Chapter 12

 

Lion delivered a speech about new rules, policies, and health and safety measures in the cosy dining hall where we all sat together at one wooden bench table. He gave everyone a handout that listed everything they needed to know. An enlarged version of the handout was also passed round so that everyone could sign it, and Lion planned to stick it up in the dining hall. A key to their cabin was given to everyone at the door.

"It is very important to keep your key safe, and please don't misuse or take advantage of it," Lion reminded everyone as they walked past him, taking the keys from his hand.

 

"Daesung is coming to play basketball with me, do you want to come?" Youngbae offered Seunghyun. Both of them were walking side by side on the crumbly gravel towards the cabins. 

"Sure, what about Seungri and Jongin?" Seunghyun asked as he slipped the key into his back pocket.

"They said they were going to the gym. Ask Jiyong if he wants to come."

Seunghyun agreed, "Yeah, yeah. By the way, is it okay if I come after a couple of hours? I want to rest a bit."

"I was just going to say that. Daesung wanted to go to the spa. So, is 5:30 okay?" Youngbae checked his watch. "That gives us just over two hours."

Seunghyun nodded and gave a short "See ya later," before catching up with Jiyong, who was heading straight to the cabin.

 

Seunghyun tried to start a conversation with Jiyong. 

"Hey, I'm going to go and play basketball with Daesung and Youngbae at half past five. Seungri and Jongin are going to the gym. I think Daesung is heading to the spa right now..."

"So?" Jiyong replied nonchalantly.

"Well," Seunghyun suddenly got nervous, "what do you want to do?"

Jiyong sighed and pouted. "I guess everyone has already made their plans... I'll just sit in the cabin...alone, I suppose." He clumsily walked up to the door.

Seunghyun shook his head. This was a sign that Jiyong was unhappy about something he had done. 

"Okay, Ji, I get it. What were you planning to do instead, then?"

"Nothing, I was hoping you had a plan so that I could sit here on my own," said Jiyong, ignoring Seunghyun's face. When did he start calling him 'Ji'?

Seunghyun stood in front of the door and stopped him. He looked at him in the eye and started again. "Jiyong, do you want to play basketball with us?"

"No."

"Do you want to go to the gym?"

"No."

"The spa with Daesung?"

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

"You," Jiyong answered honestly. Seunghyun blushed and moved over to let him go in. How am I going to spend the next two hours with this guy?

 

Seunghyun opened the door to walk in. Jiyong was just casually taking his shirt off and gave Seunghyun a quick glance before unbuckling his belt. 

"What are you doing?" The older man was already regretting walking in.

"These clothes are uncomfortable." Oh, thank god. "Why? What did you think I was doing?" Jiyong changed the mood in the atmosphere by putting on an evil grin. He walked over to his hyung after throwing his belt to the side. Seunghyun's heart started racing and he could feel a tightening in his abdomen. He was alone with Jiyong and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself. The younger man his lips and placed a hand on his roommate's behind, causing the older man to cough and blush in embarrassment. Suddenly, Jiyong slid past him and pulled out the key from Seunghyun's pocket. He locked the door behind Seunghyun and they both turned around to face each other. 

"I'm starting to like this place," he joked, as he stuffed the key in to his underwear. "Don't worry, it's safe here," Jiyong reassured Seugnhyun as he patted his crotch, "I'm wearing briefs today." The older man was speechless for a few seconds whilst Jiyong took off his jeans.

"You can hold on to the keys for today, then," Seunghyun added. He took off his shoes and walked over to his bed, planning to fall asleep if Jiyong would let him.

"What are you doing?" Jiyong inquired as Seunghyun stretched out his body on the bed.

Seunghyun answered in monotone, "I'm resting for a little while."

"What about entertaining me?"

"I gave up on that...along with the key."

"Will you play with me if I give you the key back?"

"I don't want the key back," Seunghyun got up, because he knew he wasn't going to be left alone. "What do you mean by playing with you?" That was a silly question, because Seunghyun knew what kind of answer he was to expect from Jiyong.

