"i could follow you to the beginning just to relive the start" — all i wanted, paramore
August 2021. Asian Camp.
Bright and early on a summer morning, Tina steps out of her car and back onto the grounds of the camp she would annually attend when she was younger. At this hour, the campers and counsellors are gathered in the dining cabin, enjoying their breakfast, completely unaware of what their director has planned for them today. Tina takes advantage of this and wanders around the familiar space, reminiscing on the time she spent here. The sun is shining and the birds are chirping and the air quality is just so much better here than it is back in LA, it's refreshing.
Tina loved going to Asian camp every summer. It really was some of the best times of her life. For a month once a year, she could get away from Lima and away from every bully. Here she wasn't the weird kid. She was just Tina. She got to learn more about her culture and other Asian cultures and actually make friends.
Tina gingerly steps inside the arts cabin – her favourite place in all of camp. This is where she spent a lot of time honing her artistic abilities. This is where they would sing, dance, draw, paint – anything related to creating and performing. She wouldn't be who she is today without this place.
This is also where she and Mike became friends… and later, where they became more. And as she steps onto the very spot it happened, she remembers them sharing their first kiss and a shiver runs down her spine. She tries to shake the memory away but it's no use – there is no memory that Tina has of Asian camp that doesn't have Mike in it.
Trying to distract herself, Tina strolls off to admire the paintings that the campers made the previous day that are currently drying along the back wall.
"I knew I'd find you in here," a voice says, interrupting her thoughts and startling her.
Tina turns around towards the doorway to find Mike standing there with his boyish smile and his hands hidden in his pockets. She can't help the wide grin that graces her face, feeling a sudden lightness in her chest at the sight of him after a long time and opens her arms to pull him in for a hug. "Mike!"
With a chuckle, he returns her hug, matching her enthusiasm. "God, it's been a while since we were last here," Mike remarks as he pulls away from her. He looks around the room, a hint of nostalgia written on his face before his gaze ultimately lands back on Tina and he smirks at her. "Remember the last time we had to these kids about the arts?"
Tina's throat suddenly goes dry and her heart starts to race and she silently wonders if he knows that she was just thinking about it. He always could seem to read her. But she clears her throat and rolls her eyes, attempting to seem unaffected by his words. "Like I could ever forget it. I was standing right here and you were dancing around with your abs out for some reason," she recalls lightheartedly.
"It was really hot and my shirt got dumped in the lake!" Mike yells defensively and Tina laughs uproariously at his reaction.
"Uh, huh… You know, Santana told me all about your plan," Tina reveals, a smirk plastered on her face while he stammers.
"There wasn't a plan," Mike denies exasperatedly, his face slightly flushed. What else has Santana told her that he doesn't know about?
"Suuure," Tina teases but she dismisses it, figuring she would spare him given the way he is currently sweating, knowing it has nothing to do with the summer heat and returns to the topic at hand. "Anyways, I was singing 'Getting to Know You' from the King and I," Tina recollects as she moves to stand at the same spot she stood in 11 years ago, hoping he doesn't notice the way her hands shake at the memory.
"You never did get to finish singing it – you sounded amazing though," Mike lauds, slowly following her around the room.
"I could finish the song right now," Tina suggests with a wag of her eyebrows and there's a glimmer of something in Mike's eyes that makes her heart quicken. They are playing a dangerous game.
"And I'll dance around you," he adds, already making his way to connect his phone to the speakers at the back of the room.
"Getting to know you, getting to know all about you," Tina sings when the instrumental begins to play and she can't keep the smile off her face at the sight of Mike dancing around the room.
They've been here a thousand times before. Her singing and him dancing around her. Back when they were just friends, when they were lovers, and today they are exes. Their relationship has changed so much throughout the years but the familiarity of this all fills her with a warmth that she doesn't want to explore.
She thinks of the last time they performed this song together. It was much different than now. They had a lot to prove to those group of tech-savvy children while also grappling with their budding feelings for each other.
But now, it's just them in this room and they don't have anything to prove. Not to each other. Never to each other. Which is why instead of his graceful, orchestrated moves, Mike is dancing around like a goofball and Tina can hardly contain her giggles. This only further encourages him to continue, believing that there is no sound in the world better than the combination of Tina's singing and her laughter.
"Haven't you noticed suddenly I'm bright and breezy? Because of all the beautiful and new things, I'm learning about you day by day," Tina finishes singing just as Mike lands on the spot right in front of her and their laughter dies down as they stare each other in the eyes.
His face is so tantalizing close to hers that she can feel his warm breath against her lips and it makes her breathing stagger. Her eyes flicker down to glance at his lips as her tongue darts out to lick her own, not realizing how it fuels Mike's desire to grab her by the waist and kiss her senseless.
Slowly losing his self-control, he inches his face closer to hers as her eyes flutter shut in anticipation. She can hear a tiny voice telling her to stop, to step back and not succumb to temptation but all logic has left her mind. All she can think about is him and how badly she wants him to kiss her.
He doesn't get the chance.
"Mike! Tina! I didn't know you were here already," Evelyn barges into the cabin, unknowingly pulling the two out of their trance and causing them to jump apart in haste.
The camp director greets them with a welcoming hug, completely oblivious to their shaken demeanours. As he pulls away from her embrace, Mike clears his throat and puts on his best smile. "Evelyn, it's so wonderful to see you again!"
"Likewise! We have missed having the two of you at this camp," Evelyn shares before giving the two of them a stern look. "And I do trust that there won't be any making out in front of the children this time around."
Their eyes widen in response, panicked, as they nervously glance back at each other. But Evelyn starts laughing and they realize she is only kidding but given the position they were just in mere moments ago, all they can do is awkwardly laugh with her.
"No making out this time around," Tina promises with a nervous chuckle while Mike frantically nods his head in agreement before Evelyn explains how the plan for their presentation to the children.
"Good morning, children. I have two very special guests with me today," Evelyn announces to the large crowd of Asian children gathered in their largest cabin as they all sit cross-legged on the floor in front of her.
Tina and Mike stand together, hidden in the corner of the room, as Evelyn hypes them up. They quietly laugh with each other at the sight of the campers who instead of paying attention to the person speaking in front of them, all have their attention locked on their devices. Clearly, not much has changed in the past 11 years.
Nonetheless, Evelyn maintains her cheerful manner and silently hopes that Tina and Mike's presence will garner some excitement in her campers. "So, please, join me in welcoming, Tina Cohen-Chang and Mike Chang!"
At the mention of their names, every head in the audience shoots up in surprise, effectively drawing their attention away from their electronics, which is to be expected given how much fame the two of them have garnered over the years. As they were made aware of by Tina's previous assistant in high school, Dottie Kazatori, Tina and Mike gained a bit of a reputation at camp 11 years ago due to their infamous make-out session in front of the kids.
Then, they later found success in the entertainment industry, capturing the attention of many people in the world – especially every Asian parent in the area. At first, they thought their dreams were ridiculous ("Why would Michael Chang Sr. even consider supporting his son's dancing career?") But to their surprise, their dreams came true and became the poster children for hard work and determination. And now there isn't a single Asian person living in Ohio that hasn't heard the names Tina Cohen-Chang or Mike Chang.
The children applaud as Tina and Mike approach the front of the room, subtly exchanging a look of pleasant surprise with each other. However, while they have successfully captured the children's attention, they have now opted to use their devices to take photos and videos of the two of them. They even think they hear a kid say they were going live on Instagram which they mentally prepare themselves for, knowing they will undoubtedly end up on social media at some point afterwards.
"Hi, everyone!" Tina says, waving at everyone. "Like Evelyn said, I'm Tina and this is Mike. We are both very excited to be here with you today!"
"Yes, we are. As I'm sure a lot of you know, 19 years ago, the two of us were sitting in your positions as campers at this very place," Mike reveals and tries to bite back a chuckle at the scattered gasps of amazing coming from the audience.
"That's right. Coming to Asian camp was always the highlight of my summer," Tina divulges as she smiles softly at Mike.
He returns her smile, suddenly feeling a warmth in his chest. "Mine too."
Returning her attention to the crowd in front of her, Tina continues, "So, we know firsthand how exciting this must all be for you – whether it's your first summer here or you're a veteran like Mike and me."
