"W-who were those girls...?"

Kris furrows his brows at the question, "Those girls?" Tao nods, "I... I saw them earlier, before you introduced me. O-one of them is being too cute to be just a friend."

Kris raises an eyebrow, "... Anyone in particular?"

Tao swallows the small lump in his throat, he hates the change in Kris' voice. "T-the blond?"

Kris sighs and buries his head on Tao's chest, the older starts trailing kisses on the younger's chest up to his neck. The gesture only irritates Tao and pushes Kris away, "Stop that! We're talking!"

"You don't have to be so angry."

"You're not answering my question! Are you hiding something from me?" Tao's lips quiver, "Kris, I realize you have a world apart from me, apart from my friends, and I'm not acquainted with that part of you..."

Kris sighs and rolls off his boyfriend, he lies next to him, the tension between them building rapidly. "Please... Please, say something..." Tao pleads, his hands cover his face and the blond hears the heavy breathing of Tao next to him. Kris takes a deep intake of air before speaking, "That's Nana. She and I, we had a thing."

Tao turns sharply to meet his boyfriend's gaze, "A thing?"

"It's during the first half of summer, it's nothing serious, Tao."

Tao nods, Kris continues, "We went out, a couple of dinners or so."

"D-did you like her?"

"She's a pretty girl. She's also quite nice. Who wouldn't?"

Tao turns quiet, he bites his lower lip and asks, "Did you... Love her?"

Kris sighs and brushes the back of his hand on his boyfriend's cheek, "No."

"Were you two intimate?"

Kris sighs, "... You ask too much."

Tao tears up, "So you were? And you're still friends...? What if there's something going on between you two that I don't know!!??"

"Tao!"

Tao pushes Kris away and turns his back on him. He cries hard enough to let Kris know that he's hurt. The blond sighs and hugs the younger boy, "I promised her no one would know. Well, we promised each other no one would know why we stopped going out..."

"But we're engaged... We're not supposed to have secrets. I... I don't know how to deal with jealousy when I feel it myself, because... I never loved anybody else but you, so I don't know how it's like to jump from one person to another..."

Kris pulls Tao closer and kisses the younger's tears from his cheek, "We... We stopped going out because I couldn't kiss her."

Tao turns to his boyfriend, "What do you mean?"

"I told you yesterday, right? I only fell in love twice with a girl but never had relationships with them. My serious relationships were with boys, and it... I got grossed out when we were about to kiss. S-she was so humiliated, I was, too."

"R-really? But the way she looks at you earlier, and the way she hit your arm. I can swear she and that Krystal girl didn't want me there earlier, too."

Kris shifts Tao's body so that the younger is lying on his back, the blond pins him down with his chest as he wipes away the tears from his younger boyfriend's cheeks, "She... She said she'll always like me. She'll wait until I'm ready to kiss her, even if I've told her about you many times. I've told everyone about you, I explained to her that I'm in love with you, that you're the only one I see myself forever with. She insists that she'll wait, I told her to stop but she said she can't. Kinda the reason why I'm a bit unfazed by Luhan before."

Tao stares at his boyfriend's eyes, looking for any hint of deception in his words. "Trust me, okay? I will never ever cheat on you. If you want me to stop being friends with her, I can do that. Krystal is her bestfriend, I can stop being her friend, too." Kris tells him but the younger shakes his head, "Don't do that. I trust you... I want to trust you, I mean, I can trust you, right?"

"Of course." Kris leans closer but stops midway, "Are we okay now? Not jealous anymore?"

"I... I guess?"

"Then can I kiss you now?"

Tao smiles and shyly nods. Kris leans closer to kiss the younger, innocently at first, until the both of them are pulling each other closer, tugging their hair and exploring each other's mouths with their tongues. They moan as they make out on the bed, Kris pulls his boyfriend closer, Tao grips on the blond's arm for support. "I love you..." Kris breathes when he cuts the kiss for air. He then buries his head on the crook of Tao's neck beneath him, "I really, really, love you, Huang Zitao..."

