Now, the thing about breakups is that it is very different to each party. While Jihyo was still unaccepting and intent on picking the relationship back up, Dahyun had been frustrated over quite a long time, and now was getting everything that was bottled up out. He wanted to go out, feel wanted, have someone to talk to and show interest in him, be kissed and feel the lust from the other person, things he hadn’t felt in months, not for lack of trying. Jihyo had been blowing Dahyun off long before they stopped talking, it began with not having sleep overs, then their study sessions were being cut shorter and shorter until they stopped, then Jihyo didn’t want to go to school with Dahyun anymore, after a while he didn’t even wait to greet him before classes. 

When the younger Bae was told Jihyo was on his way, he was disappointed, he could have been angry, but disappointment was more prevalent, his parents, his brother-in-law and his own brother conspired behind him to force a situation he wasn’t ready nor willing to be in. Sure, he would talk to Jihyo eventually, but at the moment he just wanted some time away from his ex to clear his head, unwind and enjoy himself a little, he hadn’t been enjoying himself around Jihyo for too long already. 

It was Dahyun’s idea to head down to the beach and not wait around for Jihyo to arrive. Joohyun and Seungwan understood and offered to go with him, they were already feeling a knife twist in their gut with the look Dahyun gave everyone when he heard the news. The older boys understood both sides, but Joohyun was nothing but his brother’s biggest supporter (he had tried to talk everyone out of doing it but was ultimately shut down), and would never leave Dahyun’s corner. So here the boys were, with a grumpy mrs Son, sitting under the parasol, enjoying the warm breeze and seeing Dahyun have fun with a group he met at the beach (Sana and Chaeyoung had arrived very tired from Japan and took the day to sleep it off).

It surprised everyone that Dahyun was the one to approach the group, about five girls and three guys, they were playing beach-volleyball and the pale boy asked if he could join them. Everyone was very friendly and accepted him promptly, they played a lot, then decided to swim a little to wash out the sweat and sand, two girls seemed to have taken a liking to the boy and were happy to be all over him the entire time. Not that Dahyun seemed to be complaining at all, if anything, he looked very happy to have so much attention on himself.

They swam, played in the water, Dahyun, for the first time, allowed himself to be a silly teen and showed off his strength carrying both girls on his shoulders, the other guys looked a little intimidated but the group was still having fun. When it was time to head back for lunch, mrs Son told Joohyun to go get his little brother as it was time for them to head back. Joohyun went a little begrudgingly but it’s not like he had much choice, it was better than mrs Son going herself. He approached the group slowly, making sure Dahyun would see him before he got to them.

“Hyun!” The little brother greets. “Guys, this is my big brother.”

The group greets Joohyun enthusiastically, the footballer greets back before turning to his little brother.

“Dubs, it’s time to start heading back.”

“She’s gonna come get me herself isn’t she?” The younger one motioned to mrs Son.

“Yup. I volunteered to come.”

Joohyun, Dahyun and the girls coddling him chuckled. One of said girls looked like she had an idea.

“Say, Dubs.” She calls. “Give us your number, we are going out later and Choerry and I would love to have you with us.”

“Lip is right, you know. We still have a lot of talking to do.” The other girl, Choerry, drags her hands over the boy’s chest and back and rests them on his arm.

“Well, can’t say no to that now, can I?” Dahyun giggles. “Give me your phone.”

The girl hands it over right away, Dahyun types his number in and hands it back, then gets up to leave. Both girls get up with him and they all share a hug too intimate to look at, Joohyun turns his gaze to where his boyfriend and mother-in-law were, seeing Seungwan somewhere between amused and embarrassed, and mrs Son looking conflicted. The woman wanted Dahyun to feel better, at the same time, she was already in too deep with meddling on the boy’s life, and seeing him be so free and comfortable made her want to leave him with this group of other kids.

“You look excited.” Joohyun commented, looking at his little brother.

“I might have a date later.” Dahyun chirped.

“Oh? I thought we were staying in?” Seungwan pouts from the front seat.

“And I thought I was going to have a nice couple of weeks to enjoy.” Dahyun shoots back.

“Be nice!” Mrs Son chastises, but that’s as far as she’ll go.

The younger Bae just shrugs and distracts himself with his phone, Joohyun tries to coax him to join their conversation again but it’s fruitless. Mrs Son shakes her head sadly but entertains her son when Seungwan prompts a random subject for them to talk about. It’s an uncomfortable ride, and Dahyun is doing absolutely nothing to help the situation, but the other three put in their best effort to pretend nothing is wrong. It’s about twenty minutes from the beach to the house, grandpa Son wanted to be close enough to walk to the beach if he wanted to, but far enough not to get stray vacationers wandering around.

“Dahyun, a word.” Mr and mrs Bae had been waiting at the porch.

“We’ll talk later.” Joohyun whispers and hugs his brother before entering.

The younger Bae already knows what this might be about, but he waits for his parents to start talking. It’s not like he is that enthusiastic about it either.

“Come sit with us, son.” Mr Bae pats the space between himself and his wife. 

