"O-okay then, hopefully we'll find it soon." I said, acting casual as I continued to search for Chen's wallet. "Maybe check in the washroom?" 

"Huh, okay I'll be right back." 

I watched as he left then I went to retrace his steps. Could it have fallen on the ground? Maybe when Minnie bumped into him? I felt my insides twist uncomfortably as I thought of her. She should be the one here with him, not me. What would she think when she noticed that we were the only two gone?

"It wasn't there," Chen said as he came back.

"Oh…" I trailed off as I felt a mix of feelings. I was obviously worried for him but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit happy that I got to spend a bit more time with him alone. "Was there anything really important in it?" I asked.

"Nothing that would be too important, but then again, if any personal information gets out to the fans…" It was strange that he sounded worried but didn't look like it as much, but maybe he just had a calm persona. "Maybe I'll check over here again." He walked back to the table where we had eaten our meal while I continued to retrace our steps to the door of the rest stop building. I peeked under the seats near this side of the room; maybe it could've fallen on the floor then got kicked over here?

"Rachel, I found it! Wow it was here the whole time?" I ran back to the table to see Chen coming up from beneath it, holding up his prized wallet.

"Thank goodness." I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come on, let's go to the beach now," he grinned, eyes twinkling.

We were walking under the hot sun, hats pulled down low to avoid anyone recognizing him.

“So what was your life like back in America? Do you have any siblings?” Chen asked. We had been walking for a while under the hot sun, but I didn't mind at all.

"Well I'm an only child so I had a very close relationship with both of my parents, and that meant I was pretty much spoiled all the time too. What about you?"

"Oh, I have an older brother, but I don't get to see him all that much since he went off to university and the military, so I'm very close with my parents too."

"Don't you ever miss them?" I said quietly, the topic making me a bit homesick. He paused and looked distant with a sad smile on his lips as he adjusted his cap.

"Yes of course I miss them all the time." He paused again but then added playfully, "especially my mom’s cooking." I laughed lightly, and he joined in.

"So what would you be doing now if you hadn’t become a singer? Like, did you ever think about doing something else?"

"Well for me, I've always wanted to pursue music. Before being casted by SM, I was auditioning for a music conservatory. Of course my parents weren't always supportive of this idea, but I'm just grateful that everything worked out." He smiled to himself. "What about you? Did you have any plans for the future?"

"I've always wanted a job in the field of medicine or chemistry actually." I said, reminiscing about the times when I spent worrying about applying to universities.

"Oh, so I take it you must have done very well in school," he said, raising an eyebrow light-heartedly. I chuckled at his words, face probably reddening. Our laughter soon died down though, and it became silent again. A little bit awkward, but not uncomfortable.

"So…where is this beach we're heading to?" I asked, not just to fill up the silence, but because we’ve walked for a good forty minutes and the horizon was still nowhere in sight.

"It should be up ahead,” Chen frowned a little bit, as he too realized that there was no beach in sight.

"Oka—" I got cut off as he suddenly stopped.

"Hang on, is this the right direction?” He slowly said, more to himself than to me.

"You mean you don’t actually know how to get there?" I gave him an incredulous look.

"I—err…" He rubbed the back of his neck as we stood there gazing in all directions. "Let me call them actually."

Although it was troublesome to be lost in the hot summer temperatures, I almost felt a surge of satisfaction.

"Oh, I know a way!" He took out his phone and unlocked it to pull up the map app, but it wasn't before I saw our text conversation flash across the screen. I felt a tiny bit happier even though it felt so...wrong.

He held the phone parallel to the ground, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. "It should be just a bit from here..." Chen looked up then back down at the compass. "Wait, have we been heading in the entire time?" He glanced at me with a mixed expression while I tried to stifle my laugh.

"Jongdae-ya really?" I laughed out loud. He pretended to look offended but then gave in and laughed with me.

"Well let's get walking then."

We finally arrived at a bus stop in the late afternoon, after splashing around in a fountain, getting ice cream, and chatting away endlessly.

"Are you tired? Maybe we should take the bus since it'll still be a while before we get there." Chen suggested, pulling me over to the little bus shelter. It was nice and cool under the shade of the little roof,  and I was glad for the rest we got.

