Chapter 1

Most teenage boys love camping. Exploring the wilderness and seeking new adventures. But not Cho Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun hated camping. He could never understand why people would leave the luxury of their homes to sleep in a tent and make fires out in the middle of nowhere. It was cold and wet all the time, the food was terrible, there were bugs everywhere and worst of all there were no sockets to plug in his PSP charger. He’d never think of going camping. Ever!

Yet here he was sitting in a tent fiddling with the dead batteries desperately trying to revive his toy back to life. Why? Because his father thought it would be good for him to experience living in a rougher environment, hoping that it would toughen up his son. So he’d been sent camping with his older brother Leeteuk and his friends.

“Kyuhyun-ah!” Leeteuk called from outside.

“What?” Kyuhyun whined miserably, poking his head out the tent.

“Get out we’re going hiking!” Leeteuk chimed enthusiastically.

“I don’t want to!” Kyuhyun zipped up his tent refusing to come back out. They were all much older than he was which made it difficult for him to get along with any of them. Of course there was always Leeteuk, but most of the time he was too busy with his girlfriend Sora to bother with Kyuhyun.

“Come on, it’ll be fun! Plus Dad actually paid me to make sure you don’t lie around in your tent all day.” Leeteuk dragged Kyuhyun out of his tent and they joined the rest of the crew.

“Look I found you a little friend. This is Ryeowook, he’s Sora’s nephew. I think you guys are around the same age” Leeteuk introduced him to a petite boy with predominantly pretty delicate features.

“And Ryeowook this is Kyuhyun. He’s a little strange but don’t let that scare you.” Leeteuk chuckled and went back to leading the hike. The two boys awkwardly exchanged their greetings and aimlessly followed the rest of the group uphill.

They walked beside one another without saying a word. They barely knew each other after all, and there didn’t seem to be a need for a conversation to strike up. Something gave Kyuhyun the feeling Ryeowook was stuck in a similar kind of situation as him and he was right. Ryeowook didn’t particularly want to be here either, but unlike Kyuhyun he wasn’t going to throw a tantrum about it.

Kyuhyun silently observed the boy, scanning him head to toe from the corner of his eye. He thought the kid was clean, maybe a bit too clean... you know, for a boy. He was slightly feminine, no scratch that, this guy could pass for a girl. And he bounced a little awkwardly with every step he took. Then something caught Kyuhyun’s attention, his shoe laces, they weren’t tied properly, like it had been done by a child. There were far too many knots and one end was much longer than the other. In his opinion it just looked like a mess. In the end Kyuhyun came to the conclusion that Ryeowook was a clean-freak and a clumsy one at that. And his guess wasn’t far off.

Being the saint that he was he decided to warn the other about his little shoe lace problem.

“Hey, umm- I think you laces are undone.” Kyuhyun pointed at the shoes.

Noticing the issue Ryeowook got on his knee and tied his laces again.

But there was something a little off. It still wasn’t tied right. In fact it looked worse than before.

Soon enough Ryeowook was stumbling upon every stick and stone that crossed his tracks.

And for some reason this irritated Kyuhyun. It irritated him so much that he couldn’t help but comment. “You know, you wouldn’t keep tripping up so much if you just tied your laces properly.”

“My shoe laces are tied.”

“Yes, but not properly.”

“It looks fine to me.”

“Ryeowook, that's not how people tie their laces. Could you just do it properly before you fall and die.”

“Honestly! You're such a bother! I’m not going to-” midway through the sentence Ryeowook tripped up and fell flat on his face.

And instead of helping him up, Kyuhyun stood there with an annoyingly knowing look on his face. “Told you so.”

“Well I didn’t exactly die, but the least you could do is help me up.” Ryeowook huffed.

“How about I help you tie your laces instead.”

And Ryeowook gave in.

It took Kyuhyun about 7 minutes to untie the mess Ryeowook and made of his laces, then another minute correcting it.

“Uhhh, where is everyone?” Ryeowook asked uneasily, noticing that their pack was nowhere to be seen.

Kyuhyun bobbed his head up as he finished tying the last knot. “Oh crap!” he cursed and looked around in all directions but there was nothing other than hills and trees.

