You weren’t much of a sports person before you met the boys; And that didn’t change after meeting them. Being like every other normal person that didn’t exercise much, you could already feel the heat getting to you after an hour of running around under the hot sun. Your body needed a break, especially from Chanyeol, who was still desperately trying to cling to you despite the amount that you two were sweating.

 

“Noooo!” Chanyeol whined, pulling your body back out towards the volleyball net. “Just a little longer, please?”

 

By then you’d already managed to squeeze out of Chanyeol’s grasp, only to fall into another, equally strong pair of arms. Although your back was faced towards Chanyeol now, you could almost feel the glares radiating from the boy. It could’ve been the sun, but looking up and seeing Sehun’s smug face said otherwise.

 

“She doesn’t want to be by you hyung.” Sehun teased, already holding you for himself.

 

The two started bickering and you could only let out a small huff. Their heights overpowered yours by a mile, making you unable to move without both of their bodies holding you in place, which was right in between the both of them. What Chen said didn’t make it any better either.

 

“Let the best man win!” He roared, corners of his lips curving up into a smile as he wiggled his eyebrows.

 

Chen took advantage of their squabble to hold you in his arms, enjoying their little fight while the prize ultimately was in his hands anyways.

 

“Actually, uh… Guys-” The arguing didn’t cease. By now you were a bit upset that they were ignoring you although you were right there.

 

“Are you going to let them do that to you, sugar?” Chen teased, his little pet name making you feel even more upset. It was as though he was egging you on to say something.

 

“Guys!”

 

Chanyeol and Sehun stopped their fighting instantly and looked down at you. You on the other hand were in shock that such a voice came out from your mouth in the first place.

 

“I’m gonna… Gonna go.”

 

“Where?” Kai piped up, eyebrows slightly scrunched up together. Somehow, his hand was already wrapped around your wrist as if to prevent you from leaving without saying anything first.

 

He and Chen were locked in a fierce stare showdown to which Kai had ultimately won, making Chen pout and walk off to go by Xiumin where the latter pat him on the back comfortingly.

 

“To the water?” You spoke slowly, looking all the boys in the eye since all eyes were on you.

 

“Was that a question?” Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow.

 

“No.” Looking back at Kyungsoo, his arms were crossed almost as if he were challenging you.

 

These boys just loved to mess with you.

 

“I’m going to swim.” You said, more confidently and with a small smile gracing your lips.

 

He too, gave a small smile before waving you off. “Have fun.”

 

“I’m going too then.”

 

You’d expected Chanyeol or Sehun to speak up first, maybe even Kai, but instead you saw Suho. He had already begun to walk towards you with a tube of sunscreen in one hand and a water bottle in the other. “It’s too hot here anyways. And you should reapply sunscreen or else-”

 

“Or else your skin is going to burn. We know, we know.” Luhan grumbled, already walking away from the volleyball net.

 

You didn’t realize that by going to swim that meant everyone was going to leave with you. Well, at least your voice was heard this time. Kai was still grabbing your wrist and you figured to just hold his hand to take him into the water rather than drag him while he held onto you. It took you by surprise when his fingers laced with yours, more so holding your hand firmly even after you two had gone in the water. You didn’t have the heart to say that you wanted to swim by yourself though, especially since it looked like he was having a lot of fun just by the small gesture.

 

“Oh!” You gasped, giving Kai a shock along with a few other boys that had followed you two into the water.

 

Taking Kai by the hand, (not like you had much of a choice since he didn’t let go once you started moving) you brought him up to the shore where Suho was helping Sehun put sunscreen on. You felt Kai try to squeeze out of your grasp, but you knew it was for the best when you saw the ominous smile on Suho’s face at Kai’s appearance.

 

“Good to see you!” Suho said, almost too enthusiastically. “And you, too.”

 

The last part came out as a small whisper, sending chills up your spine.

 

Looks like Chanyeol wasn’t the only one that hated sunscreen.

 

“B-But I put on sunscreen earlier!” Kai yelped, trying to yank his hand away from yours.

