AN: homies, EXO won't really appear much after this vaca, but I will just say they are here in this chapter a lot eSPECIALLY IN THE SECOND PART CUZ KAISOO ARE SOFT WITH THE CHILDREN-
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"Get down!" Jaemin heard the shout ring clearly in the forest and he did as told, ducking himself behind one of the trees and holding his guard, his back pressed against the bark and gun to his chest. He peaked around the tree to watch what was taking place in the clearing he had just ducked out of.

Lucas had tripped over one of the vines, his gun a little ways away from him, and Johnny was standing over him, pointing the muzzle of his weapon to the youngers head. When Lucas got close to retrieving his gun, Johnny just kicked it away and heartlessly laughed at the trembling man beneath him.

"P-please, Johnny, don't do this, I have a husband, a future kid even! Th-they need me!" Johnny chuckled darkly at the man's pleas and shook his head slowly.

"On the battlefield, Yukhei, there's no mercy." Jaemin felt shocked hearing Johnny say the last of the sentence in Cantonese as if to taunt the boy below him even further, and Lucas seemed just as surprised, but before either of them got a chance to say another word, the sound of a gunshot was heard.

But it wasn't towards Lucas.

Johnny fell to the ground, red painting his chest as he clutched at his heart where the shot had hit him he coughed a bit as the man who had fired strode into the clearing towards him, crouching to be next to him as he watched the man writhing on the ground.

"No mercy." The man said in English, scoffing. Johnny gasped for air, breathing out the name of the man who had shot him with pain in his tone.

"Ten?" The man laughed and nodded.

"I want you to remember this Johnny Seo." He said simply before standing up. He helped Lucas to his feet and the two ran out of the clearing. Jaemin waited until they were out of sight before he came out from his hiding place to go over to Johnny in a hurry.

"Johnny! Come on man, don't die on me now," He pleaded, searching his various pockets and holders for some way to help the dying man before him.

"Don't- Don't let me down, Jaemin... Win the w-war," He coughed, reaching up a weak hand to hold Jaemin's shoulder. "Win for Jeno, and for your future kid..." Johnny said with a painful smile. He gasped, choked on his own breath, and finally went limp in Jaemin's arms.

"No! Johnny!" Jaemin cried, holding the limp man in his arms. He felt a presence in the clearing with him but he ignored it, putting his ear to the man's chest and listening for something, anything to signal that the man was okay-

After a moment, he stood up straight, holding his gun to his side.

"He's dead." He said, finally addressing the other presence in the clearing. He heard a deep hum and footsteps coming up to his side before a strong hand rested on his shoulder.

"He was a good man... One of my closest friends too." Jaemin nodded at Jaehyun's words, hearing the pain in his tone as he spoke. He shook his head. "We should split up, divide and conquer. Most of the EXO's are taken care of, it's just the remainder of my unit, 127, and whoever's left in your unit, dream, then most of unit WayV are left. We gotta start working together."

"PLEASE SPARE ME HYUNG!" They both shared a glance as they heard the shout from elsewhere in the forest, Jaehyun nodding to him and signaling for them to split and go in separate directions. Jaemin chose to go towards the cry, crouching low as he shuffled his way through the tropical underbrush. He eventually came to the top of a small ditch, where at the bottom two men stood. One of them was Jisung, who looked like he was struggling to climb out of the ditch, and the other was Taeil, his gun pointed confidently at the boy. Jaemin thought fast, grabbing one of the grenades off his vest.

"Jisung, top right!" He called, pulling the pin on the weapon and tossing it into the ditch before running over above where the younger had been trying to escape. The grenade went off, emitting a large cloud of grey smoke that made Taeil cough. He helped Jisung out of the ditch and they both began retreating further into the forest. "I thought we had a truce with 127?" He said angrily as they dashed over the foliage.

"So did I! Then he just opened fire on me and Chenle, I got away but, I don't know if Chenle did..." Jisung said worriedly.

