“Yo, what’s in the bag?” Chanyeol asked, bouncing over to where Suho was stood double checking he had everything they needed.

Looking up, Suho smiled, “Food and drinks” he said, “We’ll be in the woods all day today”

“Doing what?” Chanyeol asked, practically jumping around.

Suho chuckled, “You’re way too hyper for your own good, Chanyeol”

“I think it’s charming” Chanyeol grinned before bouncing his way back to Baekhyun, who was stood talking to Chen and Lay.

Suho smiled as he watched Lay laughing at something Baekhyun had said. He wasn’t quite over the bout of jealousy, but after Lay’s constant reassurance the day before, he was feeling a lot better about the whole thing.

It had scared him a little, if he was honest, just how jealous he got when they’d only been a thing for a few days, but then, it showed him how completely serious he was about the younger. Yes, it was kind of stupid to be in a relationship with someone a fair bit younger, and yes, it was risky, but Lay wasn’t just some kid. He was caring, and funny. He was adorable and still y. It wasn’t like it’d happened over night. His feelings for Lay had grown since when he started teacher the younger boy. When he first saw Lay, he knew that there was just something about him. At first he thought it was just a sense of being proud, because he was his best student. But then he found himself thinking about how cute Lay was, and how he wanted to know if his hair was as soft as it looked, and he wondered what his hair would smell like – he knew now that it smelt like apples – and it started to grate on him, that it wasn’t how he should be feeling about one of his students.

Maybe he was out of his mind for agreeing to try the whole thing, but there was a part of him that knew he’d regret it if they didn’t try. And so there they were.

Snapping out of his reverie, he cleared his throat before calling the boys to gather around.

“Right” Suho smiled, “We’re spending the day in the woods today, so I’ve packed us a picnic. We’ll be climbing today, trees, which I was going to cancel after Sehun’s little stunt yesterday, but I think Luhan drilled it into him that he was being reckless.  So off we trot, then” he said, gesturing for them to follow after him.

They walked into the woods, chatting amongst themselves, until Baekhyun felt the need to shout at the top of his voice;

“DO YOU BITE YOUR THUMB AT ME, SIR?!”

And all went silent as everyone turned to look at him.

“Baekhyun? Are you okay?” Suho asked, looking genuinely concerned.

Baekhyun scoffed, “Oh I see how it is. Show a love for Shakespeare and all of a sudden you’re weird and something must be wrong! I’m sorry I value my education!” he huffed before stomping off.

Chanyeol watched after his boyfriend for a moment before bursting out into laughter, causing everyone to turn and stare at him instead.

“Sorry” Chanyeol laughed, clapping his hands together, “He just gets like this sometimes and he comes out with the weirdest thing – oh god, I’m dying – I didn’t think it’d happen whilst we were here. He gets like it when he’s not had enough sleep” he let out a long breath of air, his laughter dying down.

The others looked at him like he was mad before turning around again and following after Suho, who was leading the way to a spot with several good climbing trees, where Baekhyun was already waiting for them after his little outburst.

“We’ll be pairing up for starters, then working in groups of four after that. I’ll be pairing you up though, so when I say your pair, get together, pick a tree and hop to it” Suho grinned, “So, we’ll have Chanyeol with Baekhyun. Minseok with Sehun. Jongdae wtih Luhan. Kyungsoo with Kris. Jongin with Zitao. And then, Yixing, you’ll work with me, if that’s alright with you?”

Lay gave a little nod as they all broke off to play.

--

“Did Luhan say anything else about what you did yesterday?” Xiumin asked as he pulled himself up on to the branch Sehun was stood on.

Sehun nodded, “Yeah, he gave me a lecture, three times, about how I was being stupid and what would I have done if Chanyeol had missed me and all that... I shut him up in the end by giving him a hug and telling him I was sorry...” he said, getting his footing right before climbing up even further, then taking Xiumin’s hand and helping him up too.

“And are you sorry?” the elder asked, shifting so that he and Sehun were sat side by said, each of them holding onto other branches to keep themselves steady.

Sehun nodded, “Yeah, I mean I didn’t want to upset him or anything. And he did seem genuinely worried, which was weird... All things considered...”

“Ah, Sehun-ah. You’ll learn one day” Xiumin chuckled, “Do you think we should head down yet? Or do you want to try to get to the top?”