 

“Yeah, when? Last month?” Suho grumbles, already squeezing a glob of sunscreen out onto his open palm.

 

Kai must’ve really disliked sunscreen because he looked like he was about to be killed rather than being forced to apply something that’ll protect him in the end. The amount that he was moving didn’t help either, his body flailing around to the point where you’d almost let him go.

He had the advantage in strength, but you had a secret weapon. The poor boy was such a softie that wrapping your arms around his torso made him completely freeze, his body heating up until his cheeks were a rosy reddish hue like the tips of his ears.

 

“I can put his sunscreen on if you like.”

 

Suho looked at you and looked back at Kai, whose ears almost began to droop if that was possible. “Go for it. And thanks.”

 

You took the green tube from Suho and released Kai, only to see him standing awkwardly with his hands folded in front of him. He was in dire need of some kind of escape, but you guessed that he didn’t want to disappoint you, standing still with his body hunched over pitifully.

 

“Is it because… I’m darker than the others?” He said with a weak smile, as if he were trying to play off his question as a joke.

 

Your eyebrow automatically raised, looking at the boy quizzically, “No?”

 

Kai gave you another smile, but you weren’t convinced that he was just trying to make small talk.

 

“I think your skin color is normal, like how everyone else’s skin colors are. It’s the UV rays that I’m more worried about.” You speak, watching his eyes widen slightly as he seemed to watch you like a hawk. “No matter what skin color you are, UV rays can damage the skin. And I’d hate to see you in pain.”

 

You’d noticed that some of the boys would make fun of Kai sometimes, calling him kkamjong and such. The only reason why you didn’t say anything was because Kai seemed to have it under control. It wasn’t in your place to unveil Kai’s insecurities, but you needed to have a talk with him about this if it was bothering him this much.

Kai on the other hand was still watching you carefully. He didn’t see not one hint of uncomfortableness in your body language or voice, which struck him as odd. Usually when people talked about controversial topics, they tend to get a bit uncomfortable. You on the other hand? Not like that whatsoever.

 

He liked it. And this is why he liked you.

 

“Don’t worry Kai, this’ll be over quick.” You smile, trying to reassure him.

 

“Yeah Kai, stop being a baby.” Sehun quipped, before running back towards the water.

 

Kai was about to shout at him, but held back his anger, balling his hands into fists instead. He wasn’t on edge anymore, seemingly brought out of zoning out after hearing Sehun’s tease. Another thing that piqued your interest was Kai’s dislike for sunscreen. It intrigued you why someone could be so afraid of sunscreen and you decided to ask him about it.

 

“Why don’t you like sunscreen Kai?”

 

The boy looks into your eyes before dropping them to look back down at his feet. “It’s cold. And sticky. And gross. And hurts…”

 

“Ah…” You hummed internally, guessing that whoever applied sunscreen on for him before may have given him a bit of trauma. “It won’t be cold if I warm it with my hands, see?”

 

You squeezed a small amount of sunscreen onto your hands and rubbed your palms together until the sunscreen lost its thickness between your hands. Holding a hand up to Kai, you watched him carefully dip his finger into the mix. His eyes widened as if he’d discovered some sort of new breakthrough. The sight could only make you laugh.

Motioning to apply the sunscreen to his face, Kai gave a small nod to let you. His facial expressions twisted and scrunched up as you tried your best to softly rub it in without leaving too much residue. Once that was done, Kai looked weary like he’d been through a war, but alas, that was only a small portion of what needed to be covered.

It was almost inevitable to avoid sunscreen being sticky, unless…

 

“Hang on for a bit Kai!”

 

You ran back to the volleyball net to search for your bag. Luckily, Chanyeol had packed you the spray on sunscreen from your house. Carefully grabbing it out from the bag without getting any excess sunscreen residue everywhere, you went back to Kai.

 

“I think this should help it from being sticky.” You popped the cap off and shook the can a bit before spraying a portion of Kai’s arm.

