Seventy-Four

"Ugh. Hyung, what's with that face?" Hanseol grunted, squinting at the camera.

"Why? I'm seeing all of you after so long!" Jaehyeon explained, his face still scrunched up. He had always been the kind to wear his emotions on his face.

"Four days, Hyung." I sighed. "It's not been all that long." Four days in and the five of us were on a video call. Maybe four days really was a long time for us to be apart.

"It's good not having to always keep an eye out on all of you." Mingyu stated, popping another potato chip into his mouth. "But that said, it's awfully quiet here. Our dorm was always so noisy- especially my room."

"Did you just call me noisy, Hyung?" Yeojun frowned. "Jeongwoo Hyung!"

"Why are you whining to me?" I laughed.

"See? We all missed each other." Jaehyeon said and lay back on his bed. He was wearing his glasses too. "Hanseol-ah, it won't hurt you to admit to missing us once in a while."

"Get off my case." Hanseol sighed. "At least I made myself available for the call."

"Made myself available." I mimicked him. "Seriously, Hanseol-ah. Tell us. 'I miss you~'"

The look on his face was clearly saying 'not you too'. The rest of us laughed.

"Ah. Jeongwoo Hyung, where are you right now?" Yeojun asked.

"Mm. Poolside." I turned the camera to show them the pool. I was lounging in one of the poolside recliner chairs. "It's nice out so we decided to go for a swim."

"That place looks nice." Mingyu said. "Maybe we should all become close friends with Moon Jisung-ssi."

"Or we could just invest." Hanseol shrugged, taking a sip from his glass of what looked like orange juice.

"Ooh. That would be cool! A S.T.A.Y vacation house ." Yeojun mused, already imagining it.

"I meant individually but… okay. Whatever." Hanseol rolled his eyes. "And where's Changmin Sunbae?"

"Inside. He's gone to change." I replied.

"Heh… Look at you though." Jaehyeon whistled. "Unbuttoned shirt, lying on a poolside chair under the sun… Wouldn't some people go crazy to see you like that?"

'Some people'? I laughed it off. Usually, playing along, I might have posed and shown off a little, but I really couldn't afford to show more of my body than I was showing just then. Changmin had used the excuse of having two weeks off to leave some marks on me that had not quite faded yet.

"We could do a poolside photoshoot. "We've never done one."

"Ey. Can we not talk about work?" Yeojun drawled. "Don't turn Jeongwoo Hyung's vacation into work for us."

"T-That wasn't what I was trying to do." Mingyu recoiled.

"Ah. But it won't be bad." Jaehyeon agreed. "We could. Jeongwoo-ya, let's get unit shots too."

"Didn't we just do an entire beach theme? How different is this going to be?" Hanseol asked.

"Well, the beach was more… innocent. Poolside could be more… enticing." Mingyu said.

"You do realise that we're all still talking about work, right?" I pointed out.

"Right. Stop." Yeojun shushed them.

"Okay. Okay." Jaehyeon gave in. "But, Jeongwoo, what's it been like? What have you both been up to?"

"Mm. Just… swimming, watching movies, having impromptu karaoke night over drinks and dinner, sleeping in… wasting time." Sex. "And not regretting anything." I shrugged.

"Sounds like fun." He said with a smirk on his face that I would have very much liked to wipe off but he was interrupted before he could say anything more by something hitting his face.

"Was that… a ball?" Hanseol asked.

"It was a ball, wasn't it?" Mingyu nodded.

I'd say it was karma.

"Ah! Noona!" Jaehyeon sat right up and took off his glasses, rubbing his forehead. "Noona!"

The rest of us watched on silently.

"It's your own fault." A female voice said. "She won't eat if you won't come. Deal with it."

"I'm on a call!"

"Deal. With. It."

… Only his sister could talk to him like that.

We heard him sigh before he dropped the phone onto the bed and talked inaudibly to someone. Soon, he returned but this time, with a little girl clinging to his neck.

Ah. So, this is the famous Han Seulbi.

"Hiya, Seulbi!" Mingyu cooed, adoringly smiling at her.

"She's so cute!" Yeojun mused.

What was cuter was the way that she was clinging to Jaehyeon. The moment everyone started talking to her, she began climbing him, pulling on his hair.

"Seulbi-ya!" Jaehyeon set her down on his lap and wrapped an arm around her to hold her still. She was soon distracted by his bracelet. "Right. So, we have a visitor."

"My goodness, she's adorable!" I wrinkled my nose at her. "Seulbi-ya. Hey. Here~"

"Seulbi." Jaehyeon withdrew the bracelet from her and tried to get her attention back to the phone. "Seulbi-ya, look who want to see you. It's Jeongwoo Ahjussi, Mingyu Ahjussi, Hanseol Ahjussi and Yeojun Ahjussi."

