CHAPTER ONE; reunion

It's a hot summer day with levels of humidity that are almost unrealistic and two teenagers find themselves pressed against one another in a fervent (not really) debate.

"Sehun," the young girl whines loudly, "Please. I need you."

The male hovering over her chuckles, "No, this is my revenge for earlier today, Jinri. You have to really beg for it."

And perhaps if they were childishly bickering in a more private area, she would've refused his request. After all, the young woman always likes to think that they are equals in their ongoing relationship. But unfortunately for her, the two are stuck in a very public area with an incredibly high possibility of being interrupted, and her cheeks are already a bright shade of red because dear Christ, she's embarassed enough as it is. 

"Sehun," she finally whimpers, "Please. I promise that I won't run out on you like that again. Promise." When he does nothing but raise an eyebrow at what he considers to be a pathetic plea for help, she groans. "Sehun, I need this. I need you. Please, please, please do this for me. Do this for me and I'll give you whatever you want later, I swear."

A satisfied smirk quickly finds its place on the man's lips before he leans down to whisper, "I'm taking your word for it, love."

The ice cream clerk clears his throat abruptly, finally stepping into the petty dispute, "Ma'am, you're still four hundred won short."

"I've got it, I've got it," the brunet responds, fishing out his wallet before the shorter woman beside him can begin whining again. "Here you go, sir. Feel free to keep the change."

There is a moment of silence before the middle-aged man deadpans, "You literally just gave me four one-hundred won coins. What change are you talking about?" Sehun blinks, the cool facade that he had been trying so hard to put up quickly plummeting to the ground. "The two of you have been going back and forth with one another for almost five minutes now and you're not even going to give me a tip?"

It's quite obvious from the young man's affronted expression alone that he's at a loss for words, but for Jinri - who's known the poor sap for four years and dated him for three - the embarrassment that is about to consume his features is almost enough for her to want to hide behind him due to secondhand mortification.

(Despite her original disapproval of such an action, she ends up doing so anyway.)

"O-Oh, sorry about that. I'll just -" Jinri peeks from behind her boyfriend's back and into his wallet just when the latter realizes that he's basically run out of won. 

She doesn't have to look up to know that Sehun's pale complexion has reddened to the likeness of a tomato; she can practically feel the heat from his cheeks at her current position behind him.

The two share a quick glance with one another before Sehun picks the ice cream cone from the vendor's unsuspecting hands, passes it to Jinri, and begins a quick sprint in the general direction of the park, the former shouting back a flustered "Maybe next time!" as they flee.

Sehun's too busy trying to recuperate from the ordeal and Jinri's too busy giggling madly while trying to make sure that her newly purchased ice cream doesn't fall to the ground to care that the neglected salesman is still stringing frustrated curses in their wake.

And if a certain someone had been watching where he was going, the two probably would've continued on like that for a kilometer or two.

But unfortunately for all of the people involved, that certain someone hadn't been watching where he was going (albeit, Jinri wasn't paying too much attention either), and before they know it, she's managed to soil the man's clothing with mint chocolate chip ice cream.

She's incredibly embarrassed when she realizes that her primary thought wasn't to actually apologize, but rather to lament the loss of the sugary treat that she had worked so hard to gain.

Of course, as soon as she realizes what she's done, she quickly parts her lips in apology.

"Wait. Sulli?"

At the old nickname, the young girl whips her head up in surprise, "Jongin?"

The young man standing before her is tall, dark and lean, clad in a designer sweater, jeans and an infectious smirk. A familiar twinkle glints in his eye as he pulls the woman into a tight hug, oblivious to the fact that he's basically just caked her face in mint chocolate chip. "Wow, I haven't seen you in forever! Gorgeous as always, huh?"

Perhaps if Jinri were thinking straight, she would've made sure to incorporate proper introductions as soon as possible. But because she wasn't, she's roughly pulled back from the embrace and back behind her boyfriend as he carefully asks, "Who on Earth are you?"

Though it's clear to Jinri that Sehun is trying to assume the role of protective boyfriend, the poor guy ultimately fails his role. And Jongin - who seems to be ignorant to the pathetic excuse of an attempt - laughs good-naturedly before slipping his hands into his pockets with a light chuckle. "Oh, come on. No need to play dumb. I'm sure that Sulli here has talked about me often. In fact, I bet that it must take a miracle for her to shut up about how much she's been missing me."

And despite the fact that she hasn't seen Jongin in six years, Jinri quickly remembers why she didn't exactly miss him for all six of those years.

