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Junmyeon puts down his glass on the table rather harshly, making the content spill. He had been keeping his anger at bay because he knew making irritated faces in the middle of a banquet isn’t a good idea. Watching Kris offering his hand to Luhan really snapped something in him.

He was forced to watch that torturous scene until he received a text from Narsha to meet him in a vacant room. That’s when Junmyeon lets out all of his frustration.

Loosening up his tie, he combs his neat gelled hair until it falls and covers his forehead with his fingers. “ing hell.” He curses under his breath while pacing back and forth in front of Narsha. The woman sits crossed legs on the velvet sofa while twiddling with her phone.

“None of it works!” Junmyeon yells.

Narsha simply hums as she watches Junmyeon losing his mind. “He is really a tough guy.”

“Or you didn’t try hard enough.” Junmyeon spat, tossing his tie on the floor for good.

“My, my. Calm down, Junhoney.” Narsha snickers. Junmyeon hates when she calls him that. And that was enough of a reason for Narsha to keep enticing him with that name. “I’ve been doing whatever you told me. Let’s not pretend that I didn’t practically throw myself on him.” There’s a hint of annoyance in her voice. “If I cling any further onto him, it’s going to cost my reputation.”

Junmyeon stops in his tracks just in front of Narsha’s foot. “So? That’s it? You’re going to give up? Just like that?” What Junmyeon failed to expect is for Narsha to kick his knee with her heels.

“I never give up.” Narsha says lowly, almost threateningly.

The blond winces before scowling. Junmyeon wipes the abused area before turning to the previous table to jug down his glass empty. Puffing out a long sigh, he didn’t think breaking up two people can be this hard. For the past month, he has been plotting ways for Kris to give more than a mere glance to Narsha but , what magic does Luhan use towards Kris? “I need a new plan.”

“Ugh please.” Narsha moans as she pushes herself on her feet. “Do you know why none of them work?” Approaching the blond, Narsha’s red stilettos clacks at every step she made. Junmyeon internally grimaces when her palms unnecessarily slide from Junmyeon’s spine until it stops just above his backbone. He feels Narsha putting her weight, leaning herself onto Junmyeon's back while placing her chin on Junmyeon’s shoulder. “It’s because you’re too nice.”

The sultry voice never fails to make his hair stands. Nevertheless, he didn’t at all flinch when Narsha wraps her arms around Junmyeon’s waist. “Am I really?” Junmyeon scoffs.

“Very.” She answers, interlocking her fingers in front of Junmyeon’s stomach. “You’re like a kitty, Junmyeon. Feisty, but not deadly. At all. How about I show you how foxes play?” The way she slurs her words, Junmyeon has a bad vibe coming off from her. Junmyeon knows what he has been doing is wrong but it’s for a good cause. At least that is what he’s been telling himself.

But Narsha’s mind works in a different way. She loves being the game maker. Junmyeon knows this. She’s even having too much fun with the fact that Junmyeon is actually the one under her mercy. It was him who needs her. She can walk out of this mission anytime. It’s not like the money that Junmyeon gave her is even a quarter of what she earns.

It’s the game that keeps her from leaving. And Junmyeon understands that she won’t until she is crowned the winner to whatever game she has in her head.

“What’s on your mind?” Junmyeon gently entangles her hand off him.

“Oh, do you really want to know?” She giggles seductively.

Junmyeon can feel himself getting more and more irritated. “Quit fooling around, Narsha.”

“Alright. Alright.” She crouches down to reach for Junmyeon’s discarded tie. Sometimes—no, most of the time Junmyeon wonders if he is so easy to be taken advantage of. For example, right now. He can’t even be stern and tells Narsha to respect his personal space. It’s like the model enjoys toying with him.

It’s not like Junmyeon has a choice either.

“You’re not going to like it though.” Narsha warns him while working on the tie around him.

Junmyeon his eyebrow. “Why not?”

Narsha smirks, patting Junmyeon’s chest when she’s satisfied with her work. “Cause we’re about to make your precious Kris the foulest person that this Luhan guy ever met. A cheater.”