Tao listens, his eyes widen when he feels something wet against his shoulder, and a soft whimper escapes Kris' mouth. "Kris...? Are you crying...?"

The blond doesn't answer but instead hugs Tao closer if it's any more possible, "Don't scare me... The last time you misunderstood something and got jealous, you tried to break up with me."

Tao draws circles on his boyfriend's back, the vulnerability of the blond entirely new to Tao. "I love you, too. I'm so sorry... I just..."

"It's your turn to hold me close. Don't ever scare me again."

Tao sighs and hugs Kris closer to him. They stay silent and tangled for minutes until they hear a faint sound of dance music playing outside.

"What's happening?" Kris looks up, Tao shrugs. The blond jumps off the bed but Tao pulls the older's wrist, "Are you okay now?"

Kris nods, Tao smiles and jumps off the bed as well. The younger drags his boyfriend to the bathroom inside the room and they wash their faces to remove the tear streaks and puffy eyes from their faces. The both of them start laughing after seeing the way they currently look, "Don't do that again, Tao! Okay?!"

Tao nods, he drags Kris out of the bathroom, "Promise me one thing, though?" Tao asks as he stops in the middle of the bedroom, "Anything." Kris replies.

"Let me hang out with your friends, too. I want to know everyone like you know my friends. I want to know Nana the way you know Luhan. I promise not to embarrass you, just saying, if in case you think my childishness can be humiliating."

"Done deal." Kris kisses Tao quickly on the lips before pulling his boyfriend to the balcony. The younger leans over the edge and finds the three dance major of their group dancing near a bonfire a few feet from the house. Tao furrows his brows at the sudden closeness evident between Lay and Sehun. Kris wraps his arms around his boyfriend's waist as he watches the three be silly in the middle of the night.

"Where the hell do they get the energy?" Kris asks, Tao shrugs. Moments later, Kyungoo marches to them with bags of chips. "Wanna join them?" Kris asks, Tao shakes his head, "I'd rather watch."

The blond sets his chin on Tao's shoulder, the couple laughs from the balcony when Jongdae fails miserably in his attempt to join the three to dance.

"Sehun is obviously ignoring Luhan-ge..." Tao speaks, "I want to talk to either of them."

"Do what you want, babe." Kris tells the younger. The blond starts trailing kisses on the younger's neck, "Kris..."

There's suddenly a sound of a sliding door opening and Kris stops whatever he's doing and looks at the three dancing below, Tao turns his attention to the other balcony when Luhan walks out of it to see the commotion too. "Can't sleep, ge?"

"What's going on?" He asks, Tao leans his head to the right, "They're dancing."

"Aren't they tired?"

Kris shifts his gaze to Luhan, "Guess not? They were rested enough on the way here."

"And the others?"

Tao shrugs, "Well, we haven't gone downstairs but we saw Kyungsoo bring them snacks, Jongdae was dancing with them awhile ago. We thought you, Minseok and Joonmyun are already asleep. Baekhyun and Chanyeol, I don't wanna know anymore."

"Minseok is." Luhan tells them then watches the 3 younger boys from the balcony. "Wanna go down and join them?"

"Sure." Tao grins, then takes Kris' arms off him. "Tao..."

"Sh! Go to sleep." Tao gives Kris a peck on the cheek then runs out of the room. "Sorry, Kris." Luhan bows and Kris just smiles, "Go."

Tao takes Luhan by the arm as they make their way downstairs, "We can talk now too, ge." Luhan smiles weakly, "Let's check on them first."

When they get outside, Kyungsoo is sitting on the floorboard, Jongdae next to him. "Oh, Kyungsoo-hyung, isn't it past your bedtime? Why still up?" Tao asks as he takes a seat next to him, the wide-eyed boy just smiles, "I feel wide awake now though. And watching these fools are fun!"

"Come on, guys! Lemme join! I'm a dancing machine too!" Jongdae whines, "I will definitely get your group first prize!"

"I'd rather have Minseok over you." Lay teases, Jongdae pouts.

"Sirs, how do you find the place to your liking?"

