Never Online ch. 32
Title: Never Online
Chapter: 32/?
Pairing: JungMin/KyuJong, HyunJoong/Tablo
Rating: R overall
Warning: AU, violence, angst
Summary: As part of the security detail for the online game known as Never, two officers encounter a group of elite hackers that seem intent on destroying the game, and it's their job to stop them.
A/N: RP with yeonah. Crossover with Super Junior, U-Kiss and Epik High
They all slept in the next morning, relaxed by the fact there were no appointments to keep, nothing to worry about. When the others started to stumble out of their rooms finally, RyeoWook made them a nice breakfast, and they'd split up to do their own thing before deciding to take a swim.
"Race you!" JongWoon pulled at HyungJoon's arm before releasing him and bolting for the water. The loud yelp when he realized the water was colder than he thought made KyuJong burst out laughing.
HyungJoon just shook his head, following up behind JongWoon. "You have to get used to the water, here, let me help," he said, taking JongWoon's arm and lifting the older man up over his shoulder to take him out deeper into the water before dropping him.
"Well this is going to be an interesting swim," HyunJoong chuckled, dropping his blanket and the cooler of drinks down on the sand.
JongWoon's loud shriek as he was dropped made RyeoWook cover his ears, watching in amusement when the man tackled HyungJoon's legs and brought him down along with him. Chuckling, RyeoWook carefully went to the edge of the water. Like last time, he wore a shirt as well as the beach shorts he'd thought to bring with him.
KyuJong placed down his own blanket out of the way, straightening and smiling widely. "Let's go swim," he chuckled, taking JungMin's hand.
"Don't forget your life jacket," JungMin said, having carried it down with the rest of their things. "HyunJoong says the current is pretty strong here, and we're not losing you," he said, holding up the life jacket to help KyuJong into it.
"Yes sir," KyuJong sighed softly, carefully getting into the life jacket with JungMin's help.
"We'll be watching you anyways Kyu, you'll be fine," Daniel chuckled. He'd waded into the shallows up until his knees, glancing back at where RyeoWook was still near the end. "Are you coming in?"
Swallowing thickly past the feeling of panic that had suddenly hit, RyeoWook nodded and stepped into the water, shivering.
Coming up next to RyeoWook, YoungSaeng took the man's hand. "We can go in together? The water isn't that cold," he said with a soft smile.
Looking up at the older man, RyeoWook smiled and nodded. "Okay." His fingers tightened around YoungSaeng's as they made their way to where JongWoon and HyungJoon were roughhousing further out.
"And you, fearless leader?" Daniel quirked a brow at HyunJoong.
"Hmm.. I was considering just laying out and sunning myself for a while," HyunJoong said, cocking his head to the side in consideration before he shrugged. "Seems like everyone else is swimming though, come on," he grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him towards the water.
"There, all set," JungMin finished locking the buckles and pulling the straps so the jacket was snug against KyuJong's body. "I know you hate it, but you know it's for the best right?" he asked, kissing KyuJong's cheek lightly.
"I know," KyuJong pouted a little; he couldn't swim that well, and the undertow was pretty bad farther out. "Can we go in now?"
"Yes, yes, come on," JungMin chuckled, taking both of KyuJong's hands and walking him towards the water. "I'll be right beside you the whole time, okay?" he said, taking a step into the cold water, making a little squeaking sound. "Okay, really really cold."
Stepping in as well, KyuJong shivered. "It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't standing out in the sun trying to fix this," he chuckled, pulling on his life jacket. He started to pull JungMin further into the water.
"You'll get used to it, quit whining JungMin!" YoungSaeng called over from where he and RyeoWook were about hip deep.
"I'm not whining!" JungMin shot back, going out further, shivering all the while.
"Sounds like whining to me," HyunJoong laughed, jumping on Daniel's back to dunk him under the water.
"Maybe we should go back to the house if they're going to be like this," JungMin grumbled lowly to KyuJong.
"Relax, we're having fun," KyuJong laughed, nearly drowned out by Daniel's yelp. He pulled JungMin up to their waists in the water, before he grinned widely and suddenly tackled the man over.
JungMin let out a very undignified yelp as he fell over, trying not to latch onto KyuJong lest he pull him underwater too. Luckily he missed YoungSaeng laughing at them, and calling out to KyuJong. "Good job Kyu!"
