DOUBLE UPDATE READ PREVIOUS CHAPTER FIRST

 

---

 

“He says he knows where Yixing is.”

 

 

The sun had chosen this day to be irritable, radiating far too much heat that hit the top of Yixing’s head. He brushed his bangs out of his eyes, which he immediately realized was not a good idea at all. The sun blasted more warmth into Yixing’s forehead and he pushed his bangs back into position. Guess he would just have to live with impartial sight for the day.

 

Beside him, Yifan bopped his head to the beat of the far too loud music he had selected. Yixing had developed a paradoxical theory that Yifan had such awful taste in music because he had gone deaf from listening to said awful, loud music.

 

“Margarita, my good friend?” Yifan offered Yixing a blueish drink with a little umbrella sticking out the top.

 

“Underage, gege. Remember?”

 

“I know, that’s why I requested a non-alcoholic one,” Yifan reassured him. “I put the umbrella there myself.”

 

He sounded very proud of himself and Yixing couldn’t help but chuckle quietly. Yifan had always been an artist. Not a very good one, but an artist nonetheless.

 

 

Jongdae’s knuckles were turning white from stress. He rocked back and forth in the passenger seat of Joonmyeon’s little car, unable to sit still. Now that he, Luhan, and the rest of their friends had discovered where Yixing was, they were anxious to reach him before it was too late.

 

“What if it’s too late?” Jongin was almost as worried as his older brother. “What if he’s gone by the time we get there?”

 

“Well then we run ourselves over with hyung’s minivan. Obviously…” Baekhyun snarked. Jongin let out a hmph in response, not at all pleased to be sharing a car with Baekhyun.

 

“Hey! There will be no vehicular violence happening today,” Joonmyeon was less than pleased to hear bickering from the backseat. “Jongin, we will find Yixing. We technically know where he is.”

 

“Technically…” echoed somebody else in the car.

 

Minseok, who was sitting behind Jongdae, leaned forward and tapped Jongdae on the shoulder. “How are you holding up?”

Jongdae sighed for the nth time that day. “I’m glad he’s safe, at least. I’m not so sure about how I feel about where he is. I mean…” Jongdae paused and adjusted his snapback. “Yifan is really good-looking. I don’t even want to think about the two of them in that environment.”

 

“Eh, Yifan wouldn’t make a move on Yixing,” Kyungsoo commented. “He’s too…how do I put this? He’s too, like, cool.”

 

“I’m cool too!” Baekhyun protested, slightly jealous. Kyungsoo chuckled and poked his boyfriend’s cheek. “No you’re not, and we both know it.”

 

 

Tao had returned from the bathroom after what had seemed like months. Yifan gave him a strange look. “That bathroom break you just took lasted the duration of ten Yifan bathroom breaks.”

 

“I was on a phone call,” responded Tao matter-of-factly. “With Sehun.”

 

“Ah yes, the guy who looks slightly pissed-off all the time, right” Yifan remembered.

 

“No, that’s you, gege.”

 

A mini umbrella was thrown at Yixing’s head.

It didn’t get very far, as it slowly drifted to the floor

 

 

“Does he even want to see me?” Jongdae mused to Minseok. “He could still be angry that I accused him of confessing to me as a joke.”

 

Minseok had a thoughtful look on his face. “I don’t see him being angry, actually. If I were in his position I would be more confused than mad.”

 

“I guess.”

 

Next to Minseok, Luhan yawned, obviously tired. He leaned his head on Minseok’s shoulder. “I wonder if they know we’re all coming.”

 

Hearing this, Chanyeol asked the maknae of the group, “Sehun, did you tell Tao we’re all coming?”

 

“Hm? He probably assumed we were.” Sehun answered. “I did specifically tell him that Jongdae was coming. So Yixing probably knows by now.”

 

 

“What do you mean, Jongdae is coming here???” Yixing stood up in panic, staring at Tao like he had just grown three heads. The younger boy had just delivered the news after Yixing and Yifan had asked him what he and Sehun had been talking about.

 

“I mean, Jongdae is coming here,” Tao emphasized exactly the same words he had just said, like it would make a difference what it meant to Yixing.

 

“So he knows where we are?” Yixing widened his eyes. “Jongdae is coming to find us?”

 

“Mostly to find you, but yes,” answered the panda-like boy.

 

A million thoughts swirled around in Yixing’s head. Did Jongdae want to see him? Well, if he didn’t why would he be coming? Had Jongdae been worried about him? Did Jongdae care? Did he secretly never want to be around Yixing again, but everyone else had force him to seek him out?

 

“Ugh, we’re never going to get going,” Yifan frowned as he looked out the window. They were still parked at the dock. “When is this ship going to sail?”

 

Yixing hugged the cylindrical pavilion. Did Jongdae care about him? Was he still in disbelief that Yixing’s feelings for him were nothing short of true? Did Jongdae really care? On one hand he wanted the cruise ship to leave immediately to take him away forever. Well, not forever, but for a day or two. On the other hand-

 

Jongdae cared.