The boys turn to see the butler behind them carrying a tray of cold drinks, "It's great, Mr. Seo. But please, you should sleep, we'll take care of the rest." Kyungsoo smiles after he answers the butler's question. "I don't think any of us will be sleeping soon."

"Well then, I shall turn in now, young sirs. You can leave the tray here and we'll take care of it in the morning. Good night." Mr. Seo gives them a warm smile before heading back inside the house.

"Why are they so keen on dancing anyway?" Luhan asks to no one in particular. "Didn't he tell you?" Kai speaks while getting a drink from the tray, "We're gonna join a dance competition soon. Lay kind of dragged us both with him."

"No. He didn't tell me. He doesn't tell me anything anymore!" Luhan kicks on the sand, Tao pulls him up, "Let's take a walk, ge."

The two Chinese walks away, Sehun and Lay stops dancing, the rest watches them leave. From inside the house, Kris is walking towards the door and hears the others talking.

"Do you think we're stupid, Sehun? What happened between the both of you?" Jongdae scolds the maknae.

Kris stays inside for a bit to watch them, "He's just getting bat crazy again." Sehun tells them and he earns a hard smack on the head from Lay, "You stupid boy. That's your hyung and bestfriend."

"It can't be still because of Kris, because those two are suddenly friendly, unless they both decide that it's okay for a . That's kinda hot, not to mention and Kris would love that."

"Start shutting your mouth, Jongdae or I will rip it off your face." Kris' voice booms from behind, "Where's my boyfriend?"

"Took a walk with Luhan-hyung." Sehun shrugs, he's about to replay the music when Kris stops him, "You. Come with me."

"Me?" Sehun points to himself then looks left and right just to make sure that Kris is pertaining to him. "What did I do this time?"

"Is this switch your partner night? Because really, you should have said so, I'm gonna borrow Kyungsoo."

"I will rip your head off, Jongdae." Kai growls, Lay takes Jongdae and Kyungsoo pulls his boyfriend away from the said boy.

Kris turns to the others, "Go to sleep, I really just need a little talk with Sehun here."

"Okay. Good night." The others murmur as they retreat back to the house. Sehun and Kris starts walking to the opposite direction of where Tao and Luhan walked off too.

-----

"Look, ge. You can speak now. I promise I won't tell anyone." Tao starts as he sits on the sand, a safe distance from the shore and the house, Luhan sits next to him.

"Sehun... Confessed to me 2 days ago." The doe-eyed Chinese speaks as he runs his finger on the white sand, "Well, indirectly."

"Indirectly?"

Luhan bites his lower lip, "I overheard them talking after the incident with you and Kris. It was midnight, they all slept over in our apartment after coming from Kai's place and fixing you and Kris..."

"Go on, hyung. I'm listening." Tao pats the older boy's back, "I'm here."

Luhan tells the whole story, from start to finish on how he's accidentally overheard about Sehun's true feelings for him until the time he has rejected his bestfriend face on. Through all that, Tao listens without saying anything - no judgement, just a few nods and hums to show that he's still listening.

"... All I wanted is for us to get back together as bestfriends. Is that so hard?" Luhan is crying now, Tao gives him another pat on the back. "Ge, it is."

"No, it isn't! Look at the both of us, I made your life miserable but you're the one here with me."

"Because we're not bestfriends and I'm not in love with you."

"I don't understand..." Luhan whimpers as he pulls his knees closer to his chin, "We decided that nothing's changed but all he does is just stick to Lay and completely ignore me!"

"Ge... Everything's changed. Pretending that nothing has is a complete and utter bull."

Luhan looks up to see that Tao is looking back at him, but with a soft gaze and warm smile, "Ge, you can't just force Sehun to be okay. He has loved you ever since he hit his puberty, and I'm sure he still does. You rejected him and it's a massive blow, he needs time to heal, you just can't magically fix his broken heart." Tao stops and takes a deep breath, he looks at Luhan, "I just don't get it, why can't you love him back?"

"... He's a kid, Tao. He's just a kid."

"What? That guy is 19 years old."

