate, when he was constantly shown that people like Heeseung don't end up with people like him. This wasn't a romance novel.

"Heeseung,"

"Yeah?" 

"There are a lot of other people at school who'd be a better fit for you, don't you think?"

"Huh?" Heeseung coughs out, completely in shock. He drops the wet shirt in his hands, and turns to Jake, with a look of anger on his face. "You don't get to decide that." 

"Sorry." Jake mutters, shuffling around awkwardly while fiddling with his sleeves. He felt a bit anxious about making Heeseung annoyed. He struggles to keep eye contact as he adds, "I'm just trying to save myself the heartbreak when you realize you're too good for me."

Heeseung opens his mouth to speak, but stops himself, only letting out a shallow breath. His eye brows furrow hard, and he drops his gaze to the floor, shaking his head, before he snaps his gaze back up to look at Jake. "Have I done something that would make you think that? I'm genuinely confused right now." 

"No, you haven't done anything. There's just so many people who want to date you..." Jake trails off, and lets out a sigh. This was making him feel so terrible about himself. 

"You know, those people who want to date me don't actually care about me. They just want to boil me down to the 'popular guy', and use me like some kind of status symbol. Do I really have to date them because you think they're better for me? Don't I get a choice?" Heeseung throws his arms down in frustration, quickly realizing that he may be getting a bit too worked up about this. He sucks in a deep breath, and slowly walks over to Jake. "I like you, and I've been putting all my effort into getting to know you. What more do I have to do to prove I only want you?"

Now Heeseung was stood right in front of him, Jake had no where to hide. He couldn't run off like he did in capture the flag, or go and get some advice from Sunoo. There was no where he could look besides the red head. He felt his cheeks burning up as he gazed into the taller's eyes. He seemed really upset, did his words really have that much affect on him? 

"I'm sorry." Was the only response he could muster. 

Suddenly he feels his body pulled forward, and two strong arms wrap around him. He freezes out of surprise, but soon relaxes into the hug, feeling Heeseung hold him tighter.

"It doesn't matter if you don't believe me now, I won't stop until I prove it to you."

There was so much sincerity to those words, that it almost erased all of Jake's fears. He still worried that Heeseung would eventually change his mind, but after hearing that, how could he not feel comforted?

____

Five days of footage all for nothing. Jiwon stared at the laptop screen on the brink of tears, knowing that she had completely fumbled her first paid job. The interviews were awkward, the b roll was boring, she didn't even bother editing it because she knew the final product would be awful. There was no saving this video, the only thing she could do was delete it. 

With the video gone, she felt lost, unsure of what to do next. As she shuts the editing software, she's met with the video files Rei had filmed during the week. In her devastated state, she highlights all of the clips, prepared to dispose of them, but as her cursor hovers over the delete button, she hesitates, noticing a file named 'Day2_WinStreak'.

Pure curiosity took over, and she found herself clicking on the file. There she watched Rei's go pro footage of her playing capture the flag, but it was just her winning over and over again. At one point Jay comes over and detaches the camera, spinning it around to face Rei, and that's when Jiwon started to cry. Rei looked so happy.

Clip after clip, Jiwon saw the exact same thing over and over again. Smiles, laughter, and people just enjoying themselves. This is what the retreat was all about. This is what Principle Im would want to see. Had she not been so stubborn, she would have realized that sooner. 

____

Just felt like publishing this a day early.

I watched the BL 'Blueming' today, and I have to recommend it to you guys. I really really loved it. If you haven't seen it, you should defo watch it.