(A/N: Guys, if you didn't see already, I added a small drawing of the layout of the clearing at the end of Chapter Two. So go look if you haven't already~ Or not, I mean, it's up to you, I guess ^^ anyways, enjoy!)

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Lay awoke to the sound of someone moving about inside the tent. He opened his eyes groggily and looked over at Suho who was moving around trying to get clothes out of his suitcase.

“Junmyeon?” Lay spoke, his voice thick with sleep.

Suho snapped his head up quickly and looked over at Lay, a soft pink dusting his cheeks, not that Lay noticed, “Oh, Yixing? Did I wake you? I’m sorry, go back to sleep, you don’t have to be up for another couple of hours”

But Lay only sat up and shook his head before rubbing his eyes tiredly, “No, I can’t sleep again once I’m awake...” he yawned, “Why are you up already?”

“I need to get things ready for today” Suho explained, pulling out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt for himself to wear, “Um, can you turn around a second? I need to change...”

Lay nodded absently before looking away, too sleepy to realise that meant there would be a teacher behind him for a few short moments.

It wasn’t long later that Suho told Lay it was safe to look again and the latter turned around, finally realising what just happened before blushing deeply.

“Well, being as you’re up, let’s go wash up, shall we? You can’t go brush your teeth without a buddy anyway” Suho smiled, crawling out of the tent with his toothbrush and toothpaste in hand, whilst Lay grabbed his toothbrush and followed the teacher mindlessly.

The two of them made their way to the bathroom, Suho dressed for the day, whilst Lay trudged along in his pyjamas and slippers, thanking the Lord that it was a stone path to the bathrooms and not mud.

Lay stood in front of the sink and looked at himself in the dusty mirror that hung slightly crookedly on the wall, “uh...” he groaned then picked up his toothbrush, only to realise he’d left his toothpaste behind. “Damn it!”

“What’s wrong?” Suho asked, toothbrush hanging from his frothy lips.

Lay gulped slightly, drawing his eyes away from Suho’s mouth, “Uh... I forgot my, uh, toothpaste” he answered awkwardly, but Suho only smiled and took Lay’s toothbrush from the younger’s hand, before squeezing a bit of his own toothpaste onto it and handing it back with a teasing wink.

Lay blushed again before wetting it and beginning to brush his teeth.

“So” Lay said once they were done and headed back to the clearing, “Since I’m up, would you like some help preparing for the day?”

“I’d love that” Suho smiled, “But you might want to get dressed first” he chuckled softly, nodding towards Lay’s bunny pj bottoms.

Lay pouted, “No need to laugh, I think they’re cute”

“Cute...” Suho smiled slightly, looking over Lay’s person, “Definitely” then he walked off to get some things whilst Lay went into the tent to change.

When Lay was dressed and ready for the day, he helped Suho to set up the rucksacks they’d be taking with them, and set up the lunch making station that the other’s would use – he and Suho packed theirs before they set it up, because first come, first served, deal with it – then the two of them set the things aside and sat down with a nice hot chocolate each, courtesy of Suho.

“We have to wake the others up in about ten minutes” Suho said, taking a sip of the sweet liquid in his mug.

Lay nodded, “Good luck with that” he smirked, “Luhan sleeps like a brick, you’ll need all the help you can get”

“Well, it’s lucky I have you then, right?” Suho beamed, nudging Lay’s knee with his own.

--

“Wakey Wakey, rise and shine, lads! It’s time to get up, and if you don’t, I have a very big, very cold bucket of water with your name on!” Suho hollered.

And it amazed Lay how fast the others were up, cleaned, dressed and ready for the day. Each of them complaining when they realised there was no bucket of water to be seen.

Oh Suho, the snide little bleeder.

“Urgh, what time is it?” Baekhyun asked, slapping a slice of bread down on some ham.

Chanyeol plopped down beside Lay and rested his head on the latter’s shoulder, “About time you get a watch, Baek”

“Up shut the !” Baekhyun shot back.

“Language, Mr. Byun!” Suho called sternly, making Baekhyun grin and hold his sandwich up in defence.