"W-What're you talking about?" Sehun sputters, confusion marring his features as he turns back to look at his shielded girlfriend. "Jinri, who is this guy? What is he talking about?" He pauses for a moment before adding, "And why does he keep calling you Sulli?"

Jinri really wishes that they hadn't run into Jongin. Not only because he's totally making a scene in the middle of the sidewalk and freaking out her  boyfriend, but also because she's going to go ahead and blame him for the fact that there's melted ice cream all over her face.

(Mostly for the former, of course.)

The brunette sighs softly as soon as he catches the hurt glazed over in her boyfriend's eyes, knowing that even though Sehun was never that particularly great at being manly, he was incredibly overprotective of her. "He's just a childhood friend, Sehunnie. I haven't seen him for a while, that's all. Jongin, this is my boyfriend, Sehun."

While Sehun looks somewhat comforted by the simple explanation, Jongin looks incredibly offended. "'That's all''? 'That's all'?" he squeaks, affronted expression quickly consuming his features, "That's all I am to you, Sulli? After everything we've been through, that's all I am? I can't believe this! I was expecting an epic retelling of our countless adventures together, complete with every single one of the times that I saved your from pure embarrassment." While Jongin takes a moment to huff in annoyance, Jinri silently prays that he'll shut up soon. "You didn't even mention the part about how I had to leave Korea - my homeland - behind in order to pursue my modeling career! And that's the best part! How could you skip the best part?"

If Jinri thought that the scene back over at the ice cream stand was embarrassing, then it's now become clear to her that she evidently didn't know the true definition of embarrassment. Especially when Sehun's eyes brighten at the mention of modeling and he suddenly begins looking at Jongin as though the slightly older male is the coolest man to ever walk the planet. Because Jinri finds herself racking her mind to recall the last time that he had looked at her with that much admiration in his eyes.

(It doesn't take too long for her to trace the memory though - Sehun is incredibly doting.)

"Okay, okay," she cuts in hastily before he can finish his tirade, "The two of us went through a lot when we were younger. He was," she pauses for a moment to turn her stare away from her boyfriend, "He was sort of my only friend for a while. I owe him a lot."

It's clear that Sehun's still a tad bit bewildered at the incredibly fast pace that this is all moving at, but before he can properly form a reaction, Kai's face has already lit up and he's looking at the pair as though they're the answer to his prayers. "That's it! That's it! Sulli, Sulli, I need your help!" His eyes flicker towards Sehun, giving him a quick once-over, before he quickly adds, "I need both of your help!"

And because Jinri remembers how much trouble Jongin used to get her in, she parts her lips in order to speedily decline his request and drag Sehun away towards the nearest restroom because there's no way that ice cream is good for her skin just as there's no way Jongin's planning something even remotely legal.

But before she can, Sehun shoots her a look.

No, no. Scratch that.

Sehun shoots her the look.

And although the look seems like nothing but (for lack of a better term) a look, Jinri knows exactly what that expression on her boyfriend's features mean.

She knows what it means and she's absolutely mortified.

"If the two of you are friends, then he's my friend as well. I have to make up for the bad impression that I gave off earlier. It's okay, there's no need to worry about me. I'm totally up for it!"

Jinri really wishes that Sehun would hurry up and make up his mind on whether he wanted to be the cool, protective boyfriend or the sweet, doting one. Because right now, she's thinking that she'd prefer him to attempt to beat Jongin up rather than agree to whatever ridiculous idea Jongin's come up with.

Of course, it's too late for that.

"Sign us up!"

And Jinri wants to roll off the nearest cliff, but Jongin and Sehun are already laughing like some hilarious joke has been made and getting all touchy with one another and Jinri's suddenly left wondering if her boyfriend has suddenly turned into a homoual. (After all, it would explain his unhealthy obsession with hairdye.)

She's about to make a run for it before either male can stop her. Unfortunately, it seems that Jongin still knows her so well despite all of their years apart, and he quickly encircles his arms around her waist to spin her in circles while Sehun continues to laugh like this is the coolest thing that's ever happened to him.

Jinri is done. Jinri is so done.

Especially when Jongin finally sets her back onto the ground just to lift Sehun into the air as they continue giggling like schoolgirls and acting like gay lovers.

(She's kind of jealous because the scene looks incredibly adorable and because the pairing name "sekai" sounds a tad bit better than "senri" does. Because from her limited knowledge of Japanese, "sekai" translates to world while "senri" is only the name of a super hot anime character. And although Jinri has a really passionate thing for super hot anime characters, her face is caked in mint chocolate ice cream, so she's basically allowed to quietly fume as much as she wants.)

