At the beach, 10:38 AM
SEHUN POV

I wonder why Jongin bailed on us like that. Yesterday, he seemed like he had a "situation" and I can understand that. Last night he texted me saying he would be late, but he hasn't even shown up yet.

This outing was planned a two weeks ago and it meant a lot to us. We decided to have a beach trip to celebrate our win at M!Countdown, only our second win EVER. We were supposed to spend the weekend in a hotel and spend a few days chilling on the beach toghether. We left at 8:00 this morning and Jongin was still missing.

''Hey, when are you coming?!?'' I texted my friend impatiently.

While I was waiting for his answer, I noticed Kyungsoo sitting alone, not playing with the other guys. I walked up to him and sat down in the warm sand.

''Any news from Jongin?'' I asked him, thinking he might know something since he was his closest friend.

''No.'' he simply answered. ''You?''

''Same, nothing. I just texted him. I'll let you know when he replies.''

I stood up and went towards the rest of the guys who were playing beach volleyball. I joined Chanyeol, Chen and Beakyun's team. We were in the middle of a good exchange when Jongin finally arrived. Kyungsoo instantly stood up and went towards him.

''Hey guys! Sorry for being late.'' Jongin apologized.

''No worries. Now that you're here, let's get this party started!'' Chanyeol practically screamed.

They went back to playing volleyball but Kyungsoo and I stayed with Jongin.

''What happened yesterday?'' Kyungsoo asked.

''Oh, yesterday? I um...''

''Why didn't you anwer my text?'' I asked.

''My battery is dead...''  Jongin apologized.

''And about yesterday, you where saying..?'' Kyungsoo insisted.

''Um... I'm kinda stuck in a complicated situation cause I borrowed money and haven't payed it back yet.'' Jongin explained shamefully.

''For your sister's surgery?'' I asked tentatively.

He nodded in agreement.

''They didn't hurt you right?'' said Kyungsoo.

''No, not yet. But if I don't pay back soon, I might be in trouble.''

''In have some money put aside, maybe I could lend you some. You should've asked me in the first place instead of going to some weird guys who want to sell your organs to get their money back!'' I joked.

"How did you know?!?" Jongin asked, startled.

"What?!? They want your organs???" Kyunsoo panicked.

Jongin looked down shamefully before apologizing for worrying us.

"I don't want you guys to have problems too. I'll take care of this on my own, but thanks for the offer Sehun."

We moved to sit down, none of us in the mood for volleyball, when Baekhyun jumped out of nowhere, startling us.

"Aren't you coming to play?" he asked playfully.

Kyungsoo gave him a death glare, signaling him to leave us alone. But Baekhyun was used to being pushed around by Kyungsoo, se he didn't think much of it. Instead, he jumped on Kyungsoo, tickling him. He knew he would get himself in trouble by doing that, but it was worth the risk. He loved bothering others sooooo much.

After getting hit once or twice, he ran away, Kyungsoo close on his tail.

"Aish, come back here you little rascal!" he screamed after him.

I was enjoying the scene, laughing even, when I noticed Jongin wasn't having as much fun as me. Instead, he had a weird, sad look on his face. He was staring intently at the sand around his feet, lost in deep thought. I wondered if I should ask him what was wrong, but decided against it. Since he had arrived earlier, he didn't seem like his normal self. I thought maybe he was having a bad day: we all get them once in a while. If he felt like talking about it, he would.

I looked back at our group and saw Baekhyun being dragged back to volleyball court by Kyungsoo. Ah, that little guy didn't leave us unpunished when we messed with him. He was the shortest in EXO, but we were all a little scared of him. Exept for Jongin: Kyungsoo always laughed and played along with him.

"I'm gonna go play, you coming?" I asked Jongin after a while. I was getting tired of staring at the boys having fun without us.

"Go ahead, maybe I'll join later."

JONGIN POV

I don't deserve to play volleyball. I don't even deserve to walk around free, after what I've done. I ran a hand through my hair lazily, thinking:

I'll never be the same again.

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So... Yeah. I wrote this a few months ago and this is making me cringe. My writing improved, well, in my opinion. I promise the story (and writing) gets better as the chapters evolve. Please give me a chance :)

I decided I would post the five first chapters, to see if anyone reads them, and THEN I'll make you guys linger for the rest. But I thought you might need more than just the first chapter to get the feel for the whole story ;)

Thanks for reading!