By the time Lay woke up, Suho wasn’t in the tent. It was a surprise, but he tried not to dwell on it, it wasn’t like he was required to be there. Letting out a soft breath of air, he thought back to the talk he had with Chen the day before. He was glad Chen accepted his choice, and although he didn’t say it, he knew Chen knew exactly what the topic was about. Sometimes he forgot how closely Chen paid attention to detail, and that was quite scary. It was a thought that also made him realise how much more careful he and Suho needed to be if they were to maintain what they had, if their relationship stood a chance.

Deciding that worrying about things could wait, he grabbed his toiletries and made his way out of the tent. Much to his surprise Suho wasn’t out there either, which was odd. But he didn’t fret over it as he made his way over to the next tent and poked his head in to see Kris playing on his phone and a sleeping Tao. He was pretty sure Chanyeol was sharing with Kris, but whatever.

“Oh” Kris said, looking up from his phone, “Hey Lay. What’s up?”

Lay smiled, “Can you be my bathroom buddy? I need to brush my teeth and stuff” he said, waving his things to emphasize his point.

“Sure” Kris smiled back, setting aside his phone and grabbing his own toothbrush, planning to just use Lay’s toothpaste.

“Thanks Kris, I would have asked someone else, but your tent is closest and well, I’m lazy” Lay grinned, moving aside to let Kris get out of the tent and zip it back up so not to rouse Tao.

Kris chuckled, “It’s fine. I feel like I’ve barely spoken to you since we got here anyway. And how come you didn’t just ask Mr. Kim?” he asked, rubbing some sleep out of his eye as they walked along the path towards the bathroom.

“Oh, he wasn’t in the tent when I woke up and he wasn’t outside of it either, so either he’s been eaten by a bear, or he’s off planning whatever it is we’re doing today” Lay shrugged, his voice light and joking.

Kris rolled his eyes, “Not much of a difference then” he laughed, as the two walked into the cabin and came to stand before the sinks.

Lay grinned before the two of them went about their morning routines and freshened up. it wasn’t long before they were done and back in the clearing, just as Suho emerged from the woods looking a little worn out.

“Oh, hello boys” he said upon noticing Lay and Kris, “You’re up early”

Kris raised an eyebrow, “Sir, it’s almost ten o’clock” he said, sounding a little like he thought Suho was losing his marbles, making Lay hit him on the arm even though he was trying not to smile at it.

“Oh is it?!” Suho’s eyes widened, “Well hurry up and go get dressed whilst I wake the others up! It’s going to be a long day”

--

It wasn’t long before all of them were sat around in the clearing, clean and dressed for the day.

Suho stood up and shot them all a smile, “So” he began, “Today we’re having a scavenger hunt! You’ll be working in teams. There’ll be three teams of three and one team of two since I’m not taking part in this activity. Each team will be given a map which will lead you to a clue. From there, you’ll follow a series of clues that will lead you to a chest of... well, the winning team will find that out. Whoever gets to it first wins what’s inside it.

 “Now I’ve got a walkie-talkie for each of you, so if you find it you can let everyone know and come back to the clearing. And let me know if you need help carrying it. I’ve got all your names in this bag, so teams will be sorted randomly. I’ll do the teams of three first” he announced, picking a name out of the bag, “So we have, Chanyeol... Jongdae... and, Yixing as one team. Then we have... Baekhyun... Sehun... and Jongin. Next we’ve got, Zitao... Kyungsoo... and, Minseok. So that leaves Kris and Luhan as our pair. Each team grab a map, and a walkie-talkie each from me, then set off”

And with that, they all grabbed what they needed and headed out into the woods in hopes of finding the chest.

--

Kris smiled as Luhan grabbed his hand the two of them tried their best to follow the directions on the map, hoping that they had it the right way around.

Neither of them were really bothered about winning – though it would be nice if they did – but more focused on getting to spend some time together. Although they were really quite close, they didn’t often get to spend a lot of time together of late, what with studying for exams and part time jobs, then since they’d been on the trip they’d be focused with other people, so it was nice for them to have been paired together.

“Sehun was asking me about how I became friends with you the other day” Luhan said out of the blue as he pulled Kris to the right and started to walk a little slower.

