“She’s awfully fond of Wendy,” he said to himself.
He was angry with her now for not seeing why she could not have Wendy.
The reason was so simple: “I’m fond of her too. We can’t both have her, lady.”
—Peter Pan, J.M Barrie

Sehun couldn’t watch them anymore; he felt like he was a grenade about to be thrown to explode. Balling his fist, he his heels and walked off to the beach. He had to calm himself down and seeing Luhan with her wasn’t helping. He would take Sohee with him, but he didn’t want to upset her further. The closer he got to the beach, the louder the sound of the tides meeting land, he calmer he felt. He would not allow himself to be at ease until his feet touched the water.

His feet sunk in the pale brown sand as he walked along the shore. The familiar smell of salt water filled his nostrils, the sound of waves crashing upon the shore ringing in his ear. He picked a button-shaped pebble and tossed it into the water, creating a disturbance in the calm water.

It was like EXO-M coming to disturb the peace among EXO-K and Sohee’s lives.  Could she really leave them and go back to where she came from with EXO-M? Leave him? His heart throbbed with agony and he clutched his shirt at his chest, fighting the pain down.

The sky was blanketed by darkness as night fell, but Sehun didn't want to go back just yet. He wanted to be alone, away from the noise, away from everyone right now.

No, he wanted to be with Sohee, but he didn't have the courage to ask for her.

With a short bitter laugh, he sat down on the sand away from the tides and stared out at the infinite blackness in front of him as night welcomed the moon. There was nothing going on in his mind. He didn't know what time it was, neither did he know how long he had been out for. But he knew his hyungs were probably wondering if he was okay. He knew they would know where he was. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He was starting to calm down after hours. Maybe he should go back. What about Sohee? Would she be worried about him and wonder if he was all right?

“Oppa?”

His eyes flew opened. It could not be possible that his thoughts had summoned Sohee here. There was no such thing as magic. But he could not mistake that voice as Sohee’s; he could easily recognize her voice anywhere like how he could recognize the sounds the seas make when a storm is approaching.

Just then, he felt a presence sitting beside him and he turned his head. Jumping in fright, he could not believe that Sohee was actually sitting next to him. Does he have some sort of magical powers, then?

Salt water must be getting in my head, he thought to himself.

“Stop looking at me as if I'm crazy or something,” Sohee told him gently. She looked at him. “You’ve been out for very long and it’s getting late. The other Oppas are wondering when you will be coming back and Suho Oppa told me to come out and bring you back before the tigers start their hunt.”

“You know the tigers won't hurt us even if it comes out for hunting,” Sehun replied. His heart raced at the sight of her. He smiled softly. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I can’t help it,” she muttered under her breath in a low voice so he didn’t hear her. But to him, she said in a louder voice, “What’s on your mind, Oppa? I went back in afterwards and found you were gone. I knew you would be here, thinking about . . . well, whatever that you’re thinking about.”

“I would’ve thought you’d be too distracted with Luhan to even notice my absence,” he mumbled, not looking at her.

Sohee frowned deeply. “What makes you think like that — oh!” She broke off, suddenly understanding why he was so bitter. There was a long pause before she asked quietly, “You heard what he said, huh?”

“What are you going to do?” he asked, not bothering to deny it. Sohee’s face was troubled and he regretted asking. She was already having a hard time dealing with their bickering and he didn’t want to add more problems. “I’m sorry,” he apologized.

Sohee shook her head, heaving a burdened sigh. “I don’t know what to do,” she confessed. She felt a lot more comfortable telling Sehun about her worries than to Luhan, only because they had grown up together. “I don’t know if I should leave or stay. I mean, I’ve always wanted to know where I belonged, but after spending the past ten years of my life here, I can’t see myself leaving this place.”

“So stay here with us,” he insisted, taking her hand in his in desperation, holding onto them a little too tightly. “Stay with us, and don’t go back with them. We’re your family, you can’t just abandon us."

Her eyes flashed dangerously. “Then what about my brother, my blood family?” she asked softly but Sehun could trace a hint of defensiveness in her voice.

His heart sank, knowing she was defending her brother and his friends.

“He abandoned you.”

“He did not. You know what happened.”

“Then why didn’t he bother to come find you?” he shot back. “Why didn’t your family send a search party to look for you? If he cared about you, he would’ve done everything he could to look for you. Your own family!”

“They thought I was dead!”

“No body, no signs of you — yeah. I can see how they love you,” he snorted.

Sohee was upset. Why was he picking a fight with her? She didn’t like it. “Just because your own family never showed up doesn’t mean you have to take your anger out on me,” she said, her voice crisped with hurt.

Sehun flinched. “I —“

“I want to know my parents, too, Oppa, I want to know who they are and I also want to know about the kind of life my brother lived in — in a world where I could’ve lived in,” she pleaded for him to understand.

