Jongdae smiled softly to himself as he walked into his and Minseok’s room, having just showered. He had a towel wrapped around his waist as he dried his hair with another.

Minseok was still asleep in their bed, burrowed in the covers with just his head peeking out, his hair in disarray and his mouth hanging open slightly, giving him a look of youthful naivety.

The younger of the two couldn’t help but smile as he moved quietly around the room and gathered his clothes, placing them on the end of the bed. Everything else had been haphazardly packed away the night before – though Minseok’s was still neat, unlike Jongdae’s mess of cloth in his case – and only the essentials were left out.

Jongdae had packed up his last few toiletries after brushing his teeth, only his hairbrush remained out now, with the clothes he planned to wear.

He began to dry himself at a leisurely pace before tossing the towel into the hamper by the bathroom, ready for the boat staff to take and clean. He spared a brief moment to be thankful that they hadn’t had to bring their own towels, he’d never have had the patience to let them dry fully before packing them away, and Minseok would have had his balls on a platter if their things had smelt damp by the time they arrived home.

By the time he was dressed and had run the towel through his hair until it was only damp, Minseok was beginning to stir, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands before blinking them open to look around the sunlit room.

“Y’r’up early” he managed out through a yawn, leaning up on his elbow to peer at Jongdae, who’s running his brush through his shower matted hair.

Jongdae hummed, “Yeah, just couldn’t get to sleep. Mad how it’s the last day today, isn’t it?”

Minseok nodded, still in a state of semi-sleep, “Yeah. It’s been a nice break. And well, I’m glad things happened”

“Yeah,” Jongdae smiled, “Yeah, me too. Otherwise, who knows how long we’d have been playing this push and pull game?”

Minseok laughed softly before sitting up to properly face Jongdae, who remained stood at the foot of the large bed, “God, I love you” he said in a voice barely above a whisper, “I can’t wait to be home and just be with you.”

Jongdae laughed back, sweet and in his usual high pitch as he leant forward and crawled onto the bed until he was face to face with Minseok, then proceeded to kiss him with all the admiration in the world, “I must feel the same way if I’m willing to kiss you when you have morning breath” he winked cheekily before pressing a chaste kiss to Minseok’s lips then pulling back to sit on his heels.

Minseok rolled his eyes, “Sod off” he said, but there was no mistaking the fondness of his tone as he eyed Jongdae lovingly, his genuine appreciation for Jongdae exuding out of him.

Between them, they’d had a long and sometimes hurtful journey, but it was what it was and they’d still gotten to this point, the two of them together as it should be.

Minseok sometimes thought that no matter what life had thrown their way, they probably still would have ended up together, and honestly he was glad for it. Jongdae was something that he wasn’t really able to put into words.

Jongdae was his best friend, his rock in a sometimes too hard world. He was the person that made him laugh on his worst days and made his best days even better. He was the voice of reason when Minseok was on the verge of losing it, and he was the person that coerced him into doing things that he knew he probably shouldn’t just for the sake of a laugh.

He was everything that Minseok was and then some. He allowed Minseok his space when it was needed, and them absorbed him when he the closeness was not something they could overlook.

In retrospect, the fact that they had ended up together like they were was perhaps inevitable, but for a lot of people – Minseok included – it wasn’t until you were on the verge of losing something that you realised just how profoundly you had taken advantage of it.

“You’re thinking too loud” Jongdae whispered softly, his eyes gentle as he looked into Minseok’s.

Minseok let out a slight laugh, still coming out of his train of thought, “Yes, well. Lots to think about and all that. Too many thoughts at one time, tends to get a little loud”

“That sounds far too tedious for my liking” Jongdae scrunched his nose up in distaste.

That made Minseok laugh all the more, “No – it… Good thoughts. Lots of them. Kind of like being at a playground or something” he tilted his head thoughtfully, “Or just being around you and Baekhyun for a prolonged amount of time. Noisy, but familiar and nice”

“I resent that comment” Jongdae chuckled, “Baekhyun is far louder than me!”