Kris raised a brow, “Oh? What did you tell him?” he asked, wondering if Luhan had made him sound like an idiot. But the elder only laughed.

“I told him the truth. I think I was quite nice actually” he grinned, “But I’m not going to tell you what I said exactly”

Kris scoffed, “Idiot. And was this when you two were hugging, thinking that nobody would notice?”

“We were not hugging!” Luhan shot back indignantly, “There’s the clue” he said, pointing to a note that had been stuck to a tree.

Kris laughed, “Oh please, he was back hugging you and you had your hands linked with his like a little couple. I thought you hated him? What happened, did you finally fall in love with all his quirks?” he asked as they walked over to the tree and Luhan read the note.

“Whatever, it wasn’t a hug... I was just, uh, cold. Yeah. And we called a truce, no hate. He’s...” Luhan let out a sigh, “He’s not as bad as I thought he was, alright? Happy now? And we need to go that way” he said, pointing behind Kris before they started off again to find the next note.

Kris grinned, “You like him, admit it”

“No”

“No, you don’t? Or no, you won’t admit it?”

“Both” Luhan frowned, “Now can you shut up about Sehun-ah and help me to find the next bloody clue?!”

--

Sehun picked up his walkie-talkie with a grin, pressing the button on the side, “Come in, this is Oh Sehun, repeat, this is Oh Sehun!” he spoke into it, a sly grin on his face.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun asked, looking between his own walkie-talkie and Sehun.

Sehun only waved a hand dismissively at the elder as they heard a voice come back through the walkie-talkies.

“Sehun? Why the feck are you pissing about with the walkie-talkie if you’ve not found anything?!” it was Chanyeol.

Sehun lifted his walkie-talkie to reply but then Suho’s voice came through, “Chanyeol! Language!”

“Sorry sir” Chanyeol sighed.

“Anyways, how do you know I’ve not found anything?” Sehun asked over the device.

He could almost see Chanyeol rolling his eyes, “Have you?”

“No” Sehun admitted reluctantly, punching Kai on the arm as the slightly older boy started laughing manically.

He could only assume the others were all laughing too.

“Ignore him, Sehunnie, he’s just mad because he’s too dip- to find anything himself so he’s taking it out on you” Kyungsoo’s voice piped up through the walkie-talkie, making him laugh as Suho came back with;

“Kyungsoo! I expected better from you!”

Kyungsoo’s laugh came through the device, “Sir, I’m not even sorry” he chuckled, and that was that.

Kai looked at Sehun with an amused smile, “At least you’ve got your mummy to look after you, Sehunnie”

“So that would make you my dad, then? Just no” Sehun grimaced, “I think of Soo as more of an older brother” he smiled fondly.

Kai laughed as Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “So now Kai’s your soon to be brother in law?” the eldest of the three asked.

“What?! No, he’s to have nothing to do with my little Soo! Kai, just what are your intentions with my Soo?!” Sehun gasped, shoving Kai in the chest.

Kai groaned, rubbing his hand over where Sehun had pushed him, “Dude, you were one of the people pushing me to ask him out! What the hell! Besides, he’s the deceptive one!”

“That’s because you’re a ” Baekhyun laughed loudly, slapping his hand on his thigh and silently thinking he was spending too much time with Chanyeol if he’d started to do that as well.

Kai scoffed, “ you. If anyone is, then it’s Sehun. He obviously has the hots for Luhan but he’s too prissy to do anything about it”

“What the hell?” Sehun yelled, “Where did you even get that from?”

Baekhyun laughed, “We heard you muttering to yourself about how cute he was when you were in the bathroom”

There was a small cough that brought them back to earth, “Guys, you are aware one of you is holding the button still right?”

It was Luhan’s voice. He sounded a little, what was that, shy?

Sehun froze.

“Uh oh...” Kai said, lifting his hand and seeing his own finger pushing down the button... “I think we’ve broken him...” he whispered, poking Sehun on the arm, only to get no response.

Baekhyun bit his lip nervously and lifted the walkie-talkie to his mouth, “Um, Mr. Kim? I think we broke Sehun. Can you come and get him? Me and Kai will just carry on without him. I think he needs to sit down for a while...”

