“Beach time!” Chen shouts while running down the stairs from the porch and heading straight to the water.

  Sehun and Lay runs behind him. Sehun sets up the blankets where we would be sitting and Lay follows Chen to the waters and sits at the edge, letting his toes and get wet. He starts piling up sand like a little third-grader wanting to make a castle.

 The rest of us lag behind. It seems like Chen has the most energy despite the fact he had to sleep in the same room as the snorer, Lay. I’m guessing he’s a deep sleeper when he’s asleep or he’s a morning person. In fact, he’s the one who woke everyone up to get ready. I also notice that most of us have some type of shirt on except for Kris and, of course, Sehun. We can obviously tell who’s not afraid to show off their body. At least they have something to show…

  “Did you get the beach ball?” Kris asks Tao.

  Tao holds it up, but it’s inflated. “This is how I found it. Plus, if I kept it airy, it won’t fit in my bag.”

  “I know. Give it to me. I’ll fix it up.” He takes it from his hands and blows into it as we near Sehun.

  Luhan turns to me and shouts, “Tag!”

  “What?” I shout and find him running away. Wait, since when did we start this tag thing?

  As Luhan’s screaming I’m it, everyone scatters while Sehun lies on a blanket and wearing his sunglasses. He puts his hand behind his head and relaxes. “I’m not playing,” he states calmly, and I assume he’s taking a little nap.

 I sigh. Why me? I can’t do anything about it, so I search for my first target which was Chen since out of all those tall people, he doesn’t have the longer strides. I manage to reach him but before I can touch him, he swerves to the right and trips over Sehun.

  “Oof! Watch where you’re going!” Sehun exclaims while pushing Chen off of him.

  Chen rolls on his back below Sehun’s feet and lets out a puff of air. “That is why you shouldn’t be laying down while people are running!” he shouts back, “Plus, you’ll get skin cancer if you stay in the sun like that!”

  “I have sunscreen on, so leave me alone! I’m trying to enjoy this time alone.” He rolls on his stomach and has his head to the side. “Why don’t you just play something else?”

  “But that’s boring!”

  As those two were arguing, I cheat a bit and lightly step on Chen’s shin. “You’re it now.”

  He gapes at me. “Wai- What?”

  I run away before he could get me back, but then again I can say… “No tag backs!” Since I say it, I sit down next to Sehun and watch as everyone else runs away from Chen. I feel bad for him because nearly everyone was taller than him, so their strides were double of his except for Luhan, but Luhan is pretty fast.

  I lean back with my hands pressing onto the blanket for support. I take in the salty scent of the ocean and turn to Sehun who appears to be asleep. My mind is very fuzzy as I constantly think about him and Luhan being together in the past. No wonder he’s still pursuing him. He couldn’t let him go. Could that be the case with Chen? However, Chen doesn’t seem to be chasing me, but there are moments where I can see he was hurting deep inside especially on my birthday.

  “What are you looking at?” Sehun grumbles without moving.

  “Oh, nothing.”

  He smirks, but I couldn’t tell if he’s looking at me with those sunglasses on. “Are you jealous that I’m way ier than you?”

  I raise my eyebrows. “Not exactly…” I want to laugh, but I dare not to because I do feel a tint of jealousy, but not to where I will rage over it.

  Sehun chuckles which soon starts to fade. He raises his head and shifts it from side to side until he spots Luhan. Then he turns to me saying, “Just because there’s other people here, doesn’t mean I’m not going to strike. Summer can cause love to deteriorate and bloom in different ways.”

  “Isn’t that mostly for spring?”

  “But in summer you rarely see the people you love unless you have certain connections.” His smirk gets bigger. It’s not fair how his family has connections with Luhan. I wonder how many times they’ve seen each other after their breakup.

  He sighs and drops his head once more. “Ugh. I hate how Chen woke us up so early. I’m going to rest a bit.” With those words, he stops talking.

  “Are you joining or what?” Chen exclaims at me after he finally tags Luhan.

  “Yeah, I’m still playing.” I get up and run the opposite direction of Luhan. I feel like a kid again and I’m sure everyone else here feels the same way.