Minseok snorted, “No, you’re both as bad as each other. Don’t even try to deny it because we both know it’s the truth. Baekhyun just isn’t in denial about it anymore. No to mention you and your ‘ah waeeee’ at the top of your voice every time you don’t get your own way” he teased before shoving Jongdae back lightly so that he could clamber out of the oh-so-comfortable bed.

Jongdae sighed and turned so that he was sitting cross-legged on the thick duvet, “Where’re you going?”

“To brush my teeth and get ready” Minseok said, “Did you think I was about to run off like this?” he popped his head out of the bathroom with a raised brow as he gestured to his half- form.

Jongdae rolled his eyes, “Alright, enough of the sarcasm” he said, “D’you want me to wait, or should I meet you down at breakfast?”

“Meet me down there, I need to shower and stuff anyway. And I have a few last minute bits I need to pack up.” Minseok called from the bathroom, his words muffled by the fact that he had a toothbrush in his mouth.

Jongdae smiled slightly to himself as he grabbed his room key and wallet and made his way out of the room, shouting a quick ‘goodbye’ behind him.

Minseok let out a small, fond laugh as he finished cleaning his teeth.

He made quick work of having a shower and getting ready before packing away his last few bits and popping his suitcase next to Jongdae’s.

He gave himself a once-over in the mirror before heading into the adjoining room, where he found Kyungsoo and Baekhyun sat on the bed packing up Baekhyun’s things.

“Morning” he said by ways of greeting as he plonked himself down next to Baekhyun, who was folding the last of his t-shirts and shoving them into his case.

He grunted out a tired response before letting himself fall to lean on Minseok’s shoulder.

Minseok smiled softly and wrapped an arm around him.

“Morning” Kyungsoo said with a small smile, “You’ll have to mind him. He’s got the last day blues”

Minseok nodding understandingly as he pulled Baekhyun a little closer, “Don’t worry, Hyunnie. We’ll still see the others when we’re back home. It’ll be alright”

“Can’t possibly know that for sure” Baekhyun said quietly, “You have Jongdae – he isn’t going anywhere. I’ve only known Chanyeol for two weeks. That’s nothing”

Kyungsoo frowned, “Hey now” he said softly, “It doesn’t matter about the timing. You guys have hit it off really well, and anyone that’s been around the pair of you these last couple of weeks can tell that both of you want to stay in touch. If you’re that worried about it, talk to him. He isn’t going to just faze you out because we’re not on this boat anymore. He’ll still be in touch, Baek. He will, that much I’m sure of”

Baekhyun looked at him with an unreadable face, “I just… I don’t want to get attached if it’s only going to come to nothing”

“I know” Kyungsoo said, moving the suitcase to the floor so that he could scoot over and wrap his arms around Baekhyun and Minseok, “But whilst we can’t control the future, we can make the most of it. And even in the unlikely case that it won’t come to anything, it’ll be his loss. Anyone can see how amazing you are”

Baekhyun smiled a little at that, “Now you’re just trying to flatter me” he joked half-heartedly.

“Would I ever?” Kyungsoo raised a brow.

Minseok snorted, “He’s got a point, he isn’t really one to flatter”

The three of them giggled at that until they were bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, knocking against one another as they shook in their amused glee.

“God, I love you two” Baekhyun smiled as they three of them laid on the bed in a post-laughter haze.

Minseok grinned, “Obviously” he said, poking Baekhyun’s cheek playfully. “Now, I’m starving, how about we go down and get some breakfast?”

“Best idea you’ve had this whole trip” Kyungsoo said with the air a left over laugh.

--

Junmyeon smiled as he pressed himself against Yixing, he had the Chinese boy trapped against the wall as they kissed lazily in the shade of the breakfast tent.

The others had gotten them a table at the back and had started to fill it with various plates of buffet food for them all to share. Yixing had taken advantage of their friends’ distraction to pull Junmyeon off to one side and cover his face in teasing kisses until Junmyeon had pressed him up against the wall and caught him in a sweetly sensual kiss.