"Yeah. That makes perfect sense to her." Hanseol narrowed his eyes.

"But she's so adorable!" Yeojun butt in. "Now I can't wait to see her in person!"

"Ya. You're coming here for me, not her." Jaehyeon said.

"I'm coming for her." I stated.

"Me too." Mingyu nodded. "Can we share her with True? YoonJae's niece and S.T.A.Y. I bet they would just love to see us with a kid like her."

"No." Jaehyeon hugged her, holding her head to his chest. "No! My Seulbi is not for the cameras. She's too precious."

"I definitely wouldn't want to be his child." Hanseol grimaced.

"If you act like that, Han Seulbi will run away from you." Yeojun said.

"She won't." Jaehyeon smiled and began playing with her. Soon, she was also laughing, screaming and playing along. Jaehyeon looked like he was enjoying himself.

"It's great, isn't it? You're finally with your Han Seulbi after so many months of whining and grumbling."

"It'll be perfect once you're all here too on Monday." He sat her down on his lap again and allowed her to play with his bracelet. "I want to focus on family and bonds and the like for our next album."

"Oh? That came out of nowhere." Mingyu blinked.

"I've been… thinking about all that a lot recently- family, friends, relationships and all that. I just fell like we can do a lot with that theme. As in, not just romantic but… in general- matters of the heart- like us and what we have."

"Sounds good to me." I shrugged. Honestly, even I would have a lot to say regarding this matter. "But, Hyung, that's work again. Let's do our own thinking and put our ideas on the group chat to discuss later. For now, let's just put our work aside and enjoy this break, please?"

"Do you think that we have become workaholics?" Mingyu asked. "I mean, seriously. I don't know what to do with my time anymore. I inevitably end up thinking about work."

"You're not the only one." Hanseol sighed. "I'm pretty much halfway through a new track already."

"Really?" Jaehyeon asked. "Do you not understand what a break means?"

"I just happened to do it. I can't quite tell when I will feel like doing it." He shrugged.

"So, you're planning on releasing another mixtape?" Yeojun enquired.

"Maybe."

"Guys… Work." Mingyu reminded.

"Right." I sat up when I saw Changmin step out of the house. "Changmin Hyung's here. Hold on." I got up and went over to Changmin who was wearing a T-shirt with his swimming trunks. "Hyung, S.T.A.Y."

"Oh." He came to stand beside me and waved with a smile. "Hey! How are you all doing?"

"Good. How's your break going, Sunbae?" Mingyu asked back at which Changmin draped an arm over my shoulders and smiled.

"Splendidly. This place is paradise."

'Paradise', huh?

"You both look refreshed, at least." Hanseol observed. "Thank you for looking after our Jeongwoo, Sunbae."

"I'm the one who's looking after Sunbae though?" And he was relentlessly tiring me out.

"I don't doubt that." Mingyu laughed. "Jeongwoo Hyung does have the habit of looking after others."

"Ah, but, Sunbae, the offer still stands, you know?" Jaehyeon spoke. "You can stay with us a night."

"Thanks, YoonJae, but I really cannot. I have to go straight home because my sister's been guilt-tripping me over just this one week that I chose to spend away from them."

"Too bad. Jeongwoo would have been happy though. Anyway, the offer still stands, in case you change your mind."

Did you really have to pick on us every single time?

"I'll remember that." Changmin nodded. "And, wait. Is that the little Han Seulbi that I have been hearing so much about?"

"Yes. Our li'l Seulbi's famous." Jaehyeon showed her properly on camera. She was busy chewing his little finger.

"She's adorable. You must be really busy with her around."

"You have no idea. She practically makes me her jumping castle at 02:00 am. So, my sleep cycle is as good as a one-year-old's."

"You'd better fix that by the time we get back." I chuckled, remembering how my mother had said something similar.

"You'll experience this first-hand when you get here, Jeongwoo-ya." Jaehyeon smirked. "You're going to be sharing my room."

"I'm stuck with you anyway. Take someone else." I said. I was half-expecting something from Changmin so I wasn't surprised when he put an arm around my waist off-camera.

"No. You're stuck with me." Jaehyeon winked. "And this one, because she sleeps with me."

"You're already that chummy?" Mingyu asked.

"Well, she had abandoned her mother long before I came so it all worked out well for me. Noona is a little strict with her because she's already very naughty. The father's away on work half the time so Noona has to do this on her own. It's understandable."

