Sehun doesn’t get out of town very often, so even if this was a complete surprise, he’s practically over the moon. He packs heavy since Kai had told him they’d be there for a good two weeks. “So who owns this beach house, anyway?” He asks as he folds his clothes and sets them inside his suitcase.

“Suho,” Kai replies over the speaker of the phone. “He’s visiting some family over break, so he said we can use it if we want. It’s not a huge place; two stories, three-bedroom, three-bath.”

“That’s NOT a huge place?” Sehun laughs.

“I mean, it’s smaller than your place.”

“The only difference is that we have three bedrooms, Jongin,” he points out. “What, you don’t live in a place like mine?”

“Well, that depends,” He says. “Am I visiting my mom or my dad?”

Sehun frowns. “I’m sorry, they got a divorce?”

“When I was a kid,” Kai responds, some shuffling can be heard. He assumes it’s packing. “It’s alright, though. They’re great friends, actually.”

“I’m happy to hear that, Jongin,” He hums. “So, when you invited me over for dinner…”

“It’ll be after break and with both of my parents, at my father’s house.”

“Which is…?”

“Who I live with.”

“Oh,” Sehun replies and grabs his phone, taking it with him as he heads for the bathroom. “Why not with your mom?”

“Well, she lives in Busan.”

“That’d be a difficult commute.”

Kai laughs. “You think?” He smiles, packing all of his hygienic needs; toothbrush, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, all of the good stuff. “You packed a soccer ball, didn’t you?” 

Sehun blushes and purses his lips. “I don’t know, maybe. You think you know me that well?”

“I bet if I was there and I looked right in your bag, I’d find…” Kai pauses to think for a moment. “Clothes.”

“Obviously.”

“A pair of converse, your cleats, a soccer ball…” Sehun looks down at his luggage and frowns. “Some chocolate snacks for the road, juice, bottled water.”

“Stop it, you’re scaring me.”

“And...condoms.”

Sehun blushes and gasps. “Jongin!”

“I’m kidding!” 

The boy rolls his eyes, going over to his desk and gently touching one of the petals of the red gardenias he had placed in a vase. His mom gave him one, way too excited about it. “Come on, Jongin,” He playfully taunts. “I packed four more things.”

“Pajamas, obviously,” he continues. “Hygienic things, vitamins, aaaand earbuds; for when you decide to go jogging on the beach.”

“Kim Jongin, you are really, REALLY good.”

Sehun glances at his open door, getting a bit tense when he sees Luhan. “Alright, your turn,” Kai says. “You do me.”

“Okay,” The boy turns his back, not wanting to look at his step-brother. “I bet you packed...clothes, duh. Sneakers, but not your basketball shoes.”

“No?”

“Nope,” Sehun replies. “You want to focus on me during break, and you figure we could just play soccer together, which leads me to my next one; you ALSO packed earbuds for jogging.”

“Very nice,” Kai chuckles.

“Swim trunks, even though it’s winter because you’re a daredevil, hygienic things as well, pajamas…” He slowly grins. “You have a fried chicken coupon, huh?”

“Okay, how the hell did you know that?”

“Well,” Sehun chuckles. “Last time we went, I notice they give free coupons to all of their regulars...and you probably packed it in the hopes we’d have a nice bucket of chicken to share on a beach.”

Kai scoffs in what seems to be disbelief. “Wow.”

“What can I say? I’m a people reader; what else is an invisible loser supposed to do with his free time?”

“I don’t know. When I meet an invisible loser, I’ll tell you.”

“Sehun?”

Sehun looks back to his doorway, at Luhan. “Oh...hey.”

“Um...actually, no, nothing,” His step-brother shakes his head. “You seem busy. We’ll uh...we’ll talk after the break. Have...a good two weeks.

The boy furrows his brows, watching as Luhan goes back to his room. “That was weird.”

“Yeah, I heard that,” Kai speaks up. “What do you think he wants?”

Sehun stares at the door for a moment before shaking his head. “Whatever it is, I'll deal with it after the break. Are you finished packing?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way. Your mom agreed to let me stash my bike there, so we’ll wait for Baekyeol to pick us up.”

“Aw man, seriously? Five hours in Baek’s ty car?”

“No, Chanyeol’s. See you in five, sweetcheeks,” He says before hanging up. Sehun rolls his eyes again. He really has no idea why the guy calls him that. After shoving his phone in his back pocket, he zips up his suitcase and leaves his room. He stops by Luhan’s door, wondering if he should say something. He swallows hard. Why should he? He’s just a loser after all. He sighs and heads down the stairs. 

“I’m off, mom,”  Sehun calls out, smiling when he sees her in the living room; her husband sitting beside her. 

“And where are you going?”

He looks to his step-father. “I’m going away for winter break, I told you.”

He takes a deep breath. “I don’t remember that. Who are you going with?”

Sehun looks out the window as Kai pulls up on his motorcycle. He smiles as the man pulls his helmet off and runs a hand through his hair. He looks dreamy. “Uhh...Kai, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol.”

“Just you BOYS up there, huh?” The man asks, a hint of passive-aggressive tied in. 

“Why? Do you prefer I bring some hot girl from the cheerleading squad and her on a beach towel?”

“Sehun!” His mother gasps. “What’s with you?”

“Nothing. I just told him about this a week ago and he’s still asking me.”

“I didn’t hear ,” Luhan’s dad scoffs.

“Sure, you didn’t,” He accuses. “You don’t remember anything about me but you remember everything about Luhan. Okay, you know what? This is the first time I’m, like, ever going out with friends; I'd rather not have it be ruined by a guy who married my mom and wants to play pretend,” He says honestly. “Mom, I love you. I'll bring you back a souvenir like I said. I’d get you one, ‘dad’,” He uses air quotes. “But my hard-earned money is reserved for family.” He waves to them before walking out the front door. He takes a shaky breath once he’s outside, though. He can’t believe he even said that. “Oh god, Kai,” He groans, stomping his feet as he approaches him. “I’m so in trouble when I get back.”

