Taeyong returns, since he felt bad watching Inhye cry; Jaehyun’s water bottle that he was supposed to bring completely forgotten. Jaehyun doesn’t remind him of it, since his original intention wasn’t to make him bring it anyways.

Yuta is already sitting in the circle again, peacefully eating his pancakes. As if nothing had happened. Taeyong buries his clenched fists into the pocket of his trousers to calm down his urge to punch the Japanese right into his face; knock that perfect smile off his face.

In his mind, he is considering running back out to Inhye, pull her into his arms and tell her to forget jerks such as Yuta; but Hansol is quick to make sure he doesn’t escape. ”Come sit here, Taeyong.”

He obeys, sits down next to Jaehyun again.

Hansol waits for it to be dead silent before he starts speaking. ”We have a lot to do today, clean and make sure not to throw any of the alcohol bottles in usual bins since my family will find it. Remember three years ago?”

Oh, if they do. Taeyong shudders by the thought of how Hansol’s dad came home; the four of them totally playing it innocent as if they had just had a cozy sleep over the night before and then Hansol’s dad opened the bin; saw a bottle of his exotic Busan-alcohol lay there. Completely empty.

Somehow Hansol managed to stammer in his panic the excuse that they had found it in the yard, that they had absolutely not touched it no no that’s not possible at all they didn’t drink it not even a bit especially not barely 16 year old Ten no no that’s out of question. Anyhow, Hansol’s dad was just as naive as Hansol is and went along with it. Taeyong remembers how relieved he was, so mollified that he almost cried.

”God, how could I ever forget?” Taeyong shudders. The same shudder as when he’s thinking about Johnny and Ten. ”I got sent to Busan because I misbehaved, and then almost got caught drinking alcohol. I was sure that now; my parents will send me to North Korea. No doubt.”

They all laugh and Taeyong smiles. It feels nice, laughing at old memories. Laughing at the stupid things they did back then. Since Taeyong doesn’t have much in his past to laugh about, it feels great to have at least one thing.

”Oh, and we also have to take care of my crops and other cultures that Ten and Johnny molested. Plus fixing Taeil’s fence. Again. And scrub everywhere. Literally everywhere. Even the roof. Got it?”

So that’s what they spent the day doing. Obviously, Ten and Johnny, who were the reason for most of the mess; cleaned the tiniest bit of it. And somehow on the way managed to ruin some more stuff while cleaning. For example, they accidentally spilled the freshly milked milk all over the newly scrubbed corridor. And they ruined Taeil’s fence. Again. Somewhere on the way it ended up with Jaehyun and Kun fixing it instead.

Inhye was back with the crew again. She came back when they were all almost done with breakfast, Jaehyun putting aside a few pancakes for her. No one could’ve guessed that she had cried, Taeyong thought for a second that he had seen it wrong. There was a subtle difference in her behaviour, though. Inhye had taken the seat on the other side of Jaehyun, opposite side of Yuta, and didn’t meet his gaze even once. Yuta didn’t say anything, either.

Taeyong should’ve felt relieved, since he had been feeling so suffocated by the two’s endless skinship, horrible thoughts filling his mind. But he was feeling even worse now. He had tried to deny to himself that the reason behind his deteriorated senses was because Inhye wasn’t smiling. He tried to deny it so hard, because he knows that if that was the cause; he cared more about Inhye’s feelings than his own.

Since the cleaning actually ended up taking the whole day, they’re eating their dinner at 8 o’clock. Jaehyun decided to show off his grilled pork dish, and Taeyong really wanted to do some side dishes. Sicheng and Ten were both hanging over their shoulders; begging to ‘get a bite’. Jaehyun stayed stern, ignoring their aegyo, while Taeyong was being a weak and just gave in.

Inhye and Johnny booed him for that action, Johnny actually threw his sock at him. ”Stop giving them! There won’t be anything left for us then!”

”It was just one bite!” Taeyong defends himself. ”Seriously, you’ve got no chill, man!”

”You’ve got no balls!”

” you!”