 

You probably should’ve mentioned what you were going to do, because Kai almost jumped away from you from the sudden mist.

 

“Whoops, sorry.” You grin awkwardly, trying to stay positive despite Kai’s unwillingness to stick around any longer.

 

Grabbing his hand, you stretch out Kai’s arm and look at him to get the approval before spraying the sunscreen all over his arm. You did the same thing with his other arm before continuing to his legs, front, back and even the back of his neck twice.

 

“Is it really necessary to spray my neck twice?” He says, more curiously than upset.

 

“Yes.” You proceeded to rub in the excess sunscreen, “It’s where the sun will hit the most, even when you’re in the water. And we’re done!”

 

Kai took a step back and observed your work. The sunscreen didn’t feel too sticky, except for some parts of his face. He couldn’t even feel the sunscreen on the back of his neck either. “Wow.”

 

“Wow indeed.” Suho nodded his head in approval, “You actually got him to use sunscreen.”

 

You give a small smile, proud of your work. “It’s important after all-”

 

“AHHhhHHHH!”

 

You’d almost would’ve spun around to check if the other boys were okay if you hadn’t realized the shout came from in front of you, not in back. Since you’d been focused on Suho’s face while speaking to him, you hadn’t seen the boy standing next to him, or well, crumbling next to him.

Chanyeol’s legs were giving way as he barely lifted his knees of the ground. The only thing holding him from falling completely was Suho’s grip on his arm as the latter rubbed sunscreen into Chanyeol’s shoulders.

 

And now you realize why both Kai and Chanyeol didn’t like sunscreen.

 

“S-Save me!” Chanyeol cried out, holding his free hand out to you.

 

A small, dainty hand took Chanyeol’s hand before gripping into the boy’s fingers and yanking him to the ground. “That’s why you just apply it to yourself, dork Yeol.”

 

Baekhyun sure had some pretty hands, but since he was a boy you could see his figure really showing without a shirt on. His back wasn’t as broad as Sehun’s or Chanyeol’s, but it still had a nice shape, making him look more muscular than you thought he was.

 

“I know I look pretty, but you don’t have to stare.” Baekhyun sighs, oh so knowingly as you couldn’t help but look in his direction.

 

He strut around you as your focus changed from the volleyball net area to a view of the beach. Not long after, you were distracted by something else. Your eyes drifted away from Baekhyun’s milky skin to an island not far away from the beach.

 

“Is that an island?” You asked aloud, eyes still not moving away from the place.

 

Baekhyun looked at you and squinted his eyes. “No, it’s a submarine,” He scoffed sarcastically.

 

The green paradise interested you alright, but it didn’t have the same effect on the other boys.

 

“It looks scary.” Chanyeol muttered, his sore arms already finding their way around your waist.

 

He must’ve been too worn out by Suho’s sunscreen treatment because by the time he’d actually gotten a firm grip on you, the both of you had fallen into the sand. Chanyeol’s legs had given way while you hadn’t expected so much weight to be pressed down onto you, hence why you two went down together.

 

“Sorry,” Chanyeol chuckled nervously.

 

Your eyes had momentarily closed after the harsh landing, but readjusted once Chanyeol had gotten off of you. “I think it looks kind of interesting.” You said, your eyes finding their way back to the island.

 

“Wanna go?”

 

It appeared that today was the day that you’d somehow forgotten the sound of the boys’ voices. You expected Xiumin or Lay to have been the one to ask, but Byun Baekhyun? Amazing.

 

“Really?”

 

“Uh, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Suho didn’t have to look at that island twice before knowing that something bad was going to happen there. “I’d like to bring you all back to school safe, not dead.”

 

“He has a point.”

 

You turned around to find Kris squatting down in the sand, his hand covering his eyes even though he had a pair of sunglasses covering them. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”

 

“Why, huh?” Baekhyun challenged.

 

You knew he hated to be proven wrong, but you had to admit that it seemed like the other guys were making too big of a deal of it. It was an island, not a monster house. At least, you thought that anyways.