"Alright, we'll get back to base, then I can call up Renjun and Hyuck to see if they've spotted anything from their stations." He said as they slowed their pace a bit. "Any info on the EXO's?" Jisung let out a small 'ah' and nodded.

"Baekhyun's planning to double-cross them, and you know what they say," Jaemin nodded.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Jisung clicked his tongue.

"You got it." Jaemin stopped suddenly and waved to Jisung.

"You keep going, get to the base. I'll tune my walkie to channel 10, if you guys find Chenle, let me know. I'm gonna go after Suho and Sehun if I can find them." Jisung nodded, giving a worried look to the older.

"Stay safe Jaem. Jeno still needs you." He said simply before dashing off towards their base.

Jaemin leaped through the greenery until he came to the familiar dirt path, finding it easier to gain speed on the smooth ground. He knew it was riskier than traveling through the foliage, with less coverage for him to hide from the others and more opportunities for others to ambush him, but it was the fastest way to where Sehun and Suho had been stationed. Last he had heard they were camping it out by the creek, stationed there by Baekhyun and Xuimin who were the respective leaders of their little groups.

The EXO's had divided into three separate groups to try and conquer the area; one with Chanyeol and Baekhyun, one with Xuimin and Chen, and one with Suho and Sehun. Despite what Jaehyun had said, Jaemin hadn't heard of there being a single death amongst them yet, but considering what Jisung had said about Baekhyun he wouldn't be surprised to figure out that Chanyeol was murdered.

"Stop right there!" Jaemin skidded to a halt as someone shouted from a little way in front of him. He hadn't noticed them before, but he now recognized it as Suho.

On his back was the limp body of Sehun.

Suho looked like he had been crying, and his right leg was covered in a vibrant red, Jaemin assumed that's what was giving him that lurching limp as he approached.

"Don't move, I don't wanna shoot you Jaemin." Suho said, tears falling down his face. Jaemin gulped and nodded, raising his hands and putting his gun under his shoe. The older seemed to calm a bit at that and he nodded frantically. "Good, good, finally a-another sane person out here! I began to think e-everyone fucking lost it." Jaemin tilted his head.

"Who, if you don't mind me asking, killed Sehun." Jaemin asked bluntly, and Suho's face twisted to something of regret.

"D-Donghyuck and Renjun ambushed us on the riverbank. They killed S-Sehun before I even realized they were there." The slight drizzle of rain that had begun that morning felt colder than before as Jaemin took in the information.

"And what about Donghyuck and Renjun?" Suho swallowed.

"I-I..." He trailed off, his eyes fixed on the ground before they slowly made a shakey incline to meet Jaemin's worried gaze. "I-I think I killed Renjun... I-I'm so sorry." Jaemin's eyes widened and he picked up his gun in a hurry, leaping back into the foliage without another word. He ignored Suho's calls as he rushed towards the creek, running faster than he ever had before.

It couldn't be Renjun. It just couldn't be. He couldn't be dead, not now. Not after everything they had gone through...

He slipped a bit in the mud as he made it to the creek, running along it for only a moment until a crouched figure came into view.

"Donghyuck!" He called, diving towards the older. Donghyuck turned to him with a tearful gaze.

"J-Jaemin, he's dead, he's fucking dead I couldn't save him, I just couldn't." He cried, holding Renjun's limp body in his arms. His forehead was shining crimson and it dripped down his face, following the side of his nose and down his lips, stopping right above his slightly parted lips. "Jaemin, it's all my fault, it's all my-"Jaemin's eyes widened as the loud bang of a gunshot rang clear around them, and he watched in horror as Donghyuck's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped forward into Renjun.

Across the creek, with his gun in hand, was none other than Xuimin, his sharp aim having hit the tanned male square in the back of the head. Jaemin growled, standing up.

"You bastard!" he shouted, pulling up his gun. He fired shot after shot in the mans direction, not caring much if he actually killed him, just hoping he landed something.