Sehun glanced up, “Let’s try for the top. And what do you mean I’ll learn”

“Alright” Xiumin said, carefully moving to stand and climb upwards and onwards, shortly followed by Sehun, “And I mean that Luhan likes you. Like, a lot...”

“He doesn’t. He really, doesn’t. I mean, if he did, why would he have treated me like crap for the better part of my life” Sehun sighed, losing his footing slightly, almost falling but was caught by Xiumin who shot him a ‘be careful’ look before helping him up to the next thick branch.

Xiumin smiled, “He does. He just doesn’t know he does yet” he said with a sly edge to his voice.

--

Lay sat on the highest sturdy branch of the tree. Suho was sat on the one in front of him and slightly below. They’d managed to climb pretty fast, with the other pairs still only half way up or lower – in the case of Baekhyun and Chanyeol, they were still on the floor...

Suho was humming lightly to himself, as Lay looked up at the sky above him. It was extraordinarily blue and the puffy white clouds were making Lay smile with all the shapes they made up.

Without really thinking, he opened his mouth and began to sing softly, forgetting for the moment that Suho was there and could hear him;

“Get out your guns, battles begun, are you a saint or a sinner? If loves a fight, then I shall die, with my heart on a trigger. They say before you start a war, you better know what you’re fighting for. Well baby, you are all that I adore. If love is what you need, a soldier I will be.

 “I’m an angel with a shotgun, fighting ‘til the war’s won. I don’t care if heaven won’t take me back. I’ll throw away my faith babe, just to keep you safe, don’t you know you’re everything I have. And I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight.

 “Sometimes to win, you’ve got to sin, don’t mean I’m not a believer. And major Tom, will sing along. Yeah, they still say I’m a dreamer. They say before you start a war, you better know what you’re fighting for. Well baby, you’re all that I adore. If love is what you need, a soldier I will be.

 “I’m an angel with a shotgun, fighting ‘til the war’s won. I don’t care if heaven won’t take me back. I’ll throw away my faith babe, just to keep you safe, don’t you know you’re everything I have. And I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight. I’m an angel with a shotgun, fighting ‘til the war’s won, I don’t care if heaven won’t take me back!

 “I’m an angel with a shotgun, fighting ‘til the war’s won. I don’t care if heaven won’t take me back. I’ll throw away my faith babe, just to keep you safe, don’t you know you’re everything I have. And I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight... And I’m gonna hide, hide, hide my wings tonight. They say before you start a war, you better know what you’re fighting for. Well baby, you are all that I adore. If love is what you need, a soldier I will be...”  Looking back down from where he was staring at the slowly drifting clouds, he found Suho staring up at him with a face painted in something he didn’t recognise, though it looked a lot like admiration, “What?” he coughed awkwardly.

Suho  gaped slightly, “I... I didn’t know you could sing” he said, the astonishment evident in his voice, “That was... wow”

Lay let out an awkward laugh, reaching up with one hand to scratch the back of his neck, “I... Jongdae’s a lot better than me, I mean, I’m not very good. I just... like to, I dunno? I’m more of a dancer than a singer” he said, lifting one side of his mouth in a shy smile.

“No, you’re really good. Honestly, I just... Ha, I have goose bumps.” Suho chuckled, “What song was that?”

Lay smiled, “Angel with a shotgun... By The Cab. I came across it when I was reading this des- this story I stumbled upon, ha... yeah...” he didn’t like the way Suho’s mouth curled up into a smirk , then.

“Oh? What kind of story was it?” the elder asked, feigning innocence.

Lay shook his head, “I just... It wasn’t... I mean, look, it was just a normal story that I found and read and it was, uh, about how love breaks the barriers of all things, be it age, race, gender and all that stuff, so uh, yeah.”

“You were going to say Destiel weren’t you?” Suho grinned evilly, “So you like Supernatural, eh?”

Lay groaned, “Yes, fine. I was, and yes I do, can we drop it now? Please”

“For now, but this won’t be the last time it comes up, I hope you know that” Suho teased, “Come on, let’s go down”

Lay’s cheeks flushed a deep pink colour as he nodded and followed Suho down to the ground again.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol were still there, so Suho sighed and called them over.