“I’m on my way” came Suho’s voice with a soft sigh.

--

“Do you think Sehun’s okay?” Xiumin asked, fretting his lip with his teeth. Although he wasn’t really close to the younger boy, he was still concerned about him. He knew that Sehun and Luhan were just dancing around each other. They always had done. They chose to use the tension between them in a negative way since the day they laid eyes on one other, and now it was starting to show it’s true colours. It was starting to break through the wall of ‘hate’ the two had built and show just how wrong they were about their feelings for one another at the start.

It was only a matter a time in Xiumin’s opinion.

“He’ll be fine” Kyungsoo smiled, “He’ll just freak out for an hour or so, then he’ll pretend like nothing happened, or pass it off as a joke and all will be well with the world again. Even if he is an idiot for not just admitting to himself that he likes Luhan” he chuckled.

Tao sighed, “So they really do like each other then? Damn, I hate it when Kris is right”

“What was Kris right about?” Xiumin asked, plucking a clue from the tree next to him and reading over it.

“About Luhan liking Sehun. I mean, he and Chanyeol have this whole scheme planned out to get them together and I don’t know, I feel like if they actually get together, whether it’s with his help or not, he’ll never let anyone forget it. And Min-ge, you know how he can be...” Tao pointed out, taking the clue from Xiumin’s hand and looking it over, “What’s this word?”

Kyungsoo leant over to look “diagonally” he answered, “But who’s to say that they’ll even get together? I mean, they’ve only been being nice to each other for like five or so days...”

Xiumin and Tao shot him an incredulous look, but said nothing on the matter. Because surely, even Kyungsoo must have noticed how much the two had gotten past in only a few days and how dramatically things had changed between them.

“And then there’s the fact that Sehun’s going to be weird now that Luhan knows about what he said...” Kyungsoo added.

Xiumin and Tao looked at each other, each heaving a sigh. Ah, yes. There was that little detail too.

--

Lay played with his fingers as he Chen and Chanyeol looked over their last clue before going off to find the chest.

He was stood between the two of them, but was inching closer towards Chanyeol, not really knowing what to say to Chen. After sleeping on it, he realised how big of a mistake it might have been to tell Chen.

It was obvious that Chen had picked up on the awkwardness that Lay was exuding, so maybe that was why he let out a huff of air, causing Chanyeol and Lay to look up at him.

“Chanyeol, do you mind if I talk to Lay in private for a minute?” he asked.

Chanyeol looked confused, but nodded nonetheless, “Sure...”

“Here, take these” he pulled Lay’s walkie-talkie from his hand and handed it to Chanyeol along with his own, “and keep working on the clue, we’ll be two minutes.” And with that, he grabbed Lay’s hand and pulled him out of ear shot of Chanyeol.

Pulling his arm back, once they’d stopped, Lay frowned, “What are you doing?!” he asked.

“What am I doing?! What are you doing?!” Chen shot back, “You’re being weird with me”

Lay shifted awkwardly, “No I’m not...” he said, and it didn’t even sound convincing to himself.

“Xing, seriously. Is this about yesterday? Because I’m not going to rat you out. Yeah, I think you’re being stupid for doing whatever the it is you’re doing with him, but it’s your life, man, not mine. You wanna date someone, fine, I’m not here to tell you what to do, I’m not your mother. But you can’t act like this with me” Chen sighed, “I’m not going to pretend to understand it, and I’m not going to pretend to like it, but despite how I feel about it, I can see you care about him. And as much as I hate to admit it, I can see he cares about you, so please don’t be awkward with me. I’ll get used to it, alright, but don’t think I’m going to do anything to hurt you, Xing, because I’m not. You get why I’m finding it hard to wrap my head around this, right?” he asked softly, placing a hand on Lay’s shoulder.

Lay sighed, his eyes on the ground, “Yeah, I get it. I know it’s mental, honestly, I’m still trying to understand it myself. It’s not something I planned, or thought would ever happen really, but it did and I just... I’m happy, Dae. Really happy, for the first time in a long time because something is finally working out for me. I get that it’s not... conventional, but it’s what I want... what I need, so please, I need you to accept this, please...”

