“There is another, in your place
He is called . . . husband.” 

– Captain James Hook, Peter Pan

When Sehun woke up in the morning, he frowned upon seeing an empty bed where Sohee’s sleeping figure was supposed to be. He glanced around and saw no signs of her. He looked up and saw that the sun had risen. Sehun glanced back down and counted heads. Suho, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were already awake, washing their faces. Chanyeol and Jongin were still in bed. The only one missing was Sohee and she was not anywhere in sight either.

He looked back at Sohee’s bed and his frown deepened. Sohee was not normally a morning person so it was a surprise to see that her bed was empty before him. So where could that girl be?

He climbed down from his bed in the tree, accidentally kicking Chanyeol in the head, but the giant only snorted and slept on through. Shaking his head, Sehun jumped down when he was a few feet off the ground and sauntered up to Suho, who was about to leave to check on their guests.

“Have you seen Sohee?”

Suho looked genuinely surprised to hear that Sohee was not in bed. “I thought she was still asleep in bed,” he replied. He glanced over at Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. “Have you seen Sohee?”

They shook their heads.

“Maybe she spent the night over with her brother,” Kyungsoo suggested. “I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“I am definitely sure she was in bed last night,” Sehun argued, not wanting to accept that she was with XiuMin. “She said good night to me and she fell asleep first.”

“Then she must have went over to stay with them for the night,” Suho told him calmly. “Don’t worry about it. As soon as the rest of us have woken up, we can go over to see and ask her what happened.”

Sehun immediately marched over and was about to wake Jongin and Chanyeol up when Baekhyun grabbed him by his collar and yanked him back. “Yah, don’t you dare go yelling at them to wake up!” he chastised sternly. “What if they fall down from being awoken by your shouts? They can fall to their deaths.”

“Yeah, maknae, don’t be reckless,” Kungsoo nodded, wiping his wet face with a towel. “I know you’re paranoid, but don’t put other people’s lives at risk.”

“Yeah, don’t be selfish,” Baekhyun chimed in.

Sehun scowled but obeyed his hyungs. He may be reckless, but he was not rude. He turned to Suho. “I thought you were going to check on them,” he said. “You looked like you were on your way over as I was climbing down.”

The leader nodded. “Would you like to come with me so you can put your mind at ease?” he asked for the maknae to tag along, knowing full well that he would not dare reject such offer.

His prediction was, obviously, true when Sehun nodded his head and began walking ahead of him. “Let’s go, hyung!”

“Wait for the others.”

“What? But hyung!”

Yet no matter how much Sehun whined and begged, Suho was adamant and refused to be swayed. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo smirked, knowing that the longer Chanyeol and Jongin slept on, the more anxious Sehun was becoming.

“What did you say?” Sehun asked XiuMin to repeat, staring at him in disbelief. He refused to believe what he just heard; he didn’t want it to be true. He wanted to deny it even though his heart told him that it was true.

“Sohee hadn’t spent the night here, and Luhan’s not here either when we woke up,” Sohee’s brother repeated, shrugging from where he stood in the middle of the burrow. “So I’m guessing the two of them must be together somewhere on this island.”

Sehun dreaded hearing those very words, dreaded to even imagine it. And yet his nightmare was happening. It had started the moment Luhan stepped in Sohee’s life and he feared that his worst nightmare might come true.

“So you’re saying that the two of them are together, alone?” Suho wanted to clarify. “As if they are on a date?”

XiuMin nodded. Behind him, Kris smirked, shaking his head. “Wow, Luhan, I didn’t think you’d make a move so fast,” he murmured more to him, chuckling in amusement. “Let’s see where this will lead to.” He rubbed his palms together. “This is going to be fun.”

Tao cocked his head over to him. He was still sleepy but he was sure that his gege had said something. “Did you say something?” he asked while rubbing his eyes.

“Nope.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Suho was trying to reassure an unhappy Sehun. “Sohee can take care of herself; she knows the island well enough. Besides, Luhan will take care of her. He won’t let her get hurt.”

“That’s not the point. You won’t get it,” Sehun muttered angrily.

“Don’t you think he’s moving a little too fast?” Kyungsoo wanted to know. “They’ve known each other for less than a week and already he’s trying to get together with her.”

“You can’t learn everything about a person in three days,” Baekhyun nodded. He couldn’t agree more.

Sehun said nothing but deep down he thought it was unfair. He had spent almost all his life knowing Sohee and it didn’t seem fair that someone else, who had only known her for three days, could just suddenly come and take her away.

XiuMin and Kris exchanged glances. They were sending messages through their eyes and Yixing could tell. “What are you two saying with your eyes?” he asked them curiously, glancing back and forth between the two oldest males in EXO-M.

