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so long gay boys (1/2)
pg-13; fluff, fail!crack
suho/chen (and everything else under the sun aka ot12 bonding tymz)
~13.5k
a/n: overdue birthday present for dearest sister. you're the worst
☆ ngl this fic is so geographically obscure
☆ for practical purposes everyone in this fic is around the same age hehe
suho/chen (and everything else under the sun aka ot12 bonding tymz)
~13.5k
a/n: overdue birthday present for dearest sister. you're the worst
☆ ngl this fic is so geographically obscure
☆ for practical purposes everyone in this fic is around the same age hehe
Jongdae caresses his ears protectively as he recalls what Chanyeol had jokingly told him earlier that day. Your ears look like a monkey’s in that! He had laughed out loud while pushing the graduate cap further down Jongdae’s head, much to his displeasure.
Rich, coming from you, Jongdae had bitterly remarked, for which he earned a slap from Baekhyun. The boy’s protectiveness of Chanyeol had further convinced Jongdae of their mutual crush on each other, however much the pair tries to deny, saying ew who would like a midget like Baekhyun or what low, stupid human being would find Chanyeol’s maniacal grin attractive and once, in unison, Jongdae, worry about your own crush.
Really, it’s not that he makes it totally obvious. Although now that Jongdae thinks about it, it is a little pathetic how after seven years of stable friendship he still has to hide behind his textbook whenever Junmyeon passes his house; how he has to restrain himself from breaking out into a dumb grin when Junmyeon happily waves at him; how he has to hang out every day on his front porch just to catch a glimpse of Junmyeon walking home.
Today is no exception. As usual, Jongdae is stationed at the small coffee table outside, breathing in the subtly fresh spring air and constantly glancing at the gates of their housing complex. He checks his watch. Junmyeon should be here anytime soon, and he needs to at least look as if he’s remotely interested in his studies, because Junmyeon had once casually let him know that the best type of people are hard-working people. Little did Junmyeon know how much that once sentence had dictated most, if not all, of Jongdae’s free time and habits.
Just as he flips open some textbook he had randomly pulled out of his bag, Jongdae hears a loud laugh and hurried footsteps. His heartbeat picks up pace as he looks up and watches Junmyeon stumble through the gates, draped in his royal blue graduation gown and a couple of his friends whom Jongdae doesn’t recognise slapping him on the back. The gesture isn’t forceful or meant to hurt, but Junmyeon clutches his sides and scrunches up his face in what seems to be an expression of pain. Oh no.
Jongdae immediately sits up, clenches his fists and shouts at the top of his lungs, “Stop hurting Junmyeon!”
The two boys stop laughing as Junmyeon hurriedly stands up straight, his face suddenly panic-stricken. In an instant, Jongdae feels the same – he’s suddenly overly conscious of himself as three pairs of eyes study him carefully, probably trying to decide whether to break out into another round of laughter or walk away quietly. The air is thick, and Jongdae bites the inside of his mouth as a punishment because well done, Jongdae, you just made a fool of yourself.
“Don’t worry about it, Jongdae,” Junmyeon shouts back, draping his arms around his friends’ shoulders. It looks a little comical, because both of them are significantly taller than Junmyeon, and they look like bent palm trees under the weight of his arms. “They’re just joking, and it really doesn’t hurt either.”
“Yah, get off of me.” The guy on Junmyeon’s left grumbles, shaking his silver-grey head with a pout.
“Um,” Jongdae’s suddenly stuck in an awkward situation, and he has never been good at handling awkward situations. Especially ones involving Junmyeon. “O…okay then. I’ll just – uh, go back to studying,”
“Hold on, I need to talk to you.” Junmyeon turns to his friends and says something Jongdae can’t hear.
After what seems like decades, Junmyeon speed-walks to Jongdae’s porch with a huge grin that distorts his face.
“Don’t smile like that, you look –“ Damn. This always happens. Whenever Jongdae tries to insult Junmyeon, he can never get it out. It’s like his tongue refuses to badmouth Junmyeon, as if it knows that he is a demigod sent from the heavens above to grace the Earth with his presence.
“Handsome? Cool?” Junmyeon wiggles his eyebrows, and Jongdae scowls. Not particularly at his statement, but more at the way he secretly agrees with the descriptions.
“Anyway, what were you going to tell me?” Jongdae tries to change the subject. He pulls out a chair at the coffee table, onto which Junmyeon promptly falls.
Instead of answering his question, Junmyeon looks at the textbooks neatly laid out and sends a funny look at him. “Why are you studying?”
“Huh? What?”
“We’ve graduated, remember,” Junmyeon laughs, ignoring the noise of protest Jongdae lets out when he closes the books with a loud thud. “Stop working so hard, I know you’re one of the smartest in your school anyway.”
“But I never beat your scores,” Jongdae quietly mutters. “It’s only because my school is a normal school.” Not the elite one you go to, he doesn’t add.
“Didn’t you have your ceremony today?” Jongdae quietly nods, and Junmyeon puts the books down on the floor. “Then let’s forget about these for a moment.”
“Fine.” Jongdae sniffs.
“Hey,” Junmyeon taps the table. Jongdae looks up, only to meet the glinting brown eyes that have always captivated Jongdae. “Listen, since it’s basically our last break before we all go off to university, I was thinking of a getaway.”
Jongdae perks up. “Go on.”
“Well, I was thinking. You know that lake house my dad has?”
“Which one? I always lose track of all the houses you have.” Jongdae deadpans.
“The one that you said looks like it came out of a European movie.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“So, I don’t know, for a celebration kind of thing, maybe…” he trails off a little. “Do you want to come with me and camp over for a few days?”
All of a sudden his mind is overwhelmed with every fantasy of Junmyeon he has ever had – a lake house, just him and Junmyeon, probably sharing the same bedroom and it’s close to summer now so it would probably get a little stuffy in the room. And when it gets a little stuffy –
He takes a deep breath, and another, and another until he’s filled with so much air he coughs, arms flailing at his sides and narrowly missing Junmyeon’s concerned face.
“Are you okay?” Junmyeon gets up from his seat, but Jongdae hurriedly waves him off.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Do you need a drink? I have my bottle here –“
“No, no, please, really it’s cool.” He’s a little dizzy from the thought of sharing an indirect kiss with Junmyeon.
When he has, questions, along with doubt, replace the embarrassing fantasies in his mind. “Are you…are you sure you want me to come with you?”
Junmyeon smiles. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? You were the first friend I made when I moved to this neighbourhood.” He ruffles Jongdae’s hair. “What better way to celebrate the first steps of our well-earned freedom together?”
Sometimes – no, every time Junmyeon does this; smile at him with his white teeth peeking out, eyes crinkling into crescents, Jongdae’s convinced he’s the happiest man in the world, blessed by an angel on Earth.
“Okay, then,” he tries for a nonchalant tone, but Junmyeon probably picked up the hidden excitement behind it. “I’ll go with you. When do we leave?”
“Awesome!” Junmyeon claps loudly. “We leave on Sunday morning. I’ll pick you up at eight, and we can walk to the train station together.”
“Train station?” Jongdae cocks an eyebrow.
“Ah, well,” Junmyeon hesitates. “I – kind of wanted to try independent traveling, you know. My parents offered me a chauffeur with a van and everything, but I thought it would be nicer if we traveled by ourselves.”
Jongdae smiles in satisfaction. This is getting better by the second. “Sounds good.” He lies, because it sounds fucking perfect.
“Awesome,” Junmyeon repeats, standing up and brushing down his graduation gown. “See you then! Remember to pack your swimming stuff!”
-
Sunday morning has Jongdae waking up thirty-three minutes earlier than his six a.m. alarm clock, with a racing heart and eyebags he badly needs to cover up. He hadn’t been able to get much sleep the night before, spending the better part of his night trying to think of ways to a) calm down, b) stop coming up with scenarios that only exist in cheesy love stories, c) to stop worrying about what he should wear (this was fairly easy to do as Junmyeon’s fashion sense tends to lean towards atrocious) and d) stop thinking about Junmyeon.
The last is nearly impossible to do because as soon as he turns over to check his phone, a text message from Junmyeon pops up:
We’ll be staying for three nights, but we might extend the stay~ I hope you got lots of rest because it’ll be a long journey ahead!
-Junmyeon
Trying to stop thinking about Junmyeon would essentially be trying to stop thinking about the trip. Jongdae secretly coos at how Junmyeon always signs off his text messages, as if he’s afraid that no one saves his number in their contact lists, and how his text messages are perfectly punctuated and spelt, with no errors whatsoever. Such a perfect man.
got it thx dude
Jongdae hurriedly types before rolling out of bed. It’s still too early to get ready, but might as well put in some extra effort.
-
“Listen, take some cups of ramen with you because I don’t trust any of you to cook proper food –“
“Mum, my bag’s way too full already!” Jongdae whines. And it’s true – his duffel bag has doubled in size and now looks like a giant overstuffed hamster, except it’s significantly less furry. He grimaces at the seams that look like they’re about to rip apart. “It’s not like we can’t go out and buy something anyway.”
“Money, Jongdae, money,” his mother says, ruthlessly unzipping his bag and forcing three cups of ramen into every corner with an inch of free space. “You should always do anything to save money.”
Jongdae rolls his eyes. It’s not like his family isn’t well off, but his mother had always been far too financially aware to be called normal.
“Okay, but that’s it, I’m not taking the Kikkoman sauce.” He warns just as his mum takes out the bottle with a clink.
“Right, okay, maybe that’s going a little too far.” Just then, the doorbell rings and Jongdae jumps to his feet. He checks his watch, and it’s precisely eight a.m. Junmyeon’s not even a minute late.
“By god, that scared me. That must be Junmyeon.” His mother hurries over, giving him a peck on each cheek and holding his face in her two hands. “My baby is so grown up now.”
“Mum, I’m eighteen,” he sighs, but he can’t say he doesn’t like her attention. “I’ll be alright. It’ll be fun.”
They open the door, and Junmyeon immediately bows a full ninety degrees upon seeing Jongdae’s mother. “Mrs Kim, good morning.”
“Good morning Junmyeon. You look so handsome today.”
Jongdae must agree, seeing his signature heart-winning smile and black hair falling into his face a little messily. But he’s not sure he can say the same about his plaid shorts paired with a long-sleeved white shirt, rolled back to expose a little bit of vampire-white skin. And the very ugly, bulky-looking shoes. Jongdae decides that if his fantasies do come true, the first thing he will do is brainwash Junmyeon and change his fashion sense completely.
“Have fun kids.” Without Jongdae noticing, the two had finished their small talk and Junmyeon’s got Jongdae’s duffel bag in one hand. “Take care, alright? And call me once you get there.”
“We will, Mrs Kim, don’t worry.” Junmyeon doesn’t let go of Jongdae’s bag, however much he tries to pry it off his fingers, grumbling I’m not a girl I can do it myself.
“I trust you, Junmyeon. Goodbye, Jongdae!”
Once the doors close, Jongdae pokes Junmyeon hard in the stomach, relishing in the yelp he lets out and grabbing the bag that has broken free of his grip.
“Don’t make me feel like a damsel in distress.” He huffs, slinging the bag over his shoulder.
“Okay, okay.” Junmyeon laughs, picking up his own bag that seems a lot less stuffed than Jongdae’s.
“What do you have in there?”
“What? Oh,” Jongdae shrugs. “Just clothes.”
“Shall we get going then?”
Jongdae nods, and when Junmyeon smiles it’s different than his usual smile – it’s more relaxed, but lifted up at the corners a little playfully. Jongdae’s heart skips a beat when he realises that it might well be reserved for him, and him only.
-
The walk to the train station is relatively peaceful; if you don’t count the multiple times Jongdae either shuts up completely and lets Junmyeon talk (because his voice really does soothe the atmosphere) or blabbers on about things Junmyeon probably has zero interest in. But he never shows it, nodding to everything Jongdae says and occasionally asking questions or making remarks Jongdae doesn’t have an answer to.
Their friendship has always been like this – at the end of the day, they’re each other’s solace, a place to let loose from their school’s expectations and the different people they have to put up with. They find it much easier to bullshit (Junmyeon prefers the word criticise) people at school to someone who has never met them, even if it’s just so that the person can take their side.
By the time they’ve reached the train station, Junmyeon’s forehead is covered with a thin sheen of sweat and Jongdae’s arm feels like it’s about to break.
“We’re here!” Junmyeon sounds like he’s about to cry, throwing his arms around Jongdae’s shoulders and nearly toppling them both.
“Yeah, we made it.” Instead of pulling away, Jongdae brings his hands to Junmyeon’s waist to steady both of them. Holy shit, he thinks excitedly. We haven’t even arrived and I’m already making progress.
“Oh look! I see everyone else waiting!”
It hits Jongdae like a bucket of cold water because everyone? Else? He turns around in the direction Junmyeon’s pointing at, and is greeted with an eyeful of people he has never met before standing in a line, waving their arms at the sides in sync to form something that resembles a giant millipede.
“We’ve waited for a long time, Junmyeon!” The person at the front of the line grins maniacally, and Jongdae dreadfully recognises him as the silver-haired guy he saw a few days ago.
“He brought a pet along!”
“Luhan, that’s rude! Who’s that Junmyeon?”
“He’s my friend, you assholes,” Baekhyun breaks out of the line, and Jongdae wants to cry when he sees Chanyeol tagging along behind him. This nightmare is turning worse by the minute. “Hey Jongdae! I didn’t know you were coming!”
“Uh, Junmyeon…” Jongdae whispers. “Are they all coming along too?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? I invited all my close friends!” He grins, oblivious to the loud sound of Jongdae’s hopes and dreams shattering into pieces. “I wanted to introduce you to my friends too. You know, my friends are your friends –“
“Aren’t you happy to see us?” Chanyeol punches Jongdae’s arm. “If Baekhyun and I didn’t come, you’d be stuck with these weirdos alone, not knowing who they are and shit.”
“You talk like we’re going to eat him or something.”
“I didn’t say that!”
“How do you know these people?” Jongdae asks curiously. Four other people stand before him, and he has no clue who any of them are.
“Baekhyun and I go to the same course as them. You know, the after school one? The one you skip all the time because you can’t be bothered?”
Jongdae laughs light-heartedly, hoping it doesn’t sound too forced because all he wants to do right now is run back home and spend his whole summer lamenting over his ruined trip.
“I’ll introduce you to everyone,” Suho grabs Jongdae by the arm and drags him over closer to his friends. He feels four pairs of eyes study him, and he squirms under the attention. “This is Luhan and this is Sehun,” a ginger-haired boy who’s basically hanging off a taller, blonde boy’s arm waves at him with a big smile, and Sehun simply gives him the v-sign. “They’re inseparable, and go at it like rabbits.”
“Thank you, Junmyeon.” Sehun rolls his eyes.
“This is Jongin and Kyungsoo,” a short (even shorter than Baekhyun!) red-haired guy smiles, and hits the silver-haired boy, who was too busy cracking a joke with Sehun to pay attention, quite hard on the back.
“Ow! That hurts!”
“Don’t be rude and say hi.”
“Hey, I think we’ve met before,” Jongin nods at him. “Don’t hurt Junmyeon! Is that right?”
Heat creeps up onto his cheeks, and Jongdae can hear Baekhyun dying from laughter at the back, choking out a ‘did he seriously say that?’
“Don’t remind me.”
“Yeah, probably the best for both of us,” Jongin reaches out a hand. “Nice to meet you though.”
“Okay! Now that everyone knows everyone’s names,” Junmyeon clasps his hands together, eyes sparkling in excitement. “I think our train’s here, so let’s board it!”
“He’s totally excited,” Luhan says into Sehun’s ear, too loud considering the little space there is between his lips and Sehun’s ear. “I don’t think the rich bastard has ever ridden a train before.”
“I heard that.”
“I can’t wait to grill some meat.” Kyungsoo picks up his and Jongin’s bag, much to Jongdae’s confusion. Jongin’s hands are completely free of baggage, and he can’t think of why he can’t bring it himself.
“Grill some for me, pleaseeeeee,” Jongin pouts and Jongdae wants to gag, because someone with that sexy face is not supposed to have so much aegyo.
“Okay, okay, and I’ll feed them to you too. Sounds good?”
Jongdae’s still a little dazed when he walks between the rows of seats, taking the nearest space beside Chanyeol two rows from the last. As he’s about to put his duffel bag into the overhead compartment, though, Baekhyun forcefully pulls him away to the side.
“Hey, what the fuck?”
“That’s my space, only I get to sit next to Chanyeol.” Baekhyun complains.
“Why? You guys want to suck face during the whole ride?”
Baekhyun’s cheeks turn a little red but he goes on as if he’s not aware of his reddening face. “No what the hell you sick minded person. We want to discuss battle tactics for League of Legends, duh.”
“Yeah, Jongdae, go find another place.” Chanyeol scoots to make room for Baekhyun, and Jongdae scowls at the pair. He’s pretty sure that they’re not oblivious – they’re just too immature to accept their feelings towards each other.
He looks around the compartment and searches for an empty seat. Sehun and Luhan had occupied the row behind Baekhyun and Chanyeol, and had already settled down cozily by the looks of it – Luhan’s got his head on Sehun’s shoulder, with Sehun’s arm around him and his hands playing with his hair. His other hand is holding Luhan’s and caressing the back of his palm with a thumb. Well they’re not one for subtlety, Jongdae thinks. Kyungsoo and Jongin had settled down as well, Kyungsoo with his head buried in a book and Jongin trying hard not to stare at him.
That leaves one space.
Jongdae’s torn between jumping in joy and retreating to the back of the compartment and hiding in the bathroom and he walks over to Junmyeon, who’s busy checking his pockets for his ticket.
“Can I, um, sit here?”
“Sure. I’ll probably be a boring person to sit next to, though. I’ll be reading most of the way.”
“No, no, go ahead, it’s totally cool.” You’re totally cool, Jongdae wants to say.