“Heard you singing, man” Chanyeol grinned as they walked over, “Nice pipes you got there” he said, patting lay on the back.

“Eh, thanks...” Lay smiled awkwardly. He wasn’t good with compliments.

They waited a little longer until the others all made their way back to solid ground and gathered around to hear what they had to do next.

“Right,” Suho started, “So have we all got a feel for the trees?” he asked, earning a small ‘yes’ from the others, “Good because now is when the challenge starts. Each pair will have their wrists tied together and will have to make it to the top of the tree and back down. The fastest couple will get a prise. We’ll go one pair at a time and I’ve got a stop watch so I can time you. And guys, I can’t stress it enough how careful this means you’ll have to be, I don’t want to see any recklessness, or stupid behaviour. Am I clear?”

“Crystal” Kris said for everyone.

Suho nodded, “Right, everyone grab a piece of rope and get someone to tie your wrist to your partner’s. We’ll break after this for lunch, then we’re moving on to work in teams of four for  something else, but we’ll be staying here still”

They all managed to get themselves tied to their partners and played rock, paper, scissors to see who’d be going first. In the end it was Kris and Kyungsoo first, followed by Chanyeol and Baekyun, then Lay and Suho, after them it was Luhan and Jongdae, followed by Kai and Tao, then finishing off, it was Sehun and Xiumin.

Kris and Kyungsoo made it up and back in two minutes and four seconds. Chanyeol and Baekhyun got it done in three minutes forty-two seconds. Lay and Suho managed to be up and down in a respectable one minute, fifty-three seconds. It took Luhan and Jongdae one minute fifty-four seconds, much to Lay’s amusement at the two’s annoyance. Tao and Kai made it in exactly two mintues. But Sehun and Xiumin took the crown with their record time of one minute and thirteen seconds.

They were met with a big round of applause and were given a chocolate bar and a coupon for free milkshakes at the popular cafe ‘Shake it, Baby’ each.

--

Finally, they were sat around for a well deserved break and lunch. Each of them was quite impressed with the assortment of food Suho had managed to sort out for them. They were sat in a big circle as they ate, having to listen to Tao complain about how it wasn’t fair that Sehun and Xiumin got coupons for milkshakes when he didn’t get anything and he should have won. Needless to say, that got old pretty fast, so Baekhyun just started to copy him and make fun – which amused the others endlessly.

As lunch came to an end, Suho, with the help of Kris and Chanyeol,  packed away the rubbish and cleaned up the stuff before getting everyone to their feet again.

“Okay, so, we’ll be working in teams of four this time. I was going to just pair up two pairs, but I decided to mix it up, so please stand in your teams when I call your name. Team one; Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Zitao, Kris. Can you four stand on this side,” Suho smiled, pointing to his left, “Team two; Kyungsoo, Jongin, Luhan and Sehun” he said, gesturing for them to stand to his right, “And Yixing, Jongdae and Minseok, you’ll be team three with me”

The three moved forward to stand with Suho.

“So, what are we doing then, teach?” Chanyeol asked, throwing an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders.

Suho laughed slightly, “We’re going to find things in the woods and build a birdhouse as a team. The only thing you can use that isn’t part of the forest is the string I’ve brought with me. However, it is a contest and there’ll be a prize each, a voucher for a free meal at the new restaurant that opened up; Ab initio. We’ll do a silent vote on the matter. You won’t be allowed to vote for your own team though.” He grinned, “So, shall we get on with it? We have two hours. Good luck!”

And with that, they all set off to get started.

--

“Hey Baekhyun-ge...” Tao voiced nervously, “Can... Can I ask you a question?”

The two of them were finding good sticks to use for building their birdhouse, whilst Kris and Chanyeol were looking for leaves and anything else that might come in handy.

“Sure, you know you don’t have to ask to ask me something right?” Baekhyun laughed, his voice soft and his eyes twinkling.

Tao nodded awkwardly, “I was just... I mean you don’t have to answer, but have... have you and Chanyeol-ge... You know... Had... uh” he trailed off, not really wanting to say it aloud.

To his surprise, Baekhyun laughed again, the sound of it gentle and understanding, “Have we had ?” he clarified, earning a flustered nod from Tao, “Yes, we have”

“What... What’s it like? I mean, I’ve heard that it’s... um... Painful...” Tao looked around awkwardly, avoiding Baekhyun’s gaze, “For the person, um, on the b-bottom...”

