They meet up with Baekhyun, Jongin and Sehun and go out for a late lunch. They go to the beach and play volleyball and Baekhyun es about getting stuck on a team with Wufan because apparently Wufan "serves like a ing girl". This time Wufan really does throw Baekhyun into the ocean, picking him up, tossing him over his shoulder and walking to the shore to drop him into the water much to Sehun's obvious amusement. Wufan ends up drenched as well when Baekhyun tackles him with a strategic swipe of his leg.

Afterwards they go back to change into dry clothes and they gather in Sehun, Jongin and Zitao's room to hang out and talk for a while. Several times Zitao is struck by a wave of sadness as the time for the others' departure draws nearer. He doesn't want them (Wufan) to leave. And as if he can read minds, Wufan's arm tightens around Zitao's waist and he presses a kiss to the back of his neck and everything is okay, at least for a little while longer.

But then the time comes. They go outside to see Baekhyun and Wufan off, watching them load the trunk of their rental car with luggage. Zitao is chewing on his bottom lip. He's not going to cry. He's not. He's got it under control. But then Wufan turns to look at him and... well. Zitao was never good at goodbyes. Wufan opens his mouth as if to speak, but hesitates when he realizes the others are watching them. Instead he steps forward to grab Zitao's hand and he pulls him along.

The beach is fairly deserted at this time of the day. A few stragglers stroll in the semi-darkness, but it's mostly quiet. Wufan stops when they can't see the others anymore and he turns to Zitao. For a few moments he just studies Zitao's face in the dim light. He takes a step closer, connecting first their bodies, then their lips. It's a short, sweet kiss. He pulls away. "I guess this is it, huh?"

"I guess."

Wufan kisses him again. "I... I'm going to miss you," he mutters, the back of his knuckles over Zitao's cheek. And it hurts. It hurts so ing much when he says that. Zitao can't help the bitter laugh that bubbles up his esophagus. Wufan frowns. "What?"

"You're really going all in, huh?" Zitao says and though his tone may seem happy, he's everything but. "It's okay, you already got what you wanted. You can drop the act now."

"What do you mean?" Zitao scoffs and Wufan sounds even more confused when he repeats: "What?"

"I get it," Zitao mutters. "Don't worry, I understand."

"Would you care to enlighten me, then? Because I don't."

Zitao looks at him. "I was an easy target, right? Standing there by myself that night, all sad and tipsy and totally vulnerable. You figured I'd eat your right up, didn't you? That it would be easy for you to just use me and then throw me away afterwards, no strings attached?"

Wufan's jaw still hangs slack as if he can't believe what he's hearing. "Where the hell is this coming from?"

"Does it matter?" Zitao says with a shrug, nonchalant as if it doesn't bother him when in reality his heart feels like it's going to shatter. It's so stupid. So ing stupid. They barely know each other. He already knew what he was getting himself into before it happened, he knew that it was just a fling, that nothing more could possibly come out of it, he knew that. He shouldn't have let himself get so invested in this when he already knew how it was going to end. But Wufan had been so kind to him, had treated him so well, unlike what he was used to, and Zitao had, despite his better judgment, fallen. Zitao scoffs again and he averts his gaze, pressing fingers against his eyelids. And now Wufan's leaving. Everyone's leaving him. His eyes sting in a telltale manner and for the umpteenth time he inwardly curses how easily he tears up. ", I'm such an idiot."

"Okay," Wufan says after a moment of silence, after he has gathered his wits. "Okay, I'll admit it. I'm not going to lie to you. At first it was about getting into your pants. You're attractive and you seemed interested in me as well. A quick holiday fling. Easy, right?"

Zitao lets out a mirthless chuckle. "I knew it."

"It was about that at first," Wufan goes on despite Zitao's remark. "But then I spent time with you and I actually talked to you and... you're so young, but for someone your age you're so mature. You're so sweet. And I didn't want to just use you, I didn't want to hurt you. So I stayed away." He reaches out to brush a few wayward strands of hair out of Zitao's eyes. Zitao lets him. Wufan keeps his hand on Zitao's neck, thumb tracing his jaw gently. He frowns. "Or I tried to stay away, rather. Clearly it didn't work considering that we ended up in bed together."

"Clearly," Zitao deadpans.

"I told myself that I shouldn't be doing that to you and I tried so hard not to give in, but... but then you kissed me and then you looked at me like that and, god, the noises you made and I..." His breathing is shuddery and his eyes drop to Zitao's lips for such a brief amount of time that it's almost unnoticeable, but Zitao does pick up on it. "I'm only human."

Zitao swallows something. "Do you regret it?"

Wufan furrows his brow in thought. Then he shakes his head, smiles. "Not at all."