  After running around in circles while Sehun was taking a nap, we do our own thing. Lay goes back to creating his castle with Chen joining in. Kris and Tao sit next to Sehun and talks. As for Luhan and me, we decide to splash around.

  Our beach adventure lasts until night time when it was too dark to see the waters. We manage to make ourselves occupied for that long amount of time.

  “Okay, campfire time. I’ll get the stuff for smores,” Luhan says while heading inside and drying himself with a towel.

  “I’ll help with the wood,” Kris offers and follows behind.

  Tao walks silently with them.

  The rest of us sit at the fire pit near the porch and wait patiently for their return.

  “In the end, I couldn’t get enough sleep,” Sehun complains.

  “But it seems like you got a sun burn,” Lay states and pokes him.

  “Ow! Don’t touch me!” He swats his hand and moves closer to Chen.

  “Poke.” Chen, too, pokes him.

  “God! Why am I around idiots?” This time, Sehun sits next to me where Luhan was supposed to sit. I was trying to save a seat for him, but now the seating arrangement is Sehun, me, Chen, a space, and Lay. Chen must’ve felt something because he scoots over closer to Lay and starts talking to him.

  “And you said, you put on sunblock,” I state. His face and body is really red.

 He glares as his nose flares. “Shut up. I forgot to put more after an hour or so.” With another deep sigh, he crosses his arms and rolls his eyes.

  After a few minutes, Kris comes back with the fire wood, coal, and matches to light it up. Behind him, Luhan was carrying graham crackers, chocolate bars, huge marshmallows, and sticks. Then there’s Tao who isn’t carrying anything behind the two.

  “Oh my god! Those are so big!” Chen exclaims while standing up and attacking Luhan. He grabs the marshmallows and holds it close as he sits back in his chair. He opens it and chews on one.

  “Hey!” Luhan plops on the bench next to me and grabs the marshmallow bag from him. “We’re going to make smores out of those, so that’s your last one.”

  “What? There’s like twenty in there!”

  He sticks his tongue out.

  “How about we tell ghost stories?” Kris suggests and sits next to Lay.

  Tao sits down and smiles. “That sounds great.”

  “But then, all those stories will be about Tao!” Lay exclaims.

  Everyone laughs except for Tao. “Wait. I don’t get it. Why are you laughing about that? Could you please explain this to me?”

  Kris pats his shoulder. “You don’t need to know. It’s nothing, really. I mean, your stories are quite amusing, but by ghost stories, I mean scary ghost stories.”

  Tao still couldn’t get it and blinks blankly at him.

  Sehun rolls his eyes. “Who’s first anyways? I want a good one.”

  Ugh. I’m bad at ghost stories, so I hope we don’t go around the circle telling them. Adding to that, I’m terrible at telling stories in general. I hope Sehun’s not looking at me. Oh, he sure is. Okay, now just don’t call me out.

  “I’ll start,” Kris volunteers by raising his hand. He rubs his hands together while biting his lips. “Okay, this will certainly make your skin crawl. My dad told me this when I was little.”

  “Oh. Then it might not be as scary as you think,” Sehun retorts, “I mean, when you’re little, you think everything that people say is scary. Oh, and please don’t say one of those stories where everything’s quiet, and you start yelling out of nowhere.”

  “Uhm.” He shuts his mouth.

 Sehun sighs, “Well. Who’s next?”

 No one raises their hand.

  “What about you, Xiumin?”

  “Huh?” Crap. Why did he have to point me out? Didn’t I just say in my head that I’m not good at ghost stories? This guy really wants me to look bad. I have to say something. “I’m not good at ghost stories or any type of scary story.”

  Chen suddenly pipes in, “Well! I guess ghost stories aren’t going to work! Let’s make some smores.” He tries to take a bite off of his marshmallow, but it falls from his hand. He stares at it on the ground, mouth gape and frozen. “NO!”

  Luhan shakes his head and prepares our marshmallow on a stick. He passes it down before and starts making the fire. When the flames were high, he sticks his marshmallow in the fire. Everyone does the same and we sit there, talking about whatever came to mind.

