Even if it is the middle of the year, Jeju’s port is still congested with tourists both from Korea and other countries. The sun is glaring and Jongin can feel its warmth pouring down on him as he walks his way to the yacht that will take him and Sehun to the more secluded part of the island, owned by the Oh Family, of course.

Sehun is yet to board so Jongin takes his time rounding the vessel, checking out the cabin and stern. He can still remember the first yacht he rode on, the Black Swan. Nothing pleasant really happened there, and Jongin is a bit paranoid that another ocean creature might sting him again. That sea urchin traumatized me…

“You and Sehun. On an island. Again. Tell me; did this already happen before or is it just déjà vu?” Jongin can practically feel Baekhyun’s sneer reaching him through his phone. He leans on the gunwale, soaking up the sun’s warmth as the ocean breeze messes up his hair. Baekhyun’s voice is the only noise up on the empty deck as he has his best friend on loud speaker.

“You’re just jealous because I get to have an overnight of vacation,” Jongin laughs at his best friend’s indignant scoff. “Admit it. You want to be in my place right now.”

“Who wouldn’t? Anywhere is better than this hell hole,” Baekhyun mutters begrudgingly. In the background, Jongin can hear the faintest baritone of Kyungsoo’s lecturing voice and it makes him laugh again. So that’s why his best friend is so cranky.

“Are you even allowed to have phone calls during his class?” Jongin asks, because as far as he knows, Kyungsoo is really strict about gadgets (but since he’s kinda asking his student for forgiveness, he might be allowing this disrespectful a.k.a Byun Baekhyun to have a call in the middle of his class to get in his good graces).

“No.”

“Then why are you calling me?”

“Because I’d rather listen to your nasal voice than to listen to Mr. Owl’s droning.” Jongin squints his eyes at the subtle jest.

“And I’d rather enjoy the peacefulness of this place than to listen to your annoyingly high-pitched voice whine about your first love.”

“Whatever,” Jongin grins; he’s got Baekhyun there. “Anyway, you better bring me some souvenir when you get back.”

“I get it, I get it.”

“And I mean actual souvenirs, okay, not the ones you got from Sehun.”

“Huh?”

“Jesus, you innocent child. I’m talking about hickeys, you know. That kind of stuff.”

Jongin’s phone is on his face at a breakneck speed. “Shut your dirty mouth!” he panics, fumbling to type his passkey to turn off the loudspeaker even though he’s the only one on the deck right now.

Baekhyun lets out a soft cackle. “Jongie, you can’t really expect me to just wait here and never think about the rated possibilities that might happen between you and your fiancé, right?”

“Shut…up…” Jongin goes undeniably red as he searches for the loudspeaker’s off button. He almost stomps his foot in frustration while trying to find it because Baekhyun keeps on rambling about, ‘unprotected ’ and ‘Chanyeol should get to your first I’ve put all my ing bet on him’.

Seriously, Baekhyun has no shame left in his skin. No wonder people often questions him why he’s best friends with someone like Byun Baekhyun. “Baek, honestly, shut the up!” He finally cusses, but at the sound of him cursing, Baekhyun only squeals in delight.

When Jongin finally gets to turn the loudspeakers off, he places his phone back to his ear and hisses, “I am so going to beat your up when I get back!”

“No need to, that’s my new boyfriend’s job,” Baekhyun sniggers cheekily, and Jongin almost dies of mortification. If it doesn’t get any worse, he hears someone clear their throat behind him. He is on his feet in an instant and he whirls around, only to find himself face to face with his forever impassive fiancé.

Jongin flattens himself against the gunwale when Sehun advances forward, his long arms caging him on both sides. He almost forgets how to breathe and seriously, if Sehun comes any closer than this, he will ing jump off of this yacht.

“Wh…What…?” Jongin’s voice is tiny and shaky. He tries valiantly to meet Sehun’s smoldering gaze, willing himself not to melt under those midnight hues. Sehun says nothing and for a few seconds they both stand there, too close for Jongin’s liking. He even forgets about Baekhyun, who, by now, has probably hung up already.

After a few seconds of Sehun’s silence, Jongin makes a not-so-subtle attempt of sliding down to escape the older male’s clutches, but he bolts right back up to his position at Sehun’s single, “Stand up.”

What does he want…?! Jongin is trying so hard not to pass out right then and there. Is Sehun even aware of how close they are right now? One wrong move and a lot of things could happen! (Like, their lips might touch, or, Jongin might accidentally fall off the gunwale. Either scenario would lead to his death)

Jongin in an audible breath when Sehun leans close to his ear. His whisper sends a thousand butterflies to swarm Jongin’s stomach and he almost feels lightheaded. “What kind of conversation exactly are you having with your friend?”

The question freezes the younger boy. He looks up, face aghast at the inquiring tilt of Sehun’s dark eyebrow. The feeling of blood draining from his face plunges through him and joins in with the incessant twisting of knots in his stomach. “Wh-what—how much did you hear…?”

“Enough to know what kind of souvenir your friend wants,” Sehun responds. The paleness of Jongin’s face gets instantly replaced by redness and he looks down, feeling the prickling of shame under his skin. Oh my god, why am I suffering this way.