"... I've known him since I was 8. He was still a toddler in a diaper when I played with him in a sandbox. I don't wanna see him romantically, it's like I'm ually molesting a younger brother!"

"Ge, if you haven't noticed, because really, we all did... Sehun's a bit more mature than you. No offense meant. And you're the clingy one."

Luhan hits Tao's arm, "Offense taken!" The older boy pouts, "Well, he kind of... Tried to grow up immediately. I was aware of how much he wanted to catch up to me." Luhan wipes his tears and laughs, "When he was 8, he actually tried beating up the guys who were bullying me because they thought I was just 7 when I'm older than every one of them."

"And you really never saw him as a grown up?"

Luhan sighs, "Unfortunately, until recently, I still see him as the kid who cries whenever it's time for us to part. The 6-year old crying in the middle of the park because he fell off the swing, the 8-year old who was trying not to cry after getting bruised up trying his best to protect me."

"Ge, from what you're saying... Sehun has tried hard enough to catch up to you, he even went to the same college as you. But, you gave him a slight hope just by waiting for him to come. Ge, if you can't love him back, let him go. Let him breathe."

Luhan starts crying again, "But that's the thing... I don't want him away from me. He's my Sehun-ah, he's my bestfriend and he's mine alone."

Tao pats Luhan's back, "It won't work that way, ge. At this point, it's just the only thing that you can do. You'd just have to let him go."

"I won't! If I need to impale Lay just so they'd stop dancing together, I will!"

"You're jealous of Lay-ge?"

"I am not jealous, I'm just saying that he should stop getting Sehun-ah's attention because now I'm being ignored!"

"Ge, you're jealous."

"I'm not!" Luhan screeches, Tao laughs. "Okay ge, whatever. But do try to sort your emotions because from my point of view, you really are jealous."

"I'm possessive. That's it."

"Yeah right."

"TAOOOOOO~!! Let's sleep!" A voice cuts their conversation, Luhan tsks. "Your boyfriend is clingy, god."

Tao laughs heartily, "And you are too. Both of you wouldn't have worked or you might end up killing each other by suffocation."

Luhan laughs at this then stops, "Thank you, Tao. Really, my heart and head's still not sorted out but I'm glad I have someone I can talk to about this."

"Let's go. We all need to rest." Tao puts his hand on his hip, Luhan smiles and loops an arm around Tao's, "I really missed you, ge."

"I missed you, too."

-----

"You're scary, hyung. What did I do this time?!" Sehun asks after they settle on the sand a few meters away from the house.

"What happened? Don't give the crap that nothing did because I will dunk your head in the water."

Sehun raises an eyebrow, "I have no idea why you're suddenly concerned about me. About this."

Kris an eyebrow, "My boyfriend told me he noticed the changes between you and Luhan-hyung. And honestly, the cold shoulder? I'm expecting the both of you inseparable on this trip since, you know, our issues."

Sehun scratches the back of his neck, "Well, things escalated so quickly between us. I don't think you wanna know."

"Look, talk to me. I know we're not that close but I will understand you. I mean, I think, since we're not the closest of friends you can confide in me without any inhibitions about what happened between the both of you."

Sehun throws shells into the ocean, "... You know how stupid and funny it feels at the same time when you waited for a long time to prepare yourself to confess to the love of your life only to be rejected even before doing what you've planned for so long?" The youngest laughs, "And he just overheard it while I was talking with Kai and Chanyeol in our apartment. He was too jumpy and couldn't take the pressure of knowing what I feel that he ended up rejecting me and told me he never saw me romantically."

Kris sighs, "That . But go on."

"... He asked me if things can just get back normally, and god, I love him so much so I agreed even if just being in one room with him kills me. I really can't. I tried but it hurts."

Kris squints his eye, "But you seem like... You haven't dealt with it head on."

Sehun shakes his head, "Like cry? No. I haven't. I don't want to but I wanted to scream so badly that night." The maknae smirks, "Not like this is any different from all the heartaches I've dealt with when it comes to him. You aren't the first guy I had to learn about. He's dated before, after he graduated high school and went to Seoul, but I guess you're the one I had to deal with personally everyday."