“Can we not?” Dahyun wines as he sits down anyway.

“Look.” Mrs Bae starts softly. “We know you don’t want this situation, and we were against this plan from the beginning.”

“So, your mother and I talked and if you want to go with us when we get back to Seoul, we’ll be happy to take you back.”

“Really?” The boy feels a little better to have an out.

“Really. Look, we didn’t like seeing you as you were back then and putting you on the spot like this isn’t the way to go.” Mrs Bae continues. “We are going back in three days, and you can come with us if you need to.”

“Thanks mom, dad. I’ll think about it, but it’s more likely that I’ll go.” Dahyun relaxes. “Also, I made some friends at the beach today, and they invited me to go out with them later.”

“Just call me and I’ll take you.” Mr Bae answers, the couple didn’t need to ask anything else.

“Thanks. I’ll keep talking to them and tell you later.” The boy hugs his parents before getting up and heading inside.

Dahyun can hear Jihyo and Seungwan talking in the kitchen, so he heads directly upstairs, might as well take a shower. Getting to his room, he sees that a new luggage was placed there, it could only mean they put Jihyo in the same room as him and that was already taking things way too far. He could room with Seungwan and Joohyun, but the boys knew about everything and said nothing, well, his parents as well, but mama and papa Bae seemed to be trying to fight for him. So, Dahyun quickly gathers his things, quite easy as he hadn’t really unpacked anything, and heads to his parents’ room, there was a comfy couch in the corner and it would be good enough for another couple of nights.

Now our pale boy feels comfortable to take his shower, making sure he spends as long as he could with everything just because, not like he didn’t intend to shower again before his night outing. Shaving crossed his mind, but the girls liked his beard, so he decided to just groom it better, his hair was a very light blue already, and he had some quick toner too, so the boy proceeded to darken his locks. Back to black wouldn’t be possible at the moment, but it got to a nice light brown, and now he was definitely going back home in three days, so he could wait until then to go to a proper barber shop.

“You know, you could just do that later, right?” Joohyun says, leaning against the doorway.

“Well, it’s not like I’m excited to go downstairs.” Dahyun says but doesn’t put his trimmer down.

“You have to talk to him at some point.”

“And that point will be when I decide to, not when you all force me to.”

“Look, I’m sorry, but what could I do really?”

“You could have told me and given me time to prepare.”

Joohyun just looks down guiltily, yeah, he should have told his brother. But he felt like there was nothing to do, and Seungwan was very much in favor of this plan, ultimately, he should have had his baby brother’s back and he didn’t.

“Look, you hesitated and I’ll try to get over it. Right now, I’m gonna finish t my beard and then I’ll go down to eat.”

“Alright. Just, try not to be too angry.”

“I’m not angry, Hyun.” Dahyun sighs, this time turning to his brother. “I’m insulted that everyone here thinks they can decide my life for me. I’m disappointed that my wish to not see him was completely ignored, and I’m sad that everyone seems to be putting his wishes above mine.”

“And I’m really sorry that you are feeling like this, Hyun.” Joohyun pulls his little brother into the most loving hug he could muster. “I’m so sorry.”

Dahyun lets himself cry a little, this was all too much and he just wanted to spend some last few vacation days happily playing on the beach and, maybe, making some friends. But things don’t always go according to plan, and now he had been thrown in a situation he wished he wasn’t. The younger Bae doesn’t take long to control himself and proceeds to wash his face and make sure it doesn’t look like he just cried, it was good enough for everyone, but he knew Jihyo would notice.

“Chae had been asking for you.” Joohyun tries to lift the mood.

“I’d find it weird if he wasn’t.”

“You could have come to our room, you know?!” The older says as they make their way downstairs.

“I thought about that, but you and wannie need your time alone. And nobody is really going to barge into mom and dad’s room.”

“I didn’t think about that.”

“I figured. Forcing us to be in the same room was really the last straw.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m definitely not willing to sit idly and take any of this quietly.”

“I’m glad you are standing up for yourself, and I’m really sorry I stayed silent through all of this.”

“I’ll get over it at some point. Right now, I need you to keep silent a little longer and not tell anyone I moved to mom and dad’s room.”

“That, I can definitely do.”

The boys giggle as Joohyun pulls Dahyun into a loving side-hug just as they go through the backdoor, everyone else was already busy with something, Chaeyoung and Sana seemed to be fixing the firepit, it was electrical and the burner wasn’t working. Jihyo was sitting with Seungwan a little further away talking among themselves, the adults had a few groups and grandpa Son, along with mr Bae were very impressed with the tinkering boys. Dahyun feels it’s better that he makes himself unavailable as much as he can, so he heads straight to Chaeyoung and pulls him up in a back hug, Sana giggles with his boyfriend’s surprise and joins in.

Contrary to popular belief, Sana was absurdly perceptive, he had already pieced everything together from everything he had been hearing since they arrived the previous evening. Chaeyoung and him weren’t present when things were being discussed, and they had decided to take a boat from Sapporo as mrs Minatozaki wanted to bring her car back to Korea. It was an old SUV, her very first car, and seeing it again when she got to her parents’ house made her feel nostalgic and she wanted to work on it then pass it onto Sana in a few months when the boy went off to college. Grandpa Yamaguchi took care of the papers and the family left two days earlier to do a road trip up to Jeju.

