It felt like only a few seconds he was asleep, he was shaken awake again by none other than Sungyeol who was complaining loudly. Chen woke up way before Myungsoo was and he wasn’t supposed to be awake too.

“Chen you can go back to sleep,” Sungyeol said. Myungsoo groggily rubbed his eyes. He was very confused as Sungyeol ranted on about how he didn’t understand people who could sleep like a log. “You have work first thing in the morning”

“What about me? It’s only twelve midnight!” Myungsoo growled, not feeling great at all. Sungyeol frowned deeply, though he seemed like he wanted to argue but he didn’t.

“We’re late. Let’s just go,” he solemnly told Myungsoo who promptly went to the bathroom to at least make himself presentable. He grabbed a thin sweater jacket and met Sungyeol outside his and Chen’s room. He narrowed his eyes as he saw Kai and Hoya waiting outside, each was on their own motorcycle.

He cursed in a low tone, praying that Sungyeol would go with Kai; he didn’t feel like dealing with the younger man. “Why aren’t we using the taxi?” and he never thought he’d prefer the taxi.

Sungyeol frowned “Yongguk-hyung is sleeping” he then went over to Hoya. Myungsoo was debating whether he should say anything or not.

In the end though, Hoya held up a hand to him, smiled and took off with Sungyeol.

It was awkward silence at first before Myungsoo decided to hell with it and hopped on and just his luck, Kai really was trying to kill him. He gripped the side of the seat extra-hard as they flew through the roads.

“Kai!, if you’re trying to kill me it won’t work you know, why not we just settle this!” he shouted furiously

The younger man stayed quiet, not rising to the bait but after that he slowed down by much and Myungsoo thanked the God that he arrived safely. Sungyeol and Hoya was waiting for them beside a tree. They were apparently at the beach. In the middle of the dark dead night… the only sounds heard after Kai turn off the engine was of the waves crashing onto the shore. Myungsoo turned to the three men, puzzled. It was getting chilly too.

Hoya led them to the sands for awhile, no one was talking. Myungsoo tightened his grip on his old sweater jacket as the cool night breeze blew relentlessly at them, keeping his head trained on the sands. His teeth were beginning to chatter and his limbs were starting to shake. The hair at the back of his neck rose as another gust of icy wind hit him. Up ahead he heard roars of laughter so he peered over, squinting

It looked like some group of people camping at the beach; they even had a fire going on in the middle of their small circle. He looked closely and immediately recognized Woohyun who was facing him. He had a bottle in his right hand and a plastic cup in the other. Then, Woohyun who seemed to be telling some stories to his little audience looked up and saw the approaching group and beamed at them enthusiastically. With only the light from the gorgeous full moon in the pitch black sky and the hot fire burning in front of Woohyun, the man appeared to be glowing and Myungsoo blinked.

He went over to them and stopped short, he didn’t recognize nearly half of the people when his eyes landed on Sungjong who was sitting opposite of Woohyun but he wasn’t paying attention to him. The young man was smiling softly to a woman beside him, gazing at her tenderly.

Sungjong…Sungjong made his breath caught in his throat as he watched him. His fist tightened and he bit on his lower lip hard as that tingling feeling- the shadow of the near-kiss- returned full force. ‘Why?’ his heart whispered. ‘Why does he look so unreal?’ His feet carried him to where the other one was. Whispering things and chuckling with a woman who didn’t seem to be much interested. He didn’t realize that he had grabbed the beautiful boy’s hand startling all three of them- even himself- as he harshly pulled Sungjong up on his feet.

