It had been a while since Jongin last stepped on the beach. Sure he had attended beach parties but he never had a chance to get his feet buried under the sand while the sun was still up.

He just got back to their empty picnic spot from the nearby bar with a couple of iced teas. He sat down on the mat, rested the tall glasses on top of the small, flat wood on the side to keep the drinks from spilling.

Looking up from their messy picnic spot, he found Kyungsoo running along the shore, the lower part of his body soaking wet. The shorter male was wearing a pair of floral patterned shorts that Baekhyun lent him. The sight of Kyungsoo tripping made him Jongin smile after realizing that Chanyeol was running too, a few meters behind the shorter male.

Chanyeol’s hands were cupped together, holding something, and Jongin was sure it was a jellyfish on it. The goofy guy had always been fond of scaring people with a jellyfish in his hands since forever. The chase continued in circles until Baekhyun appeared on the scene with a stick, threatening to hit his boyfriend if he continued to scare Kyungsoo.

Jongin could see the relief in Kyungsoo’s face when Chanyeol dipped his hands back to the water, releasing the jellyfish back to freedom. When their eyes met, he motioned for the shorter male to come over and it wasn’t long before Kyungsoo sat down next to him, shorts still dripping wet.

“Having fun?” he asked and Kyungsoo nodded quietly. He took one glass and handed it to Kyungsoo, the ice cubes almost melted completely.

The tanned male recalled how they ended up in the beach, his forehead had visible creases and he internally winced.

It was just a couple of days ago when he met Baekhyun and unwillingly accepted the official burden of taking care of Kyungsoo. When Chanyeol and Kyungsoo came back from the grocery shopping, they had an incredible lunch, courtesy of the two talented cooks. Baekhyun had the whole afternoon with Kyungsoo in private and whatever businesses they had, Jongin wasn’t sure. The band singer must have tried to help Kyungsoo remember something from the past.

That evening before they went to sleep, Jongin couldn’t see any difference from how the shorter male acted but he didn’t see Kyungsoo the same way again. Besides being fragile, Jongin could see a lost soul in the other. Kyungsoo really needed help and had nowhere to go.

Kyungsoo couldn’t have survived out there, homeless, if he didn’t take advantage of the shorter man’s loss.

He had felt Kyungsoo scooting closer to him and whispered about the promise of going to the beach. Jongin was confused. He never made a promise of going to such place.

“Baekhyun told me you promised him to take me there,” Kyungsoo had said.

“Yeah, we’ll go there,” he responded, earning an excited gasp from the other.

“Really? Maybe your friends would like to go too.”

So maybe Baekhyun is partly mad at me and this is his way of getting revenge, he thought. He’s making more problems for me.

Kyungsoo’s attention shifted to Baekhyun who was calling him from afar. He glanced back at his husband who gave him a nod before he handed the glass back and ran towards the shore.

Jongin enjoyed the sight of Kyungsoo’s heart-shaped smile as Baekhyun showed him something that looked like a starfish. He mentally agreed to what Baekhyun had said about Kyungsoo being a simple person and that meant little things can make the said male happy.

But things are bound to happen. Kyungsoo had to suffer physical and emotional pain and even mentally before getting his lost brightness back. Jongin was at least happy he could contribute to that brightness.

He felt something warm in chest when he thought about it.

“Jongin, have you seen Sehun?” Luhan spoke behind him.

“I thought he’s with you,” he answered, glancing back at the Chinese male.

“He said he was going to bet something from the bar and after a while I followed but he wasn’t there. I thought he had gone back to our room but he wasn’t there either.”

“I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” he said and unconsciously took a sip from Kyungsoo’s glass in his hand. “Just hope that he isn’t flirting around.”

Luhan snorted and walked around the mat before sitting across the tanned male. “Sehun isn’t the type of guy who would do that and that’s one reason why I like him.”

“Who knows what he’s doing,” Jongin teased.

“He’s not like you, cheater.”

“I never cheated so spare me. My girlfriends did.”

“Maybe you’re not as perfect as they thought and tend to look for that missing piece on someone else.” Luhan’s eyes roamed around, hoping to spot his boyfriend but instead, he found Kyungsoo waving in their direction, one hand holding a starfish. “Kyungsoo just might find you perfect.”

Jongin glanced at the same direction to where Kyungsoo started heading to the waters. “I’m not really into guys.”

“I did think the same thing too before. But things happen, call it fate or destiny, and someone just comes and flip your world upside down.” Both were silent for a while, eyes watching Kyungsoo’s every move. “I heard about Kyungsoo’s past. Baekhyun must have felt horrible for having Kyungsoo end up that way and I would probably feel the same.”

“How