Camping Objective Achieved
Thanks to Teacher Jisu handling the dinner preparations, Yeoncheong and Suyeon had time to change into the spare pants they'd packed just in case.
Originally they hadn't planned on bringing any, but Suyeon's relentless nagging had turned out to be a blessing.
After quickly changing inside the tent and stepping back out, Yeoncheong found Teacher Jisu with her tongs resting on her hip.
"I bought the meat, I'm making dinner, and I came all the way out here during break to chaperone in case you girls get into trouble. Am I not just the best teacher ever?"
"You should be doing at least that much, honestly."
Suyeon, who had stepped out a beat later, shrugged her shoulders.
"Ms. Jisu, all you've done since we got here is pitch a tent. You call that chaperoning? You never even followed us anywhere."
"Aww~ that just means I trust you. It's cold out there anyway. Come sit over here."
Clearly aware that prolonging the conversation would do her no favors, Teacher Jisu changed the subject, and Suyeon, knowing when to hold her tongue, let the line drop. An adult was an adult, after all. The teacher had said she'd grill the meat herself, so all they had to do was eat.
"... "
Well, *good* would be an overstatement. So would *bad*. It was a delicate, in-between skill — the kind you'd expect from someone young, who'd held tongs plenty of times but had proven that repetition doesn't equal proficiency. That sort of skill.
There was meaning in having the teacher cook for them, of course, but Suyeon still looked vaguely unsatisfied as she stared at Yeoncheong, a wooden chopstick clamped between her lips. No words were needed — the message came through loud and clear in her eyes — so Yeoncheong had no choice but to rise.
"Ms. Jisu, let me take over. I'll do it."
"No, no. You two eat. I've got it."
"I'm actually good at this. So please, hand them over."
"...Ohhh, alright then? Let's see these skills of yours, shall we?"
Apparently she had no intention of refusing twice. The teacher passed over the tongs, tossing in an empty offer to swap if it got too hard.
And after that...
Suyeon stuffing her cheeks and declaring, *that's our Yeoncheong for you*, and Teacher Jisu lavishing praise about how the meat tasted completely different the moment the grill master changed.
With the two of them singing Yeoncheong's praises in tandem, it became an unbroken parade of situations far too embarrassing for Yeoncheong to put into words herself.
But when people enjoyed her cooking that much, she couldn't exactly bring herself to call it quits.
***
The meat was cooking, the mood was mellowing, and Yeoncheong — who had adamantly refused to hand the tongs back and ended up claiming the grilling duties for herself — eyed the remaining meat and murmured to herself.
*'Yeah, that'll be just right.'*
When Teacher Jisu had first laid out the meat, it had seemed like a lot for three girls. Now, it looked like there wouldn't be a single piece left over.
"Wooohoo! Now *this* is the life..."
At the thoroughly unrestrained voice, Yeoncheong turned her head — and there, beside Teacher Jisu, stood a towering stack of beer cans that hadn't been there moments before. So that's what she'd been sneaking sips of.
Maybe it was because a staff dinner this wasn't — there was no need to sit at attention — but the alcohol hit Teacher Jisu fast, and she was now rambling about anything and everything.
"Mmmh... *this* is vacation, *this* is camping... hee hee..."
So much for the responsible chaperone. She wasn't even pretending anymore.
Yeoncheong was just wondering whether a teacher who'd tagged along to supervise a student activity was really allowed to drink when Suyeon, apparently thinking along the same lines, licked her lips.
"Is our teacher... allowed to do this?"
"It's fine. She took time out of her break to come, so we get to slack off half the time anyway."
"Damn baldy... pushing all her work onto me... no wonder her hair's falling out..."
At the sight of their teacher butting into a conversation out of nowhere to badmouth a colleague, Suyeon and Yeoncheong's eyes met.
As it happened, there was a bald math teacher at their school — and the two of them promptly burst out laughing.
For a long while they could do nothing but snort and wheeze at each other, unable to speak. Finally catching her breath, Suyeon wiped at the corner of her eye.
"Yeah. She does seem to have it rough. Days like this are good for her."
Having deduced the toll of the teacher's working life, Suyeon giggled, while Yeoncheong voiced concern about her poor drinking habits.
"I'm guessing it's just because it's us? She wouldn't act like this at an actual staff dinner, right?"
"We can only hope not."
As the laughter faded and a quiet settled over them, it was filled by the sizzle of fresh meat hitting the grill.
Having finally laid the meat down, Yeoncheong asked, a beat too late, "You can still eat more, right?"
"Yep, I'm eating all of it. We did go on that walk, after all."
At the word *walk*, Yeoncheong snorted.
"Our walking time was shorter than our lying-on-the-ground time."
"Well, you should've caught me better."
"Excuse me?! My butt *still* hurts because of you!"
"Tell me all about it. I'll pat it better for you."
"Hard pass."
Though she'd been apologetic enough during the walk itself, Suyeon had clearly recovered, and the two traded jabs with sly smiles creeping onto their faces.
Even amid the inane back-and-forth, Yeoncheong's hands stayed busier than her mouth.