Then, he heard Xuimin let out a shrill shout.

"CHEN, NO!"

In a rather heroic act, Chen had plunged into the way of his shots, blocking Xuimin from it and taking all the hits like a human shield. He fell limp in Xuimin's arms, and the older watched in horror as the shining red liquid pooled into the mud below him. He scrambled to his feet and dashed into the forest, not wanting Chen's sacrifice to go to waste, and leaving Jaemin alone amongst the damage.

"Well done Jaemin. This is pretty impressive." The mentioned boy turned to watch as an all too familiar killing machine walked up to him confidently, not showing any hint of fear as he stood right in front of him. "But, do you even know what you're fighting for? And, is it even worth it if it means losing those you care for the most? If it means losing- this?"

Ten moved to the side and his two men stepped up from behind him- Lucas and Hendery, dragging by the wrists a very beat-up looking Jisung who had his hands tied together at the wrists with a piece of rainbow paracord which he remembered seeing on Ten's bracelet earlier. Somehow they had used one of their clothing materials as a gag of sorts for the boy, and Jisung writhed in their hold. Ten chuckled.

"What do you want from me Ten?" Jaemin spat, hovering a hand over one of his smoke grenades threatening. Ten shook his head slowly with a laugh.

"Oh no, I don't want a good fight. I want you to surrender. Either that or the little guy goes." Ten said the last word with more emphasis, making a gesture with his thumb slitting his throat. Jaemin glanced thoughtfully between Ten and Jisung, sizing up the situation. There really wasn't much he could do here, and his options were just as cut and dry as Ten had said- he either surrendered, and lost everything that they had fought so hard for, and Jisung lived, or he let them kill Jisung, and went on to fight another day.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, Jaemin." The younger looked behind Ten and his goons to see none other thanJaehyun, Taeil standing hesitantly at his side, as if he wasn't quite sure of what they were doing. "Ten, how about we give you a deal, hmm?" Ten set his jaw and rolled his eyes as he turned to face Jaehyun.

"And what might that be, pretty boy?" Jaehyun smiled.

"You let go of Jisung now, or we kill both of your little goons here." Ten laughed loudly, the evil sound resonating in the trees before his face fell completely and his expression darkened. In one swift movement, he shot Jisung in the head, letting Jaehyun and Taeil shoot Lucas and Hendery as he retreated off into the forest.

"J-Jisungie?" Jaemin muttered, heartbroken as he fell onto his knees and crawled towards the younger. He held the boy's head with shakey hands, sniffling and gasping as he felt for a pulse. He lifted his watery gaze up to Jaehyun who watched with bated breath and shook his head.

"Nothing." Jaemin breathed, looking down at the youngest boy's body. Jaehyun sighed.

"I'm so sorry Jaemin, I didn't think he would do it..."

"Well, on a better note, that took out a lot of our issues. Now it's just the three of us, Ten, Xuimin, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol." Taeil said, reloading his weapon with a full clip. Jaemin stood up, his gaze not leaving Jisung as he did.

"What about Suho?" Taeil shook his head slowly at Jaemin's question.

"Dead. We found him on the side of the road and I shot him on sight. Can't trust anyone out here." Taeil said simply, scanning the greenery around them for any signs of ambush. "Speaking of which, me and Jaehyun should get going. You stay safe out here Jaemin- you're the last one left on Dream- Everyone's counting on you." The eldest said with a nod before running swiftly into the forest again. Jaehyun gave him a little salute before following after Taeil, Jaemin being left to watch the two disappear into the dreary forest.

The rain had gotten worse now, coming down a bit more than a drizzle now, although Jaemin didn't mind since he spent most of the time in the safety of the tree canopy. With no one to go to, and nowhere to go- assuming Chenle was dead considering Taeil's 'kill on sight' philosophy -Jaemin stayed with the bodies of his fallen brethren, making small talk with them while he waited.

