Breathe. Breathe! BREATHE!

Taemin sat up, gasping and coughing. Air, beautiful life-giving air filled his lungs as he inhaled, trying to  in as much as possible. He felt the grittiness of sand beneath his hands and laughed with pure exhilaration, scooping it up and letting the grains run through his fingers.

He’d made it.

Looking around, Taemin saw other boys waking up on the beach, wheezing just as he had. Cries of relief at seeing each other alive filled the air, some of the Islanders even embracing one another. Taemin smiled…and then frowned.

Where was Jongin? 

He surveyed the beach once more, beginning to feel a bit panicky. Then he realized that they were in the same spot they’d been in when they drank the snake venom, which meant that Jongin should be beside him. He turned his head…and felt a jolt at the sight of Jongin’s lifeless body.

“Jongin?” he said quietly, leaning over to gently shake the other’s shoulder. When this failed to elicit any kind of response, Taemin felt his heart begin speeding up. “Jongin, this isn’t funny,” he muttered, tapping the boy’s cheek urgently. “C’mon, don’t do this to me…”

By this time, the other Islanders had begun to notice that Jongin had not woken up. They crowded around, watching as Taemin continued to shake him. “C’mon,” Taemin repeated, biting his lip while blinking back hot tears. “Wake up, Jonginnie. Please…”

And then suddenly Jongin’s eyes flew open. Abruptly he sat up, coughing and hacking, while Taemin fell backwards onto his heels in shock. When at last Jongin had recovered his breath, he looked around, his wide eyes falling on Taemin. “I thought I was drowning,” he said.

Taemin choked back a relieved sob and he leaned forward again, pulling Jongin into a hug. “Me too,” he half-cried, half-laughed, his voice muffled as he buried his face into the warmth of Jongin’s shoulder. He felt the other’s arms encircle him, patting him on the back comfortingly, and relaxed into Jongin’s touch. 

“Um…sorry to interrupt,” came a sweet, high voice, “but could I talk to someone?”

Everybody froze. Taemin slowly lifted his head from Jongin’s shoulder, looking in the direction that the voice had come from. And felt his jaw slacken.

Because, standing some twenty feet away by the nearest tent with an uncertain look on her face, was a girl.

◊◊◊

Twenty minutes had passed since the girl appeared, and Jonghyun had since disappeared into one of the tents to talk with her. Meanwhile the rest of the Islanders sat on the beach, dumbfounded, various speculations circulating the air.

“A girl. Here.”

“Can you believe it?”

“Do you think that’s what Dr. Park was talking about?” Jongin suddenly said from beside Taemin, making him jump. Taemin turned to look at Jongin in surprise.

“What?”

“Back in the laboratory,” Jongin explained, shifting his weight. “When Dr. Park said that we were the only hope left for mankind. And then he added, ‘Well, I suppose that isn’t true.’” Jongin lifted his head, meeting Taemin’s eyes seriously. “D’you think he was talking about the girl?”

Taemin stared back at the younger boy, his brain jumping to life at Jongin’s words. Somehow, the other had a most uncanny knack for knocking the nail on the head. “You might have something there,” he said slowly.

At that moment Jonghyun reappeared out of the tent, stepping toward the Islanders with the girl by his side. The beach instantly went silent as everyone turned to look at Jonghyun with rapt attention. The blonde boy cleared his throat, looking slightly uncomfortable under all their gazes.

“Um—this is Taeyeon,” Jonghyun began, gesturing awkwardly at the girl. She offered them a radiant smile as she bowed, a shiny sheet of chestnut hair falling past her shoulder. 

“According to her,” Jonghyun continued, “she and fourteen other girls arrived about two hours ago. While we were, well, lying here on the beach.”

“We thought you were dead,” Taeyeon added. “It was kind of scary, seeing all these bodies just spread out like that.”

“Sorry,” Jonghyun replied, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Taemin stared. He’d never seen Jonghyun look sheepish before.

“So where did you guys all come from?” somebody called out, their question directed towards Taeyeon. 

She shielded her eyes to look out over the ocean and pointed to the mainland. “See that piece of land over there? It’s another island, just like yours. We’d been there for over a year and a half, and the whole time we thought this was the mainland. That’s why we’ve come here.” Taeyeon sighed. “Turns out it was just another island.”

The beach went silent as everyone digested this information. We thought the same thing, Taemin realized, and almost laughed at the irony.

“But how did you guys get here?” someone else asked. Taeyeon looked at Jonghyun, who flushed an embarrassed red.

“It, um, turns out that the girls are, well…smarter than we are,” he began, in a reluctant voice. “Instead of converting the wood from the rafts into fences or firewood, they just kept attaching them together until they formed one big raft. Then they used the leftover wood to make paddles, and rowed all the way here in about forty minutes.”

The beach was silent. Then suddenly Key said in a triumphant voice, “But they didn’t figure out it was a simulation, did they?”

“Well, the only reason we figured that out is because Taemin tried to kill himself,” Jinki mumbled under his breath. He ducked as Key took a swing at his head.

“…anyway,” Taeyeon broke in, observing this exchange in bemused silence, “do you want to meet the other girls?”

The Islanders looked at each other. Then, collectively, everyone got up and headed towards Taeyeon, chattering excitedly in anticipation. Everyone except for Taemin and Jongin.

“So…” the latter spoke, and Taemin turned to him expectantly as Jongin lifted his eyebrows in a matter-of-fact way. “Girls.”

“Girls,” Taemin agreed, using the same nonchalant tone. And then: “Too bad I’m already in love with you.”

Jongin’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything Taemin leaned forward and pressed their lips together gently. After a moment of frozen shock, Jongin began to kiss back, wrapping his arms tenderly around Taemin’s waist. Through his state of bliss, Taemin half-heard someone—probably Jonghyun—yell teasingly, “Get a tent already, you two!”, but he ignored him, too happy to be fazed by any of it. And when at last he and Jongin broke apart, and smiled a bit shyly at one another, Taemin felt a sudden peace in his heart.

Peace from knowing that, no matter what his future held, he would be content so long as Jongin was a part of it. ◊◊◊

A/N: aaaaand that's a wrap! (*^▽^*)

i hope you all enjoyed this story! thanks to everyone who subscribed, commented, and upvoted. you have no idea how much it means to me. <3