Baekhyun nodded, “Yeah, it can be. The first time is always the worst, though. And it’s awkward and you kind of have no idea what you’re doing, but it’s nice. After you get over the initial sort of, shock, I guess you could say, it’s really nice, and it makes you feel all kinds of wonderful. But it’s a big deal too, it’s not something to rush into or anything. I mean, Chanyeol and I have been with each other for a long time, in the sense that even before we were official, we were kind of together, and it took us a very long time, and a lot of talking to reach that part of our relationship” he smiled softly, patting the younger boys arm, “Why do you ask, TaoTao?”

“I don’t know” he said, his voice flooded with embarrassment as they got to their feet, each of their arms filled with sticks and started to head back to the little area where they were all working, “I just... wondered, I suppose”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, “This wouldn’t happen to be about Kris, would it?” he asked, almost laughing when Tao choked on the air and nearly fell over his own feet.

“What?! No!” the younger denied adamantly.

Baekhyun just snorted as they walked over and sat down where Chanyeol and Kris were readily waiting with a variety of things frown about the woods.

“Hey, baby” Baekhyun said to Chanyeol, turning to grin and flash a wink at Tao before pressing a soft kiss to Chanyeol’s lips.

Chanyeol chuckled, pulling Baekhyun into his side, “Hey, yourself” he grinned.

Tao held back a groan. Sometimes Baekhyun was the definition of evil. Kris shot the younger a confused look, but that only went ignored.

With that, the four of them set about working on their birdhouse. They’d managed to get it halfway built before Baekhyun spoke again.

“Yeol, will you swap with Tao again tonight? Stay with me instead?” he asked, trying his best not to smirk.

Chanyeol looked up from where he was helping Kris get a twig into place, “Huh? Yeah, sure. How come you want me to though?”

At that, Baekhyun did smirk. He moved over to whisper into Chanyeol’s ear, his lips grazing the soft lobe. All the while looking at Tao with mischievous eyes as a grin started to form on Chanyeol’s face.

Yes, Tao decided, Baekhyun really was evil.

--

Sehun rolled his eyes and Luhan broke yet another stick as he tried to bend it, only to be scolded by Kyungsoo and have his hand slapped away. It was funny, he had to admit, seeing Luhan interact with his friends. The elder seemed to get on well enough with Kai, though there were moments when Kai got a little huffy at all the attention Kyungsoo was paying to Luhan.

Although he kept scolding the eldest in the group, it was obvious that Kyungsoo was completely taken with Luhan. They just got on easily, having just clicked. It was only then that Sehun realised he hadn’t seen the two interact all that much over the seven days they’d been there.

“I’m telling you, it’ll bend if you just be gentle with it” Luhan insisted.

Kyungsoo frowned, “It won’t! It’s not flexible enough, look” he said picking up a different, more curved twig, “Use this one, idiot”

Luhan grumbled under his breath, but used the stick Kyungsoo suggested anyway, his face set in a grumpy pout as he did. It worked, much to his annoyance, and the smirk on Kyungsoo’s face was just making him even huffier. And Sehun couldn’t help the laugh that left his lips.

“What?” Luhan huffed, shooting Sehun an annoyed look, but Sehun could tell he was trying not to smile.

He shrugged, “Nothing” he grinned, “I just find it funny that ‘big manly’ Luhan is getting bossed around by someone younger than him, and sulking over it”

“I am not sulking!” Luhan narrowed his eyes, shoving Sehun so hard that the younger fell onto his side, but he was laughing about it, “Oh will you just shut up”

“Make me” Sehun grinned, sitting upright again.

Luhan almost growled, “Just you wait, Oh. You’ll get what’s coming to you...” he threatened without malice.

Sehun was about to make a cheeky response but Kyungsoo beat him to it;

“Hey Jongin-ah, can you feel that?” the wide-eyed boy voiced innocently, making Kai smirk.

Kai looked right into Sehun’s eyes, “I can... Yeah, it feels like... like... ” he grinned.

“Oh yeah” Sehun scoffed, “Because you’d know a lot about anything ual. Let alone ” he shot back.