 

 

“We’re almost there, guys.” Joonmyeon tried to lighten up the mood, “Hopefully they haven’t taken off yet.

 

Luhan was squeezing his legs together tightly, a pained expression on his face. “Guys, I really need to pee.”

 

As everyone else expressed sympathetic words towards him, Sehun checked his phone “Tao just texted me. They’ve been waiting for so long that the minibar is handing out free non-alcoholic drinks,” he said.

 

Jongdae was growing increasingly more worried by the second, even though he now knew Yixing wasn’t in any real danger. “Do I smell funny?” He stretched his cardigan out directly under Joonmyeon’s nose. Joonmyeon was displeased, at the gesture, making sure he was focused on the road instead of Jongdae’s scent.

 

“You smell fine, Jongdae,” he replied. “Besides, I don’t think that’s a thing Yixing will be fixated on when he sees you.

 

“But I want to smell good,” whined Jongdae. “Not just fine.”

 

A rectangular object suddenly ricocheted off of the back of Jongdae’s head. He picked it up and glared at the backseat, knowing that was where the object had been thrown but not knowing who threw it.

 

“If you’re that worried, put some cologne on,” Baekhyun suggested, “It’s the new fragrance by Kim Kibum.”

 

“Taemin knows that guy,” Jongin mused, as Jongdae sniffed the bottle suspiciously.

 

“Baekhyun, this is super strong. I don’t think Yixing will like this on me.”

 

Baekhyun scoffed. “Well, I think it smells great,” he declared, shoving his Kim Kibum-endorsed wrists under Kyungsoo’s nose. Kyungsoo froze for a second, then started coughing and sneezing loudly.

 

“Yeah, thanks but no thanks, Baek,” Jongdae grimaced. He reached over to hand the bottle to Luhan so that Baekhyun could take it from him. Unfortunately, the cologne slipped from his fingers and shattered loudly as it hit the floor of the car.

 

“Ahghhgggck!” Baekhyun yelled to Jongdae, “You’re buying me a new bottle!”

 

While most of the bottle’s contents were now stinking up the floor, a lot had also seeped onto Jongdae’s hands and clothes. Jongdae rubbed his hands on his cardigan frantically, forgetting that he was just making the problem worse.

 

“Man, that’s a really delicate bottle,” commented Chanyeol, as Jongdae let out a cry of frustration and sadness.

 

It didn’t take very long for the smell to begin diffusing through the air. Joonmyeon also looked ready to burst into tears. “Baekhyun, you’re buying me a new minivan.”

 

 

“I feel sick.” moaned Tao, who had placed the back of his palm on his forehead dramatically. Yixing patted him on the back, grimacing as Tao leaned over the railing, close to throwing up.

 

“How can somebody even forget that they get seasick before boarding a cruise?” Yifan was less sympathetic, shaking his head at the younger boy.

 

Yixing couldn’t stop thinking about Jongdae. “What is he going to say to me when he sees me?” he wondered to the two other Chinese boys. “What if he says he doesn’t like me?”

 

That was something Yixing had just remembered he had to worry about. Jongdae hadn’t rejected him when he confessed, but he didn’t say yes either. Could it be that he was planning to come all the way here to tell Yixing that ‘Sorry, I’m not interested in guys who dance’ or ‘Dimples on a guy are an automatic dealbreaker’?

 

“What if Jongdae hates my face?” Yixing whined, a little too loudly. A couple people around him turned and stared curiously. Yixing shrunk in his seat, embarrassed

 

Yifan opened his mouth, about to reassure Yixing that Jongdae hating his face was unlikely to be true, when a booming voice interrupted all of them.

 

“Attention passengers, this is your captain Henry speaking. We would like to apologize again for the extreme delay on our trip to Guangzhou, China. Fortunately, we are now able to fix many of the technical issues at hand. This means we are closer to starting our journey- “

 

Henry paused, and nobody on the ship spoke for a few seconds. Suddenly, an ear-shattering siren noise shook the whole boat.

 

Yixing was confused for a second when everyone immediately started running off of the boat, Yifan and Tao included. Yifan turned back to Yixing, his eyes wide. “What are you doing? Stop standing there and hurry!”

 

It wasn’t until Yixing dimly arrived back to the dock with the other passengers that he realized that there was a fire on the cruise ship.

 

 

Meanwhile, the stench in the car had become so repulsive (not that it was a complete delight in the first place) that Jongdae and his friends had to stop at a pit stop. Sehun and Kyungsoo had completely passed out from the smell. Their friends gently laid them down on a picnic table while they all went to the bathroom (Luhan had barged into the stalls first, of course).

 

While Baekhyun reapplied his eyeliner and Jongin made finger guns at his reflection, Jongdae looked closely at himself at the mirrors in the dirty outhouse. “Do you think Yixing still thinks I’m cute?” he nagged Minseok.