Junmyeon’s eyes widen in alarm. No. As immoral as he is now, he’s not going to frame someone. Especially if that someone is Kris.

That’s beyond the line. “Not a chance.” He refuses to take upon Narsha’s offer.

“And here I thought you would do whatever it takes.” She shrugs, striding pass Junmyeon, not forgetting to bump their shoulders lightly. “Kris obviously trust that softie too much. It’s impossible to make him the villain.”

“So you’re going to make Kris one, huh?”

“Just enough for Luhan to leave his . And then when he is heartbroken, you can swoop in with your shining armor, and do whatever that you’ve been fantasizing off.”

Junmyeon stays quiet. He is not at all comfortable with this idea. This is different than just having Kris to fall out of love from Luhan. This is like treason. Is he truly that desperate for both of them to break up?

Is it really still for Yifan’s future?

“Be my guest to stay like a stool there.” She says, already at the door. Junmyeon lifts his face and sees the determination sparks in Narsha’s eyes. “But I’m just ending the things that you started, Junmyeon.”

When the door closes, Junmyeon is left to himself to think again. Is this really what he was going for?

The sound of the waves is the only thing that is calming his beating heart. Junmyeon opens his eyes to the view of the blue, almost clear ocean. Right. He’s here. He’s not at the Wu Hotel. No, that was just a memory.

But why out of all nightmares, this one has to pop out? Brushing his temple, Sehun’s presence has made him remember all of the things he tried to forget; all of those things that made him a villain of the story. It’s going to be fine, he tells himself. Junmyeon had already paid the price. Even Yifan is happy right now with his lover.

The breeze blows Junmyeon’s long fringe to cover his eyes. He hopes that the sting in his eyes is caused by the wind and not by some sign of despair such as sorrow tears. This could be a bad time if Chanyeol or Sehun sees his glistening eyes.

But Junmyeon has never been lucky. Junmyeon hears Sehun’s footsteps getting louder. Immediately, he tries to blink those tears away. “Chanyeol is almost done.”

“Oh.” It comes out a tad softer than Junmyeon would’ve expected. Clearing his throat, Junmyeon is readying himself to be carried until Sehun kneels in front of him.

“Do you…” Sehun starts unsurely. “…want to talk about yesterday?” Strangely, unlike yesterday, Sehun’s boldness dissipates and instead, he looks guilty. Terribly guilty. “But I wanted to apologize before anything. For kissing you without your consent.”

The way Sehun has trouble making eye-contact means that the younger is indeed feeling immense guilt. Junmyeon knows this much after living with Sehun for a long time. Somehow, Junmyeon isn’t too angry that Sehun had stolen a kiss from him. He should have. But strangely, he isn’t.

“Sehun, I lied,” Junmyeon confesses out of the blue, making the younger looks up in surprise. “I told you that I did those terrible things for a good cause but…” Sehun is looking at him intently and Junmyeon feels so horrible having to shatter Sehun’s positive perception on him. “…I did it because I was jealous. Yes, I wanted to break them apart because Kris became reckless but I think, above all, it’s because I’m jealous.”

Junmyeon can see how Sehun is holding his breath as his jaw tightens. It’s just that ever since yesterday, Junnmyeon can’t stop thinking about Sehun’s confession. How Junmyeon deserves none of the Wu’s love anymore. Especially romantic love.

And he knew Sehun has looked up to him for the longest time but he can’t let it go on especially when Junmyeon is not at all a nice person. It’s a merit that is not meant for him. “I framed my own best friend, Sehun. I did terrible things before. I’m sorry that I wasn’t completely honest with you for the past whole week.”

The silence between them is deafening. Junmyeon wishes that Sehun would stop staring and say something. He's too embarrassed to speak any further.

It’s not what Junmyeon had in mind at all but the first thing Sehun did was letting out a small chuckle. “Did you tell me all this in hoping that I would have a change of heart?”

As a matter of fact, I do, Junmyeon wanted to say. He was hoping this would lead to Sehun realizing that Junmyeon is not at all worth it. Please tell him it worked.