Kai’s eyes narrowed, “Mm, well maybe it’d help if you two just face, oh wait, you already did” he smirked, the ball back in his court.

Only to be stolen again when Sehun came out with; “

“Yeah, we have, haven’t we Luhan” he smiled at the elder who rolled his eyes, before turning back to Kai, “Which is more than I can say about you and you’re little boyfriend – no offence ‘Soo”

Kyungsoo, surprisingly, just laughed. “None taken, we all know that Jongin is a little nervous about the whole thing, but I can wait. Hell, I’ve waited this long.”

“Kyungsoo!” Kai gasped, making the elder laugh as he shot Kai a shrug.

Sehun grinned, “Just face it, Kim. You’ll never win with me” and much to Kai’s annoyance, he knew that Sehun was right.

“I hate you” he grumbled, throwing a stick at the now laughing boy, but that only made Sehun laugh harder, and soon, Luhan was laughing too, and then Kyungsoo was quick to follow, and before they knew it, even Kai joined in and they were gone with the wind, laughing about nothing and yet, everything all at once, because they could and they were free and why did things have to matter when they were young and had the rest of their lives ahead of them.

It was then that Sehun looked at Luhan and realised something he wished he hadn’t. Because in that moment, he realised he liked Luhan in a way that he shouldn’t. In a way that he couldn’t.

--

Xiumin rolled his eyes, looking away from the idiots that were laughing just across from them. He honestly didn’t know why he was such good friends with Luhan sometimes. The boy was an idiot at best.

Jongdae nudged him softly with his elbow, making Xiumin look up to see the younger boy smiling sweetly like he didn’t have a care in the word, and so he smiled back.

A small cough from Lay had them tearing their eyes away from one another and focusing on their almost complete birdhouse. It was pretty cool, in Xiumin’s opinion. They’d managed to weave the small, more flexible twigs into a ball like structure with a hole in the middle, big enough for a medium sized bird to get into. They’d then used the string to attach leaves to the top to create the look of a little roof. Yeah, he concluded, it was pretty cool indeed.

“So are we done?” Chen asked, turning the birdhouse over in his hands to look at it a little better, as though he couldn’t believe they’d actually managed to make something decent.

“Looks like it” Lay grinned, taking the birdhouse away from Chen, lest he break it, “And I think we’re gonna be waiting a while for the others, they only look about half done and Chanyeol and Kris keep breaking theirs” he laughed, pointing over to where Baekhyun looked like he was going to have a tantrum if it happened one more time.

Suho chuckled at that, “Well, at least our chances of winning seem a little higher, don’t you think?” he said.

“Maybe” Xiumin smiled, “But Luhan’s group is looking pretty good”

With that, the four of them looked over to see the half complete, elaborate structure that was team two’s birdhouse. It even had an outer perch for Merlin’s sake.

“What in the name of Mark Ruffalo?!” Chen gaped, “How the frick-frack did they do that? That’s it, I’m calling it. Kyungsoo is a wizard, there is no doubt about it. Nobody that cute, yet that devious can be muggle!” he nodded firmly, not noticing the bemused look on Xiumin’s face after calling Kyungsoo ‘cute’.

Lay laughed, “Alright, Mr. Potter, calm yourself” he rolled his eyes.

“I shall not!” Chen said indignantly, puffing up his chest, “it’s at times like this I know exactly why Snape was three-hundred-and-ninety-four percent done with this shi-ugar...” he grinned sheepishly at the look Suho shot him for almost slipping up and cursing at the end.

“I don’t even know why I became a teacher sometimes” Suho sighed, running a hand over his face and making the other three laugh.

But he didn’t miss the “It’d be a lot easier if you weren’t” that Lay muttered under his breath, and that only made him sigh again.

Lay looked at Suho and the look he met was enough for him to realise that Suho heard him. He paused for a moment, glancing at Chen and Xiumin, who were not preoccupied with their own conversation before whispering, “I didn’t mean that”

“Yes you did” Suho whispered back subtly, “But it’s okay. You’re right”

Lay sighed, “I’m sorry” he said, careful not to be overheard, reaching over to put the birdhouse on the floor to make himself look busy and not raise suspicion.

“Don’t be. We can talk later, now isn’t the right time” Suho said, moving to pick up the discarded birdhouse.