“Why? Did you take a on your step-dad’s coffee table after he called you a ?”

Sehun stares at him oddly. “That’s weirdly specific.”

“Chen, freshman year.”

“Wow, okay,” he clears his throat, not wanting to think about it. “No, I mean...I kind of went off on my step-dad a little.”

“Ah, but step-dads were involved regardless,” he shrugs. “Well, we’re going out there to relax. Okay? I want you to feel comfortable.”

Sehun and Kai watch as Chanyeol pulls up in his new tacky teal Cherokee jeep. “Oh, maybe it’ll have that nice, new car smell,” Sehun sighs happily, as the jock takes his suitcase for him and put it in the trunk, once Chanyeol pops it opens.

“That’s a weird thing to get excited about,” Kai jokes as he helps him into the back seat. The boy slides in and greets his two friends. 

“So why your car and not Baek’s?”

“Well, mines bigger, first of all,” Chanyeol explains. “And uh...I wanna drive it! It’s brand new!”

“Plus uh, my...my baby broke down!” Baekhyun fake cries. “My babyyyy!”

“Rip, piece of ,” Sehun snickers.

“I swear to god, Oh Sehun, I will kick your right outta this moving car! Do not speak ill of the dead!”

Sehun bursts out in laughter when Baekhyun reaches back and starts to smack him hard on the knee and legs. This is going to be a long but fun five hours.

Sehun stares out the open window of the car as he leans his back against Kai’s chest, an arm wrapped over his shoulder. He sighs softly at the breeze, the sun starting to set now. Chanyeol and Baekhyun rock out to their music upfront, Kai only tapping his fingers to the beat. He looks at his converse as he rests them on the inner car door. He’s not sure he’s ever been this relaxed in his whole life, to be honest. But he can’t get his step-brother from his mind. Sighing again, he pulls his phone out and stares at it. He opens up his contacts and scrolls down. He hesitates as he overs over Luhan’s name. But something along the lines of sympathy and worry makes him click it and begins to type.

Sehun: are you ok?

His heart beats faster as he waits for a reply. He can see Luhan begin to type but then delete it. 

Luhan: why

Sehun: you seem off lately. lets talk after break?

Another minute or two of typing and deleting.

Luhan: yeah okay

Sehun bites his lip. He feels like an idiot.

Sehun: anything special planned? namsan tower???

Luhan: have a good break.

“Ugh, shot down,” He mutters, putting his phone back in his pocket. 

“Hmm?” Kai looks down at him. “What?

Sehun just shrugs and looks back out the window. He sits up when they slowly begin to approach a building made of white planks. “Is this the place?”

“Yep, sure is. I’ve been here about four times.”

“God, it’s beautiful!” Baekhyun gasps as they park. His petite friend is the first one out, followed by Kai, Sehun, and lastly Chanyeol. Kai tosses the petite athlete the keys to the house, laughing when he runs up and quickly unlocks the door. Chanyeol shakes his head and helps with the luggage. 

“It really is perfect,” Sehun admits, carrying his own suitcase up to the beach house. When Chanyeol goes inside, he stops and gets Kai’s attention. “Um, hey…”

“Yeah?” Kai stops and smiles at him.

“Um...well, what you said before…”

The jock stares at him for a moment before realizing what he means. “Oh, . Um, look, we don’t have to share a room. I’ll take the couch, alright?”

“No, I mean what you said about being comfortable...” He looks around nervously. He looks at the ocean briefly before turning back to Kai and wrapping his arms around his chest. “It doesn’t matter where I go, you...you make comfortable, Jongin.”

Kai slowly brings his hands up, returning the embrace.  “Me too, Sehun.”

The boy rests his cheek on Kai’s shoulder and lets out a shaky breath. “I’m happy to be here with you. Thanks.”

“Come on. Wanna go see the room?”

“I’d love to.”

A typical kiss on the cheek before Kai holds his hand and leads him into the home and up the stairs. “Luckily, Baekyeol’s room is across the hall from ours. So, uh, we hopefully won’t hear...anything.”

Sehun chuckles. “Oh, they’re nicer than that. They’ll probably go downstairs, go to Chanyeol’s jeep, or maybe the beach.”

“Fair point,” Kai says and pushes the door open, letting Sehun go in first. It’s a comfortable looking place. With the queen-sized bed vertical and pushed centrally against the right wall, two nightstands are placed beside it. From where Sehun stands, there are two lamps on each, with a book on the right. There’s a chest or trunk at the end of the bed, a fur blanket neatly folded on top. Decorative plants are placed beside the chest and beside the left nightstand. Two windows are built into the far wall, tan curtains covering them up. To the left is another door, probably leading to the bathroom. 

“Wow,” Sehun whistles. “This is nice. How clean does Suho keep it?”

“Are you kidding? D.O and Suho are neat freaks,” He says as he sets their things to the side. “We can unpack later, if you want. So...are you okay with sharing a bed?”

“As long as you don’t feel me up, chicken boy,” Sehun jokes.

“Oh god, is that nickname sticking?” the jock groans. “I really prefer Jongin, you know. Sound much cuter from you.”

“Okay, okay,” The boy says, now leaving the room and heading downstairs. “I’ll only use chicken boy for very special occasions.”

“Yeah, like when I whoop your cute little .”

Sehun almost laughs at that before slapping Kai’s arm playfully. “Come on, let’s see how long it’ll take Chanyeol and you to dive headfirst into the ocean.”

---------------

Small but relatively happy chapter :D