"How about...ride the horsey," Jiyong giggled as he put on the shortest pair of shorts he owned. "You can ride me." Seunghyun just looked at him without answering.

"Fine, I'll ride you first," Jiyong snapped jokingly. He put his hand in his underwear and pulled out the key. "It would be a little uncomfortable with this thing constantly jabbing at my balls." Again, the older man was speechless.

"Do you have any other game in mind?" Seunghyun begged, trying to avoid staring at Jiyong's legs.

"I have a pack of cards, do you want to play strip poker?"

"You're only wearing two pieces of clothing... How could you...?"

"Ride the horsey it is, then!" Jiyong cheered as he ran up to his hyung and pushed him on to the bed. He quickly placed his legs on either side of Seunghyun and landed his on his roommate's crotch. The older man flung his head back on to the pillow and put both hands on his face. 

Jiyong laughed, "I'm just kidding, go ahead and sleep, I'll go see what Daesung's doin-"

He was cut off by Seunghyun, who quickly rolled them over so that he was on top. Jiyong gulped at the heat that had built up in his lower abdomen. The heat spread to his crotch and he gritted his teeth, almost choking on the saliva that had gathered up in his mouth. 

"Please don't do that again, it's already hard enough to control myself in front of you." Seunghyun ended the conversation on a serious note and got up. Jiyong was frozen on the bed, whilst his hyung picked up Jiyong's key from the side table and unlocked the door to leave. "I'm going to go see what Youngbae is doing, see you later." He closed the door and then walked back in.

"Wait, Ji, can you be free tonight? After dinner, I mean. I need to show you something..."

He left again, without even hearing the other's answer.

 

Jiyong sighed and rolled over onto his left side, facing his own bed. Why am I so ? He couldn't stop thinking of Seunghyun. The time when he woke up in the middle of his wet dream that he had about Jiyong, when they made out in the hot spring, when he hugged him the day before, and his smell. The Seunghyun smell. All these memories were turning him on. He had become so sensitive just to having his name being whispered in that deep husky voice. Jiyong bit his left index finger hard and then gulped again. I hate this. This is wrong, right on his bed... He started slowly scratching his bare chest with his right hand and then his hand moved lower, making the hairs on his arms rise from the tingling sensation he was giving himself. Slipping his fingers into his shorts, he realised the door was unlocked and that anyone could walk in at that time. To cover up some of the embarrassment he was feeling, he pulled up the duvet to his waist. The man began moving his hips in circular motions whilst rolling his spine in a wave to suit the movement. It felt like he was stirring up the pleasure in his lower half. At first, he cupped his 'nice package' from outside his underwear. Seunghyun's words echoed in his head. Then he started rubbing his palm over it, up and down, quite forcefully, to create some friction. Heat rose to the surface of his skin. But he needed more, he needed to concentrate on the thought of Seunghyun if he wanted to carry on. He stuffed his face into the pillow and took a big whiff of his roommate's bed. It smelled just like him. He was fully erect now, and he was regretting ever starting it. Oh god... When did I last like this? Why does it feel so good? Somehow, he ended up thinking of Seunghyun's face when he confessed to him. He couldn't do it anymore, he couldn't e on his crush's bed. Even though it was only for a few minutes, it felt amazing. But now he was breaking down again, having been reminded that what he had with Seunghyun may have just been confusion from his roommate's point of view. Did it feel better than real for Jiyong? Even he did not know the answer to that. Jiyong cried in the bed like a baby. He couldn't have something he didn't just want, but needed. This feeling was too new and different for Jiyong to understand; he had never been attracted to a man like this before. He longed for Seunghyun to feel the same way about him. Unlike his hyung, he was ready to accept the fact that he was biual. It didn't bother him, because what he felt for Seunghyun wasn't just lust. It was love. And this wasn't the everyday HyungxDongsaeng love either, Jiyong wanted everything from Seunghyun. He wanted to own Seunghyun's heart and he was ready to give up his own in return. As far as Jiyong understood, dongsaengs don't do that. 