 

“I’m just saying. By personal experience, I don’t think you should go.” Kris shrugged his shoulders. “You can go if you want, but don’t come crying back to me afterwards.”

 

“You’d wish you could see these tears.” Baekhyun huffed.

 

He grabbed your hand and had begun pulling you into the water with little resistance, from you at least. Chanyeol and Kai had jumped in an instant to prevent Baekhyun from taking you who knows where, the two of them extremely worried.

 

“It can’t be that bad guys.” You tried to say cheerfully, though it came out as a bit apologetic if anything.

 

It was clear that Baekhyun was taking you whether you liked it or not. Not like you didn’t, but since the others did, you needed to practice a bit more of that thing that Kyungsoo told you about voicing your opinion.

 

“I know you want to have a voice and all, but you shouldn’t do that if it’s going to get you killed.”

 

Kyungsoo had pushed Chanyeol out of the way to get a firm grip on your other hand. You were already thigh deep into the water while Baekhyun was beginning to find the water up to his hips.

 

“I’m serious,” Kyungsoo warned, “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

 

“Nobody does, but you’re not her dad.” Baekhyun groaned, “I’ll be with her anyways.”

 

The two boys looked at each other silently, as if they were communicating with some sort of telepathy.

 

“She’s gotten this far, so she has to do this Kyungsoo.”

 

You sensed a bit of hidden meaning in Baekhyun’s words. Judging by how some of the other boys had stopped trying to hold you back and how Kyungsoo remained silent, it seemed to be the case. Why?

 

“If she drowns, I’ll make sure to drag you to hell with me.” Kyungsoo sighed, releasing his hold on your hand.

 

A small excited smile flashed on Baekhyun’s face before quickly being replaced with a small smirk. As he looked towards Kyungsoo, he could only grin.

 

“Not today Satan. See ya later.”

 

--

 

If you knew Baekhyun was such a weak swimmer, you probably would’ve requested to get a sort of floatation device to aid you two. It wasn’t that he couldn’t swim, but rather because he had such a low tolerance to the ache in his arms. The both of you had to take a couple breaks, both on your part and Baekhyun’s part because you didn’t expect the trip to be this far.

Chanyeol had given up trying to follow you guys after he couldn’t feel his feet touching the floor, sadly making his way back to the beach where Kyungsoo had slapped the back of his head. You noted the same look in Kyungsoo’s eyes from before, but focused on swimming with Baekhyun before you could think anymore about it.

 

“Why did you want to take me to the island so badly?” You asked Baekhyun curiously.

 

The pace you two were going at had slowed down to little doggie paddles, allowing Baekhyun to speak without any difficulty breathing. “You’ll see.”

 

Such a detailed answer answered all of your questions. Not.

 

As you neared the island, you could feel your feet slowly begin to touch the floor again. How you weren’t freaked out by such a trip was amazing. Your heart was beating pretty hard, though you couldn’t tell if it was from the swim there or from your sudden decision to follow Baekhyun so last minute.

Baekhyun, being the gentleman he was, made sure to hold your hand as the two of you had walked through the wet sand. You were walking fine, but the gesture was still sweet. He pulled you under the shade of a large palm tree, his hands holding your hand as he looked you in the eye.

 

“I wanted to bring you here because I wanted to teach you something-”

 

A loud noise rippled through the air and your eyes could only widen as Baekhyun stood there slack-jawed.

 

It sounded like a mix of a lion and a bird, you couldn’t really tell. You sure were curious though, and ended up walking deeper into the greener part of the island to see what the noise was. Could there have been some sort of animal on the island?

Your footsteps went from slow and steady to quick and almost reckless. There were a lot of trees with roots that ended up tripping you a lot. Luckily you had Baekhyun to steady you out as you almost began to break out into a run.

 

“W-What are you doing?” Baekhyun half-screamed, “Stop running!”

 

As you headed through a few more trees, you could see a figure behind a bush in the distance and ran straight towards it, ignoring Baekhyun’s words to stop so you could see what the animal was.

