Infatuation
Perhaps it was weird to expect to see his crush just wandering around in the unbearably early morning, but, other than hunting down the tall kid to apologize, there was really nothing else Marick could do. Though he had arrived at camp a couple of days ago, the flight all the way from Cape Town to the island had left him jetlagged, and his sleep seemed far more like that of an old person, sleeping from dinner to sunrise.
Still, he liked the quiet of the early morning, the way everything seemed to sharpen as the sun rose. Even as a social butterfly, Marick still loved the feeling of basking in silence, feeling himself settle in his own body.
He had just been strolling aimlessly through the camp, marvelling at the animals and plants that seemed so different from home. However, now looking up at the circle of cabins that surrounded him and the blue fabric that hung from all of them, it seemed as though he had ended up at the second-year housing.
No matter how much he liked this mystery second-year though, Marick was still not one to follow the objects of his affection around. It was far too creepy for him to be comfortable with. Continuing his morning stroll, he promised himself that if he did see his fellow student, he would attempt to introduce himself.
Fortune always favours the bold. Yi-Hsuan had been lying a lot over the past few days at camp, telling whoever who asked about his feelings towards the event how exciting it was to be around everyone. Really, he wasn't any kind of enthused about going to an extended gathering of people he honestly didn't care about. Though having his own cabin set him at ease somewhat, it was also having his own cabin that left him tapping on his paired watch every few hours during the night.
He had gotten up just a little earlier today since he couldn't fall back asleep. It was only by about half an hour, but that was enough time to clear through his morning routine. Finishing up his morning movements, he raised his hands upwards and clasped his hands. There was a temptation to stretch out his exercise session since it was the only activity he expected he would enjoy for the entire day. Unsurprisingly, the team sports weren't his taste.
After a couple of seconds of deciding against picking right back up from the beginning, Yi-Hsuan didn't have much of an idea of what to do next. He had already had a snack, and going back into the cabin was a waste of the particularly pretty day and good weather. A walk sounded nice, but he didn't have a detailed enough layout in his mind of the forest to feel comfortable to go on his own with his needed mask of pacifism.
It only took a second at most for him to think of the only person he liked to be around at the camp and finally lower his arms to pull out his phone, still standing outside his cabin.
Strangely enough, despite the ungodly hour, there was still a person up and about. Marick squinted at the figure, a grin blooming on his face as he realized who exactly it was.
“Good morning!” He waved, trotting up to the mysterious second year. Hearing someone greet him, Yi-Hsuan put his phone back in his pocket. Who was that tall guy coming towards him? Racking his mind didn't turn up any answers, though it wasn't like he had many options stored in his mind to look through.
He yanked the corners of his lips up and brought up his hand to wave back. "Hello! Good morning!"
Surprisingly enough for Marick, he had gotten a friendly and energetic reply from the mystery boy, something he wasn’t quite expecting with how cranky people usually were in the morning.
“Sorry for bothering you, but I just saw you around the school lots and just wanted to say hi!” Despite his normally confident demeanour, Marick began to balk at the idea of actually speaking to his crush face-to-face, the strange silence of the forest not exactly helping his racing mind and blabbering mouth. “My name’s Marick by the way, I’m in year three.”
"I'm Yi-Hsuan from 2-C!" Outstretching his hand towards Marick, he was clearly reaching out for a handshake. "Most people just call me Yi."
Yi-Hsuan was not feeling all too happy to be speaking to some stranger from an entirely different year. "It's nice to meet you!" This third-year seemed to be the super talkative type on top of being unnecessarily vertically gifted. Looking him over, Yi-Hsuan spotted some piercings that didn't really help to add some excitement to having this conversation. But at the same time, it wasn't like this meeting would go anywhere and it wasn't like he'd see this dude again, so whatever frankly. Most people would just introduce themselves to him and leave it at that.
Shaking the other’s hand enthusiastically, Marick smiled, eyes briefly squinting and lips curling with joy. Perhaps it was time to shoot his shot. Just as his luck would have it, he had noticed a flyer for a carnival in town right before arriving at camp. The romantic side of Marick was tempted to ask Yi to go, but looking at the other’s sunny deposition, it seems like it would be hard to convince him to break the rules in such a major way.
Still, he did hear on TikTok that good girls like bad guys. Maybe he could try that theory out.
“How are you liking camp?” He asked, playing at faux-innocence. Yi-Hsuan didn't let his smile drop for even a second despite the massive urge to. Thinking of camp only stirred feelings of yearning for home and general annoyance for everything the camp was. "It's been good! Everyone's really fun to hang out with! My favorite part is the activities!" It was rehearsed through having this same conversation over and over again with others, but it wasn't like Marick knew every single chat Yi-Hsuan had ever had at the camp, so whatever really.
He brought his hands up to his chest, clasping them together. Combining it with a cheery tone, he asked whatever question came to mind first since they were only having small talk. "What about you?"
Oh. Well, if Yi liked camp that much, it would be harder for Marick to convince him to leave. Still, Marick couldn’t help but agree. The camp was pleasant enough with its friends and noises and laughter.
But it was not an ideal place for a date.
“I guess it’s cool, yeah,” Marick shrugged, eyes fixed on his crush’s smile, trying his best to not be obvious about his staring. Someone as cute as Yi was probably not unused to having admirers and Marick did not want to embarrass himself at their first meeting.