For a stretch of time they stand there like that without saying anything, just looking at each other. "I wish I got to spend more time with you," Zitao sighs eventually and grimaces. It feels so sappy to say something like that.

"Mhm." Wufan caresses his cheek. The expression on his face is contemplative. "Okay. Here's what we're gonna do." He reaches out his hand. "Give me your phone." Zitao frowns but reaches into his pocket nonetheless. He places his phone in Wufan's palm and watches with slight concern as he fidgets with it. After a few seconds something vibrates and Wufan pulls out his own phone. Smiling, he turns both of them around to show Zitao.

Once Zitao registers that it's his own number flashing on the screen of Wufan's phone his eyes flicker up to Wufan's face, astonished. "What's...?"

"When you get back to Seoul, call me," Wufan says. He hangs up and hands Zitao his phone back while stuffing his own into his pocket again. "We can figure out something. Meet up. Hang out. Go out on dates, maybe." He shrugs, trying to be casual about it, but his face is coloring and he's sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. It's the first time Zitao sees him blushing. "We'll see what happens." It takes about two seconds for Zitao to throw his arms around Wufan and hug him until he's wheezing.

Sehun and Jongin are waiting by the car with Baekhyun when Zitao and Wufan come back and they seem relieved to see that Zitao is smiling. "Are you ready to go?" Baekhyun asks and Wufan nods. He pulls in Zitao for another hug, gives him a quick kiss on the lips as well. If Zitao was the one making the decisions it would've lasted longer than that, but there are other people around so that's probably not a good idea. Baekhyun coos. "Aww, you guys are so cute." Wufan glares at him. Baekhyun is, apparently, a lot less shy about public displays of affection as he presses a kiss to each of their cheeks along with the hug he gives them. Wufan settles for waving stiffly at Jongin and Sehun as a way of saying goodbye.

There's an uncomfortable lump in Zitao's throat as he watches Wufan get into the front seat of the car next to Baekhyun and his lashes are clumping together because of the tears that are collecting in his eyes. Wufan rolls down the window. "Call me," he says to Zitao, who sniffles and nods. He tries to suppress the creeping voice of fear that lingers in the back of his head trying to convince him that Wufan will ignore him even if he does contact him, that Wufan just gave him his number to appease him for the time being.

In the next second Baekhyun practically drapes himself across Wufan's lap to look out the window as well. "Chin up, love," he says with a grin and as if he can read Zitao's mind he adds: "Wufan hasn't been able to stop talking about you these past few days so I'm sure you're gonna be fine." Wufan sputters indignantly and shoves Baekhyun away and he looks at a dumbstruck Zitao with wide eyes. Before he can say anything to defend himself the car drives off. Baekhyun's cackle can be heard for a while after. It's not the first time Zitao wishes that he had more time to spend with Wufan, but now it's for different reasons. He'd really like to know what Baekhyun meant by that (and, if it's true, what kind of things Wufan has been saying about him).

"Hey," Sehun says, making Zitao snap out of his thoughts with a light nudge of his shoulder. "You okay?" Zitao nods solemnly, still staring off into the distance. "Good, good. By the way, you, uh... you know that we're not going to abandon you, right?"

"Yeah," Jongin interjects. "I mean, just because I like to put my inside of Sehun now it doesn't mean that we don't want to, like, hang out with you anymore or anything. We'll even try to control all our gross boyfriend moments when you're around if you don't like it."

Zitao lets out an uneven breath. His lips stretch into a smile and his chest tightens and his already wet eyes start to sting again. "Thanks," he mutters. His voice is shaky, too.

Jongin jabs him playfully in the ribs. "Are you getting all misty on us now, you big crybaby?"

Zitao shoves him right back and almost makes him topple off the sidewalk in the process. "Shut up, dickhead," he laughs, wiping his eyes with the back of his wrist.

They start walking back to their hotel room, Zitao in the middle with Jongin and Sehun on either side of him, and he slings an arm around each of their shoulders. Jongin yawns and mumbles something about napping, which makes Sehun call him a lazy bum and Jongin responds to that by trying to reach around Zitao to smack Sehun. Zitao just smiles through the whole thing. For the first time in a long time his heart feels light.

~*~

A/N: oh nooo, the cute, I'm allergic to cute. /hisses/
I'm melting, melting! oh, what a world, what a world!
(I'll officially love you forever if you know where that's from)

uhm. I don't have much to say about this. zitao let his insecurities take over (again), then taoris were gross (again) and then wufan had to go home... but everything kind of worked out for everyone, right? this is actually the last chapter of the story. there's a prologue coming up soonish, though. so you can stick around for that... if you'd like.

thank you for reading. ♥