After doing so well at school, Jinri’s suspension is torture. It isn’t as though she hasn’t had trouble at school before; numerous detentions, suspensions, and expulsions mar her permanent record. But this time it’s different. This time she would actually rather be at school.

Though her suspension is only a few days since, by witness accounts, she had been acting in self-defense, it means that she’s stuck at home for a few days. While this means that she gets to spend uninterrupted time with Jinah, it also means that she has to spend time with her mother, who, despite her constant complaints about how the family needs more money, doesn’t work.

Mrs. Kwang’s favorite pastime is, in Jinri’s opinion, verbally abusing her daughter from her first marriage. Jinri is the first to admit that she has flaws, serious foundation issues in the backbone of her morality, but Mrs. Kwang is the one who likes to expound on them. Jinri doesn’t study well and has no plans for the future other than being a young unwed mother. Jinri has no social skills other than spreading her legs for the convenience of any passersby. Jinri has an uncontrollable temper that will land her in prison or worse.

Eventually Jinri can’t take it and so she takes the baby and escapes to the park. It’s warm these days, on the cusp of summer, and Jinah happily loses hours among the playground equipment while Jinri enjoys the escape from her mother’s constant nagging.

The truth is, Mrs. Kwang has always nagged. Even before she and her first husband divorced, she had made it clear that Jinri was nothing more than a thorn in her side. Uncooperative, untalented, and downright obstinate, she was nothing like the daughter Mrs. Kwang had wanted. And so, growing up hearing these constant abuses, Jinri had grown used to them, almost accepting them as an integral part of her unfulfilled character. But now Jinri is starting to think differently. Perhaps she doesn’t study well, but she’s nowhere near the lower portion of her class, and she manages to turn in her assignments and homework on time at her new school. While she hasn’t ceased her ual activities entirely, she is now much more selective about her partners. And, other than the episode at school where she was cornered and attacked by the B.A.P. fangirls, she’s managed to keep her temper in check fairly well.

It only intensifies her hatred for her mother, knowing that all these years her behavior has been molded and shaped by Mrs. Kwang’s constant criticisms. She tries not to dwell on it, thinking instead of the moment she comes of age and can legally leave her mother’s house for good.

Like this, her suspension eventually passes and she returns to school. There, with the members of B.A.P. very publicly snubbing the fangirls who had attacked Jinri, she is able to settle back into the school life she has become accustomed to.

It’s a week before summer vacation when Himchan shows up in Jinri and Youngjae’s homeroom before the first bell of the day. Youngjae grins and waves him over to where he and Jinri are sitting at the back of the classroom.

“What’s up, hyung?” Youngjae asks conversationally, doodling in the margins of his notebook.

Himchan grins, leaning against the empty desk beside them. “It’s almost summer vacation,” he says, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Jinri’s brows knit together. “What does that mean? It’s time for lots of partying with lots of ?”

Himchan smacks her upside the head. “Yah, don’t be an idiot. I thought you quit all that!”

She wrinkles her nose again and rubs her head where he hit her. “You don’t be an idiot. When did I say I quit? A girl’s got to get laid.”

Youngjae chuckles at this exchange, one of many that has become commonplace between the two friends. “Every year during summer vacation, we go on a trip for two weeks on Himchan’s parents’ yacht,” he explains. “We’ve been doing it every year, the last several without parents at all. We look forward to it all spring.”

“You’re invited, of course,” Himchan adds quickly, grinning at her despite having hit her not a minute before.

Jinri chews on her lower lip, glossy with lipstick despite makeup being against the dress code. She wants to go, as a fortnight away on a yacht sounds fabulous, but two weeks is an awfully long time. “I don’t know that anyone could watch the baby…” she finally says, almost apologetically.

“I would suggest bringing her,” Himchan says dubiously. “But it’s not really the place for a small child. We’ll be drinking, you know, and it would be terrible if something happened.”

“I could ask my mom to watch her,” Youngjae offers.

Jinri hardly dares hope. “R-really? For two whole weeks? She wouldn’t mind?”

“I don’t think so,” Youngjae assures her. “My mom is in love with Jinah. I think she wishes Jinah was her baby so she could keep her forever.” He laughs. “I’ll ask her tonight and let you know in the morning.”

“Ah, I don’t think I can wait that long!” Jinri exclaims anxiously. “Text me her answer as soon as you ask her!”

Youngjae laughs again. “Okay, okay. I’ll text you as soon as I ask her.”

Jinri can hardly wait, rushing through dinner and homework and bath time with Jinah. She’s watching cartoons in her bedroom with the toddler when her handphone goes off with her latest ringtone. Snatching it up quickly, she checks the text message from Youngjae.

It’s a positive response. His mother has agreed to babysit Jinah for the two weeks that they’re on the yacht during summer vacation. According to Youngjae, she says that it will ease her mind to have a child in the house with her own son gone for a fortnight.

The process of convincing her mother to let her go is another matter entirely. Though she’d forever deny it, Mrs. Kyung takes a sort of sick pleasure from denying Jinri the privileges that many her age enjoy. So she uses Jinri’s recent suspension as an excuse to not let her go.

Of course Jinri won’t have that. She’s used to getting her way and her mother and stepfather are certainly not going to stop her. So, on the morning that they’re set to leave on the vacation, she meets Himchan in front of her house very early in the morning and they sneak out, Jinah and luggage and all. They transfer the baby to Mrs. Yoo’s waiting arms, picking up Youngjae in the process, and then make the rounds to pick up everyone else.

