One final check and Soonyoung zipped his duffle bag. He got to make sure brought his Shinee towel, and the T-shirt similar to the one from their latest MV which he found while shopping, inside. 

Next, charger… his toothbrush set… his mp3!

He hurried to find his old stick mp3 which he had since high school. Every Shinee-sunbae’s songs were inside and he would hate to spend his holidays at home without them. Since he decided to leave his laptop at the dorm.

Bzzz…Bzzz!!

He grabbed his phone and saw a message from his driver today. Seokmin’s a little early and was now waiting in the parking lot near the main gate. Although it was his own fault for being early, Soonyoung would hate to make the man wait. Especially since he got the ticket and free ride from the man.

A bit panic, he eyed his room one last time, making sure not to miss anything important. His scan stopped on his desk, where he hid his stack of suppressant. Nope…

He should be okay.

His heat will be more than a week later so he should be fine for just three days.

Nodding to himself, he grabbed all his belongings and dashed out, not forgetting to lock his door on the way out.

After few minutes of intense running, he finally reached the main gate. Waving the guard a simple goodbye, he headed towards the park where Seokmin was parking his car. Unfortunately, there were at least 4 other cars parking at different sides of the road and he hated the idea of going to each and every one just to find Seokmin. Lifting his phone, he proceeded to send a message to the alpha. Less than a minute later, a reply came.

The dark green one! I’ll be there soon, currently buying a drink! -Lee Seokmin

Dark green… The Mini Cooper??!!

If anything, he would’ve thought it was the pale blue mini truck or at least a local brand but this… Is he even allowed to sit in that? What if he accidentally scratch the door with the zip of his bag? It was so shiny, not a speck of dust…

‘Soonyoung! You’re here!’ He jumped at the loud voice and noticed his hand slapping the car. 

‘AAHHH!’ he scanned the car for any scratches, not even caring that the owner was behind him, shaking his head, and pushing the unlock button. The sudden beeping sound from the car again shocked him, making Soonyoung retreat his hands and stepped back, thinking it was the alarm.

‘Kwon Soonyoung-sshi, how long are you gonna stare? Don’t wanna get inside?’ A nod, ‘Do you have many stuff?’

‘Just this bag, and this one.’ He lifted both his bags to show the size. Seokmin put them in the back seat and headed towards his side of the car, signaling the omega to do the same. 

‘Kaja! 5 hours to go!’ Seokmin declared before starting the long journey. Soonyoung nodded and opened one of his bags to take out his Shinee CDs.

‘Owh! Don’t worry, I already have them here!’ Seokmin switched his stereo on and showed the smaller male his Shinee collection, earning silence. Worried he might have offended the fox for his showing off, he peeked at the latter from his side and saw the man’s eyes shining while looking at the song list. He smiled shyly in satisfaction. This is going to be fun.

Meanwhile, Soonyoung noticed the cast was gone. ‘Your hand’s good now?’

‘Owh yeah. It wasn’t broken if you’re wondering. I only twisted it. But it’s fine now. So you can relax and sleep if you want. I won’t get into an accident.’

‘Owh. No, I’ll stay awake.’ Seokmin nodded at that statement. He really doubt it though.

True to his prediction, the omega started to sing aloud and dancing energetically to his idol’s song until he finally fell asleep after merely 2 hours.

*****

Soonyoung’s stomach growled loudly, much to his embarrassment. He pretended to still be asleep, not wanting to look at Seokmin’s reaction and he was satisfied with the lack of it. However, as if his tummy wanted to humiliated the life out of him, growled again, this time longer, with weird rhythm. Opening one eye to look at the driver, he saw them man grinned widely, his eyebrows frowning with Seokmin’s signature smile. 

‘Is it the alarm for lunch? What’s that ringtone?’ Soonyoung knuckled the alpha’s shoulder lightly, making the man laugh with his eyes almost closing.

‘Yah… Open your eyes! You need to look at the road!’ He retorted, and the man opened his eyes wide, staring scarily at the road with an overly serious face. Soonyoung punched Seokmin’s head lightly, feeling stupid that he found the lame man funny. Truth be told, he thought the ride would just be him staring awkwardly out the window and Seokmin at the road, but guess their time spent at the cafe actually melted the ice between them. 

‘Wanna go to the rest area?’

‘Sure…’

‘Urm… can you wait just a little bit?’ Soonyoung looked at the man, confused with the question. Of course he could! He was not a monster that will go all grumpy and whine without food! If that was what he was implying, which Soonyoung doubted. ‘I prefer exiting the expressway. We can eat somewhere in town. How’s that?’