“You can always room with us, you know.” Sana whispered in Dahyun’s ear.

“Thanks, but you two need your time alone as a couple.” The younger Bae says honestly.

“You know I’ll always have your back, Dubs.” Chaeyoung adds from the other side. “And now Sacchan will always have your back too.”

“I sure will.” The japanese chirps.

It seems this couple has progressed a lot in their relationship because next thing Dahyun knows is he is getting two obnoxiously wet kisses from them followed by loud giggles and the two are back to fiddling with the firepit. The pale boy shakes his head fondly and takes a seat to observe them, talking to them and getting to know about their time in Japan, telling them what his thing with Lisa was about and how much fun Thailand was. It was a nice time, and Dahyun ends up getting food for himself which is eaten by Sana and Chaeyoung who had their hands dirty and were very hungry, it’s not like he could say no to the puppy eyes.

LET’S PARTY

BeardedDaddy, LipsDon’tLie and ChoerryBomb

ChoerryBomb: so, you gonna come and keep us company???

LipsDon’tLie: we will be really happy if you come

ChoerryBomb: really happy

BeardedDaddy: on one condition

LipsDon’tLie: tell us and it’s yours

BeardedDaddy: don’t call me bearded daddy

ChoerryBomb: that we can’t promise

LipsDon’tLie: what we can promise is a great evening

BeardedDaddy: tell me where and when

ChoerryBomb: why don’t we come and pick you up?

BeardedDaddy: is it okay if I bring someone?

LipsDon’tLie: depends

ChoerryBomb: are the three of us still going to have fun?

BeardedDaddy: i just think my best friend and his boyfriend migh want to tag along

*might

LipsDon’tLie: then it’s alright

BeardedDaddy: so, we’ll meet you there and i should need a ride back tho

LipsDon’tLie: no problem

ChoerryBomb: you can always crash in our bed

BeardedDaddy: then i guess i won’t be needing that ride

LipsDon’tLie: guess you won’t

ChoerryBomb: sent and address

be there at eight

BeardedDaddy: anything specific i should be wearing?

LipsDon’tLie: blue top, black bottoms

BeardedDaddy: so i should come in all black?

ChoerryBomb: wait what

LipsDon’tLie: that’s good to know, but i was talking about shirts and pants

BeardedDaddy: yes ma’am

ChoerryBomb: so we are just ignoring it?

LipsDon’tLie: no, we are savin it for later

BeardedDaddy: something like that

gotta go, ttyl

“What are you smiling like a creep about?” Chaeyoung asks, plopping down beside his friend.

“He got a hot date tonight.” Sana supplies, taking the other side.

“What Sacchan said.”

“You are seriously going on a date?” Chaeyoung looks surprised.

“I’m single, Chaeng.” Dahyun says fondly. “It doesn’t matter that most everyone here decided it was alright to meddle in my business and force me to be around him. I’m going to go out and have some fun and take my head out of this situation.”

“As he should.” Sana intervenes before his boyfriend says anything. “We were away and didn’t know about anything, but being forced to stay in the same house as your ex when you just wanted some time for yourself.”

“And how do you know this?” Chaeyoung’s insecurities start rising.

“Mom and dad married late and just because mom got pregnant. They had been living together for years when that happened, and grandpa didn’t exactly know, he was trying to get her married to someone from the extended family.” Sana laughs but takes his boyfriend’s hand and holds it tightly. “For the first few years grandpa still didn’t accept their marriage that well, so I spend my first five summers watching this distant cousin, or whatever, try to get mom to divorce dad and leave us for him.”

“Now, what anime drama is that?” Dahyun chuckles, pulling both boys closer to him, trying to get his best friend to relax a little more. “But you two are also invited if you want to come.”

“We’ll go!” Sana answers for both. “Don’t even try, Chaeng, we need to go out and have fun.”

“Fine, we’ll go.” The cub agrees trying to sound sulky.

“Great, because we have to be there at eight and it takes about half an hour to get there.” Dahyun announces happily. “So you two be ready by seven or I’m leaving you.”

“Shouldn’t it be seven thirty?” Chaeyoung asks.

“It should if you both would actually be ready on time. But I also want us to eat something before we go, because I certainly don’t trust there will be a snack table and am not willing to take the risk.”

“It’s a great plan, Dubs.” Sana coos with a cheek pinch to the boy. “Now, we are going to mingle and you should find your next refuge because Hyo is looking at us just waiting to pounce.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to sit right in the middle of mrs Park and my parents. This should be interesting.” 

“Don’t hurt yourself.” Sana asks.

“I couldn’t do worse than what they are doing to me.”

With that, Dahyun is up and heading to the adults, he hugs his dad as he passes by and kisses his mom before sitting down beside her. Mrs Park looks like she is about to have a or blurt out whatever she’s been keeping inside.

Oh, fun!