It was quiet for a while, Chen snuck a glance at Chanyeol who was now sitting on the ground, brows furrowed as he worked over the clue, before looking back at Lay, “Okay. I’ll do my best. I just... He’s not, you know, pressuring you, right? Because if he is, you need t-”

“Chen!” Lay cut him off, “God, no. No, it isn’t even like that. If you have to know, it was... it was me. I made the first move, and I told him to really, really think about it. He told me to say no, to just walk away for both of our sakes, but I didn’t okay. This is my choice, Jongdae, mine. So, god, don’t ever think that he’s doing anything wrong, because he isn’t”

Chen held up a hand in defence, “Hey, hey. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just... I’m just looking out for you, you know? I really do love you, Xing, I always will. Just because we didn’t work out doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop caring about you. So, if you’re going to be seeing someone, I need to make sure he’s good for you, hell, good enough for you, which nobody ever will be by the way...” he laughed softly, “I love you, really, you know that right?”

Lay smiled, finally looking up to meet Chen’s eyes, “I know, I love you too, ChenChen. Always and forever” he said, tearing up a little, pulling Chen into a hug.

“So you really like this guy, huh?” Chen chuckled, pulling back and wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve.

Lay smiled, doing the same, “Yeah, I do. A lot actually”

Chen nodded, grabbing Lay’s hand and making their way back to Chanyeol who was now standing there, looking as though he was trying not to grin.

“All well in the world of friends?” Chanyeol asked as they approached him.

The two laughed slightly, both nodding as Chen said “Yep”

“Oh good!” Chanyeol finally grinned, “I think I’ve worked out the clue! Come on, it’s this way!” he said, grabbing Lay’s free hand and hauling them off to find the chest.

--

Luhan gnawed at his lip nervously, “Do... do you think I should have just, you know, kept quiet?”

“... ‘bout what?” Kris asked, looking behind a few bushes and trees to see if he could spot the chest, only to come up empty.

“You know...” Luhan sighed, “When Baekhyun said that Sehun called me... uh... cute. Should I just have stayed quiet?”

Kris looked at Luhan, “Can’t undo what you said, nor can he. Just man up, tell him you think he’s cute too and then you’re even and it’s all sorted. Alright?”

“I don’t know...” Luhan said, “I mean, what if he thinks I’m just, trying to make him feel better?”

Kris rolled his eyes, “Do you think he’s cute?”

“I... Yeah...” Luhan admitted reluctantly, making Kris smile.

“Then there’s no problem, is there?” the taller boy pointed out.

“You think that’ll work?” Luhan asked, not really sure. But he should trust Kris’s judgement, right?

Kris nodded, “Certain.” He smiled.

Before Luhan could respond though, Chanyeol’s voice was shouting out over the walkie-talkie;

“WE FOUND THE CHEST, YO! WE FOUND IT! EVERYONE HEAD BACK TO THE CLEARING ‘CAUSE YOU ES JUST GOT OWNED!!!” he whooped.

“Park Chanyeol, this is the last time I’m warning you! Language!!” Suho’s voice shot back.

Kris looked at Luhan. Luhan looked at Kris. And then the laughter just couldn’t be controlled as they made their way back to the clearing.

By the time they got there, the others were all there and chatting amongst themselves. Seeing that they were back, Suho got to his feet and cleared his throat.

“Alright guys, I didn’t actually expect you to finish this quickly, so uh, I don’t have anything else planned. So, just do what you like until dinner. Zitao, Kris, you’re helping cook tonight” he smiled, “So, have at it”

As soon as the words had left his mouth, everyone was crowded around Chen, Chanyeol and Lay to see what they had won.

When they opened the chest, there were three snapbacks, a ton of sweets, a few little games and three t-shirts that read “I solemnly swear I am up to no good” which had the boys in a tizzy – namely Luhan who was sulking about not getting any Harry Potter merchandise.

Being the nice boys they were, they shared the sweets – apart from Chanyeol who would only let Baekhyun have any of his – and let the others play with the assortment of games.

Lay put his t-shirt in his tent, along with his hat so that it didn’t get ruined. Chen put his hat on, and let Xiumin wear his t-shirt, since the elder had taken a liking to it. Chanyeol, though, stripped off his tee to swap it for the one he’d won, then put on his hat – which amused Baekhyun, because Chanyeol had always been a little obsessed with hats.