KyuJong laughed loudly, waving in YoungSaeng's direction before he pulled back and helped JungMin back up, still laughing.
"I think we're the only ones not completely soaked," RyeoWook chuckled, watching Daniel flip himself around to dunk HyunJoong under the water instead.
"Want me to fix that?" YoungSaeng perked a brow, ignoring HyunJoong's shriek. "I can do like HyungJoon did and throw you over my shoulder. But we're not going out very far, should have brought you a life jacket too."
"Uh, no thanks," RyeoWook laughed nervously at the question. "I think...with enough people here, I should be fine." He hadn't let go of YoungSaeng's hand, watching HyungJoon and JongWoon go further out.
"We can stay in the shallows," YoungSaeng said, squeezing RyeoWook's hand. The water was hip height, the waves barely noticeable. "We should have spent some time in Never teaching you how to swim."
"That would have been a good idea," RyeoWook chuckled sheepishly. "We can always try when we get back?" He stepped a little further out. "You like swimming, don't you? You don't have to keep me company like this, if I stay here I should be fine."
"I'm fine right here as well," YoungSaeng said, grabbing RyeoWook's arm and holding him steady when a larger swell crashed over them. "I'll swim later if you want to head up to shore."
"Are you sure?" RyeoWook steadied himself after the wave, looking at YoungSaeng. "I don't want to take away your fun."
"You're not, it's more fun with you anyway," YoungSaeng said, pulling RyeoWook a little closer and dropping a light peck on his lips. "If you climb on my back, I can swim us around a little bit if you'd like."
RyeoWook flushed at the peck, but none of the others seemed to notice, too into their own worlds. "Hm? But won't I be too heavy to swim?" he asked, blinking at the older man.
"You're skin and bones, no, you won't be heavy," YoungSaeng chuckled, turning around and lowering down into the water. "Come on, climb on."
Shuffling a little, RyeoWook pursed his lips before wrapping his arms loosely around YoungSaeng's neck, carefully climbing onto his back. He was as red as a tomato. "Like this?"
"Just like that," YoungSaeng nodded, making sure RyeoWook was holding on before he pushed away from the bottom. It was a little awkward to swim with someone on his back, but he adjusted and used large broad strokes to swim out a little deeper. "If we get caught by a wave, let go, or you're going to drown me."
"Okay," RyeoWook nodded, adjusting his grip to hold onto YoungSaeng's shoulders instead so he wouldn't accidentally choke the older man. A small smile curled his lips though.
JongWoon resurfaced from being dumped into the water again, sputtering a little as he wiped the water from his eyes. Seeing RyeoWook and YoungSaeng, he blinked at them. "What are they doing?"
Standing up a little, HyungJoon looked towards where JongWoon was looking. "Uh.. swimming I think? Unless RyeoWook is drowning him."
"If he is, he isn't doing a very good job of it," JongWoon chuckled, before turning around and splashing HyungJoon full in the face.
HyungJoon had opened his mouth to say something, catching a large gulp of water in his mouth. Sputtering and coughing, HyungJoon splashed JongWoon back.
"You're not supposed to drink ocean water Joon!" HyunJoong called, floating lazily around Daniel.
Glancing at HyunJoong in amusement, Daniel snorted when a swell promptly washed over HyunJoong's face. "You were saying?"
"What's going on? Who's choking?" KyuJong blinked, wading around with the water up to his chest.
"JongWoon splashed water into HyungJoon's mouth, HyunJoong laughed at him, now HyunJoong is choking on water from a wave that crashed over him," JungMin said, chuckling softly. He was still holding onto KyuJong's hand, not letting him get too far.
KyuJong chuckled in amusement. "Murphy's Law." He tried to pull JungMin further into the water. "If I could swim better, it would be fun to play marco polo."
"I think you'd have an advantage if it was your turn, and a disadvantage if it wasn't," JungMin said, wading out a little farther. "We're not going out too far, not over our heads, or mine at least cause I'm sure you'll be fine just floating like that."
"Okay," KyuJong smiled. He was already starting to float, feet scrapping the sea floor. "You're able to swim though, aren't you?"
"Yes, just not well," JungMin chuckled, swimming towards KyuJong a little. "You enjoying yourself though?"
"Very, even if it is cold and I'm not the biggest fan of deep water." KyuJong looked like he having the time of his life, simply too excited to be out of the house to really care about the water right now. He kicked his feet until he could float along on his back, smiling happily.