Yixing’s hands were cupping Junmyeon’s face, his heartbeat racing beneath his fingertips, seeping into Junmyeon’s skin and meeting him with a matching rhythm.

“I’ll miss this… Having you all to myself, away from real life” Yixing whispered against Junmyeon’s lips, “Getting to just… pull you away whenever I want to”

Junmyeon smiled, a small laugh escaping him, “You say that as though you won’t still have me to yourself when we get home”

“You know what I mean,” Yixing pulled back slightly, a small blush dusting his cheeks in a very un-Yixing-like way. “I just… It’s nice not having school, or work, or… Just day to day stuff in the way to distract me from you”

Junmyeon grinned, “I know. But if I’m being honest, I think you’re going to end up being a distraction from my day to day stuff”

“I’m not sure how to take that” Yixing snorted.

“As a compliment, obviously” Junmyeon rolled his eyes, his hands rubbing rhythmically up and down Yixing’s sides, “It just means you’re kinda, really important to me”

Yixing laughed softly, pressing a kiss to Junmyeon’s lips before whispering “You’re kinda, really important to me, too” as though it was a big secret between just the two of them.

“Hey! Lovebirds! Come and eat before Chanyeol inhales it all!” Kris’ voice broke them apart.

Yixing sighed softly, ignoring Chanyeol’s offended “Hey!” and pulling back to see that Junmyeon was wearing an equally disgruntled expression.

“Guess we should join them” the Korean man sighed, reaching up to brush Yixing’s hair back from his face.

Yixing closed his eyes, leaning into the touch and taking comfort in the ever familiar feeling that was Junmyeon’s hands on his body, “Guess so” he agreed, opening his eyes again to find Junmyeon watching him with a fondness that made his insides squirm.

He wasn’t used to being so… taken with someone. Sure, he’d loved and lost and all the age old romantic clichés that a person could think of, but nobody had ever looked at him in quite the same way that Junmyeon did, and it did something to him that was so unfamiliar, so unsettling, but at the same time, so addictive.

“When you look at me like that,” Yixing croaked, surprised at the way his voice caught in his throat, “it makes me feel like you’ll never look at anyone else. I don’t know how to… how to process that”

Junmyeon let out a slightly amazed breath of a laugh, “Well, get used to it” he said easily enough, “Because I never want to look at anyone else”

“You’ve only known me a fortnight, you know” Yixing reminded, a playful smile on his lips, “I might end up being awful when we’re home. Like, I’m super forgetful. I put way too much focus on my work, and sometimes not enough on the people I care about. I wake up at stupid o’clock and still refuse to sleep early. I dance until I physically can’t anymore, and get mad when people try to stop me… Maybe I’ll annoy you”

Junmyeon scoffed, “Of course you’ll annoy me. But Kyungsoo annoys me. Baekhyun annoys me. Jongdae and Minseok annoy me. God only knows how much I annoy them. But I still love them, I still want to be around them. I still never want to stop being annoyed by them. And it’ll be the same for you. I like you, Yixing. I like spending time with you. And I like that you have stupid idiocies because it means you’re human like the rest of us. So you have bad habits? Have you met me? I’m a push over, I never listen to good advice, I cry like an ugly old woman, I make jokes that people think are lame, I wear horrendous clothing and still think I look ing ace.

 “So maybe I don’t dance until stupid o’clock at night, but I can sure as hell sing instead. So I remember a lot, but at least I can remind you of things you forget. You focus on work too much and sometimes not people? That’s cool, I’ll just spam you with messages until you take a break. I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Yixing. The good, the bad, the ugly. All of it. And I’m just hoping that even though sometimes I’ll annoy you too, you’ll think I’m worth sticking around for”

Yixing smiled, “Well, if we can make it past that shirt, I think we can make it through anything”

“Yo, I’m serious!! He’s gonna eat everything!” Kris piped up again.

Junmyeon laughed good naturedly and moved back from Yixing reaching out and taking him by the hand instead, “Come on” he said, “Let’s go eat. I’m famished!”

