It wasn’t as awkward as Jonghyun thought it would be the next morning. Granted, he kind of blushed more visibly when he and Kibum met up with Jinki and Minho for breakfast. Jinki was all smiles and chuckles, but otherwise it went as usual.

Well, almost.

Jonghyun wasn’t sure if it was because of Jinki's dazzling smiles or if he just hadn’t noticed it before, but as they passed people – or more accurately; women – they all seemed to still momentarily to stare at Jinki with star struck gazes. Minho got his fare share of stares as well, but it didn’t bother Jonghyun as much.

“Hey,” he whispered to Kibum as they entered the food court and took his arm to let Jinki and Minho get ahead of them a few steps. “Is it just me or is Jinki attracting a lot of attention today?”

Kibum frowned and glanced around before rolling his eyes.

“You mean the gawking?" he said. "Yeah, it’s just you.”

Jonghyun raised his eyebrows at him and he scoffed.

“You seriously think Jinki, and Minho I might add, wouldn’t attract attention wherever they went?” he asked incredulously. “Need I remind you they’re gods? Very good-looking ones at that. You were just too unobservant before. People have been staring at them since day one.”

“Oh.” Jonghyun looked over at Jinki who chose the exact same moment to look back at him, shooting a radiant smile his direction.

Kibum chuckled at the exchange, nudging Jonghyun in the side with his elbow.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think Jinki has eyes for anyone but you… even more so now than before.”

Jonghyun's cheeks warmed again and he gave him a light shove. Kibum just laughed and happily strutted over to the breakfast buffet where he picked up a plate and began loading it with food. Jonghyun scowled at his back, planning a very detailed revenge.

He jumped when a hand slipped into his, fingers intertwining, shooting warmth up his arm to pool in his chest. He looked up to see Jinki grin at him before he dragged him over to the buffet; excitedly inspecting the food and asking about the things he had never seen before. Jonghyun couldn’t help the small smile on his lips, as he watched Jinki’s eyes sparkle with interest and heard the wonder in his voice. Their hands stayed laced together the entire time.

They spent almost half an hour at the buffet table choosing food. Kibum smirked an wiggled his eyebrows at Jonghyun when he came for a second plate and they still hadn’t made it to the table with their first. Jonghyun grimaced back at him before answering another one of Jinki's questions, his heart skipping a beat when he saw the joy on Jinki's face.

Minho, he noticed when they finally made their way to their table, was brooding.

Jonghyun threw him an inquisitive glance as he sat down and was about to ask when Jinki interrupted, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

“My brother and I do not always agree,” he breathed. “You need not worry, he is angry with me only.”

Jonghyun nodded, staring down at his food dumbly while his cheeks and ears heated up. He glanced up at Kibum who sat across form him, wondering if he had some answers instead that he could tell him in private later. All he received, however, was a knowing smirk and he scowled at him before turning to Minho. Minho watched him with a small frown, his shoulders tense as he turned a glass of water in his hands. It looked like he had something he wanted to get off his chest. Jinki shot him a warning look as he began eating and Minho narrowed his eyes at him.

“Jonghyun,” he spoke up after allowing him and Jinki eat in peace for a while. The authority in his voice forced both Jonghyun and Kibum to sit up straighter and turn to look at him.

Jinki glared at Minho.

“Y-yes?” Jonghyun answered timidly and glanced between them.

“You have chosen a dangerous path,” Minho said, sending a glare of his own at Jinki. “I will not allow my brother to force you into anything. Our priority might be to find Hades at the moment, but our primary duty as gods is always to protect you humans.” He stared at his brother challengingly. “Even if it means we must go against our own brothers.”

The boat suddenly lurched to the side, flinging Jonghyun and Kibum out of their seats, all their plates falling to the floor, and Jinki stood, looking absolutely livid. Jonghyun heard Kibum mumble ‘stupidly challenging a water god surrounded by the fricking sea!’ and just barely managed to get to his feet when the boat swung to the other side. He groaned when his shoulder hit the edge of their table as he tumbled to the floor again. He managed to scramble to his feet when the boat felt steady enough and quickly glanced around at the rest of the guests, only to realise they were all unconscious. Even Kibum.

“Why do you wish to hurt me, brother?” Jinki growled and Jonghyun's attention snapped back to him and Minho.

The ship must have fallen from a high wave just then, because Jonghyun could feel his stomach turn as a momentary weightlessness fill him, and he gasped involuntarily. He sincerely hoped Jinki wasn’t angry enough to sink the entire ship. Both he and Minho seemed unnervingly unconcerned, though.