JungMin chuckled softly, floating quietly near KyuJong and watching the blind man. He hadn't seen the man so happy before, and hoped he could he could make him this happy in the future.
"You okay back there?" YoungSaeng had to stop, panting a little as he tread water. Even if RyeoWook was tiny, it was still extra weight on his back and it was tiring to swim this way.
"Yeah," RyeoWook nodded, noticing how YoungSaeng was tiring. "I can go sit on the shore for a bit, so you can swim properly," he chuckled, squeezing the older man's shoulders lightly. "Thank you for this."
"I'll go with you, I'm kind of tired," YoungSaeng said, turning and starting towards shore. Some of the others looked like they were getting tired too, HyungJoon plodding his way through the shallows to get to the beach.
RyeoWook waited until he thought he'd be able to touch the bottom before slipping off of YoungSaeng's back, yelping a little as he misjudged and went under the water before resurfacing.
"Careful," YoungSaeng said, getting his footing on the rocks and sliding an arm around RyeoWook's waist to help hold him up. "When we get back, definitely getting you swimming lessons."
"I thought the ground was closer than that," RyeoWook pouted a little, flushing deeply at YoungSaeng's arm against his bare waist; his shirt had rode up thanks to the water. He covered his face to avoid being splashed as JongWoon made his way by to the shore.
"It's hard to judge until you can feel rocks under your toes," YoungSaeng said, pulling him along until he was sure RyeoWook could touch the bottom. Though he didn't let go until they were both at least hip height out of water. "We breaking for lunch or did you two wear yourself out?" he called to HyungJoon and JongWoon, the former having flopped over onto the beach.
"Lunch sounds good," JongWoon laughed, dropping down to sit next to HyungJoon.
"Where'd everyone go?" KyuJong blinked, hearing the lack of splashing as he stopped floating.
"I think they went in for a break," JungMin replied, glancing towards shore. "HyunJoong and Daniel look like they're on their way too. You want to stay out for a while longer?"
"Can we?" KyuJong asked, enjoying his time out on the water. "They'll call us if they want to head back."
"That's fine, we can stay out as long as you want," JungMin said, pulling KyuJong a little closer by way of the life jacket, kissing him gently.
KyuJong chuckled against JungMin's mouth, wrapping his legs around the younger man's underwater as he returned the soft kiss.
"Does staying on the beach mean we have to watch them?" JongWoon asked the others, covering his eyes.
"It's either them, or them," HyungJoon sighed, motioning around him to the other two couples. "Is there something in the water here? It was just JungMin and Kyu when we left home, now it's like everyone's kissing on each other."
"Someone sounds jealous," HyunJoong chuckled, leaning his back against Daniel's chest.
"Not jealous, just confused," HyungJoon grumped.
"JongWoon, kiss him so he'll stop complaining," YoungSaeng said, rolling his eyes a little as he and RyeoWook finally made it up to their towels.
JongWoon turned bright red, scrambling to his feet. "I-I think I'll just go back in the water." He hurried back down towards the water to get away from them.
RyeoWook blinked at them, watching the older man go as he sat down on his towel next to YoungSaeng.
HyungJoon watched JongWoon go with a frown, a little confused. JongWoon didn't want to kiss him anymore? What had that confession been then? He sighed and lay back down, covering his eyes with his arm. He had no idea what to do about JongWoon now.
"Was it something I said?" YoungSaeng said, confused by the reaction as well.
"No idea," RyeoWook blinked at them, drawing his legs up to his chest.
Daniel ran his fingers through HyunJoong's hair absently. "We coming back here after we break for lunch? It's a nice day."
"I don't see why not," HyunJoong shrugged. "Not like we have much else to do today."
"I wouldn't mind spending a day at the beach, and Kyu sure looks to be enjoying it," YoungSaeng said, watching KyuJong and JungMin. They had stopped kissing and we're swimming again, and YoungSaeng was happy to see KyuJong looking so relaxed.
"He does," RyeoWook smiled softly at the two in the water. "Coming out here was really a good idea." He lifted his head a little and blinked at the dark clouds across the water. "Is that a storm over there?"
"I didn't think it was supposed to storm today," YoungSaeng sighed, his face falling. "We may need to cut this short."