Sehun releases a sigh. He takes Junmyeon’s palm and rests it against his cheeks. It’s warm. Very warm. The younger closes his eyes before nuzzling his nose on Junmyeon’s hand. After comparing Sehun’s skin to Junmyeon’s pale hands, Junmyeon never realized how tan Sehun got.

“Junmyeon, I hope you realize that I didn’t start loving you yesterday.” The younger exasperates. “I’ve been in love with you for so long. I have seen you every day in my whole life, waking up to your loud greeting in the house. Even if the morning greetings weren’t for me.” The last line sounded a little upset. “The point is, I know what you’ve done, and I choose to move on from it. At home, they already have.”

“No, Sehun.” Junmyeon shakes his head. “How can someone move on from that? Your family won’t forgive me.”

“But I did.” Sehun releases the hold on Junmyeon’s hand. He sounded tired. Even his shoulders start to sag. “I did because I know you’re a lot more than your mistake. I know how kind you are and how loving you are. So don’t… try to change how I feel about you because it’s not going to work.”

At Sehun’s words, Junmyeon wants to cry. He wants to block all these compliments from entering his ear because he can’t believe them. However, at the same time, he feels… consoled. There’s at least one person from the Wu family who thinks about him. What did he ever do to deserve this?

Even so, it’s not enough.

There’s no way Junmyeon can say yes to Sehun. Above all, he is still a Wu and just because Sehun accepts him doesn’t mean that the others will. There’s only a week left until Sehun’s break from work is over. Then, everything will go back to normal. He will go back to the city and it would be him and Chanyeol again. As to how it should be.

“About yesterday, you know that I can’t give the answer that you want.” Junmyeon says. It’s like a habit when his fingers play with Sehun’s bangs. Even back then, Sehun has always preferred his bangs to pass his eyebrows. This familiarity is comforting.

“It’s okay.” Sehun takes Junmyeon’s hand off his head and interlocks their fingers together. “When I decided to look for you, I wasn’t thinking to make you mine. I just wanted to be there by your side and vice versa. Even as a family and as your friend.”

Junmyeon knows he has said this a million times but he really doesn’t deserve Sehun. He didn’t think that out of everyone, the little Wu Sehun would be the one to reach for him. Who would have thought the quiet Wu Sehun would have such ways with words. Both comforting and persuasive. He really has grown a lot.

“Am I interrupting something?”

None of them realize that Chanyeol has been standing near the sliding door. The brunet’s eyes drop to Junmyeon and Sehun’s interlocked fingers. Instantly, Junmyeon pulls his hand away as he shakes his head again. “No. Sehun was just about to bring me inside.”

“Oh…” Chanyeol’s stare still bears a little suspicion as he looks at the two back and forth. “I guess we should be going now. Everything is loaded in the car.”

“Great.” Sehun stands up. He lifts Junmyeon from the rattan chair before heading inside.

It seems like Sehun and Junmyeon have made up, Chanyeol thinks. At least whatever problem that leads them to have an awkward air during breakfast has disappeared. Chanyeol can’t figure out what happened after supper yesterday but Junmyeon can’t even bring himself to look at Sehun this morning.

As if Sehun’s longing gaze and frown aren’t obvious enough to indicate that they’re fighting.

It’s good then if it’s done. Right?

They arrive back at mainland hours later. Back to the cold breeze kissing them instead of the hot sun. The trip was everything Junmyeon had imagined as a time to spoil himself. Minus the drama, of course. But it’s definitely an experience to remember. He guesses that he has to treat something good for Sehun as a token of gratitude.

Junmyeon concludes that he hates riding airplanes because the jet lag he gets is borderline awful. It wasn’t this bad when he was on his way to Koh Rong but sometimes the throbbing in his head became too much to handle. To this, as soon as he enters the minivan, he rests his head backward and tries to sleep the pain away.

If only he could. The ones that have already dozed off to dreamland is Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Meanwhile, Sehun beside him is reading something on his phone. Judging from how serious he looks, it’s probably work-related.

It must be nice to be able to work.

“You’re awake?” Sehun asks after feeling conscious of the eyes on his phone.

“Was never sleeping.”

The younger nods, going back to scrolling on his phone. There is no denying that Sehun is a workaholic after all. Even while