Because Inhye didn’t want to go back to the others with her puffy and obviously watery eyes; Taeyong decides to join Inhye for a walk. They walked past all of Hansol’s animals; all the way to the very well known Busan beach. When they’re there, they walk side by side in the sand on the edge of the beach. So much that if they were to move just a millimetre to the right, the waves would reach Inhye’s feet.

Taeyong needs to think. Because Inhye isn’t as strong as he thought, and he didn’t even know how strong he thought she was. How stupid of him, she is also human. And Yuta hurt her thoroughly, but even so she might still have feelings lingering for the Japanese douchebag.

Taeyong glances at her. The sun is only a few minutes from disappearing into the horizon, which makes the sky a deep red, purpleish colour. Taeyong almost didn’t notice it, but the sight of Inhye in front of it made him realise just how absolutely gorgeous she was in the current lightning.

She’s like a puppy, Taeyong thinks followed by a sigh. A puppy that grew to like her owner, so much that even when the owner mistreated her; she still couldn’t hate him. At least that’s his impression. What if Inhye maybe hates him deep down, but has decided to pretend to like him so that she won’t be a burden to them all.

That won’t make Taeyong like him, even though Yuta’s personality indeed makes it hard to hate him. He wants to think that the reason behind his spite is because of the fact that Yuta hurt Inhye, his lawyer (and in denial; someone very close to him), but in the back of his mind he knows that it isn’t fully the only reason. If it was, why did Taeyong feel so heartbroken and sad by the thought that Inhye might still have feelings for him?

”You can go back if you want,” Inhye finally speaks. ”I won’t return for a while, I think.”

Taeyong looks down, sees how close their hands are to each other. The back of their hands are almost brushing each other. Taeyong reaches out, but interrupts himself. He shouldn’t. Instead, he buries his hand into his pocket, smiles softly.

”Me neither.”

 •  •  •

If Taeyong had known that Ten and Johnny would congratulate him for ‘getting laid’ when they return; he wouldn’t have returned at all. Damn, can those two not read the atmosphere at all? Like, not the slightest?

”Shut up, stop being disgusting,” Taeyong snorts, almost kicks Ten in the face as the younger proceeds to hug him by the waist.

If he didn’t know better; he’d think that they were drunk already. He was about to grow irritated and mad as Ten tells him that his waist is smaller than a girls, but Johnny interrupts his thoughts about committing another murder.

”Guys, time for ghost stories! Gather here, kids!”

Ten lets loose of Taeyong immediately. ”Aw Johnny hyung~” he whines and Taeyong cringes ever so slightly. ”You know how terrified I get by those.”

”Oh I know,” Johnny smirks. ”Hurry up, kids.”

Taeyong takes the seat next to Ten (which is a huge mistake because Ten will cling to him like there’s no tomorrow as the stories gets spookier), on the opposite side of Yuta. Yuta is sitting next to Hansol, chatting friendly as Taeyong sits down. Then Yuta smiles to him. Yet another smile that stabs Taeyong in the guts. He is so pretty, he thinks. Of course Inhye still likes him, who wouldn’t?

”Hurry, Inhye!” Doyoung shouts and waves at her to take her cardigan quicker (because yes it is indeed icy in the barn, but all of the men have too much pride to get a cardigan or blanket, well with the exception of Ten who is dressed in Johnny’s huge hoodie).

”I’m coming,” she informs, runs to their circle with one candle placed in the middle (which is also a huge mistake because one day there will be no barn if they continue).

Taeyong had somehow expected her to take the seat next to him, because he is still unused to being separated. So his heart stops beating for a second that felt way too long as she squeezes herself in between Jaehyun and Doyoung. But at least he is relieved by the fact that she’s not sitting next to Yuta.

It’s okay, Taeyong tells himself, nods slightly while chewing on his bottom lip. He shouldn’t overthink this. Although there has to be a reason for her tears back at the paddocks, it doesn’t mean that she still loves him. She said it herself; an unfinished book is worthless. So is their relationship.

 •  •  •

It took way too long time after the ghost stories had ended for them to go to bed. All of their phones were dead, but Taeyong know that it’s way too late. Hansol is sound asleep, waiting for his integrated morning alarm - or rather rooster to wake him up at 6 AM, Jaehyun is most likely awake, Doyoung yelled at Ten and Johnny to shut the up a few minutes ago (now they’re being noisy again and Taeyong is mentally prepared to hear Doyoung scold the out of them). Sicheng and Kun both managed to fall asleep before Ten and Johnny started chattering like Hansol’s gooses. Inhye, sleeping on Taeyong’s right side, is also sound sleep. She’s sleeping on her side, facing him; buried into her blanket. Her lips are curved upwards, and Taeyong doesn’t know if it’s because she’s dreaming or if it’s her naturally up-curved lips. As she shifts slightly, the blanket falls of her shoulder.

He was about to reach out for it when another hand does. Taeyong is dumbfounded. Carefully, he reaches himself up on an elbow; sees that no one else than Yuta is drawing small patterns onto Inhye’s back. He knows exactly where to to get a small reaction out of the sleeping, unknowing female and Taeyong feels sick. It’s something they must’ve done a lot. Taeyong knows they had . He knows it, cuddling shouldn’t be a big deal.

But it is. His mind is picturing those two together in ways he doesn’t want to and he can’t get rid of it. Why? Why would his own brain do that to him? Not only is the whole world against him, his own body is too. He feels his heart sinking, and even more as Yuta shifts his gaze upwards, towards Taeyong’s own gaze. They lock eyes, staring into each others souls for a while. Taeyong knows it, he sees it. Yuta still hasn’t gotten over Inhye either. He doesn’t deserve her, Taeyong thinks, frowning. He broke her heart. Yuta smiles, probably as an answer to Taeyong’s frown. A soft, kind smile that Inhye probably saw a lot. Taeyong smiles back, because he knows that there isn’t anything else he can do.