Whilst this was all going on, Luhan managed to grab Sehun’s hand and pull him over to the edge of the clearing, away from the others.

“Hey” Luhan said after a moment. He still hadn’t let go of Sehun’s hand, in fear the other would bolt as soon as he did.

“Uh, hey” Sehun replied, albeit slightly awkwardly.

Luhan sighed, “Look, about before, can you just... not be awkward with me? I’m pretty sure this is nothing compared to the fact you were grinding on me the other day” he added with a teasing smile, trying to lighten the mood.

To his surprise, it actually worked. Sehun smiled slightly, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. But still... I mean, it’s... it’s not a big deal, ‘cause I say that Baek is cute all the time and it’s just a friendly thing and I mean, you are really cute and all but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable or anything or for things to get weird and I jus-”

Luhan slapped his free hand over Sehun’s mouth, “Sehun, shut up. You’re rambling” he said before dropping his hand, “And chill, I mean I think you’re cute too, so I guess that puts us on even ground, right?”

“Right” Sehun nodded, a small smile gracing his lips. “... Thanks”

“For what?” Luhan asked, raising an eyebrow at the younger boy.

Sehun smiled at him shyly, swinging their linked hands slightly in nervousness, “For, you know, stopping things from getting awkward”

“Ah, don’t thank me. We’ve only just stopped snapping at each other, and I really, really don’t want to go back to that, so this was purely selfish” Luhan shrugged, teasingly.

Sehun rolled his eyes, but laughed nonetheless, “Still, thank you” he reiterated, leaning forward and giving Luhan a soft peck on the cheek.

Lifting his free hand over the spot Sehun had kissed, Luhan looked at the younger in awe, “What was that for?” he asked, his voice a little higher than usual.

“Nothing, just felt like doing it?” Sehun laughed, scratching his head awkwardly, before clearing his throat, “Uh, we should, get back” he said, looking anywhere but at Luhan.

The elder smiled, his hand still on his now pink tinged cheek before he tugged lightly at Sehun’s hand and the two of them moved back to join the others – who were now dancing around whilst Lay played the guitar and Kyungsoo beat-boxed.

The two of them walked over and sat down beside Lay, their hands still linked, which earned Luhan a soft smile from the boy playing guitar, but he only stuck out his tongue in return, making Lay laugh.

Looking over, he noticed that Kyungsoo had stopped beat-boxing as Kai pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arms around the elder’s waist, bringing them into a slow dance.

On seeing them, Lay smiled and brought the melody down to something softer, ignoring the whine from Kris that Lay had ruined his groove, and watching as Chen offered a hand to Xiumin, which the elder gladly accepted and let himself be lead into a dance with Chen. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were off to the side, Baekhyun sat in Chanyeol’s lap as the two of them were caught up in a soft kiss, too consumed in one another to care what was going on around them. Kris was now sat awkwardly on the other side of Lay as he watched Tao dance with his panda plush, a cute little smile on his face as though he didn’t have a care in the world.

Glancing behind him, Lay noticed Suho watching him play with a soft look on his face. He shot the teacher a smile before turning back and focusing on finishing the song.

--

“You’re being very cute tonight” Kyungsoo pointed out as he and Kai made their way into their tent after dinner.

Kai raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?” he asked, stripping off his clothes and pulling on a pair of shorts and a vest.

He watched as Kyungsoo changed into his bed clothes and joined him on their sleeping bags as he waited for the elder to answer, “Well, first the dancing, then the feeding me, not to mention the random little kisses, you’ve just been, you know, cute”

“I wasn’t being cute, I was being awesome, there’s a difference. Besides, I wanted to dance with you... I thought it would be nice” Kai smiled, shuffling around to get into his sleeping bag.