"That's too bad, I was enjoying myself," HyunJoong pouted, tilting his head up to look at Daniel. "Tomorrow works too I guess."
"We have a week," Daniel chuckled, looking down at HyunJoong with an amused smile.
"It still looks a bit off at least," RyeoWook said, finding YoungSaeng's hand and squeezing it lightly.
"And it could move in quickly," YoungSaeng said, lips pursed as he got to his feet. "KyuJong! Time to go in!" he called, cupping his hands around his mouth.
JungMin looked back at the shore, frowning slightly. "Already?" YoungSaeng was pointing behind him at the horizon, JungMin looking over his shoulder. "Oh, looks like it's going to storm Kyu."
"Storm?" KyuJong blinked with wide eyes. "Oh, those are never fun out here. Let's go then," he sighed, pouting at having to go back inside already. He pushed himself in the general direction of the shore, trusting JungMin to redirect him if he was going the wrong way.
"How bad do they get?" JungMin asked, steering KyuJong a little to his right as they swam back to shore, JungMin feeling rocks beneath his feet after a little ways.
"It's been a while since I've been in a storm here, but they made me feel like I'd lost my hearing along with my sight, they get so violent," KyuJong chuckled ruefully, swimming dutifully in the new direction. Soon the ground was close enough for him to stand and wade his way back to the shore.
"Wow, sounds exciting," JungMin said, trudging along. "I bet power gets lost pretty easily then too."
"You too JongWoon, come on!" YoungSaeng called, waving the older man to shore.
"We'd better get our stuff together, he's going to mother hen us all the way back to the house," HyunJoong sighed, sitting up a bit out of Daniel's lap. "It's a good half hour away Saeng, calm down."
"And it takes you an hour to get anywhere," YoungSaeng countered, grabbing his towel and starting to dry off.
"Maybe I should make a quick lunch before it hits then, if we might lose power," RyeoWook blinked, drying off as well. JongWoon made his way back to shore, hurrying to grab his towel and shivering.
KyuJong stepped out of the water, stopping in indecision as he tried to remember where he'd put his towel. "I think there's some small gas burners in a cupboard somewhere still, we can use them if the power goes out so there's no rush."
"We'll be fine," HyunJoong rolled his eyes a little. "There's always cold stuffs to eat, we don't always need a hot meal."
"I'm cold, I want something hot," YoungSaeng said, wrapping his towel around his shoulders. JungMin grabbed his and KyuJong's towel, helping him out of the wet life jacket so he could dry off. HyungJoon was already heading towards the stairs ahead of them.
JongWoon watched HyungJoon go, shoulders slumping a little as he looked down and finished drying off slowly.
"Something hot it is then," RyeoWook beamed, slinging his towel over one shoulder and starting to walk up to the house as well. His wet shirt was clinging to his skin and making him shiver.
The group filed up the stairs to the top of the cliff and back into the house. YoungSaeng watched the storm coming in closer to shore from the window in the living room, his towel still around his shoulders. It looked to be a pretty violent storm this time as well.
"I'm going to take a shower," HyungJoon said, disappearing into his and JongWoon's room soon after they got back inside.
"So are we, come on Daniel," HyunJoong said.
"Don't use up all the hot water," KyuJong pouted, tilting his head up towards JungMin. "Maybe we should wait until tonight then."
Bright red, RyeoWook mumbled something about changing into warmer clothes and went to the room he shared with YoungSaeng.
Chuckling, Daniel messed up KyuJong's hair a little before following HyunJoong. JongWoon hovered out in the hallway for a bit before sighing and going to change.
"Let's at least get dried off and changed," JungMin said, his hand at KyuJong's back. "I don't want to be walking around in wet clothes, and I'm sure you don't either."
"Not really," KyuJong chuckled, heading towards their room.
RyeoWook changed quickly, brushing out his damp hair before heading to go cook lunch. He peeked out one of the windows at the approaching storm, judging how much time he had. He'd be able to at least get something cooked for them before it got here. Pulling out ingredients, he blinked as JongWoon slipped past him, changed into new clothes, to step out onto the porch and close the door behind him.
YoungSaeng had just come out of the bedroom, his hair brushed and in clean clothes. He frowned slightly at seeing JongWoon heading outside. "Where's he going?" he asked, seeing HyungJoon emerging from their room.
"No idea," HyungJoon shrugged, moving past him to collapse on the couch. "He doesn't tell me anything."