She kept flipping the meat so it wouldn't burn, moving the nearly-done pieces to the edge of the grill, and heaping portions onto Suyeon's plate and the plate of their half-conscious, thoroughly drunk teacher (who, drunk or not, devoured any meat set in front of her with relish). If devotion had a definition, this was it.
Perhaps because her stomach had filled up somewhat, Suyeon finally noticed how busy her friend was.
Now that she looked, the vast majority of the meat was ending up on her plate and Teacher Jisu's — while almost none made it into Yeoncheong's own mouth.
Disliking this arrangement intensely, Suyeon shot to her feet.
"Yeoncheong, take a break already and eat some yourself. I'll grill the rest."
"I'll eat as I go, don't worry."
Even in the face of her friend's concern, Yeoncheong mechanically flipped the meat and glanced at what remained.
"There's barely any left anyway. Whoever's doing it should just finish the job."
"You've barely eaten anything! Me and Ms. Jisu ate it all."
Suyeon stuck her lip out in a pout.
Like *she* had anyone else to lie to. However hungry she was, however delicious the meat, Yeoncheong had never been so distracted that she wouldn't notice whether the person she liked was eating.
Yeoncheong had only said it to avoid making Suyeon fuss, but it had the opposite effect — poking the beehive. Her flipping hand slowed, and just as she was racking her brain for a way to smooth things over—
Suyeon quietly came around beside her and held out a plate, piled with the succulent pieces Yeoncheong herself had served up for her.
"Eat."
Eyebrows raised, jaw set, Suyeon summoned the most commanding voice she could manage.
Yeoncheong wondered what on earth had gotten into her, and repeated her earlier answer verbatim.
"I told you, I'm eating as I go."
"Should I feed you, then? Because *I'd* be grateful."
When Suyeon made a move to grab the chopsticks, Yeoncheong hastily snatched up a piece of meat with the tongs. Only after showing that she'd put it in her mouth and chewed did Suyeon finally set the chopsticks down.
Judging by past experience, had she refused again, the meat would have been forcibly shoved into her mouth.
And from then on—
"One more bite."
"One more."
"Your throat okay? Have something to drink."
"Don't just eat meat. Eat it with something else."
Yeoncheong ate the meat and drank her beverage exactly as Suyeon instructed. It felt like coaxing a child who wouldn't eat, force-feeding them bite by bite — though in this case, the child was currently Yeoncheong herself.
So it went for a good while, flipping meat here and there while following orders, until at last Suyeon nodded in satisfaction and asked,
"See? Doesn't it taste better warm?"
"...Yeah."
Most food, naturally, tasted better warm.
At Yeoncheong's grudging admission, Suyeon licked her lips.
"So no planning to live on the leftover scraps later. Eat as you go."
She was busy enough grilling — how many scraps could she possibly steal? Better to finish grilling everything and enjoy the rest at leisure.
That was exactly what Yeoncheong had been thinking, and she flinched, eyes narrowing.
"Don't tell me... you've been *counting* how many pieces I've eaten?"
At the outrageous yet oddly logical deduction, Suyeon laughed it off as paranoia.
"I was too busy eating, thanks. Besides, did you forget who you are?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're Daengcheongi. With Daengcheongi, I can read every thought on your face."
Despite herself, Yeoncheong's lips pushed out into a pout.
This was teasing, unmistakably. No way was she really so transparent with her expressions.
"Keep it up and you're not getting any more meat."
Yeoncheong was the one holding the tongs, after all — so she tried holding the meat hostage. But the reaction that came back only flustered her more.
"Fine, you eat it all."
As if she'd been waiting for exactly that line, Suyeon held out the plate of meat.
"I'll do the cleanup. Helps me digest, anyway."
Setting the plate down beside Yeoncheong without a flicker of regret, Suyeon gathered up the trash and headed for the recycling station — never once glancing back, no matter how she was called.
Yeoncheong stared after her friend's retreating back and scratched her head.
"I genuinely don't get what her deal is all of a sudden..."
It wasn't the first or second time Suyeon had bulldozed her way into something, but there had always been a transparent intent of *let's do something together* behind it.
This time, though...
She'd forcibly shoveled meat at her. She'd provoked her into not eating, then breezily gone off to clean up the moment Yeoncheong said fine.
Only Yeoncheong was left bewildered by her friend's whiplash behavior.
Well — no, one other person, actually.
"Yeoncheong... the teacher's meat..."
"Oh, here you go."
"That one...?"
Teacher Jisu pointed at the plate Suyeon had left behind. Yeoncheong stared at it for a long moment, then licked her lips.
"This one's mine."
And she pulled the plate Suyeon had indicated toward her own side.
***
Late that night.
With Teacher Jisu — whose role as chaperone was now purely decorative — already carried off to the tent and tucked in...
"Why did you do that earlier, anyway?"
"Hm? Do what?"
Unable to solve the mystery on her own, Yeoncheong decided to ask the person in question directly.
But Suyeon considered the matter resolved, and therefore closed. She just looked baffled.