Lay shook his head, “There’s nothing to talk about” he muttered lowly, “I was just... you know...” he trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

“You’re sure?” Suho asked, looking a little uncertain.

Lay glanced at Chen and Xiumin again, the two had now turned around and were in a loud conversation with Luhan and Kyungsoo, “I’m certain. We knew this wasn’t going to be simple, okay. Just, it’s nothing. I promise. Don’t over think it, I speak without thinking at times, you’ll get used to it” he waved off the concern.

“So you want me around long enough to get used to it?” Suho teased lightly, placing the birdhouse back down on the ground before glancing up to make sure nobody could hear their quiet conversation.

Lay only shot him an ‘are-you-kidding-me’ looked before crawling over to chat with Luhan, Chen and Xiumin, leaving a smiling Suho to play with the birdhouse whilst they waited for the others to finish.

--

They’d all managed to complete their birdhouses in the allotted time and each wrote the name of the team they thought deserved to win.

Suho gathered them all around once he’d counted the little slips of paper.

“Alright” he piped up, a small smile on his face, “So I guess you’re all wondering who’s going to be getting that prize?!” he said, met with nods and ‘yes’s. “Well, I’ve counted, and in third place, with one vote, is.... Kris’s team!”

There was a round of applause and a shout of ‘this is all your fault, Kris’ before Suho carried on talking.

“In second place, with four votes, is....” he looked up at the eager faces before him, “My team. So in first place with a total of seven votes, is Sehun’s team! Congrats guys”

Sehun and Luhan looked at one another before shouting happily and pulling each other into a hug, bouncing around as they did. Kai and Kyungsoo were quick to join in before a chorus of ‘We are the champions’ was struck up.

“You’ll get your vouchers when we get back from the trip” Suho chuckled, “So how about we head back to the clearing and get us some dinner cooking, hmm?”

The others agreed quickly and with that they were off back to the clearing, Luhan, Sehun, Kai and Kyungsoo leading the way, still singing in victory whilst the others followed behind, some disappointed, some amused and some just wanting to nap – namely Tao – but all of them with at least a small smile etched on their faces.

It took them a little longer to get back to the clearing than it did to get to the climbing trees because Kai lead them the wrong way at least three times before Suho took over and got them back to the clearing safely.

“Alright, well you lot can go and relax whilst I cook. Minseok and Baekhyun, can you guys come help me out today?” Suho smiled as they stood around in the clearing.

After agreeing to help, Xiumin and Baekhyun went off to help Suho whilst the others went to chill for a while. Kyungsoo, a smile on his face, took Kai by the hand and lead him back to their tent.

“So, are you enjoying the trip so far?” the elder asked, sitting down inside the tent, patting the space beside him for Kai.

Kai took a seat and hummed, “Yeah, up until you decided to me mean to me” he pouted at the elder, making Kyungsoo laugh.

“I’m sorry, but you have to admit, you are a little... you know, prude” Kyungsoo smiled apologetically.

Kai frowned, “I’ll show you who’s a prude” he half growled, not liking that his pride was on the line as he grabbed Kyungsoo by the upper arms and pulled him in, planting a kiss on the elder’s full lips.

Kyungsoo let out a squeak of surprise before relaxing into Kai and returning the kiss – which was a lot rougher than he expected it to be, considering it was Kai.

As it went on, it slowed down somewhat, the frantic hunger mellowing out into soft tenderness, that had Kyungsoo in a tizzy. Kai’s tongue was working around his own and tasting his mouth and Kyungsoo thought he’d faint by the end of because where the hell did Kai learn to do all of this. Maybe with his ex? Ew, Kyungsoo really didn’t want to think about that, given the current situation.

Kai pulled back after a few minutes, his chest rising and falling rapidly, as was Kyungsoo’s.

“Who... Who’s a prude now?” Kai laughed breathlessly.

Kyungso chuckled, his breathing heavy, “I’m not quite sure you convinced me of anything” he grinned, pulling Kai back in for another kiss.

--

Lay and Chen were lying down side by side in Chen’s tent. They were both just talking lazily about how camp had been so far and what they wanted to do, should the opportunity arise.

“Hey, Dae, can I ask you something?” Lay asked, breaking away from their previous conversation about how the lake day was one of their favourites.

Chen smiled, propping his head up on his hand, “Sure, you know you can” he said, his voice light and easy.

