Luhan tosses his body left and right on the bed. He couldn't sleep, not because the bed is uncomfortable because if he can marry this bed he will nor Minseok is sleeptalking right now. He tries to count sheeps, wiggles his toes but Mr. Sandman just seems to care less about him right now.

He looks out the glass balcony door and watches the full moon shining brightly outside. He checks the clock on the wall, it's 12:30am and he's probably the only one left awake. Deciding that he will be up all night, he walks out to the balcony, but to his surprise he can hear laughter from below.

"Can't sleep, ge?"

Luhan looks to his right where he finds Tao looking at him, Kris' arms wrapped on his lover's waist but the blond is just looking down. "What's going on?" He asks, Tao leans his head to the right, "They're dancing."

Luhan looks down to see Kai, Lay and Sehun dancing around a small bonfire a few feet away from the beach house. "Aren't they tired?"

Kris shifts his gaze to Luhan, "Guess not? They were rested enough on the way here."

"And the others?"

Tao shrugs, "Well, we haven't gone downstairs but we saw Kyungsoo bring them snacks, Jongdae was dancing with them awhile ago. We thought you, Minseok and Joonmyun are already asleep. Baekhyun and Chanyeol, I don't wanna know anymore."

"Minseok is." Luhan tells them then watches the 3 younger boys from the balcony. "Wanna go down and join them?"

"Sure." Tao grins, then takes Kris' arms off him. "Tao..."

"Sh! Go to sleep." Tao gives Kris a peck on the cheek then runs off the room. "Sorry, Kris." Luhan bows and Kris just smiles, "Go."

Tao takes Luhan by the arm as they make their way downstairs, "We can talk now too, ge." Luhan smiles weakly, "Let's check on them first."

When they get outside, Kyungsoo is sitting on the floorboard, Jongdae next to him. "Oh, Kyungsoo-hyung, isn't it past your bedtime? Why still up?" Tao asks as he takes a seat next to him, the wide-eyed boy just smiles, "I feel wide awake now though. And watching these fools are fun!"

"Come on, guys! Lemme join! I'm a dancing machine too!" Jongdae whines, "I will definitely get your group first prize!"

"I'd rather have Minseok over you." Lay teases, Jongdae pouts.

"Sirs, how do you find the place to your liking?"

The boys turn to see the butler behind them carrying a tray of cold drinks, "It's great, Mr. Seo. But please, you should sleep, we'll take care of the rest." Kyungsoo smiles after he answers the butler's question. "I don't think any of us will be sleeping soon."

"Well then, I shall turn in now, young sirs. You can leave the tray here and we'll take care of it in the morning. Good night." Mr. Seo gives them a warm smile before heading back inside the house.

"Why are they so keen on dancing anyway?" Luhan asks to no one in particular. "Didn't he tell you?" Kai speaks while getting a drink from the tray, "We're gonna join a dance competition soon. Lay kind of dragged us both with him."

"No. He didn't tell me. He doesn't tell me anything anymore!" Luhan kicks on the sand, Tao pulls him up, "Let's take a walk, ge."

The two Chinese walks away, Sehun and Lay stops dancing, the rest watches them leave. "Do you think we're stupid, Sehun? What happened between the both of you?" Jongdae scolds the maknae, Sehun looks at Kyungsoo and Kai, "He's just getting bat crazy again." He earns a hard smack on the head from Lay, "You stupid boy. That's your hyung and bestfriend."

"It can't be still because of Kris, because those two are suddenly friendly, unless they both decide that it's okay for a . That's kinda hot, not to mention and Kris would love that."

"Start shutting your mouth, Jongdae or I will rip it off your face." Kris' voice booms from behind, "Where's my boyfriend?"

"Took a walk with Luhan-hyung." Sehun shrugs, he's about to replay the music when Kris stops him, "You. Come with me."

"Me?" Sehun points to himself then looks left and right just to make sure that Kris is pertaining to him. "What did I do this time?"

"Is this switch your partner night? Because really, you should have said so, I'm gonna borrow Kyungsoo."

"I will rip your head off, Jongdae." Kai growls, Lay takes Jongdae and Kyungsoo pulls his boyfriend away from the said boy.

Kris turns to the others, "Go to sleep, I really just need a little talk with Sehun here."

"Okay. Good night." The others murmur as they retreat back to the house. Sehun and Kris starts walking to the opposite direction of where Tao and Luhan walked off too.

-----

"Look, ge. You can speak now. I promise I won't tell anyone." Tao starts as he sits on the sand, a safe distance from the shore and the house, Luhan sits next to him.

"Sehun... Confessed to me 2 days ago." The doe-eyed Chinese speaks as he runs his finger on the white sand, "Well, indirectly."

"Indirectly?"