He tries very, very hard not to listen to other people’s conversations. But it’s incredibly difficult to not eavesdrop, even with the soft drone of the train that hums through the compartment.
“I don’t think this ginger hair suits me.” Jongdae can hear the pout in Luhan’s voice. “I look like a roasted turkey in barbecue sauce.”
“No, babe, you look great. I’m actually digging this bright colour. Nice change from pastels.”
“But still, it’s so hard to get my eyebrows to match the colour. It’s even harder than when I had my blonde hair!”
“Don’t dye your hair too often, babe, it’ll get damaged.” Jongdae closes his eyes, trying very hard to focus on the side of his arm that’s pressed onto Junmyeon’s instead. “I don’t want your hair falling off like a cat’s.”
“Look who’s talking! Remember that rainbow hair you had and you had to re-dye it every three days or something.”
Jongdae is starting to notice a pattern in Junmyeon’s circle of friends – they seem to be very fond of eccentric and adventurous hair colours. He wonders why Junmyeon isn’t as crazy as they are.
“Yeah of course. God, I couldn’t find any shirt that would go with that hair.”
“It was a period of both health and fashion crisis.” Luhan sighs dramatically. “Never again.”
“Listen to this.” Jongdae hears shuffling, and after a few seconds of silence Luhan lets out a high-pitched yelp.
“What the fuck? Did I just hear – oh my god I heard oppa in this, this –“
“Yep.” Jongdae can hear the grin in Sehun’s voice.
“Don’t tell me…it’s…”
“Yep. A compilation of all the supernatural tracks from the CDs I got. Pretty cool stuff right?”
“No! Fuck I hate you holy shit that voice will keep me awake at night YOU KNOW I CAN’T TAKE HORROR CRAP.”
“You’re afraid of anything horror-related?” Jongdae turns around in his seat, trying to speak through the small gaps between the chairs.
“Aren’t they made specifically for that purpose? To scare people?”
Jongdae thinks hard about this.
“Hey guys!” Chanyeol shouts suddenly, oblivious to the strange looks people send his way. “Have any of you seen Kyungsoo?”
Junmyeon turns in his seat. “What the –“
“Yeah, I don’t think he boarded the train with us. Jongin, you’ve got his phone numb – ouch!”
Kyungsoo had thrown a full water bottle in the pair’s direction across the aisle, an irritated scowl on his face.
“Hey, what was that for?”
“Oh, the brainless couple is awake. I thought you guys were sleeping with your eyes open.”
The whole compartment, including Jongdae and a few other stranges, laugh at Kyungsoo’s remark.
“Hey, don’t fight, we’re on a trip,” Junmyeon laughs along with them, and closes his book. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Jongdae.”
“That’s okay. Your friends are really cool people.”
And Jongdae’s telling the truth, as sincerely as he can.
-
They got a van to pick them up from the train station anyway, because the distance to the lake house is a little too far to walk. Jongdae finds himself lost in easy conversations with Junmyeon’s friends, and although at times it’s still a little awkward, he finds that he doesn’t mind it at all. The prospect of spending a few days of freedom with just friends and no rules sends the mood in the vehicle sky-high.
“We’re here!”
Through the window, Jongdae can see lots of trees and the outline of a European-style wooden house slowly coming into view, the lake outstretched behind it and the ripples sparkling like glitter under the sunlight. It’s a breathtaking sight, and Jongdae can’t help the squeal that tumbles out of his mouth.
“Someone’s excited,” Baekhyun nudges Jongdae’s arm, whispering near his ear as they both crowd around the window.
“As if you aren’t.”
“Hey, I never said I wasn’t.”
-
“This is so great!” Chanyeol outstretches his arms, standing on the railing of the patio overlooking the lake. It’s midday and the sun is high up in the sky, yet it doesn’t feel hot at all with the soft breeze playing with their hair every now and then.
Baekhyun comes up behind Chanyeol and encircles his arms around his abdomen, laughing when Chanyeol lets out a shriek. But he doesn’t shake Baekhyun off and the two start singing an incoherent version of My Heart Will Go On. Jongdae rolls his eyes.
Junmyeon walks onto the patio and claps his hands. “Alright, guys! Let’s sort out the rooming plans.”
They all drag out a chair for themselves (except Luhan and Sehun, who opt to share a chair together. Luhan ends up sitting on Sehun’s lap with his head tucked under Sehun’s chin) and form a circle to emphasise the ‘serious mode’.
“Right, so there are 5 bedrooms currently available right now, but I think the door’s broken on one of them or something. So we all have to share a room with one other person, whether we like it or not.”
“That’s easy then, we’re all sorted.” Sehun deadpans.
“No, wait, I have one rule.” Junmyeon crosses his arms seriously. “No couples are allowed to share a room.”
Loud noises of protest erupt from his friends, and Jongdae raises an eyebrow at Baekhyun and Chanyeol who seem to be against the case as well.
“Are you guys a couple too, now?” He interrogates.
“We’re considering them as a couple, since they really are but just don’t want to put the label on it.” Junmyeon’s expression is serious.
“For god’s sake, can’t a guy have a best friend nowadays?” Jongdae hears Baekhyun mutter.
“Why are you trying to ruin our holiday before we even start it?” Luhan grumbles into Sehun’s shoulder, eyes starting to get a little teary.
“I’m trying to make it better for everyone,” Junmyeon sighs. “Remember, this is a group trip, not your own personal honeymoons. It wouldn’t be fair on people who don’t have a partner.”
“God, Junmyeon, if you’re jealous why didn’t you just say so?” Jongin rolls his eyes.
“Why can’t you be like Jongdae and not complain about your own pathetic love life?”
Jongdae frowns at Baekhyun’s words. “Hey, what was that for –“
“Look, I’m happy for you all but let’s just give this a try, okay? You’ve got the whole day to spend with each other anyway, it’s only during the night?”
Everyone voices out their agreements with different levels of enthusiasm.
They end up with Baekhyun and Luhan, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo and Sehun and Jongin sharing a room.
This leaves Junmyeon and Jongdae to share a room, and Jongdae has to bite his tongue to stop himself from screaming in excitement.
It’s only when they go back in and get their first proper look around the house that they realise what a mess it is. The floor is covered with a thick layer of dust, only slightly lighter on the areas they’ve stepped on. In the middle of the ceiling, which is covered in cobwebs, hangs a chandelier, looking like it’s about to collapse under the weight of the dirt coating every surface of it. When someone bumps into the back of the sofa, a cloud of dust goes off into the air in all its dirty glory. Soon it gets a little hard to breathe and a few people start to cough.
“Where are all your servants, Junmyeon?” Baekhyun scrunches up his nose. “They should be running around treating us like queens by now.”
“Ah, about that,” Junmyeon says, ignoring Baekhyun’s use of the female monarch instead of its male counterpart. “I told you I wanted this to be an independent holiday, so I kind of…sent away…all the helpers.”
“Are you crazy?” Luhan shrieks from behind Baekhyun, shaking him senselessly. “How do you expect us to live in these conditions?”
“My hair is going limp just at the thought of it!” Baekhyun wails. “My beautiful, newly-dyed hair!”
“Um, guys –“
“I think my skin is going to peel away if it comes into contact with any of this furniture.”
“Guys, you know –“
“EW I THINK I TOUCHED SOMETHING DIRTY.”
“GUYS!!!”
Everyone turns Kyungsoo, who had let out an unexpectedly loud yell for such a small person. Chanyeol points this out, earning a whack from Kyungsoo. “I think all of you are just overreacting. We can just clean the place out ourselves.”
“What a good idea!” Junmyeon claps his hands. “And with the eight of us, it’ll be done in no time!”
“Eight of us? Oh no, I’m not touching any of this filth and damaging my skin. I worked hard to get it all moisturised before graduation you know.” Baekhyun huffs. “Byun Baek is out of here. You can all do it yourselves.”
“If Baekhyun’s going, I’m going too.”
“What? Luhan what excuse do you have?”
Luhan turns around, squinting at Kyungsoo. “My shirt is worth than all your savings multiplied by three and added to Jongin’s combined, don’t you tell me I don’t have an excuse.”
“Can’t we leave the cleaning until later?” Sehun pouts. “There’s a great lake outside and I think I saw some fish in there and stuff. Let’s just enjoy our time here and worry about this later.”
“Sehun has a point,” Junmyeon says, and Jongdae wants to roll his eyes at how easily swayed he is. “We should enjoy our time here. And it’s a lovely day, too! It would be a shame if we spent it cooped up in the house.”
“Okay! Last one to the lake gets no barbecue meat!” Chanyeol shouts before taking off to the lake, screaming like a madman all the way and Baekhyun, Jongin and Luhan following behind.
Soon everyone is on the water’s edge – some more daring ones like Baekhyun had gotten chin-deep in the water – except for Jongdae and Kyungsoo, who are still standing in the doorway breathing in the dusty air.
“Aren’t you going too, Jongdae?”
“I guess I don’t have a choice. What about you?”
“Oh no. You think I’m leaving the place like this?” Kyungsoo laughs sinisterly, pulling his sleeves up with brute force. Jongdae jumps a little. “You are sorely mistaken.”