“Alright, alright” Yixing rolled his eyes, allowing himself to be dragged back to the table, where he sat down between Junmyeon and Baekhyun, who was being fed by Chanyeol as they both chatted animatedly with Sehun and Luhan.

“You know, sloths would actually be one of the world’s most dangerous animals if it weren’t for the fact they were so… y’know, slow. Like, their claws are no joke” Chanyeol was saying seriously, as Luhan gawped at him.

The doe-eyed man shook his head, “But, aren’t they herbivores?” he asked.

“Negative, my friend” Chanyeol told him, “They’re omnivores. They eat leaves and , but they also eat insects and small lizards and occasionally birds and stuff. It’s mostly leave and shoots and stuff though”

“Huh…” Luhan nodded, looking vaguely impressed, “The more you know…”

Baekhyun raised a brow at Chanyeol, “How do you know so much about sloths?” he asked before Chanyeol pushed half a strawberry between his lips.

“Science, man. Part of my bio class is living things. We got to pick either a plant or animal to look up and present a slide show on. I got top marks” Chanyeol beamed, clearly proud of himself.

Sehun rolled his eyes, “Hey, Yeol… What’s your favourite part of physics?” he asked, a strange slyness to his voice.

Chanyeol glared at him slightly, “Go yourself, Sehun”

“I’m not following?” Luhan furrowed his brows in confusion.

Sehun snickered, “Yeol doesn’t like Physics. It’s the only class he isn’t getting all A’s in.”

“Never in my life have I gotten lower than an A, and this wound up yuppy of a professor thinks he can me over with a B! A ing B!” Chanyeol fumed, “I wouldn’t mind, but I hit all the criteria for a freaking A!”

Baekhyun fought back a laugh as he reached over to pat Chanyeol sweetly on the cheek, before resting his hand there and letting his thumb run over the taller man’s smooth skin, “Tell me more about sloths” he requested.

Chanyeol’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, “Did you know that Sloths are actually part of the order Pilosa so technically they’re related to anteaters and armadillos! And they can extend their tongues to up to ten to twelve inches out of their mouths!”

“Gross…” Luhan shuddered.

But Chanyeol ignored him as he continued to tell Baekhyun fact after fact about sloths. Baekhyun glanced over at Minseok briefly, the elder shooting him a knowing smile before he turned back to his conversation with Tao and Kris.

Kris rolled his eyes as he munched on his blueberry muffin, listening to Tao gush about his experiments with hair colour. He kind of admired the way that Minseok nodded in all the right places, and ooh-ed and ­ahh-ed as let Tao talk and talk.

He met Kris’ eye and flashed him a small grin, which Kris returned easily enough. He loved Tao, he really did, but sometimes the boy was too excitable for his own good.

Tao followed Minseok’s eyes to Kris and offered his boyfriend a small smile, one that said I know you don’t really find this stuff interesting, but thank you for pretending to anyway. Kris chuckled slightly before pressing a sweet kiss to Tao’s temple then gesturing to the other side of him before turning to chat to Kyungsoo, Jongdae and Jongin.

“Kyungsoo had this ex-girlfriend, right, and god she was just the worst. What was her name again?”

Kyungsoo grimaced, “Taylor. She was here on exchange or something”

“Taylor! Ha, yes. Anyway, she was like a switch that was never turned off. She was always on Soo’s case, like ‘Where were you! I called you and you didn’t pick up’ and he’d be all ‘I was in class…’ and she would just go to town on him. In the end he asked me to end things for him. I don’t blame him, she rolled her eyes and said ‘well good. I was sick of him not putting out anyway’. Needless to say, it was a little awkward at school after that” Jongdae snickered.

Kyungsoo scoffed, “Alright, laugh it up. But need I remind you of Yerin?” he raised a brow.

“That you do not” Jongdae shuddered. “See, this is why I prefer guys – obviously Minseok, over anyone ever – but girls are just… too much drama”

“I wouldn’t let Amber hear you saying that” Kyungsoo grinned, “Although, I wonder what would happen should she find out…”

Jongdae’s eyes widened, “You wouldn’t?!”

“Wouldn’t I?” Kyungsoo threatened lightly.