That caught everybody’s attention and all eyes were turned toward them.

“Um,” XiuMin shot a nervous sideways glance to Kris. “Well, technically speaking, Luhan knows Sohee for more than three days . . .” he started to say slowly.

Chanyeol frowned. “What do you mean?”

“What Minseok is trying to say,” Kris decided to speak up for his friend, “is that Luhan and I are his childhood best friends, so we would obviously had remembered Sohee.” Kris smiled grimly, looking at Sehun. He knew that kid liked Sohee. So what he was about to say next was going to be heartbreaking, but Luhan was his best friend, and obviously he would take his friend’s side. “And if I remember correctly, Sohee and Luhan had a crush on each other and were often teased about it from Minseok and I.”

Sehun could have sworn he felt a part of him dying.

“Say ahh.”

Sohee blinked and looked up to see Luhan holding a grape out to her. She smiled and opened so he could pop it inside. Chewing on it, the sour taste of the grape hit her sense and she made a face, wincing slightly. “Ick,” she commented, shuddering a little. “It’s sour.”

Luhan chewed on his grape thoughtfully, remaining expressionless as he did so. “Do you not like grapes that are sour?” he asked her, after swallowing, even though he already knew the answer to that.

She shook her head and reassured him that it was because the sour taste was too strong, but she loved grapes — any kind of grapes and she could eat them for the whole day. Luhan smiled softly at her expression. She is just as how I remember her as. He leaned over and brushed his thumb lightly over her cheek and she stopped chewing, her eyes widening in surprise.

He lowered his head and pecked her nose, chuckling to himself as her face turned beat red. “Wh – what are you doing?” she stammered, her heart hammering loudly against her chest she was pretty sure he could hear it. Sohee dared looked straight into his eyes and instantly regretted it. He was staring so intently right back and it frightened her, at the same time, she felt herself drawing nearer to him.

“Breathe, Sohee,” he murmured, his breath tickling her face, and she listened, letting out the breath she did not even know she was holding. He chewed on his bottom lip, contemplating if he should just kiss her or wait a little longer. His eyes wandered over to her soft, pink lips.

Sohee followed his gaze and swallowed hard when she saw where Luhan was staring at. “Uh —” she squeaked. However, their faces drew closer until their foreheads touched and their noses rubbed against each other. It was as if there was some magnetic force that pulled her to him and she had to admit she actually liked the feeling.

“Sohee-yah . . .” Luhan whispered softly, “do you remember anything about your childhood other than your brother?” He his dry lips which were lacking moist. “Like, do you remember anyone else?”

Sohee’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she tried to remember other details of her past. “LIke my parents?”

He shook his head. “More like, his friends . . .”

She blinked and for a moment his heart sank, thinking that she didn’t remember a single thing about him. But Sohee was struggling to remember a memory, a memory that seemed so vague yet so clear.

Sohee was swinging on the swing in the backyard of her house one afternoon in spring. Her appa had just installed a swing for her to play with while her brother and his two friends were up in the tree house. She could hear their shrieks of joyous laughter sounding from above her head, and she quite liked the sound of it. She pushed herself backward on the swing and lifted her legs, smiling widely as the cool breeze whooshed against her face. Oh, how she wished she could remain like this forever.

Just then, the door of the tree house flung opened and her brothers and his friends, Kris and Luhan , climbed down the letter. XiuMin ruffled her hair as he walked past her to go back inside the house while Kris pinched her cheeks, smiling. Luhan, on the other hand, stayed back. “Do you need help pushing?” he offered, watching her.

She blushed furiously. She knew that eight-year-old girls were too young to be in love, but she swore Luhan was her Prince Charming. He was always nice to her, and always told her she was pretty. He made her feel like a princess. And every time he talked to her, she was sure she was falling more in love. It was a dream of a wide-eyed kid. She knew it was a foolish dream; she was eight and he was twelve. He would never see her as anything else but as his best friend’s kid sister.

“A – anni, I can do it myself,” she declined as she pushed herself once more. “I’m a big girl.” See how I am able to do things on my own without asking people for help now? Do you like it?

He smiled and nodded, as if he heard her thoughts and that smile made her knees grow weak; she was glad she didn’t have to stand. But she had to stop swinging because she needed to concentrate, otherwise she would fall. And having Luhan’s presence was definitely not helping her concentrate.

But just as she stopped, Luhan walked over to her and pecked her cheek lightly. “I’ll be going inside, then. Don’t stay out too late, okay?” With a cute eyesmile and a wave, he disappeared behind the door.

Sohee stared after him in a daze, her cheek still warm with the feeling of his lips. Slowly, she lifted her hand and touched the spot where he had kissed and a goofy smile was played on her lips. “I’m gonna marry him when I grow up,” she whispered to herself, giggling.