”Kids, settle down,” Jaehyun sighs and gets Johnny’s other sock thrown at him.

”You’re like twelve, shut the up or I’ll be calling your mom!” Johnny playfully threatens. ”Remember that you’re only here because you’re my slave.”

”Rather, my parents thought I misbehaved and sent me to you, out of all people, to learn how to behave. To think that you were worse than me.”

”... Shut up.”

They still managed to eat their dinner in peace, all of them taking turns in telling fun stories. Obviously, Johnny’s are the best ones. Then after that comes Ten’s. Doyoung wouldn’t agree with that, as it was obvious that the more Ten spoke; the more Doyoung wanted to throw the Thai out of the window without opening the window first. He’s got a point, though; no one asked for Ten’s cross-dressing stories.

”Inhye are you gonna’ sleep in the barn tonight or here?” Hansol asks when his plate is completely clean. He even scraped the end of the fork along the lines to get every little bit of the food. Taeyong wouldn’t be surprised if Hansol started the plate clean. Just in case he missed a spot. ”Just need to know if I have to lock or not.”

”Nah, I’ll sleep in the barn,” she answers, which surprised Taeyong.

He was sure that she’d want to sleep in the house to avoid sleeping anywhere close to Yuta. Maybe she’d feel like the situation is a little too obvious if she suddenly sleeps separated from the group, or it’s just the fact that she doesn’t want to get separated from them. Or she actually wants to sleep next to Yuta?

The night falls quickly and they’re all exhausted after all the working. Ten and Johnny actually fell onto their mattress by themselves, instead of Doyoung almost tying them down. Taeil is back to sleeping in his own house. Actually, he left after dinner without even saying goodbye.

”I’m dead tired,” Taeyong yawns, lying down on his mattress.

Inhye lays down in her own, placed side by side with Taeyong’s. ”Me too, but it’s a good kind of tired. It feels good.”

Taeyong turns his head to look at her, trying to read her face, whether she’s lying or not. He can’t tell, so he settles it with smiling. She smiles back.

Then Hansol ruins their sweet moment. ”I can’t find my cow pyjamas anywhere, who stole it?!” He stomps his left feet into the floor to express just how upset he is over his missing cow pyjamas. Goddamnit Hansol.

Jaehyun and Taeyong decides to help him find it and when they finally find it (somehow ended up blowing away when he had hung the laundry), the other kids are all sound asleep. Or maybe not Kun, who seems to be playing some kind of game on his phone. But the others are sound asleep.

”Kids,” Jaehyun sighs.

”Says the kiddo himself,” Taeyong grins and slaps the back of his head, gently. ”Go to sleep.”

”You too, hyung.”

Taeyong smiles and was about to lay down when he notices something. Yuta and Inhye are sleeping with their backs facing each other. That has never happened before. Wonder if she’s freezing, Taeyong thinks as he lays down; buries himself into his own blanket.

About half an hour later, Taeyong decides that she is indeed freezing. And that he is itching to drink something. Or moving. Or something, he just needs an excuse. An excuse to put his blanket over Inhye, tucking her into it before leaving the barn.

Outside, he leans against the barn, takes a look up at the sky full of stars. He remembers when he just got here with Inhye, and she had been so amazed by the amount of stars out here. Taeyong agrees, completely. It’s like there’s another heaven here than in Seoul. Two completely different skies.

He’s so caught up in his thoughts that he forgets that something called time exists, and that he probably stood out there for way too long. It’s the door to the barn opening that wakes him up from his deep thoughts, and the appearance of Yuta that gives him new thoughts. He’s leaving now, isn’t he? Since he’s carrying his bag, it’s obvious that he’s on his way out.

He’s shocked by seeing Taeyong standing out there. ”Oh,” he says, then he smiles. His signature smile, filled with shiny teeth. ”Didn’t know you were here. Did notice your mattress being empty, though...”