Kris pats him on the back, "You can cry now, I swear I won't use it as blackmail material. It will make you feel better. I cried like a ing prissy when Tao and I... Broke up."

Sehun laughs, "Kris-hyung, we know. It's unbecoming."

Kris pats him harder the maknae whinces, "But no, Sehun. I may not know exactly how you're feeling right now but well, you know..."

Sehun rests his chin on his palm, "I tried, hyung. I really did. I tried so hard ever since we were young. I remember when he protected me from Taehun when I was 6, I felt so helpless and he looked so delicate even if he was trying to stop me from crying and being angry at Taehun. I didn't want us to feel that way again that's why when I was growing older, I made sure it was me who'll do the protecting. I tried beating up a group of kids bullying him when I was 8 because really, if you've seen him before with his button nose and doe eyes, you'd think he's half his age that time."

Sehun scoffs, "The moment I turned 13, I just knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. You have no idea how happy I was when he told me he'd wait for me in college because I thought, maybe... He'll finally see me not as a snotty 4 year old anymore. But you came along."

"Woah." Kris raises his hands in defense, "I didn't lay a hand on him. I'm all for Tao."

Sehun laughs, "I know. I know... But I was really disappointed when all he ever talked about was you, I swear I was this close to punching you and him. I mean... I didn't know it would be harder." The younger's voice starts breaking, "It was easier when I dealt with his breakups from a distance, because I was able to deal with my own heartbreak from a distance. But when I got to Seoul I had to console him, while trying not to show my own heart breaking everytime he cried about you."

Sehun is crying now, Kris apologizes for something he wasn't able to control. The older waits for Sehun to calm a little before speaking again, "Sehun... Is this also a way of trying to fix yourself up? Completely ignoring his existence?"

"... Hyung, if he can't see me romantically maybe he never will. I love him, yes, but I don't think he'd want me to pursue him anymore. If I don't move on now, when can I ever?" Sehun plays with the hem of his shirt, "So, yes. Maybe ignoring him a bit is the only way I know how so we can be okay. It's a lie if we tell each other nothing's changed when everything has."

Kris squeezes Sehun's shoulder, "You should sort this out better. If you keep ignoring him, I won't be the only one who'll talk to you about this and I am sure you don't wanna talk about it over and over. You're the more mature one despite your age, and if you tried to be a grown up to catch up to Luhan-hyung, you'll fix this like an adult."

Sehun is about to retort when Kris stands, "Latching onto Lay will not fix anything, kid."

"What? With Lay-hyung?"

Kris smirks, "Think about it." Kris starts walking away, Sehun follows him. They're in front of the beach house when Kris screams, "TAOOOOOO~!! Let's sleep!"

"Dude, our friends are sleeping!" Sehun slaps Kris on the arm. Kris acts like he's gonna elbow Sehun in the gut before he tries to scream again. To the maknae's relief, Tao and Luhan's figures emerge from the shore.

"Babe, come on. Sleep?" Kris asks calmly this time, Tao runs up to him and hugs his boyfriend, "Alright. Goodnight, Sehun. Luhan-ge." The couple leaves the two behind.

Tao drags Kris up to their room. He releases his boyfriend's hand to go to the bathroom and prepare for bed. Kris joins him, and after a few minutes they head back to bed.

Kris lies on his side, Tao on his and they're facing each other, "Did you talk to Sehun, too?"

"Yeah. He told me he was overheard by Luhan."

"Same. That's what Luhan-ge told me. They're just being stupid. I'm sure, ge is just afraid to admit he feels something for Sehun's that's already beyond friendship."

"I'm sure..." Kris' voice trails off, the blond closes his eyes and moves closer to Tao, "Let's sleep."

Tao smiles and kisses the top of his boyfriend's head, "I love you. Sweet dreams, Kris."

"Love you." Kris whispers as he pushes him closer to Tao's warmth.

--------

Author's Notes: Ending it here. :) I was able to update this easily because I just had to copy + paste parts from hunhan's chapter 11. Hahaha! Next chapter *might* be the end. :)