Kyungsoo smiled, patting Kai’s cheek lovingly, “It was nice. Very nice, but it was still cute” he chuckled, “I like that you’re not as nervous as before”

Kai let out a soft laugh, “I’m still nervous. Honestly, I’m beside myself with nerves, it’s just... I have you now, right? And I mean, I think that this is really going to work. I’ve like you for a really, really long time, Soo, and I want to make sure that I show you how much you mean to me. I get it, you know, that people think we’re too young to know what love it, and that I might be kidding myself, but I know myself enough to know that this isn’t just some fling, or crush to me. I love you. And I mean that, I really do, so if you’re willing to give me a chance, then I’m not going to mess it up. I’m going to show you, every day for as long as you’ll have me, just how much you mean to me and how much I love you, because I’m not planning on letting you go any time soon. So I might not seem nervous, but believe me, showing you how much I care about you, is the most nerve-wracking thing I could ever do...”

“Jongin...” Kyungsoo whispered softly, moving closer to Kai and leaning against him, “You are seriously, the most amazingly sweet, kind and compassionate person I’ve ever known. And I want you to know that there’s no reason for you to be nervous, because, well, I love you too. I’ve liked you for as long as I can remember, so we’re both in the same boat, baby. Believe me. But I do have one question... If you liked me so much, then why were you dating that girl a couple of weeks back?” he asked, moving in to press a soft kiss to Kai’s lips.

Kai smiled against Kyungsoo’s lips, “I was trying to make you jealous, she was just helping me out. We called it off when it was clearly not working...” he answered before he brought his hand up to the back of the elder’s head, pulling him closer and turning what started out as an innocent kiss into something more.

Not that Kyungsoo seemed to mind at all.

--

“I feel like I could sleep for the rest of my life!” Lay huffed as he laid down in his sleeping bag.

Suho let out a soft chuckle, shuffling into his own and scooting closer to Lay so that he could pull the younger into his arms, “You can’t be that tired, we hardly did anything today” he pointed out.

“I’m emotionally drained” Lay clarified, “I think my brain’s turned to mush... Urgh”

Suho snorted, “I’m sure you’ll be fine after some well earned sleep” he said, “Why are you emotionally drained, anyway?”

“Jongdae. The , got me all worked up about stuff” Lay sighed, “So many words, so little space in my head”

Suho frowned slightly, hiding his face in Lay’s hair, “What did he say?” he asked, hoping he didn’t sound as huffy as he felt.

“Just stuff... He asked me if I was dating anyone, and then said that nobody would ever be good enough for me, or love me more than he does, then I got all teary and he got all nice and sweet again and yeah, it was just a lot to take in I guess” Lay sighed, closing his eyes and relaxing into Suho’s warm hold.

Suho’s frown remained there, though he held Lay tighter, “Oh? What did you tell him?”

“That I might be” Lay lied. He didn’t want to tell Suho that Chen knew. He knew that it would only cause trouble. Sure, he’d tell him eventually, but it was too soon, and he didn’t know how Suho would react, “I never said anything about you, don’t worry” he added, and it technically wasn’t a lie. He’d never mentioned Suho’s name, nor that he was dating a teacher, it had only ever been implied.

Suho visibly relaxed, “Okay, but just to make sure, when he said he loves you..?”

“He meant it in a totally platonic way and has no intention of trying to get into my pants... again” Lay smirked, finding it one of the funniest things in the world to tease the elder.

“Again?! What do you mean again!?” Suho whispered hastily, trying not to freak out.

Lay let out a soft chuckled, “Relax, I’m kidding. Well, I might be, I guess you’ll never know” he teased again, “You know, I’d never have pegged you as the jealous type. It’s quite funny”

“I’m not the jealous type, I’m just... looking out for your wellbeing.” Suho shot back indignantly, “Besides, I think I have a right to know” he said, burying his face deeper into Lay’s hair, making the younger laugh.

“Oh?” Lay smiled slyly, “Is that so? Because by that logic, I should ask about all your past relationships, and ual encounters”

Suho groaned, pulling back slightly to look at Lay, “You know what, I take it back. Forget it all, I don’t want to know anything!”

“Oh, I see how it is. You get to know anything and everything about me, but I ask and it’s all different?” Lay chuckled, staring up into Suho’s eyes, “Mm, but maybe I’ll tell you someday, who knows?” he smirked, leaning up and pecking Suho on the mouth, still teasing.

Suho rolled his eyes, “Such a tease” he murmured before leaning down and capturing Lay’s lips in a soft kiss.