The guilt from lashing his anger out at her disappeared as fast as a snap of his fingers and Sehun glowered at Sohee. “So, you’re saying you regret meeting us?” he asked coldly, his voice filled with hurt.

“No!” Sohee was exasperated. Why couldn’t Sehun try to understand what she was trying to tell him? She had given him the trust that he would and now she realized it was a mistake; she shouldn’t have tried in the first place. This was why she didn’t want to talk to Luhan about it earlier; she knew none of them would try to understand her because both sides would try to either convince her to stay, or to leave. “It’s just a ‘what if’, you know?”

“Having ‘what ifs’ means you’re not contented with the way you're living,” Sehun said calmly but inside he was quaking with fear. If Sohee was already beginning to have these thoughts, it means she was wavering; there was a slight possibility that she might just follow her brother back.

“I am!” she burst out. “Don't you ever wonder about those ‘what ifs’ too? Like, what if you remained in the city? How would you have turned out as well? Don’t tell me that if your parents crashed onto this island and want you to come back, you wouldn’t be thinking of all these thoughts too.”

“No,” he lied patently.

She stared at him incredulously. “You are a terrible liar,” she said bluntly. She rose to her feet. “Have you ever, for once, considered how I felt about all of this?”

Sehun felt like his breath was cut off as she said the similar words Suho had spoken during dinner earlier and an unexpected wave of guilt washed over him and he tried to suppress it. “Sohee-yah . . .”

But Sohee had had enough. She shook her head in disappointment before she turned and began to walk back. “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”

A sudden though struck Sehun and he was gripped with fear. What if he pushed her away too much until she decided to leave? No! Scrambling to his feet, he ran after her. “Sohee! Wait!” He caught up with her and grabbed her hand, whirling her around to face him. “I’m sorry.” He pulled her in for a tight hug, wrapping his arms around her. Tears brimmed his eyes with regret and agony and he was so scared that if he let her go, she was going to leave him forever. “I’m so sorry. Please . . . I was stupid, I was angry but I shouldn't have done that. I’m so sorry, please . . .”

Sohee felt her heart racing when he pulled her in for a hug. This was the second time he had done this. She felt weak in her knees and she was grateful he was holding onto her for support. She buried her face at the crook of his neck as she took in the warm and comforting scent of salt water in him, reaching her hands up to hug him back. She felt his hot tears pressed against her cheeks and felt a pang of pain in her heart she could not explain.

Sehun was hurt and she, too, had not consider that it was hard for him to accept it if she would leave him. They had spent so much time together; it would feel like a part of her was being ripped away from her.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered desperately.

Sohee only nodded, closing her eyes. “I know.” I know. . . . I cannot see myself without you, either.

XiuMin and Luhan were taking a stroll with Chanyeol and Baekhyun to guide them in case they got lost (or were eaten by the tigers) when they reached the border of the forest and the beach when they saw two figures under the moonlight at the beach. They stopped to see who it was.

“Oh, hey, look — Sehun and Sohee are by at the beach,” Baekhyun spoke up, not at all surprised to see them there. He glanced at Chanyeol, who was grinning. “I wonder what’s going on between them.” Sehun never showed any signs of public affection towards her before until now. I wonder what triggered to start.

XiuMin studied the two of them carefully, narrowing his eyes at their skinship. “Does Sehun like my sister?” he wanted to know. “Or does my sister like Sehun? I don’t know but I find it very suspicious how they’re always together. She doesn’t hang around with the rest of you as much as she does with him.”

“You’d say that about whoever is by your sister’s side as long as others aren’t with them,” Chanyeol snorted, rolling his eyes but he could understand why he was feeling protective. He felt a little uneasy, watching them. Sehun was so out of character.

Luhan remained silent but he could not deny the tingling sensation searing from his head to his toe. It was the kind of feeling he did not like. Jealousy, it was, although he tried to deny that feeling, fighting it down with all his strength. Watching Sehun with Sohee, being this close to her — it was driving him insane.

Luhan could dance for hours without losing his breath. But every time he looked at her, or even think about Sohee, his breath quickened. He longed for the soft touch of her delicate skin, to taste those thin lips of hers, to hold her like a fragile doll in his arms and to mingle the coconut scent of hers with his. He wanted her so badly, it felt like whenever they were apart he felt like there was this huge hole in his heart. Like there was this barrier that separated them from being together. And that barrier was Sehun. He hated how big a part Sehun was in her world.

Luhan wanted to be part of Sohee’s world, too, but he wanted the part where only one has the right to claim it as his — her heart.

It had only been two days, but he had already found himself falling head over heels in love with her. But Luhan wasn’t as reckless as Sehun, nor was he as explosive. He knew what he had to do; he knew how he was going to get Sohee. That cheered him up slightly and he smirked. Sehun wouldn't even know what hit him.