Before long, the twelve of them were geared up, had their rucksacks on and ready to face the woods.

They made their way through a patch of rough vegetation to get to what looked like a path, most clearly a man made one. Suho lead the way up, glancing back over his shoulder every so often to make sure that the boys were all still together.

The path wasn’t too small, but it wasn’t exactly large either. So they could only really walk in groups of two or three, but none of them seemed to mind all that much.

Marching along behind Suho, was Lay, Chen and Luhan, who were chatting amongst themselves about stimulating things, such as the scenery around them, what they would get up to over the two weeks, and so on and so forth, until Luhan noticed that Suho was carrying two packs.

“Why does Mr. Kim have two?” he asked, glancing at Chen and Lay. Chen shrugged, but Lay blushed slightly.

“One of them is mine” he said, making sure to keep his voice quiet, not wanting Suho to know they were talking about him.

Chen frowned, “But you’re wearing yo- oh, you brought your guitar?” he asked in surprise.

“Yeah, I think Chanyeol has his with him too” Lay nodded, “Look, Kris is carrying two packs as well”

Chen and Luhan turned to look at the others behind him and sure enough, Chanyeol’s guitar case was on his back whilst Kris was laughing at something he said, looking like a hunchback with both packs slung on him – unlike Suho who was just carrying the other like a normal person.

Kyungsoo and Tao were just behind the Two Towers, the two of them chatting excitedly about romantic movies – their current one being The Lake House – and giggling like little children.

A short distance behind them was Xiumin and Sehun – the former of the pair was telling Sehun to be nice to Luhan, or so help him there would be consequences. Whilst Sehun just rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh.

Honestly, Sehun was still a little miffed from the morning’s events. He’d woken up to arms full of Luhan, who, much to Sehun’s frustration, looked undeniably cute with his nose all scrunched up and his hair messy. Then when Luhan had opened his eyes to see Sehun staring – he denies he was staring – at him, it had gotten a little awkward.

Yeah.

Finally, bringing up the rear was Kai and Baekhyun, their hands linked and swinging between them as they sang ‘Teddy Bears’ picnic’.

Kai giggled, “I love that song” he said as it came to an end, his hand still in Baekhyun’s.

“It is a pretty awesome song” Baekhyun agreed, “Now, onto more pressing matters, Honey-Buns”

Kai sighed, “Do we have to talk about this?” he asked with a pout.

“Yes, yes we do, because I’m sick and tired of your moping , so it up, slap on a pair and ask him out or something” the elder said determinedly.

Kai frowned, “No. No chance, Baek. That would be stupid, he doesn’t like me like that... I don’t even know if he’s, like, you know...”

“You know? Jesus, Jongin, you can’t even say the word, gay? Are you kidding me right now? It’s not a scary word, like it’s bloody taboo or something... Just say it, gay! Gay, gay, gay, gay, gay!”

“Will you shut up?!”

“NO! GAY! GAY! GAY!” Baekhyun shouted it, “SAY IT! RIGHT NOW! SAY IT!!”

Kai groaned before screaming at the top of his lungs, “FINE! GAY! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!”

Baekhyun and Kai walked right into Xiumin and Sehun, not noticing that everyone had come to a standstill and were now staring at them, wide-eyed.

“Is there something you’d like to share with us, Jongin?” Suho asked, eyebrow raised and looking as though he was trying not to laugh.

Jongin let out a nervous laugh before shaking his head, “No, sir. I was, uh, just taking a moment to appreciate homouality?” he bluffed transparently.

“Of course, well, if you’re done, shall we continue? We’ve still got a little bit of a way to go” Suho smiled, turning back to face the front again and setting off once more, whilst the others followed.

Baekhyun and Kai looked at one another before bursting into laughter.

--

“Alright, we’re about three quarters of the way up now, so we’ll stop and eat lunch, then carry on up to the top of the hill, spend a couple hours up there then head back down in time for dinner, alright?”

“Yes sir” was the collective answer as the boys let their packs fall to the grass and sat down beside them.

Luhan smiled as he let his legs rest finally before noticing Suho was just standing on his own, “Sir” he called out, making the teacher look at him, “Come sit and eat with us, don’t just stand on your lonesome”

Suho smiled and nodded, making his way over to sit with Luhan, Lay and Chen, “Thank you, Luhan” he said.

Luhan only waved a hand in dismissal, “Don’t mention it, this trip is as much for you as it is for us. No point spending it lonely”

“Alright” Suho laughed, getting out his lunch, before looking in Lay’s back and handing the boy his, which was met with a small ‘thank you’.

They ate, and chatted quietly for a while before Xiumin’s voice piped up, “Hey Luhan, come sit with me and Sehun, we want to play with you!” he grinned.

Luhan groaned, about to shake his head to say no, but before he could, Chen gave him a push, making him fall over to where Xiumin and the maknae were, with him landing right in Sehun’s lap, much to his horror, and Chen’s clear amusement.

“You know” Chen smirked at Lay, “I think I’m going to go and have a chat with Kris and Chanyeol. Make sure you look after Lay for me, Mr. Kim” he grinned, getting to his feet and walking over to the pair, leaving a flustered Lay and an amused Suho in his wake.

“They’re some friends, you have there” Suho chuckled, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Lay sighed, “I thought they were nice when I first met them...” he said, bringing his drink to his lips and tipping it up to have a drink.

Suho smiled teasingly, “Ah, so you don’t like being stuck with the teacher? That’s understandable” he shook his head in amusement.

“No! No, that’s not... I didn’t... I like spending t-time with you” Lay blurted out too quickly, his eyes wide and cheeks red. His embarrassment only deepening when Suho’s sweet laugh rang through his ears.

“Yixing, calm down, I was only joking” Suho laughed, “Besides, you can go and join your friends if you want. I’m a big boy, believe it or not, I’m perfectly fine sitting by myself for fifteen minutes”

Lay shook his head softly, “No, it’s okay. I can spend time with them when we get to the top, I’m fine here. Got to get used to having you around me all the time anyway, haven’t I?”

“What do you mean?”

Lay laughed nervously, “I just meant because we’re sharing a tent and all that, so two weeks sleeping next to you, might as well get used to it sooner rather than later. Besides, I have you more - I mean I will have you more - I mean, you’ll see more of me next term, I... lessons with you... I have more of them, so, yeah...” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, praying to the heavens that one day he’d learn to just shut up.

“And breathe” Suho chuckled, placing a hand on Lay’s forearm, “I know, I get my set lists before you find out your time table, remember. So you don’t mind spending your free time with me instead of your friends?”

Lay smiled up at Suho and shook his head softly, “Not at all. I actually like spending time with you, I mean, I actually get to have a decent conversation with someone for once, so it can’t be a bad thing right? Oh, unless I’m annoying you or something, I mean, I can be kind of... dense to how people feel, so uh, yeah, if you want me to leave you alone, just, um, say?” he ruffled his hair awkwardly, not really sure why it was only when he was talking to Suho that his brain to mouth filter seemed to fail him immensely.

“Do you always get this flustered about things?” Suho laughed, “Yixing-ah, calm down, okay? I like spending time with my favourite student, too. So relax, wait, no, actually don’t relax because we’ve got to set off again in like two minutes so pack your things” he grinned, getting to his feet and offering a hand to Lay, who took it and stood with a shy smile.

It was most definitely going to be a long two weeks.

--

Kyungsoo shot Tao a soft smile before hanging back slightly and coming to a walk beside Kai. Baekhyun gave him a look before smiling and tottering off to join Tao up ahead.

It took Kai a minute to realise that it wasn’t Baekhyun beside him, but to his confusion, Kyungsoo.

“Soo? When did you get there?” Kai asked, a little taken aback.

Kyungsoo shrugged, “A while ago, thought you might like to walk together...” he smirked, “And talk about your ‘gay appreciation’ activities”

Kai groaned, “I didn’t mean to yell, I swear. Baekhyun was being an idiot and well, yeah...”

Kyungsoo burst into a fit of giggles and swatted Kai lightly on the arm, “Relax, I was just teasing” he smiled, “You’re so serious, Jongin, it makes me la-ah!” he tripped on something on the path – the path he really should have been keeping an eye on – and closed his eyes, waiting for himself to hit the muddy floor.