“What do we do now?” Ryeowook questioned in a slightly panicked tone.

“I don’t know, It’s your fault were lost out here! You figure something out!”

“My fault!? You’re the one who wouldn’t quit pestering me about my damn laces!”

“THEY WEREN’T TIED PROPERLY!” Kyuhyun poked Ryeowook’s shoulder to emphasise his annoyance.

Ryeowook was taken aback by the sudden prod and just stared at his shoulder in astonishment before he returned the poke with a jab.

Kyuhyun returned the jab with a push. The push turned into a shove and the shove turned into a punch. Soon enough the boys were engaged in battle, rolling around on the floor hitting and kicking each other in every way possible.

---

“Hey, where are the boys?” Sora asked Leeteuk worriedly; when she noticed the pair weren’t following behind.

Leeteuk scanned the location but the two boys were nowhere in sight. “I think they took the wrong turn. Don’t worry I’ll go fetch them they can’t be too far behind.” He smiled at her reassuringly. “Set up camp here with the group. I’ll be back with the kids.”

She nodded as he made his was back down the path.

---

“You fight like a girl!” Ryeowook screamed trying to yank Kyuhyun’s hair out of his roots.

“At least I don’t look like a girl!” Kyuhyun yelled while attempting to hold back the other.

Kyuhyun and Ryeowook were still brawling all over the floor with fists and kicks flying in every direction. But it didn’t last long as Kyuhyun, who was obviously larger and stronger, flipped his opponent over onto his back in one swift movement. Ryeowook whined and tried to wriggle his way out of the tight grip but Kyuhyun was already on top of him securely pinning his wrists to the ground.

They both looked like a mess covered in dry mud and twigs. They’re pulses were racing and they’re chests were heaving after that intense scrap. Kyuhyun watched the struggling body beneath him, Ryeowook hair was scattered messily over his forehead, with some strands covering his eyes. His cheeks were bright red, either because he was panting so hard or he was still incredibly angry with the boy currently above him. And though he couldn’t understand why, Kyuhyun loved this sight. Just in that split second he felt so much closer to the other boy ...quite literally.

The whole scene was mesmerising for him. He was so caught up in the heat of the moment that he didn’t even realise his face was moving so dangerously close to the others until Ryeowook finally had to speak up. “Kyuhyu- ?” but it was too late, he was silenced by his captor’s lips. The shock of it all left Ryeowook unable to protest or push the boy off of him. Instead he just lay there wide-eyed and frozen, trying desperately to figure out what exactly was happening.

The kiss was captivating, strange yet fascinating; it was so... different, not romatic, like the way it’s portrayed in the movies but... but just different.

It didn’t last long though as the boys were split apart by a pair of strong hands that grabbed them by their collars and dragged them down the path. Neither of them understood what was happening until they looked up to see the man they were being hauled over by was none other than Leeteuk, who appeared to be fuming. And the duo didn’t understand why he was so mad until it all finally dawned on them. The situation they had been caught in wasn’t going to be an easy task to explain.

Kyuhyun and Ryeowook tried to keep up with the pace of the elder whose long legs gave him the advantage of being able to move much quicker with his lengthy strides. Their march back to camp was done in complete silence as neither of the two knew what to say to Leeteuk who just looked too furious to speak. The fact that he was silent just lead the boys to dread what was going to happen next and the fear was clearly visible on their nervous faces.

Before they knew it they were back at camp with the rest of their group. It was already dark so the camp fire had been lit with their food slowly roasting over it. Sora was pacing around worriedly when she caught sight of the boys returning.

“Oh thank goodness you guys are alright! Did you get lost? Is anyone hurt?  Are you okay?” She bombarded them with questions. But before they could answer Leeteuk replied sternly “They’re fine.” And tossed them into their own separate tents without saying anything else.

“Aren’t they going to eat with us?” Sora asked staring at the tents they had been zipped up in.

“No, they’re fine. They can just eat inside their tents” Leeteuk replied in the same stern voice, his face completely blank.

She shot him a questioning look but he was too caught up in his thoughts to notice.

---

The night was upon them and Leeteuk couldn’t help taking one last look at the two tents placed on either ends of the campground before retreating back into his own.