"Honestly though, Ten is playing a really impressive villain!" Renjun commented, earning a nod from Donghyuck.

"Yea, I've gotta admit I wasn't expecting him to let us die like that, I thought he had some slick plan up his sleeve." Hendery confessed. Renjun nodded in agreement as he smeared some of the red paint on his face that was mixing with the rain and sweat by now.

"I don't know, but Taeil's character is really hot, just sayin." Donghyuck added with a smile. He shrugged when Renjun gave him a looked. "Hey, I don't make the rules!"

"Honestly Hyuck, you're acting was really good when I found you with Renjun, and Xuimin's aim is so impressive!" Jaemin commented, nudging the boy he was praising.

"Isn't it?" They all turned to see Chen walking over to them, realizing he must've gone upstream to cross the bridge and come over. "I guess all those years of COD and PubG finally paid off." They all laughed at that and Chen laid down against one of the trees in a position that would look convincing enough for if someone came over to them-

And then someone did.

That someone, was Baekhyun.

The 'dead' went limp in an instant and Jaemin looked up and watched as the man came rushing over, panting as he stood above Jaemin.

"Go on then, just kill me. It's an easy win for you guys at this point, just get it over with. Baekhyun scoffed and rolled his eyes, reaching out a hand.

"Idiot, I just killed Chanyeol. Come on, let's go." Chen let out a laugh at that.

"you seriously killed him?!"

"Yah, you're supposed to be dead!" Baekhyun scolded, shooting a paintball at Chen's leg.

"Ah, wae!" Chen whined, going limp again when Baekhyun raised his gun as if to fire again. He shook his head a bit.

"Man, dead bodies these days, am I right?" Baekhyun joked and Jaemin chuckled at the older who smiled. "Now come on, let's go get Xuimin."

"Honestly, Ten is going to be our biggest threat from the looks of things," Jaemin explained as they jumped and leaped their way through the woods. "I'm not looking forward to fighting him, he's so agile!" Baekhyun chuckled at that.

"I'm sure we can take him- besides, I can always go in as a sacrifice."

"But what about winning?"

"Jaemin, I'm old and frail, can't you see? I'm practically turning to dust!" Baekhyun joked as he gestured to himself. "You, on the other hand, are young and strong, a symbol of youth and freedom! Someone like you should win the war, live on, and tell the tale too." Baekhyun said wholeheartedly with a warm smile. "Besides, you have a family to go back to, I just killed what was left of mine," Baekhyun said grimly, making Jaemin nod solemnly.

"TRAITOR!" A sudden shout was heard and Baekhyun was knocked over, tumbling down the small hill they had been at the top of on impact with the man on top of him clutching his clothing angrily. Jaemin slid down the hill after them, pulling out one of his grenades and throwing it once he was at the bottom.

"Baekhyun! Rendezvous left side, follow my voice!" He shouted as he ran around to the left side of the cloud. Baekhyun came stumbling out with a cough and Jaemin raised his gun towards the cloud, firing aimlessly for a moment. The dust began to settle and Xuimin came bolting out towards Baekhyun once again, but Jaemin was faster this time, tackling the older to the ground and pinning him down with his knees on the other's arms before he pointed his gun directly at the man's forehead.

"Surrender or I'll blow your brains out!" Jaemin shouted and Xuimin gasped before letting out an aggressive scoff.

"I'll never surrender to the likes of you! You'd have to take my life before you can take my pride for the war, unlike a certain traitor I know!"

"Xuimin, I was escorting him to our base-"

"Shut up, I watched you murder Chanyeol! I watched you kill your best friend right after he saved your ass from 127!" Baekhyun's mouth hung open at that, having not known that Xuimin had seen all of that.

"None of that's important right now Baekhyun. Do I shoot him, or let him go?" Baekhyun thought for a moment at Jaemin's words, watching his friend squirm and struggle under Jaemin for a moment before he swallowed down the memories and nodded.

"He's not going to surrender," Baekhyun stated plainly. "Kill him."