Later, when the water is lapping at Jongdae’s toes and he looks back at the house, he sees Kyungsoo running around with his hands on the floor and ass in the air, dragging a rag back and forth across the tiles. He might be imagining it, but he thinks he sees Kyungsoo wearing a maniacal grin on his face, all the while muttering to himself.
Junmyeon’s friends have got some serious issues.
-
“Mfph, this feels so good.” Luhan wiggles his toes under the slightly cold water, feeling smooth pebbles digging into his skin.
“That’s what you sound like in the bedroom.”
“Shut up, Jongin, how would you know?”
“Hey, look,” Jongdae points at something off to Luhan’s right. “It looks like a human’s head.”
Luhan whips around and immediately screams, “OH MY GOD A DROWNED BODY?”
It takes three of them and large amounts of marshmallow stuffed in Luhan’s mouth to subdue his screams of “I TOUCHED CORPSE WATER!!”. They manhandle him back to the shore, before Jongin waddles into the water and pulls out a bunch of twigs covered in dripping leaves.
“Jongdae, I question your definition of a human head.”
He shrugs, grinning. “It was worth scaring Luhan with.”
Chanyeol wades into the water with them. “This is why you’re my best friend.”
“I thought I was your best friend.” Baekhyun pouts at Chanyeol’s arm around Jongdae, who squirms to get away from the physical contact.
“You’re my other best friend,” he pokes Baekhyun’s cheek. “Are you jealous?”
“Yes, I’m jealous you idiot!” Baekhyun huffs, ignoring Chanyeol’s surprised face.
“You guys,” Jongdae finally manages to wrestle out of Chanyeol’s grip. “There are like ten rooms in the house – go get one.”
When Baekhyun turns away to start swimming to the middle of the lake, Jongdae watches as Chanyeol shakes out of whatever trance he was in and shouts wait!, paddling through the water after him. Stupid Chanyeol, Jongdae shakes his head. So in love yet so clueless. At least Jongdae fully acknowledges his crush on (or undying obsession for) Junmyeon.
Speaking of Junmyeon.
Jongdae watches him from the corner of his eye, reclining on a beach chair and reading the book he had on the train. He looks perfectly tranquil, Jongdae notices. This Junmyeon is infinitely more relaxed – not that he’s perpetually stressed on normal days. It’s just that usually, Jongdae can detect some kind of strain, or an uptight aura around him that makes his actions and words restrained. But looking at him like this, not bothering to fix his hair when soft gusts of wind mess it up, only laughing when Sehun accidentally splashes water on his book, tilting his head back to feel the warm sun on his skin; Jongdae likes him like this. Even more than he usually does.
“Is it going to get cold at night?” Sehun shouts from where he’s skipping stones across the lake, trousers pulled halfway down his butt and exposing his neon pink underwear. No one bothers telling him anything. “I didn’t really bring any warm clothes.”
“Not really, the weather’s always nice around these parts.” Junmyeon says. “We can see lots of stars from here, though.”
“What does that have anything to do with the weather?” Baekhyun mutters.
“Do you guys want to do something?” Junmyeon finally puts his book down, and Baekhyun snorts.
“We have been doing things, thank you. But I guess you couldn’t see that through your book.”
“Aren’t we going to have barbecue?” Kyungsoo suddenly walks by, sleeves still rolled up and bare feet looking very pale against the rocky shore. “I’ve taken the meat out and I found the grill in the kitchen, but I didn’t find any coal. Or rice for that matter,” Kyungso turns to Jongin, annoyance on his face. “Weren’t you supposed to bring rice for us?”
“Shit,” Jongin slaps his forehead. “I –“
“Forgot, yeah, yeah.” Kyungsoo sighs. “Someone has to go buy some rice from some shop, then.”
“Sorry, Soo.” Jongin clings to his arm. Kyungsoo simply shakes him off.
“Is anyone considerate enough of our empty stomachs to make the journey?”
“Why can’t you do it?” Luhan lifts his sunglasses up.
Kyungsoo looks like he’s about to punch Luhan and drown his body to make his assumption of corpse water correct. “Because you lazyass pricks are too multi-million dollar to do it, I just cleaned the whole house all by myself, not to mention putting the groceries in the cupboards and the luggage in the right rooms.”
“You’d make such a good little housewife, Soo-yah.” Jongin pats his butt.
Kyungsoo doesn’t even flinch. “I am not here to be your housemaid because Junmyeon thought he could live independently, Luhan, so if you want to eat, buy the rice yourself.”
Luhan gives this a long thought, and then he shrugs. “Nah, carbs.”
“I feel like this is my fault, so I’ll buy the rice.” Junmyeon stands up from his seat, stretching his arms in this air and ignoring Baekhyun’s comments about stomach flab.
“I think that’s ideal, since you know the neighbourhood and stuff.”
“Alright, I’ll get to it. Anyone want to come with me?”
For a while, everyone is too absorbed in their own activities to be paying any attention. Suddenly, Chanyeol’s thunderous voice announces, as if out of some documentary about migrating animals: “Jongdae will accompany you on your journey!”
“What?” Jongdae drops the pebbles he’d been picking up to skip with Sehun. “What did I do?”
“What you’re going to do, my man. You’re going to go with Junmyeon to buy the rice.”
“What? Wh – why me?” Jongdae repeats, obviously flustered.
Chanyeol sees through him and whispers in his ear. “Play it cool!”
“You sure, Jongdae?” Junmyeon unbuttons the first button on his shirt that’s been suffocating him, flexing the collar a little. Upon seeing Jongdae’s Adam’s apple bob up and down, Chanyeol sniggers. “The nearest shop is quite a distance away on foot.”
“Yeah, yeah he’ll be fine. Haven’t you heard, he’s the winner in our cross country school – oof!”
“There was a fly.” Jongdae says curtly when Chanyeol massages his sore nose, still feeling the weight of Jongdae’s palm on it.
“Be thankful you’ve never gotten a nosejob or your nose would’ve been ruined by now.”
“Is it Luhan’s job to be making useless comments 24/7?” asks Kyungsoo, finally dipping his toes into the water.
“Pretty much.”
-
“To the right of the house you’ll find the basketball and tennis courts,” Junmyeon says without looking up from where he’s tying his shoelaces. “There’s a small cabin near it, pretty sure you’ll find all the racquets and balls there.”
“Or in Chanyeol’s pants,” Baekhyun sniggers.
“I have racquets in my pants?”
Junmyeon ignores him, as usual. “Behind that is the mini golf-course, and –“
“Ew who plays mini golf at this age?” Luhan scrunches up his nose.
Junmyeon blinks. “I do.”
“Do you have bikes?” Jongin appears, hair still wet from the shower. “Sehun and I want to go biking round the place.”
“Without me?” Luhan shrieks.
“Yeah, there are some behind the garage, go and have a look.” Standing up, Junmyeon brushes down his shirt and turns to Jongdae. “You ready?”
“Of course,” Jongdae replies, a little breathlessly.
The walk isn’t as far as Junmyeon made it out to be. Or maybe Jongdae’s just too lost in his eyes to notice where they’re going. The countryside really is different from the city – not only is the air a little fresher, but time seems to go just a tad bit slower, too. Everything is laid back, taking its time to appreciate another day of waking up, from the birds to the trees to the slow lazy wind and still lake. Unlike the hectic, frantic city, the countryside allows them to have somewhat of a breather before getting onto the next stage of their lives – a daunting thought, but an exciting one all the same.
“Do you know where you’re going?”
“Huh? What?” Jongdae removes his earphone, nearly yanking off Junmyeon’s in the process. Jongdae doesn’t like his taste in music much – too boring, too mellow with no twist to it – but he lets Junmyeon share his earphones anyway.
“I said do you know where you’re going for college?”
Jongdae shakes his head. “Not really. I just take the test and see what happens, you know? Anyway, I might just walk around Seoul and hope some entertainment agency recruits me, so I might skip college and be a singer instead.”
The last part was supposed to be a joke, but Junmyeon nods seriously. “I think you’d be great at it. I’ve heard you in the school concert last year.”
“Oh my god,” burying his face in his hands, Jongdae mumbles, “don’t remind me.”
“But honestly, you’re so gifted. I’d be more surprised if you weren’t recruited.”
“What about you?” Jongdae attempts to shift the subject away from himself. “Do you know where you’re going to go?”
“I always do,” Junmyeon laughs. “Everything’s in my parents’ book.”
“Oh.” Jongdae understands.
“I think this trip is the only impromptu thing that has happened in my entire life.” The pebble Junmyeon had kicked rolls off to the side of the road. Leaves flank the concrete lines, green bright against the dark grey. “It was really hard to convince my parents, especially with my wish of having no assistance at all. It took them weeks until they would reconsider it, and in the end I had to miss out on lots of the graduation parties.”
Jongdae laughs bitterly. “Don’t worry, I missed them too.”
“Yeah,” Junmyeon grins. “It might sound mean, but I was glad you missed yours as well. At least I didn’t have to feel lonely.”