“You are the one hurting yourself!” Minho rumbled so loudly it actually sounded like thunder. It rattled Jonghyun's body with its strong resonance.

His legs gave out and he sank to the floor, not noticing the violent swaying of the ship anymore as his consciousness was blanketed by the authority Minho was suddenly emanating. He was glad Minho hadn’t released his full authority yet, because he was pretty sure his brain would have exploded, especially when he was this angry. It did however make it extremely hard for him to move or even think and he wished he could have just passed out like the rest of the people in the room to spare him from the painful pressure.

“I aim to help you as well as Jonghyun,” Minho continued. “You are only going to put him at risk! Do you not remember what happened the last time you refused to listen to me?!”

Jinki abruptly stilled, along with the boat, and Minho's authority eased. An agonised sound escaped Jinki and Jonghyun's heart ached at the tortured look in his eyes. He could barely make out the way Jinki ruefully glanced back at him before his vision blurred with sensory overload, all of Jinki's pain washing over him in waves. He wanted to say something, anything, to make that look go away, but his throat wasn’t working properly after Minho's little authority display. Or maybe Minho was still using his authority to prevent him from speaking.

“I do,” Jinki murmured miserably, heartbrokenly, and a tear ran down Jonghyun's cheek, followed by another and then an entire flood of them.

Jinki looked at him when he let out a small sniffle and smiled softly in what Jonghyun assumed was an attempt to reassure him. Then he approached him, crouching down and reaching out a hand, caressing the tears away.

“I need time to think,” he whispered, grazing Jonghyun’s cheekbone with his knuckles to then grab his chin and lift it up to press a soft kiss to his lips.

His eyes were horrifyingly blank and closed off as he pulled back and Jonghyun wanted to grab onto him, tell him he didn’t need to think. He just needed to feel. Feel loved.

All he managed to do, however, was let out another sniffle. Jinki's face hardened with determination and he swiftly got to his feet, disappearing around the corner to the entrance of the food court in the blink of an eye.

“Wh-hy did you d-do that?” Jonghyun managed to sob when Minho let up on his authority, both of them still staring at the spot where Jinki had disappeared.

Minho sighed and strode over to him. He grabbed his arms to bring him to his feet and, when Jonghyun refused to face him, forced him to look at him by turning his head.

“I need you to know I am doing my best to keep both my brother and you in existence,” he rumbled quietly. “However, both of you are making it very difficult, near impossible, at the moment because you gave him fruitless hope.”

“It’s my fault?!” Jonghyun hissed. “You’re the one inflicting him with that… that… agony! I just want to make it go away!”

“You cannot!” Minho growled and the floor rumbled. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. “Do you love my brother?”

Jonghyun stilled, not at all prepared for that question.

“I–,” he cut off. He wasn’t entirely sure he loved Jinki yet, but he knew it could be a possibility. “I could. If you would just let me–”

“Then you should know that losing his soulmate has made him extremely vulnerable,” Minho interrupted. “If he loses you–”

“He won’t lose me!” Jonghyun yelled in frustration. Why in the world was he, Jinki's own brother, doing this?! “He won’t unless you make him!”

Minho considered him for a second. Then he let out another sigh.

“It is not a risk I am willing to take.”

“It’s not your risk to take,” Jonghyun growled back.

Minho opened his mouth to say something but he was too angry to listen by then.

“No, screw this!” He wrenched out of Minho's hold. “I don’t care about what you think. I’m going to go talk to Jinki and I’m going to make him see he doesn’t have to be sad and alone!”

“Oh no, you–,” Minho flared up and grabbed one of Jonghyun's arms again as he turned away. Large cracks appeared in the ceiling and walls. He cut off, however, and let out a weird sound, his grip slackening.

Jonghyun threw him a puzzled look but decided to not bother since this was probably his best chance at escaping. He quickly pulled his arm away and ran to the entrance, taking the stairs up to their compartments two at a time only to stop at the top to bend over and catch his breath.

“I really need to start working out,” he grumbled, before straightening up and glaring at the wall in front of him. “And what was up with his godly highness anyway?!” he growled at it. “I cannot believe his… his... ugh!”

He punched the wall furiously, wincing as the impact was harder than he expected and his knuckles complained. Then he breathed in deep, feeling the anger leave him. He straightened up and turned in the direction of their compartments, determined to take the pain away from Jinki.