"Bang!" Jaemin said, knowing that a paintball to the head from the close might hurt a bit. Xuimin laughed and stood up, walking a little ways away and putting his hands behind his head.

"Shoot me! I want a wound." Jaemin laughed and complied, shooting Xuimin in the stomach who dramatically keeled over and 'died'.

A loud siren rang out, sounding four times. Baekhyun and Jaemin exchanged a look.

"That means there's only one person left for each team-"

"Me, you, Ten, and probably Taeil if I'm honest." Jaemin finished the eldest's sentence with a nod. Baekhyun hummed.

"Let's go after Taeil first. I think if you distract him, I can take him out, then Ten will be easy." Jaemin nodded and began leading the way on a patrol through the area in search of Taeil. He was a good hider, so they knew finding him would be the hard part.

They walked along the creek for a bit, then detoured up to the road and followed it back towards the Dream base, eventually making it back to the clearing where Johnny had been shot earlier that morning-

And there he was.

sitting against a tree, watching the sky as he sat and waited for whatever was to come.

"T-Taeil?" Jaemin called softly, immediately getting a gun pointed towards him. He put his hands up and dropped his gun. "Woah, woah, I'm not gonna fire! I promise I won't fire!" Taeil didn't lower his weapon but he let out a low grumble as he stood up from the tree.

"You shouldn't be here Jaemin- Jaehyun isn't here to stop me from killing you anymore, and you should get lost before I take advantage of that," Taeil explained, practically snarling as they started to pace around in circles a bit. Jaemin still had no weapon, so he hoped it was enough to make Taeil feel some pity until Baekhyun could-

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Taeil collapsed to the ground with a thud, three paintballs marking his back as he laid unmoving. Jaemin smiled up at Baekhyun and nodded.

"Ten," He breathed out, "let's go kill Ten."

The plan was simple- Baekhyun would be the bait, acting like he was going to surrender to Ten, and even insisting that he wanted Ten to kill him, and meanwhile, Jaemin would wait until Baekhyun was killed and would shoot Ten, that way he won the match without having to shoot Baekhyun since he told the older he would feel bad.

And the execution-

It was perfect.

Jaemin won the game, being the last man standing and earning cheers from the rest of the members of his Unit: Unit Dream. Jaemin smiled as they started to file into their cars, excited to tell Jeno about what had happened once he got back.

🍓

"Mini-golf, mini-golf, I love mini-golf!~" Jeno sing-songed as he walked happily down the sidewalk with the others. It had been a day since they had arrived in Hawaii and while some of the boys were off playing paintball, the others- Taeyong, Jeno, Xiaojun, Yangyang, Doyoung, Kun, Kyungsoo, and Kai -were now going a little way down the street from their cabins to the mini-golf course (and Jungwoo was taking Minjun to the beach since the kid had wanted to play in the sand and Jungwoo was feeling a bit tired anyway). Although Jeno had to admit, he wasn't as excited about the mini-golf itself as he was portraying- he was more excited about what Taeyong had told him about when he came home from scouting out the course last night.

"Are there really gonna be fat snails there?" Xiaojun questioned softly, clinging to Yangyang as he looked at the scenery around them in awe. Jeno didn't blame him any though- it was definitely a lot to get used to. Taeyong chuckled at the boy's question.

"I'm sure there will be, there were quite a few there last night. Jeno smiled excitedly, gripping Dyoung's hands tighter as they continued down the sidewalk. The older boy smiled.

"Do you like snails Jen?" Jeno nodded at Doyoung's question.

"Mhm! especially the really fat ones! They're so cute and dopey lookin!" Jeno said with a giggle as they got closer to the course. Doyoung smiled warmly and hummed as he kept a close eye on the boy. He had taken on the role of being Jeno's caretaker for the day per Jaemin's request, and he was taking his job very seriously. So seriously in fact-

"You're gonna make a great parent someday Doyoung." Kun commented from his other side. Doyoung smiled warmly at the man.

