Hey, guys. I just updates yesterday so make sure you read the previous chapter first before going ahead with this one!

"Psst."

Sehun sighed. As if it wasn't already enough that he was sleeping in a tent with five other snoring males, Jongin wouldn't stop twisting and turning beside him.

"What do you want, Jongin? I'm trying to get some sleep." Sehun hissed at the boy without turning over to look at him. Though it was virtually impossible to fall asleep when he was sandwiched between five other guys in a stuffy tent, who were still noisy even when asleep. That didn't mean he was going to stop trying, though. It had been an exhausting day. From the four-hour long bus trip to the one-hour walk to find a perfect clearing to set up camp, and then of course to the 'setting up camp' part. While the girls got to relax, chat and take selfies, the guys were stuck setting up twelve tents, and no one in the class even knew how to so it just took that much longer to figure it all out first. By the time they were done, it was already night time and everyone was exhausted. Since it was still too early to go to sleep but too late to actually do anything, they set up a fire and sat around it in a circle, everyone talking to their friends and making s'mores. When it was 10pm, the teachers forced all the students to go to sleep and now here they were.

"I can't sleep." Sehun could almost hear the pout in his voice.

"Aren't you the one who once slept in a subway during rush hour?" Sehun whispered back with a scoff, "I don't think you should be having any problems."

"I don't know. I just can't fall asleep. And I think Kris just farted."

"And what do you want me to do? Read you a bedtime story?" Sehun asked with a roll of his eyes. The air did smell a little funny though.

"You're the biology student. Maybe you can think of something to make me fall asleep."

"Just shut your eyes, and your mouth."

"Thanks for the help, er."

A few minutes later, with Jongin's non-stop twisting and turning, the brunette sat up.

"Where are you going?" Sehun asked.

"I'm gonna go take a walk. I can't take Kris' farts any more."

Sehun frowned at the elder and watched him leave the tent. Not long after, he felt a tingling sensation on his arm. Looking down, he gasped when he saw a cockroach leisurely taking a stroll on his fair skin.

Why the did I agree to this ?

He swatted the insect off and decided to leave the tent, not really welcome to the idea of sleeping anymore when clearly there were bugs around. Baekhyun was right, after all. Said boy was fast asleep next to him, mouth wide open with a trail of drool lying gracefully from the corner of his lips. With a sigh, he walked out of the tent and shivered slightly when the cold air hit him. There was no one around in sight. He decided to go look for Jongin, but remembered Mr. Jung telling them not to go out into the woods at night and to only go in groups. Jongin was no where in sight so that could only mean one thing.

He went into the ing woods.

After fifteen minutes of searching, he couldn't find the elder boy anywhere. He tried his best not to get too far from the camp site as he didn't want to get lost. Slightly worried, he decided to go back to the camp to see if Jongin had returned. But when he got back and looked into the tent, Jongin was still no where to be seen. Sehun wouldn't be surprised if he got himself lost somewhere. He wondered if he should go look for the brunette again, but decided on staying put for a while instead and if Jongin didn't return, he'd go search for him again. 

Twenty minutes passed. Still no sign of Jongin. The blonde was starting to get a little worried that something had happened to him. Trying not to make too much noise, Sehun lit up the rest of the firewood left from the campfire so if he got lost in the woods, he could at least see the smoke and find his way back. Or at least Jongin could. Grabbing a flashlight from the tent, he went back into the woods to search for the elder boy, cursing him continuously in his head. He made sure every now and again that he could still see the smoke as he traversed between the trees, twigs snapping underneath his feet with almost every step.

"Godammit Jongin where are you?" He hissed to himself. He tried calling his name, but not too loud to wake everyone up. He contemplated calling one of the teachers or something but that would just cause unnecessary commotion and Jongin would get into trouble for breaking the rules. After looking around for another twenty minutes or so, he finally reached another clearing with a lake. The moonlight shone down on the water and the view was absolutely breathtaking.

"Wow." He whispered to himself. Looking to the right, he saw Jongin sitting on the ground a distance away, back resting against a rock by the lake. He turned off his flashlight and made his way towards the elder, determined to let him have it for worrying him.

"There you are!"

Jongin jumped and clutched his chest at the sudden voice but calmed down when he saw that it was just Sehun.

"Sehun? What are you doing here?" He asked with a frown on his face, "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"No you almost gave me a heart attack. I thought you got eaten by a bear or something." Sehun snapped, "I was ing looking for you."

"But why?"

"I don't know, I thought you got lost or something."