At this, Jongdae nearly loses his footing and ends up half-tripping instead. The shop is just in front of them, so they buy the rice in small packets and divides the load in half for them to carry. The sun is starting to set and Junmyeon’s complaining that his feet are already sore, but as Jongdae’s arm brushes against Junmyeon’s and his fingers gripping Jongdae’s as he rifles through the plastic bag, insisting that he’s got more packets of rice and that he shouldn’t carry so much at once, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Rich, coming from you, Jongdae had bitterly remarked, for which he earned a slap from Baekhyun. The boy’s protectiveness of Chanyeol had further convinced Jongdae of their mutual crush on each other, however much the pair tries to deny, saying ew who would like a midget like Baekhyun or what low, stupid human being would find Chanyeol’s maniacal grin attractive and once, in unison, Jongdae, worry about your own crush.
Really, it’s not that he makes it totally obvious. Although now that Jongdae thinks about it, it is a little pathetic how after seven years of stable friendship he still has to hide behind his textbook whenever Junmyeon passes his house; how he has to restrain himself from breaking out into a dumb grin when Junmyeon happily waves at him; how he has to hang out every day on his front porch just to catch a glimpse of Junmyeon walking home.
Today is no exception. As usual, Jongdae is stationed at the small coffee table outside, breathing in the subtly fresh spring air and constantly glancing at the gates of their housing complex. He checks his watch. Junmyeon should be here anytime soon, and he needs to at least look as if he’s remotely interested in his studies, because Junmyeon had once casually let him know that the best type of people are hard-working people. Little did Junmyeon know how much that once sentence had dictated most, if not all, of Jongdae’s free time and habits.
Just as he flips open some textbook he had randomly pulled out of his bag, Jongdae hears a loud laugh and hurried footsteps. His heartbeat picks up pace as he looks up and watches Junmyeon stumble through the gates, draped in his royal blue graduation gown and a couple of his friends whom Jongdae doesn’t recognise slapping him on the back. The gesture isn’t forceful or meant to hurt, but Junmyeon clutches his sides and scrunches up his face in what seems to be an expression of pain. Oh no.
Jongdae immediately sits up, clenches his fists and shouts at the top of his lungs, “Stop hurting Junmyeon!”
The two boys stop laughing as Junmyeon hurriedly stands up straight, his face suddenly panic-stricken. In an instant, Jongdae feels the same – he’s suddenly overly conscious of himself as three pairs of eyes study him carefully, probably trying to decide whether to break out into another round of laughter or walk away quietly. The air is thick, and Jongdae bites the inside of his mouth as a punishment because well done, Jongdae, you just made a fool of yourself.
“Don’t worry about it, Jongdae,” Junmyeon shouts back, draping his arms around his friends’ shoulders. It looks a little comical, because both of them are significantly taller than Junmyeon, and they look like bent palm trees under the weight of his arms. “They’re just joking, and it really doesn’t hurt either.”
“Yah, get off of me.” The guy on Junmyeon’s left grumbles, shaking his silver-grey head with a pout.
“Um,” Jongdae’s suddenly stuck in an awkward situation, and he has never been good at handling awkward situations. Especially ones involving Junmyeon. “O…okay then. I’ll just – uh, go back to studying,”
“Hold on, I need to talk to you.” Junmyeon turns to his friends and says something Jongdae can’t hear.
After what seems like decades, Junmyeon speed-walks to Jongdae’s porch with a huge grin that distorts his face.
“Don’t smile like that, you look –“ Damn. This always happens. Whenever Jongdae tries to insult Junmyeon, he can never get it out. It’s like his tongue refuses to badmouth Junmyeon, as if it knows that he is a demigod sent from the heavens above to grace the Earth with his presence.
“Handsome? Cool?” Junmyeon wiggles his eyebrows, and Jongdae scowls. Not particularly at his statement, but more at the way he secretly agrees with the descriptions.
“Anyway, what were you going to tell me?” Jongdae tries to change the subject. He pulls out a chair at the coffee table, onto which Junmyeon promptly falls.
Instead of answering his question, Junmyeon looks at the textbooks neatly laid out and sends a funny look at him. “Why are you studying?”
“Huh? What?”
“We’ve graduated, remember,” Junmyeon laughs, ignoring the noise of protest Jongdae lets out when he closes the books with a loud thud. “Stop working so hard, I know you’re one of the smartest in your school anyway.”
“But I never beat your scores,” Jongdae quietly mutters. “It’s only because my school is a normal school.” Not the elite one you go to, he doesn’t add.
“Didn’t you have your ceremony today?” Jongdae quietly nods, and Junmyeon puts the books down on the floor. “Then let’s forget about these for a moment.”
“Fine.” Jongdae sniffs.
“Hey,” Junmyeon taps the table. Jongdae looks up, only to meet the glinting brown eyes that have always captivated Jongdae. “Listen, since it’s basically our last break before we all go off to university, I was thinking of a getaway.”
Jongdae perks up. “Go on.”
“Well, I was thinking. You know that lake house my dad has?”
“Which one? I always lose track of all the houses you have.” Jongdae deadpans.
“The one that you said looks like it came out of a European movie.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“So, I don’t know, for a celebration kind of thing, maybe…” he trails off a little. “Do you want to come with me and camp over for a few days?”
All of a sudden his mind is overwhelmed with every fantasy of Junmyeon he has ever had – a lake house, just him and Junmyeon, probably sharing the same bedroom and it’s close to summer now so it would probably get a little stuffy in the room. And when it gets a little stuffy –
He takes a deep breath, and another, and another until he’s filled with so much air he coughs, arms flailing at his sides and narrowly missing Junmyeon’s concerned face.
“Are you okay?” Junmyeon gets up from his seat, but Jongdae hurriedly waves him off.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Do you need a drink? I have my bottle here –“
“No, no, please, really it’s cool.” He’s a little dizzy from the thought of sharing an indirect kiss with Junmyeon.
When he has, questions, along with doubt, replace the embarrassing fantasies in his mind. “Are you…are you sure you want me to come with you?”
Junmyeon smiles. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? You were the first friend I made when I moved to this neighbourhood.” He ruffles Jongdae’s hair. “What better way to celebrate the first steps of our well-earned freedom together?”
Sometimes – no, every time Junmyeon does this; smile at him with his white teeth peeking out, eyes crinkling into crescents, Jongdae’s convinced he’s the happiest man in the world, blessed by an angel on Earth.
“Okay, then,” he tries for a nonchalant tone, but Junmyeon probably picked up the hidden excitement behind it. “I’ll go with you. When do we leave?”
“Awesome!” Junmyeon claps loudly. “We leave on Sunday morning. I’ll pick you up at eight, and we can walk to the train station together.”
“Train station?” Jongdae cocks an eyebrow.
“Ah, well,” Junmyeon hesitates. “I – kind of wanted to try independent traveling, you know. My parents offered me a chauffeur with a van and everything, but I thought it would be nicer if we traveled by ourselves.”
Jongdae smiles in satisfaction. This is getting better by the second. “Sounds good.” He lies, because it sounds fucking perfect.
“Awesome,” Junmyeon repeats, standing up and brushing down his graduation gown. “See you then! Remember to pack your swimming stuff!”
-
Sunday morning has Jongdae waking up thirty-three minutes earlier than his six a.m. alarm clock, with a racing heart and eyebags he badly needs to cover up. He hadn’t been able to get much sleep the night before, spending the better part of his night trying to think of ways to a) calm down, b) stop coming up with scenarios that only exist in cheesy love stories, c) to stop worrying about what he should wear (this was fairly easy to do as Junmyeon’s fashion sense tends to lean towards atrocious) and d) stop thinking about Junmyeon.
The last is nearly impossible to do because as soon as he turns over to check his phone, a text message from Junmyeon pops up:
We’ll be staying for three nights, but we might extend the stay~ I hope you got lots of rest because it’ll be a long journey ahead!
-Junmyeon
Trying to stop thinking about Junmyeon would essentially be trying to stop thinking about the trip. Jongdae secretly coos at how Junmyeon always signs off his text messages, as if he’s afraid that no one saves his number in their contact lists, and how his text messages are perfectly punctuated and spelt, with no errors whatsoever. Such a perfect man.
got it thx dude
Jongdae hurriedly types before rolling out of bed. It’s still too early to get ready, but might as well put in some extra effort.
-
“Listen, take some cups of ramen with you because I don’t trust any of you to cook proper food –“
“Mum, my bag’s way too full already!” Jongdae whines. And it’s true – his duffel bag has doubled in size and now looks like a giant overstuffed hamster, except it’s significantly less furry. He grimaces at the seams that look like they’re about to rip apart. “It’s not like we can’t go out and buy something anyway.”
“Money, Jongdae, money,” his mother says, ruthlessly unzipping his bag and forcing three cups of ramen into every corner with an inch of free space. “You should always do anything to save money.”
Jongdae rolls his eyes. It’s not like his family isn’t well off, but his mother had always been far too financially aware to be called normal.
“Okay, but that’s it, I’m not taking the Kikkoman sauce.” He warns just as his mum takes out the bottle with a clink.