"Thank you." He commented, finding it hard to stay calm after that comment. He still loved Taeil, truly and fully with all his heart, nothing would change that, but something about seeing Kun again after all these years felt so refreshing in a way.

He had missed him.

"Snail!!" Jeno shouted, running the rest of the way towards a little bench beside the course where a chubby little snail was making his careful and slow trail of goops up towards the top. Xiaojun- for the first time in a while might I add -pried himself away from Yangyang and went over with Jeno to observe the fat little creature.

"His shell is so shiny." He commented, reaching out and petting its shell delicately with his finger. Jeno nodded.

"Keeps him safe." Jeno mumbled to the older who hummed. Xiaojun stood up straight and looked around before letting out a gasp and tugging on Jeno's sweater gently.

"Look! Pretty flowers!" He exclaimed softly, pointing to the open field surrounding the course that was full of various colorful wildflowers. Jeno giggled and grabbed Xiaojun's hand gently.

"Come on, Lele taught me how to make flower crowns, lets go!" Jeno insisted, taking a willing Xiaojun with him to the field. The others trailed after them a bit slower, keeping a close eye on them despite that. Yangyang had a warm smile on his face as he watched, letting out a content sigh.

"I haven't seen him act that happy with another person in a long time, Kun." He admitted softly. Kun hummed as he watched the two running around and picking various flowers in the field, Jeno pointing out the best ones and Xiaojun supplying him with plenty of easy little questions.

"Like this?" Xiaojun asked Kai softly as he held up his work-in-progress flower crown. Kai smiled kindly and nodded with a hum.

"Yep, that's right. It looks pretty already!" Kai said with a smile and Xiaojun scooted back over to Jeno shyly at the compliment. Jeno was busy working away on his flower crown. He was making one for Jaemin, having handpicked a bunch of flowers that would match the youngers pink hair nicely, and he wanted to make sure it was perfect. That's why he was sat, right beside Kyungsoo, who was helping him along delicately with gentle hands and soft instructions to construct the perfect flower crown. Doyoung sat on the blanket as well, right nearby Jeno, but since Kyungsoo seemed to know more about the flower crown process, he had let the older take charge a bit in this situation. Yangyang was nearby as well, keeping a close watch on Xiaojun in case he needed something.

Meanwhile, the people who hand come to golf- Taeyong and Kun -were now wrapped up in a very serious conversation while they held some of the extra-large slimy sons.

"I just- I don't know anymore. I still like Doyoung, and I know I do, but it almost feels like I care for Taeil just as much, and that scares me." Kun explained carefully, keeping his voice low even though they were a little ways away from the others. "I don't even know if it's possible to love two people at once- and Taeil took Doyoung away from me, I should hate him!" Taeyong hummed.

"Well for one, it's possible to love two people, it's possible to love four- whatever you feel is right, you should trust and accept wholeheartedly." Kun 'hmmf'd a bit at that and gave a thoughtful nod.

"I guess you're right..."

"Kun! Kun!" Xiaojun exclaimed excitedly as he ran over towards them. "Look what I made!" He said shyly as he offered the flower crown to Kun who held it delicately with a smile.

"Oh, it's beautiful Xiaojun, well done!" The other boy played with his fingers a bit and smiled until Kun tried to hand it back, and he shook his head.

"For you..." He mumbled out softly. Kun cooed at the boy and ruffled his hair.

"Thank you, it's so pretty!" Kun said, placing it atop his head and giving another smile to the boy who giggled and ran back to the others. Kun sighed as he watched Doyoung who was holding Jeno in his lap now while the younger explained his flower crown to Kyungsoo.

"You should talk to him- both of them." Taeyong suggested. Kun sighed and nodded.

"I know..."

"And Jaeminies hair is pink, so I added the white cuz it would look cute, but I also asked him to dye his hair icy blue, and so I made sure that the other color would match blue too, that's why these ones are purple!" Jeno explained with enthusiasm to Kyungsoo who let out a soft 'ah' and nodded.

