So, while everyone else was, pretty much, free to do as they wanted, Kim Yerim had been grounded for the rest of his high school life and was destined to spend his entire summer vacations trying to not flunk. He did study during the school year, but it was never for too long and never enough, but he was hopeful that he could scratch by like always. The problem was, the teachers had warned him in the beginning of the year that this would be his last chance and, if he didn’t take school more seriously, he would be held back and quite possibly have to repeat the year.

That’s how we have our devil child spending every single day, when he could be out and about with his boyfriend and their friends, inside a classroom with information being shoved into his brain by completely disappointed teachers. Only to get home and be watched like a hawk by one of his parents while he spent the rest of his time before dinner studying on the dining table. Mr and mrs Kim had worked out a schedule where every couple of days one of them would be home early and make sure their kid was doing what he was supposed to have done during the year. Seulgi helped a lot, bless his heart, he signed up for a few classes, ones that didn’t coincide with his football training, just so he could show some empathy.

Now, while Seulgi did offer all his support, he still had other business to attend to, and would have to head out into the countryside to visit his grandparents, as he did every summer, and that’s how we got Yeri almost getting his brain melted because, without his boyfriend, he had no way out of putting everything he had in his studies. It was a nightmare, and Yeri was being tested constantly, not to mention the endless papers he had to write and the amount of studying he had to go through. Seulgi, however, was in Angdong, enjoying his family’s farm, paying in the river and ‘bulking for the first two weeks of training’, as he put it, Daniel was there too, and his posts showed the truth our bear had been trying to hide from his boyfriend, that is was amazing and a lot of fun.

But these two were fine, going through a rough patch and likely about to be separated at the end of the school year, as Seulgi would be, hopefully, heading into his first year of university and Yeri to his last year of high school. Sure, the younger boy would be the only one behind in their friend group, seeing as Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, the two who shared a grade with him, had managed to raise their grades enough, for long enough to skip a grade, it just happened to be their sophomore year. And with all the boys in their last year, everyone was bound to be busy with entrance exams and trying for scholarships in their desired universities. Yeri knew he had to pick up his slack as well, so forming a new friend group crossed his mind, it never really went anywhere, however.

Now, during all of the dramas and misunderstandings and upsetness (I’m making it a word now), there was another couple, closer to the eye of the storm, that was also doing quite well for themselves. Seungwan and Joohyun were active expectators but were so well in their relationship that even being so close to the flames, they were managing to get out with only a few scratches. As many know, the storm started brewing when Jihyo decided he didn’t need to put in an effort now that he actually got the guy and began not trying at all with Dahyun. The younger boy had reached out, tried to come up with dates and surprise his, then, boyfriend only to see it all treated as nothing much, when he wasn’t being stood up, that is.

They felt for Dahyun, both had seen how much he liked Jihyo, and the effort he put into planning each thing he thought about for the two of them. They tried talking the younger one through it, and when their parents came up with the idea of a trip to Thailand, Seungwan was the first to try and talk the younger boy into going with them. Luckily, Dahyun’s good will had been worn thin and he accepted the idea right away. The trip was great, everyone relaxed and had fun and just allowed themselves, sure, the breakup was a little sudden, but it had been imminent for too long already. Not to mention, Lisa was a great host and didn’t hesitate to show them all the good spots tourists usually skipped, the fact that Dahyun and her had been smooching lifted their moods ever higher.

Towards the end of the Thailand trip, however, Seungwan got into an argument with his parents, the fact that there was a scheme to get Jihyo to Jeju behind the pale boy’s back wasn’t something he agreed on, so, himself and the Baes had been trying to fight it. The one mistake they all made and the youngest Bae was more than right to be mad at them about, was not telling Dahyun at all that he was about to be blindsided and put into a very undesired situation soon. Now, Dahyun had gone back to Seoul with mr and mrs Bae, leaving the air thick with tension, but the young couples had talked the night before Bae junior had left, and the boy told them they shouldn’t prive themselves of anything because of him, and an agreement was made, so they would enjoy themselves and worry about problems if they involved them directly.

