In which Jongin finally mans up, Tao is a very sneaky friend, and Joonmyun and Jongdae look to the future

~

The end of the school year was fast approaching, final exams were coming to an end, the weather was beautiful, when was Jongin ever going to have the perfect excuse to propose a camping trip to his friends like this again?

Jongdae had agreed to him going camping with Kyungsoo and Tao straight away; he knew the perfect camping spot they could spend the night having had many family trip there himself as a kid, plus he and Joonmyun would get an evening to themselves which they hadn't had in a quite a while. It was a win-win situation! Joonmyun however seemed less excited about the idea of his son going off camping in the woods for the night, even if it was nearby, even if it was the summer.

"Jongin you're seventeen years old! Seventeen! Do you really think I'm going to let you go off camping at this age? Nope! No thanks. End of conversation!"

"Oh come on dad!" Jongin exclaimed "I'm practically almost eighteen! Plus I'm not going to be by myself, I'll be with Kyungsoo and Tao!"

"Exactly! Almost eighteen. That's still a long way away! I don't care if Jongdae knows where this campsite is and it's completely safe, it's too far away for me to feel that you're going to be safe, and you're still too young to be going camping by yourself. End of conversation"

Jongin knew his dad meant well, but sometimes he could be just a little too protective. He needed to understand that Jongin was no longer the little boy who depended on him so much, that he wasn't the little boy who had a few near hospital visits when he accidentally ate something that had nuts in it. He was now a young matured man and Joonmyun didn't seem to understand that sometimes. Jongdae could see that how Joonmyun was acting sometimes had begun to iritate Jongin and told him that he would go talk to his dad, see if he could change his mind.

"I know why you're here, and my answer is still no" Joonmyun said when he saw Jongdae walk into their bedroom

"I know, I know, that's why I came here to try and... negotiate something" Jongdae replied, Joonmyun stopping whatever he was doing to listen to what Jongdae had to say. "First of all what you need to understand is that Jongin is almost an adult, he's not a little kid anymore. If however you're that worried, how about we get somebody to go with him and his friends?"

"I don't know-" Joonmyun began but was stopped by Jongdae waving his hand in front of his face

"Hear me out. You're working late, I have teacher- parent meetings to deal with so we're out of it. We could ask the guys to go with them, maybe even Kyungsoo's mum she's always up for getting involved. We'll even get Jongin to call you at specific times, maybe leave a message just to put your mind at ease"

"I guess that could work" Joonmyun agreed, running through his head who would be available "Our best shot is asking Baekhyun and Chanyeol; I don't know if Kyungsoo's mum will be busy, Minseok's out of town for the weekend, and Sehun still has this weird thing about children"

"See! Plus we'll have the evening all to ourselves. Think of what we could do!" Jongdae added "And if nobody is available, we could always stick the tent up in the garden or something"

Laughing at Jongdae's offer, Joonmyun finally agrees to letting Jongin go camping with his friends so long as they can get somebody to go with them. He knows that Jongin's still an adult... but he's his child. To Joonmyun he's still the little boy who would come running into his room to sleep in his bed when he got scared during lightning storms. He didn't want Jongin to grow up, he wanted Jongin to remain that little boy forever! Eventually though Jongin's going to grow up, what better way to start this than to let him go camping with his friends?

"So much for an evening to ourselves"

Jongdae and Joonmyun were equally looking forward to Jongin going out camping tonight as their son was himself. For once in however long it would be, they were going to have some times to themselves- some much needed quality time- and they could do whatever they wanted to do without having Jongin interrupt them. Their wishes however did not come true as exactly five minutes after Jongin had left, he was back with Kyungsoo as the heavens opened and rain began pouring down. Wanting to still have some form of a camping experience, Jongin had now set up the tent in the living room as his two dads glared from the doorway.

"Ah cheer up you old sour sport" Joonmyun said, slapping Jongdae on the arm "We can still do plenty of stuff regardless of whether Jongin is here or not"

"Yes, I know, but besides the usual I also had in mind other stuff we could d-OUCH!" Jongdae began, jumping back in pain when Joonmyun pinches him "What was that for?"

"Almost eighteen or not, I don't need Jongin being able to overhear whatever fantasies you have in that head of yours" Joonmyun explained "Besides, there's a movie marathon accompanied by toffee popcorn and plenty of drinks calling for us"

"I think the last time we camped out in the living room like this was when we were still at the nursery"

"Except now we're a lot older and if we had Tao in here with us, I'm pretty sure the three of us wouldn't be able to fit in here"

Jongin wishes that Tao was there though. When he had asked him if wanted to tag along, Tao had made the excuse that his family needed helping out at the restaurant because it was getting busier and they were too short of staff. His excuse could have been true, yet deep down Jongin believes he only did this because he knows that Jongin likes Kyungsoo and by not being there, he wouldn't be third wheeling, and it would just be the two of them for the time they were supposed to be camping. Jongin had to give it to him, Tao could be sneaky when he wanted to be.