"You are going to make so many new memories at this camp. I mean, this is where Tina and I became close friends."
"And we definitely bonded over all the fun activities there are to do here."
"But one of my favourite things that we did here was all the arts activities," Mike reveals and the campers stare up at him in a mixture of wonder and confusion. "This was the first place that I felt really free to dance. And now I'm a professional dancer."
The reality of where Mike is now in his career makes Tina fill giddy inside, causing her to beam at him. "Yeah… I always loved the arts and especially doing those activities here. We would paint and sing campfire songs and do talent shows – I perfected a lot of my skills here."
"And without the arts, I would not be half the person that I am standing before you today."
"Me neither. The arts gave me a lot of confidence. I used to be a shy kid, faking a stutter to keep everyone away, but now look at me. I make a living performing in front of hundreds of people."
One of the children raises their arm in the air, waving their hand to capture their attention. "Can you show us an example?"
The children look at them expectantly, their eyes wide with excitement. Tina and Mike turn to each other and shrug before nodding at the kids in response with a grin. "Sure, why not?"
Mike signals to someone at the back of the room and music starts playing. Then, Tina and Mike are singing and dancing together. It's not as free and liberating as their first performance today but it's fun nonetheless and they're pretty sure it will end up on YouTube or TikTok or somewhere on the internet by the end of the day.
At the end of their performance, the children applaud as the pair bow in front of them. "Thank you, thank you. So, I hope that helped convince you that the arts are really fun and important," Tina says. "I know most of your parents probably want you to choose a more sustainable and achievable career, but please, don't be afraid to dream – we weren't."
Mike looks over at Tina fondly and smiles at her, filled with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for her. She is the one that convinced him to dream. And now, here she is doing the same for hundreds of more children. What did the world do to deserve someone as wonderful as Tina Cohen-Chang?
He clears his throat and attempts to shake out his thoughts, refocusing on finishing their presentation. "And if anyone is thinking about pursuing the arts, my dad created this amazing group to help out and support you in that."
"Thank you so much, Tina and Mike, for coming all the way out here and showing us how wonderful the arts can be," Evelyn says as she joins them at the front of the room. "Does anyone have any questions for them?"
Everyone's hands shoot up excitedly causing them to giggle at their enthusiasm. Mike points to one girl sitting at the front, "Uh, yeah?"
"Is it true that you made out in front of everyone when you were counsellors?"
Tina and Mike's jaws slightly drop at the question and they turn to each other, their eyes wide as they blush furiously. "Um, yes, that is true," Mike confirms sheepishly.
The response has everyone scandalized and they all whisper stuff with each other. Tina pinches the bridge of her nose in embarrassment. How do they always end up here, being recorded and having their relationship aired out by children?
"Any other questions?" Tina asks, almost pleading, desperately trying to change the conversation. Every hand shoots up again excitedly. "Not about Mike and I's previous romantic relationship," she adds and all the hands drop down except for one. "Yes?"
"Are you really going to be in a movie with Michelle Yeoh? Have you met her? What is she like?"
Tina sighs and nods her head in confirmation. The children are clearly over their presentation on the arts and now only care about what celebrity gossip they can find out.
"We're trending on Twitter," Tina announces to Mike as she approaches where he sits on a bench, waiting for her to come back from using the restroom.
After spending the entire day at camp and joining in on their other planned camp activities, Tina and Mike managed a few hours without any distractions from the outside world. But by the fifth notification she received from others, she decided to check her social media and just as expected, their presentation ended up on social media and went viral within seconds.
Mike sighs and shakes his head disapprovingly. "I had a feeling we would be."
"And guess who's spearheading all of the gossip-mongering?"
"Jacob Ben Israel?" Mike hypothesizes with a scowl.
"Jacob Ben Israel," Tina confirms with an eye roll before shutting her phone off and shoving it back into her pocket.
"Let's go walk around a bit and enjoy the little time we have left before we have to go back to our lives and deal with it," Mike suggests. "I'm sure the internet will find some other news to entertain them by tomorrow."
"I hope so," Tina wishes.