“Sohee?”

Sohee shook her head and snapped back to reality, her cheeks growing warm as she remembered the memory perfectly well. She was so embarrassed of herself. She could not believe she actually said that.

“What are you thinking about?” Luhan wanted to know. “Do you remember me?”

Her blush crept back up and she averted her gaze but her eyes landed on his lips and she mentally cursed herself. “I – I —”

He smiled happily, watching her reaction, and knew she had remembered him. “So you do remember me, that’s good.” He pecked her nose and her face became flushed. So cute. “Do you remember having that huge crush on me, then?”

Sohee pulled away, yelping in shock. “Wh – what?! H – how did you — I – I mean, n – no, what are you talking about?” But her reddened face gave it away and there wasn’t a point; he knew she was lying. She was screaming internally. How did he know about her crush?! She never told anyone about it.

“You were pretty obvious. It was cute.”

Oh my God. She buried her face in her hands in embarrassment. “You must have thought I was weird, huh?” she mumbled.

She heard his warm chuckle and felt his hands over hers, trying to pry them away from her face. “Hey, look at me,” he said lightly and she looked up. Luhan was smiling at her. “I didn’t think you were weird.”

“R – Really?” Ba-dump, ba-dump. Heart, why are you beating so fast? Why is his face so close? Why — oh my God, he’s puckering his lips! What? Why? How? Wha —?

Luhan pressed his lips lightly on hers, cutting her train of thoughts off, and her eyes fluttered closed. He placed a hand on her waist and the other grasping her chin while she wrapped her arms instinctively around his neck. She moved her lips with his, and he tilted his head to kiss her better. After a minute or so, they pulled apart, faces pink.

“You know . . .” Luhan said slowly, staring at her in the eyes and this time, she didn’t look away. “I had a crush on you, too.”

While Luhan and Sohee were on their date, Suho and Chanyeol helped Kris and Chen with the boat while the others stayed by the beach, playing games to pass time. Well, all except one sulking in the waters. After lunch, during a game of beach volleyball, Baekhyun ran to get the ball XiuMin accidentally hit the ball out of the drawn court and as he picked the ball up before it touched the water, he looked up and sighed, seeing a figure in the water.

“Sehun has been in a really foul mood today,” he murmured. But he turned back to continue the game.

When it was too hot to be out, they retreated back to the burrow where they washed up and due to the exhaustion of the physical and active games, they all fell asleep in the living room. Kris, Chen, Suho and Chanyeol came in not too long after and they shook their heads at their friends’ sleeping figures.

Just then, two figures appeared and the four of them turned to see them. Chen grinned. “Well, isn’t it the happy couple!” he said, wolf-whistling as they approached.

The closer they came, the clearer their faces were and Kris saw how pink and happy they looked. He narrowed his eyes and he could not help but notice how their fingers were entwined. Good job, buddy.

Baekhyun, who was a light sleeper, stirred and woke up. He sat up, rubbing his eyes groggily, until he could make out the silhouettes in front of him. “Sohee! You’re back!” he exclaimed.

Sehun jolted awake, and the others were awoken to Baekhyun’s exclaim. Everyone could see the bright and glowing faces of the lovebirds and instantly they knew what happened.

XiuMin raised an eyebrow. “You better make sure you take good care of my little sister,” he said protectively, being the big brother that he was.

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo turned over to Sehun and exchanged worried glances when they noticed how his expression had darkened. Yixing and Tao were happy for their friend and smiled in triumph at Sehun’s crestfallen face. Jongin scowled, not believing that Sohee would actually fall for that jerk.

Kyungsoo braved a smile and got up, ruffling Sohee’s hair. “Congratulations,” he said in a tight voice, trying to be happy for her.

Sohee bit her bottom lip, hearing the edge of the tone of his voice. She glanced worriedly at the others and saw Jongin’s face. She immediately shrank behind Luhan. “Thanks . . .”

Baekhyun smiled softly and hugged her while shooting a death glare at Luhan. “Break her heart and I’ll break your face,” he threatened in a joking manner but given by the way he smiled, Luhan knew he was serious.

Everyone got up and began to surround them but Sehun remained behind. Through the gaps between everyone around them, he could see their laced fingers and he felt something tugging in his heart.

His whole world went numb and everything darkened as he saw the smile on Sohee’s face, her hand in another’s man.

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

Well . . . that :/ poor Sehunnie.

Anyway I need more motivation to write the next chapter :3 send me some loveeeeeee. kekeke kidding kidding, but agh, idk how to write the next chapter T.T I should've made an outline of this plot instead of jumping right at it. Like. I KNOW how it's gonna end, but idk how I am gonna make it end? Make sense? OTL ><"

hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway!