“Are you ready? Are you excited? Are you prepared to have the time of your life?!”

“Are you ok?” Baekhyun smirked as he heard Jongin clear his throat over the phone. He could just imagine the blush that must’ve been creeping onto the younger’s cheeks as they spoke.

“Um, yeah,” the deep voice on the other line spoke more sheepishly this time, “sorry, I just got too there excited I guess.”

Baekhyun just chuckled back in response and stifled back a yawn. He gently turned over in his bed, sandwiching his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he pulled up his sheets until they were snug around his body. “No, it’s ok. I’m excited too. But we go on this trip every year! You make it sound like we’re going to Disneyland or something, not just your family’s beach house.”

“Yeah that’s true, but this time we’re going as boyfriends, remember?” Baekhyun did not miss the suggestive lilt at the end of Jongin’s sentence and although the younger couldn’t see him, he rolled his eyes and huffed, burrowing his face deep into his fluffy blanket. Gathering that the older wasn’t going to reply, Jongin let out an amused chuckle, “you weren’t thinking dirty thoughts all by yourself now were you, Byun Baekhyun?”

That made the shorter shoot straight up in his bed and yell out a frantic, “NO!” Followed by a much quieter, “oh , I think I woke up my parents. Thanks a lot, dude. I hate you.” But the only reply he got was a wheezing laughter sounding through the phone’s receiver. “Seriously, I hate you,” Baekhyun barked into the phone before flopping back down into his bed, miffed by how uncomfortable his new position was compared to before.

“Lies. You love me.”

Baekhyun bit his lip and scoffed, “you wish. And hang up already! I need my sleep before the drive there.”

Now it was Jongin’s turn to scoff, “we all know you’re just going to sleep the whole ride there anyways.”

“Shut up.”

“You know, if you’re going to treat me this way maybe I won’t let you use my arm as a pillow this time.”

“Did I ever tell you how much I hated you?”

“Goodnight, Byun Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun smiled as his eyes dropped to a close. “Goodnight, Kim Jongin.”

-

If Kim Jongin was a betting man, he was sure by now he’d be rich just off of how many times he was right when it came to Byun Baekhyun. He supposed that came with how many years they’ve known each other, but still. As he glanced over in his seat to see his best friend—no, boyfriend, completely passed out (with a hood over his head, his mouth wide open and was that drool?) on his arm, he couldn’t help but smile softly at the sight.

If you had told Jongin a few months ago that he was going to start dating his best friend, well then that must’ve meant Jongdae was a saint and Yixing wasn’t completely obsessed with visiting Baekhyun’s grandma (who was in fact, a lovely lady and Jongin does sincerely hope he meets her one day).

But the point was, Jongin couldn’t believe that he really took that risk that one day. He could still remember how sweaty his palms were when he stuttered his thoughts out loud and how scared he was when Baekhyun just stared back at him like he had grown two heads. In that moment, he was so afraid, more than anything, that he had ruined something precious. But nothing could have prepared him for what he had gained instead—of how that one conversation ultimately became the path that led him here today.

Here, as in inside his family’s minivan, crammed in the backseat with Baekhyun completely draped over him and most probably drooling into his sleeve.

Here, as in the only place he could ever want to be in that moment.

Here, as in his happiest place on Earth—right by Baekhyun’s side.

Jongin lifted his hand to gently brush the stray hairs of Baekhyun’s light brown bangs away from his face before gazing down at him. Being careful not to wake him, Jongin carefully traced his fingertips over the bridge of Baekhyun’s nose, following down the smooth hollow of his cheek until his hand froze at the corner of the elder’s lips.

Jongin vaguely remembered explaining back then that sure, they didn’t like-like each other at that time but they could learn to.

They really could.

Jongin chuckled to himself as he wrapped his arms tighter around the smaller boy’s frame, heart swelling as he felt his boyfriend unconsciously snuggle deeper into his warm embrace.

Jongin chuckled because he was right once again. Look at him. That’s exactly what he did.

He learned to fall.

-

“Hey, wake up… wake up. WAKE UP!” Baekhyun felt himself being shaken quite violently until he cracked his eyes open at the sudden intrusion of his dream. He looked up wearily through bleary eyes until they focused on his best friend’s face that was looming over him. Jongin cracked a smile before shifting from his position, allowing Baekhyun to sit up back into his designated spot. The elder blinked a few more times before he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand (ew, was that drool?). “We’re here.”