 

Later Jiyong ended up finding himself in a romantic bathroom with Jongin sitting in the hot chocolate bath. How the did this happen? Oh yeah!  He recalled the memory of Jongin walking in when Jiyong got up to put a shirt on. Figures... This guy must have dragged me here to talk. He was in a bathrobe but he had no intention of getting into the bath with Jongin, mainly because he was ing in his roommate's bed less than half an hour ago. Instead Jiyong sat opposite to Jongin outside the bath, with his feet dipped in a bubbly cocktail foot bath, looking up through the open roof at the clear, early afternoon sky. The familiar smell of the floral oil diffuser had spread into the room. Hosung ang Hyunjun, the spa staff, had done a good job preparing the bath for them.

"So, I've noticed some tension between you and Seunghyun." Jongin started, and then sunk deeper in to the hot water so that his shoulders were covered. 

"Oh, you have?" Jiyong tried to act innocent, avoiding eye contact. Jongin gave him the look. To Jiyong, it was the 'are you ing with me right now?' look. But then Jiyong remembered that Jongin could never think in his head in such foul language. He's a good guy.

"Did Seunghyun tell you?" He asked Jiyong the question very seriously and stared at him, trying to read his reaction. Obviously, the older man was confused. What was Seunghyun supposed to tell Jiyong, that he was gay?

"Uh... What are you talking about?"

"Then...what did he tell you?"

"What did he tell you?"

There was a pause. Both men were clearly confused. 

"He came to apologise to me yesterday morning." Jongin took note of Jiyong's every move, trying to determine exactly how much Seunghyun had told him. 

"He told me he told you he was gay." Jiyong blushed at the thought.

"So he confessed to you?"

Jiyong's response was slow. "What?!" Jongin realised what had happened and decided to tell Jiyong everything. 

"He came to me and told me he liked you." Jiyong didn't look convinced, but he was surprised. "He was genuine, he said he couldn't control himself around you."

"He didn't just say this so that you'd forgive him, right?"

"No, Jiyong, he wasn't lying. He promised me he'd confess to you. What exactly happened between you two?"

Jiyong started putting the pieces together in his head. Seunghyun did have something to say, but he was cut off by the incident in the hot springs.

"Well?"

"The thing is, Seunghyun and I have been having these," he paused, "moments."

"Did you sleep with him?"

"NO!" You're overreacting, Jiyong... "We made out. . In the hot springs. Yesterday. Before he could tell me anything."

"Ah, so you're the one who messed it up."

"I didn't mess it up. After that, we had the talk."

"What did he say?"

"Well, we agreed that we were ually attracted to one another and that it was confusing."

"That was it?"

"We were interrupted by your roommate."

"He's not my responsibility..."

"Well, he ruined the moment. Anyway, later, when we were alone again, I confessed to him spontaneously."

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know, it was on impulse. It wasn't a lie, but I don't know how Seunghyun took it."

"What did he say?"

"He said he needed time."

"So he does like you." Jongin chuckled.

"No, he said he needed time," Jiyong repeated.

"Dude, you said this all happened yesterday. This isn't frigging Romeo and Juliet."

"Who said this was Romeo and Juliet?"

The older man was a bit offended. "Have you ever seen Romeo and Juliet?"

"No."

"Then never mind. What I meant was, he probably wants to take it slow with you."

"What has that got to do with Romeo and Juliet?"

"The star-crossed lovers ed within two days of meeting each other."

"Really? They move fast."

"That's why Romeo killed Juliet."

"He killed her?"

"No, I'm just messing with you." Jongin snickered. Jiyong rolled his eyes. The younger man's expression changed and he moved over to the older man's side to look at him closely.

"Hyung, I think he really likes you, and he's known this for a while, but he's afraid of losing you."

Jiyong was red in embarrassment. "He can't lose me, I'm in love with him."