Jongin frowned, “I feel like I’m missing something here…”

Kyungsoo waved him off, “She’s this friend of ours. Way cooler than any of us could imagine beings to be honest”

“Just don’t tell her that, because she will literally never let you live it down” Jongdae put in with a small laugh. “Oh, that reminds me, what’s going on with you two?”

Kyungsoo raised a brow, “What do you mean?” he asked.

Jongdae pulled a face, “You know,” he waved a hand idly, “You guys seem… closer… lately”

“It’s nothing” Jongin put in quickly, “We just decided it was better to let by gones be by gones and all that”

But Jongdae didn’t look convinced, “I meant after the whole making out thing?”

“Jongdae!” Kyungsoo snapped as Jongin asked “Which time?”

Jongdae’s eye lit up like a kid’s on Christmas, “Oh-ho-ho! Kyungsoo! You have been a naughty boy”

“Please, for the sake of my sanity, never say that again” Kyungsoo cringed, “And anyway, it’s not a big deal”

Jongdae scoffed, “Says the guy who was freaking out the last time we spoke about this”

“Wait, you told your friends about us kissing?” Jongin frowned. “What happened to keeping it on the down low?”

Kyungsoo sighed, “Jongin, please shut up. It isn’t even like that. I needed advice and they were the ones I went to. You know, like friends do” he said, “And Jongdae, if you don’t stop talking right now, I swear to god, I will not be responsible for what happens next”

“Oh please, you’re all bark and no bite, Kyungsoo. I’ve known you since forever, don’t forget” Jongdae laughed.

Kyungsoo regarded him carefully for a moment before calmly saying “Buffy”.

Jongdae’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “You wouldn’t”

“Try me” Kyungsoo deadpanned.

“Who’s Buffy?” Jongin asked carefully.

Kyungsoo smirked, “Jongdae’s cabbage patch kid. The one that is currently at my apartment after our last sleepover.”

“Kyungsoo…” Jongdae squeaked.

“The legs will go first” Kyungsoo smiled maliciously.

“Fine!” Jongdae huffed, “You win. I won’t bring up you and Jongin kissing again!”

Kyungsoo leant over to pat Jongdae sweetly on the cheek, “That’s my boy” he beamed, earning a string of annoyed grumbling from his friend.

--

Baekhyun sighed as he wondered down the deck, his hand running along the railing of the boat. Despite his conversation with Kyungsoo and Minseok earlier in the day, he was still feeling a little down.

Not only because it was the last day on the boat, and not even a full day. But mostly, it was because of his situation with Chanyeol. It wasn’t like he really had any right to be massively upset if they left this and never even spoke again. It could have been just what it seemed to be – a holiday romance. But the thing was, Baekhyun tended to get attached. And whilst it had only been a fortnight of meeting and getting to know these amazing people, he still couldn’t help but want for Chanyeol to want something.

“You’ve been pretty quiet today” Chanyeol said softly as he walked beside Baekhyun, his lips tugging downwards in concern.

Baekhyun hummed, not really trusting his own voice, “I… Yeah. Sad to be leaving”

“But that’s not all, right?” Chanyeol guessed, “Something else is bothering you”

Baekhyun sighed, stopping his slow stroll to turn and lean against the railing, looking out over the cool blue waters which brought them ever closer to home. “It’s nothing”

“Hey” Chanyeol said softly, leaning beside Baekhyun so that their arms were pressed up against one another, “Talk to me, Baek. I know I talk a lot, but I’m a good listener too”

“I…” Baekhyun hesitated. He took a small breath to clear his head before saying, “When we were talking that time and you… you said you’d grant me one wish?”

Chanyeol nodded, watching Baekhyun carefully, though the shorter man still wasn’t looking at him, his eyes trained pointedly on the blue waves below.

“I think I know what I want now. But I think I might be scared to ask for it. I don’t know, it’s just that things have been going so well. So well, and sometimes I get too inside my head, even though I may not seem like I do. And I stress about stupid things, so I’m just scared that once we get off this boat, this whole thing will just fall apart…” Baekhyun voice caught slightly, making him sigh and squeeze his eyes closed in frustration with himself.