YoungSaeng's eyebrow went up at that but he said nothing, going to the door to the porch instead. "I'll be right back, RyeoWook," he said softly to the man in the kitchen, opening up the door and stepping out. "JongWoon?"
"Hm?" JongWoon looked up from where he was leaning against the railing, seeing YoungSaeng. "Oh, hey. It looks kinda cool when it's far off, doesn't it?" He pointed to the storm over the water, flashes of lightning and the distant growl of thunder.
"Yes, as long as it stays far away," YoungSaeng said, flinching a little at the thunder. "Is everything okay? You don't seem yourself today."
"Yeah, I'm fine," JongWoon shrugged, looking back out along the water. "Just didn't sleep well I guess. You must have slept well, you're not scowling like you usually do," he chuckled.
"I'm trying a new thing RyeoWook's taught me," YoungSaeng said, his lips curling upwards. "It's called smiling." Leaning up against the railing beside him, YoungSaeng crossed his arms over his chest and watched the storm. "I don't buy that by the way, you not sleeping well. Something's up and I think it has to do with HyungJoon. He just gave me the brushoff when I asked about you. What's going on?"
JongWoon's shoulders slumped a little. "...Oh, I just messed up, as usual. I told him I like him yesterday...well actually, I kissed him first, then told him. He said he needed time to figure things out, so I'm trying not to press, but I think confessing just made things awkward between us."
"Ah... I see," YoungSaeng's lips pursed slightly. "Why do you say it's awkward? You two seemed normal earlier."
"I know, I don't get it either," JongWoon put his head down on the railing. "Maybe remembering about it made him uncomfortable around me. Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut."
"It would have come out eventually," YoungSaeng said, patting JongWoon's shoulder gently. "But... far as I could tell, you were the one who ran away from him when I made the suggestion earlier to kiss him, which is when things seemed to get awkward between you two."
"I didn't run away from him, I was running away from you people who like to make suggestions like that even knowing that I'm in love with him and he only sees me as his best friend," JongWoon murmured, looking thoroughly depressed.
"You know that you were running away from us, but does he?" YoungSaeng tilted his head slightly. "Maybe you should talk to him instead of hiding out here and hoping to get struck by lightening."
"The lightning's all the way over there, though getting struck by it doesn't seem that bad right now," JongWoon sighed. "He's not exactly trying to talk to me either. I let him know how I feel, it's up to him if he wants to follow up on it or not."
"Lightning can strike from miles away," YoungSaeng said. "JongWoon... if you thought HyungJoon was mad at you, or avoiding you, would you go out of your way to talk to him?"
"If he was mad at me, maybe," JongWoon looked back at him. "But I can't tell what he's thinking now."
"Maybe it's just me, but I thought you were running away from him earlier," YoungSaeng said, meeting the older man's eyes. "It's possible he thought so too. Go talk to him, ask him if he's okay, or what's wrong, or something before I smack the both of you for moping around."
JongWoon pouted a little at him, sighing softly. "I hope you had this conversation with him too, and aren't singling me out just because I'm the older one." He straightened a little, looking depressed, an unusual expression for him.
"No, I saw you first, asked him what was wrong and he got shirty with me," YoungSaeng said. "I'm in a good mood and didn't feel like dealing with his attitude today. That and anyone being outside when it's about to storm makes me anxious, get inside," he pointed at the door with a scowl.
"Yes mother," JongWoon shuffled back to the door, head down. RyeoWook looked up at them from where he was cooking as they both stepped inside.
Looking hesitantly at HyungJoon in the living room, JongWoon drew in a breath and tried to relax before he walked over, dropping down to sit on the floor sprawled out by the head of the couch. "Hey, wanna play a game or something?"
HyungJoon blinked when JongWoon spoke, peering over the side of the couch to look down at him. "Uh... sure?" he said with a small shrug. "I thought you weren't talking to me?"
"And I thought you weren't talking to me," JongWoon said, leaning back on his hands. "So hopefully we're both wrong."
"I hope so... is everything okay?" HyungJoon asked quietly, rolling onto his side.
"Yeah, everything's good," JongWoon nodded, looking up at him. "I'm sorry about that, I wasn't mad at you or anything, I was miffed at them for picking on me."
"Oh.. okay," HyungJoon said, a little relieved. "We can play a game if you want, I don't know what games they have here. or anything... we could just go and talk in our room if you wanted."