Jongin raised his eyebrows. "Have you told him that?"

"I only figured it out today."

"Don't tell him yet, it'll scare him away." Jongin warned Jiyong. Then, Jongin smiled at him.

"What is it?"

"You guys are really cute together."

This was a first. Jiyong had never heard someone say that before. Sure, Youngbae, Daesung and Seungri all the time, but this compliment changed the way Jiyong was viewing the whole situation. Jongin noticed the man in front of him melting in abashment. "If you're that uncomfortable with me here, you don't have to stay." Jiyong asked him if he was sure and Jongin cheered him on by yelling as Jiyong closed the door, "Go and tell him you're in love with him!" The men at the spa smiled at each other and Jiyong cursed at Jongin under his breath. Then, the small man charged off to the lobby in his comfy slippers. 

 

To his surprise, Jiyong found Seunghyun walking into the spa's lobby. He was shocked and he ran to the counter to hide under the desks. He shushed the workers at the spa who had no choice but to pretend he wasn't there, as they awkwardly stood behind the counter trying to avoid the body in front of them.

"Hi." Jiyong heard his hyung talk to Hosung. 

"Good afternoon, sir."

"I wanted to know if I can borrow some lights."

"What kind of lights, sir?"

"Preferably decorative lights," Seunghyun paused. "I want to do something for a friend tonight."

"Of course, sir. We can help you set it up. Please come this way," Hosung lead Seunghyun into a storage room and Hyunjun bent over to tell Jiyong that the coast was clear. Jiyong found his shoes and ran back to the cabin that instant, still in the bath robe he had borrowed from the spa. Later on, when Seunghyun had chosen his lights, Jongin walked out of the room and Seunghyun caught him leaving via the lobby. 

"Oh, hey, I didn't know you were here," Jongin greeted him.

"Yeah..." Seunghyun was preoccupied with the task in front of him. He tried to fit the lights in to a plastic bag whilst Hosung brought him some extension wires.

"Excuse me, sir," the idle worker behind the desk caught Jongin's attention. The man held Jiyong's clothes neatly folded in his hands. "Your friend left his clothes here."

"Uh...he left without his clothes?"

"Yes, he took the bathrobe."

Seunghyun looked over and recognised the folded clothes. The room was small enough to overhear the conversation.

"Ji was here?" Seunghyun asked curiously. 

"Yeah, he was in the bath with me. Well, not bathing with me, but he was in the room." Jongin tried to explain it without creating any misunderstandings. 

"Right... Well, I can give them to him." Seunghyun told the worker behind the desk. Jongin smiled to himself as he watched Seunghyun leave. 

 

Seunghyun had arranged to meet the spa workers at a later hour. At the time, he was more interested in finding out what Jiyong had been doing in the spa with Jongin. He saw the hedgehog as too dangerous to let his innocent little roommate hang around with. Jongin knew too much information, and why did Jiyong leave without changing in to his clothes? The cabin was unlocked and Seunghyun walked in. He looked inside and didn't see Jiyong, but then he realised that the bathroom lights were on - his roommate must have been in there. 

Seunghyun knocked on the door. "Ji, are you in there?"

"Hm? Yeah, the door isn't locked." His roommate's sweet voice called from inside. Did that mean Seunghyun could open it? He heard the tap running and considered it safe to open the door. He opened the door to find that his Ji was only washing his face. Jiyong grabbed a towel and patted his face dry before turning to face Seunghyun. He was still in the bathrobe. Some of Jiyong's brown hair was wet from the wash and Seunghyun took the towel from his hand to dry his roommate properly.

"Aw, Hyunnie you're so sweet," Jiyong blushed. He said it on purpose to catch his roommate off guard with the informal nickname.

"Hyunnie?" the older man repeated to himself with a chuckle. "Since when were you allowed to call me that?" He took down the towel and stepped back so that the other man could step out of the bathroom.

"Since you started calling me Ji." He giggled. "I like Ji."