“Honestly, could they have chosen a worse time though? There’s a carnival in town now, and we have to miss it because we’re in the middle of the woods,” Crossing his arms, Marick quirked an eyebrow at Yi, a conspiratorial glint shining in his eyes. “Still, I bet we could sneak out and go together, if you wanted to?” That sounded pretty good. Within a short moment, a plan was already thought of: Yi-Hsuan would agree to Marick's offer and just get "lost" at some point; it didn't matter at when as long as he could go home. Yeah, he didn't know how to get through the forest on his own, but that was only a small setback. This was an easy way to leave, and this guy looked confident enough in his offer. Perhaps this third-year knew the way out. Why would he seem so self-assured otherwise?
Yi-Hsuan pressed his knuckles against his chin, glancing back and forth between the cabin and Marick in a hesitant manner, mouth in a stiff line. "I don't know," Dragging out the last syllable solemnly, his gaze landed on Marick. "the carnival sounds super cool, but what if we get caught? I really want to go though, honestly."
Wow! Surprisingly enough, Yi actually sounded interested in his offer. Marick grinned, his delinquent facade crumbling in his excitement. “It’s gonna be fine!” He chirped, clapping his hands together and tilting his head. “My quirk is luck, y’know? So we’re not gonna get caught, promise!”
Thoughts of a romantic carnival date flitted through Marick’s mind. He had been pining over this boy for months now, and now that camp has provided them with a perfect Hallmark-esque opportunity, he was going to make sure it was the best date Yi could ever ask for. He could even imagine the teasing faces of his family at home, making fun of him for only now asking out a boy he had been talking to them about for forever.
Still, late is better than never. That’s the way Marick looked at the world at least. He could take a few jokes on his dignity if it meant he could get to know Yi better. The change in demeanor was something strange, and candidly, Yi-Hsuan didn't fully understand what a luck quirk was, but he didn't dwell on either of those facts. There were more important things to think about. Plus, no reason to doubt Marick came up. Yeah, perhaps, maybe, definitely, Yi-Hsuan saw Marick's delinquent appearance as sort of an argument against leaving with him specifically, but it wasn't like he was going to stick around to see much more of it anyways.
"You promise?" Only a little more of this and a vacation from both this and the camp would be guaranteed--at least Yi-Hsuan was hoping so. Letting a little bit of genuine anticipation seep through, a smile appeared on his face again. "Well, if you say it's going to be fine, it'll be okay, right?" Truthfully, he wanted to fight a little more against leaving, but there was no case for it when Marick seemed so eager for whatever reason.
Marick hadn’t exactly thought that escaping the camp would be easy. Not with its facilities full of qualified faculty, each trained to take down villains far more powerful than the kids they were assigned to watch. Still, he thought his luck was supposed to kick in at some point. So when he heard the unmistakable sound of Mr.Bhatt rounding the third years up for breakfast, Marick tensed. He and Yi were not deep into the woods yet, and he had a feeling that getting caught trying to escape camp would not be a good first date. They had been following a hiking trail that led to a clearing near the edge of the forest, and it was clear that Bhatt was now on the same trail. As the sound of the teacher drew nearer, Marick froze, trying to figure out a way to escape with Yi without making too much noise and alerting the teacher. Yi’s expression twisted to one of determination as he wordlessly reached up and pulled at the air, jerking the thick branch of a lush tree down with nothing but the power of his quirk. Marick yelped as leaves brushed against his head but Bhatt passed them, nonplussed. Moments later, a phone began to ring. The science teacher picked up, a smile evident in his voice as he sauntered away, chattering to whoever had called him. Turning his gaze to Yi, Marick grinned, awe sparkling in his eyes. That was a cool quirk.
Yi-Hsuan was not having a great time. An estimate of how long this journey through the forest was updated itself every few minutes, and it had started to reach a number he was not pleased with. Though, he couldn't be sure whether it just felt long or if it actually was--out of courtesy, he hadn't brought his phone out of his pocket. There seemingly wasn't going to be a chance either to bring it out; Marick's chatter had been nonstop beyond the occasional question so there wasn't a silent break long enough to check the time. Instinct told Yi-Hsuan they were getting somewhere. They hadn't crossed any landmarks or trees he noted in his brain more than once, which was a win. All that meant in the end however was that they were wandering, which quelled Yi-Hsuan's positive outlook with the equalizing force of a loss. As much as he wanted to ask about the exact time until they'd be out, it was plain with just a thought to the path they had already taken that the third-year probably wouldn't know either. But Marick took his steps with such self-assurance, it felt like there was something to the obvious meandering. When the shadows from the overcast of the trees on Marick's face disappeared, Yi-Hsuan was surprised to find them on the edges of the forest. That was pretty lucky.
There wasn't anything else to do for a while other than mess around on his phone. Yi-Hsuan had been hiding out in the bathroom for a few minutes; if he stayed in long enough, maybe Marick would leave or go off and do something.
Almost immediately after arriving at the carnival, Yi had asked for the direction of the bathroom. Of course, Marick, being the gentleman he was, simply just bought a few snacks for them to share and waited. And waited. And waited.
It was a good day, really. The carnival was so much more than Yi-Hsuan expected in every sense of the phrase; it was larger with more space to walk than he expected, the lights and rides were extremely flashy, and there were so many items both food and toys that there was no one he could ever assume could buy them all. Every ride was better than the last, especially at night when they glowed. Though his original plan didn't work out, and he ended up spending the day with some guy he just met, for some reason, there was no sense of regret.
Marick returned to camp with a spring in his step, a big teddy bear cradled to his chest, and the cutest guy in school meandering beside him. His giddy grin refused to leave his face the rest of the night, every glimpse of Yi bringing back memories of a fun-filled day. As he went to sleep in a cold, almost-empty cabin, he could only imagine the other dates that they would go on in the future. Call him an optimist, but some gut feeling told him that everything was going to work out.
(Thank you @ask-hetaaca-chiwanan for Yi’s writing and art!!)