Owh… That was what he wanted to say. Pfft… ‘That’s good too! I’ve never been here anyway! Where are we?’’

‘Cheonan… Where should we go? What do you wanna eat?’

‘Anything’s good! I’m not really that hungry…’

‘Pffftttt…. not really that hungry…’ Seokmin mimicked and Soonyoung quickly remembered his stomach growling a few moments ago.

*****

They reached Daejeon about half an hour ago but have yet to reached the city center. It was making Soonyoung worried. Seokmin kept going pass the sign to the city and exited at a road leading to a village. And it was in the mountains.

‘Seokmin-sshi… aren’t we going the wrong way?’ Soonyoug dared to ask. Although a lot of scenarios were playing in his mind, he refused to believe them. This is usually the start of a horror movie, him being lead to a mountainous area and killed off. Although, that would be the better outcome than the other one he was thinking of – that Seokmin lied about the tickets. But he had been nothing but kind today so Soonyoung really didn’t want to think of bad thoughts…

Seokmin noticed the nervous tone and gesture the omega was showing and cursed himself. He should never have followed Bam Bam’s advice to bring him to an isolated place. Out of all the stupid suggestion Bam Bam had ever given, why did he decided this was a good idea?? Obviously Soonyoung was afraid he might do something to him. … this is bad…

‘Since we decided to come last minute, all the hotels are booked…’ He lied. Who the hell goes to Daejeon? ‘I managed to rent a house though. Air bnb.’  Seokmin looked at the other. Anybody would notice the lie. But seeing the omega relaxed a bit, convinced, made Seokmin released the breath he was holding.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence. Seokmin focusing on finding the road, and Soonyoung enjoying the view and cold air. They reached a small town and the omega kept waving at the old folks hanging out at the streets. ‘They remind me of my grandparents back home!’

Seokmin laughed. Soonyoung acted like such a kid.

‘Owh!!! A lake! Aah, someone’s fishing!!’

‘Owh you’re right!’ Seokmin took a quick look before directing his gaze back towards the GPS. They should be close...

‘I want to try fishing!’ Soonyoug exclaimed excitedly. He kept staring at the man and did a weird movement, pretending to fish. 

‘The house’s nearby! We’ll try later if you want.’ He saw a satisfied grin and smiled to himself. Maybe going to an isolated place wasn’t such a bad idea after all. 

The house was better than he imagined. The garden was bigger than the picture and there was even a balcony with table and chairs. Other than that, a kitchen, living room and two bedrooms. Just as he ordered.

He wanted to rent one with just one bed but decided that would be too much. Worse case scenario would be Soonyoung sleeping on the couch because he refuse to sleep on the same bed as him. Then, Seokmin will end up on the couch anyway because he refuse to let the guy sleep there. So no. Two rooms. One with a sliding door overlooking the garden, and another with a window facing the forest.

‘Which room do you want?’ He heard Soonyoung asked. To be honest, he did not like the idea of his fox sleeping in the room with the sliding door. What if someone tries to break in? He should be safer sleeping in the other room.

‘I prefer this one.’ He pointed at the room and went back out to grab his bag and repark the car. 

Soonyoung sighed. He really wanted the one near the garden but since Seokmin was the one who arrange all of this accommodation, he should be given the right to choose where he wants to sleep. The other room wasn’t that bad… if a ghost should appear from the woods, it would probably only stare from the outside. Soonyoung already pulled down the curtain, just in case.

Soonyoung went around the house again. It was really pretty. Small and petite, just like his dream house in the future. He noticed the barbecue set at the garden and quickly ran close to it. He always wanted to have a barbecue but he never got the chance to. He always imagined having one in the woods with his friends, but he never had a trip with his friends because he always had to work on holidays. That, and most of his friends at the omega school was not as adventurous, preferring to stay indoors. Besides, his grandmother was really strict about sleeping out so he never had a trip ever. College was the first time he ever experienced true freedom. 

And this trip today, was his very first trip with a friend. Ever.

All the more reason why he wanted to have a barbecue, because who knows when he will have the same chance again. But, they didn’t plan for one so there was no meat. And they only had tonight and tomorrow, not that many time to do anything. Since tomorrow’s the concert and Seokmin’s probably too tired after driving for six hours to do anything. 

He should just give up.

‘How’s the house?’ He heard Seokmin’s voice from inside the house.