"You're being suspicious." Seunghyun tried to stop himself from falling for his roommate's aegyo. 

"What are you talking about?" Jiyong innocently raised his eyebrows. Then, the younger man inflated his cheeks and pouted as he released the air and blew it on to Seunghyun's collarbone.

"Wow, is aegyo supposed to be this y?"

"It's called saegyo when it's y, and swagyo when it's has swag." 

"That sounds legit," Seunghyun nodded. "So, what were you doing with Jongin in the bath? And why are you still in the bathrobe?" The older man pointed his thumb at the bed behind him where he had placed the folded clothes. 

"Oh, thanks for bringing my clothes."

"Well? Aren't you going to answer my question?"

"Calm down, he just dragged me there to keep him company. As for the bathrobe..." Jiyong paused, realising he hadn't thought of an excuse yet. Seunghyun raised his eyebrows. "I thought I lost the key so I ran back to the cabin to find it. It was in the lock." Jiyong nervously laughed at the last sentence. It was a bit too obvious that Jiyong was lying, so Seunghyun let him off. 

"Well, I was supposed to meet up with Youngbae and Daesung right about now, so I'll leave for that." Seunghyun picked up his backpack that he had packed up beforehand and walked towards the door. "Remember to not make any plans tonight, I need to show you something."

"Su-" Seunghyun shut the door before Jiyong managed to finish what he was saying. 

 

Thursday Evening, Day 6 on Yahyung Island, 19:00

 

A few hours later, it was dinner time. Jiyong had been running around the cabin trying to figure out what to wear. Oh god... Dinner... After Dinner... Seunghyun... NO! He had to occupy his brain with something other than his roommate to save himself from exploding on the spot. Now in his Wonder Woman bath robe, he was throwing clothes on to his bed, trying to think of a good combination. I have to look hot, but casual. Casual-hot. G-Dragon's got this. GD can do hot and casual any day... He picked up a black full-sleeved T-shirt, with a wide boat neckline revealing his collar bones. Checking himself out in the mirror on the wall with the shirt on, he started talking to himself without realising he forgot to pick out what to wear on his legs. 

"Kekekeke, I look so hot in this..." He curled in his shoulders to further define his collar bones and touched them lightly with the tips of his fingers. "Will Seunghyun like this? I shouldn't overdo it." The door opened and a cool breeze brushed past his legs. Speak of the devil... It was Seunghyun. He stood in the doorway in his classy hoodie and jeans with his hair styled up and slightly to the side. Someone made an effort... Ralph Lauren, huh? Pffft, designer diva... Jiyong thought to himself as he noticed he hadn't done anything with his own hair. His short, messy and brown bed-hair couldn't really compete with the masterpiece in front of him.

"Dude, we've been waiting for you-" Seunghyun looked at Jiyong and then at the piles of clothes scattered around the room. "JI! This isn't the time to play dress-up. If we take too long, Lion's going to think of a punishment for us!" Seunghyun was raising his voice, but not so much that it worried Jiyong. In fact, Jiyong had stopped listening after he heard 'Ji'. The older man shot a menacing glare at Jiyong to wake him up from the daze. 

"Okay, I'm coming!" The younger man started walking to the door to pick up his favourite high-tops until Seunghyun stopped him. 

Seunghyun gestured towards Jiyong's unclothed legs. "Ji, are you going out like that?"

"Eh he he he," Jiyong laughed nervously. "I'll go and put on my shorts."

"Hurry up, then." The older man sighed. "What am I going to do with this guy?"

 

They walked into the dining hall. 

Seungri reacted immediately. "It's about time! I'm starving. Gosh, what's wrong with you people?" Jiyong was a little irritated at the greeting and mouthed a "Shut up you little ," to Seungri, but he couldn't lipread it. Jiyong dropped himself onto the bench between Youngbae and Jongin whilst Seunghyun sat on the end of the other side next to Daesung. Seungri had to move up into the empty space next to him to allow Seunghyun to sit down next to Daesung. He felt the rejection. 

