“Are you really sure you don’t want to come, Tao?” asked Kris as he threw a pair of shorts past the younger man and into a suitcase on the floor.

“Yes,” Tao replied. “A week full of bugs and dirt is not my definition of fun. This is a vacation; we should be doing fun things - not shivering outside in the dark.”

As Tao was talking, Chen pushed open the door to the room, leaving it wide open as he walked over and flopped down on one of the beds.

“But camping is fun!” he insisted with a smile. “And you can’t really miss our first ever Exo-M camping trip, can you?” His smirk turned into a slight pout.

“Ugh, this is going to be a regular thing?” Tao groaned, making no attempt to mask his displeasure.

“Tao doesn’t have to go if he doesn’t want to,” Kris mumbled, somewhat disappointed. He tossed a jacket in the direction of his bag, but accidentally hit Tao in the chest with it.

“Aah! Why are you hitting me?” whined Tao. “Are you really that upset?”

Before Kris had a chance to answer, Luhan came sauntering through the open door and grabbed his backpack. He gave a short wave to Kris and Tao, who were both standing in the far corner of the small hotel room. Suddenly noticing Chen on the bed, Luhan gave him a playful kick to the shin and let out a small laugh.

“What, Hyung, are you going to be overprotective of this bed, too?” teased Chen. “It’s not enough that no one gets to sit on your bed at the dorms?”

“No, Jongdae,” started Luhan with a deceptively innocent smile, “I was just trying to give you a fair warning before I did this!” With that, he flopped down onto the mattress, pinning Chen under his torso and sending both men into fits of laughter. Chen couldn’t respond through his giggles, and instead opted to hit Luhan over the head with a pillow. Soon, a small wrestling match had erupted on the bed, with stray pillows being flung about the room and feet getting tangled up in blankets.

«««

“Guys, we have to leave in 15 minutes,” said a calm but chiding voice from the doorway. The four members turned to see Xiumin with his arms crossed and a small smile on his lips. “Just be ready to go by then, okay?”

“Hey, you should be talking to Yixing,” complained Chen from under Luhan. “He’s not even up yet.”

With a small sigh and a shake of his head, Xiumin left to retrieve the absent member.

“Seriously, though, get off of my bed,” said Luhan, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Instead of listening, Chen reclined even further on the bed, and made a show out of resting his feet on the headboard. A few seconds later, Xiumin re-entered the room with Lay trailing not far behind. The later dove face first onto the bed with Luhan and Chen.

“Too early” he groaned into the duvet.

“Too many people on my bed…” whispered Luhan with a half-scowl.

“What was that?” asked Lay. He sat up, eyes lidded from sleep and face blotchy from the scratchy blankets.

“Nothing,” lied Luhan. “But you need to get dressed, Yixing, and have you even packed your day bag yet?”

“Oh, yeah,” yawned the sleepy man. “I forgot.”

“No problem!” said Luhan a bit too enthusiastically. “Here, Chen will help you.”

With that, he pulled the two intruders off of his bed and sent them tumbling out the door, finally closing it behind them with a sharp click. He turned around, only to find Kris and Tao lounging on his mattress with a map spread between them.

“But your bed is right there!” Luhan sighed, exasperated.

“Yeah, but yours is so comfortable,” Kris responded. He didn’t lift his eyes from the map, but a quiet smile appeared on his lips.

“Come on, Lu-ge,” laughed Xiumin as he extended a hand toward his frustrated friend. “You can help me finish my packing.”

Reluctantly, Luhan surrendered his bed and left the room to help Xiumin.

«««

“Now, Tao, I’m going to go over our plan with you so that just in case anything happens, you’ll know where to find us,” explained Kris.

“We’re driving out to this spot right here,” he pointed at a small clearing marked with a red “X” before moving his finger slightly west, “and we’ll be spending three nights camping right around here. It’s about ten kilometers into the woods, but there are a couple of small sites there that people have cleared out for campers to use.” There was a blue circle around an even smaller clearing labeled simply, “Campgrounds.”

Tao nodded silently as Kris explained that they would be hiking and swimming in the surrounding area, but wouldn’t be straying more than an hour or two away from their base.

“So are you definitely not coming?” Kris asked again sadly. “There’s still time to change your mind, you know.”

“Yes,” Tao said, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry; I just get really uncomfortable in the woods. The rest of you should try to have fun, though. I’ll be fine here with the other members.”

“Yeah…”

“What’s wrong?” Tao asked, looking up.

“It’s just that it won’t be the same without you there to scream whenever a twig breaks or to cry over all the ghost stories,” Kris said with a snicker.

“Hey!” yelled Tao, surprised, as he took a swat at Kris’ shoulder.

Kris laughed as his four camping companions filed back into the room, bags thrown over their shoulders. Chen poked playfully at Lay’s cheek, trying to wake him up from the light slumber he had apparently fallen into while still standing up.

“Okay!” announced Xiumin cheerily, “It’s 7:30. Time to head out.”

«««

In the parking lot, everyone piled into the car and stuffed their luggage in the trunk, eager to start their trip. Tao stood outside on the pavement along with Suho - who had woken up early to send off the five campers - and Kris.

