“I missed you so much!!!!!”

Excuse me?!

The guy had his arms—hey, hey, whoa, whoa, hey get those damn limbs a few inches higher or I’m gonna break your ing arms.

“We just talked to each other last night, Dara.” He laughed.

EXCUSE ME????????

I saw them looking at me with shock and it was just then that I realized that I said that last bit out loud. The little named Seungri snickered at me and I gave his head a rough nudge. He immediately quieted down.

Dara pulled him by the hand, emphasis on the fact that they’re holding hands. Wow. Are we still even dating? What is with this PDA in such a short amount of time? I looked at the guy square in the eye and he just blinked in wonder. He’s probably thinking of more ways to piss me off. Yeah, I know that baby face is a façade of your evil. You better ing check yourself.

“Jiyong this is,” she paused and then blushed. WOW. “Hyukkie~”

I raised an irritated brow at her, “You mean Dean?”

‘Hyukkie’—jesus, I’m gonna freaking barf—reached his hand out to me for a handshake and I took it with a tight smile. I at least try to be the bigger man at some points. We shook for a long while since neither one of us wanted to take our hand off first. Oh, you wanna play it that way, huh? The guys around us started teasing us about our too-long-for-comfort handshake but still, neither of us stopped.

“My real name is Kwon Hyuk but you can call me Dean if you want.” He shrugged and then flashed a smile. “Doesn’t really matter.”

I almost scowled at him when Dara forcefully pulled us apart and held my hand. A triumphant smirk escaped my lips as the guys surrounding us stared at our intertwined hands in confusion. I made a move to kiss her knuckle and I swear I heard a freaking pin drop. But this Kwon Hyuk—‘Dean’—just smiled at Dara’s blushing face.

Oh it’s ing on, dude.  

Dara was over the moon as she looked up at him trying to stifle a grin. Jiyong was being open about their relationship and from the looks of it, he’s liking it as much as she did. She made a quick glance to Hyuk, smiling gratefully at him. He nodded lightly in response.

“What’s with those hands, Kwon?” Jay asked ruefully.

Jiyong raised a brow, snaking his other arm on her waist protectively. Dara almost peed her pants at the territorial look on her husband’s face. She vowed to live for that look starting today. “What do you think it is, Park?” he drawled, eying every single one of them with a small threatening glare. They were only looking at Dara and he didn’t like it one bit.

“A-are you…” Seo Kangjun stammered, blinking at the squirming girl in my arms. “Noona…?”

Minho gripped Woobin’s shoulder when he suddenly stepped up. Both guys just settled with a glare. “It’s not going to last long.” Jiyong heard Minho whisper to his friend. Jiyong tried to suppress an exasperated breath as he unconsciously pulled Dara closer to him. He was in a sea of sharks and they were all after his mermaid. It was up to him to get his mermaid’s back to land and shoo these hungry ers away.

“JIYONG AND I ARE DATING KYAAAAAAAAAAA~!” The girl squealed, suddenly hugging Jiyong by the neck as she bounced. Jiyong chuckled but no one joined in with him. An ominous aura started to surround their area of the campsite and it just bigger when a few more artists saw what was happening to their beloved Dara.

“Really…” Hyun Bin drawled, pocketing his hands and looking straight at her boyfriend.

“Really.” Jiyong answered. So you better ing step off.

Suddenly, Dara pulled herself off of him and launched herself at Dean. They all stared at them confusedly before they heard sniffling. They widened their eyes when they saw Dara crying on his shoulder and they quickly surrounded the girl, cooing and comforting her.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Joohyuk mumbled gently, patting her head.

“Thank you so much, Hyuk.” It was muffled but the people who stood close to her where able to hear it clearly, especially Kwon Jiyong.  

Dean made a soft laugh, hugging her back. “No problem, old lady.” He smiled. He met Jiyong’s eyes and he saw a flash of hurt and jealousy in the latter’s eyes. He paid it no mind though. Dara was crying and if he had to pick a side, it would always be hers. Jiyong just continued to stare at him wordlessly, silently pondering.

Soon enough, Dara peeled herself away from her and immediately turned back to Jiyong. His heart warmed at the loving smile on her face. He held her tight, feeling afraid that she was going to go away when he let her go. He already got a taste of that nightmare and he didn’t want to live through it again. He already learned from his mistakes and he didn’t want to deny himself anymore.

“Let’s have fun this week, Jiyong-ah~” she smiled.

Jiyong found himself doing the same thing. He placed a kiss on her forehead and hugged her in front of their watchful audience. “Let’s.” he mumbled.

“C’mon Jiyongggggggggggg!”

The man grumbled under the beach umbrella and looked at her with a childish frown. Dara’s shoulders slumped defeatedly as she sat down in front of him and pouted. He urged himself not to give in. A restrained-induced vein popped on the side of his neck when she hugged him by the waist and shook him while she whimpered softly.

The Unity Camp mediators organized a beach game since their campsite was in front of the beautiful Cambodian beach. It wasn’t that Jiyong was insecure with his lack of body mass or anything. It has to do with one word: Thalassophobia, which is the fear of the sea or any deep, dark body of water. And from the looks of it, that body of water in front of him was one of those godforsaken seas and/or deep, dark body of water. Don’t get him wrong though. He’s not afraid because he doesn’t know how to swim. He was an excellent swimmer… as long as the swimming is done in an safe pool or a very big bathtub. He was scared of the unknown that lies beneath those treacherous seas. When he was young, his class took a fieldtrip to a province and there they got free time in one of the well-known beaches. His class went scuba-diving and he was excited for it. But when they started, he suddenly felt little pinches in his legs and soon, it those pinches turned sharper. Like in the horror movies, he slowly looked down and found a school of hideous fish nibbling on his legs and he scampered out of the water as fast as a fat kid running to a corndog stand.