Seunghyun cleared his throat to break the silence. "Sorry about that, guys, Jiyong lost track of the time."

"It's okay." Youngbae smiled at Jiyong. "You look good."

Jiyong couldn't help but smile shyly at the compliment, wondering whether Seunghyun was thinking the same thing. However, at that moment, Seunghyun was not thinking the same thing. Instead, he turned his head to the side and smirked at Jiyong's behaviour. And I thought you were taking this whole jealousy thing seriously, Jiyong thought. Seunghyun refused to look at anyone until he heard a playful "Yah, stop it!" in Jiyong's voice coming from that direction. Youngbae was prodding Jiyong's collarbones with his finger. 

"This is seductive," Youngbae commented. 

Jiyong giggled. "Stop touching me, you freak." Seunghyun felt something twist inside him, but he covered it with a smile. 

"Bros forever," Daesung sang in a child's voice. Lion got up to start his regular dinner-time speech and everyone turned his way.

 

As they left the dining room, everyone discussed what they were planning to do afterwards. Cabin one (Daesung and Taeyang) claimed that they were going to go straight to bed. The third cabin's Jongin replied with "Yeah, I think Seungri and I are just going to lay around in bed and wait till we get sleepy." Seungri nodded and they looked at Seunghyun and Jiyong for their input.

"Uh, we're going to the cabin to sleep. Jiyong and I are completely exhausted," said the liar. His roommate yawned and scratched his head.

 

After saying their goodbyes, Seunghyun dragged Jiyong in to their cabin. The younger man closed the door behind him and turned to find his roommate staring directly at him. 

"I thought you were going to show me something."

Seunghyun whispered, "First, we need to pretend we're asleep."

"Why?"

"Because...I don't want anyone to interrupt...you know...us."

Jiyong blushed and kneeled down to untie his shoe laces. Seunghyun wiggled off his docksides and switched the lights off. 

"Well, hyung, I don't think we need to rush."

"What?" Seunghyun had already made his way to his own bed in the dark and couldn't hear Jiyong properly. Pitch-blackness made it impossible for Jiyong to find his way.

"I can't see," the younger man walked over to where his bed would be. He felt a stabbing pain in his toes from accidentally kicking a bed. "Ow!" he cried. After a few minutes of wondering around, he tripped over his suit case. He felt a hand on his wrist. 

"Just come here," Seunghyun pulled him over to the double bed belonging to Jiyong and pushed him on to it. Before he could turn back to get to his own bed, Jiyong tugged at his hand. 

"Don't just leave me here. How am I supposed to get up to leave?" He nervously waited for an answer. Not being able to see his roommate's face made him slightly uncomfortable.

"Move over," was all Seunghyun said to make the other man smile brightly in the darkness. After Jiyong rolled over, he felt his hyung get on to the bed and pull the blanket over himself. Jiyong shuffled in closer and into the blanket until he felt his roommate's arm meet his own.

"There's a lot of space on this bed, you don't have to stick to me."

Jiyong to his side to drape an arm and leg over Seunghyun's body. The younger man whispered, "But I like it."

Seunghyun chuckled, "Don't get too comfortable, I still need to show you something."

"What is it?" Seunghyun could feel Jiyong's breath on his neck. 

"Well... It's a surprise. I'll show you in a few minutes."

Jiyong giggled. "Okay." He already knew it had something to do with fancy lights, but he wasn't going to ruin the moment by saying so.

"Jiyong," Seunghyun softly called.

"Yeah?"

"I like it too - and I don't want to forget about this when we're back in Seoul, b-because... I love you."

There was silence. Jiyong could feel fireworks going off in his head and wasn't sure whether he should reply or not. Seunghyun had completely caught him off guard and he had to move his chest away a little bit in case his roommate could feel his heart trying to jump out of his chest. 

"So what do you have to show me?" He asked again, unable to think of anything else to break the deafening silence.

"I told you, it's a surprise."