“That—um, he’s just—he’s only joking…please don’t take him seriously,” Jongin bites his lip, mentally calming himself. His heart is galloping twenty miles per hour. The lack of distance between them is definitely going to give him a heart disease.

“We’ll be meeting my relatives from dad’s side of the family later. They know that we’re going to attend the wedding on behalf of grandma, so just follow my lead when we get there,” Sehun begins, his deep voice getting the fine hairs on Jongin’s arm and back to stand. A chill runs down Jongin’s spine when Sehun leans close to his ear, his warm breath hitting the shell of it. It takes all the effort Jongin can muster to stop himself from shivering. “They see us as an engaged couple, so we have to act like one and if you have to play along, then so be it.”

Okay, okay I get it! Just get away oh my god I can’t breathe. Jongin nods his head docilely, showing that he understands every single one of Sehun’s words.

Seeing the younger boy’s discomfort, Sehun finally quits it with the intense staring and steps back, allowing Jongin his much-needed space and oxygen. The relief that rushes through Jongin is almost palpable. He swears every close moment with Sehun is a near-to-death experience.

“Was cornering me really necessary…” Jongin mutters grudgingly under his breath, forgetting the fact that Sehun has a good hearing and can comprehend his words even with the decent distance between them.

“It wasn’t, actually,” Sehun says, almost light-heartedly. Jongin jumps at the sudden response and he meets Sehun’s eyes, spotting the mirth present in them. “I just like to get on your nerves.”

And without any more words, Sehun turns around and saunters his way inside the cabin, taking off his white polo in the process to chill at the yacht’s stern. Jongin blushes beet red at the sight of Sehun’s back and he spins, facing the rippled spread of the ocean ahead of him. He doesn’t even notice the iron grip he has over the railings.

Oh Sehun will be the ing death of him.

***

After attending the beach wedding at the Oh Family’s private property, the guests were then brought to the wedding reception by a small cruise ship, which is held at the Oh Resort situated on the more popular side of Jeju.

Hours of socializing with Sehun’s relatives have never been easy. For the most part, Jongin has to entertain them with small talks while Sehun often breaks out of his quiet persona to say something utterly boring (Jongin doesn’t really get all that business-oriented talks).

On more than one occasion, they also make up stories about his and Sehun’s relationship (which, according to both their lies, has been going steady for four years now).

With the amount of white lies he’s made for this night alone, Jongin thinks he might have to start begging for God’s forgiveness after the party.

Every minute, a relative or two of Sehun’s would approach them and spark up conversations. Jongin doesn’t know why even though he has already talked to many of them, the nerves are still persisting with him throughout the evening. Everyone may find him talkative, relatively friendly or easily excitable but they don’t know that Jongin is about to have a mini nervous breakdown. If not for Sehun’s presence close to him, he might’ve already panicked completely.

Noticing Jongin’s anxiety while one of his uncles are speaking with the younger, Sehun’s hand slides down to wrap, secure, around Jongin's hip, and Jongin looks up at him for a second, tense. However, instead of meeting the smaller’s eyes, Sehun decides to take over the conversation, stirring his uncle’s attention away from Jongin. He succeeds effortlessly.

Jongin tries to ignore how nice it feels to have Sehun's arm wrapped around his waist. He can feel his heart hammering away. They’ve been doing these…public displays of affection so everyone will buy their act more. Though each time Sehun touches him, he gets all rigid and uptight and his thoughts are going haywire.

But now, seeing Sehun’s blinding smile, it takes the sharp edge off his tension. The older male never fails to take his breath away. Earlier, at the sight of Sehun dressed in a midnight tuxedo, Jongin swore his soul almost separated from him. Handsome can’t even give justice to how Sehun looks tonight. He's pure gold and Jongin thinks he’s not even breaching on copper.

The scornful looks and snide remarks Jongin expected for being a high school boy engaged to someone like Sehun never come and surprisingly, everyone has taken a liking to him and is giving him and Sehun their best wishes (they want another wedding soon, ).

No one has caught up with their pretentious tongues—yet.

Despite the positive feedback he is receiving from Sehun’s family, there is still this anxiousness festering within Jongin that someone might see through his and Sehun’s lies. He’s scared that if that happens, not only would he embarrass both Sehun and himself, but it would also be a bigger shame for Grandma Hyejin’s name.

That’s why even though Jongin has zero skills on acting, he tries to paste on his best spell-binding grin when asked by Sehun’s little nieces to kiss him.

On the lips.

“Um—b-but—” Jongin’s laugh sounds like he’s slowly being choked to death. He wants to die right now. Those bread knives laid out neatly on their table look very interesting… “T-That’s too much, don’t you think…?”

“Mommy said that when two people are in love, nothing is too much.” Oh Lord…

The disappointed pout on the little girls’ faces makes Jongin want to laugh and cry at the same time. He feels Sehun squeeze his hand under the table as a warning and he looks at his poker-faced fiancé, whimpering.

Seeing as Jongin doesn’t have any ounce of idea on