---

When the duo stop obsessing over one another's bodies ("why are the two of you showing so much skinship for one another? you literally just met."), it finally registers to Sehun that his poor girlfriend is desperate to cleanse her face of the sickly sweetness - and rightly so.

So while Jongin leads the way to the nearest Starbucks ("Don't worry, Ssul! We haven't seen each other in forever, so I'm paying this time around!"), Sehun resumes his role of doting boyfriend, apologizing over and over again for not noticing that Jinri's face has been smothered with melted goodies sooner. 

She laughs it off with an "It's okay. This just means that I don't owe you anymore, right?"

For some reason it seems that Sehun is thinking that this situation is much more severe than it actually is, because he hastily agrees with her and begins thanking her for her forgiveness while overwhelming her in a suffocating embrace.

Jinri's really wishing that Sehun felt like being the cool, protective boyfriend today instead of the obsessive, girlish one.

But she stops mentally complaining about it when they arrive in the cafe and her highschool sweetheart rushes her to the women's restroom to desperately cleanse her face from the remnants of the icy treat. 

"Sehun, it's okay!" she giggles, "I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of it myself."

"No, no, I feel really bad for not doing anything sooner," he quickly responds.

His flustered cheeks and concentrated expression are really cute, and Jinri can't stop the giggle from escaping her lips as she leans forward slightly to press a kiss onto his nose.

The two haven't even been in the bathroom together for ten minutes when Jongin bursts through the door. 

He looks at Jinri, then at Sehun, then back to Jinri again, before a suggestive smirk finds its place on his features, "Ooh, ditching good ol' Jonggie so that the two of you could sneak in a quick makeout session, eh?" When both of the younger individuals flush bright shades of red, he only throws his head back with an immature laugh, "Friskay, friskay! Sulli be getting it on!"

Before either of the lighter skinned individuals can properly respond, Jongin's forced himself between the two with a tray full of frozen beverages ("Because, you know, it's ing hot outside."), nodding for the couple to each take a drink as he sips out of his own bright green straw. 

Despite his evident embarrassment, Sehun quietly reaches for the Java Chip Frappuccino with a mumbled, "Thanks, man."

Jinri, on the other hand, is quietly lamenting their unfortunate runin with her childhood friend. It isn't until Jongin expectantly clears his throat that she reaches forward for the caramel drink that's left in the tray.

Jongin's courteous enough to wait until they've each taken a sip from the sugary beverage before he tosses the now-empty tray into the nearby trash can and hops up to sit on the counter that all the sinks belong to. "So, about that favor I need from you guys..." He looks between the two of them for a moment (probably to garner more anticipation or something just as dramatic) until finally deciding to continue, "I need to kidnap you guys to America with me for a summer road trip."

It probably would've been slightly more acceptable if it had been Sehun who had spit out his drink onto Jongin's already stained shirt, but nope. Today, Jinri is on a roll.

"America? But we don't even know English!" She stops for a moment to feel some remote guilt for ruining all of Jongin's expensive clothing, but the guilt immediately fades when she's reminded of just how much trouble he's causing her. (Besides, Jongin doesn't look angry at all. If anything, he looks amused. Which Jinri thinks is a bit strange, but Jongin himself is more than a little strange, so she doesn't dwell on the subject for long.) "Wait, do you even know English?"

"No, of course not!" is his immediate reply and if Jinri wasn't holding a drink in one hand and interlocking her other with Sehun's, then she would've taken that opportunity to facepalm herself. "Can't speak a single word of that crazed language. I don't understand how so many people have managed it. It's so... contradicting." Jongin stops for a moment to shudder and Sehun follows the older male's lead and that makes Jinri want to laugh because she really doubts that Sehun has tried hard enough to speak the language to understand what Jongin means when he calls it "contradicting".

When he regains his composure, his confident demeanor seems to have vanished into thin air and replaced with a shyness that to Jinri looks like it belongs on Sehun's face when he's playing the role of doting boyfriend again. "S-See, there's this girl..."

And Jinri's about to jump at her chance to finally tease Jongin for a change, but oddly enough her beloved boyfriend has reacted before she has. "Ooh lala~!" he singsongs, raising his eyebrows suggestively to the beat of some imaginary song. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Well, she's a  Korean-American model from California. Her Western name is Krystal, but her Korean name is Jung Soojung." Both Jinri and Sehun think that the older man's affection is cute, and the former is preparing a teasing comment about it, but Jongin continues too quickly. "And she left before the two of us even had ."

Jinri decides to let go of Sehun's hand in order to hit her forehead with her palm, "You've got to be kidding me. You're dragging us to America so that you can have intimate relations with some girl that you're not even married to. What are your parents going to think, Jong?"