“Right, okay, maybe that’s going a little too far.” Just then, the doorbell rings and Jongdae jumps to his feet. He checks his watch, and it’s precisely eight a.m. Junmyeon’s not even a minute late.
“By god, that scared me. That must be Junmyeon.” His mother hurries over, giving him a peck on each cheek and holding his face in her two hands. “My baby is so grown up now.”
“Mum, I’m eighteen,” he sighs, but he can’t say he doesn’t like her attention. “I’ll be alright. It’ll be fun.”
They open the door, and Junmyeon immediately bows a full ninety degrees upon seeing Jongdae’s mother. “Mrs Kim, good morning.”
“Good morning Junmyeon. You look so handsome today.”
Jongdae must agree, seeing his signature heart-winning smile and black hair falling into his face a little messily. But he’s not sure he can say the same about his plaid shorts paired with a long-sleeved white shirt, rolled back to expose a little bit of vampire-white skin. And the very ugly, bulky-looking shoes. Jongdae decides that if his fantasies do come true, the first thing he will do is brainwash Junmyeon and change his fashion sense completely.
“Have fun kids.” Without Jongdae noticing, the two had finished their small talk and Junmyeon’s got Jongdae’s duffel bag in one hand. “Take care, alright? And call me once you get there.”
“We will, Mrs Kim, don’t worry.” Junmyeon doesn’t let go of Jongdae’s bag, however much he tries to pry it off his fingers, grumbling I’m not a girl I can do it myself.
“I trust you, Junmyeon. Goodbye, Jongdae!”
Once the doors close, Jongdae pokes Junmyeon hard in the stomach, relishing in the yelp he lets out and grabbing the bag that has broken free of his grip.
“Don’t make me feel like a damsel in distress.” He huffs, slinging the bag over his shoulder.
“Okay, okay.” Junmyeon laughs, picking up his own bag that seems a lot less stuffed than Jongdae’s.
“What do you have in there?”
“What? Oh,” Jongdae shrugs. “Just clothes.”
“Shall we get going then?”
Jongdae nods, and when Junmyeon smiles it’s different than his usual smile – it’s more relaxed, but lifted up at the corners a little playfully. Jongdae’s heart skips a beat when he realises that it might well be reserved for him, and him only.
-
The walk to the train station is relatively peaceful; if you don’t count the multiple times Jongdae either shuts up completely and lets Junmyeon talk (because his voice really does soothe the atmosphere) or blabbers on about things Junmyeon probably has zero interest in. But he never shows it, nodding to everything Jongdae says and occasionally asking questions or making remarks Jongdae doesn’t have an answer to.
Their friendship has always been like this – at the end of the day, they’re each other’s solace, a place to let loose from their school’s expectations and the different people they have to put up with. They find it much easier to bullshit (Junmyeon prefers the word criticise) people at school to someone who has never met them, even if it’s just so that the person can take their side.
By the time they’ve reached the train station, Junmyeon’s forehead is covered with a thin sheen of sweat and Jongdae’s arm feels like it’s about to break.
“We’re here!” Junmyeon sounds like he’s about to cry, throwing his arms around Jongdae’s shoulders and nearly toppling them both.
“Yeah, we made it.” Instead of pulling away, Jongdae brings his hands to Junmyeon’s waist to steady both of them. Holy shit, he thinks excitedly. We haven’t even arrived and I’m already making progress.
“Oh look! I see everyone else waiting!”
It hits Jongdae like a bucket of cold water because everyone? Else? He turns around in the direction Junmyeon’s pointing at, and is greeted with an eyeful of people he has never met before standing in a line, waving their arms at the sides in sync to form something that resembles a giant millipede.
“We’ve waited for a long time, Junmyeon!” The person at the front of the line grins maniacally, and Jongdae dreadfully recognises him as the silver-haired guy he saw a few days ago.
“He brought a pet along!”
“Luhan, that’s rude! Who’s that Junmyeon?”
“He’s my friend, you assholes,” Baekhyun breaks out of the line, and Jongdae wants to cry when he sees Chanyeol tagging along behind him. This nightmare is turning worse by the minute. “Hey Jongdae! I didn’t know you were coming!”
“Uh, Junmyeon…” Jongdae whispers. “Are they all coming along too?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? I invited all my close friends!” He grins, oblivious to the loud sound of Jongdae’s hopes and dreams shattering into pieces. “I wanted to introduce you to my friends too. You know, my friends are your friends –“
“Aren’t you happy to see us?” Chanyeol punches Jongdae’s arm. “If Baekhyun and I didn’t come, you’d be stuck with these weirdos alone, not knowing who they are and shit.”
“You talk like we’re going to eat him or something.”
“I didn’t say that!”
“How do you know these people?” Jongdae asks curiously. Four other people stand before him, and he has no clue who any of them are.
“Baekhyun and I go to the same course as them. You know, the after school one? The one you skip all the time because you can’t be bothered?”
Jongdae laughs light-heartedly, hoping it doesn’t sound too forced because all he wants to do right now is run back home and spend his whole summer lamenting over his ruined trip.
“I’ll introduce you to everyone,” Suho grabs Jongdae by the arm and drags him over closer to his friends. He feels four pairs of eyes study him, and he squirms under the attention. “This is Luhan and this is Sehun,” a ginger-haired boy who’s basically hanging off a taller, blonde boy’s arm waves at him with a big smile, and Sehun simply gives him the v-sign. “They’re inseparable, and go at it like rabbits.”
“Thank you, Junmyeon.” Sehun rolls his eyes.
“This is Jongin and Kyungsoo,” a short (even shorter than Baekhyun!) red-haired guy smiles, and hits the silver-haired boy, who was too busy cracking a joke with Sehun to pay attention, quite hard on the back.
“Ow! That hurts!”
“Don’t be rude and say hi.”
“Hey, I think we’ve met before,” Jongin nods at him. “Don’t hurt Junmyeon! Is that right?”
Heat creeps up onto his cheeks, and Jongdae can hear Baekhyun dying from laughter at the back, choking out a ‘did he seriously say that?’
“Don’t remind me.”
“Yeah, probably the best for both of us,” Jongin reaches out a hand. “Nice to meet you though.”
“Okay! Now that everyone knows everyone’s names,” Junmyeon clasps his hands together, eyes sparkling in excitement. “I think our train’s here, so let’s board it!”
“He’s totally excited,” Luhan says into Sehun’s ear, too loud considering the little space there is between his lips and Sehun’s ear. “I don’t think the rich bastard has ever ridden a train before.”
“I heard that.”
“I can’t wait to grill some meat.” Kyungsoo picks up his and Jongin’s bag, much to Jongdae’s confusion. Jongin’s hands are completely free of baggage, and he can’t think of why he can’t bring it himself.
“Grill some for me, pleaseeeeee,” Jongin pouts and Jongdae wants to gag, because someone with that sexy face is not supposed to have so much aegyo.
“Okay, okay, and I’ll feed them to you too. Sounds good?”
Jongdae’s still a little dazed when he walks between the rows of seats, taking the nearest space beside Chanyeol two rows from the last. As he’s about to put his duffel bag into the overhead compartment, though, Baekhyun forcefully pulls him away to the side.
“Hey, what the fuck?”
“That’s my space, only I get to sit next to Chanyeol.” Baekhyun complains.
“Why? You guys want to suck face during the whole ride?”
Baekhyun’s cheeks turn a little red but he goes on as if he’s not aware of his reddening face. “No what the hell you sick minded person. We want to discuss battle tactics for League of Legends, duh.”
“Yeah, Jongdae, go find another place.” Chanyeol scoots to make room for Baekhyun, and Jongdae scowls at the pair. He’s pretty sure that they’re not oblivious – they’re just too immature to accept their feelings towards each other.
He looks around the compartment and searches for an empty seat. Sehun and Luhan had occupied the row behind Baekhyun and Chanyeol, and had already settled down cozily by the looks of it – Luhan’s got his head on Sehun’s shoulder, with Sehun’s arm around him and his hands playing with his hair. His other hand is holding Luhan’s and caressing the back of his palm with a thumb. Well they’re not one for subtlety, Jongdae thinks. Kyungsoo and Jongin had settled down as well, Kyungsoo with his head buried in a book and Jongin trying hard not to stare at him.
That leaves one space.
Jongdae’s torn between jumping in joy and retreating to the back of the compartment and hiding in the bathroom and he walks over to Junmyeon, who’s busy checking his pockets for his ticket.
“Can I, um, sit here?”
“Sure. I’ll probably be a boring person to sit next to, though. I’ll be reading most of the way.”
“No, no, go ahead, it’s totally cool.” You’re totally cool, Jongdae wants to say.
He tries very, very hard not to listen to other people’s conversations. But it’s incredibly difficult to not eavesdrop, even with the soft drone of the train that hums through the compartment.
“I don’t think this ginger hair suits me.” Jongdae can hear the pout in Luhan’s voice. “I look like a roasted turkey in barbecue sauce.”
“No, babe, you look great. I’m actually digging this bright colour. Nice change from pastels.”