Before you could see anything though, Baekhyun had yanked you behind a large tree, trapping you with his arms as your back was pressed flat against the bark.

 

“Can you hear? Are you deaf or something?” He hisses, face red from what you thought was just exhaustion.

 

“I just wanted to know what the sound was coming from-”

 

“You don’t just run off like that!” Baekhyun groans, his voice barely reaching over a whisper.

 

Looking at him funny, you tried to push him away so you could finally see, but Baekhyun pushed you back again. “Don’t.” He warned.

 

“But why?”

 

Your question was answered by not Baekhyun, but the noise again. Since you two were so close, you heard it loud and clear. Almost too clearly, actually. You could deduct that it indeed wasn’t a lion, nor a bird.

 

But people.

 

“Oh.”

 

Looking straight up at Baekhyun, his face was still red, but he was no longer trying to regain his breath. The crimson colored his cheeks and his ears, going all the way down his neck and even on parts of his chest. It could’ve been his sunburn too, but you figured that was not the case as he muttered for you to be quiet and follow him.

The two of you had done the same routine as when you were running into the heart of the island, slowly making your way forward before the pace had gradually increased into a hasty run.

 

The noise hadn’t stopped when you two left that area from earlier. If anything, it just multiplied. Meaning that there were more people doing… Things that must not be described.

 

“Close your eyes and hold your hands to your ears.” Baekhyun yelled, his voice coming out raspy as he tried to speak clear enough despite how he was running out of breath again.

 

You followed his instructions and let out a yelp as you felt your body being hoisted up onto his back. It was a bit scary since you couldn’t see or hear anything, especially since Baekhyun appeared to be running for his life with how much he was jostling you around as he ran. It was one hell of a ride for sure.

Looking down at Baekhyun, his body didn’t appear as frail as you’d perceived him to be. Although his neck was a bit on the thinner side, his shoulders were broad enough to hold you up and make you feel like you were a small bag on his back. With your thighs sandwiched between his arms and his sides, Baekhyun’s backward embrace was somewhat endearing. You buried your face into the crook of his neck and let out a sigh, drowning out the hustle of his run and instead finding yourself closing your eyes and getting lost in his scent.

 

Baekhyun was anything but calm in this situation. He only hoped that after this was all over, you didn’t think he was some sort of weirdo or something. Being in hapkido was tough, but he’d never put in this much effort into running like he did in this very moment. His legs were burning and his lungs were on fire, not to mention that the tickle of your hair against his ears was making his face redder than humanly possible.

 

How you could be calm in this situation with his turbulent running and all of these couples around you, he did not understand.

 

Yes, it might’ve been his fault that you were exposed to the ugliness of human lust. But he didn’t know! If he did, he would’ve just took you for a walk on the beach alone or something.

That being said, he could already see the water being visible in the distance. He pumped his legs to go as fast as they could and kept running until the ocean began to trip him up, eventually pulling you and himself under.

 

You were shocked to feel the cold water submerge you so quickly, letting out a small yelp as you spread your arms and legs to push you to the surface. Everything was so loud and the skies were more vibrant than you remembered, but before you could admire anything, you felt the urge to keep swimming. With a hand on your back, Baekhyun propelled you forward while using his legs to push you away from the island as quickly as possible.

Pretty soon the two of you were almost to the halfway point back to the shore. You could see the other guys lounging around in the shade, but since there was a long distance left, you couldn’t quite make out their faces just yet. Eventually you and Baekhyun had stopped swimming so vigorously and were just letting the current take your bodies back to shore, occasionally kicking your legs to keep you afloat.

 

“So…” You started off, trying to make a conversation since you both were no longer in a rush. “What exactly did you want me to see?”

 

Baekhyun’s cheeks flared up again, but since he was swimming ahead of you, you couldn’t see his embarrassed expression. “Not what we saw on the island.”