Luhan bites his lower lip, "I overheard them talking after the incident with you and Kris. It was midnight, they all slept over in our apartment after coming from Kai's place and fixing you and Kris..."

"Go on, hyung. I'm listening." Tao pats the older boy's back, "I'm here."

Luhan tells the whole story, from start to finish on how he's accidentally overheard about Sehun's true feelings for him until the time he has rejected his bestfriend face on. Through all that, Tao listens without saying anything - no judgement, just a few nods and hums to show that he's still listening.

"... All I wanted is for us to get back together as bestfriends. Is that so hard?" Luhan is crying now, Tao gives him another pat on the back. "Ge, it is."

"No, it isn't! Look at the both of us, I made your life miserable but you're the one here with me."

"Because we're not bestfriends and I'm not in love with you."

"I don't understand..." Luhan whimpers as he pulls his knees closer to his chin, "We decided that nothing's changed but all he does is just stick to Lay and completely ignore me!"

"Ge... Everything's changed. Pretending that nothing has is a complete and utter bull."

Luhan looks up to see that Tao is looking back at him, but with a soft gaze and warm smile, "Ge, you can't just force Sehun to be okay. He has loved you ever since he hit his puberty, and I'm sure he still does. You rejected him and it's a massive blow, he needs time to heal, you just can't magically fix his broken heart. I just don't get it, why can't you love him back?"

"... He's a kid, Tao. He's just a kid."

"What? That guy is 19 years old."

"... I've known him since I was 8. He was still a toddler in a diaper when I played with him in a sandbox. I don't wanna see him romantically, it's like I'm ually molesting a younger brother!"

"Ge, if you haven't noticed, because really, we all did... Sehun's a bit more mature than you. No offense meant. And you're the clingy one."

Luhan hits Tao's arm, "Offense taken!" The older boy pouts, "Well, he kind of... Tried to grow up immediately. I was aware of how much he wanted to catch up to me." Luhan wipes his tears and laughs, "When he was 8, he actually tried beating up the guys who were bullying me because they thought I was just 7 when I'm older than everyone of them."

"And you really never saw him as a grown up?"

Luhan sighs, "Unfortunately, until recently, I still see him as the kid who cries whenever it's time for us to part. The 6-year old crying in the middle of the park because he fell off the swing, the 8-year old who was trying not to cry after getting bruised up trying his best to protect me."

"Ge, from what you're saying... Sehun has tried hard enough to catch up to you, he even went to the same college as you. But, you gave him a slight hope just by waiting for him to come. Ge, if you can't love him back, let him go. Let him breathe."

Luhan starts crying again, "But that's the thing... I don't want him away from me. He's my Sehun-ah, he's my bestfriend and he's mine alone."

Tao pats Luhan's back, "It won't work that way, ge. At this point, it's just the only thing that you can do. You'd just have to let him go."

"I won't! If I need to impale Lay just so they'd stop dancing together, I will!"

"You're jealous of Lay-ge?"

"I am not jealous, I'm just saying that he should stop getting Sehun-ah's attention because now I'm being ignored!"

"Ge, you're jealous."

"I'm not!" Luhan screeches, Tao laughs. "Okay ge, whatever. But do try to sort your emotions because from my point of view, you really are jealous."

"I'm possessive. That's it."

"Yeah right."

"TAOOOOOO~!! Let's sleep!" A voice cuts their conversation, Luhan tsks. "Your boyfriend is clingy, god."

Tao laughs heartily, "And you are too. Both of you wouldn't have worked or you might end up killing each other by suffocation."

Luhan laughs at this then stops, "Thank you, Tao. Really, my heart and head's still not sorted out but I'm glad I have someone I can talk to about this."

-----

"You're scary, hyung. What did I do this time?!" Sehun asks after they settle on the sand.

"What happened? Don't give the crap that nothing did because I will dunk your head in the water."

Sehun raises an eyebrow, "I have no idea why you're suddenly concerned about me. About this."

Kris an eyebrow, "My boyfriend told me he noticed the changes between you and Luhan-hyung. And honestly, the cold shoulder? I'm expecting the both of you inseparable on this trip since, you know, our issues."

Sehun scratches the back of his neck, "Well, things escalated so quickly between us. I don't think you wanna know."

"Look, talk to me. I know we're not that close but I will understand you. I mean, I think since we're not the closest of friends you can confide in me without any inhibitions about what happened between the both of you."

Sehun throws shells into the ocean, "... You know how stupid and funny it feels at the same time when you waited for a long time to prepare yourself to confess to the love of your life only to be rejected even before doing what you've planned for so long?" The youngest laughs, "And he just overheard it while I was talking with Kai and Chanyeol in our apartment. He was too jumpy and couldn't take the pressure of knowing what I feel that he ended up rejecting me and told me he never saw me romantically."

