They returned to camp just before sunset, in time to help build a fire and start making dinner; which was every camper’s favorite: hotdogs. They’d roasted the wieners over the fire and then marshmallows (which the boys were given a strict rule that they could only have three, and without chocolate). Soon they all were just sitting and enjoying the peacefulness of nature and the beauty of the flames before them. Kibum looked around at his family to see what they were doing. Next to him, Mir was struggling to keep his eyes open and Kibum knew that Heechul was going to send him in for bed soon. Hongki and discretely trying to blow the smoke over to Heechul’s direction, just to annoy him, and Heechul was doing it right back. Kibum couldn’t help but chuckle at their actions; they really were best friends. Finally, his eyes came to a halt on his favorite Chinese boy.

Ignoring the antics of his family, Henry had his attention focused on his phone. He was trying to send a text to Zhou Mi but the reception was terrible out in the wilderness. After three minutes of repeated failure, he sighed loudly and stuffed his phone back into his pocket, glaring unhappily at the fire. Today really was a terrible time to spontaneously decide to go camping. Of course he was enjoying himself and he had wanted to go, but earlier he and Zhou Mi had been talking about stuff and they didn’t get to continue and now he was annoyed. It was really hard to go so long without speaking to Zhou Mi and it was already making Henry irritable and anxious even after just a few hours.

Sensing his friend’s distress, Kibum scooted his chair over to Henry and gave him a comforting smile; eyes holding the message ‘what’s wrong?’. Henry sent him a forced smile and shook his head, not needing to say that they could talk later. He glanced over at Heechul and Hongki and then back at Kibum, discretely pointing towards the trees, hidden message being: let’s sneak out later tonight.

“Mir, baby, come on, let’s get you to bed,” Heechul said suddenly, breaking the silence. They all looked over at the maknae as he sat up straight and shook his head vigorously.

“But umma, I’m not t-tired,” He tried to say through a yawn.

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Henry sat up in his sleeping bag and looked around. He grabbed his phone and turned it on to use the light as a flashlight. As soon as he did this, Kibum sat up as well, squinting at the brightness that was shining right in his eyes.

“Shhh. Meet me at the lake. I’ll go first; wait a few minutes and then follow me,” Henry whispered, already ping the tent and then disappeared into the darkness of the night. Doing as he was told, Kibum waited as Henry’s footsteps faded away. He glanced around the dark tent, vaguely making out Mir’s sleeping figure next to him. Smiling softly, he chuckled when he saw that Mir was clutching his pink cat.

When enough time had passed, Kibum carefully slipped out of the tent as well. It was much brighter outside with the moon shining down on him, and he couldn’t help but glance up at all the stars looking for the Big Dipper in case he got lost. Set out on his way, Kibum began to walk away from the camp and towards the lake, hoping that he remembered the way; everything looks different at night.

He trudged through the trees, swatting mosquitoes out of his face and trying not to trip on broken tree branches on the ground.  He could hear the sounds of waves moving in the lake and he knew he must be close; he could already smell the fresh scent of water. Up ahead he could see where the trees ended and it was lighter; it was the lake. He quickened his pace, not wanting to make Henry wait, but before he could reach the edge something ran across his path, knocking him down to the ground.

“Oof!”

“Ouch!”

Kibum winced and rubbed his wrist where he fell onto a stick, but the skin didn’t seem to be broken or bleeding so he ignored it. Instead he opened his eyes and saw that someone was starting right at him. Thinking that it was a monster or some kind of creepy , he yelped loudly. But then the person started laughing, and by the sound of it, he was young.

“Ahaha, oh that was funny. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you,” The boy said, trying to suppress his giggles. Kibum glared up at him as the boy held out his hand to pull him up.

“Watch what you’re doing, okay? That kind of hurt,” Kibum huffed, brushing off his pants. He turned to walk away but the boy quickly stopped him.

“Hey, wait! You haven’t seen a dinosaur-like guy running through here, have you? He’s short and looks like a puppysaurus,” The boy said with a grin, and Kibum looked at him weirdly.

“Um, no? Sorry, I have to go,” He said, wanting to get away from this kid as soon as possible.

“Alright, then. Thanks. But if you do see him, tell him that Key is looking for him.”