His alarm clock was rude, so very, very rude.

From the middle of the most wonderful dream about endless puppies and kittens, Jongin was brought sharply into focus. The sun was barely peeking out and the temperature was cold enough to make him shiver. After the initial anger passed, Jongin’s frustrations at the inanimate clock that would never grant him the courtesy of an apology, he breathed long and slow.

“There was a reason I set the clock to this time…” Rubbing his eyes gently, it was apparent how little sleep Jongin was running on. This was the norm, unfortunately. “This terrible rude and early time... something important…”

His ringing tone broke the silence of his room and Jongin scrambled to track his phone, lost under his messy heap of bed sheets and cushions. Once he grabbed a hold of it, he quickly answered the call.

“A pleasant morning, my beloved! It’s time to rise and shine!”

Jongin groaned. How could Baekhyun be in such high spirits already? It’s barely five in the morning! “It’s too early for this, Baek.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still in bed?”

“Yeah, and it’s taking me a lot of willpower not to lie back down.”

“You haven’t slept a wink since our talk last night, I figured as much. You’ve got an hour and a half tops to prepare before I pick you up! Wouldn’t wanna be late for our retreat.”

“Change of plans. Sehun told me he would be dropping me off.” Jongin let out a big yawn and dragged himself from the bed to pick out his attire for the day.

“Oh, word? You guys back on speaking terms now or what?”

Jongin paused himself from wracking through his closet to find his favorite sweatshirt. He felt a little guilty, not being able to fill Baekhyun in with the recent happenings. “I...guess?”

“What’s with the question mark?” Jongin could almost hear Baekhyun arching one eyebrow. “Better yet - what’s with him? Trying to act like some dutiful fiancé and .”

“Well...he’s trying, Baek.” was all Jongin could say. “It might be good to give him a second chance, at least...? I think.”

“Hmm. I don’t know, angel. This is Oh Sehun we’re talking about - what if he messed up like the last time? I’m just worried he’d with your feelings again and take you for granted for like, the thousandth time. I’m thiiisss close to castrating his balls and putting it in a jar.”

Baekhyun might be a knucklehead most of the time, but Jongin knew how much the other cared for his well-being. His best friend was always the first to express his outrage whenever somebody took advantage of his kindness and toyed with him; worse, hurt him. Case in point; him nearly committing second-degree murder when Zitao laid his hands on his precious best bud months back.

And so it went without saying that Baekhyun was positively livid after finding out the current state of Jongin’s relationship with Sehun, and the former couldn’t even blame him for it.

“It’s different this time. And I appreciate all the efforts he’s done so far to make it up to me. I just...I couldn’t stay mad at him for so long, it’s eating away at me. You know how easily I forgive.”

They lapsed into silence. Baekhyun was clearly weighing his doubts - he didn’t want to receive another call from Jongin in the middle of the night, stifling his cries on the other end of the line and whispering a pitiful ‘I can’t do this anymore’. That son of a Oh Sehun had already put him through so much that a Byun Baekhyun intervention was very much needed.

But in the end, he could only just leave it to Jongin’s discretion.

“I don’t trust him, but I trust you and your judgment. If that’s how you feel, then I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. For now, you hear? I’ll be on standby though, and if he does anything stupid I’ll be after his blood. Hopefully he’ll prove me wrong this time.”

A sigh slipped past Jongin’s lips. He wasn’t able to keep count of the days that passed following their terrible date that night what with Sehun distracting him with all of these ‘discreet’ ways to make amends for ing things up. Whether it be initiating to cook dinner for them, offering help with his acads or simply treating him outside for no reason - you name it. He'd done them all. He even insisted to drop off and pick him up at school, to which Jongin adamantly declined because the last thing he wanted was to trouble him especially with his increasing office work. Besides, he already had Chanyeol doing that for him anyway.

The sudden jump in treatment was just so...far out. Well, it’s not like it’s unusual since Sehun’s character had previously displayed changes ever since his return but there’s definitely an improvement. Still, Jongin was in doubt, that perhaps Sehun was doing all this just so he wouldn’t have to feel bad about himself. What was he trying to prove anyway? Jongin had already come to terms with the fact that he’d never be anything more than just a ‘kid’ to Sehun. And he wanted to leave it at that. But how could he when his fiancé was coming up with all these little things that moved his treacherous heart?

He was weak. Always been, against Oh Sehun.

“Anyway, enough about your ty husband-to-be,” Baekhyun huffed. It’s funny how even after all these years he still couldn’t bring himself to like Sehun. “Get to the shower now or you’ll be late!”

Jongin grinned. Just this single call already cost him fifteen minutes and he didn’t even have anything prepared yet, much less his wardrobe. “Yes, yes, mom. Love you.”

“Love you too, baby boy! Now move your turtle , I’ll see you later.”

Honestly, what would Jongin do without him?