He became a broken boy from then on.

“It won’t be fun without you, Jiyongggggggggg!”

He grunted and trapped her in his arms. She shrieked playfully. “Then just stay here with me, Dara baby.” He was hoping it would work.

“But I want to go to the beachhhhhhh!”

It didn’t work.

“I’m sorry, Dara… I just can’t.” he sighed defeatedly. He had already explained to her earlier about his fear of the devil waters and the girl in front of him believes that she’s going to be his cure. Dara thought wrong.

“Alright,” she whispered covering her eyes on his bare shoulder, unconsciously caressing his arms. He couldn’t help the boyish grin on his face.

Dara really didn’t have any inhibitions when it came to skin-to-skin contact. He noticed that when she warms up to someone, she instantly finds it necessary to get handsy or overly-familiar with them. Jiyong wasn’t too sure if it was because she lacked that kind of comfort when she was a child so he was making it up to her by being her body pillow that she always clings on. Even though it was adorable, that unconscious habit was really dangerous. Jiyong looked up to see a number of guys looking at her—Dean was one of them too. When he caught their eyes, they immediately turned away. It was dangerous especially with these wolves hounding on her.

He was grateful that Dara didn’t dress skimpily like the other girls he sees around him. One of them even looked like her s were going to pop out from their bikini any minute now. Like any healthy man, he lived for that back then but now that Dara was in the picture, all he could see was her. His girlfriend wore a swimsuit set which was some high-waisted swimsuit shorts that was paired off with a yellow top that covered a part of her stomach. She wasn’t showing that much skin compared to the other but that just made her even more alluring to him. He his chapped lips and looked away, feeling a blush coming on.

ert.  

“I’ll go… but I won’t have any fun.” She said sadly making him chuckle. She was too cute.

Before she could pull away, Jiyong tipped her chin and kissed her. She heard her mumble a shy “But they’re looking.” But he paid it no mind. He needed to make them know their place and if this was the way, then he’ll do it in a heartbeat. He kissed her excruciatingly slow making her crave for more. His thumb brushed the soft skin of her cheek and then it found its way to trace her collar bone. He ate up her moan and abruptly pulled away, leaving her with a sedated expression. “Change your mind?” he drawled, pressing his lips to her again in a feathery manner. He hoped this would work. 

“Nope.” She quickly snapped out of her reverie and pecked him on the cheek before getting up. She waved him goodbye and as soon as she left, a pack of guys were already surrounding her and making her laugh. He saw a couple of girls scoffing at hid girlfriend and he silently agreed. I’m joining the club, sisters. Why can’t they gawk and stalk the ones who want attention?! His girlfriend clearly didn’t plan on being such a magnet with how she dressed. Why did she have to be so goddamn lovable? Jiyong sighed.

The sulking idol watched the sight in front of him ruefully. Even though she was far, he could clearly see that she was enjoying herself in the water. The sun was high up in the sky and giving everyone the summer warmth that they missed. Jiyong grumbled under his beach umbrella. Girls were purposefully blocking his view of her and some even tried to distract him by talking to him. His full attention however, was still glued to the short-haired dork. He cursed inwardly when Jaejoong lifted her up bridal-style and threw her in the water

Stupid sea… stupid sun… stupid men… stupid— … stupid stupid!

Good one, Jiyong.

And then suddenly, he started hearing a guitar play behind him. Curious, he looked back to see Hyukoh behind him and hiding under the shade of his umbrella. Jiyong and Oh-Hyuk stared at each other blankly and mutely for a good couple of minutes before Jiyong’s eyes darted to the guitarist who just continued playing. “Can I help you?” the idol asked confusedly.

“We were paid to play a song for you.” Oh-Hyuk said, pointing at Teddy and Hyunsuk who smirked at his direction. He scowled at them before turning back to the silent indie band. They had just signed with their company but he hasn’t talked with them that much to officially make them friends… or at least make them comfortable with each other. “Can we start?” the bald leader asked.

He already had his earphones in to drown out everyone’s jovial laughter but he didn’t want to be disrespectful to the band. He took out one earbud and played his songs on low volume. He glanced back to see them staring at him and he gave them an awkward smile. “Do I have to turn around or something?”

“We’d rather not.” Oh-Hyuk replied simply. “It’s going to be more awkward.”

He nodded in agreement and turned back to the torturous fun that was playing in front of him. The guitar continued to play behind him but then other instruments appeared. Was that maracas he was hearing?

“My legs stagger with every step
Today, another meaningless day goes by…”

“Noona!”

Dara immediately stopped as his hurried footsteps were coming closer to her. She gripped the phone in her hands and shut her eyes closed, feeling completely exhausted of everything. When she opened her eyes, she saw his new-found best friend catching his breath and grinning at her. She managed to shoot him a small smile and he could already sense the she was feeling under the weather by how she looked and stood. He held her hand reassuringly and dragged her towards their safe heaven.

“I believe people love those who are similar to them
So there’s no chance that my heart will beat fast”

They entered a small room that had a console piano and scattered and crumpled music sheets. He sat her down on the piano chair while he kneeled in front of her, cupping her cold hands. He looked at her worriedly while her eyes mirrored nothing but blankness.

“What’s wrong—”

“I’m so stupid, Hyuk.”

“Bzzz, Bzzz, even a mayfly
Flies away like it’s laughing at my pathetic self”

“Is it about Kwon Jiyong again?” his tone turned irritated. The melancholic look on her face and the bitterness in her voice was always because of him. He wasn’t jealous or anything. He was just annoyed at the fact that the girl is going way too over