“Alright everyone, time’s up. Please hand in your exam.”

I sighed in relief and put down my pencil, stretching out the cramp which had formed in my hand. Then I handed in my paper along with everyone else’s.

It’s finally over!

“WHOOO!” Chanyeol cried as he put his exam paper in the pile. “IT’S OVER!” He ran over to Xiumin and hugged him. “Finally it’s summer break!”

“Aish! I’m happy too, but seriously, get off!” I laughed as Xiumin struggled to pull Chanyeol off of him, and failed.

I’m so glad it’s finally summer break!

“How was it? Do you think you did alright?” Kris asked as he stood beside me.

“I think so. Tao’s tutoring definitely helped. I was only stumped for a few questions.”

“Ji Eun!” Haemi ran up to me and hugged me (well, it was more of a light tackle). “We’re finally free!” She let go of me and grinned. “And I have even more good news. We’re all going to the beach! Well, if you haven’t already made plans.”

“The beach? When?” I asked excitedly.

“In a few days. We just have to prepare the house and then we can stay for about a week.”

“We’re staying for a WEEK?” I gasped. “But won’t it be a bit expensive to rent out a whole house for a week?” I have been saving up some money from my job, but paying rent and grocery money has taken a lot of it away.

“Oh right, we haven’t told you.” Chanyeol and Xiumin joined us. “I guess we forgot. Haemi’s family is rich. And when I say rich, I mean really really rich. They have a beach house out in Incheon.”

“Seriously?”

Haemi shrugged. “We’re not that rich, just really well off.”

“Well off?! Your house could fit three of mine!” Chanyeol protested.

“Getting back to the main point, want to come to the beach? It’ll be really fun!” Haemi looked at me expectantly.

“Um...” I glanced at Kris, who had been standing beside me silently the whole time. “Can Kris come as well?”

Her smile instantly disappeared. She looked over at Kris, then sighed. “Alright, he can come.”

“Thanks Haemi.” Kris said politely. She glared at him in response. Will these two ever get along?

“Anyways, we’re leaving in 4 days. I’ll come by your place and pick you both up.”

“Who else is coming?” Chanyeol asked.

“You, me, Xiumin, Kyungsoo, Ji Eun, Suho, Kris.” She said, counting off each person on her fingers. “So seven people in total. It’s not too many, we still have about three extra rooms. Maybe I should invite some more people...”

A house big enough to fit 10 people?! I can’t even begin to imagine what it would look like!

“What about Baekhyun?” Xiumin suggested. Haemi shook her head.

“He’s busy. He’s going to Bucheon to visit his relatives.”

“Then I guess it’s just the seven of us.” I said.

“We’ll still have a lot of fun though!” Haemi said cheerfully. “Just wait! We’ll go swimming, and we can go shopping as well...” She continued to tell us about all of the things we could do while we were there.

~

Later, as Kris and I walked home together, he asked, “Have you ever been to the sea before?”

“I have when I was younger. I can barely remember it though. It’ll be nice to go back again.”

“Yeah, and-” He stopped walking and held his arm out in front of me. “Wait, who’s that?”

I looked over to where he was staring. In front of our building, right by the stairs, was a person in a sweater with the hood pulled up. He was staring up at something...my door?

“I have no idea. I can’t see their face.” I told Kris. Kris frowned and put his arm down, but he held my hand and pulled me slightly behind him as we approached the stranger.

“Can we help you?” Kris called to him. The person turned. He looked at Kris, then he leaned over a bit to look at me. Kris held my hand a bit more tightly.

“Ji Eun?” The person asked. From the sound of the voice, it seemed like the person was a boy.

“Yes. That’s me.” I said slowly. Their voice sounds familiar.... “Who are you?”

The person lowered their hood. “Ji Eun! It really is you!”

“What the-” Kris said as the person pushed past him and ran up to me. “I missed you so much!” the boy cried as he threw his arms around me.

“Yah! Get off of her!” Kris pulled the boy off of me roughly and moved back in front of me.

Now I managed to get a look at his face.

“Wait...LUHAN?”

Luhan beamed. “You remembered! For a second there I thought you totally forgot about me!”

“Um, Ji Eun?” Kris stayed in front of me, glaring at Luhan. “Who is this guy?”

“Oh, right. Kris, this is Luhan: my childhood friend.”

“Nice to meet you Kris!” Luhan said cheerily, shaking Kris’ hand. “Are you one of Ji Eun’s friends?”

“Boyfriend actually.” Kris said, emphasizing the word boyfriend.

Luhan looked slightly surprised, but then returned to smiling. “I see.”

“But Luhan, what are you doing here? I thought you were still in Suwon!” I asked him.

“I still live there, but it’s summer break and I have free time now. And I haven’t seen you in forever.” He gave me another hug. “I’ve really missed you.”

I glanced at Kris, who was glaring at us. I quickly pulled away from Luhan.

“Anyways, where are you even staying?”

Luhan smiled. “Can’t I just stay with you?”

“What?!” Kris yelled.

Luhan laughed. “I’m only joking. I’m staying with Chen. He has family here.”

“Chen’s here as well?”

“Yeah. He couldn’t come today, but you’ll see him eventually, don’t worry. And speaking of Chen, I promised him I’d be back soon.” He gave me another hug (while Kris glared). “I’ll see you soon. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Of course! We need to hang out while you’re here.” I assured him.

“Alright. Bye Ji Eun. Bye Kris, it was nice to meet you.” Luhan said with a grin.

“Yeah, you too.” Kris said quietly.

As soon as Luhan was gone, Kris me angrily.

“Who does this guy think he is? Hugging you whenever he wants to while I’m here? What is he to you?”

“We’re friends! There’s never anything more than that between us!” I can't believe he would even think that! “We just haven’t seen each other in a really long time.” I lowered my head. “Please don’t be angry.”

Kris swept me into his arms. “I’m not angry at you. I just don’t like seeing another guy hug you.” he sighed.

“I could tell. You were practically glaring holes into my back.”

He tightened his hold on me. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s alright. Just... don’t get angry at him, alright? He’s a sensitive kid, and he’s my friend. I want you to be alright with me being around him a lot.”

“....I’ll try.”

“Thank you.” I said happily. “You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

“Am I? That definitely deserves a prize.” he said, leaning in closer to me and tilting my face upwards.

“I think so too.” I whispered, leaning in to kiss him.

___________

luhan and chen are finally in the story! :D you'll see more of them in the next chapter ^^