spilled milk ° lee seokmin

18

Rain began to pour down as kids piled into various buses to the mountains, Soonyoung talking non stop about how he's the best at starting a fire.

"You know, they don't call me 'Kwon fire' for nothing." He states, some already tuning him out.

"Soonyoung, I don't think I've ever seen you start a fire before. And we've gone camping together." Seokmin says, Wonwoo and Mingyu agreeing.

"Well, let's just call it a 'newly profound' skill, alright?" Soonyoung replies, the other three shrugging. Minus well let him have this one or else they'll never hear the end of it.

The bus ride continues with the four discussing what they plan to do when in the mountains, Jihoon adding his input every now and then.

"This weather reminds me of Busan." Jihoon says out of nowhere but somehow it attracts the other's attention.

"Does it usually rain a lot in Busan?" Mingyu asks out of curiosity. "I've only been to Busan once and the weather was nice during the entire trip."

"Well, it depends on what your definition of 'a lot' is. But when it does, it's usually a little chilly and boiled chicken soup is the best on those days. That or abalone soup, but it's very rare - for my family at least. I remember when I was younger I would go to the market with my mother on days like this and shop for whatever we were having that night." Jihoon explains as he stares out the bus window, his eyes focused on the rain droplets.

"Do you ever miss home?" Mingyu then asks.

"Of course," Jihoon responds. "But I'm fortunate enough to go back during school breaks to see them. I'm very grateful they were able to send me out to Seoul for schooling, that and I'm also grateful to have extended family living out here that I can go back to every night instead of having to dorm on my own."

"Would you ever want to dorm on your own?" Wonwoo adds.

"Maybe when I'm much older but not now, I feel like I would still need to have family with me because I would miss them too much if they weren't there." Wonwoo nods, respecting the boy's answer and deciding not to meddle any more.

"I think Wonwoo would be the same way," Mingyu chimes in. "He's from Changwon and I'm sure he feels the same." Just based off of this it sparks interest in Jihoon.

"Are you living with extended family as well?"

"Well, no. My family and I moved out here to Seoul in hopes it'll benefit their business." Wonwoo replies. "But I hope to move back to Changwon one day, I think I'd miss the scenery too much. Of course the Seoul scenery is just as beautiful, but I'm just so used to Changwon." Jihoon, Wonwoo and Mingyu continue to carry out their conversation even until they've reached their destination, Seokmin focused elsewhere as Soonyoung blabbers on about what sounds like nonsense.

Soonyoung stretches once he's set foot off the bus, Wonwoo kicking him in the back of his ankle as he tries to usher Soonyoung to move.

"Ya, you asked me to carry your luggage just so you could do that?" Wonwoo exclaims, clearly annoyed.

"Pfft, you should be lucky. You got the lighter of the two." Mingyu snickers, his arms bearing both his and Soonyoung's luggage.

"My god, what's in here anyway?" Wonwoo mutters and he starts walking aimlessly.

"That is a secret," Soonyoung says. "but don't worry. You'll be grateful I brought it." The three continue to walk aimlessly until Seokmin had called out to them, groans and whines eliciting out of them.

"Guys, our tent is this way." Seokmin points, the three following. They all haul their luggage as they head towards the tent, Mingyu dropping everything once he sees a blow up mattress.  He throws himself onto the mattress only to be bounced off. Mingyu shakes his head as he recovers from the fall but that doesn't stop the other three from laughing.

"Is Jihoon not boarding with us?" Mingyu asks in hopes of adverting the attention that was fixed on him.

"He's rooming with Jeonghan and Seungcheol."

"Seungcheol's here?" Seokmin questioned, taken aback. "I don't remember seeing him."

"He was on the other bus along with Heeyun, Minghao, and Inhyung." Soonyoung explains. The four unpack their belongings and get settled in prior to Seungkwan popping in to check on everyone.

"Hey guys," Seungkwan greets as the four turn to greet him. "can I expect the four of you to join us tonight at the bonfire?"

"Sure, we'll be there."

"Great!" Seungkwan clasps his hands together with a pleased expression. "We're actually going to be working on dinner right now and we can use some extra help and if you don't mind -"

"Say no more," Mingyu tells him as he raises a hand. "we're happy to help." Seungkwan's face lights up with excitement as he leads the four to where the bonfire is, a few students already scattered around helping. Right as Seungkwan finishes giving instructions a student requests for his help in which he apologizes to the four boys for leaving so abruptly. "So, who's going to do what?"

"Well since they're low on food supply since such a large class came I guess I can go with some of the others to the nearby convenience store and pick up some instant noodles?" Wonwoo offers.

"I actually brought some with me, do you think we should use them?" Soonyoung confesses, Wonwoo and Mingyu shooting him a surprised look.

"You brought instant noodles with you?" The two said in unison, Soonyoung scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Is that why one of your luggage's was so light?" Mingyu adds on, Soonyoung sheepishly nodding.

"Alright, let's use that." Wonwoo concludes. "It'll be less of a burden in terms of cost when going out to buy more."

"I'll go back to the tent to grab them." Mingyu declares.

"I'll go with you." Soonyoung adds as he tries to follow Mingyu only to be pulled back by Wonwoo.

"Nope, you're going to help start the fire, Kwon Soonyoung." Wonwoo stops him. "Here, this is a perfect opportunity to show off your skills, 'Kwon fire'." Soonyoung sighs as he walks towards the fire pit where a frustrated Junhui stands trying to ignite several blocks of wood. Soonyoung turns back with a worried expression and tries to walk away only to have Wonwoo block him.

"But it's Junhui!" Soonyoung mutters as his heels dig into the ground while Wonwoo pushes him towards the fire pit. "You are well aware of how I am when getting along with him."

"Maybe it'll be a bonding experience, you don't know." Wonwoo coaxes him. The two bicker back and forth until Junhui notices, Soonyoung swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Ya, Kwon Soonyoung. Come here and help me." Soonyoung's eyes close in defeat before going over to help him, Wonwoo returning back to Seokmin.

"And what will you be doing? I assume Mingyu will help with cooking once he gets back with the ramen, and Soonyoung seems to be pretty occupied with starting a fire." Wonwoo questions.

"I can go and collect more firewood such as twigs?" He offers, Wonwoo shrugging.

"By yourself?" Right before Seokmin could respond another voice cuts him off.

"I can go with him."

++

A/N: i feel satisfied with this chapter, even though this is probably the first chapter i've written that allows more dialogue and in depth thoughts from the other characters instead of just seokmin.

ps [about the gif] let's pretend that they're staying on a mountain with a nearby village, or just ignore the scenery in the background