 

You chuckled awkwardly and looked away, “Obviously.” Looking at the back of his head seemed to make you feel embarrassed. It wasn’t like he was looking at you directly or anything, but it sure felt like he was.

 

Even though the two of you were steadily making your way back to shore, it felt as though your conversation was going nowhere. You felt it, and Baekhyun felt it, but Baekhyun felt it much more than you did with your slight distractedness by seeing the guys on the shoreline waving at you two.

Turning around, you were hit with a wall of water. The timing was terrible, thus why Baekhyun’s split second of anger made a big splash of water hit you right in the face.

 

“A-Ah sorry!” He cried out, searching to something to dry your face with, but not finding anything that met the requirements.

 

You two were in the middle of the ocean, after all.

 

“It’s alright Baekhyun, calm down.” You laugh, rubbing the salt water out of your eyes until you could see him properly.

 

For a second, it appeared as though he was worried about you, but his pinched eyebrows disappeared in a flash and you found yourself staring at familiar sassy Baekhyun.

 

“Yah!” You looked at him, startled by his sudden outburst.

 

“What?”

 

“How can you be so calm about this?” Baekhyun grumbled, giving you another splash to the face.

 

“It wasn’t like I saw too much.”

 

You emphasize ‘too’ because it was true. Thanks to Baekhyun, you’d only gotten a small glimpse of the first couple and the rest were just muffled noises and his loud panting as he ran away with you on his back. You didn’t really appreciate Baekhyun’s tone of voice though and it prompted you to return the favor with a big splash to his face.

 

“And stop worrying. You’re the one that saved me after all.” You roll you eyes and swam in front of him, leaving him behind as he wiped the water out of his eyes.

 

“Well, aren’t you the bossy one.” Baekhyun sighed, “You’re taking too much after Kyungsoo.”

 

“And then? What’s so bad about that?” You shrug, though it came out as another push to glide you towards the shore.

 

“Why him, that’s why!”

 

You stopped swimming forward and turned around to find Baekhyun with his jaw hanging down, as if he’d said something he wasn’t supposed to say aloud. “Excuse me?”

 

“I-It’s not that that! I mean, like… He’s just, Kyungsoo, you know?” Baekhyun’s words turn into a garbled mess as he slowly sinks into the ocean, embarrassed by his sudden outburst.

 

You roll your eyes at his, oh so excellent rebuttal. “Kyungsoo’s nice. You could learn a bit from him.”

 

“He doesn’t even know to treat girls nicely, let alone people in general.” Baekhyun almost whines, “And he bites! What kind of person does that?”

 

“He’s just different.” You argue, voice getting a bit softer. He had a point, since most normal people don’t use biting as a way to get things in their favors. “And it’s not like you and your friends are any different. You’re all a bit special.”

 

Thinking back about everyone, you couldn’t help but smile and cringe all at the same time. Your encounters and experiences with each boy was everything out of the ordinary. It brought more of a smile to your face though and Baekhyun was irritated to say the least.

Your simple smile was enough to make him feel bothered again, though he didn’t understand why. Since he’d already yelled at you plenty of times today, his body moved to do the unthinkable. Leaning in towards you, he grabbed your shoulders and put his weight against your body, the two of you going under yet again. You let out a sharp scream, though it was drowned out by the water. Instead of being a pleasant shower of water enveloping your body, you felt a burn in the crevice of your neck near your shoulder.

 

It didn’t last long though, the coldness of the water managing to sooth it until you’d broken the surface. Then you felt the burn again, though not as intense. Rubbing your fingers over the pain, you felt little indentations in your skin all aligned a circle.

 

“Did you just bite me?” You choked out, not sure if you should laugh or scream.

 

Baekhyun looks at you awkwardly and his flattened hair makes him look like a wet cat. Extra sulky and upset. “No …”

 

His honesty in the moment was deplorable, but he still bit you. “Hypocrite much?” You finally laugh.

 

Baekhyun lets out a small groan before swimming again, stopping when he’s back in front of you again. “Let’s go already, jeez.”