“Oh Myungsoo hyung,” Sungjong said, tone half surprised and half amused. He gazed at Myungsoo’s face “hyung, your hands are cold,” he worriedly said taking hold of and rubbing Myungsoo’s hands with his own-the left one was free of bandages- with full concentration. The pleasant warmth of the younger’s hands spread to his as he stood rooted, unable to speak as a heavy feeling washed over him. He tried hard to make his hands stay still, not to make an attempt to take hold of Sungjong’s hands again although he really wanted to. His desperate eyes landed on the woman who was staring dead at him

Her expression didn’t change, her eyes were soulless and even with the fire near her, she still looked cold and pale. Sungjong stopped and saw that Myungsoo was gazing at his friend. He wrapped his arm around Myungsoo’s shoulder as he urged Myungsoo to step further “hyung, this is Park Bom noona. Noona, this is my new friend, Myungsoo-hyung,” he cheerfully introduced. Bom didn’t even nod just continue to be as lifeless as a statue.

Sungjong sit beside her again and patted the log on his other side, motioning to Myungsoo to sit beside him. In a consoling voice, the younger man turned to Bom again “noona, don’t be sad like that please, I hate it when you stay quiet like this,” he said. Myungsoo began to feel awkward. He saw Sungyeol opposite of him wearing almost the same expression as Bom but his eyes were trained at someone.

Even before he saw who it was Sungyeol was gazing at… he knew. Myungsoo focused on Woohyun, trying to block away Sungjong who was miserably trying to comfort a woman who didn’t seem to appreciate his effort. The self-proclaimed NamStar was the opposite of the gloomy moods of Sungyeol, Bom and himself. He was ecstatic and all over the place. Woohyun put his hands around a very pretty blonde and started to sing loudly. That man was halfway drunk already judging by the slur in his words.

“Gyu-hyung, come on le-letsh sing!” he shouted, hugging the woman closer to him

“Yah Woohyun,” the blonde cried but the man only grinned wider. Myungsoo saw Sungyeol looked away and stood up. He got on his feet as well when Sunggyu answered Woohyun’s previous question with a rough

“I hate singing,” and proceeded to ignore him, concentrating instead on the marshmallows he was trying to cook with Dongwoo who was leaning on him while his feet was on Hoya’s lap.

Sungyeol went to sit beside Hoya and Myungsoo followed suit, thinking that he would feel better after he had a few of those nice-looking marshmallows. Hoya handed them a stick each “eat those Sungyeol, tomorrow we’ll be hitting the gym, usual time,”

“But I have the musical final rehearsal tomorrow! Last rehearsal will be so tiring” Sungyeol whined “besides we have yoga every other day we don’t have your regular training. Exercise is only required three times a week to stay healthy you know,”

Hoya raised an eyebrow “didn’t you request to have more training for the musical since you have to …,” Sungyeol immediately clapped a hand on Hoya’s mouth, eyes wide

“Shushhh! You spoiler! I’ve invited Myungsoo already. I wanted to keep everything a surprise,” he glanced at an amused Myungsoo and Hoya just smirked.

Woohyun, meanwhile was dancing sloppily with the blonde beside him “Minzy ah, CL come danshe w’ me…,” he cried to two other girls by the fire who was laughing at him. The blonde he put his arm around on however, was struggling to get out of his tight hug.

“Is that even allowed? Erghh that flirt! He must be enjoying rubbing himself against a woman….” Sungyeol said through gritted teeth and Myungsoo grimaced. Sungyeol was going to break the wooden stick any seconds

Hoya spoke Myungsoo’s mind when he sarcastically commented “You must love Hyoyeon so much eh Sungyeollie? I swear you’re going to destroy that stick,” Sungyeol seemed startled by this and defended himself furiously

“I’m just worried that NamPerv will get a restraining order one of these days, you know,” both of the men between Sungyeol nodded unconvinced. Myungsoo met Hoya’s knowing grin with his own.

“Oh forgive me, for a second there I thought you were worried about Hyoyeon,” Hoya cleverly commented in a sly tone. Sungyeol’s jaw went slack and he eyed Hoya disbelievingly. He was rendered speechless and the atmosphere surrounding them became tense as Myungsoo clearly saw Sungyeol’s dumbfounded expression. Just then, his grip around the stick slackened and it fell on the sand, barely even making a sound. Dongwoo’s eyes widened as he realized this

“Yeol! Oh nooo your marshmallows!” Dongwoo cried, sitting straight. Myungoo saw Sungyeol helplessly stared back and forth from the stick to Dongwoo. The older man scolded Sungyeol like a mother would to her child who had wasted his food. Myungsoo’s and Hoya’s laugh echoed in the night causing the others to turn their heads to them.

