'Are you sure everything is going to be alright?' Kyungsoo wanted to check on them one last time while he still had service because it was going to be nonexistent when they finally got to the lake. 

It was a long minute before his phone pinged and he checked to see that Baekhyun had texted him back, 'We r fine + we are going to watch MV + making cake 4 lunch.' 

He wished his friend would just go the extra mile and text like a normal person so that he could understand it, but it was in the blonde's nature to message him in borderline gibberish. 

Baek was offering to make cake, which was maybe his only speciality, and that sounded good because at least his best friend was getting out of bed. 

Since Chanyeol passed away a little over a week ago, they couldn't coax Baekhyun to do anything besides maybe eat and clean his face. So hearing that he was not only up right now, but that he was planning on eating some kind of actual meal sounded like huge progress. 

Currently, Soo was envious of them because they got to have a lazy day while he had to go with his Appa fishing. As a kid he'd loved this, but when he grew up, he realized that it wasn't the fishing time he enjoyed, but the bonding time he got to have with his father. 

But today's bonding time seemed a little sharper edged and he was generally pretty aware of what Appa was bringing him out here to discuss. More reason he wished he could be at home right now. 

It was funny ... at a different time he may have been jealous of Baek getting Kai for the day. And when he first started his relationship with the younger, he would have been very uncomfortable with Baekhyun and Kai staying alone. 

Things had changed though, so much had changed, and no matter how bad Baek's state was he knew his friend would never betray him in this way. And neither would Jongin; the younger seemed to have eye's only for Soo. 

And knowing them, they where probably just going to catnap all day long; when Kai got bored, he got sleepy and the blonde had been so weary lately that most of his time was devoted to rest. Even that sounded amazing right now, considering how early he had to wake up so that he could make this long journey to the secluded lake.

'Text me if anything happens alright? I'm worried about you both'

'U wrry bout everythng. dont'

'Your poor grammar worries me the most'

'Bye Soo,'

'Goodbye Byun Baekhyun and Kai,'

He still wasn't entirely ready to call his love Kim Jongin around their friend, he wasn't sure if Baek was ready to hear that after what happened.

As his father started to slow the car down and as their approach went from a sprint to a crawl, he knew they were getting very close and the bars of service started to creep away even faster.

Right before he got down to a singular bar though, he got one last ping and his heart melted when he opened it and saw that it was a selca from Jongin. It wasn't labelled, but it didn't need to be because the picture itself brightened up his gloomy demeanor more than words could.

He tapped the phone screen a few times till he had successfully saved and the car stopped, allowing his first chance to see the shimmering blue of the water. 

Appa didn't say anything, but he was smiling so much that the older could tell that no matter what was going to be said the man was just happy to be out fishing. He decided to keep himself quiet and not grumble because that would spoil his special moment. 

It was always so weird to him, his father was such a stately man who worked at such an important job, and yet his get-away that mattered most was fishing, hunting, or something outdoorsey of the sort. But Appa especailly adored fishing, picking up the tradition from his Appa before, and he'd already taught Kyungsoo's older brother how to carry on the family fishing tradition. 

The older man had tried a few times with him, but the results where mostly disappointing for both of them considering Kyungsoo was no good and Appa would get frustrated. Soo just didn't have the attention or the patience to aimlessly float around and try to catch dinner which was a Do family tradition. 

Quickly, before he got out of the car and had to start trying, he snapped a selca to send back when his bars were strong enough and then shut his phone off so the battery wouldn't juice-out on it's search for connection. 

A real nightmare would be ending the day, getting back in the car, and his phone being dead because then he'd have to just watch the road and sit in silence. Usually he'd talk to his Appa if he where bored, but considering what the topics were likely going to be, he doubted there would be anything left to say when they finished. 

Kyungsoo walked over to the trunk that was open and began taking out the fishing equipment while Appa retrieved the family fishing boat from the little dock that was ways over. After everything was laid out on the grass and ready to be loaded, they put it all inside, got in themselves, and pushed off into the water. 

Because he had proven so terrible at it in the past, usually Soo's designation out here was paddling and today was no different. He didn't mind being in charge of the ores though because they were light and barely ever got used since most of this process was just letting the light current take you where the fish were. 

There was a silent half hour where neither spoke and he just watched Appa cast his reel and pull it back in, cursing in vein at how little success he was having -- though no worries, this is how it always went for the older man -- and trying again. 

But Soo was smarter than to think that this was going to last forever. 

"You didn't get my permission for Baekhyun to stay over," it was just a statement, but underlying was an accusation that went beyond his friend. 

"I-I'm sorry, he was on the brink and I didn't want him to be alone," Kyungsoo took a breath because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to argue without Kai at his side right now, "He just lost Yeol and Suho and he has experienced a lot of trauma because of the riots, I had to take emergency actions when I invited him to stay over. He's not a problem ... is he?"

"Baekhyun is never a problem in our home," he cast the line again, "the problem is you going around my authority and behaving like you don't need my permission."

And. Here. We. Go. 

"Appa ... I haven't done this with anything else ... I don't host parties, I don't drink or smok