That’s how we have Seungwan, Joohyun, Sana and Chaeyoung lying on the beach, bathing in the warm sunlight, sipping their cold drinks and completely ignoring how the adults kept muttering under their breaths about how ungrateful Dahyun was and how poor Jihyo was so down after coming all the way to Jeju only for the pale boy to have left without even sparing him a glance. Well, all they could really do was actually be on vacation and leave those who wanted to worry away from their minds. Things went fine, until about four days before they were supposed to head back home when Jihyo decided to stop moping around and actually do something.

“Hey.” Jihyo greets shyly.

“Hi.” Joohyun stops eating his breakfast first.

“Join us.” Seungwan offers a chair.

The former wrestler puts his food down and takes a seat, this was awkward already, but he knew he couldn’t keep sitting around expecting anything to change for him. Also, they would be back in Seoul with just enough time to prepare for the new school year very soon, it was either start doing something now, or start moving on and accepting he would never talk to the younger Bae again.

“We were wondering when you would decide to talk to us.” Seungwan prompts.

“To be fair, I didn’t want to be here as much as he didn’t want me here.” Jihyo defends automatically.

“You know you don’t have to defend yourself like that.” Joohyun reprimands, maybe a little too sternly. “You came here to talk to us, remember.”

“Sorry, I guess I’m just really on edge lately.”

“I’ll take the apology, but you can keep the excuse.” The pale boy grants.

“Now, honey, play nice.” Seungwan chuckles and kisses his boyfriend’s cheek. “Well, Ji, we are here and willing to listen to you.”

“Thanks.” Jihyo sighs. “I know I should have been better, treated him better, but I can’t understand how everything crashed like this.”

“You answer will depend on who you are asking. If you want Wannie to tell you what he thinks, you are going to have a more mellow and less complete point of view, but if you want me to tell you about it, don’t expect me to mind my tone because it might hurt your feelings.”

“That bad, huh?!” Jihyo huffs. “How about I ask both of you and get punched with the truth so I can start doing something already?”

“Good choice.” The older Son encouraged.

“Look, I know I messed up, but I can’t understand all these things Dahyun is doing.” Jihyo huffs frustratedly.

“Ji, I think you should shut up now.” Seungwan advises as he tightens his hold on his boyfriend.

“Just lay it on me, Hyun.” Jihyo asks.

“You left him to fight for your relationship alone. You were oh so busy doing whatever that your boyfriend took the backseat, if he was still even in your life at all. Dahyun was the only one still thinking your relationship meant something while you had time for anything else that wasn’t him!” Joohyun spoke so angrily that he drooled a little, his eyes seeping murder.

“I thought-”

“You thought what? That after he agreed to date you your work was over? Or that he was just gonna sit pretty and wait with a smile for your whims? Maybe that acting more like a boyfriend to that Kang kid than to your real boyfriend was the right thing to do? Perhaps being overly invested in that damn cat was better than giving Dahyun any attention at all?”

At that point, Joohyun had gotten so worked up that his face had morphed into something Jihyo wished he would never be in the receiving end of, ever again. It’s not like the oldest Bae had screamed or made a scene, in fact, they were still being faintly ignored by everyone else around, but his demeanor and low voice were utterly frightening. Seungwan just looked at his best friend with sympathy, before dragging his boyfriend to their room upstairs, once inside, he locked the door and took the key out. Joohyun wasn’t the physically violent type, but he would crush a ’s soul smiling if he had to, and he would do it without a second thought for his little brother.

Jihyo was left behind to process everything, all of those were things he could, now, see he did do, but at the time he didn’t pay it any mind. Maybe Joohyun had a point, did he really lose interest and stopped making an effort once they were an official couple? Yes, he did. But he never noticed any of it while he was doing it, and thought all of the warnings everyone gave him were just them worrying over nothing. Now he was hit in the face with the fact that he did all of this to himself, and couldn’t even ask anything else from his ex boyfriend if he didn’t show just how sorry he was and how much he was willing to work for forgiveness.

Park Jihyo was ready to own up to his mistakes and accept any outcome they brought him.