Chanyeol waiting a beat before prompting him to talk again with, “What’s your wish, Baekhyun?”

“You’ll think it’s stupid” Baekhyun warned.

But Chanyeol ignored it, “What’s your wish?” he asked again.

“I…. God, this is so stupid” Baekhyun huffed, turning around so that his back was against the railings.

Chanyeol was concerned, that much was sure, but he needed to hear what it was that Baekhyun so clearly needed to say. He pulled back from where he was leaning to stand in front of Baekhyun, reaching out to press his fingers under Baekhyun’s chin and tilt the slightly older man’s head up to look at him.

Baekhyun’s eyes were shining slightly, he was obviously fighting back tears, but Chanyeol didn’t mention it. He didn’t want to make Baekhyun feel worse that he already did. He just wanted to know how to make it better, and if the way was to grant Baekhyun’s wish, then he knew that he would go to the ends of the earth to fulfil it.

“Yah,” he said softly, “Byun Baekhyun. If I’m going to grant your wish, then I need to know what it is”

Baekhyun’s lip wobbled slightly, “I’m afraid that you won’t want to grant it, Chanyeol. What if you think I’m just being an idiot and walk away?”

“Does it look like I’m ready to walk away from this?” Chanyeol pointed out, his voice gentle and understanding, “Tell me what I can do to make you smile again, Baek. Tell me and I’ll do it”

Baekhyun really did start crying then, “That wish…” he said, “I… I want you not to go. I want you not to go away when we get off of this boat”

Chanyeol felt a lump form in his throat. God, how could Baekhyun even think for a second that he would?

He was quick to pull Baekhyun into his arms, swallowing the smaller man with his entire body as he held him close. “I won’t” he whispered against Baekhyun’s hair. “I won’t go away, I promise. You’ve kinda had a weird impact on me, Baekhyun. Like even if I wanted to walk away from this, I don’t think I could. You’ve unlocked something in me that I haven’t felt before, and I want to see where this goes. I want to see what happens when we get home. I want to take you on dumb dates and make you smile. I want to spend nights at your apartment, because mine is too messy, but I want you to insist on seeing it, if only to embarrass me, or make me clean.

 “I want to see if this could lead to something that means doing those scary things like meeting parents and asking Kyungsoo not to murder me when I build up the nerve to ask you if you want to make things official. Because obviously I’ll have to get his permission”

That coaxed a laugh out of Baekhyun, and Chanyeol smiled, his heart skipping slightly at the sound.

“Cheesy” Baekhyun sniffed, pulling his head back to look up at Chanyeol. “Do you really mean all of that?”

Chanyeol leant in to press a sweet kiss to Baekhyun’s lips, “And then some” he said, “But only of you promise me something?”

“Anything”

“Hold my hand whenever I have to tell Kyungsoo something he doesn’t like, because let’s face it. I’m clumsy and he could kill me if he wanted to” Chanyeol said seriously, making Baekhyun laugh again.

Baekhyun buried his head back against Chanyeol’s chest and sighed. “Thank you” he said after a moment, “And sorry for being weird”

“Don’t apologise. I’m glad you told me” Chanyeol said, “Communication is key to a good relationship, you see”

“Noted” Baekhyun smiled against the soft material of Chanyeol’s tee.

They stayed like that for a while, just wrapped up in one another, and Baekhyun was grateful for the comfort that Chanyeol provided without even having to say anything.

Chanyeol swayed them slightly as Baekhyun’s breaths began to even out somewhat, nuzzling his face into Baekhyun’s hair.

“I’ll show you more of my music” he promised in a whispered voice, “I bet a lot of it would work really well with your voice, since it’s so pretty. You’ll have to let me know when you’re free too, because I know this really cute little cake shop near campus that I’d love to take you to. Their Oreo cupcake is to die for.”

Baekhyun couldn’t stop his smile from growing slightly as he listened gratefully to the distraction of Chanyeol’s voice.

