When they reached the campground, Mir and Henry immediately jumped out of the car and ran off to go explore. While they went and caused ruckus, Kibum stayed behind to help set up camp.

“The tents are in the back, Kibum,” Hongki called to him, and Kibum opened the trunk up to find two large bags amongst everyone’s backpacks full of clothes. He hefted them out and tossed them on the ground.

“That’s it? This is all we have?” Heechul asked with wide eyes.

“Chul, it’s camping, not a five start hotel,” Hongki replied, rolling his eyes as he ped a bag and pulled out a large canvas.

“Don’t worry, hyung, there’s sleeping bags here too,” Kibum reassured him with a smile, holding up one of the dark blue rolled up bags. Heechul gasped dramatically and began to rethink his decision to come; what had he been thinking? Oh yeah, because I couldn’t bear to let my poor kids out in the dangerous wilderness. That, and it was going to be lonely at home by myself.

“Are you going to help or just stand there gaping like a retard?” Hongki said, looking up at Heechul expectantly as he pounded the stakes into the ground. Heechul scoffed and then went over to help Kibum shift the poles through the tent. They all worked in silence for quite awhile, working hard to put the tents up, but sooner than later the peaceful silence was broken.

“Wait. Where are we supposed to use the bathroom?” Heechul asked, looking around at the trees. Hongki sighed loudly and walked over to his best friend and put his hand on Heechul’s shoulder.

“Look around you, Chulie. Trees,” He said, before getting to work on the second tent. Kibum laughed at Heechul’s horrified expression and then pointed behind them.

“Hyung, there’s a bathroom over there, and showers. Stop worrying so much, camping is fun. Anyways, I’m going to find Mir and Henry,” He told the two adults.

“Okay, have fun,” Hongki responded easily.

“Don’t talk to strangers! And don’t touch any weird looking plants, they might be poisonous. Try to stay in the shade so you don’t get too hot or sunburn. Oh! And – “

“’Kay, bye hyung!” Kibum cut him off, waving as he walked away in the direction that his brother’s had gone off in.

While he walked down through the tall oak trees, Kibum took a deep breath and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment. It was nice to get out of the house and go somewhere with his family and it made him really happy. Come to think of it, this is our first family trip together; besides going to stay with Teukie umma for a week, but that doesn’t really count. It’s too bad everyone else isn’t here, he thought as he looked around at all the scenery. Donghae had gone to stay with Leeteuk and Eunhyuk for the summer and wouldn’t be back for another month. Kibum missed his brother, but it was a nice break from the constant jabbering about how much Donghae missed Eunhyuk, how hot Eunhyuk was, Eunhyuk would never do this, blah blah blah. Kibum laughed to himself and shook his head slightly.

The two brothers stood at the edge of the grass, at the hedge that overlooked the vast, beautiful, lake before them. For once, neither of them spoke but instead enjoyed the peaceful silence with each other. Although they had spent the entire week together, they hadn’t had a chance for privacy so they could talk to each other without Hongki listening in from the other room. Now was the perfect moment, because there was nothing else but nature surrounding them. Henry turned his head and looked at his little brother and watched him for a moment. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride while looking at Mir because he was such a good kid and the best brother anyone could ever ask for. It was moments like this when they were alone that Henry could fully appreciate his brother.

“Why are you staring at me?” Mir asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Henry smiled at him, puffing out his cheeks, and shrugged his shoulders.

“Just because I love you, I guess,” He replied, wrapping his arms around his brother and hugging him tightly. Mir grinned happily and hugged him back, but pulled away after a moment and the smile left his face.

“Do you love me or Zhou Mi more?” He asked seriously, looking at his brother wide an intense look in his eyes. Henry smiled softly and patted Mir on the head, then turned to look out at the sparkling water.

“It doesn’t work that way, Mireu. I love you and Zhou Mi so much, but in different ways. I love you the way I love Hyukkie, Hae, and Kibum, but I love Zhou Mi the way umma’s love each other,” Henry explained to his brother.

“The way I love Eunhyuk, Sungmin, Donghae, and Kibum?” Mir asked innocently, a smile tugging at his lips. Henry looked at him exasperatedly and rolled his eyes with a huff.

“No, Mir. More serious than that,” He said.

“Are you going to tell umma’s? Because I know they’ll be happy for you like they’re happy for Eunhyuk and Donghae,” Mir questioned curiously, knowing that his brother’s romantic feelings for the older Chinese boy were still unknown to their parents. Henry frowned slightly and a bitter expression flashed in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around himself.

“I don’t know, Mir. It’s a little bit more complicated than you would understand,” He said uncomfortably.

“How?” Mir asked his brother curiously. Henry looked at him for a moment and contemplated telling his brother what was on his mind, but deep down inside, Henry knew that no matter how close he was with Mir, his brother was too immature to understand the depths of the real problem that lied before him.

“Nothing, Mir. Just forget about it,” He said, brushing it off. Mir smiled at him and was about to reply when all of a sudden his eyes went wide and he squealed loudly, pushing past Henry quickly.

“KIBUMMIE!” He yelled excitedly, running to glomp Kibum as he walked out of the trees, tackling him down to the ground.

“Mir! Get off me!” Kibum complained loudly, struggling to push Mir off him. But the attempt was futile, no matter how much he tried, Mir was stronger than him and always would be. So the younger boy sat on top of Kibum with a smirk on his face.

“No way, I totally got you pinned. Are you creepin’ on us? Huh? Huh? Are ya?” Mir said, much to Kibum’s annoyance. Henry rolled his eyes and walked over to the two, leaning over to pull Mir off of poor Kibum.

“Come on, get up you fatso, you’re gonna suffocate him,” He teased playfully, pushing Mir off to the side.

“I am not fat! You’re fat! Look at those huge cheeks!” Mir exclaimed, kicking Henry with his foot.

“You’re both fat, now shut up and let’s go explore or something. You have no idea how long I’ve been trying to find you!” Kibum said as Henry pulled him up from the ground and the trio began to head back into the trees to go cause chaos somewhere else.

“Why did umma even come? Kibum, you were supposed to convince umma to stay home,” Mir said with a grin, laughing at the thought that his mother actually came along with them. It was going to be a long weekend…for Heechul.

“Mir! Don’t say that, it’s mean. I’m glad hyung came, it’s our first family trip together, it’s special to me,” Kibum said defensively, smacking Mir lightly on the arm.

“It’s true though. Umma’s a diva, he’s meant to stay in air-conditioned places during the summer and pamper himself. Or at least, that’s what appa says,” Henry said with a grin.