“But still, it’s so hard to get my eyebrows to match the colour. It’s even harder than when I had my blonde hair!”
“Don’t dye your hair too often, babe, it’ll get damaged.” Jongdae closes his eyes, trying very hard to focus on the side of his arm that’s pressed onto Junmyeon’s instead. “I don’t want your hair falling off like a cat’s.”
“Look who’s talking! Remember that rainbow hair you had and you had to re-dye it every three days or something.”
Jongdae is starting to notice a pattern in Junmyeon’s circle of friends – they seem to be very fond of eccentric and adventurous hair colours. He wonders why Junmyeon isn’t as crazy as they are.
“Yeah of course. God, I couldn’t find any shirt that would go with that hair.”
“It was a period of both health and fashion crisis.” Luhan sighs dramatically. “Never again.”
“Listen to this.” Jongdae hears shuffling, and after a few seconds of silence Luhan lets out a high-pitched yelp.
“What the fuck? Did I just hear – oh my god I heard oppa in this, this –“
“Yep.” Jongdae can hear the grin in Sehun’s voice.
“Don’t tell me…it’s…”
“Yep. A compilation of all the supernatural tracks from the CDs I got. Pretty cool stuff right?”
“No! Fuck I hate you holy shit that voice will keep me awake at night YOU KNOW I CAN’T TAKE HORROR CRAP.”
“You’re afraid of anything horror-related?” Jongdae turns around in his seat, trying to speak through the small gaps between the chairs.
“Aren’t they made specifically for that purpose? To scare people?”
Jongdae thinks hard about this.
“Hey guys!” Chanyeol shouts suddenly, oblivious to the strange looks people send his way. “Have any of you seen Kyungsoo?”
Junmyeon turns in his seat. “What the –“
“Yeah, I don’t think he boarded the train with us. Jongin, you’ve got his phone numb – ouch!”
Kyungsoo had thrown a full water bottle in the pair’s direction across the aisle, an irritated scowl on his face.
“Hey, what was that for?”
“Oh, the brainless couple is awake. I thought you guys were sleeping with your eyes open.”
The whole compartment, including Jongdae and a few other stranges, laugh at Kyungsoo’s remark.
“Hey, don’t fight, we’re on a trip,” Junmyeon laughs along with them, and closes his book. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Jongdae.”
“That’s okay. Your friends are really cool people.”
And Jongdae’s telling the truth, as sincerely as he can.
-
They got a van to pick them up from the train station anyway, because the distance to the lake house is a little too far to walk. Jongdae finds himself lost in easy conversations with Junmyeon’s friends, and although at times it’s still a little awkward, he finds that he doesn’t mind it at all. The prospect of spending a few days of freedom with just friends and no rules sends the mood in the vehicle sky-high.
“We’re here!”
Through the window, Jongdae can see lots of trees and the outline of a European-style wooden house slowly coming into view, the lake outstretched behind it and the ripples sparkling like glitter under the sunlight. It’s a breathtaking sight, and Jongdae can’t help the squeal that tumbles out of his mouth.
“Someone’s excited,” Baekhyun nudges Jongdae’s arm, whispering near his ear as they both crowd around the window.
“As if you aren’t.”
“Hey, I never said I wasn’t.”
-
“This is so great!” Chanyeol outstretches his arms, standing on the railing of the patio overlooking the lake. It’s midday and the sun is high up in the sky, yet it doesn’t feel hot at all with the soft breeze playing with their hair every now and then.
Baekhyun comes up behind Chanyeol and encircles his arms around his abdomen, laughing when Chanyeol lets out a shriek. But he doesn’t shake Baekhyun off and the two start singing an incoherent version of My Heart Will Go On. Jongdae rolls his eyes.
Junmyeon walks onto the patio and claps his hands. “Alright, guys! Let’s sort out the rooming plans.”
They all drag out a chair for themselves (except Luhan and Sehun, who opt to share a chair together. Luhan ends up sitting on Sehun’s lap with his head tucked under Sehun’s chin) and form a circle to emphasise the ‘serious mode’.
“Right, so there are 5 bedrooms currently available right now, but I think the door’s broken on one of them or something. So we all have to share a room with one other person, whether we like it or not.”
“That’s easy then, we’re all sorted.” Sehun deadpans.
“No, wait, I have one rule.” Junmyeon crosses his arms seriously. “No couples are allowed to share a room.”
Loud noises of protest erupt from his friends, and Jongdae raises an eyebrow at Baekhyun and Chanyeol who seem to be against the case as well.
“Are you guys a couple too, now?” He interrogates.
“We’re considering them as a couple, since they really are but just don’t want to put the label on it.” Junmyeon’s expression is serious.
“For god’s sake, can’t a guy have a best friend nowadays?” Jongdae hears Baekhyun mutter.
“Why are you trying to ruin our holiday before we even start it?” Luhan grumbles into Sehun’s shoulder, eyes starting to get a little teary.
“I’m trying to make it better for everyone,” Junmyeon sighs. “Remember, this is a group trip, not your own personal honeymoons. It wouldn’t be fair on people who don’t have a partner.”
“God, Junmyeon, if you’re jealous why didn’t you just say so?” Jongin rolls his eyes.
“Why can’t you be like Jongdae and not complain about your own pathetic love life?”
Jongdae frowns at Baekhyun’s words. “Hey, what was that for –“
“Look, I’m happy for you all but let’s just give this a try, okay? You’ve got the whole day to spend with each other anyway, it’s only during the night?”
Everyone voices out their agreements with different levels of enthusiasm.
They end up with Baekhyun and Luhan, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo and Sehun and Jongin sharing a room.
This leaves Junmyeon and Jongdae to share a room, and Jongdae has to bite his tongue to stop himself from screaming in excitement.
It’s only when they go back in and get their first proper look around the house that they realise what a mess it is. The floor is covered with a thick layer of dust, only slightly lighter on the areas they’ve stepped on. In the middle of the ceiling, which is covered in cobwebs, hangs a chandelier, looking like it’s about to collapse under the weight of the dirt coating every surface of it. When someone bumps into the back of the sofa, a cloud of dust goes off into the air in all its dirty glory. Soon it gets a little hard to breathe and a few people start to cough.
“Where are all your servants, Junmyeon?” Baekhyun scrunches up his nose. “They should be running around treating us like queens by now.”
“Ah, about that,” Junmyeon says, ignoring Baekhyun’s use of the female monarch instead of its male counterpart. “I told you I wanted this to be an independent holiday, so I kind of…sent away…all the helpers.”
“Are you crazy?” Luhan shrieks from behind Baekhyun, shaking him senselessly. “How do you expect us to live in these conditions?”
“My hair is going limp just at the thought of it!” Baekhyun wails. “My beautiful, newly-dyed hair!”
“Um, guys –“
“I think my skin is going to peel away if it comes into contact with any of this furniture.”
“Guys, you know –“
“EW I THINK I TOUCHED SOMETHING DIRTY.”
“GUYS!!!”
Everyone turns Kyungsoo, who had let out an unexpectedly loud yell for such a small person. Chanyeol points this out, earning a whack from Kyungsoo. “I think all of you are just overreacting. We can just clean the place out ourselves.”
“What a good idea!” Junmyeon claps his hands. “And with the eight of us, it’ll be done in no time!”
“Eight of us? Oh no, I’m not touching any of this filth and damaging my skin. I worked hard to get it all moisturised before graduation you know.” Baekhyun huffs. “Byun Baek is out of here. You can all do it yourselves.”
“If Baekhyun’s going, I’m going too.”
“What? Luhan what excuse do you have?”
Luhan turns around, squinting at Kyungsoo. “My shirt is worth than all your savings multiplied by three and added to Jongin’s combined, don’t you tell me I don’t have an excuse.”
“Can’t we leave the cleaning until later?” Sehun pouts. “There’s a great lake outside and I think I saw some fish in there and stuff. Let’s just enjoy our time here and worry about this later.”
“Sehun has a point,” Junmyeon says, and Jongdae wants to roll his eyes at how easily swayed he is. “We should enjoy our time here. And it’s a lovely day, too! It would be a shame if we spent it cooped up in the house.”
“Okay! Last one to the lake gets no barbecue meat!” Chanyeol shouts before taking off to the lake, screaming like a madman all the way and Baekhyun, Jongin and Luhan following behind.
Soon everyone is on the water’s edge – some more daring ones like Baekhyun had gotten chin-deep in the water – except for Jongdae and Kyungsoo, who are still standing in the doorway breathing in the dusty air.
“Aren’t you going too, Jongdae?”
“I guess I don’t have a choice. What about you?”
“Oh no. You think I’m leaving the place like this?” Kyungsoo laughs sinisterly, pulling his sleeves up with brute force. Jongdae jumps a little. “You are sorely mistaken.”
Later, when the water is lapping at Jongdae’s toes and he looks back at the house, he sees Kyungsoo running around with his hands on the floor and ass in the air, dragging a rag back and forth across the tiles. He might be imagining it, but he thinks he sees Kyungsoo wearing a maniacal grin on his face, all the while muttering to himself.
Junmyeon’s friends have got some serious issues.
