Over the next few days, both Baekhyun and Jongin became completely adjusted to each other. Jongin seemed to learn a new fact about his music box everyday, like the fact that Baekhyun didn’t need to drink or eat, but he needed to sleep. Being non-human, Jongin also found out that Baekhyun was far more simple hearted than he expected and that he was always content with what he was given. Whether it was one of Jongin’s old and worn out shirts for their short outings, or a spare pair of cheap headphones, given to Baekhyun when he insisted he wanted to brush up on what types of music Jongin liked to listen to, he never complained. Baekhyun didn’t need anything fancy or the best of anything, and that fact made Jongin’s heart fill just a bit more about the other, as before, Jongin had been so used to everyone in show business around him demanding anything and everything the world had to offer.

Meanwhile, as Jongin uncovered more things about Baekhyun, the music box had been undergoing a learning process of his own, trying to unravel the tangling complexities of human emotion. Secretly, he had begun observing Jongin’s expressions from all the little sighs and grumbles late at night to the face splitting smiles whenever a melody sounded just right and he scribbled furiously in his notepad. His is little pink tongue always stuck out the corners of his mouth.

Baekhyun quite liked that look on Jongin.

Besides his face, Baekhyun also noticed the way Jongin’s body reacted as his mood shifted throughout the day—like the way his back straightened whenever he was in concentration, and the way his arms hung limply by his side when he had no more energy. It was all very amusing and fascinating to Baekhyun, especially the way Jongin’s whole frame fidgeted whenever a strong beat played in the background, almost as if he was about to leap up and burst into motion at any second. But he never did.

Baekhyun kept all those images meticulously catalogued inside his memory files and slowly began grouping and matching each and every one together with the limited knowledge he had already had imported into his processor.

Smiles meant happiness, frowns meant sadness, etc., but there were also so many new little things that Baekhyun could tell meant so much more than those ever could, like a soft gaze or a lingering touch. Baekhyun was trying to learn, he really was. He had even gotten Jongin to try to explain what emotions felt like too.

“Happiness makes you smile, it makes a warmth spread all the way from the very inside to the outside until you’re beaming, while sadness is the empty feeling when all of it is taken away.” Was what Jongin had said, but it was only one afternoon when Jongin took him to the beach, did he fully and truly understand.

-

Unlike the crowded roads of the town that were bustling with busy bodies and open aired conversations, the beach was free and clear with only the drumming sound of the waves lapping at the shore and the bubbling laughter of Jongin as Baekhyun kicked off his shoes and immediately ran to wriggle his bare toes in the fine white sand. Baekhyun couldn’t help but giggle at the texture, so warm and ticklish, but suddenly jumped as a cold splash slapped against his ankles. “Is this the ocean?” He yelled over to Jongin who was slowly making his way over, hands shoved casually into his shorts pockets.

“Yeah it is,” Jongin called back, reaching Baekhyun’s side as the tide retreated, covering their feet in a sliding layer of sea foam. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Jongin smiled as he held a hand over his eyes and looked over at the rippling blue expanse that lay just before them.

“It is,” Baekhyun replied, and it really was in his eyes—he had never seen anything so vast and wide in his entire life, even if it had been a short one thus far. Without warning, Jongin suddenly took a hold of his wrist and led him farther into the shallows until the clear water went half way up their shins.

“Do you like it here?” Jongin asked and Baekhyun nodded immediately, making the taller chuckle. “Lots of people love coming to the beach to cool down in the summer so I figured I should've taken you down here eventually.” He scratched the back of his head.

“I love it here,” Baekhyun reassured, and to prove his point, he began stomping around, thoroughly soaking both him and Jongin who was desperately trying to escape while shielding himself with his hands. But this only made Baekhyun more determined to catch him, and so began the wild goose chase around the beach as Jongin declared war and splashed back with all his might. Both boys romped through the sea and sand. Baekhyun eventually tripped over a piece of drift wood and tumbled head first into Jongin’s back, sending both of them rolling around in the sand in a tangle of limbs and yelps. Jongin quickly pulled himself away and laid there, smiling in between his panting and his racing heart. Baekhyun, who wasn’t quite tired, but felt a bit cold and water logged, sat up and gazed at the other, noticing how Jongin, even though his hair was pressed matte against his face and the sand was drying in itchy patches along his exposed skin, was smiling. The hot sun was beating down on both of them but no, Baekhyun knew that was not the reason why every part of Jongin seemed to be beaming. The hot sun was beating down on both of them but no, Baekhyun knew that was not the reason why every part of him seemed to fill with warmth and giddiness, growing inside of him until he felt it was going to explode. No, Baekhyun felt certain he knew the real reason. “This is happiness isn’t it?”

At these words, Jongin turned to look at him with wide eyes before they eventually crinkled up in the corners and his smile grew incredibly wider. “Yes, it is.” And in that moment, everything seemed to release and Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile back on reflex, purely and truly, letting the wave overtake him.