“Be careful,” Suho reminded Kris as he helped load the last of the food into the back of the van. “Did you remember to pack a first aid kit? Does everyone have enough water? What about -”

Kris stopped him with a reassuring slap on the back, nearly knocking the shorter man over. “Quit worrying so much. We’re just going camping for a few days. We’ll all be fine. ”

Suho looked up at Kris with a look of mock annoyance in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something else, but decided against it and smiled instead. He gave Kris a gentle pat on the shoulder in return, slipped out from under the taller man’s arm, and went around the far side of the car to say goodbye to the others. Kris looked over at Tao, who was staring down at the ground while awkwardly cradling himself in his own arms.

“Tao, it’s really fine that you want to stay. We don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“I know,” sighed Tao, “it’s just that… I’ll miss you guys.”

“It’s only for a couple of days,” Kris reassured him. He pulled Tao into a warm hug and squeezed his arms gently. “We’ll be back before you know it. Heck, after a week away from us, you’ll probably never want to see us again - or at least Jongdae.”

Tao smiled up at his friend’s face before burying his nose a little into Kris’ collar. Kris broke the hug and climbed into the driver’s seat, and Suho came back to stand by Tao as the two of them waved the rest of the group off.

“Have fun,” said Tao, still smiling softly.

“Remember to eat enough! Don’t tire yourselves out too much,” yelled Suho as the car started to drive away. “Look out for one another!”

«««

The car sped down the street, driving for hours until it reached a small, gravel-covered parking lot on the edge of the woods. From there, the five members set off on their trek into the wilderness. In what seemed like no time at all amongst the copious amounts of laughter and jokes being thrown through the air, they arrived at a small plot of land that had been cleared for recreational use. It was deserted save for their group, but some of the fire pits had evidently been used recently, as a thin circle of ash surrounded the one that the boys set their gear down next to. Everyone went straight to work preparing their campsite and putting up the tents.

“Ow! Luhan, you stabbed me with your tent pole,” yelled Chen.

“Oh! Sorry,” apologized Luhan, still holding the pole, as he whipped around to see if he had hurt Chen badly. From behind him came a sharp

“Ah!” and he turned around again to see Lay, crouched on the ground, rubbing his cheek.

“Maybe you’d better give me that pole,” suggested Lay, “and go help Xiumin and Kris with their tent.”

“Hey, don’t pawn him off on us!” called Xiumin from over where he and Kris were getting tangled up in the second tent. He laughed as Luhan stuck his tongue out.

“Actually,” Kris said as he appeared from underneath a flap of the partially-constructed tent, “I’m pretty hungry. I think I’ll start making lunch.”

Hours later, with the three tents set up and lunch eaten, the boys went exploring the plethora of small trails that encircled their campsite. The sun made them warm and limber, and the woods were alive with hoots and whistles from human and animal alike. Soon, dusk began to fall, and the tired adventurers saw to making themselves a hearty dinner.

«««

“Well, this is the last time we try to cook rice over a campfire,” announced Lay as he tried to sample some of the gummy mess that had been produced.

“It is a bit of a problem,” agreed Xiumin, “but I’m sure we can figure out a way around it.”

“Yeah; next time we’ll just plug a rice cooker into that tree over there,” joked Chen.

“Dinner isn’t a complete failure,” Luhan reminded everyone, “The meat’s still good and the vegetables are still vegetables.”

“The vegetables are vegetables?” Lay repeated, a puzzled look on his face.

“Well, they are,” defended Luhan. “I’m not going to lie and say they’re good, because they’re still boiled vegetables, but at least they’re not a gelatinous blob.” He poked at the rice and scrunched his face.

The rest of dinner was eaten in relative silence, until Chen piped up after the dishes were finished. “Hey!” he said. “We should tell some scary stories.” He looked eagerly around the circle for approval.

“No; it’s not dark enough yet,” protested Xiumin.

Indeed, it was still light enough to see the vague outlines of the trees on the other side of the clearing, which were at least 30 meters away.

“Isn’t it, Hyung? Or is it just that you’re too scared?!” Chen grabbed a flashlight and put it under his chin, illuminating the hollows of his face as a sly grin spread across his lips.

“No, Minseok is right,” said Luhan as he stole the flashlight and aimed it into the bushes. “We should save the ghost stories for when it gets really dark. It’s better that way.”

“Well, what are we supposed to do until then?” questioned a disappointed Chen.

“How about…? Marshmallows!” Lay exclaimed from the opposite side of the campfire.

He held up a bag full of the plushy white cylinders with a smile. The marshmallows were quickly passed around the circle, and the boys sat in silence as they waited for their dessert to finish cooking.

“I still think we should tell stories while we wait,” insisted Chen as he twirled his marshmallow roasting stick impatiently. “I have a really good one that my brother used to tell me when we were kids.”

“Fine, then; let’s hear it,” relented Luhan with a nod.

Before Chen could start his story, however, a soft rustling came from the bushes to his left. All of the heads around the fire turned, trying to discover the source of the noise. All anyone could see, however, was a branch or two shaking slightly, almost as if the noise had been nothing but their imaginations. Chen turned to look at Kris in confusion when they heard the sound again, and - this time - louder.