In which the Kim's go to China, and Joonmyun meets with an old friend

~

It took over a year of saving, Joonmyun having to work double, and Jongin missing out on a few new toys, but a holiday to China was well worth it in the end. Deciding to go to China was easy enough, but deciding on where to go, where to stay, and whether to pay money for a translator or not during their stay was the most difficult part. The amount of money being accumulated every time Joonmyun and Jongdae went through different scenarios of what they could do in China increasingly worried them, however an email awaiting in Joonmyun's inbox changed their predicament completely.

"I still believe there's a critical flaw in this holiday of ours" Jongdae pointed out, he, Jongin, and Joonmyun just about managing to get through the ticket barrier and onto the train just in time with their extremely limited and broken Mandarin.

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" Joonmyun asked, his grip on Jongin's hand tightening when the carriage they were in became increasingly crowded

"Well, we're gonna be here for near enough two weeks. Neither of us are fluent in Mandarin and yet I see no signs of a translator here to help us" Jongdae replied before concluding that the three of them were- in layman terms- effectively screwed.

"Ah don't get your knickers in twist" Joonmyun dismissed "And besides, I have it all planned out... you just want to hope we'll be able to get through the crowd and get off at the next stop"

Whatever Joonmyun had in mind, Jongdae didn't appreciate the fact he was keeping it completely secretive. If they were in Korea, fine, he would let it go and wait until they got to where they needed to be for Joonmyun to reveal his 'surprise'. As they were currently in a foreign country where they had no comprehension of the language whatsoever, Jongdae was slightly less enthusiastic as Joonmyun was and just wanted to know what this brilliant plan of his was already.

The three of them had gotten off the train and exited the station over twenty minutes ago. Why they were still waiting outside of the station, Jongdae had no idea, but the intense heat of the day and a very cranky Jongin on his lap kept him whining to Joonmyun that they were too hot and too sweaty to be sat out in the sun like this.

"Stop!" Joonmyun whined "He'll be here soon, he's just late"

"He?" Jongdae asked but never got an answer because Joonmyun's attention had been caught onto something else as he let out a cheer and quickly walked over to whatever it was that had gotten him so happy, leaving Jongin and Jongdae behind equally confused as to what was happening. From what Jongdae could see, Joonmyun was running forward and embracing someone he couldn't make out. It was only when Joonmyun started to make his way back with the person he was so eager to meet and putting the pieces together, Jongdae is able to realise who this person is.

"Jongdae, this is Yixing!" Joonmyun introduced happily and hearing the name, remembering the past the two of them had had, Jongdae could swear his eyebrow twitched. Not one for being rude however, Jongdae shakes his hand and kindly introduces himself.

"Wow Joonmyun!" Yixing began, heavily accented, "I know you bragged about him being handsome, but I didn't know he would be this handsome!"

The compliment catches Jongdae off guard and he actually finds himself blushing, making Yixing laugh. Thanking him quietly, Jongdae makes a mental note to ask Joonmyun later on in private how often Joonmyun liked to brag to people about how handsome his partner was.

"And this must be Jongin!" Yixing exclaimed and bent down to meet the boy at his height, smiling when Jongin got shy and went to hide behind Jongdae. Having had enough of having to go through the process of explaining to people that he did have a son but he was with a man, Joonmyun decided to tell Yixing when they got back into contact straight away so he didn't have to got through the awkward process again if they were to meet up. Seeing how naturally he was able to speak to the boy however, Yixing didn't even seem to be phased at all.

"Right, the day is young, where do you want to go?" Yixing asked

"We did some research online... but we have no idea. We're completely at your mercy" Joonmyun replied as Yixing smiled and nodded his head, proclaiming he knew the perfect places to take the newest guests to the city.

Jongdae would be lying if he didn't admit he was slightly jealous. He would be lying if he didn't admit he was jealous when he saw how much Joonmyun and Yixing spoke to each other, how often they were laughing, how they would nudge each other whenever the other said something embarrassing. How come he was being left out of the conversations most of the time? Even Jongin got more attention than him!... he was jealous over a child getting more attention than him for crying out loud!

Eventually Joonmyun started to notice that maybe Jongdae was feeling a bit left out- and at the correct moment because Jongdae was really contemplating about whether he should just turn around and find his way back to their hotel or not- and started including him as well. Yixing would start to speak to Jongdae as well, and though he was particularly keen on the guy, Jongdae found himself getting into long conversations with him over the tiniest and most insignificant conversation starters there were. Very slowly he began thinking that maybe Yixing was alright after all.

Deciding to get Yixing to act as their tour guide whilst they were in China was the best decision Joonmyun had made all year. Yixing was able to take them to places they were sure no proper tour guide would take them, though a little rusty his Korean was good enough that the flow of conversation was consistent and never left hanging in an air of awkwardness. This was only their first day and yet they were loving every second of it already.

"He really loves you"

By midday the heat had reached its peak and it was unanimously decided that a good lunch was needed in the shade to help cool them down. Eating in a park where countless of other families had had the same idea as them had given Jongin plenty of opportunity to play whilst the adults remained seated, though Joonmyun didn't share his excitement in playing in a park in a foreign country where they were horrible at speaking the language and tagged along with him, leaving Yixing and Jongdae to chat amongst themselves.

"He's certainly been more openly affectionate" Jongdae replied, re-calling the countless of times throughout the day so far where Joonmyun had been more confident to freely hold his hand, loosely wrap an arm around Jongdae's waist and hold him tightly when they got themselves into a bigger crowd, even being the one to plant quick kisses on the cheek or on the lips. Usually it was Jongdae who had to initiate most of this! "Maybe it's because we're out of country where people don't know him. He can let himself go a bit more"

"Yifan's not overly keen on huge public displays of afection" Yixing began "He doesn't show it openly so people are surprised when they find out we're a couple because we're so different. He just prefers being affectionate behind closed doors. Probably because it'll mess up his "image" the huge dork" he finished with a laugh before pointing a finger at Jongdae "But don't tell him I said that" he added as an after thought.

Jongdae would be lying if he said he didn't feel slightly relieved when he heard Yixing use another man's name and that they were a couple who had been going strong for just as long- maybe even longer- than Joonmyun and himself. He would be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to the remainder of the holiday where Yixing had so much more to show them and introduce them to Yifan. He would most definitely be lying if he didn't say that ever so slowly he was considering Yixing as a new friend of his...

BOOM!

Managed to get Lay into a chapter and get a jealous Jongdae in there as well! High fives all around people!!

Announcement time; this will be ending soon. How soon? Probably... two or three more chapters. I really don't want to let go of this but there's only so much you can do with this fic. Don't worry however! The next chapter we pick up where we left off with detective Tao deducing that Jongin may or may not like Kyungsoo. How does this revelation bode for Jongin? You'll just have to find out....

Until the next chapter!!