  At one point, I notice Chen was silent as Kris talks to Lay and Tao. Luhan was preparing his smore in deep thought, so he wasn’t speaking to him. I lean back to get a better view of Chen and ask, “What’s wrong?” He’s been like this since yesterday.

  He jumps. “Oh. Nothing. I was just thinking if it’s best for my marshmallow to be a little burnt or not. I’m not sure, but I’m thinking of doing the golden brown stuff so that it’s gooey and stuff.” He takes out his flaming marshmallow and blows the fire out. He grabs two crackers and a chocolate bar and smashes the poor marshmallow. After that he starts eating it without a word.

  I wonder what’s wrong.

~*~

  After our little camp fire (which was a fail since we didn’t say ghost stories but funny stories about our past. We did play some games…) Well, I guess the camp fire wasn’t a huge failure. Since we were salty by the ocean, we all shower, taking turns. To determine our order (since there was only two restrooms in the whole place), we picked out numbers from a bag.

  Our order was:

  Tao and Lay

  Sehun and me

  Chen and Luhan

  Kris

  As I’m standing in the shower, letting the water hit my face, I begin thinking. What is Kris’ and Chen’s relationship? It seems that they have a not-so-good past, but neither of them wants to talk about it. They’re hiding something, but I can’t place my finger on it.

  I finish rinsing myself and step out, wrapping a towel around my waist. I then remember that one time when Luhan saw me in just a towel before asking me on a date. I blush at the thought and quickly change into my clothes. I will never forget that moment.

  Heading to my room, I bump into Kris. “Hey.”

  He was pacing the second floor. “Hey, Xiumin. You’re done?”

  “Yeah.”

  He smirks and leans close. “Can I just go and let Chen or Luhan wait for me? I mean, they don’t know you’re done.”

  “Uh. Well-”

  “Done?” Chen exclaims out of nowhere and rushes in between us. He pauses at the bathroom door and shouts, “Kris, you’re always trying to cheat!” With that, he closes the door behind him.

  Kris chuckles. “Never mind. I’ll be walking around.”

  “Okay.” I head to my room and sit on the edge of my bed. I kind of wish there was a T.V here at least because it’s so boring to see nothing but walls around me. I check the time on my phone. Wow, I took like a thirty minute shower, but I notice that Sehun isn’t done (considering his door was open and he’s not in there). What about Luhan? Is he in his room? Ah, whatever. I’m too tired to think. I plop on my bed and stare at the ceiling.

  Why are there so many things on my mind? I wasn’t like this before. I never thought about other people and their affairs that often. There are so many things I don’t know about my two closest friends and most are about their relationship with another person! What is going on?

  I have no idea how long I was thinking and staring at the ceiling because the next thing I hear is a light knock on my door. I sit up and say, “Come in.”

  Luhan enters with a towel on his head, but that’s not what causes me to widen my eyes and burn up inside. He was only wearing pants, but no shirt. Not only that, but he has his usual bright smile as he walks up to me. “Did you have fun?”

  I couldn’t look at him. It’s just too much for me: Luhan’s in my ‘room’ without a shirt. Certainly, anyone would feel uncomfortable in this situation. “Yeah, I did.”

  He wraps his arms around me. His wet hair soaks my shirt a bit as he rests his head against my shoulder. “We haven’t been alone together for a long time. In fact, the last time we were alone was on your birthday.”

  What exactly is he implying? Luhan’s been like this lately.

  “You know, I really, really love you no matter what,” his voice comes softly, but I can tell there was a hint of pain in his voice. He squeezes me tightly and buries his face into my neck. “I promise I will always return to you if something happens in our relationship. I’ll never leave you.”

  I don’t understand.

  Luhan plants a kiss on my lips, and I return it, letting his lips move smoothly against mine. There will never be a time when I get tired of his kisses. He can kiss me all he wants as long as I know it’s true.

  I feel his hands slip to my chest as he rubs me gently. Our breaths come in gasps as the kiss turns more violent. With each little movement, we go crazy for each other as if a switch was flipped. He pushes me lightly against my bed and presses his chest against mine.