"That's very thoughtful of you Jeno." He said, turning to look at Xiaojun when the boy eagerly tapped his knee.

"This one's gonna be purple flowers and pink flowers and white flowers, cuz Hendery likes all those colors!" He announced proudly, seeking approval from the wise Kyungsoo. The older laughed gently and smiled.

"Very pretty!" He complimented. "I bet he'll love it."

They continued to make flower crowns for their various friends, some of the older boys even getting in on the accessories, until Jeno was sleeping soundly in Doyoung's lap and Xiaojun was walking around the golf course with Yangyang, leaving the other boys to do as they pleased.

"Kyungsoo-ah," Kai began, picking up his masterpiece as he finished it. "Look at me." He orders and the older obeyed, looking up from his hands where he was delicately weaving flowers together and being pleasantly surprised as a flower crown was placed softly on his head, he smiled his heart-shaped smile and shook his head a bit as Kai let out a laugh. "You look so pretty now!"

"Your turn," the older said, finishing up the flower crown in his hands and reaching forward to place it on Kai's head, but the younger pulled away from him with a teasing grin. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and leaned forward on his knees to try and get it onto Kai's head, but the younger swiftly stood up and ran into the field with a cackle, making Kyungsoo sigh as he got up to pursue the chase.

"He's so soft and gentle," Kun remarked as he sat down beside Doyoung with a smile, his words referring to the sleeping boy in his arms. Doyoung hummed and nodded, running his fingers through the boy's hair and earning a content sigh.

"I feel so bad for him, Kun." Doyoung began. "He's been through so much, I just- I don't want him to get hurt anymore." The older nodded in agreement, letting out a hum as well when he did.

"I don't want to pry into want all he's been through, but from what I've heard, he's a strong boy." Doyoung nodded in certain agreement and opened his mouth to speak when suddenly Jeno shifted a bit and his eyes fluttered gently open. The older smiled.

"Hey, kiddo. Are you still tired? Wanna go back home? I'm sure the others are back by now." Doyoung reasoned, and he probably wasn't wrong either. From the look of the sky, they had been there all day, so it wouldn't be all that far-fetched for the others to be home by now. Jeno nodded sleepily.

"Wan' go back, bu' don' wan' Jun to, he's havin lotsa fun." Jeno slurred sleepily, cuddling into Doyoung with a small whine. Doyoung shushed the boy a bit.

"Alright, that's okay, I'll let Tyongie know we're gonna go home, that was Xiaojun and the others can stay if they want."

"I can tell him for you if you'd like so that you guys can get going." Kun offered and Doyoung smiled gratefully.

"Really?" The older nodded as he stood up.

"Sure, and I think I'll head home behind you guys." Kun offered and Doyoung smiled.

"You guys heading back?" Kai panted as he and Kyungsoo made their return, the older having succeeded in crowning Kai as a flower prince.

"Yep, Jeno's a bit tired." Doyoung explained gently as he coaxed Jeno to stand up and offered him a piggyback ride.

"I think we'll come back with you then." Kyungsoo said with a nod as he began to fold up the blanket for Taeyong.

The walk back home was peaceful, Jeno adding the occasional slurred sentence about whatever he was seeing to their gentle conversations as they made their way back to the cabins. The lights were on in most of the little temporary homes as they approached, making it clear that the others had come back. Doyoung waved goodbye to Kyungsoo and Kai who both bid their farewells back, Kyungsoo ever giving a small little wave to Jeno who smiled sleepily back. His brain was a bit too fuzzy to say much by then, but Kyungsoo didn't seem to mind as he followed after Kai carefully into their cabin.

"Alright, we're almost there."

"Nana," Jeno whined.

"I know sweetheart, just a moment." Doyoung calmed him gently, knocking on the cabin door. It swung open to reveal a shirtless Jaemin with wet hair who was drying himself off. He gave the biggest smile when he saw Doyoung carrying a very sleepy Jeno on his back and he reached out to carefully take the boy from Doyoung's back.