Jongin unbuckled his seatbelt before climbing out of the car, holding the door open patiently as Baekhyun stumbled his way out behind him. Once his feet hit the pavement, the shorter boy was suddenly hit with a wave of nostalgia as he breathed in the salty scent of the air and felt the hot sun beating down on his back. He was sure that if he tried hard enough, he could hear the sound of the ocean waves hitting the shore and wow, it sure felt nice to be back again. “Come on, let’s get inside,” Jongin called out, breaking Baekhyun from his thoughts and pointing towards his beach house where his parents were already unlocking the door.

Seeing that the older made no motion to move towards him, Jongin let out a sigh, ruffling his hair as he went back to grab Baekhyun’s hand and pulled him along.

Baekhyun smiled listening to Jongin grumble under his breath just a few steps ahead of him and wondered just exactly what was going to happen this time around.

They were still in the prime of summer after all.

-

The beginning of the trip passed fairly uneventfully. The two boys found themselves falling back into their old routine that had been established long ago.

They went to all the usual landmarks to sightsee even though by now Baekhyun could probably recite all their description plaques by heart. But that didn’t stop them from taking copious amounts of lame pictures together in front of them. Somehow Jongin was even able to convince Baekhyun to make a heart out of their arms in front of the beach, causing the elder to feel more embarrassment than he ever thought possible as the old couple who agreed to take the picture cooed at their young and passionate love.

Jongin thanked them but Baekhyun just ended up throwing sand in his hair as the couple turned their backs to leave.

-

Baekhyun actually felt pretty bad that Jongin’s scalp was itchy for the rest of the day (but hey! How was he supposed to know Jongin was mildly allergic to one of the minerals in the sand?) so being the good boyfriend he was, Baekhyun ended up taking Jongin to the familiar diner down the boardwalk to catch some dinner—his treat of course.

And after dinner, and after Jongin was soothed considerably from the irritation of his scalp (thanks to a lot of coddling and a double scoop cone of chocolate ice cream), the two decided to head down to the beach one last time for the day.

The sun was just beginning to set over the wavering horizon, casting the entire scenery in pastel shades of orange and pink and tinting the ocean with shimmering fractals of light that danced along with the waves. Baekhyun and Jongin cleared a small spot for themselves, one of their hands connected and laying on the warm sand between them while their other hands held onto their cones. It was normal by now, holding hands, but the two had rarely gone beyond that level of skinship although they had been dating for a couple of months now. Honestly, Baekhyun hadn’t even noticed this their lack of intimacy until he heard Jongin call out his name softly, and when he turned his head, he was immediately met with a pair of soft lips pressing onto his.

In that moment, Baekhyun vowed to never ever complain about a K-drama heroine ever again when they were kissed by the male lead—all wide eyed and frozen like a statue—because that’s exactly what Baekhyun’s body instinctively did. It was as if his entire functioning suddenly went into overdrive and promptly shut down at the influx of sensation.

Baekhyun felt Jongin tilt his head for a better angle as he placed his hand on the back of the elder’s neck, clenching ever so slightly into his baby hairs. Baekhyun shivered and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the coldness of the ice cream or something else entirely when Jongin managed to catch his thin lower lip between his fuller ones and tugged ever so slightly. But what did it matter when all Baekhyun could register anymore was the thunderous crashing of the waves onto rock, the rays of sunlight blinding him and the sweet, sweet taste of chocolate that lingered on his lips as Jongin pulled back, all red faced and bashful at what he had just done.

It took a few minutes before either one could even summon the courage to look at each other but eventually Jongin was able to stand up and offer a shy hand towards Baekhyun who accepted it gratefully. Neither of them talked about it on the way back home, opting to let a comforting silence envelope them as they walked. Baekhyun blamed it on his tiredness. It had been a long day, his feet hurt, his lips were still tingling and oh god—just what were you supposed to say after you had your first kiss?!

Baekhyun was so caught up in his thoughts he didn’t even realize they had arrived at the front porch until he accidentally bumped face first into Jongin’s backside. The shorter boy pouted as he took a few steps back to rub his nose while Jongin looked back and couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

By now, the sun had already set, and the only light available for them was the pale cast of moonlight that was barely enough for them to see the look on each other’s faces. Baekhyun opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly silenced as Jongin placed a finger against his lips. Baekhyun swore he saw a smile grace his friend’s features before he leaned down to press a chaste kiss on Baekhyun's forehead and opened the door to let himself in first.

-

Later that night, as Baekhyun was lying in bed, he thought back to Jongin’s kiss and fought the great urge to scream into his pillows. That was his first kiss. His first kiss.

Baekhyun rolled over and smothered his face into his pillow, kicking at the blankets that had pooled at the foot of his bed. He didn’t know what to feel, he didn’t know what to think. It was only natural for couples to kiss, wasn’t it? Of course it was, so why was he just making a big deal out of nothing? Or was it natural for everyone to thrash around until 3AM after they’ve been kissed for the first time?!