"And then you showed up and showered her with all your love and gave into everything." Yeojun concluded. "Now I feel bad thinking about how you'll have to say goodbye to her."

Jaehyeon upturned his lips and hugged her. "Don't remind me."

"Jeongwoo?" Changmin softly said into my ear. I understood immediately.

"Everyone, now that Hyung's here, I'll have to go. I'll talk to all of you later."

"Sure, Hyung. Later." Mingyu waved.

"Happy swimming!" Yeojun made a heart his fingers and grinned.

"Text later." Jaehyeon nodded.

"See you." Hanseol said. "Sunbae too."

"Yup. Bye." Changmin smiled and gave a short wave after which I hung up. He sighed almost immediately. "Does YoonJae do that on purpose? He does, doesn't he? Sometimes, I get the feeling that he doesn't like me too much." He put his other arm around me too and hugged me full on, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"It's nothing like that." I chuckled. "He's just a little jealous."

"He shouldn't be."

"Leave him be. He worries about us just as much as he teases us."

"Still." He pouted. "Should I really just stay over? You'll have to share a room with me then."

"You'd stay over just for that?"

"I'd stay just to keep you away from YoonJae for a little longer."

"Geez, Hyung." I patted his shoulder and then pulled away. "Let's go. I want to get in the water now."

"Is it cold though? It had gotten pretty cold last night." He said as the two of us approached the edge of the pool. I took his hand and carefully slipped a foot in to check. "No. It's fine." I reported and just as I turned back, however, he smiled, let go of my hand and pushed against my shoulders. "Hyu-" My vision shifted as I fell backwards right into the pool. The water wrapped around me instantly and I was forced to close my eyes and mouth. It took a moment of just floating for me to get my sense of direction back and to find my footing. Changmin's laugh was the first thing that entered my ears as soon as I had stood up and moved my hair off my face. I frowned at him. "You could have at least let me take my shirt off."

"Sorry but it was just too easy." He responded and took off his T-shirt. Taking a few steps back, he ran right up and dived perfectly in. I could tell that he had intended to come straight towards me but he was faster than I was and grabbed me by my waist before I could get clear of him. I felt his lips press against my abdomen before he climbed to his feet right in front of me- a big grin on his face. "You trying to get away from me?"

"You pushed me in." I pouted.

"Mm." He removed my shirt and tossed it to the concrete outside the pool, pulling me into himself. "I jumped in after you too." Tracing a hand around my torso, he kissed me, leaning me back against his arm.

"Nf. Mm…" He refused to let me speak till he had gotten four very passionate kisses in. "Should I be putting my guard up around you?" You might attack me. Not that I'd mind.

"By all means, if you want to play hard to get. I won't mind a little bit of a chase if you will give in in the end." He kissed my cheek.

"Pervert." I caught his arms and freed myself from them. "Let's just swim for now."

"Join me in the shower after." He said.

How many times do you want to do it in a day? "Fine." I'm getting too used this, Hyung. It's going to be that much harder to watch you leave this time.

"Okay then." He put some distance between us. "I'm swimming laps."

"I'll keep up." I nodded and we began swimming after that.

We had just two days left. Life had been… so peaceful that I had conveniently forgotten about the time limit. We had just been sleeping in, cooking together, watching movies, singing and dancing occasionally and clinging to each other for all that our previous time apart had made us suffer. We had been making so much love off-late that nothing about his advances embarrassed me too much and I had been sleeping so well that it would be unbelievable if I had said that I was generally the kind that did not sleep much.

Would living together mean every day could be like this? If so, couldn't we just do so?

The thought often made me just hug him for all this overwhelming longing was worth. We still had a long way to go. With how things were, and with each morning that I woke up to him holding me, I felt my anxieties leave me. Even if it was just for a week, I had wanted to leave all worries outside the door.

Even if it was bound to be just the two of us in our world and even if we might not be able to stand before the rest of the world together like we really wanted to, it was alright. Even if it became difficult to see each other and the distance sometimes made it harder to breathe, it was alright. As long as we could have even a few days like this where we could hide away from everything and everyone, we would be fine. Our relationship was not built on flimsy grounds, after all. It was born out of years of watching each other more closely than we would have liked to admit to a while back and knowing each other so well that we had not even needed verbal consent before the first time we kissed. I had run away but that was only because I was scared of our circumstances. It was built on the tireless nights we had spent chasing after each other. It was built on the sentiments that Kimbap and fried chicken could have given only us. And these few days of escape had made me realise that that was all the confidence I had needed.

NOTE:

Noona = Guys refer to girls elder than them this way (older sister)

Ahjussi = Uncle