The sun is setting and the campers are all getting ready for bed as they walk around the quiet campgrounds. They wander off towards the lake, watching the sunset on the horizon and just enjoying the peace and comfort of it just being the two of them. Everything always feels easy when they're around each other.
Mike turns to look at Tina as the sky casts a beautiful glow on her features when the tree right beside her catches his eye. "Hey, remember when we did this?" he asks, moving past her to brush his fingers along the carvings on the tree: T + M. "We did this the very last night we were here."
Tina smiles fondly at the memory and brushes a strand of hair behind her ear before slowly approaching him and nodding. "Yeah… I hadn't even officially broken up with Artie yet," she recalls with a shaky breath. "We were just two kids, crazy in love."
With a deep breath, Mike tears his eyes away from the carvings to look back at Tina and moves to stand directly in front of her, staring intensely. "Sometimes, I look at you and it feels like we're still those two kids crazy in love."
Tina looks up at him, her heart pounding in her chest at the sudden shift in their dynamic. Her eyes cast down to gaze at his lips once more and she feels herself getting drawn closer to him. But this time the tiny voice in her mind prevails and she catches herself before anything could happen. She takes a large step backwards, trying to create as much distance between them as possible. Swallowing the lump in her throat, her head drops down as she squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head frantically.
Mike watches her carefully, silently cursing himself for not being able to restrain himself and making everything weird. He really shouldn't be making Tina uncomfortable when he only gets to see her once in a while.
"Look, I cheated on Artie at Asian camp once… I can't do that to him again," Tina explains with a shaky voice. "He's a really great guy."
"Are you saying you regret what happened between us all those years ago?" Mike asks, his voice laced with hurt and disappointment that Tina wishes she didn't notice.
"No. Never," she whispers. "You are the greatest, sweetest guy – my first love –"
"But now there's Artie," he interjects.
Tina lets his words hang in the silence before responding quietly and shrugging, "You didn't want to marry me."
Mike scoffs and shakes his head, his jaw ticking. "Of course, I want to marry you. I knew that I wanted to marry you since we were kids," Mike divulges, trying his best not to yell and shake her so that she understands. Instead, he runs his fingers through his hair and sighs deeply. "But you were just caught up in the romance of four of our best friends getting married. You didn't want to marry me. You just liked the idea of being married to your high school sweetheart."
Tina crosses her arms and opens her mouth to protest but Mike holds his hand out, interrupting her. "The last thing I wanted was to be years into our marriage with a bunch of small kids running around when the magic of that fades and you realize that I was never the guy you wanted to spend the rest of your life with."
Tina knots her eyebrows, staring at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me?" she asks, eyes narrowed at him like he's stupid because, honestly, he kind of is. "Of course, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. You were the love of my life. I have never been happier than those two years we were together—"
"But you always wanted Artie," Mike points out, his voice soft despite the hurt and frustration he feels. "You were just waiting for him to get his shit together and realize that you are the most amazing person in the entire world and to treat you the way you've always deserved. I was always your second choice."
They pause, letting his words sink in, as they stare at each other. He looks deeply into her eyes as if trying to memorize her face. She is still the most beautiful thing he's ever laid his eyes on.
But the sun has set and the moon has come out and it shines on her engagement ring, the glimmer of the moonlight catching his attention. He stares intensely at her finger and points at it, drawing her attention to it as well. "That's why his ring is the one on your finger."
Not being able to handle any more of this conversation, Mike takes a deep breath and walks away, cursing himself for probably ruining what little relationship he still had with Tina. She turns around and watches him before calling out, "You were never my second choice."
Mike stops in his tracks at her words before turning around to face her slowly. He examines her face for any indication of uncertainty and doesn't find it. Taking large strides, he makes his way back to her, cupping her face with his hands before crashing his lips onto hers and they meld perfectly together once again.
a/n:i could've ended the story here honestly… like this chapter was actually the initial idea for the story & i could have left it at this but i'm messy and it spiralled lol so i'll see y'all for more next week! also idk why i decided tina is making a movie with michelle yeoh, i just think she's mother and i find the irony of harry being the one to have a film with her recently so funny (ps everything everywhere all once deserves all the awards, go watch it if you haven't)