  Luhan pulls away and stares at me with a heartwarming smile. He caresses my cheek with the back of his hand as he inches closer to me. “I’m glad you came,” he whispers like he was afraid of people hearing us. He pecks my cheeks causing me to close one eye. “I love you so much.”

  I should be happy, right? Right? But I’m not. There was something hurting in my heart when he said those words like a bullet piercing through. He loves me. He loves me to where he could say those words so carefree. But what will happen if those feelings went away. His feelings for Sehun went away, so what if our love does? I don’t want that, but what if?

  “Minnie, are you okay?” He asks.

  I wonder how long I’ve been silent. “Oh, yeah, I’m o-okay.” I wrap my arms around his back to pull him closer to me and tighten my grip. I’m afraid of losing him. I’ve waited so long and there’s no way I’ll let him go.

  A light knock on my door causes us to break apart. Luhan hides in the corner of the room near the door. He places a finger to his lips and shushes.

  “Who is it?” I call out.

  “It’s Chen.”

  Luhan’s eyes widen, but he doesn’t say a word.

 “Can we talk?”

  Why is my heart aching? “What do you want to talk about?”

  There was a long silence through the door. Then, “Is Luhan there? He’s not in his room.”

  Luhan bites his bottom lip and steps up. He’s the one who opens the door and stares at Chen.

  Chen’s eyes were wide as he sees Luhan half-. He turns his head away as a pained expression appears on his face. “Was I interrupting something?”

  I open my mouth to answer, but Luhan beats me to it, “No. I was about to leave anyway.” With those words, he brushes past Chen and stops behind him. He twists his head towards me and places a smile before disappearing into his own room.

  I look at Chen whose head was down. “What do you want to talk about?”

  He opens his mouth, but no words come except for tears.

  I can’t look at him. I can’t look at this hurting Chen. Please, please don’t cry. “Chen.” I stand up to reach out to him.

  He flinches causing me to pull my hand back. “I-I’m s-sorry,” he stutters. “I just can’t forget you. No matter what I do, I keep falling back in love. I want to forget you! I wanted to forget my feelings for you, but every time I see you with Luhan being all happy and lovey-dovey, I can’t help but feel jealous. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being so stupid! I shouldn’t have kissed you. I shouldn’t have-”

  I place a finger to his mouth, cutting him off. I can’t do this to him. Tears from my own eyes slip down my cheek. “Don’t regret or forget. And don’t feel sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.” I place a smile on my lips. “I’m glad you’re my friend. I’m glad that I’ve met you. And I’m glad you loved me, but I should be the one who’s sorry because I couldn’t return your feelings. I didn’t want you to feel that way, but please don’t cry. You’ll find someone for you. You’re a great person.”

  “No I’m not.”

  I feel a pang in my heart. Stop it. Stop it, Chen. Why do you keep making my heart feel so much pain? “Don’t say that.”

  “Well, I’m not! I’ve been hiding so many things from everyone! I’m not that great!”

  “Chen, stop it.”

  More tears flow from his eyes. “I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”

  Those words hit me. He’s not the pathetic one, I am. I even tell myself that.

  “Stupid tears. Stupid me. Stupid summer. Stupid love.” With each ‘stupid’, he wipes his tears away. “I can’t contain my feelings for you anymore. I don’t care if you love Luhan, I won’t change my feelings for you.”

  “Is that what you wanted to say to me?”

  He turns his head. “Ye- No.” His expression changes into a dark one.

  “Then what is it?”

  “Nothing. I don’t want to talk about that anymore. I’m tired and you probably are, too. Sorry for the inconvenience. Good night, Xiumin.” He bows low and closes the door behind him.

  I’m dumbfounded. I don’t know exactly what just happened. One moment he’s all tearing up and the next he’s being dark and mysterious. What exactly was Chen trying to say to me?

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*Author's Note:

  Long chapter >.< And a bit of comedy, fluff, and drama~ GAH! I love this story lol (Well that's just me since I'm the one writing it. Haha~) I hope you're enjoying it!