Taeyong can’t fall asleep, nevertheless. Soon, even Yuta is sleeping; his hand on Inhye’s waist. Taeyong wants to slap that hand away, more than anything else in the world. But at the same time; who gave him the right to?

Feeling sick, and just as lonely as he feels in Seoul - despite being in a room with 10 other people, Taeyong decides to go and get himself some water. He doesn’t dare to drive back to Hansol’s house just for that (he knows how to drive, but didn’t get his license before getting into prison); so instead he decides that the water from the well will be good enough.

The well is only a few hundred meters away from the barn, so it doesn’t take long before Taeyong is standing before it. He lifts down the bucket, fills it with water and then pulls it back up. Just as he’s about to drink a mouth full, a voice interrupts him.

”I wouldn’t recommend that.”

Taeyong looks over his shoulder, sees no one other than Jaehyun walking towards him. Out of nowhere, he tosses him a water bottle and it’s only thanks to Taeyong’s quick senses that he didn’t get the bottle right into his face.

”Drink that instead, if you don’t want to spend midsummer puking.”

Taeyong grins. ”It’ll probably end that way anyway. That’s how I remember my midsummer three years ago.”

Jaehyun also grins, leans casually against the well. ”Can’t sleep?” he asks.

Taeyong shakes his head. He is already fond of Jaehyun. Because he is 18, the age where you’re inexperienced and cute. Well, based on the stories from before, he knows that he is wrong on both. He likes the age, 18. Taeyong didn’t really get to experience it. He spent them in prison. ”You too?”

Jaehyun sighs, shakes his head. ”It’s normally hard for me to fall asleep in my own room, imagine how hard it is when Ten and Johnny can’t stop giggling?”

Taeyong laughs. ”Same, more or less.”

Jaehyun grins, lifts an eyebrow and Taeyong is surprised by how easily he got read through by the younger. ”Really? If that’s how you lie you won’t make it far in life.”

Taeyong snorts. ”Shut up, brat. You don’t know anything.”

Jaehyun shrugs, pulls a hand through his hair. ”True, but I do know that you’re lying.”

Taeyong grins. He never thought he’d grin so whole-heartedly in a situation like this. ”Touché”.

•  •  •

Taeyong had almost punched Hansol in the face as he woke them all up the next morning. Jaehyun, who is the easiest man alive to wake up; even though he only got about 1-2 hours of sleep, is quick to make breakfast - mainly to escape from the paddock mucking.

”Hansol,” Ten groans, cuddles tighter into Johnny’s blanket (somehow he got too scared during the night to sleep in his own mattress that is. literally. placed. right. side. by. side. with. Johnny’s. that he decided to sleep with him instead). ”Let us sleep, get out.”

So instead, he lets in all the roosters in the farm and never before has Taeyong run out of a house that fast. Roosters are scary. Seriously.

”Today, we have to clean the horse and cow stables, and then fix Taeil’s fence because one of us can’t drive.”

”Eh, actually, only one of us has a licence and that’s me,” Johnny corrects but Hansol ignores it, continuing his speech.

”But let’s begin with mucking the paddocks.”

After an hour of mucking a huge paddock, Taeyong feels like his back might break. He is so fragile and is feeling so old that he doesn’t know what to do.

He is enlightened, though, when he hears Inhye’s giggle, and then a hand on his shoulder. ”How’s it going, gramps?”

Taeyong grins, feeling his heart start racing and his nerves flutter by the touch on his shoulder. Stop it, he scolds himself. It’s Inhye, you shouldn’t feel that way. ”Horrible, thank God that Jaehyun cooked for us or else I’d probably eat grass.”

”What about an apple?” a third voice joins them.

Yuta, out of nowhere, had walked up on Taeyong’s left side, grinning with two apples in each hand.

The thing is, when he is only thinking about Yuta, he likes the dude. He is funny, very good looking, extroverted, youthful, adventurous; Taeyong can’t find any flaws in him. But when he is thinking about Yuta and Inhye, he grows to dislike the Japanese male so much that it scares him. And the thing is; never can he only think about Yuta. Either it’s Yuta and Inhye, or he doesn’t think about him at all.

”Nah, I’m good,” Taeyong politely denies.

Yuta shrugs. ”Innie, you?”

Innie.

Inhye nods. ”Sure.” Then the apple is tossed to her.

”Oh by the way, I read online that you can’t miss the Busan ocean when the sun is barely up; the water looks almost pinkish!” Yuta informs, flashing yet another smile that makes Taeyong feel sick again. ”Seriously, I don’t want to have visited Busan and not seen it. Maybe we can see it together before breakfast?”

To Taeyong’s surprise, Inhye shakes her head. ”Me and Taeyong already saw it yesterday before dawn. Not the sunrise, but I think the colour of the ocean is about the same. It was really pretty and breathtaking, never before have I seen anything so beautiful, right, Taeyong?”

Taeyong is taken aback by her words. The ocean? Was it pretty? He hadn’t noticed it’s colour, didn’t bother looking at it. Why? It’s something he probably would have been astonished by.

It’s all because of Inhye. When she’s with him, his mind couldn’t care less about the things around them. He couldn’t care less about the ocean when something as astonishing as Inhye’s beauty under the deep red sky was before him.

The ocean makes up around 70% of the whole earth, and yet Inhye made him not notice it when it was right in front of him.

Thank you all so much for the supportive comments so far, and I'll hope you'll continue to enjoy this story 'till its end~! ❤ As usual; please subscribe, up-vote, comment and most importantly - enjoy~!