"Hi, Jeno! Did you have fun with Doyoungie today?" Jaemin asked, mouthing a 'thank you' and waving goodbye to doing before shutting the door and carrying Jeno to their room.

"Mhm, made flower crowns, nd saw really fat snails." Jeno confirmed with a lopsided smile. Jaemin smiled.

"Ooo that does sound like fun!" Jaemin said to the boy, trying to keep him distracted in conversation while he grabbed a shirt.

"Wha' bout you?" Jeno asked softly, chewing on his thumb a bit.

"Oh I had an excellent day, thank you for asking," Jaemin said with a smile as he crawled into bed beside Jeno. "Can you sit up so I can change you into a pajama shirt real quick love?" Jeno smiled warmly and did as told, lifting his arms up to make it easier for the younger as well.

In no time he was changed into some shorts and one of Jaemin's old T-shirts, Ruby his stuffed dog being clutched close to his chest as he cuddled into the youngers side.

"Let's talk bout your day in the morning, okie?" Jeno suggested cutely and Jaemin smiled.

"Of course baby. Now, let's get some sleep, hmm?"

🍓

Chenle kicked his feet back and forth gently as he looked down at the crashing waves below the slight cliffside. He was sitting on the bench overlooking the sea the sat on the edge of a slight cliff behind their cabin, and he found it rather calming to just sit and listen.

"You did well in paintball today, even if you died close to first." Chenle looked up suddenly at the voice and saw Jisung walking around the bench to sit beside him. He smiled and hummed.

"You weren't half bad yourself. But I guess with you and your experience with PubG and all that, it probably came a bit easier, huh?" The older questioned and Jisung nodded.

"I guess you could say that." A comfortable silence came between them as they watched the water, listening to the waves crash against the cliffside before making their retreat back to safety only to make the daring charge forward once more. Jisung wondered for a moment what it might feel like to fall down there, but chased away the thought when he felt Chenle rest his head on his shoulder and sigh contently.

"Jisungie, I think theres a case of baby fever going around this group, and I'm gonna be honest, I think I have it." Chenle suddenly said with a pout. Jisung laughed and held his hand.

"Well, that's always an option if you ever really wanna..." Jisung trailed off and made vague gestures towards nothing with his hands making Chenle snicker for a moment.

"Yea, but then I have to wait for the baby to be born, and I have to go through all the hassle of being pregnant and all, and I don't think I'm ready for that part yet I just want a kid." Jisung hummed and nodded.

"Well, we could do what Hyuck and Injun did and adopt a kid? That way you can just get straight to the kid part and not have to worry about anything else." The younger suggested. Chenle smiled at the thought.

"Sometimes, you are a very smart man Jisung Park." The younger paused and titled his head.

"I can't quite tell if that's a compliment, but I'll take it." Jisung said with an endearing smile as he turned and kissed the older delicately on his head. "I love you Chenle, I'm so glad we found each other again." Jisung whispered and the older laughed gently.

"I knew we would find each other, we always do."

...

"I still have that music box you gave me when we were kids you know. I played it everyday that we were apart." Jisung confessed and Chenle scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Alright, pipe it down Cheesesung" He said with a soft chuckle.

"I'm serious!" Jisung insisted, and the older smiled

"I love you Jisung Pwark."

"I love you too."

...

"So, can our kid be a Zhong?"

-tbc-

6093

:man_standing:
ladies and gentlemen, this has just made the new record for my longest chpter. before this the record was like 5300 words for the ending of Run

...

ILY TEEHEE

also only like eight-ish chapters left cuz I cut out one of them :]

ALSO ALSO HELP ME- WRITING THE EXO'S IS SO FUN ESPECIALLY KAISOO HNNNN THEY'RE YEETING AFTER HAWAII THO HFHGFKGFGH