They were just in time to arrive at the ferry terminal, seeing the assembly of students waiting in line to get into the station’s entrance. Baekhyun wasn’t so difficult to spot, hanging around their other friends in front of a kiosk selling refreshments.

Without turning the engines off, Sehun unmounted his car and quickly rounded to the other side, opening the door for Jongin before the younger could even protest. Carrying on, he took Jongin’s suitcase from the trunk and shut the lid closed.

Just the mere sight of Sehun dressed handsomely in his usual corporate attire had already magnetized the eyes of a number of students nearby. This was the very reason why Jongin didn’t want the older male to drop him off; Sehun could just breathe and he’d successfully grab a handful of attention.

Jongin didn’t acknowledge the warmth spreading on his face as he reached for his suitcase. “Thank you, hyung-”

Sehun tipped down his sunglasses and gave him a pointed look.

“-Sehun.” Jongin corrected himself straight away, clearing his throat. Sehun looked oddly satisfied at that and pocketed his hands.

“Have a safe trip.” He said, staring at Jongin intently. The younger nodded simply and gripped the handle of his suitcase even tighter, eyeing his friends who were waving at him from afar. Baekhyun had his arms crossed over his chest, foot tapping impatiently. Even with the distance separating them he could read the judging frown on the other’s face. Predictable reaction, as always.

“Well then, see you in four days,” Jongin stated, fiddling with the hem of his sleeve. It was just growing more and more awkward. He didn't know where to look, and it seemed there wasn't anything more to say, so he stepped back and started tugging at his suitcase.

The younger hadn’t even gotten that far from him before Sehun shattered his silence. “Jongin.”

Said male’s steps halted and he looked back, to his surprise finding Sehun approaching him close. When the older got to him, he’d invaded Jongin’s personal space in a blink of an eye that the latter wasn’t even given any room to react. Jongin stood rooted to his spot, eyes agape as he felt the warmth of Sehun's lips snug against his. He found himself seizing hold of Sehun’s lapels, having lost the ability to breathe properly. His friends were watching with their jaws on the floor and Baekhyun - poor boy looked like he was about to pop a vein.

The kiss wasn’t anything grand, just a close-mouthed one that lasted merely 5 seconds. Still felt like it was an eternity for Jongin, though. Sehun parted from him with a softer mien, and Jongin looked at him all owl-eyed for far too long that it nearly looked like they were holding a staring contest.

“What was that for,” Jongin blinked in shock, pulse racing. The warmth on his cheeks earlier had now grown into a wildfire that’s spreading across his face. Sehun really couldn’t have picked a better place to kiss him than in a place teeming with students and teachers, could he? If he was unsure of it at first, now he’d confirmed that his fiancé’s set out to destroy him.

Sehun’s eyes were deep, searching. “Nothing. I just wanted to do it.” He responded, but it didn’t sound like it was done out of impulse at all. If Jongin didn’t know any better he’d think Sehun intended it all along since they wouldn’t be seeing each other for four days long.

If only he knew how right he was.

Their moment was disrupted by the ship’s horn blaring. Jongin came to his senses then, breaking away from Sehun to reclaim their lost space. Without any more words, he skittered off to his friends who have been paying close attention since they saw that red jaguar pull up nearby.

Sehun watched as Jongin dragged a seemingly out-of-it Baekhyun. Some of his friends were hollering, some waving at Sehun before they were forcibly pushed towards the entrance by his beet-red fiancé. They were in a frenzy, surrounding him with relentless teasing and catcalls so much so that he had to cover his ears. When Jongin took a brief gander at him one more time, he slapped a hand over his mouth as though it’s just starting to sink that he was kissed in public. This time he never dared look back, but Sehun didn't mind.

Seeing Jongin’s ears glow red was enough for him, anyway.

Their ferry ride lasted nearly three hours before berthing at Yeongheungdo. The trip wore out most of the students so they were allotted time before noon to settle in their designated rooms and freshen up before proceeding to any activity. Being the council president, Baekhyun had to make sure first that everyone got to their assigned cabins safely and tag along with his teachers to a quick meeting with the retreat facilitator.

By the time his duties wrapped up, even Jongin couldn’t lug him out of bed for a short stroll outside. The latter felt sorry for his best friend, having to stick with such a hectic schedule in the morning, but in a way it still made Jongin proud. Baekhyun’s trying to embrace his position as an officer and this might have to do with the fact that a certain Do Kyungsoo never tired of telling him to be more responsible.

Speaking of him…

“Not one damn text message...who does he think I am?!” Baekhyun simmered under the covers, staring daggers at his harmless phone. If looks could kill, everyone would probably be six feet under by now.

Jongin took the liberty of organizing Baekhyun’s clothes in the drawers since the other was too preoccupied typing furiously on his phone, deleting whatever profanity-filled message he wrote and starting over. It’s a never-ending cycle. “Why don’t you just wait for him to send you a text? The man’s probably busy assisting students at the moment.”