 

“Why would he suddenly stop thinking that you’re cute?” Minseok was getting tired of Jongdae’s needs for reaffirmation.

 

“Well, what if he thinks my eyebrows are too sympathetic?”

 

“If he thought so, he would have written something in his journal, right?” Minseok pointed out.

 

“Wait.” Jongdae suddenly leaned back from the mirror and turned to directly face Minseok. “Is he going to be mad that we read his diary?” he whispered.

The older boy tilted his head to the side. “Uh…I mean, we didn’t read the whole thing. Technically. And you can show him your own journal. That might help.”

 

“I guess.”

 

The gang waited for Luhan, who must have broken the world record for taking the longest piss in history by now. Jongin pretended to stick his pinky up the still-unconscious Sehun’s nostril. Chanyeol opened the minivan’s doors more to let the odor run into the wild instead of staying in the car. And Jongdae continued to worry about what would happen when he came face-to-face with Yixing.

 

 

 

Captain Henry reassured all the passengers that the fire was put out and everything was safe. However, nobody was really in the mood to go back onto the cruise ship, with the exception of those who had to get to Guangzhou on a tight schedule. Yixing, Yifan, and Tao all reclaimed their luggage and made their way back to Yifan’s parked car.

 

“Well, that’s that,” remarked Yifan, “What now? Any suggestions?”

 

“Maybe we should just go home…” Yixing mumbled, exhausted. Yifan had no objections and began to drive back towards their homes.

 

There was nothing but silence in the car for the first ten minutes until all of a sudden, Tao started complaining. Again. “I need to use the restroom!”

 

Yifan sighed and tried to remember where the nearest outhouse was.

 

 

“How bad do I smell now, on a scale of one to ten?” Jongdae asked Jongin.

 

Luhan had finished using the bathroom by now, and everyone wanted to see Yixing and his friends as soon as possible, but the car still reeked of Kim Kibum’s darn cologne. Sehun and Kyungsoo had both regained consciousness, and were very confused as to why they were outside.

 

“A solid six…” replied Jongin.

 

Jongdae was slightly more relieved. This meant that Yixing wouldn’t be that repulsed-

 

“…plus four” Jongin finished.

 

Jongdae wanted to cry again. Baekhyun patted him on the back consolingly. “You know, I think I know a way for Yixing to find you even more attractive.”

“How?” Jongdae was suspicious, as the last time he had even tried listening to Baekhyun resulted in everyone sitting around outside and delaying his race against time to Destination Yixing (a paradise resort for everyone, except everybody really meant only Jongdae).

 

“Well…”

 

 

Tao had a bladder the size of Kyungsoo, Yixing mused. He and Yifan had been waiting for a whole three minutes. The taller man used that precious time to look at himself using his phone camera while Yixing paced around the outhouse, thinking about nothing until-

 

Wait! Tao said that Jongdae was on his way to find him! But they didn’t know that the cruise ship caught on fire. Where was Jongdae now? What if he was lost? What if he had arrived at the dock but the fire blew him into the ocean, somehow? Where could he be-

 

“…And that’s why liquid liner isn’t for everybody...”

 

Yixing must have inhaled some of that smoke, even though he didn’t really know how that would have affected his mind. It was the only explanation for why he thought he just heard Baekhyun’s voice.

 

“I don’t think regular liner is for me either, to be honest…”

 

It was getting worse! Yixing was hearing Jongdae’s beautiful voice all of a sudden. What if he started singing? Show me your wish? More like show me Jongdae…

 

 

All of a sudden, a rustle in the nearby bushes interrupted Yixing’s bitter, internal cries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m finished!” Tao proudly announced as he stepped out of the outhouse.

 

 

 

But not from the door he came from.

 

“Oh hey guys! You found us!”

 

Silence fell upon Jongdae and his friends. Yifan quietly tip-toed onto the scene before Sehun spoke up.

 

“Not on purpose. What-“

 

“What happened to you guys?” Jongdae interrupted. “What about the cruise and stuff?”

 

“Oh the boat caught on fire and we left,” answered Yifan nonchalantly, like it was something that happened to him every hour.

 

“But where’s-“

 

Thump.

 

“Ow. Wow, that hurt. I love coniferous trees.”

 

 

 

 

“…”

 

 

 

 

“Oh hey, we’re all here! What fun, I can’t wait to-“

 

 

 

“…”

 

At that moment, everything stood still. Jongdae almost didn’t notice Baekhyun dropping another mini fragrance bottle he had seemingly pulled out of nowhere. Yixing almost didn’t catch how a bumblebee started circling around Minseok’s head.

 

 

“…”

 

 

“…”

 

 

“...”

 

 

“…”

 

 

“…Sehun, stop touching me!”

 

 

“You started it…”

 

 

“Ew you guys smell.”

 

 

“…”

 

 

“…”

 

Buzzzzz

 

 

“…”

 

 

“…”

 

Gulp

 

 

 

 

“…Hi.”