-
“Mfph, this feels so good.” Luhan wiggles his toes under the slightly cold water, feeling smooth pebbles digging into his skin.
“That’s what you sound like in the bedroom.”
“Shut up, Jongin, how would you know?”
“Hey, look,” Jongdae points at something off to Luhan’s right. “It looks like a human’s head.”
Luhan whips around and immediately screams, “OH MY GOD A DROWNED BODY?”
It takes three of them and large amounts of marshmallow stuffed in Luhan’s mouth to subdue his screams of “I TOUCHED CORPSE WATER!!”. They manhandle him back to the shore, before Jongin waddles into the water and pulls out a bunch of twigs covered in dripping leaves.
“Jongdae, I question your definition of a human head.”
He shrugs, grinning. “It was worth scaring Luhan with.”
Chanyeol wades into the water with them. “This is why you’re my best friend.”
“I thought I was your best friend.” Baekhyun pouts at Chanyeol’s arm around Jongdae, who squirms to get away from the physical contact.
“You’re my other best friend,” he pokes Baekhyun’s cheek. “Are you jealous?”
“Yes, I’m jealous you idiot!” Baekhyun huffs, ignoring Chanyeol’s surprised face.
“You guys,” Jongdae finally manages to wrestle out of Chanyeol’s grip. “There are like ten rooms in the house – go get one.”
When Baekhyun turns away to start swimming to the middle of the lake, Jongdae watches as Chanyeol shakes out of whatever trance he was in and shouts wait!, paddling through the water after him. Stupid Chanyeol, Jongdae shakes his head. So in love yet so clueless. At least Jongdae fully acknowledges his crush on (or undying obsession for) Junmyeon.
Speaking of Junmyeon.
Jongdae watches him from the corner of his eye, reclining on a beach chair and reading the book he had on the train. He looks perfectly tranquil, Jongdae notices. This Junmyeon is infinitely more relaxed – not that he’s perpetually stressed on normal days. It’s just that usually, Jongdae can detect some kind of strain, or an uptight aura around him that makes his actions and words restrained. But looking at him like this, not bothering to fix his hair when soft gusts of wind mess it up, only laughing when Sehun accidentally splashes water on his book, tilting his head back to feel the warm sun on his skin; Jongdae likes him like this. Even more than he usually does.
“Is it going to get cold at night?” Sehun shouts from where he’s skipping stones across the lake, trousers pulled halfway down his butt and exposing his neon pink underwear. No one bothers telling him anything. “I didn’t really bring any warm clothes.”
“Not really, the weather’s always nice around these parts.” Junmyeon says. “We can see lots of stars from here, though.”
“What does that have anything to do with the weather?” Baekhyun mutters.
“Do you guys want to do something?” Junmyeon finally puts his book down, and Baekhyun snorts.
“We have been doing things, thank you. But I guess you couldn’t see that through your book.”
“Aren’t we going to have barbecue?” Kyungsoo suddenly walks by, sleeves still rolled up and bare feet looking very pale against the rocky shore. “I’ve taken the meat out and I found the grill in the kitchen, but I didn’t find any coal. Or rice for that matter,” Kyungso turns to Jongin, annoyance on his face. “Weren’t you supposed to bring rice for us?”
“Shit,” Jongin slaps his forehead. “I –“
“Forgot, yeah, yeah.” Kyungsoo sighs. “Someone has to go buy some rice from some shop, then.”
“Sorry, Soo.” Jongin clings to his arm. Kyungsoo simply shakes him off.
“Is anyone considerate enough of our empty stomachs to make the journey?”
“Why can’t you do it?” Luhan lifts his sunglasses up.
Kyungsoo looks like he’s about to punch Luhan and drown his body to make his assumption of corpse water correct. “Because you lazyass pricks are too multi-million dollar to do it, I just cleaned the whole house all by myself, not to mention putting the groceries in the cupboards and the luggage in the right rooms.”
“You’d make such a good little housewife, Soo-yah.” Jongin pats his butt.
Kyungsoo doesn’t even flinch. “I am not here to be your housemaid because Junmyeon thought he could live independently, Luhan, so if you want to eat, buy the rice yourself.”
Luhan gives this a long thought, and then he shrugs. “Nah, carbs.”
“I feel like this is my fault, so I’ll buy the rice.” Junmyeon stands up from his seat, stretching his arms in this air and ignoring Baekhyun’s comments about stomach flab.
“I think that’s ideal, since you know the neighbourhood and stuff.”
“Alright, I’ll get to it. Anyone want to come with me?”
For a while, everyone is too absorbed in their own activities to be paying any attention. Suddenly, Chanyeol’s thunderous voice announces, as if out of some documentary about migrating animals: “Jongdae will accompany you on your journey!”
“What?” Jongdae drops the pebbles he’d been picking up to skip with Sehun. “What did I do?”
“What you’re going to do, my man. You’re going to go with Junmyeon to buy the rice.”
“What? Wh – why me?” Jongdae repeats, obviously flustered.
Chanyeol sees through him and whispers in his ear. “Play it cool!”
“You sure, Jongdae?” Junmyeon unbuttons the first button on his shirt that’s been suffocating him, flexing the collar a little. Upon seeing Jongdae’s Adam’s apple bob up and down, Chanyeol sniggers. “The nearest shop is quite a distance away on foot.”
“Yeah, yeah he’ll be fine. Haven’t you heard, he’s the winner in our cross country school – oof!”
“There was a fly.” Jongdae says curtly when Chanyeol massages his sore nose, still feeling the weight of Jongdae’s palm on it.
“Be thankful you’ve never gotten a nosejob or your nose would’ve been ruined by now.”
“Is it Luhan’s job to be making useless comments 24/7?” asks Kyungsoo, finally dipping his toes into the water.
“Pretty much.”
-
“To the right of the house you’ll find the basketball and tennis courts,” Junmyeon says without looking up from where he’s tying his shoelaces. “There’s a small cabin near it, pretty sure you’ll find all the racquets and balls there.”
“Or in Chanyeol’s pants,” Baekhyun sniggers.
“I have racquets in my pants?”
Junmyeon ignores him, as usual. “Behind that is the mini golf-course, and –“
“Ew who plays mini golf at this age?” Luhan scrunches up his nose.
Junmyeon blinks. “I do.”
“Do you have bikes?” Jongin appears, hair still wet from the shower. “Sehun and I want to go biking round the place.”
“Without me?” Luhan shrieks.
“Yeah, there are some behind the garage, go and have a look.” Standing up, Junmyeon brushes down his shirt and turns to Jongdae. “You ready?”
“Of course,” Jongdae replies, a little breathlessly.
The walk isn’t as far as Junmyeon made it out to be. Or maybe Jongdae’s just too lost in his eyes to notice where they’re going. The countryside really is different from the city – not only is the air a little fresher, but time seems to go just a tad bit slower, too. Everything is laid back, taking its time to appreciate another day of waking up, from the birds to the trees to the slow lazy wind and still lake. Unlike the hectic, frantic city, the countryside allows them to have somewhat of a breather before getting onto the next stage of their lives – a daunting thought, but an exciting one all the same.
“Do you know where you’re going?”
“Huh? What?” Jongdae removes his earphone, nearly yanking off Junmyeon’s in the process. Jongdae doesn’t like his taste in music much – too boring, too mellow with no twist to it – but he lets Junmyeon share his earphones anyway.
“I said do you know where you’re going for college?”
Jongdae shakes his head. “Not really. I just take the test and see what happens, you know? Anyway, I might just walk around Seoul and hope some entertainment agency recruits me, so I might skip college and be a singer instead.”
The last part was supposed to be a joke, but Junmyeon nods seriously. “I think you’d be great at it. I’ve heard you in the school concert last year.”
“Oh my god,” burying his face in his hands, Jongdae mumbles, “don’t remind me.”
“But honestly, you’re so gifted. I’d be more surprised if you weren’t recruited.”
“What about you?” Jongdae attempts to shift the subject away from himself. “Do you know where you’re going to go?”
“I always do,” Junmyeon laughs. “Everything’s in my parents’ book.”
“Oh.” Jongdae understands.
“I think this trip is the only impromptu thing that has happened in my entire life.” The pebble Junmyeon had kicked rolls off to the side of the road. Leaves flank the concrete lines, green bright against the dark grey. “It was really hard to convince my parents, especially with my wish of having no assistance at all. It took them weeks until they would reconsider it, and in the end I had to miss out on lots of the graduation parties.”
Jongdae laughs bitterly. “Don’t worry, I missed them too.”
“Yeah,” Junmyeon grins. “It might sound mean, but I was glad you missed yours as well. At least I didn’t have to feel lonely.”
At this, Jongdae nearly loses his footing and ends up half-tripping instead. The shop is just in front of them, so they buy the rice in small packets and divides the load in half for them to carry. The sun is starting to set and Junmyeon’s complaining that his feet are already sore, but as Jongdae’s arm brushes against Junmyeon’s and his fingers gripping Jongdae’s as he rifles through the plastic bag, insisting that he’s got more packets of rice and that he shouldn’t carry so much at once, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
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