He just about managed to take one step forward when there was a tugging at the back of his shirt. He swiveled around, ready to throw an insult, thinking it was Minho but stopped short when he saw a little girl with long, curly blond hair holding on to the hem of his shirt. She stumbled forward with a small gasp at his sudden movement.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Jonghyun quickly apologised and crouched down, putting his hands on her shoulders to steady her. “I thought you were someone else.”

The little girl sniffled and he suddenly noticed the tear tracks on her cheeks.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“My mommy.”

Jonghyun frowned. Great. Jinki and Minho's little argument had certainly caused a mess. There were a lot of unconscious people in the food court, he was sure one of them could be her mother. His frown deepened. Then shouldn’t the girl be unconscious too? She must have been with her mother.

He sighed. It didn’t matter anyway. Biting his lip, he glanced over his shoulder and down the corridor before looking back at the girl guiltily. He really would have liked to help her, but the need to help Jinki was stronger. Besides, she seemed old enough to manage on her own and Minho was still down there. He could take responsibility since it was his fault to begin with.

“I think she’s downstairs in the food court,” he told the girl with a gentle smile and stood up again. “You should go there and look. There’s a man down there who can help you. I need to–”

He cut off when she grabbed onto his hand, staring up at him with big watery eyes, and shook her head furiously.

“No!” she yelled, pointing at the doors to the sundeck. “Mommy is there!”

Jonghyun's heart fell. The possibility of her mother falling overboard when Jinki had had his little angry outburst was very high. Now he really needed Minho to take responsibility, he thought as he crouched down in front of the little girl again.

“Sweetie, I don’t think–”

“Mommy!” she wailed and began running down the corridor, apparently deeming Jonghyun a lost cause. She sniffled loudly and flung the door to the sundeck open with great effort, racing outside.

Jonghyun stared after her for a shocked moment before breaking into a run, unease pooling in his stomach.

“Hey! Wait!” he called and his stomach dropped when he burst through the doors himself to see the little girl climbing up the railing right where he and Jinki had stood last night.

“Don’t!” he yelled but the girl ignored him, continuing until she was balancing on top of it.

“Mommy!” she screamed down at the sea and Jonghyun lunged forward, trying to grab her.

He was too late, however, and the little girl lost her balance, soundlessly falling down into the water.

“NO!” Jonghyun shouted and rushed forward to look down at the harsh waves, desperately searching for a sign of her. “Dammit!” he slammed his fist against the railing and bent his head down, dread filling him. What was he supposed to tell her parents? “God dammit!”

A sudden, strange bluish light caught his attentiong and interrupted his thoughts. His head snapped back up and his mouth fell open as the sight of a woman resembling the little girl greeted him. Her blond hair was even longer and curlier than the girl’s had been, covering her body, and she was floating mid-air on a pillar made of water, easily following the speed of the boat.

“Who?” Jonghyun asked.

The woman smiled and blew him a kiss. Something in his brain clicked.

“Wait, you are–,” he began, remembering what Jinki had told him last night.

He stopped when she shook her head, still smiling, and he blinked at her. She raised a graceful arm to point over his shoulder to something behind him. He frowned, puzzled, and turned around.

His heart flew up his throat when his eyes fell upon the shadow figure wearing the screaming mask. It advanced on him ominously and much quicker than he expected. He barely had the time to react before it launched itself on him; lifting him off his feet and chucking them both over the railing and headfirst into the ocean. Jonghyun didn’t know what was up or down as he tumbled around in the water and he prayed to everything he knew he wouldn’t get into the motors of the boat and chopped into tiny pieces.

He let out a water filled yell when he felt hands grab one of his arms, either pulling him to death or life, he couldn't tell. It didn't matter anyway as he was quickly loosing his consciousness, salty seawater filling his mouth and lungs.

A/N: Just so you know, this was not proofread at all *sigh* it just practically wrote itself and I felt like if I didn't post it now, it would take forever before I would remember to do it OTL And also, sorry for the cliffhanger, haha xP

I hope you liked it anyway! And I don't know if this hinted at which theory is right; if Jonghyun is Jinki's soulmate or not... I think it was kind of a good hint, but I won't tell you about Jinki's soulmate until he himself does hahahaha! But maybe you all already know?

And I really love your comments! They are wonderful! :D And I always answer a comment so I hope you don't get annoyed by that >_< If you do, just tell me to stop, haha

Anyhoo, love and hugs and kissed <3

Bye~