To Yeoncheong, though, that read as sulking and playing innocent. So, watching her carefully, a naturally subdued voice slipped out.
"Are you... mad at me?"
"Mad? Oh — earlier. Yeah, I was a little mad. Because *somebody* did nothing but grill and never ate."
As if remembering, Suyeon stared straight at Yeoncheong, the corners of her mouth curling up.
*What did I do wrong?* As Yeoncheong racked her memory, it finally dawned on her why Suyeon had acted that way. She'd thought she'd been eating plenty — but apparently, in Suyeon's eyes, she hadn't.
"Look... we've been practically glued together for a whole year now, right? I basically know what you're thinking, is what I'm saying."
Demanding praise for her perceptiveness, Suyeon lifted her chin with a theatrical *ahem*.
Yeoncheong simply gazed at her friend. Or rather, she had no choice but to gaze at her, lost for words.
Yeoncheong and her friends had been through a lot together, and yes, they spent a great deal of time side by side. But even so — one year.
It would be normal *not* to read the heart of a best friend you'd known for years. There was no way she could know what Yeoncheong was thinking. By that logic, Hasol and Nayun should be able to do the same — and they couldn't.
In other words, whatever the reason, this was only possible because Suyeon had poured that much attention into Yeoncheong.
Actions over words, always. A declaration of *I like you* meant less than the small, careful gestures like this one — those were what truly reached the heart.
Suyeon and Seoha were already desperate for any way to show their affection — the get-well visits, the pajama party, even the stealthy tailing born of worry when Yeoncheong hid that it was her mother's memorial day. Words apparently hadn't felt like enough, because lately they'd been making their love known through their actions too.
And now this camping trip on top of it all. A little breathing room between gestures would have been nice. Bombarded without pause, Yeoncheong had no time to recover.
She couldn't hide the way her feelings swayed.
Suyeon, watching her friend sit there frozen, seemed to sense it and broke into a grin.
"What? Touched? Is your heart going *ba-dump, ba-dump*?"
The way she smiled while flashing a V with her fingers was honestly adorable.
*Adorable?*
Yeoncheong realized the cute that had just brushed through her mind was a very different kind of cute from the usual. Shaking her head hard to fling the thought away, she pressed her lips together.
"I'm alive, so of course my heart beats. That's how hearts work."
"Oh, come on~ that's not what I meant."
Unable to get a word in against Suyeon, who had sat down beside her and was poking at her teasingly, Yeoncheong buried her face in her oversized jacket and ended the conversation.
But even when a two-way conversation stops, one person chattering on alone remains entirely possible.
Unlike usual — unlike herself — Yeoncheong couldn't hide her wavering emotions. And seeing that, Suyeon brought up words she'd normally have been too shy to say aloud.
She was certain that this time, the truth would make it past the creaky door.
"Yeoncheong, I genuinely like you. Honestly, me or Seoha, nobody's more devoted than this. Even you have to admit that."
No answer came — but it had never been a question meant to be answered.
Confirming the faint flush creeping over Yeoncheong's face, Suyeon kept going.
"You said you were curious why I did that earlier. Want me to tell you in more detail?"
Yeoncheong gave a light shake of her head, as if to say she'd rather not. But it hadn't been a real question, so that didn't matter either.
"It's because it's you. Because it's *Yeoncheong*. I wanted to see you enjoying the food more than I enjoyed it myself. Just like you smiled watching me and Ms. Jisu eat the meat you grilled — watching you eat makes a smile come to my face all on its own. That's why."
"I... th-that's..."
A thin, faltering voice, like something crawling along the ground.
Suyeon had almost never been this direct before, and Yeoncheong, for her part, had almost never been on the receiving end of feelings laid this bare.
Before she knew it, Yeoncheong's face had gone as red as a boiled octopus — so red that one poke might set it off like a popped balloon. It was so terribly cute, so terribly endearing, that Suyeon was just wondering whether to tease her a little more—
"Uuuuugh... bathroom..."
Teacher Jisu, whom the two of them had dumped into the tent, came crawling back out, moaning that she needed the toilet.
After drinking that much beer and going straight to sleep, it had only ever been a matter of *when*, not *if*.
"Ah — Ms. Jisu! The bathroom's not that way!"
Staggering and weaving, the teacher drifted toward some very wrong destination in her sleep-fogged state. Seizing her chance, Yeoncheong scrambled after her.
"Ms. Jisu, that's not it, I'm telling you!"
Left alone, Suyeon got up as well to help wrangle the groaning Yeoncheong.
A small part of her wished she could have pressed just a little further, but today wasn't the only day.
Besides, a confession between friends was a wager that risked everything they'd built up to now. It demanded caution — and then more caution.
The process had been a little strange, sure, but Yeoncheong had been the one to reach out first, and Suyeon knew that all her effort had begun to send ripples through her friend's heart.
It had started as nothing more than a scheme to burn through the club activity budget — but for Suyeon, it had turned out to be a resoundingly successful camping trip, one step ahead of Seoha.