He listened as Chanyeol talked and talked about nothing in particular, just whatever came into his head, until he finally ran out of random thoughts and began to hum softly to various tunes as he continued to sway them to the beat.

Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile as Chanyeol began to hum a familiar tune, Baekhyun recognised it immediately as The Beatles’ Yesterday.

And as he sought comfort in the soothing melody, and the warmth of Chanyeol’s arms, he thought that maybe, just maybe, things might be okay after all.

--

The time for them to gather their things and head off of the boat came far too soon, and it was with heavy hearts and soft sighs that they all found themselves on the docks, heading over to the coach that would take them to the train station.

“What time are your trains?” Kyungsoo asked as they stowed their cases in the hold of the coach, waiting so that they could board together and get seats near each other.

Kris grunted as he shoved Tao’s case in after his own, “We’re booked in for the four o’clock train” he said, standing up straight with a strained look on his face.

“We’re on the four thirty train” Chanyeol frowned, “How about you guys?”

Minseok smiled slightly, “Actually we’re parked at the car park across from the train station, I’m driving us home. I’d offer you guys a lift, but I only have a five seat car” he shrugged a little helplessly.

“I didn’t even think of that” Chanyeol frowned, “How much was it to park there?” he asked as they made their way onto the coach, managing the snag the back row and the few in front of it.

Minseok thought about it for a moment, “I think it was about twenty five thousand Won, but that’s only because I have an uncle that works there, so I got a pretty decent discount”

“Dude, that’s insane? Only that much for two weeks?” Luhan spluttered, “How the hell?”

“It’s good to have connections” Minseok shrugged, buckling his seatbelt.

The conversations went on from there, going from one thing to another, talking about good memories that they had made on the cruise and how nice it had been for them to make good friends as they had.

They poked fun at one another over their little friendships and their romances, but it was all in good fun as they drew closer and closer to the coach station, and in what felt like the blink of an eye, they were all clambering off of the coach and grabbing their things.

“Well, I suppose this is it for now” Yixing sighed, his hand still firmly clasped in Junmyeon’s. “It feels a little surreal to be back”

“I know what you mean” Baekhyun said from where he was being embraced from behind by Chanyeol, “I don’t know what I’ll do not seeing your faces everyday” he laughed softly, “It’ll be so weird”

Jongin hummed, glancing over at Kyungsoo as he did, “But it isn’t like this is goodbye, at least. We’ll still see each other a lot, and we’ve all exchanged numbers, so who knows, maybe we’ll see each other sooner than we think”

“I mean, Sehun and I have plans for dinner tomorrow, so you aren’t wrong” Luhan nodded.

Sehun groaned slightly, “Not helping, Lu”

“Not sorry, Sehun” Luhan shot back, mimicking the younger’s tone with a playful grin.

Junmyeon chuckled, “Now now, boys” he scolded half-heartedly, “But you’re right. I have Yixing and Sehunnie coming over for a games night with Kyungsoo and Minseok in a few days”

“And I’ve told Baekhyunnie that he has to call me tonight so that we can pick a time to get coffee on Monday, since we still have a few weeks until classes start up again” Chanyeol beamed, making Baekhyun grin in turn.

Minseok sighed happily, “I don’t want to break up this cute moment, but it’s quarter to four, and you guys need to get your train.” He glanced at Junmyeon and Sehun, who seemed a little reluctant to move away from Yixing and Luhan. “We, uh, we’ll give you guys a minute” he gestured for them to move.

Kris and Tao said their goodbyes first, before heading inside with their cases, as well as Luhan and Yixing’s just to ensure they’d have a place to put them on the train and grab them a good table seat.

The others moved away after that to give the four their time to say goodbye.

Sehun and Luhan kept it pretty sweet and simple, a slightly longer hug than that could be considered simply friendly. Then as they pulled back, Sehun surprised them all by pressing a chaste kiss to Luhan’s lips and whispering “Call me tonight, when you’re home” before giving him one last squeeze and walking back over to Jongin and Chanyeol, who looked slightly too proud for Sehun’s liking.