”Oh, cut the sweet talk,” Taeyong mutters, feeling angry just by the thought of him leaving without telling the others. And the thought of him just leaving again. The thought that he made Inhye cry less than 10 hours ago, but still, here he is; living his life as if that never happened. Leaving as if he didn’t care about how Inhye felt when he left last time. Repeating history and making her go through the same feeling she went through a year ago. Damn, someone like Inhye who always held her head high - Taeyong despises Yuta for making her drop to her knees and cry. ”What the are you doing? Are you just gonna’ eat, sleep and around here and then leave?”

Yuta lifts an eyebrow, amused. As if he saw this coming, sooner or later. ”Well, I did just as much as you, you know?”

”Shut up,” Taeyong clenches his jaw. ”I know you had something with Inhye. I know you’re still shaking up her feelings. I know you were a jerk, and by the looks of it you’re still a jerk; regarding the fact that you’re just leaving again. Leave her alone, don’t give her more pain than you already have. Why did you tell her to follow you to Japan? Why are you trying to revive a dead flower? Why the couldn’t you at least have given her an ending? You’ll never find a girl with so much self-respect that she’d rather have you break up with her than ruining the time you spent together, so why the did you treat her this way you ing piece of ?!”

And then Yuta smiles. Softly. That makes Taeyong even more aggravated. Holy Taeyong has probably never felt so mad. He was accused for murderer and wasn’t even feeling this pissed. ”You like her, don’t you?”

”I’m holding back the urge to punch you right in the face right now.” Taeyong is so mad right now that he ignores the fact that Yuta dodged all his questions. Not that he thinks the other man would have reasonable answers for them, either. Just excuses.

Yuta laughs. ”Do it, then, be a real murderer instead of a fake one.”

”How do you know I’m fake?”

Yuta laughs again, and this time Taeyong really held down his urge to grab him by the collar and throw him into the ground. It’s the thoughts of Inhye, who held down her feelings for his whole visit here to not be a burden to the others, that makes him keep his calm. ”Are you kidding me? You jump over Hansol’s flowers to not accidentally step on them and can’t even swat a mosquito. There’s no way someone like you could be a real murderer.”

”Is that a challenge?”

The Japanese male walks up closer to Taeyong, making him flinch just a bit. Then he puts his hands onto his shoulders. Taeyong hadn’t noticed it before, but they’re almost the same height. If anything, Yuta is a centimetre or so shorter.

”If you like Inhye, then go for it,” he smiles. ”I’m her first love, no need to see me as a threat. You know how first loves never last?”

There’s a twist in Taeyong’s guts and he pushes off Yuta’s hands from his shoulders. What is he saying?

”She still has feelings for you,” he suddenly confesses out of nowhere. He doesn’t know why, maybe to just confirm that yes; first loves can last. They have to last. Because... God, he doesn’t know. What is he thinking? The last thing he wishes for is that Inhye has feelings for a douche like this.

”I know she has, that’s the type of person she is,” Taeyong’s heart aches by those words. ”Even if she’s prideful, even if she hates me and even if she’ll never get back with me, she will never forget me and how I made her feel the three years we were together. That’s the power of me being her first love.”

”She deserves better than you.”

”So you think you’re better than me?”

”I didn’t say that.”

”Well,” Yuta takes a step back, picking up his bag again. ”Then good luck fighting your feelings. Do I see you next year?”

”Depends if I commit another murderer or not.” It could mean ’if I don’t get sent into prison again’, or it could mean ’if you’re alive by then’. Taeyong doesn’t explain it, he’ll let Yuta guess.

”I see,” Yuta nods. ”Well, I had fun spending the summer with you all. I left a note for Hansol. You’re a decent guy, Lee Taeyong.”

”Wish I could say the same about you, Nakamoto Yuta.”

”Yeah,” he laughs, then he walks past him; suitcase rolling behind him. ”And remember my words; first loves never last. You can fool everyone else but you can’t fool me, don’t even try. Get over it as soon as you can.”

Thank you all sooooo much for the supportive comments I've gotten! I appreciate every single one of them equally much! Thank you for keeping up with my irregular updates, and for following Inhye's and Taeyong's journey this far. Stay tuned for more! As unsual, comment (buffbuff), up-vote, subscribe and most importantly; enjoy~!

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