Only Yongguk, the last that they pick up, isn’t enthusiastic about the trip. “This is the first time a girl is going,” he complains. “Isn’t this supposed to be a guys-only trip?”

“What, are you gay?” Jinri taunts. “Are you worried that a little estrogen is going to interfere with your boy-on-boy playtime?”

He reaches over the seat and smacks her in the head, harder than Himchan does. “Yah, shut your mouth,” he grumbles. “On what planet would a guy like me be gay? Don’t be an idiot.”

When they arrive at the marina an hour later, Jinri discovers that Himchan’s parents’ yacht is a little mini-palace floating by the dock. It’s the first time that she’s ever been on a boat, and she stumbles a little crossing from the dock to the deck.

It’s Yongguk’s hand on her elbow that steadies her. He wrinkles his nose in distaste. “This is why we shouldn’t bring a girl on board. She’s going to fall overboard and then when she drowns we’re all going to be murder suspects.”

“I know how to swim, douchecanoe,” she grumbles, embarrassed nonetheless at slipping. “I’m not going to drown.”

“A simple thank you would have sufficed,” he retorts nastily.

“Yah, quit arguing!” Jongup begs, stepping between the two before their words can escalate further. “We’re on vacation! We’re here to have fun!”

The bedrooms were located on the bottom floor of the yacht, two with double beds built into the walls and two with king-sized beds bolted to the floors.

“Jinri can take the room with the king at the end of the hall,” Himchan says, allocating the room space efficiently.

“Yah, why does she get such a big bed by herself?” Yongguk argues.

“Because I’m a lady and I need my privacy,” Jinri says, sticking her tongue out at him.

He snorts derisively. “What lady?” he demands. “What privacy? Big words from a girl like you.”

“And just what kind of girl am I?” Jinri demands hotly, feeling her notorious temper bubbling to the surface again.

Yongguk isn’t backing down from the argument, though. “Do you really need me to say it out loud?” he demands smugly. “We all know what kind of girl you are.”

“Hey!” Himchan shouts loudly, effectively silencing them both. “What’s wrong with you two? We’re here to have fun and relax! If you can’t quit fighting, I’m going to leave you both here on the dock. Okay?”

Jinri makes another face at Yongguk and then heads to the bedroom at the end of the hall, sliding the door shut behind her so she no longer has to look at Yongguk and his big stupid head with his stupid judging eyes and his stupid talking mouth.

There isn’t much time to settle in before Youngjae comes to get her so they can set sail. Himchan is a pro at maneuvering the vessel through the choppy waves, and the other boys have been on the ship so often that they know just what to do as well. Jinri is able to sit back and enjoy the sun and the breeze as they head off into warmer waters to the south.

Eventually they start to get hungry and, after Yongguk making a snide comment about a the woman doing the cooking, Youngjae and Daehyun set about making dinner for them, which they eat on the deck, basking in the brilliant sunset. After dinner, Zelo breaks out the liquor they’d managed to sneak on board and several rounds of drinking ensue. It’s long past midnight before they all stumble into their beds, inebriated and exhausted but happy.

This sets the pace for their vacation. It’s easy, languid, and relaxed, the serenity broken only occasionally by a typical argument between Yongguk and Jinri. It’s the perfect way to spend summer vacation, in Jinri’s opinion.

One evening, after several of the others have already gone to bed, Jinri goes up to the deck for a little fresh air and a glass of water. She finds Daehyun sitting by himself on the top deck, the salty breeze ruffling his hair.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Jinri asks him politely, leaning against the railing with her glass, watching the waves crest against the bow of the ship.

Daehyun joins her at the railing, quiet and reserved. “Yeah. I came up here with the intention to read a few chapters in my book before bed, but the lighting is bad and it’s so nice out here that I didn’t open my book anyway.” He hesitates. “Jinri, may I ask you a question?”

Here it comes, Jinri thinks. So far, the boys have done a pretty good job of avoiding any unsavory questions. She’s never discussed her lifestyle choices with anyone other than Himchan; it’s like everyone just sort of glosses over the nasty bits that everyone at school knows about. But she forces a smile, readying herself to answer whatever he might ask, and says, “Sure. Ask away.”

“What are you and Himchan-hyung?” he asks.

Whatever she’d been expecting, this is not it. “W-what do you mean?” she demands, caught off guard by the question.

“I mean, the two of you seem awfully close,” Daehyun murmurs, looking down at his hands rather than at Jinri. “And Himchan has never really told us how you met and got to know each other in the first place. I was just wondering if you were dating, or what your intentions are with hyung.”

“Himchan and I are just friends,” Jinri assures him quickly. She’s long gotten past thinking of Himchan in a ual manner and the thought now is almost laughable.

But Daehyun isn’t ready to let it lie. “You’re not going to sleep with him, are you?”

“Definitely not,” she assures him.

“And you haven’t?” he presses.

Jinri chuckles amused. “No, I haven’t. That’s actually how we met, though. We were both a bar using fake IDs and he took me back to his place so we could have . We never went through with it, however. He got a call before we could get into it and so it never happened. After that, we just started talking and got to be friends.” She laughs at the memory of it. “He told me that I could have more fun doing normal things than having .”

Daehyun chuckles too. “So, do you have more fun? Doing normal things rather than having , I mean.”

She purses her lips, thinking about it. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. is great. But other things are fun, too. Like this.” She gestures to the ocean surrounding them. “This is great, too.”

Daehyun smiles. “Yeah. I’m glad you came with us.”

She feels a warmth that has nothing to do with the warm salty air enveloping them. “Thanks, Daehyun.”