-

For the rest of the day, feeling hugely proud of himself, Baekhyun kept asking Jongin whether or not everything was happiness, like when Jongin his lips after he had bought himself a tall vanilla ice cream cone, or the interesting quirk of his eyebrows when he had finally found a perfect angry bird keychain for someone named Kris. Jongin always answered yes, and Baekhyun always felt the need to smile after each confirmation he was given.

The sun was beginning to set, painting the entire harbor in lovely shades of melting pinks and oranges, and that was when Baekhyun saw a peculiar sight. Just in front of them were two people who were walking step in step and their hands were intertwined, swinging in between them. Baekyhun saw the way the two looked at each other, eyes sparkling like the sea and lips turned up in amusement although no one was speaking a word. Baekhyun proceeded to take Jongin’s hand in his, making the other stop in his tracks and look down at him in surprise. But Baekhyun ignored it as he spoke up. “Is this… is this happiness too?”

Jongin’s eyes went impossibly wider until he noticed the couple in front of them and silently cursed them and their blatant PDA, although if it were any other time, he wouldn’t have minded at all. But now, he became flustered for words as Baekhyun looked up at him with his curious eyes full of unbridled innocence.

Right, innocence.

Jongin silently reprimanded himself for even thinking any other thoughts as he realized, Baekhyun didn’t have any special intentions or ulterior motives behind his gesture. Baekhyun was just curious, only curious. Jongin cleared his throat before he rendered himself able to speak coherently. “Yes, you can find happiness with someone you love too.”

“Love?”

“Yes, love, the most powerful human emotion,” Jongin tried to explain, finding it increasingly difficult as Baekhyun’s eyes became even more probing. “But it’s an emotion that contradicts itself most of the time.”

“What do you mean?”

Jongin wanted to dig a grave for himself. “Love is… extremely complicated. It comes in more forms than one is ever capable of feeling in just one lifetime. Love makes you want to keep something forever, but at the same time let it go; it makes you remember all the little things, yet forget the big things. Love makes you human and above all, if you truly love something, you should pursue it until the end…” By now, Jongin’s mind had already gone far and lost in the high canvas of the clouds, leaving Baekhyun back on earth to contemplate. Although he did not understand exactly what Jongin had said, or the immense implications, when he squeezed his hand and felt the other squeeze back, Baekhyun felt like there was a strong possibility that someday, somehow, he would.

-

Jongin knew that he had been neglecting his work so far on his vacation, which had been the exact opposite of the purpose of it, which caused him to feel guilty about that.

But it was Kris who had insisted he come, so only a little bit guilty.

Nevertheless, he still felt the obligation to report back to the company eventually, and hopefully soon. That was the reason why he was sitting on the couch later that night, with the moon already beginning to descend, after he and Baekhyun had returned back home. Jongin was determined to complete the piece he was currently working on, finishing the last of the chords and beginning the lyric writing process.

It was a song about the coldhearted nature of a machine and whether or not a mere human was capable enough of melting through its cruel beauty. Familiar, wasn’t it? But Jongin didn’t have time to scoff at the irony as he was interrupted by a small voice as he erased an off-rhyming line with excessive force. “Jongin, is this anger?” Jongin looked up in surprise to see Baekyhun walking up to him, fiddling with the hem of his overly large shirt. Jongin motioned the other over to sit beside him and shook his head.

“No. This,” he made a large gesture with his hand, sweeping over his crowded coffee table of a desk full of loose papers and stereo equipment, “this is also a type of happiness—the happiness of working on something you love to do.”

Baekyhun glanced around and realized that it was indeed true. Even though Jongin had bags under his eyes, his shoulders had deflated from weariness and his hand was probably cramped around his pencil, he still managed a small smile and a glint of a sparkle in his eyes. But there was something missing in the picture. Like one of those games in those children’s magazines, Baekhyun began shifting through and comparing the image before his eyes with all the others he had kept when Jongin was happy, trying to find the one difference between them. Baekhyun shifted back in his seat a tiny bit before he found it. “You’re not beaming.”

“Excuse me?” Fatigue was heavy in his voice but Jongin still couldn’t help but lift one of his eyebrows in confusion at the talking music box.

“You’re not truly happy are you?” Baekhyun continued, tilting his head to the side, “this isn’t enough for you is it? This work,” Baekhyun gestured the same as Jongin had before, “isn’t what you truly love to do is it?” Baekhyun didn’t realize his words were going to elicit such a radical reaction, so when Jongin abruptly slammed his pencil down on the table and stood up, Baekhyun jumped back in shock and stared up at the other. Unlike the kind eyes Baekhyun had always looked into countless times before, now, Jongin’s eyes were dark, cold and unreadable. Baekhyun was about to open his mouth before Jongin cut him off sharply.

“What could you possibly know? You’re just a robot, what could you possibly know about real happiness? How could you possibly know how I feel?” And with that, Jongin walked away, leaving behind Baekhyun with his hand outstretched, frozen in his seat.

Baekhyun wondered if this was what sadness felt like.

Author's Note:

Yo* I am sorry I haven't updated yet until now. It looks like school really takes its toll and I only have free time on the weekends... and sorry this chapter is so short ; ^ ;

/but/ I have a four day weekend this week so I hope to double update haha~ we shall see ^^