The tanned model huffs, before allowing a childish pout to take over his features, "Jinri, you don't know what you're talking about. I've been emancipated from my parents since the age of sixteen. It doesn't matter what they think of me anymore."

Despite the immaturity of his aura, Jinri knows that with that comment, she's steered the conversation over towards dangerous waters. And even though she thinks that Jongin is annoying sometimes, she knows that it's wrong for her to step on such emotional territory. So with a soft sigh, she rakes her hand through her still-sticky bangs before asking, "What do you need us to do?"

The devious smirk that quickly finds its place on his lips instantly makes Jinri regret asking.

"See, even though her agency dresses her up as a total , I'm pretty sure that she has the mindset of like... Of like, a nun or something. So I was trying to convince her that times are a-changin' here in good old South Korea. But when I told her that it's totally normal for  people that aren't engaged or married to have , she just started laughing really hard and told me, 'Nice try.'" He paused for a moment to look at the two other individuals with an expression of despair, "'Nice try?' 'Nice try'?"Jongin shook his head quickly, almost in disgust. "Kim Jongin doesn't just try at things. Kim Jongin succeeds at things."

He turned pointedly towards Sehun and Jinri, "Do you see my issue here?"

Jinri's about to tiredly respond with a negative, so she's incredibly surprised when Sehun responds with a "Yeah, bro. That totally ." She whips her head to shoot her boyfriend an incredulous look, but the male only responds with a defensive, "Hey, hey! It's a question of man pride, you know? Jinri, do you understand how much our pride means to us?"

"Oh, definitely. That's why the two of you didn't mind groping each other out on the public sidewalk a few minutes ago, right?" she deadpans.

Sehun looks at her with a shocked expression and parts his lips to say something, but Jongin steps in by throwing an arm around the slightly shorter man, "Just ignore her, Sehunnie. Only young studs like us would understand. Poor girl. Doesn't even know the difference between a bromance and a gay relationship." He finishes with a snort while Sehun chuckles.

And Jinri sighs because apparently she doesn't stand a chance alone between the budding homoual relationship between her boyfriend and former best friend.

"Anyway, Soojung's the biggest challenge that I've ever faced ever. And now that she's not even in the country and I haven't seen her since yesteday, I've come to the conclusion that I need to recruit some help. In the form of you two."

"And what is it that you expect us to do, Jongin?"

"Well," he drags out the syllable as he slings his other arm around Jinri's small frame, "I need Sehun here to try ing up dear Soojung for me for starters." This time Sehun sputters out the miniscule remnants of his drink out on the tile floor while turning to shoot him a look of incredulity. However, Jongin's quick to elaborate, "You don't actually have to have with her. Just some flirting. Maybe slide to second or third base, you know? Just to get the point across to her that that degree of skinship is normal. Even though it isn't."

When Sehun only continues looking at Jongin in horror, the latter exasperatedly adds, "Sehun, she's a ing model! I'm totally helping you out here, bro!"

"Jongin, I'm dating Jinri!"

It isn't until the tallest of the three turns to look at the young woman that his left arm is still embracing that he realizes just how uncomfortable his old friend looks. A frown finds its way onto his features and when his lis lips move, it's almost as though they're moving of their own accord. "Awh, Sulli here won't mind all that much. She knows that it doesn't actually mean anything." Jongin nudges the younger girl lightly, but when she makes no move to respond, he jokingly adds, "She's experienced firsthand just how bad you are in bed, Sehun. So she already knows that there's no way you'll be impressing anyone with your skills."

Jongin's obviously expecting the younger girl to laugh at his statement, but when his two new partners-in-crime only flush and turn their heads away from him (Jinri even going so far as to shrug his arm off), it finally clicks. "Wait. Wait, you guys have never -"

"No, Jongin."

The young man's lip into a round "o" as he fidgets uncomfortably in the room's heavy tension. "Well, it's just in good fun, you know. Sehun just has to flirt with her. That's all. Nothing has to happen between them, okay? Nothing's going to happen between them. I promise."

And Jinri turns back to him with a pained expression that shows that her discomfort still hasn't dissipated from her mind. "So if nothing happens between Sehun and Soojung, then how is this plan of yours even going to work? Jongin, there's no point to this. I don't understand." She pauses, before asking (probably herself), "Why am I still even listening to this ridiculous scheme of yours?"

With a sigh, the petite brunette shakes her head and moves towards the bathroom door. Of course, Jongin doesn't let her get that far, "Sulli, please. Even if you think that the idea's stupid, you've never even left the country before. What happened to the little girl I used to know that dreamed of leaving Korea behind? That dreamed of traveling the world and seeing everything that every country had to offer?" When she says nothing, he softens his tone, "I know that she's still in there, Ssul. And you trust me, don't you?"