To his surprise though, when he opened his eyes, he was suspended about a metre off the floor, a pair of strong arms holding him tightly around the waist. It was then he realised that he was also holding onto something, a pair of thick, muscular shoulders.

Looking up, he saw that he was in fact holding onto a person, that person being Kai.

“C-Careful there” Kai smiled sheepishly, “Wouldn’t want to hurt yourself”

Kyungsoo smiled, “Right, wouldn’t want that” he chuckled lightly, “But, uh, are you going to let me up now? This pack is kind of heavy still”

“R-Right! Sorry!” Kai said, his eyes widening a fraction as he pulled Kyungsoo up to stand right again and let him go, taking a step back, “We should, um, catch up with the others” he said, pointing up ahead where the other ten were quite a way in front of them.

Kyungsoo smiled with a small nod before taking a hold of Kai’s hand and starting into a jog to catch up with Baekhyun and Tao.

“Keep up, Jongin, or you’ll be the one falling this time” Kyungsoo laughed, pulling Kai along, oblivious to Kai’s deep blush and sweaty palms.

I think I’ve already fallen more than I should have Kai thought to himself in woeful amusement.

Soon enough, they’d caught up with the others and had fallen back into a relaxed walk, which was nice given that the running – it was jogging but it felt like running to Kai thanks to it being uphill – had only made their packs seem all the more heavier.

They didn’t talk all that much as they walked, only glancing at one another every now and again before shyly looking elsewhere, and it wasn’t until they’d pretty much reached the top of the hill that Kai realised they’d been holding hands the entire time.

“Okay everybody, we’re at the top” Suho spoke up, earning cheers and outcries of joy from the other eleven, “So pick a log, grab a seat, enjoy the view and relax” he grinned.

They all made their way over to where a few logs had been set up in a rough circle, which was pretty cool, but also told them that a lot of schools must come here for their trips. They sat down and took off their packs – a few of them losing their jackets too, having been too warm from the climb up – and breathed out sighs of relief.

“So what are we doing now then?” Tao asked, once he’d taken a large swallow of water.

Suho smiled, “Well, as you can see, Yixing and Chanyeol were kind enough to bring their guitars with them, so I thought we’d just sit around, share some stories about ourselves and made have a little sing song to finish before heading back down to camp” he said, “Oh that reminds me, you all remembered to padlock your tents, right?”

“Yes”

“Good, so, who wants to share a story first?” Suho asked, looking around the circle to see who would willingly share first, lest he pick on someone.

But alas, it seemed nobody was willing to share.

“Alright then, it’s going to be like this is it?” Suho frowned, before a somewhat evil smile appeared on his lips – that in itself made Lay squeak, not that he’d ever admit to that of course – and looked around once more, “Sehun!” he grinned, “Do share with us a story of your choice”

“Um, okay” Sehun frowned from his place between Kai and Luhan, “Well, um, I got punched by this American kid once”

“What?!” Luhan gasped, though he looked oddly amused at the news, “Why?”

Sehun coughed awkwardly, “Well, we were chatting about sports and he said something about American football, or I guess they’d just call it football, anyways, I said that I thought it was funny that they felt the need to strap on forty pound of protective gear just to play rugby, and so he got like super mad and said I was being a , then I told him that no, I was just stating a fact, so then he punched me in the face and we’ve not talked since...”

It was quiet for a moment before Chanyeol broke into laughter, soon followed by Baekhyun and then one by one, the others. Even Suho was having a hard time trying to keep the smile off of his face.

“Well... Alright then, um, thank you for that, Sehun” Suho chuckled, “Who wants to go next?”

Slowly, shyly almost, Luhan put his hand up.

Suho smiled and nodded towards him, gesturing for the boy to speak.