"See that building over there?" Chen pointed at this tall building in the distance.

"Hmm?"

"It might look really plain now, but at night it looks really cool with all these different coloured lights."

"Oh that's cool."

"And over there, there's a trail that's nice for hiking," he pointed in the opposite direction, "and it leads to a cool lookout point where you can see the beach and the horizon."

I nodded to myself, trying to imagine what it would all look like. "Wow, are you really familiar with this area or something?"

He opened his mouth to say something, his eyes wide in what looked like shock, but before he could, the roar of the bus approached us.

We got on the bus and to my surprise, there weren't any empty seats, so we ended up standing near the back doors.

"Hey hey, have you ever tried surfing before?" Chen asked as I quickly grabbed onto the pole beside me before the bus started driving again.

"No, I've lived on the coast for so long but no, actually haven't tried it before." I replied absentmindedly, glancing out the window at the beautiful city that zoomed by.

"Look, I'm surfing!" I turned to see him in a surfing pose, with his feet spread apart, trying to balance on the bus without holding onto the pole or handles.

"What are you doing?" I laughed, rolling my eyes at how ridiculous he looked as he stood there, with his arms flailing slightly to imitate a surfer.

"I'm such a pro," he grinned, eyes sparkling in amusement.

"Oh my gosh, can you be any more embarrassing?" I pretended to hide my face, looking around to see if we were bothering anyone with how silly we were being.

Just then, the bus abruptly made a hard stop, as we came to the traffic light, causing everyone to lurch forward slightly.

I was definitely prepared to tease Chen for claiming to be such a "pro" surfer and laugh at his stunned face, but what I least expected was for him to crash into me.

And hug me.

I froze completely as he held onto me, tightening my grip on the pole as he stabilized himself. I could feel the warmth from his body pressed against me, his strong arms around me, and he was just so, so close.

Time must've slowed down at that instant, because it seemed like a really long time before he gently let go of me and stepped back, flashing me an innocent but sheepish smile as he grabbed onto the pole that I was holding onto. I looked away, brushing my hair with my fingers in a way so that it would cover my burning cheeks.

"Oh, look, there's the beach. We're here!" Chen pointed out the window, and sure enough, I could see some water in the distance.

We walked the final block in near silence, my mind still reeling the previous scene without stopping. The sand burned when it slipped into my sandals, but it was a familiar feeling and reminded me so much of home. When we finally reached the others, I spotted them spread out on the beach- some playing a game of beach volleyball while others were in the water playing around. They looked up to see us coming and shouted for Chen to quickly join them.

"Kim Jongdae," the manager oppa quickly stopped us and gave Chen a stern look, saying something in a rush.

Chen apologized coolly, probably for us being so late and wondering off, and I bowed respectfully. The manager oppa then retreated slowly and shot us a final look of disapproval, before letting us go. We continued walking towards the water when one of the guys shouted something like an invitation to Chen.

"Come on, let's go!" He said to me, before running towards the group in the water. I smiled then followed slowly behind, not knowing anyone in that group of people. I watched as Chen pulled off his bag and threw it in the sand, where it tumbled and then hit a girl lying on her towel.

"Yah, Kim Jongdae!" She shouted as she looked up at him. I looked to see that it was Minnie, peering over her sunglasses at him angrily. He stopped in his tracks then feigned a look of innocence and shrugged. Minnie threw down the book that she was reading and ran after him.

I picked a spot in the shade and sat down as I watched them run around, splashing each other and trying to push each other into the water. Chen then went on the offence and was now chasing Minnie, who was trying to dodge him without getting near the water. I watched as he finally caught her in his arms and lifted her to throw her into the water. She screamed and kicked but it was to no avail and then made a splash as she fell in laughing. That set the tone as everyone started splashing around lively, trying to get each other soaked.

I sighed as I flipped to a page in my theory book. 

New update! Nearly got exposed there, Chen why are you so dumb
Random fact: that bus scene may or may not have happened in real life (omg Rachel DKM FOR THIS PLS OTL)