Kris sighs, "That . But go on."

"... He asked me if things can just get back normally, and god, I love him so much so I agreed even if just being in one room with him kills me. I really can't. I tried but it hurts."

Kris squints his eye, "But you seem like... You haven't dealt with it head on."

Sehun shakes his head, "Like cry? No. I haven't. I don't want to but I wanted to scream so badly that night." The maknae smirks, "Not like this is any different from all the heartaches I've dealt with when it comes to him. You aren't the first guy I had to learn about. He's dated before after he graduated high school and went to Seoul, but I guess you're the one I had to deal with personally everyday."

Kris pats him on the back, "You can cry now, I swear I won't use it as blackmail material. It will make you feel better. I cried like a ing prissy when Tao and I... Broke up."

Sehun laughs, "Kris-hyung, we know. It's unbecoming."

Kris pats him harder the maknae whinces, "But no, Sehun. I may not know exactly how you're feeling right now but well, you know..."

Sehun rests his chin on his palm, "I tried, hyung. I really did. I tried so hard ever since we were young. I remember when he protected me from Taehun when I was 6, I felt so helpless and he looked so delicate even if he was trying to stop me from crying and being angry at Taehun. I didn't want us to feel that way again that's why when I was growing older, I made sure it was me who'll do the protecting. I tried beating up a group of kids bullying him when I was 8 because really, if you've seen him before with his button nose and doe eyes, you'd think he's half his age that time."

Sehun scoffs, "The moment I turned 13, I just knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. You have no idea how happy I was when he told me he'd wait for me in college because I thought, maybe... He'll finally see me not as a snotty 4 year old anymore. But you came along."

"Woah." Kris raises his hands in defense, "I didn't lay a hand on him. I'm all for Tao."

Sehun laughs, "I know. I know... But I was really disappointed when all he ever talked about was you, I swear I was this close to punching you and him. I mean... I didn't know it would be harder." The younger's voice starts breaking, "It was easier when I dealt with his breakups from a distance, because I was able to deal with my own heartbreak from a distance. But when I got to Seoul I had to console him, while trying not to show my own heart breaking everytime he cried about you."

Sehun is crying now, Kris apologizes for something he wasn't able to control. The older waits for Sehun to calm a little before speaking again, "Sehun... Is this also a way of trying to fix yourself up? Completely ignoring his existence?"

"... Hyung, if he can't see me romantically maybe he never will. I love him, yes, but I don't think he'd want me to pursue him anymore. If I don't move on now, when can I ever?" Sehun plays with the hem of his shirt, "So, yes. Maybe ignoring him a bit is the only way I know how so we can be okay. It's a lie if we tell each other nothing's changed when everything has."

Kris squeezes Sehun's shoulder, "You should sort this out better. If you keep ignoring him, I won't be the only one who'll talk to you about this and I am sure you don't wanna talk about it over and over. You're the more mature one despite your age, and if you tried to be a grown up to catch up to Luhan-hyung, you'll fix this like an adult."

Sehun is about to retort when Kris stands, "Latching onto Lay will not fix anything, kid."

"What? With Lay-hyung?"

Kris smirks, "Think about it." Kris starts walking away, Sehun follows him. They're in front of the beach house when Kris screams, "TAOOOOOO~!! Let's sleep!"

"Dude, our friends are sleeping!" Sehun slaps Kris on the arm. Kris acts like he's gonna elbow Sehun in the gut before he tries to scream again. To the maknae's relief, Tao and Luhan's figures emerge from the shore.

"Babe, come on. Sleep?" Kris asks calmly this time, Tao runs up to him and hugs his boyfriend, "Alright. Goodnight, Sehun. Luhan-ge." The couple leaves the two behind.

"So, uh..." Sehun starts, "Goodnight." The younger is about to leave when Luhan grabs him on the wrist, "What is it, hyung?"

Luhan doesn't say anything, he just stares at Sehun. The maknae removes the older's hand from his wrist, "Luhan-hyung. Don't do this. I can't take it anymore..."

"Sehun-ah... I really miss you."

Sehun sighs, "Hyung, I'm sorry. This won't work."

"What won't?"

Sehun shakes his head, points his finger to him then to the older, "I thought maybe, just maybe, I can really pretend that nothing's changed but everything has already. Us. We can't work together. I'm permanently moving out of our apartment after this trip is over."

Luhan is about to say something when Sehun cuts him off, "Don't say anything. Not tonight. Just... Rest. We both need it." The younger heads inside leaving Luhan outside.

He's gone by the time Luhan starts crying alone.

----------------------------

Author's Notes: SORRY. Word vomit. In a chapter or two, I will be closing this story soon. <3

and here's Baekhyun waving at my camera during DKFC here in Manila. ahihih. <3