‘It’s nice… you really have a good sense.’ He replied before seeing the man emerging out and heading his way. He had this glow on his face that made Soonyoung happy to see him. Eventhough all he did was just stand there and smile. And Soonyoung wondered what had gotten into him.

‘Owh hey! Barbecue set! Wanna have one?’ Seokmin noticed the barbecue set and suggested without really giving it a second thought. They have a lot of time tonight and it would be awkward to just spend it together just talking. It would be fun, but they were still getting to know each other. And it was obvious Seokmin was courting him. So yeah. Awkward.

Soonyoung’s ears perked up at that invitation, causing Seokmin’s heart to skip a bit. Sure he called the omega his fox, but that was because his face looks like one. But with his ears able to move like that, he looked even more so. And it just makes him want to pet Soonyoung. ‘We should go and find some meat. I think the shops around here close early…’

‘Now?’

‘Well tomorrow’s the concert right? We still need to marinate the meat…’

‘Owh yeah. Of course.’ Soonyoung nodded and looked around while swinging his hands, ‘So… how do we marinate meat?’

‘Ermm depends on the flavour. What do you want?’

‘Barbecue…’ Soonyoung swallowed his word. Isn’t that the only flavour?

Seokmin bit his lips trying to hold his laughter. The man in front of him looked so lost right now. He obviously never had one before and Seokmin wondered whether it was appropriate for him to laugh. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he clapped his hands. ‘Okay. So barbecue 101. Basically… you want sweet, spicy, or savoury one?’

‘Ermm… I don’t like spicy.’

‘Okay. So beef? Pork? Chicken? Pork belly?’

‘Can we have bits of everything? I mean…’ Soonyoung looked at Seokmin. Trying to figure out what the other wanted. ‘Whatever you want is good…’

‘Okay so bits of everything!’ Seokmin went out to the garden and looked at the barbecue set. ‘I guess we’ll use this one? If it doesn’t rain tomorrow.’ He peeked back towards the blonde and saw him smiling widely. ‘So are there any charcoal? And thongs?’ 

Soonyoung searched the kitchen for thongs and managed to find some big bowls while at it. He also noticed the size of the fridge and made a mental note to fill it with beers for tomorrow. Or soju. Or whatever alcohol they can find. Because barbecue goes well with alcohol right? Outside, Seokmin already went around and found a box of charcoal at the back. He called the owner to ask for permission to use them, and got the green light. Everything was going great! 

‘Soonyoung-ah!’ He called the blonde, and the latter answered from inside. His heart flutter by the mere fact that the other did not mind the casual tone he just used. ‘We need to go now!’ 

‘OKAY!!!’

Seokmin was right. Since the place was rural, the only place to buy meat belonged to an old couple who was already closing their shop when they reached it. They managed to buy some variety of meat in cheap price and went ahead to buy other ingredients. Seokmin found out that his fox had no clue what ‘marinate’ was, and only took random stuff off the shelf, hoping it was the right one. And besides the basic vegetable, he knew no other. He wondered what Soonyoung always eat back at the campus. 

‘Should we buy ramen?’ Soonyoung finally asked, already eyeing the section.

‘No… let’s have rice.’ He went to the counter to ask for a few grams and Soonyoung only looked, again, looking lost. 

‘Is that enough?’

‘Owh yeah. We’re going to eat this much meat so there’s no need for so much rice.’

‘How do we cook it? There’s no rice cooker.’

‘Don’t worry my Soonyoung. Leave it all to me.’ he pinched the cheeks, making the man red in the face. ‘You need to help me cut the meat later.’

‘Okay….’ A pause. ‘How do I cut the meat?’

‘Aigoo…. I’ll teach you later.’ He finally let himself laugh. Really, this guy is just so clueless. How will he ever manage to survive in the wild. 

To be continued…

Okay so this chapter is a bit short… and it’s all fluff I know. Nothing much to do here!! But starting the next chapter, the drama will begin. And some of you might start to hate one of them cus of their stupidity but they’ll come around so please don’t hate them TwT

SEVENTEEN COMEBACK NOVEMBER 6TH!!! WOHOOOO!!!! I’m really excited for this one like did you see their jacket photo?? Like what rock concept? What’s with the flower??? MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!! Urghhhh DK’s dark concept looks so handsome I can’t. Hoshi you so cute your dark concept looks cute.

@7finite ahhh thanks for reading love ❤️ Yeah, hoshi’s kinda slow and dk’s kinda pabo xD No, both of them are slow! Lol