“Well,” Luhan began, “It was when I was about ten, or something, I has this friend on the same street as me. His mum and mine were really good friends, but one day they moved and I haven’t seen him since. But the story is about this time we went into this little wooded area near the back of his house. We found a tire swing there, and it was right over this really steep, muddy hill, but we were playing on it anyways, then after about an hour, my friend went on and just as he swung out it snapped and he went flying off it, and landed in this massive pile of sloppy mud. I laughed so hard, so he grabbed my ankles and pulled me in and when we got back to my house, my mum thought we were burglars so locked us in the back garden until my dad came home and hosed us off...  she felt a bit bad after that, but it was funny”

Sehun was watching Luhan rather suspiciously, but Luhan either didn’t notice, or didn’t comment on it.

They went around after that, sharing their stories. Kyungsoo decided to tell everyone about the time Kai got ice-cream all in his hair, Kai in turn told them all about the time Kyungsoo tried to rap to ‘It wasn’t me’ by Shaggy. Chen told them all about when he and Lay first met. Xiumin told them about how his first kiss with a girl was an absolute nightmare. Kris told them all about his summer in Canada, whilst Tao told them about the time he got his first Gucci bag. Chanyeol told them about the time he fell asleep in class and woke up screaming about how the robots were eating cream crackers in the car park. Baekhyun then went on to tell them how it took an hour to calm Chanyeol down after that and how Chanyeol has been scared of robots ever since.

Then it came to Lay’s turn;

“Well, um, my life isn’t as exciting as your guys” he laughed nervously, “But once when I was about eight, I was in town with my mum and uncle and she said that I could have a cake. So I went over to look in the window, which I thought was at a slant, but it turned out there were two windows and I ran head first into one of them, ricocheted off of the window and fell over. I was sat there crying until this old lady that I didn’t even know had to pick me up off the floor whilst my mum and uncle just stood there laughing at me...” he sighed

The others paused for a moment, taking in the sad look on Lay’s face before bursting into laughter. They tried not to laugh, they really did, but they couldn’t help themselves. Poor Lay. Suho though, whilst laughing along with the others, had a hand on Lay’s back, his thumb rubbing it soothingly.

“Man, I didn’t think you could get any weirder, but there you go” Luhan chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye.

Lay frowned, “It was like nine, ten, years ago, give me a break!” he huffed.

“Alright then, so that’s everyone” Suho smiled, his hand still discreetly on Lay’s back – not that the younger was complaining.

“Actually!” Baekhyun grinned, bouncing in his seat, “You’ve not told us a story, sir. I think it’s only fair we learn about you too”

Suho laughed and sighed at once, shaking his head slightly, “Alright, alright,” He chuckled, “Well, hmm, let me see, oh I have one! So this once time, I was spending some time with this friend of mine at the beach. And she had this obsession with collecting crab shells. So she was putting them all in this bucket she had, she even had a whole one. After that, we went to the fair and all we could smell was this rancid fish smell, it was horrendous, and after a few rides we realised it was coming from the bucket, and it turned out it was one of the crab shells that still had flesh in it and was rotting. So she put her jacket over it and it kind of went away for a bit, but then we went on the Crazy Mouse and as we were coming off, I noticed she had her jacket thrown over her arm, so I asked her where the bucket was and she pointed up to the ride and right at the top of it on one of the parts of fence, was the bucket just sitting there... Needless to say, we had to run after that so that we didn’t get caught...” he laughed to himself at the memory.

The other eleven looked at him, some of them amused, some a little shocked, and one with a sly smirk.

Chen coughed slightly, “So, you’re telling us you weren’t always a goody-two-shoes teacher, then?” he asked with a smirk.

“Ha, not even close” Suho laughed, “I’ve never been good with rules, and if you think that’s bad then you should hear some of the other things I’ve gotten up to with that particular friend of mine”

Baekhyun gasped, “Wait... do you mean... like...”

“What?! No!” Suho said, his eyes wide before laughing slightly hysterically, “I meant just some of the trouble we’ve gotten into over the years”

Kai smiled at Suho, “You know, Sir, you’re kind of a bad influence” he grinned.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” Suho smiled slyly, “Now, if Chanyeol and Yixing will be so kind as to get out their guitars, then we can sing,” Chanyeol and Kris shot him a look, “Or rap, before we have to head back down”

Lay and Chanyeol did as they were asked and were soon sat with their guitars set on their knees and were strumming along together like they’d been playing together for years.