But he had to wait until everyone was going to sleep to start. He waited until Baekhyun and Chanyeol dropped them back at the burrow and made sure everyone settled down in their rooms before he snuck out and silently followed Baekhyun and Chanyeol, curious to see where they were sleeping since EXO-M had invaded the burrow.

They wandered into the deeper parts of the forest and it was difficult for him to keep up but it was a good thing they were so loud so he only had to follow the sound of their voices. Finally he saw a campfire and the others’ voices. He checked his surroundings and saw that they had reached a clearing with trees encircling what looked like their campsite. There was a huge tree in the middle of the clearing and when Luhan looked up, he gasped.

The tree had hammocks hanging from one end to another end in each branch, giving enough space for them to sleep without crushing the person below them. Luhan squinted his eyes and saw that the hammocks were made of tightly tied vines and leaves braided together. So this is where they all sleep, he thought to himself, amazed and a little jealous because it was so cool. But what if the hammocks were to snap and they fall? They’d fall to their deaths!

“Boo.”

He jumped, startled, and slapped a hand over his mouth to stop from screaming out loud so the others wouldn’t discover him. Luhan whirled around and found himself face-to-chest with Sohee. “Sohee! Don’t do that!” he exclaimed but softly, making sure the others didn’t hear him. But he was secretly glad it was her who caught him. “You startled me.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “I saw you hiding in the midst of the leaves and wondered why you were when you should be back at the burrow.”

“I was looking for you,” he replied.

She seemed astonished by his answer. “Me? But why?”

He smiled softly and nodded. “I want to explore this place, get to know this island better,” he explained, getting started on his plan. “At least before I leave this place. I don’t want to simply miss an opportunity like this. And I want you to show me the wonders of it tomorrow — for the whole day.”

Sohee blinked a couple of times as she processed his proposition in her head. “You want me to take you around?” she repeated and he nodded. “Why don’t you ask someone else? They’ve been here longer, I’m sure they would know this island better than me,” she replied, glancing back nervously.

Luhan simply shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not as comfortable with them like I am with you,” he answered honestly. He shrugged. “We’ll probably kill each other in the morning if I ask the others instead.”

“Ah . . . that’s true . . .” Sohee apprehensively took a peep at him before averting her eyes away. She was wavering and Luhan knew it. “I . . .”

“Please, with cherry on top?” He offered his best smile to her — the kind where every lady back in civilization fell for. “I would be eternally grateful if you say yes.”

“Oh . . .” Her heart raced, completely won over by his charm and nodded. “Sure. I guess it should be fine. We’ll start at first light, I guess. Tell everyone about it.”

“Oh, no, I don’t mean for the others,” Luhan quickly said, realizing Sohee thought he meant his other friends. “They’re not in this. As in, they’re not coming either.” He smiled again, placing a hand on her shoulder and a blush crept to her cheeks. So cute. “I meant, just you and me,” he replied slowly, hoping she would get the message. “No one else.”

“Oh . . .” Sohee looked even more anxious. “Uh . . .” She swallowed hard, wondering why went parched all of a sudden. "S – Sure . . . just you and m – me.”

"Great." Luhan beamed, happy that she had agreed to it. “I’ll see you tomorrow, at first light.” He turned to walk back, lifting his hand up for a wave. “Good night, Sohee.”

“Do you even know your way back?”

Luhan paused to think for a moment, shaking his head. He had been so focused on getting to their camp he forgot to remember the way back. “Nope.”

She walked over to him, smiling in amusement, before walking ahead of him. “You better hurry up and make sure you don’t fall behind, otherwise you'd be eaten by the tigers,” she called over her shoulders to him.

He stumbled after her in the darkness. “There are tigers?”

Sohee offered no response; only the sounds of feet moving and branches being pushed were heard and Luhan had to keep up. After a few minutes, they had arrived at the burrow. Luhan hovered behind for awhile.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said with a small smile playing on his lips. And then, without waiting for her response, he placed a palm on her cheek softly, caressing his thumb over the smoothness of her skin before grasping her chin to tilt her head up the same time Luhan leaned down to plant a soft kiss at the corner of her lips.

A small gasp escaped from her lips but Luhan quickly turned away so she wouldn't see his smirk and walked inside the burrow. Tomorrow, I'll make you fall for me the way I fell for you, he thought to himself as he climbed in bed.

Outside, Sohee stood there, perplexed. Slowly her hand reached up to touch the corner of where Luhan had kissed and a small smile formed on her face, her heart racing until she found it difficult to breathe properly. She turned and began making her way back to bed, a little dazed.

His lips were soft and she found it a little unfair he left her wanting more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bam bam bam baaaaaaaaaaam ><"

Hehe. I actually quite like this chapter, even though it didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to :/