Chapter 3

During his break, Onew dragged Jonghyun out to the nearest mall. Jonghyun made the mistake of telling Onew that he didn’t have anything but suits to pack for this trip. Jonghyun told Onew that there was no need for shopping that he had the basic necessities and Onew retorted that suits and ties are not basic necessities for a vacation on an island. The two were wondering around the store Onew was placing many random shirts and pants in his arms and shoving him into the changing room to try them on. Jonghyun felt like a little child being dragged by his mother out shopping.

“Onew hyung, why must I buy all of this, it feels like such a waste.” Jonghyun complained. Yes Onew is older than Jonghyun and when they are at the office, Jonghyun doesn’t call Onew, ‘hyung’ mainly so that they don’t mix private and personal lives together.

“Well, excuse me, Jonghyun. This is your first trip and I don’t think going to an island for a week with nothing but suits to wear is absolutely stupid, not to mention you might ruin the darn thing and then you’ll complain the entire time.” The older replied as the two made their way to the register.

Once they were at the register, Onew looked up to see a familiar figure. Changmin’s older brother, Yunho.

“Hi Yunho hyung, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Onew said gaining the older man’s attention. Yunho worked multiple jobs, so Changmin says. Yunho was placing all of Onew’s items into a bag and handed him the receipt.

“Yeah, I quit my other job; this one is a lot nicer.” The older replied. Onew nodded, Changmin has told him that aswell, Yunho tends to jump from job to job. His excuse is that he’s trying to find a place that he likes and that is not too far from home. Onew took his bag and thanked the older.

Jonghyun smiled, “You know, you could always come and work with me. From what Changmin says you could be great as an assistant.” Yunho smiled and politely declined the offer, saying that he couldn’t picture himself working in an office.

After their shopping trip, the two came back to work and everything went by in a busy blur with phone calls to answer, papers to sign, and people to talk to. Jonghyun nearly forgot his bag of newly bought goods when he was leaving the office for the day.

Upon entering his house, he was greeted by Roo and a note from the housekeeper that said that he was running out of things like detergent and other grocery items. Jonghyun placed his bags on the ground and took out his suitcase to begin packing.

“Roo, I’m going on a trip. I’ll be back soon, so while I’m gone I need you to take care of the house, ok. I’ll call the housekeeper and she’ll stay to take care of you.” The little puppy whined, disappointed that Jonghyun would be leaving. Jonghyun smiled a patted the dog’s head and gave the back of her ear a quick scratch before placing the suitcase aside.

Early the next morning, Jonghyun’s phone rang and forced him up and out of bed. Jonghyun gets out of bed to his housekeeper and breakfast. He had to give this woman a raise, he thought. He had called her late the previous night and she gladly agreed to watch over the house and Roo while he was away. After a quick breakfast, he got dressed and grabbed his suitcase and left to meet with Onew.

At the airport, Onew and Jonghyun were waiting for their flight to depart. Onew seemed a bit too chipper for someone who woke up at four in the morning to get ready for the flight.

“I am so excited!” He exclaimed, he looked like a little child going to Disney World for the first time. Jonghyun was slowly falling asleep in his seat, groaning, he was no morning person and Onew was happy all the time, there were times when Jonghyun wanted to slap that smile off of the older boy’s face.

By the time that the passengers were boarding the plane it was almost seven in the morning and Jonghyun was no better of moods. Onew was strapped into his seat and was ready for take off while Jonghyun was slowly falling asleep in his seat.

“Jonghyun, hey Jonghyun wake up we’re here!” Onew exclaimed elbowing the sleeping male next to him. The older groaned awake and stretched, sleepily following Onew out of the plane and into the airport.

Getting to the hotel was only half the fun, by the Jonghyun, Onew, and Changmin got to their hotel rooms the three were a mixture of exhausted and excited. Either way, Jonghyun would have to grin and bear it. It was supposed to be a vacation after all, so he should at least try and relax. He went downstairs to the lobby to meet up with Onew and Changmin who were already planning out their vacation.

“Let’s go to the beach.” Changmin suggested. Changmin loved going to the beach, he enjoyed swimming in general.

“One of my friends lives here, we can meet up and relax.”  He added, hoping that Onew and Jonghyun would agree.