“Well, I was just wondering, is it normal to just... kiss a lot when you’ve been dating a person for like... four days” he asked, trying his best not to blush.

To his surprise, Chen laughed, “Something you need to tell me, Xing?” he asked teasingly, not giving Lay a chance to object as he continued, “But no, I mean, if you’re attracted to someone, then obviously kissing’s only gonna be natural. And then you’ve got to think about before they started dating and how long they’d liked one another before that, so yeah, it’s pretty normal. You’re kinda just, making sure they know you’re theirs and they’re yours...” he smiled, “But why’d you ask?”

“Ha, just wondered, you know?” Lay laughed, a little nervously, “I have this friend. And they’ve been seeing this guy. They’ve liked each other for a while, and even after they’d only been seeing each other for like four days, my friend said it felt really natural and like they’d been together longer than that, and they, you know, kissed a lot...”

Chen nodded, as though thinking deeply about something, “Xing... Is... Is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked, looking a little put out, but more than that, he looked concerned.

“What? No, of course not” Lay laughed awkwardly, “Why would I hide something from you? I have no reason to”

Chen frowned, “I hope that’s true. But in any case, you know that whatever you tell me stays between us, right? I wouldn’t tell anyone”

“I know you wouldn’t” Lay sighed, finally dropping the pretence, “I just need you to trust me when I say this isn’t something I can talk about right now”

The younger boy laid back down on his back before reaching out and linking his and Lay’s fingers together, “I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t that you can’t tell me something that seems really important, but you’re my best friend, Yixing, so I trust you. I do, but I want you to know that you can trust me too. So can I ask you one thing, and can you please, just tell me the truth?”

“...Okay” Lay relented, albeit reluctantly.

Chen bit his lip slightly before asking, “Are you seeing someone you shouldn’t be?”

There was a pregnant pause that seemed to drag on for way too long. Lay knew that as soon as he answered, Chen would know. And he really meant, that he would know. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out, especially with the way Chen had been questioning him, and with what he’d just been saying, it was obvious this was just a means of confirming what he already knew.

And yet, he was still looking at Lay like he would just accept whatever answer he was given.

Lay realised he could just say no. Just act like he was curious and all the secrecy was for some other bull reason that would make no sense, but he also knew that Chen would be hurt if he lied. Chen was someone that had always been there for him, they told each other everything and they didn’t lie to each other. They probably knew each other better than anyone else in the world, and yet Lay’s voice was still trapped in his throat as Chen continued to stare at him with those warm, all too accepting eyes.

And maybe that was why it was so hard for Lay to say that one little word, confirming Chen’s suspicions.  Because the way Chen was looking at him was entirely too accepting. And if Chen really did know then would that acceptance go away? Yes, they were best friends and yes, he trusted the younger more than anything in the world, but at the same time, he wondered if Chen would try and talk him out of it, wondered if Chen would tell if only to protect Lay. He wondered if Chen would think less of Suho because of the situation, because it wasn’t exactly conventional.

But then, he looked. He really looked into Chen’s warm brown eyes and realised he had nothing to be afraid of because this was Chen. His best friend, his platonic soul mate, his everything throughout his life and Chen didn’t judge him. He never had and never would. He really, really trusted Chen, and so it was that revelation that made him sigh and say;

“Yes” in a quiet voice.

Chen studied him for a long time after that. His eyes flicking from Lay’s flushed cheeks, to the elder’s careful eyes that were honestly showing just how petrifying it was for him to admit it out loud to someone, even if that someone was the Elsa to his Ana.

It was painfully quiet almost as Chen continued to watch him, but then finally, Chen’s eyes moved up to look at the roof of the tent, the blue colouring of it, tinting the light inside the tent. But still, Lay so desperately wanted him to speak, needed him to say something, anything!

And finally he did. His voice was calm, steady even, but it was also rather thick and with forced lightness he said “Okay”

“Okay” Lay repeated, though he didn’t really know why.

“But” Chen said quietly, “If he ever hurts you, there will be hell to pay, and I will make him regret it for the rest of his life”

And just like that it was no longer tense. It was just a determined, kind soul, looking out for his best friend. Lay let out a sigh of relief and moved closer to Chen, hugging him tightly with his free arm.