Junmyeon ends up dozing off on your shoulder. Of course, your initial reaction is to push him off, but you manage to convince yourself that he looks very tired. It doesn’t help with the embarrassment of being sent knowing smiles from Mr Kim at the front. You keep your talking to a minimum too, so he can actually make sleeping on your shoulder worthwhile.

Mr Kim announces that you are almost at the destination, but that is sort of background noise to you. You and him seem to be the only ones awake in the car at the moment. Instead, counting Junmyeon’s eyelashes seem much more interesting. It is a little difficult to see him properly with him on your shoulder, but a sleeping Junmyeon is a rare sight.

A particularly bumpy road forces him out of his short nap, and he awakes with a start. He is a little muddled for a moment or two before regaining focus, particularly onto you.

His eyes fall onto your crooked smile. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You looked tired.”

His voice is still a little rough from sleep. “Still. I probably numbed your shoulder.”

Junmyeon looks around the car, eyes sweeping over his mother and brother’s sleeping figures. You shrug. “It’s not too bad.”

Suddenly, Minseok’s head falls onto your right shoulder. You never thought the day would come where you would have both the Kim brothers falling asleep on your shoulders. Before you know it, Junmyeon reaches over and pushes his brother’s head off of you. He wakes up with a startle, looking very much like a cat after being rudely interrupted from its sleep. Shaking his head, he resumes his slumber on the side of the car.

“Was that even necessary?” you hiss at Junmyeon.

He looks quite unconcerned at your tone of voice. “Can’t let my girlfriend’s right shoulder be numb too, right?”

Although you scoff, you cannot conceal the small smile behind your lips.

-

“Jongdae! Jongin!”

Junmyeon runs towards the sandy shores immediately after retrieving his bag from the boot. He leaves you there with the rest of his family, taking your time to unload the stuff from the back.

“Here you go,” Minseok hands your bag over to you, peering over your shoulder to look at his brother. “Don’t mind him, he’s just very excited about meeting his cousins.”

You nod. Clearly, that is the case. However, you can’t help feeling a bit put-off at being ignored. As you walk closer to the group of people, the feeling of nervousness overwhelms you. You haven’t had the experience of meeting a significant other’s extended family before, let alone parents.

“We usually just hang out and play in the water for as long as we want till the afternoon. Then we all take showers and have dinner. You can have breakfast or lunch whenever you like,” he adds. “Also, my uncle owns a penthouse a little further away and the girls prefer to shower there instead. The guys usually use the public bathrooms.”

You nod again. Junmyeon’s parents head over to where the adults are situated while Minseok guides you over to who you assume are his cousins. Slowly, they stop their chatter when you arrive. Some of them greet you, most of them are smiling, and the nervousness washes away slightly. Junmyeon’s eyes flicker between yours and his cousins’.

“Hi everyone, I’m Park Jaera. Nice to meet you all,” you greet them with a wave and a smile.

Junmyeon walks over and places himself next to you. “She’s my girlfriend.”

Most of their eyes widen comically. It seems that Junmyeon has practically never brought a girl to his family get-togethers. You chuckle nervously at their reactions as Minseok places a hand on your shoulder reassuringly. Smiling at him, you ease up a little.

You don’t miss the way Junmyeon’s hand naturally brushes his brother’s off your shoulder and claiming it as his. However, among the crowd of surprised-looking people, the cousins who you recognise as Jongin and Jongdae look somewhat amused. Junmyeon must’ve told them about the entire predicament. You make a mental note to watch out for those two in particular.

They take turns introducing themselves to you, and you try to keep up although it is impossible to remember all of their names and faces. Some of them have their arms wound around each other, so you assume that they must be like you; people who have brought their significant other to this gathering.

The excitement of seeing you seems to die out after a while, and you listen more than you join in the conversation. Junmyeon’s arm is still around your shoulder as he leans in towards your ear.

“Don’t leave such a good impression on them. They’ll be asking about you for the next few months.”

A small giggle escapes your lips at the mere absurdity of his demand. Now that he has said that, you feel the urge to do just as he asked you not to. Someone calls you out for ‘giggling like a little schoolgirl’, and you take the opportunity to go on with the banter. It seems that most of them are quite alright with you, despite only meeting twenty minutes before.