Lay let out a soft chuckle against Suho’s lips before letting himself kiss the elder back. His hand trailed along Suho’s side and moved to his back. He let it move along the hem of Suho’s t-shirt before slipping under it, his hand trailing along Suho’s warm skin.

Lay pulled back a little, a smile on his slightly swollen lips as Suho’s mouth moved to his neck, “How about I make you a deal? You can ask me any question you like, only one, and I’ll answer completely honestly, but~ in return I get to ask you something and you have to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth”

“What is this, a hearing?” Suho smiled against Lay’s neck before finally pulling back to look at the younger, “But alright, I’ll accept...”

Lay grinned at him, “So what would you like to know, Junmyeon?”

“Did you really sleep with Jongdae?” Suho asked quietly, his eyes moving to look away from Lay. There was a soft blush on his cheeks but Lay didn’t know if it was from embarrassment, or not really wanting to know the answer, but nevertheless, he promised the truth.

Lay let out a soft sigh, “Yes. I did, once. But that’s it” he answered, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

“When?” Suho asked. He knew he didn’t really have any right to know, but he couldn’t help but ask. Maybe, he thought, he needed to work on his jealously, but the idea of Lay with another person didn’t sit well with him.

“We were sixteen” Lay answered softly, not really caring that he’d only promised the elder one answer, “And I have a feeling you’re going to keep asking about it, so, I’ll just lay it all out on the table. Like I said, we were sixteen and at his place. We were just talking about it, and how so many people were bragging about having had to their friends, and neither of us saw the big deal about it, I mean I get that it was now, but we were kind of in that ‘still had feelings for each other’ stage, so when he suggested that we should do it, to just, get it out of the way, I said yes and we did.

 “It wasn’t awkward or anything after that, but we both agreed that was the end of it. We don’t talk about it and I don’t think any of our friends know that we did what we did, to be honest I think Luhan thinks I’m like the Mary or something...” he laughed quietly, “But, yeah... so now you know. But are you really better off for knowing?” he asked, his voice no more than a whisper.

Suho let out a sigh, “No, I’m not.” He admitted, “But I’m still glad you told me... If I’m honest, I was kind of expecting you to say no” he laughed awkwardly.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Junmyeon, but I’m hoping you’ll come to like them all, anyway” Lay said softly, a small smile playing about his lips.

Suho smiled back sweetly, “I’m sure I will, Yixing, I’m sure I will. So, do you have anything you want to ask me?”

“I do, actually. How many people have you, you know, been with?” Lay asked, his cheeks flushing deeply. He couldn’t quite believe he’d asked, but he did kind of want to know what he was up against.

Suho, to his surprise, laughed, “The way you said that makes me seem like some kind of Casanova, but if you must know, I’ve slept with three people. Two of them were past relationships and one of them was a one night stand that I really, really regret...” he said, cringing slightly.

“Why do you regret it?” Lay asked, suppressing an amused smile at Suho’s reaction.

“Why did you have to ask that? It was just... Uh, it was with a friend of mine. We were both drunk out of our minds, and she was, well a she... So yeah, that was awkward. I woke up with a banging headache and I think we both just wanted to forget it ever happened. Ah, to be me” Suho groaned, hiding his face in Lay’s hair again.

Lay grinned, “Oh wow. I’m really, really glad I asked now. You have some interesting stories” he chuckled, “Alright, well I’m tired, so g’night” he smirked, getting more comfortable in Suho’s hold.

“Night, Xing” Suho smiled into the younger’s hair. Oh what a life he led.

--

It was quiet, the only sounds around were that of the leaves rustling and small animals going about the woods. The moon left a soft glow over the clearing as the stars sparkled in its wake.

Chen smirked as he moved closer to Xiumin and slipped a finger into the waistband of the elder’s pyjama bottoms, tugging at them lightly.

“Jongdae, I said no” Xiumin said, his voice thick with sleep, and his eyes still closed.

Chen only smiled as he let his hand move around the cup Xiumin’s cheek.

Xiumin’s eyes snapped open, “Kim Jongdae! I told you, I am not having with you in the middle of a camping trip!” he all but shouted.

Chen only grinned as he pecked Xiumin on the nose and rolled back over to go to sleep.