It's the second day of the camp. Mark just enjoys being with his friends and not worry about anything else but to eat, sleep and play. He's been studying every single day and it was worth it when he aced all his exams.

He has just entered the dining hall when someone pulls him to the corner, startling him. "Kiera? What are you doing?" He asks, arching a brow.

She purses her lips and points to the direction of the line. "Chelsie's right there with her friends."

He follows her line of vision and sees Chelsie with three other guys, two of them look familiar. "Yes I can see that."

"Go mingle with them." Kiera urges him, but he scratches the back of his head. "Win her friends over."

He sighs. "Kiera, I'm not competing with Jeno."

"So you're admitting it then? You have feelings for her," she says with a sly smile.

He looks down. "I didn't say that."

Kiera scoffs. "You didn't have to. I can see right through you." She taps his back, leaving him.

He exhales a breath and walks over to the line. But he sees Chelsie recognizing him as he goes near the line. "Mark!" He hears her calling out to him so he has no choice but to go up to her.

"Hey, Chels!" He greets casually, smiling at her and her friends.

"Get in the back of the line man!" One of her friends says, confusing him.

"Haechan!" She glares at her friend and turns back to him. "Sorry. These are my friends, Haechan, Jisung and Chenle."

"Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Mark," he introduces himself.

"Nice to meet you," Jisung answers back.

"Oh, you're members of Lotus, right?" He asks when he recognizes them.

"I am, but they're not," Haechan points out.

Just then, he sees Jeno coming his way towards them. He hears Haechan mumble, "Great! Now the prince is here too."

Chelsie pinches Haechan on the side, causing the other to wince in pain. "Please don't embarrass me," she mutters to her friends. "Your Highness," she starts to speak again as soon as Jeno reaches them.

Mark lifts his chin to acknowledge his friend's presence. "Jeno."

Jeno smiles. "I'm sorry I hope you don't mind me interrupting you like this."

"It's alright, Your Highness," Chelsie answers back.

"Are they your friends, Chelsie?" Jeno asks.

Chelsie nods. "This is Haechan, Jisung and Chenle, Your Highness." She points at each one of them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness," her friends say, bowing.

"The pleasure is all mine. And please, just call me Jeno," the prince tells them.

"Cool. We can-" Haechan gets cut off when Chelsie squeezes his arm. "Ahhh!"

She bows in embarrassment. "Pardon me, Your Highness."

Jeno laughs silently. "I don't mind. Can I take you somewhere for a bit, Chelsie?"

Chelsie pauses, blinking. She looks at her friends, who remain quiet. Then, she turns to Mark, who responds with a thin smile. "S-Sure, Your Highness."

"Just be sure to bring her back before dark, Your Highness," Haechan says, obviously teasing, but Mark realizes that her friends are being protective of her.

When Jeno and Chelsie disappears from the dining hall, Mark is about to leave, but he hears Haechan speak to him, "Do you want to come hang out with us?"

He spins around, looking at them. He figures it won't do him no harm to agree so he nods. "Sure."

****

Mark ended up hanging out with Chelsie's friends while playing guitars on the field. He learned in a span of two hours that Haechan and Jisung are Chelsie's childhood friends and they only met Chenle in middle school, which still means they all knew each other for quite a while now.

"The truth is Haechan likes Chelsie but she keeps on rejecting him so they just became friends in the end," Jisung says, teasingly.

Chenle laughs. "Says the one who doesn't like her as well."

Mark laughs along with him. So they both like Chelsie. That's why Haechan was acting that way when Jeno came up to us a while ago, he thinks to himself.

"She didn't reject me. She just said she doesn't want to date anyone yet until graduation," Haechan says in his defense.

"That's basically the same thing," Chenle mocks him.

"How about you Mark? Are you seeing anyone right now?" Haechan suddenly asks, catching him off guard. "We saw you a while back with a girl."

He pauses, thinking. They probably saw Kiera with him at the dining hall earlier. "Oh, that's just a friend."