Rolling over again Baekhyun closed his eyes and simply waited for sleep to hopefully take over.

The last thought he registered was the faint hope that possibly, maybe there would be more to come in the future to help him sort out his feelings.

-

That faint hope of Baekhyun’s came true. It was almost as if a dam had been burst, or maybe that first kiss had been a catalyst for what was to come because after that night, it became normal for the two to steal kisses at every opportunity they could—before breakfast when they met in the hallway, down by the beach when they thought they were alone (or maybe they were just in the mood that gave no s about anyone who would see them) and even behind Jongin’s parents backs when they had turned their attention away for a split second.

It was exhilarating to Baekhyn to say the least. Sure, his mind was still a mess of emotions and thoughts and even the occasional doubts here and there, but what did they matter when all Jongin had to do was put his lips on his skin for his veins to turn to ice and his mind to forget absolutely everything? Was it possible to become too involved too fast? Or maybe their souls were just too desperate to fuse with another that they couldn't take being apart for long.

Shy innocent pecks on the lips quickly escaladed to lewd open-mouthed kisses—all teeth and tongue and no room to breathe—and all the way to dark, bruising love bites dotting both their necks that were becoming increasingly difficult to hide from the eyes of Jongin’s suspicious parents. Baekhyun swore they were one wrong move from being banned from even being in the same living room all together at this rate.

He didn't even know how they had ended up this way. What was supposed to be a fun, family trip suddenly transformed into Baekhyun being pushed down onto the cold sand as Jongin made a move to straddle his lithe body, firm thighs hugging up against his hips as the younger leaned down to capture his lips in a searing kiss. Baekhyun gasped as Jongin’s teeth grazed his lower lip and he tugged roughly, soothing the pain afterwards with a few kitten before diving down again to ravish the elder in ways that nobody else ever has—in ways that no one else ever could.

But not caring for Jongin doing all the work, Baekhyun quickly gathered what little strength he still had left in his wrecked, shivering body to flip their positions, so that now Jongin was lying in the sand as Baekhyun reveled in the way the moonlight made Jongin’s skin, glistening with sweat, glow even in the dark of night. And when that moment passed, almost at once the shorter boy gripped the slender fingers of one of his hands into Jongin’s disheveled hair, pulling his head roughly to the side to give him better access to the younger’s expanse of sinfully beautiful jaw and neck.

Baekhyun’s lips were hot, pliant and oh so soft as he slowly worked his way down, peppering Jongin’s exposed skin with butterfly kisses, and making sure to mark any spot that still didn't already have a splotch of red blooming underneath his rising goose bumps. They were probably going to get hell for all of this tomorrow morning but Baekhyun could care less when right now all he could feel was the way Jongin’s large hands began to roam his body, leaving trails of fire whenever his fingertips brushed up against the exposed skin of his back where his t-shirt rode up. Jongin was mapping—Baekhyun knew it—mapping every square inch of him and relaying it to memory and Baekhyun was doing nothing to stop him.

At the same time, Jongin couldn't take his eyes off the boy above him when he finally pulled away from abusing his poor neck and gazed down at him with the most intensely beautiful eyes he had ever seen. Jongin’s hands had done their duty and were now resting limply by his sides. Maybe it was the way the moonlight caught ever so delicately in Baekhhyun’s hair, casting him in silver, or maybe it was the hypnotizing rhythm of the way both of their chests rose and fell in time with each other as they struggled to catch their breaths. But in that moment, Jongin realized something vital. In that one moment Jongin knew that he had fallen and there was no way of climbing back up to where he once stood.

Flowers bloomed in his mind as he realized that Byun Baekhyun who he turned from friend to boyfriend, had slowly melted his way into becoming his everything.

Let it be known that only the stars were witness as Jongin gave all of his love to the boy who changed his winter to spring.

--

Soon after, their little holiday had come to an end and life was slowly but surely going back to normal.

Or at least as normal as it could be after everything that had happened. The two boys didn't see each other as often after they got back, being busy for the rest of the summer and all with different activities (Dance camp or Jongin and extra Choir training for Baekhyun). So maybe that was why they were both secretly looking forward to going back to school since they could be together almost everyday.

But with the new school year fast approaching, so too came the wind that was slowly growing chillier and chillier—a telltale sign of autumn on its way, and a telltale sign that change was just around the corner.

What kind of change? Well none of them were sure, but knowing Jongin, he’d probably sling his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder, give him a knowing look before say something along the lines of, “change isn’t always bad. Look at us. Change can be good too.”

But what good could possibly come if only one heart thawed but not the other?

Author's Note:

Well that escaladed quickly and I regret everything. But nevertheless, thanks for reading <3