Jongin bit his lip and looked down at the ground.

"Oh. So you did get lost."

"No I didn't! I... I just found this spot and decided to sit here for a while."

"Stop lying, Jongin." Sehun rolled his eyes as he sat down next to the elder.

"Okay, fine. I got lost. Happy?" He grumbled.

"Idiot. Didn't Mr. Jung say not to go out into the woods at night?"

"I couldn't help it. I'm an adventurous person! Except I have really ty sense of direction."

"Clearly," Sehun chuckled, staring up ahead of him at the lake, "Not gonna lie though... This is a nice spot."

"Yeah." Jongin agreed, looking at the boy next to him. The moonlight was shining down on his fair skin and his eyes were almost shining. He had to admit, Sehun was very good-looking, but the way he was looking at him (and admiring the sight) right now was not how a straight person would and he needed to stop right now. Quickly, he looked away, feeling extremely weirded out with himself.

"I uh... I'm glad you found me. I was gonna wait until the morning to look for camp again."

Sehun sighed, "Well, that's what friends do, right?"

Jongin laughed softly, "Yeah... Thanks, friend."

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna bother going through all the trouble next time. You can go get eaten by a bear if you get lost again for all I care."

"Gee thanks. It's great to know you'll always have my back." Jongin said sarcastically. Sehun chuckled. The two fell into comfortable silence after that, letting the cold wind and the sounds of nature sooth them.

"We should head back to camp." Sehun said softly, slightly shivering from the cold.

"And back into that tent with Kris' unforgiving farts? No thank you."

Jongin noticed that Sehun was cold and felt a little bad about it. But he really didn't want to go back into that tent. He just wanted to stay here with the younger until daylight. It was just... relaxing. After much contemplation, he took off his coat and threw it over Sehun's head.

"What the ?" Sehun glared at the elder.

"Wear it. I don't want you turning into an icicle or something." He tried to feign nonchalance as he stared ahead at the lake.

Sehun eyes softened but he shook his head, "Then you'll get cold. And I'm fine, really."

"No you're not. Just wear the goddamn thing, Sehun."

The blonde looked from Jongin to the coat in his hands, still warm from the elder's body heat. Sighing, he moved closer to the elder boy until their shoulders were touching and covered the two of them with the coat like a blanket instead. Jongin felt the alarms going off in his head from the sudden contact. The two had never been this close before, and Sehun's course of action of covering them both instead of just wearing the jacket made him feel all warm inside. Because apparently, beneath all that indifference, Sehun was a caring person. Jongin wasn't sure why he was overreacting to this but all he could think about was the warmth Sehun's body was radiating.

What's wrong with me? Calm the down, Jongin. There's nothing gay about this, okay? You're just friends.

"Jongin?"

Sehun's voice snapped him out of his crazy thoughts, "Y-Yeah?"

"You okay?"

Jongin gulped, "I'm f-fine."

"Oh." Sehun sighed, understanding what was going on, "You're uncomfortable with this, aren't you? Just take the coat back, Jongin, and let's get back to the camp site." The blonde was about to move away from Jongin but the latter quickly stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"N-No... It's nice, actually."

Sehun stiffened under his hold, making the elder widen his eyes quickly, "Not in like a gay way! I mean, like it's... warm."

Jongin pulled the other back to rest against the rock again and fixed the coat over them. Sehun still seemed uncomfortable but Jongin stayed put anyway.

Well this is ing awkward.

"By the way, that book you gave me... it's actually not that bad." Jongin said, trying to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.

"Yeah? You actually read it?" Sehun actually looked surprised.

"Yeah. I'm already two-fifty pages in. As depressing as it is, it really does give you some insight on how these disabled people feel and think."

"You actually sound like a smart person now," Sehun chuckled, and Jongin was glad the other was relaxing again, "Do you know what the most for them, though? Not the fact that they're disabled... but the pity stares that they get for it."

"You think so?" Jongin asked.

"Yeah... Because I hate being pitied. That's why I don't like opening up to people. I don't want them to feel bad for me and treat me differently just because of something that happened to me in the past." Sehun replied, looking straight into Jongin's eyes. The latter took a moment to notice how close their faces were but tried not to let it phase him. "I don't want them to think I'm weak."

"I don't think you're weak, Sehun. You're actually the exact opposite. And for that I don't pity you, I respect you."

Sehun didn't say anything but the genuine smile on his face was more than enough. The smile that Jongin never thought would be directed at him, the smile that he thought was only reserved for Luhan. It made his stomach do backflips and he wasn't sure why.