“Sungjong and Sungyeol are going to dance everybody, please give a round of applause” Hoya suddenly announced and clapped his hands as the others went along with Hoya’s instruction hesitantly at first but after that they were yells of excitements. Myungsoo could’ve sworn Sungyeol muttered “manipulating bastard” under his breath despite the huge grin plastered on his face as he bowed to the others.

Sungjong was reluctant at first, seeming unwilling to leave Bom’s side and Myunsoo’s smile faltered. He swallowed a lump in his throat, wondering the reason he was so affected by it. ‘It’s the cold’ he thought ‘I can’t think straight when it’s cold’.  Woohyun stood to the side giddily

“I sing I sing!” he offered loudly, jumping up and down happily. Before anyone could reply, someone else was also offering. His voice echoed in the night and everybody turned to see who it was. Myungsoo blinked before he squinted and nearly killed himself from laughing.

It was Baekhyun, piggyback riding Chanyeol who was running with the biggest goofy grin on his face as Baekhyun let out whoops and piercing screeches, attempting to communicate with the night birds and squirrels- Myungsoo assumed.  “So I heard we’re singing?” Baekhyun asked, eyes lighting up as he excitedly clapped his hands as he arrived. Chanyeol let him down, though he was sweaty and clearly out of breath, his sweet smile was still intact.

“It’s so warm,” Chanyeol commented as he walked nearer to the fire, seemingly fascinated by it. Baekhyun turned and gave a warning

“Channie, don’t stand so close to the fire,”

He pulled Chanyeol gently away and then his eyes landed on Kai who was silently brooding with a bottle in hand. “Hello there my little kkamjong!” he called out waving at Kai who blatantly ignored him. Myungsoo watched as Baekhyun who was unfazed, went to sit beside him. He thought Baekhyun wanted to sing earlier.

Woohyun’s hand on his shoulder startled him for a second and the older man whispered “Kai ishh avin’ a lot of of of of emmmh pro’lems. Poor poor poor kkamjongie,” he unsteadily wrapped his arms around Myungsoo’s and started to sing a song he recognized as 4Minute’s Hyuna Bubble Pop the well-known girl group in Korea, asking Sungjong and Sungyeol to dance for him.

Minzy volunteered to start dancing with them first, Hyoyeon joining in before the boys gained enough confidence to show off their talents. Myungsoo’s attention was first on Sungyeol who was as usual making ridiculous faces to his friends and being his usual choding self but then his eyes landed on Sungjong who was crazy enough to do many y numbers with a very serious and seductive look. His eyes were intense, his movements were sharp and the way he flipped his hair as the cool night wind blew was enough to make Myungsoo’s smile dropped and he unconsciously started to assume his cold front.

Whenever Myungsoo felt threatened or he thought he was in a risky position, he would almost instinctively revert to his other self. It was like a defensive emotional barrier. One that slipped out in many instances, usually one wouldn’t notice such psychological tendency but Myungsoo being the observant person he was realized this though not without some help.

He didn’t know why he felt all of the sudden the need to protect himself. He was confused but he didn’t let it show. He felt his hands balled into fist again, eyes not taking off Sungjong. When their smoldering gazes met each other though...it was like nothing he had ever felt before, there was no moon, no sky, no sands, no sounds of the crashing waves against the shore, no Woohyun’s off-key singing beside him and no other dancers existed. It was only him and Lee Sungjong… Lee Sungjong and his blazing, electrifying dark eyes. .. Lee Sungjong and his entrancing dance, the beautiful Lee Sungjong and his delicateness... When the younger man gave him a small little angelic smile, he felt it for sure then…that his heart skipped a beat.