It was quite a sight to behold, in all honesty. When Chanyeol started, Lay was soon to follow with a melody that fit and made both tunes fit into something magical, and when Lay started, Chanyeol was soon to match the mood that the older boy had set and bring it into something happier.

They spend an hour or two just singing – and rapping – with a lot of laughing in between.  Songs turned to chatting which went back to song – which happened to include The Proclaimers – 500 Miles, and The Cartoons – Witch Doctor – before Suho decided it was time for them to pack up and head back to camp.

And so with that, they all made their way back down the hill again – their packs respectively lighter than on the way up – all of them happy and giggling with one another.

Sehun sighed lightly as he made his way next to Luhan and began to walk.

“Sehun?” Luhan voiced in surprise, “What’s up?” he asked, not noticing Kris and Chanyeol behind them positively glowing with glee, nor hearing their delighted squeals.

Sehun shrugged, “Nothing, just walking. Or am I not allowed to do that in your holy presence?” he mocked, though with less malice than usual.

“Funny” Luhan rolled his eyes, “But um, thanks again, you know... for last night” he coughed awkwardly.

Sehun only shrugged again, “Don’t mention it, just upholding my duty as a good person”

“Sure” Luhan smiled despite himself, “So did you really get punched in the face by an American guy?”

“Yeah, it really hurt” Sehun chuckled, “I had to go to the hospital and everything, the kid nearly broke my nose. Thank god it was only bruised though”

Luhan chuckled, “Yeah, can’t have anything ruining that handsome face of yours” he rolled his eyes.

“Mock me all you like, we both know you think I’m gorgeous!” Sehun huffed playfully.

Luhan laughed again, “Whatever you say, Oh. Whatever you say”

“” Sehun smirked.

Luhan grinned back easily, “Jerk”

--

Kyungsoo was what most people would refer to as clumsy. Even when there was nothing but a flat surface, he’d manage to find something to trip over. Be it his own feet, or just the air in general, it was always something.

Which was why, he was now frowning deeply as he tried his best to manuvour his way down the hill on what he assumed to be a twisted ankle, thanks to his previous fall over a misplaced branch – misplaced in the sense that it was on the floor and not attached to a tree. Kyungsoo wouldn’t have minded so much, had it not been for the fact he’d actually seen it and attempted to step over it, only to end up falling flat on his face with his ankle twisted awkwardly whilst caught in said branch. It was, in Laymen’s terms, an absolute nightmare.

And it didn’t help that Kai had happened to see the whole thing and was just catching up to Kyungsoo with a look of concern etched onto his perfect face.

“Are you alright?” Kai asked, is voice showing the same concern as his face was.

Kyungsoo hissed slightly as he stepped into his injured foot, “I’m fine” he insisted.

Kai rolled his eyes and placed a hand on Kyungsoo’s arm to stop him from walking any further. He caught Baekhyun by the arm at the same time and whispered something in his ear.

Baekhyun shot a look at Kyungsoo before nodding and Kai and holding out a hand. Kai smiled and thanked the elder before handing over his backpack and crouching down in front of Kyungsoo whilst Baekhyun continued to walk on.

“Well, get on then” Kai said softly.

Kyungsoo blinked, “What?”

“I said get on, or do I have to make you?” Kai turned his head to look at Kyungsoo with a smile.

Kyungsoo shook his head though, “No, I’m too heavy”

“I’m gonna count to three before I make you get on...”

“Jongin, this is stupid!”

“One”

“I’m serious, I’m not getting on...”

“Two”

“Jongin”

“Two and a half...”

“Oh fine!” Kyungsoo huffed, getting onto Kai’s back as carefully as he could.

Kai smiled victoriously as he gripped onto Kyungsoo’s thighs and stood properly, getting his balance before starting off after the others again.

It didn’t seem to take as long to get back to camp as it did to get up there, but even so, by the time they had made it back, they were all pretty knackered.

Suho cooked up dinner, this time with the help of Luhan and Sehun – much to Lay’s annoyance and Chen’s amusement – and they ate it all pretty quickly before retiring to their tents for the night, happy to rest after a long day on their feet.

