On the way back to the fire station, Joonmyeon notices the lack of concentration in Sehun’s usually attentive, bright eyes as he glances over, hands on the wheel.

“What’s on your mind?”

The question jolts and surprises Sehun a bit, because yes, he had been spacing out, and yes, there was something very much on his mind, though it really was more of a who. In essence, Joonmyeon had hit the head on the nail, pinning Sehun’s exact thoughts.

“Nothing.” Sehun replies smoothly, not one to start stammering simply from surprise.

A silence ensues and Joonmyeon’s chuckle fills the air as he shakes his head.

“Riiight, Sehun, right.”

His tone is sarcastic and Sehun snorts, playfully shoving the other.

“Whatever. Just drive. Chanyeol’s truck just passed ours and the little ’s flipping me off from out the window.”

“Hey! Watch it, I’m driving here,” Joonmyeon retorts, though Sehun’s shove really wouldn’t have made him crash or anything, and he steps on the gas a bit, turning his signal lights on. They’re really only supposed to be used in emergency situations, but hey, he wasn’t about to let Chanyeol’s truck beat him back to the station. It’s never happened before—except the one day the stupid giant cheated—and Joonmyeon’s not about to start losing. “And you know I’m not losing.”

Sehun chuckles as the loud alarm fills his ears, and he feels his phone vibrate in the pocket of his firefighter suit. He laughs again to himself reading the text from Jongin, shaking his head.

From: Jongin

To: Sehun, Chanyeol

I swear, you two are going to get yourselves killed in a truck accident or something. By the way, put me in your will.

From: Chanyeol

To: Jongin, Sehun

You’re just jealous you’ve never beaten me back before.

“A photographer?” Kyungsoo repeats, eyes widening. He’s never really been someone interested in the arts, nor has he really been friends with someone like that, so hearing this from Luhan is actually pretty interesting.

“Yep,” Luhan nods, “I’m not from around here, though,” he explains, “hence, me staying at the hotel before the…er…incident.”

Luhan hopes that he won’t have to explain his embarrassing story to Kyungsoo, but he also hopes that Kyungsoo maybe doesn’t know and doesn’t already think he’s an idiot.

“Oh, right. Yixing told me about that. Those microwaves should really have some sort of safety limit—it’s a health hazard.” Kyungsoo comments, and Luhan nearly sighs a breath of relief, because Kyungsoo’s busy nagging at Yixing to buy better microwaves for the hotel, and Yixing’s retorting back that the hotel really doesn’t have that budget, and the conversation doesn’t even hint at Luhan’s possible stupidity. After all, he had set the microwave to seven minutes, waaay over the time the bag said. But in his defense, the un-popped kernels at the bottom of the bag are one of his biggest pet peeves, and to be honest, Luhan would rather risk just a few burnt kernels of popcorn over un-popped kernels.

Too bad he forgot to actually listen to the sounds of popping so he knew when to take the bag out…before it set on fire.

“I’m actually from New York,” Luhan pipes in to interrupt the argument, and it’s as if Yixing and Kyungsoo hadn’t even begun to fight in the first place. “I graduated from the New York Film Academy and I’ve just been taking on a few side jobs here and there. I don’t have a permanent job or anything yet.”

“New York...but what are you doing here in Cali?” Yixing asks, mentally picturing a map because he’d never really been good at geography, even if it’s about such as populous state.

“Vacation, I guess,” Luhan sums up, already comfortable with the other two. It’s as if they hadn’t met just half an hour before. “Mostly to take some shots at Yosemite. I got delayed the other day in traffic since there was a fire just ahead of my car, but I was hoping to get some good shots. The park is beautiful.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes light up as he grins, and Luhan wonders why he’s so excited.

“I have some friends at Yosemite, maybe they can get you some special access or something. You know, without tourists, if you want!”

Luhan’s eyes widen slightly at the kind offer, and he’s nodding without even thinking how many favors Kyungsoo’s friends might have to pull!

“Th-that’d be amazing!” He stammers, unable to speak completely coherently as his mind dreams up all the possible shots he could get. Luhan can already see the lighting effects and angles he could catch, how he could capture every crisp angle of stone and the mystery of the wildlife.

“Let me know whenever and I’ll arrange for them to meet you or something.”

“Oh! New York!” Yixing suddenly exclaims, finally finding the state in his mental map. “I’ve never been to New York, and I’m sure Kyungsoo hasn’t either. What’s it like there?”

Luhan’s taken aback at the sudden question, but he hums in thought. He’s lived there all his life, so it’s hard to sum things up to quickly, especially with the years of memories he’s collected and stored away.

“It’s…busy. It can be hectic and too fast if you’re not used to it, but it’s where I call home, I guess.” He chuckles slightly, feeling a little tug at his heart. Because he didn’t travel much, Luhan really wasn’t used to being away like this on his own, and he was feeling just a bit homesick over the excitement of his travels to California. “Oh, and Kyungsoo, thanks again. I would really love to take you up on your offer.”

Kyungsoo nods and smiles widely, “One of my friends who can take you in is actually just across the hall.”

At this, Luhan’s face drops a little.

“His name’s Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo explains, “he works in the Yosemite Emergency Management crew.”

And Luhan’s face drops a bit more, because he’s pretty sure Baekhyun thinks he’s a lunatic from their earlier meeting in the elevator. He holds back a groan just as Yixing pipes in.

“Oh, Luhan’s already met Baekhyun! Well, sort of. We just briefly bumped into each other at the elevator on the way over.” Yixing explains, gesturing a bit too grandly towards the door and the direction of the elevator.

“That’s good, then. At least you already know somebody.” Kyungsoo hums before urging Luhan to keep eating.

“Thanks so much again,” Luhan repeats in between spoonfuls of what is possibly the best soup he’s tasted in his life, “And Yixing, just let me know what jobs are possibly available at the hotel in addition to the advertising I can help you do.”

“It’s fine,” Yixing insists with a smile, genuinely glad that Luhan was staying with them, though he really had no idea how long, but that didn’t bother him at all, “You can really just drop by anytime, since I know you want to get to the National Park.”

“But…as a payment to me…” Kyungsoo trails off with a small smile, “Would you mind showing me some of your photographs?”