Junmyeon can see what you are trying to do, and he pinches your arm lightly with the hand he has around your shoulder. Through gritted teeth, he asks, “Jaera, are you hungry? Let’s go over there to get some food!”

Without waiting for an answer, he practically drags you over to a nearby shop which sells some fried snacks. He glares at you, demanding an explanation, but you only smile in return.

“I can’t help it if I’m just so naturally likeable, right?”

“You know, I’m getting more and more convinced that you actually like me.”

“Maybe when pigs fly.”

His lips are turned upward instead of a scowl, and you are sure it mirrors yours. It is very strange on your part that you are actually enjoying this silly banter with him.

Suddenly, Junmyeon grabs your arm to pull you close against his chest. A thump soon follows when a little boy falls face-flat to the ground right next to your feet, and something soars in the air past your hair. Everything happens in a matter of seconds. Without having time to pull away from his tight hold, the boy lets out a scream.

“My bacon!”

It seems that the thing that practically flew in the air was just a piece of pork that the boy had managed to let slip from his hands when he fell. He gets up from the floor, dusts the dirt off his pants, and lunges for the bacon.

At that very moment, you and Junmyeon make eye contact at the exact same time. You don’t have the slightest clue as to why you are totally not hating the fact that you are in his arms, but you do realise the irony of the situation.

Bacon just flew. A pig just flew.

“Maybe when pigs fly.”

You hope this doesn’t jinx anything and somehow bring you to like him.

You break out of his steady grasp, shaking your head. The boy with the bacon is long gone, already out of the shop after having his food splattered all over the ground. There is even an oil stain on the floor. Junmyeon scratches the back of his head awkwardly. “So, food?”

“No thanks. I’m not very hungry.”

“It’s on me,” he says, already fishing his wallet out of his pocket. “Think of it as a pre-breakfast snack.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, but shake your head. “I’m not looking to burning a hole in your pocket.”

He rolls his eyes as he steps forward towards the counter. “How much do you think these snacks cost?”

As you watch him order and pay for your food (again!), you can’t help but feel that he is in fact, a nice, smart gentleman; exactly how Minseok had described your potential lover back in the café when the whole charade began. The way Junmyeon is behaving now is just a mellowed-down version of himself in school. This Junmyeon actually feels realer.

“Here,” he says, handing you a fish-shaped pastry. “We can eat while walking back.”

You take a bite of the pastry, savouring the red bean paste on the inside. “Thank you.”

The both of you walk back to where his cousins are in silence while you munch on the pastry. There is no rush at all, as you enjoy the scenery and the comforting presence of Junmyeon. Your hands brush against each other’s, never really pulling away nor actually interlocking. The two of you pull to a stop and you take a moment to shut your eyes.

In the midst of all the serenity, you realise that this is the moment you are really letting go; not thinking about the next exam, any incomplete assignments, or even the editorial board. The only teeny tiny thing occupying your mind is the constant reminder that you have a charade to keep up. It doesn’t really bother you though, because of what Seungwan said before, about you being able to control the whole game. Truthfully, spending time with Junmyeon also isn’t as difficult as how it used to be in the beginning.

The sound of shutters going off somehow pull you out of your tranquillity. You turn to your left, only to find Junmyeon with his phone in his hands and a grin on his face. He pockets the phone, picking up the pace.

You scramble after him. “What did you just do?”

“It’s called taking a picture. Ever heard of it?”

You scowl. “I’m serious.”

“This is exactly why I took that picture,” he mutters. “I had to capture that historical moment of you being so relaxed. It’s the first time I’ve seen you let go like this.”

You are stunned into silence for a few moments as you realise the truth in his words. At the last moment, you blurt out, “At least let me see the picture! Delete it if I look bad!”

He points to his cousins, now only earshot away. “Too late. Some other time, maybe?”

You throw him a dirty look, but he only laughs in response. It is not a small chuckle, or a teasing snicker. It is a genuine, whole laugh. The sound of his laughter, in some way, conjures up a sort of warmth in you. He has a nice laugh, and the fact that he rarely ever laughs like this in school makes it all the more precious. Now, you can sort of understand his motives for taking that picture; but it is a little too late for you to capture the moment.

You would have to get that laughter out of him some other time.

-

“Okay, now, pull your arms all the way to your right.”

You, Junmyeon, and a few other people around your age are having fun by the shallow waters. Unexpectedly, you are having a lot of fun with