"Thanks, Jongin."

The two went back to comfortable silence and Jongin yawned, the calming atmosphere making him sleepy. After much contemplation, he rested his head on the younger's shoulder, "Good night, Sehun-ah." He mumbled sleepily, eyes already closed. Sehun would have complained but honestly he was sleepy too and it was rather comfortable here, infinitely more so than at the tent.

Without thinking too much about it, he rested his own head on Jongin's and closed his eyes.

"Good night, Jongin."

* * *

Surprisingly enough, this time it was Jongin that woke up first. Sehun was cuddled up to his side and the coat was messily draped over them as the sunlight shone down on their faces. Jongin rubbed his eyes and looked down at Sehun. He looked so relaxed and so peaceful, the side of his face digging into Jongin's neck. The sight sent flutters up his heart. 

What is happening with me?

Jongin's smile turned into a frown. What was going on with him? Why was he having all these weird thoughts and feelings lately? Why did he hate it so much when girls gawked at Sehun, or when his friends (or anyone for that matter) got a little too close to him? Why did it make his blood boil when he saw him hugging Luhan that night? At first he thought it was just him being an overprotective Hyung but now it was clearly more than that. It was like Jongin didn't want anyone else coming near Sehun and making him happy, making him smile, except for himself. And now it wasn't just because he wanted to be better than everyone else. This was becoming more than just platonic.

Jongin was mentally freaking out.

He's a guy. I'm a guy. He's a guy. I'm a guy.

I'm not gay.

Now even he was doubting that. But how does one simply go from homophobic to homoual? And that too because of one person? It didn't work like that.

No. It's ing ridiculous.

The lingering looks, how much he'd been noticing about Sehun these days, not to mention unintentionally admiring his backside sometimes. He noticed how his eyes scrunched up into little half-moons and how he always brought his hands up to cover his mouth when he laughed. How much Jongin wanted to move his hands away so he could see his beautiful smile. His milky, pale white skin. How ethereal he looked under the moonlight.

A few weeks ago, he would have told himself this was wrong. That a guy is not supposed to like another guy. But now, now that he saw how Sehun's feelings for Luhan weren't really all that different from those between a boy and a girl, he wouldn't say it was something wrong. He just wasn't ready to accept the fact that he was having feelings for another guy. It was just too bizarre. Too strange. He wasn't ready to face other people, his friends, his mother but most of all he wasn't ready to face his feelings.

How could he accept this idea calmly when it was something he thought was taboo all his life? It wasn't simple like that.

Yet when he looked down at Sehun's sleeping form, all his worries would momentarily be washed away, and he was left with a warm, fuzzy feeling in his heart.

. These are not straight feelings.

The realization brought both bliss and dread to him. But more so the latter.

I have to stop this before it gets too big... before it slips out of my control...

"Jongin?" Sehun sleepily muttered as his eyes fluttered open, yawning adorably. Jongin noticed how his cold facade, for once, was gone. He looked so vulnerable right now. But as he sat up and composed himself, it was as good as gone.

"We should get back to camp before they think we died or something." Sehun said, standing up. He held his hand out for the elder to take. Jongin just stared at it dumbly for a while before placing his own palm in Sehun's and the latter pulled him up to his feet.

"Let's go." Sehun led the way and Jongin silently followed behind him. He was a mess inside, self-contradictory thoughts popping here and there but most of all, confusion.

Jongin was very much ually confused.

"You're awfully quiet." Sehun mumbled, glancing at the elder boy behind him.

"I'm just not a morning person is all." Jongin answered with a shrug of his shoulders. 

"Oh."

Once they made it back to camp, they were greeted with their friends' worried faces and pissed off teachers. The two silently listened to Mr. Jung as he angrily lectured them about breaking the rules and they repeatedly bowed ninety degrees to apologize to him and the rest of the teachers. After the whole commotion was over with, the teachers called up all the students to announce their activities for the day. Jongin made sure he sat as far away from Sehun as possible because being near him was making things even harder for him. He just needed some space from the younger boy to be able to gather his thoughts properly.

"Alright I hope everyone had a good night's sleep."

Jongin scoffed. Yeah right.

"So today we're gonna be having a little challenge. Do you guys see the top of that hill?" Everyone turned their eyes to where the teacher was pointing. There was a hill far away from the camp site with a red flag on it, "We're gonna divide everyone into pairs. The game is simple, really. The first pair to make it to the top of that hill is the winner."