 

His arms were a bit difficult to make out since the waves made everything underwater wavy, but you could see his little gesture for you to hop on. It was about time the two of you got out of the water, so you took his offer and clung to his back again.

He swam slowly and the two of you were silent yet again, enjoying each other’s company, or so you hoped. You weren’t sure if he was still mad, but went with the flow, literally.

 

Once the two of you reached the shore though, havoc broke loose.

 

--

 

“How the hell did you manage to do this to her?” Kyungsoo roared.

 

It didn’t take too long for the other boys to realize that your bite mark on your shoulder. Baekhyun bit your neck pretty hard.

 

“I-It’s not that bad. I mean, you bite her all the time.” Baekhyun grumbles, eyes meeting the ground after taking another glance at the bite.

 

By now, Baekhyun’s bite was swelling, the indentations looking red and pretty bad against your usual smooth skin.

 

If Baekhyun was wearing a shirt, Kyungsoo would be grabbing him by the collar by now. “I don’t leave marks, you twit!”

 

“Kyungsoo, it’s okay!” You tried to defend Baekhyun, but seeing the rest of the boys equally upset if not more was a bit distracting. “Why are all of you mad?”

 

“B-Because!” Chanyeol blurted out first, his eyes darting back and forth from you to Baekhyun. “He did the dirty to you!”

 

“What?”

 

You look around for some kind of answer, but nobody else spoke. They all just looked at Baekhyun with glares in their eyes as he hid his face in his hands and slowly crumbled to the floor.

 

Looks like someone knew about the island and told the rest of the boys while you two were away.

 

“Gross.” Kai hissed, holding you in his arms as he glared at Baekhyun.

 

Sehun was equally as disgusted, but held back from saying anything. He just stood next to you with his hand on your back, that being the only open space he had. Chanyeol and Kai were holding you, while Suho and Xiumin stood slightly in front of you.

 

“You guys aren’t any better!” Baekhyun shot back, reminding them of their pasts of playing girls and being in general.

 

“We’ll talk about this in the car.” Suho said grimly, “And you two aren’t allowed in the same car anymore.”

 

You let out a sigh and shook off the other boys to walk over to Baekhyun, pulling him up back to his feet and holding his hand as the two of you headed to the cars. It wasn’t like you were ignoring Suho, though it appeared to be exactly what you were doing. He didn’t say anything about just walking with Baekhyun to the cars.

The boys had already broken down the volleyball nets and put everything back in the cars, including your bag and Baekhyun’s bag, which were already in separate cars.

 

“Hang in there.” You try to cheer him up and he just nodded, walking into his designated car and sitting down in the very back.

 

You were in the car with Sehun, Kai, Suho, Xiumin, Chen and Lay. It was nice, though you wondered why Luhan wasn’t in the car with you guys too.

 

“We sat with Luhan last time and don’t want to do it again.” Chen sighed, his arm patting your knee as if he were comforting himself.

 

Kai nodded his head, “He can be with Baekhyun. Right next to him, too.”

 

You could almost hear the small pout in the boy’s voice and just sighed. Today was a long day and you were exhausted, resting your head on Kai’s arm since he was too tall for your shoulder. Suho was a good driver too, in the sense where he didn’t drive to fast, making the car ride very smooth.

After explaining what happened at the island, you saw the boys’ expressions change just a smidge. You could tell they felt a bit bad for Baekhyun, especially when he’d gone through all that trouble to help you when all they did was rag on him about the island.

 

“How’d you guys know what was there anyways?” You asked, looking at the boys whose faces turned neutral and wary.

 

“Kris told us.” Lay said quietly.

 

You turned around to find Kris squatting down in the sand, his hand covering his eyes even though he had a pair of sunglasses covering them. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”

 

Of course he knew. And he warned you two too, though not as explicitly as you’d have wanted.

 

“And you’re sure that Baekhyun didn’t do anything to you? Nothing at all?” Xiumin asked, his voice a bit loud for a casual car conversation.