"Are you alright?" Kyungsoo asked, snapping Jongin out of his thoughts

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine" 

"Not just now have you been alright as a whole? Recently I mean"

Jongin didn't understand what Kyungsoo was implying. The last time he looked in the mirror he looked okay, he even felt okay, neither Joonmyun nor Jongdae had brought up anything to do with his health to make him question how he was feeling. Just what did Kyungsoo mean?

"I-I mean you could be fine, it might just be my imagination" Kyungsoo continued when Jongin didn't answer him "It's just that recently you've been very off. Like, I don't know if it was exam stress or something else which is totally fine, don't think I'm nagging... but then I think that sometimes you're a lot quieter and it's usually when you're around me... have I done something to upset you?"

"What?" Jongin asked

"If I have done anything, please tell me because i don't want it to ruin our friendship" Kyungsoo added quickly

"No, no, it's not that! It's just.... uh" Jongin began 

"Just what?"

Jongin could have made up an excuse, he could have agreed that it was exam stress, but he and Kyungsoo had been friends for many years now and he was pretty sure Kyungsoo would be able to tell if he was lying or not. Instead he opts to tell him the truth, maybe Kyungsoo will appreciate if he tells him the truth if not... well at least nobody could blame Jongin for trying.

"I-I.." he began but couldn't get his words out. How was he supposed to tell Kyungsoo that he had feelings for him and because of that he didn't really know how to take this realisation? He wasn't even good at expressing his feelings to his own dad!

"J-Jongin?"

Deciding that his mouth wasn't going to do the explaining for him, Jongin leans in and hopes that the kiss he leaves on Kyungsoo's lips is enough of explanation. Seeing how shocked his friend is after though, he quickly decides that maybe that wasn't the best idea in the world.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, really I a-" he began, his apology cut short when Kyungsoo leaned forward and kissed him back

"Please tell me you kissed me because you meant it and not to shut me up" he said and when Jongin nods his head, sighs in relief "Thank God! You have no idea how long I've been wanting to tell you I've liked you! I just never had the courage to because I wasn't sure how well you would take it... or if you would stop being my friend because of it"

"Trust me, if I didn't want to be your friend anymore I wouldn't have just kissed you like that" Jongdae replied, making both of them laugh "S-so are we... a thing now or?"

"Depends" Kyungsoo began "I usually leave it until the third date before we start kissing"

"Well I think we can count this as a first date" Jongdae replied with a grin on his face "And if you're free next weekend I'm sure we can fit a second date in"

"Why, that'll be just fine" Kyungsoo stated and both lean in for another kiss before they hear a thump from outside of the tent. Getting out to have a look, Jongin freezes when he sees Jongdae on the floor and Joonmyun trying to help him up.

"Have you two been eavesdropping?" he asked angrily

"Not eavesdropping more like... accidentally overhearing?" Jongdae replied, both of them running away when Jongin came running after them, claiming that when he caught them they were so dead. The chase however was cut short in the kitchen when Jongdae resorted to picking up a bag of nuts that had been left on the counter and ed it in front of Jongin's face.

"Run Joonmyun, run!" he shouted and kept the bag held out in front of him until both of them had reatreated to the safety of their bedroom.

"We should have another kid"

Joonmyun wasn't sure if Jongdae was being serious, or he had said it because he was half asleep and spoke whatever was on his mind without really realising he had said it out loud. There was really only one way to find out.

"Why? Do you have a kid out there somewhere you never knew existed?" he asked, laughing when Jongdae nudged him in the side

"I'm being serious. Jongin's almost an adult and he's not going to be around for much longer before we send him off to uni and we're still young... kinda... I don't know, it would be nice to have another kid, grow our family out a bit more"

Joonmyun laid there wondering for just how long Jongdae had been wanting to bring up the idea of bringing another child into the family? It would be nice to have another child running around the house now that Joonmyun was used to being a father and Jongdae had some experience behind him as well. Discussions about briging another child into the house in the middle of the night however wasn't the best time to be making big decisions like this, so Joonmyun doesn't give Jongdae a definitive answer straight away, he'd rather have some fun for a while.

"Tell Jongin about this new sibling as a graduation present or eighteenth birthday present, then tell him they're getting his room, that'll shock him" he joked, sending both men into a fit of laughter, just the image of Jongin's face enough to keep them laughing for a few minutes before they could calm down.

"Promise me you'll think about it though, having another kid in the house wouldn't be so bad, right?" Jongdae asked and Joonmyun promised him he would think about it, but right at that moment he was tired and just wanted to sleep. Jongdae wouldn't have to worry though, Joonmyun wasn't so freaked out by the responsibilities of fatherhood anymore. They had all the time in the world to look to the future and now that he had his own family, it would be nice to add one more member to complete the family, but until such a time, Joonmyun was content with what he had at the moment...