Luhan headed inside after that, leaving Yixing to have his moment with Junmyeon.

“I’ll miss you, even though I’ll be seeing you soon” Yixing said as he let himself be pulled into Junmyeon’s embrace.

Junmyeon smiled, “I’ll miss you, too” he said, “But that just means that I’ll be even more excited to see you when you come over”

“I’ll see you in a few days, but make sure you text me, okay?” Yixing pressed.

“I will,” Junmyeon promised, accepting the kiss that Yixing offered before they parted ways. Yixing made sure to run over and give each of the others a hug before he ran off after Luhan, Kris and Tao, waving as he did.

Jongdae chuckled softly as Junmyeon re-joined them with a dopey smile on his face. “Christ, you’re so ing lame, man. You’ve known him two weeks”

Junmyeon shrugged, “Best two weeks of my life” he said, making the others groan at the sheer cheesiness of it.

“On that note” Kyungsoo said, “We better be off. I need to make sure that my neighbours haven’t been taking our post”

Baekhyun frowned, “You don’t think they’d actually take our post, right?” he asked.

“Only one way to find out” Kyungsoo said.

“Bye guys!” Minseok grinned, “Text us!” he managed out as Jongdae shouted ‘bye’ and began to drag him off towards the car.

Junmyeon rolled his eyes, “I better go make sure they don’t do anything that could get us banned from the train station” he said, moving in to give Chanyeol, Jongin and Sehun a hug, the latter earning an especially long one. “See you guys” he said, and then he was following Jongdae and Minseok back to the car, dragging his case noisily behind him.

“Well, I suppose this is ta-ta for now” Kyungsoo said, trying to ignore the way that Baekhyun was trying to bury himself further into Chanyeol.

Sehun smiled sweetly, “See you soon, hyung” he said, wrapping Kyungsoo in a hug, which Kyungsoo returned with equal verve.

“Take care, Sehunnie. Make sure you call me and let me know how things are going, okay? And text me when you’ve caught up with Shadowhunters!” Kyungsoo demanded, making Sehun laugh as he promised that he would.

Chanyeol pulled away from Baekhyun briefly to give Kyungsoo a warm hug, “See you, ‘Soo. We’ll meet up soon for drinks, yeah?”

“Definitely!” Kyungsoo beamed, letting Chanyeol get back to Baekhyun before he turned to Jongin, who was watching him almost shyly. “Not getting shy on me now, are you, Nini?”

Jongin chuckled, “I wouldn’t dream of it” he said, voice soft as he took a tentative step forward before a determined look crossed over his face and he moved swiftly forward and caught Kyungsoo in a tight hug.

Kyungsoo was momentarily taken aback, but as soon as he gathered himself, returned it just as well. “I’m not dying, you know. We’ll see each other before you know it”

Jongin hummed against Kyungsoo’s shoulder, “I know” he said, “But it’ll be weird not having you scold me every day”

“Oh shut up” Kyungsoo laughed, finally pulling away and reaching up to cup Jongin’s face in his hands, “Be good, Kim Jongin, I have Sehunnie to keep me in the loop, so I’ll know if you aren’t”

Jongin smiled, “I’ll try” he shrugged, “I… Can I kiss you goodbye?” he asked.

“Uh, I… Sure. Sure, that would be fine” Kyungsoo let out a soft breath before his lips were captured by Jongin’s in a soft, but somewhat fierce kiss, that told Kyungsoo this most certainly wouldn’t be the last.

“See you around, hyung”

“See you around, Jonginnie” Kyungsoo smiled, taking a step back and turning in time to see Baekhyun and Chanyeol locked and the lips and pouring every emotion they could into one another.

He waited patiently for them to part and say one final goodbye before he and Baekhyun linked hands and dragged their cases off to Minseok’s car.

Chanyeol, Jongin and Sehun watched them go until they were all tucked into Minseok’s car and driving off into the late afternoon sun.

“Well, it’s been an adventure, boys” Chanyeol said as the three of them turned and began to make their way into the station to await their train.

“That it has, hyung” Sehun agreed, “That it has”