Before anyone can speak again, someone suddenly calls out to him. "Mark!" He looks over his shoulder and sees Elexa waving at her. He waves at her as she makes her way towards them.

"Elexa, hey! What have you been up to?" He asks as soon as she reaches them.

She takes a breath. "I just got back from a music session with a cool mentor. And you? Just chilling out here, I guess?" She looks at him and turns to the other guys with him. "I'm not sure I've met your friends here before?"

Mark blinks, realizing it. "Oh, right! They're Chelsie's friends. This is Elexa, she's classmates with Chelsie as well."

"Hey, I'm just not a classmate. I'm her friend, too," she complains, turning to the others. "Nice to meet you. I'm Elexa."

"Hi... Elexa," Haechan greets, his eyes not leaving her.

Mark laughs silently when he notices this. "Where's Renjun?"

Elexa scoffs. "I don't care where he is."

"Are you two fighting again?" He asks, chuckling.

Just then, someone comes running towards their direction. "Speak of the devil!" Elexa mumbles.

"El,I was looking for you," Renjun says, panting hard. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I don't have to tell you everything," she explains, crossing her arms over her chest.

It's already 8 pm so the sky is already dark. Elexa stands up from her seat and Renjun follows suit. Mark is about to stand as well when fireworks suddenly light up the sky. He stares in awe, admiring the colours that it form. Just then, Renjun speaks breaking the silence among them. "So that's what Jeno's been planning all along."

He turns to his friend in question. "Jeno?"

Elexa smiles. "It's for Chelsie obviously. She's with him right now, isn't she?"

Haechan exhales a huge breath, shaking his head. "I told him to bring her back before dark."

"Hey, watch your language! Don't address him so casually. He's still a prince," Renjun states, glaring at Haechan.

Haechan raises both his arms up in defeat. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry."

Meanwhile, Mark just falls silent. He doesn't even know what to feel about that. Jeno really is serious about Chelsie and he's doing everything to win her. Any girl would fall for a grand gesture like that. And no guy can ever top that.

****

The next day, Mark spends his time sitting under a tree with his notebook. He's been writing poetry since middle school after reading a poem by William Wordsworth called My Heart Leaps Up or simply, The Rainbow. Since then, he's been fascinated with writing poetry. He feels like he can write anything through it without having to focus too much on grammar or a story, just his feelings is enough.

Just then, he gets startled when someone clears a throat behind him. He looks over his shoulder and sees Chelsie smiling at him. "Busy?" She asks, taking a seat next to him. He shakes his head, closing his notebook. "Is that your journal?" She teases.

He chuckles. "Not quite. What are you doing here?"

She shrugs. "I just finished attending the music session. Then, I saw you here while I was passing by. And you?"

He clucks his tongue, looking away. "Just enjoying the solitude."

"Should I leave then?"

He laughs. "You're free to stay."

She looks at the notebook which he is holding. "I didn't know you keep a journal."

"It's not a journal." He turns to her. "I write poems."

Her mouth opens, blinking. "Really? That's cool! Can I read one of your works?"

"Uh..." He scratches the back of his head, hesitating but open the notebook to check and finally decides to show her one. "It's not that great, really."

"I'm sure it's better than most." She reads the first thing that she sees when he opens a page for her. "Untitled?" She turns to him in question.

He shrugs. "I haven't really decided on a title for it."

She falls silent as she reads the whole poem. "It's really good. Is this about... Kiera?"

He snaps his head at her in surprise. "What? No! It's not."

She stifles a laugh. "Why are you being defensive then?"

He frowns. "I'm not! I'm just saying, it's not about her."

She presses her lips together to prevent herself from laughing again. "Alright. If you say so. But you like her, don't you?"

He pauses, turning to her with a serious look on his face. "I don't."

When she sees this, her smile fades away. "I'm sorry. I was just-"

He suddenly bursts into laughter, causing her to frown at him. "Alright, alright. But seriously, Chels, it's not what you think."