 

“Yeah, if anything he helped me more than hurt me.” You nodded.

 

“I told you guys! I’m not a damn ert!”

 

Blinking once, you thought you were going crazy by Baekhyun’s voice when he wasn’t in the car with you guys. Or so you thought.

As it turns out, the guys had planned a phone call between the cars so that they could get the real story. After finding out from Kris that the island wasn’t all what it seems, some were distraught while others were downright furious. They thought Baekhyun knew what the island was for, but forgot that their friend wouldn’t go out of his way for those kinds of things.

 

“Don’t treat him too badly guys, he did save me after all.” You chuckle, hearing the boys on the other end of the call smack Baekhyun around as he yelled at all of them. “Thanks Baek.”

 

“A-Anytime.”

 

“I helped too! I told you the island was scary!” Chanyeol whined, not liking how the attention was all on Baekhyun.

 

Suho rubbed his temple at the amount of yelling going on in the other car and quickly ended the call, the car being filled with the sound of quiet instrumental music. It was soothing, and you could feel your eyes shutting with how nice your surroundings were. By now, Chen had pulled your legs up onto his lap and had covered them with his jacket, while your head was in Kai’s lap as well.

 

“She’s tired and you guys are annoying.”

 

You could’ve sworn you heard Suho’s voice hissing that you were tired, but it was hard to make out since you were falling in and out of sleep.

 

“She needs to take risks sometimes too! She can’t just be a boring little kid all the time.”

 

That was Baekhyun, definitely. His words were a bit harsh, but he meant well in the end.

 

“You could’ve just talked to her instead of taking her to a place like- Like that!”

 

Chanyeol’s voice was shrill, but endearing. The amount that he cared for you was cute and always made you smile.

 

“And to return the favor you bit her. That’s disgusting- ulp.”

 

The gagging could only belong to Luhan, poor boy.

 

“I told you guys so.”

 

Smartass Kris. Classic, just the way your first encounter with him was.

 

“Could you have told them better? She could’ve been mentally scarred.”

 

Kyungsoo, too. Always speaking his mind. He was fierce, you could admit that.

 

“Well, if you’d all looked at the other people around us when we mentioned the island, you’d be able to tell that something was up with it.”

 

Only Lay would pay attention to the rest of the world, even when nobody else did.

 

“Those people on the island should just go home and do that kind of stuff. It’s not that hard.”

 

Although Sehun might’ve had a strong will, most others didn’t. He was one tough kid though, mentally and physically.

 

“She sure was sassy today though. I liked it.”

 

Chen was so smug, but you had no idea why. You did feel a little relieved to not have to hold back as much today though.

 

“Seeing her all over Baekhyun kinda pissed me off. She’s mines, you know~”

 

Another smug child, jeez. You’d hoped Xiumin had already dropped the act of you being his girlfriend since that encounter with Woohyun was long done.

 

“And I wonder why she hasn’t gotten into bigger trouble yet. She’s too curious for her own good.”

 

Says the blackmail master. Tao probably snooped more for more information than everybody in the car combined.

 

“She doesn’t talk like a robot anymore too. Though she’d be a cute robot anyways.”

 

Who would’ve thought that Kai could act so cute. And you thought he was a lady killer before you’d gotten to know him better.

 

All of the boys were precious to you, and although you didn’t know it yourself, the boys took pride in making your day memorable. Especially after seeing the smile on your face even as you slept.

Since today was such an exhausting day, you’d found yourself at home quicker than you’d remembered. Your memory was a bit hazy, but you do recall someone taking you through the door of your house and laying you down on the bed. You couldn’t remember who it was, though they were pretty silent and said nothing even after carrying you all the way to your room.

 

You’d slept for another hour before your parents came home, prompting you to take a shower and brush your teeth before going back to bed. You were too tired to eat, letting yourself fall back into dreamland to relive the happy memories you made with all of your friends.

 

Days like these make reality better than dreams, but dreams allowed you to be in the moment even after those times have passed, which made you love the time spent with the boys all the more.

 

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