Though it would make sense for her to immediately respond with a simple "no", Jinri finds that when she actually stops to ponder the question, the proper answer is an incredibly radiant "yes". Because even though Jongin is a bit clumsy with his words and actions, a bit on the dull side, and a total pain in the at times, he's also the one person that stood up for her when no one else did. And even though that was years ago, she doubts that it's changed. Because the Jongin that she remembers was always incredibly selfless at heart - his stupidity just comes off as narcicissim more often than not.

Before she knows it, the syllable escapes her lips and echoes throughout the almost-empty bathroom.

The affirmation makes Jongin's lips raise upwards in the glowing smile of her childhood and Jinri herself grins as well because despite his desires, the Jongin that she grew up admiring is still in there after all.

"You won't regret this, Sulli. I promise." And then he pulls her forward in a tight hug, arms fitting snugly around her slim waist and chin resting lightly atop of her head. "I've never steered you wrong, have I?"

Jinri doesn't have to respond to that question because they both know what the answer to it is.

When Jinri pulls away from the embrace, she sees that Sehun is smiling as well, "I never knew that you dreamt to leave Korea. We should definitely need to go then! As long as Jongin rethinks his plan, of course."

She hums in agreeance before moving to lean against her boyfriends chest as Jongin taps his index finger against his chin in thought. "Well, there's only one alternative that I can think of."

"And what's that?"

"Sehun just has to be overly friendly to Soojung. Just smile a lot and be very doting - though I doubt that that last one should cause you any trouble." (Jinri laughs at that while Sehun verbally wonders what that's even supposed to mean.) He turns his direct attention back to his female friend with a mischevious smirk, "And all you have to do is pretend that we're doing the nasty. Except it won't be nasty. Because with me is anything but nasty."

Jongin looks pleased with his idea. But Jinri stumbles backwards into Sehun who's already dropped his empty cup and they're looking at the older male as though he has five heads.

"What? Look, this is the way I see it: the reason why the two of you are so worried about Sehun flirting with Soojung is because you're both scared that she'll react positively to his advances, right? And you're scared that it'll jeopardize the ongoing relationship that you two have going on. And Sulli here is also silently thinking that this could possibly lead to Sehun losing his ity to a girl that isn't her. Am I right or am I right?"

There's an embarrassed pout on Jinri's features as Sehun pulls her even closer to his chest, "I suppose that that's true, but -"

"No, no, let me finish, lover boy," Jongin interrupts. "See, if Sulli and I are the ones who pretend to be getting it on all day every day, then it eliminates the possibility of anything happening because you can trust that I won't actually be trying to her up, and I'm pretty sure that she's saving her cherry for you, man."

That sends bright red speeding to Sehun's cheeks almost instantly.

"Guys. Guys, this plan is foolproof." The estatic grin is still bouncing on Jongin's expression as he finally asks, "So are you guys in or what?"

It's silent for a while before the two sigh and Jinri asks, "You're paying for our tickets, right?"

"Psh. Of course! What kind of mastermind would I be if I made my minions pay for their own expenses? No, no, that's just weird."

Jinri's about to comment on the fact that Jongin's just caller her and Sehun his minions, but Sehun's lips move first, "Okay, we're in!"

When she looks at him with a raised eyebrow at his instant response, her boyfriend can only chuckle, "Hey. Your dream is to travel the world. And as of about an hour ago, I'm absolutely broke. This is as good as it gets, Jinri."

The young girl rolls her eyes before murmuring her agreeance to the plan.

Jongin fistpumps in excitement, Sehun does this weird little dance thing from behind her, and then suddenly the two of them are doing some weird, synchronized dance with one another in the middle of women's restroom and Jinri's quietly thanking the heavens that no one walked in on them because that would've required a lot of explaining that she's definitely not up for.

When she catches Jongin's hand graze Sehun's crotch and her boyfriend giggling like a teenage girl at the action, she can't help but wonder if this free trip to America is worth it at all.

Author's Notes;  The first chapter is finally up! :D I had actually been hoping to get it up last night, but unfortunately, the exotic world of gay angst was calling me. LOL. 

Anywho, I hope that everyone enjoyed the first chapter! From what I could understand, a number of you were really anticipating this story, so hopefully I didn't disappoint! It's been a while since I wrote romcom (let alone heteroual), so I think that I'm a tad bit rusty. My tenses are kind of all over the place as well, so I really hope that none of you decide to kill me. OTL.

Comments are very appreciated! :D Hoping to get the next chapter up sometime next week~

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