“Ok, that sounds fun, Jonghyun come on let’s go and change, and we’ll meet you at the beach.” Onew exclaimed dragging Jonghyun back up stairs to their hotel rooms to change.

Once they were changed, Onew and Jonghyun made their way out of the hotel and out to the large beach that the hotel faced. Jonghyun had been to the beach before, but with his work, he doesn’t get a chance to go very often.

The beach was filled with people; it was hard for Onew and Jonghyun to find Changmin who was standing with a life guard.

“There you are, I was hoping you wouldn’t get lost. Let me introduce you, this is my friend Minho. He works part time as a lifeguard at the beach. Minho, this is my boyfriend Onew and this is Jonghyun. We are here on a vacation together.” Changmin said smiling at his friend who shook Onew’s hand and then Jonghyun’s.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you; I am here with my boyfriend and his friend as well. They are swimming right now. My boyfriend’s name is Taemin and his friends name is Kibum, we call him Key.” Minho replied.

The four boys were talking amongst themselves when two new boys joined them. One was a bit shorter than Minho. He had long auburn hair, which was tied into a ponytail. The other boy that was with him was lean and paler than the shorter boy. He had short black hair and had an air about him that was hard to describe.

“Hi Minho hyung, are your friends here?” The one with the ponytail asked. Minho nodded and introduced the two boys to Onew, Changmin, and Jonghyun. Taemin, the one with the ponytail, also had a part time job at the hotel that the three boys were staying at as a dance instructor and a tour guide. Kibum was a fashion designer, which Jonghyun found interesting.

“What kind of clothes do you design?” He found himself asking. He noticed that the younger flushed slightly which made Jonghyun smile, this guy was cute.

“I design a lot of different clothes; I am focussing on more professional clothes though.” Kibum explained.

Onew smiled and elbowed Jonghyun, “That’s perfect, Jonghyun wears nothing but professional clothes, his closet is nothing but suits, and I had to drag him to the store to buy something for him just for this vacation.” This time it was Jonghyun’s turn to blush. This made Kibum chuckle.

“Well, this is good, maybe Jonghyun can help you Key hyung.” Taemin said breaking up the chuckle. This made Kibum turn silent he bit his lower lip, unable to bring about the nerve to ask Jonghyun this favor. Jonghyun however, was intrigued. What could he do to help?

“W-well, you see. I am an aspiring designer and to get your name out there, you need to work hard. Thankfully my town loves to host fashion contests. I used to enter every year with Taemin and Minho and a few other friends, but I stopped due to some complications. However, this time I want to enter again, but I need five people who are willing to be models for me, Minho and Taemin are helping me so I need three more people to join in.”  Key was explaining everything so quickly that Jonghyun was having a hard time keeping up.

“So, you would like us to help you?” Onew wondered. Key nodded almost guiltily.

“What about your friends from before? Why not ask them?” Changmin questioned.

Key gulped, “w-well, I would except they work for a different designer.” Jonghyun noticed how sad the younger got.

“Which designer?” Changmin asked again. Key was about to answer when Taemin pointed to a girl with some of her friends walking to the beach and said, “Her.”

The three turned to see a girl with blonde hair and a pink bikini walk onto the beach. It was like she knew that they were watching her because she walked right over to them and took off her sun glasses.

“Hello Kibum, I hear you’re entering the fashion contest this year, you found some new people to be your models?” She said flashing a smile at Kibum who smiled back and nodded slowly. The girl took a look at the group and then at Jonghyun and noticed his necklace that he always wore.

“Oh my gosh, are you Kim Jonghyun?” She asked excitedly. The business man nodded, a bit happy that someone recognized him. The girl quickly whipped out a business card and handed it to Jonghyun.

“I’m Jessica, I own a clothing brand.” Jonghyun took the card and smiled kindly.

“It is nice to meet you.” He said. Jessica smiled at the other and the two instantly began chatting. It wasn’t until Jessica’s friend called her over that she left and Jonghyun looked at Key who gave him a defeated smile. Jonghyun returned the smile and said, “Don’t worry about her. I’ll help you.”

Onew and Changmin both agreed to help Jonghyun and Kibum smiled such a happy smile that Taemin and Minho couldn’t help but smile too.