It was fairly quiet whilst they were in the tents, though after half an hour or so, Kris, Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Tao made their way back out of their tents and into the quickly darkening clearing.

“Psst” Kris called out quietly, “Over here”

The four of them met up just outside of Kris and Chanyeol’s tent, where Chanyeol was holding his sleeping bag and pillow, as was Tao.

“Okay, so you remember the plan, right?” Baekhyun asked, the others nodded, “Good, we need to be up to swap back before Mr. Kim gets up, so let’s say at about six-ish. Who has an alarm?”

“I do” Tao whispered, “but it’s back in our tent, so you can use it. We can use Kris’s” he smiled softly, moving to stand beside Kris, whilst Baekhyun took Chanyeol’s pillow from him and held it.

“Alright, see you in the morning” Chanyeol whispered before he and Baekhyun made their way back over to Baekhyun’s tent and Kris and Tao made their way inside Kris’s tent and laid out Tao’s bag.

Kris smiled softly, “Nice plushes” he chuckled, noticing one was the one that he’d given to Tao a few years back.

“Oh shut up” Tao blushed, “How’s your plan going anyways?”

Kris smiled happily, “All is well on the HunHan front!” he said gleefully.

Tao only rolled his eyes in return before laying down to get comfortable.

--

Meanwhile over in Suho and Lay’s tent, Suho chuckled softly.

“What is it?” Lay asked, turning on his side to face Suho.

Suho smiled, “Kris, Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Tao think they’re being sneaky. They’ve swapped sleeping partners” he told Lay with an amused glint to his eyes.

“Aren’t you going to tell them off?” Lay asked confusedly.

Suho only shook his head though, “Nah, let them have a night of thinking they’re rebels” he smiled.

“You’re actually pretty cool, you know” Lay said softly, his heart fluttering like mad as he did.

The elder smiled again, more brightly this time, “Thanks” he chuckled, “you’re not so bad yourself, Xing-ah” he said gently, enjoying the light blush that dusted Lay’s face in the darkness of the night.

“Thanks” Lay whispered, before jumping slightly as the wind picked up and hit against the side of the tent.

Unconsciously, he shuffled closer to where Suho was laying, still facing him. Lay had never been a big fan of the wind, it always made it seem like there were things lurking about in the dark and honestly scared him, though it embarrassed him to be afraid, after all, he was on his way to becoming a man. He wasn’t a little kid anymore.

The feeling of a thumb idly tracing patterns on the back of his hand snapped him out of his reverie.

“Are you okay?” Suho whispered.

Lay looked up, finding himself closer to Suho than he thought he was. Their noses were touching ever so slightly and he was looking right into Suho’s deep brown eyes, making his heart beat so hard, so fast and so loud that he was almost sure the other could hear it.

“I.. I’m fine, just... um cold, I guess” Lay whispered back, unable to get his voice any louder.

Suho nodded in understanding, his hand trailed up Lay’s arm and rubbed it gently, “You’ll warm up soon” his voice was quiet, but soft and comforting, so Lay nodded, his eyes not once leaving Suho’s.

“Okay” the younger said, blinking tiredly. He wanted to keep staring into the elder’s eyes, but sleep was creeping up on him faster than he thought possible. He’d had a longer, more tiring day than he’d initially thought, but then, he’d spent the vast majority of it thinking about the man before him.

He didn’t know when it happened, but soon he found that he was even closer to Suho, one of his hands resting against the elder’s chest, whilst the elder’s own hand was still rubbing his upper arm rhythmically.

“Sleep, you look tired” Suho smiled, his voice light yet demanding.

Lay yawned, “I’m not tired” he murmured sleepily, trying to blink away his fatigue.

“Liar” Suho chuckled, “Just sleep, otherwise you’ll be tired tomorrow, and we’re doing something fun tomorrow”

Lay hummed, “What are we doing tomorrow?” he asked, his voice barely audible as he shuffled closer once again to Suho’s heat.

“We’re going to the lake” Suho smiled, nuzzling his nose against Lay’s slightly, noting that Lay was too tired to even blush.