The students cheered. "Now, I want you all to divide yourselves into two groups, thirty in each."

It took a few minutes for the students to messily divide themselves and when they did, the teacher spoke again, "Great. Now I want each of you to pick a number from the bowls in front of you and each two people with the same number will be a pair." 

Jongin picked a number and read it. Thirty-six. In his head, he kept chanting, please don't let Sehun be my partner. Next thing he knew, he saw Sehun walking around holding up that damn number. Thirty-six. Why, isn't fate on my side this fine morning? Jongin quickly walked in the opposite direction and was never more happy to bump into Minseok.

"Hey Minseok! Let's switch."

"Why?" The elder asked with a frown as Jongin took the number from Minseok's hand and replaced it with his own.

"I don't wanna be paired with a guy." He said lamely, but the elder bought it anyway with a roll of his eyes. When he saw Sehun approaching them, he quickly went off to look for his new partner. He finally found out that it was a girl from their class, Park Kyungri, who was also the hottest in their grade. On his To-Do list for a while, too.

This is exactly what I need right now.

He smirked and walked up to the girl.

"Fourteen?" He held up the number in his hand and she turned to look at him, immediately smiling her signature flirtatious smile.

"Fourteen." 

* * *

"L-Let's take a break." Kyungri said, trying to catch her breath. They had been walking uphill for a while now. The top of the hill seemed to get closer and closer but it was never close enough. And Jongin, being the competitive person he is, actually wanted to win.

"Noona, are you tired? Do you want me to carry you the rest of the way?" He asked with a small smirk, making the girl giggle.

"Nah, I'll just weigh you down. Let's just sit for a while, okay?" 

"Okay."

The girl looked around for a spot to sit and settled on a rock by a tree, while Jongin sat down next to her. He was also a little tired; they'd been walking for about an hour, after all.

"This is pretty fun, huh?" She asked, and the boy immediately nodded.

"It is. Especially since we're paired up together." He winked at her.

"Oh shut up, you charmer." She pushed him playfully.

"Why, Noona? Aren't you having fun with me?" He asked, slightly tilting his head to the side with the playful expression on his face.

"Of course I am." Her voice dropped an octave, eyes looking up at his flirtatiously. The girl had an intense gaze on him, "I like it when you call me Noona."

Jongin didn't fail to pick up on her seductive tone, and her slight lisp. It reminded him of Sehun a bit, the boy also had an adorable lisp.

Sehun.

Jongin cursed himself for thinking about the younger again. No, Jongin. You like girls. Get it through your head. His gaze didn't leave Kyungri's as he leaned in closer. She was giving him an invitation and he was going to take it.

You like girls and you're gonna prove it right now.

He crashed his lips against Kyungri's, partly because he wanted to prove a point to himself. He could taste the slight tang of lip gloss on her lips. She latched her fingers into his shirt and pulled him closer, moving her lips against his and slightly parting them to grant him entrance. He circled his arms around her waist and slipped his tongue past her lips.

See? You're not gay. You're straight. You like girls.

The sound of someone clearing their throat made them instantly pull away from each other, cheeks and lips flushed. Jongin was met with the judging eyes of Minseok and a silent Sehun behind him.

"Oh hey guys." Jongin grinned sheepishly, wiping his lips with the back of his hand, "We were just taking a break."

Minseok snickered, "Sure. You're lucky it was us who caught you guys. If it was one of the supervisors, they would have really let you hear it. Especially you, Jongin, after the whole ruckus this morning."

"Yeah, yeah, we got it." Jongin rolled his eyes, "We were just finishing up anyway. Be on your merry way."

As the two walked away, Jongin's eyes lingered on Sehun, and he didn't know why but he felt guilty. Sehun didn't even so much as look at him throughout the entire conversation. Brushing it off, he turned to Kyungri and smirked at her, leaning in close to her ear.

"We'll continue where we left off after we win."

The girl bit her lip as he winked at her, and they got up to complete the task at hand. Jongin still couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling in his chest but just decided to ignore it. 

I'm not exactly happy with how this chapter turned out but hey I tried my best :P I've been getting so much positive feedback lately so I just couldn't wait to update again. Thank you guys so much for the upvotes and the comments, like seriously, you should see the stupid grin I have on when I read them, especially the longer ones. You guys are the best! This chapter is dedicated to all of you ^^

P.S. I'm a big time Nine Muses fan so I just HAD to have a member here, even though you all probably hate her lol. Gosh. All these people trying to get in between the SeKai love seriously need to stop.