"I'm sure they have some board games around or something, they have everything else," JongWoon chuckled, standing. "I don't know what we'd talk about."
"Eh?" HyungJoon gaped at JongWoon in confusion for a second before he got to his feet. "We do have something to talk about," he said, taking JongWoon's hand and pulling him towards their room.
"Huh?" JongWoon stumbled a little as he was pulled along, regaining his balance. "What?" He glanced over his shoulder at YoungSaeng and RyeoWook before he was dragged off into their shared room.
Pushing JongWoon in, HyungJoon shut the door behind him and crossed his arms, facing down his best friend. "I want to talk about yesterday and what you said."
JongWoon looked alarmed at the expression on HyungJoon's face, sitting down on the bed meekly. "...Okay, shoot." He wasn't sure what to make of this.
"Did you honestly mean it when you said you liked me?" HyungJoon asked, his forehead knitted in confusion and his eyes hurt. "Because ever since then you've been acting like nothing happened between us at all, and that you didn't confess to me and I'm really confused right now."
The older man blinked in surprise, not expecting HyungJoon to doubt him. It hurt that he did. "HyungJoon, I have been in love with you for years...not just like, love," he said slowly, voice shaking. "You seriously think I would say any of that if I didn't mean it with all my heart? I thought we knew each other better than that, Joon."
"Then why have you been acting like this? Like you never told me, that I don't know how you feel or something?" HyungJoon continued, his voice wavering as well. "It's really hard to sort out my feelings when you act like we're just friends and nothing more and I don't want that, I want to be more than friends with you."
"Because I don't want to pressure you," JongWoon sank down a little. "And I wanted to show that no matter what you decided, we're still best friends, I want to be your friend before all else. I wanted to give you time to think, I thought you'd appreciate it since that's what you said you needed."
HyungJoon rubbed his hand over his face before moving to sit down on the bed next to him. "I do appreciate that, and that you value our friendship so much," he said, taking one of JongWoon's hands in both of his. "I get the feeling though, that you've convinced yourself that I'm going to reject you, and aren't listening to me. I told you yesterday I liked you too, and you pretty much called me a liar."
JongWoon's fingers curled around HyungJoon's, and he looked at the younger man sadly. "Joon, have you ever thought of me romantically before I kissed you? Seriously thought about it? Would you have approached me if I hadn't said or done anything, or would you have been fine being friends if I hadn't put the idea into your head?"
"Well.. no, but I've always thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with you," HyungJoon said. "When I thought about eating takeout for the rest of my life, I meant with you there as well. We'll be eating take out when we're old men. You're doing it again you know, completely dismissing what I'm saying so I'll reject you."
"I'm sorry," JongWoon said quietly, looking down at his lap. "I just...I'm scared that you only like me that way now because I brought it up, and you really just see me as a best friend, and I don't want to get my hopes up because it would hurt so much after."
"I liked you before, I just didn't understand how you much you meant to me and why when you told me it... opened my eyes," HyungJoon said softly. "I never thought about it before because... I knew that no matter what, you and I would be together."
JongWoon looked up at HyungJoon from under his bangs, daring to hope a little. "You mean that?"
"Of course I mean it, I wouldn't lie about something like that, you know I don't lie," HyungJoon said with a small pout. "I can't say I love you, I don't know that yet, but I know that if you went and dated someone else I'd be really hurt..." He stopped and his face fell. "I'm sorry, about the thing with Saeng... I'm so sorry."
The older man smiled, scooting closer to HyungJoon. "It's okay. I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt, but...I have that chance now, right?" he asked, gently cupping HyungJoon's face with one hand.
HyungJoon nodded, smiling softly. "Yeah... I do like you JongWoon... I don't know why I didn't see it before," he said leaning forward to press his lips against JongWoon's.
JongWoon kissed him back happily, wrapping his arms around the younger man's waist and savoring the moment he'd daydreamed about for years. It was a long minute before he pulled back a little to breath, eyes dancing. "Well, you are a little on the turtle side," he teased. "That's okay though, cause I like turtles."
"How am I turtle?" HyungJoon's eyebrows went up, but his arm went around JongWoon's shoulder anyway. "Why are you so weird."
"You're a turtle cause you're slow, slowpoke," JongWoon chuckled. "And you wouldn't like me if I was all normal and boring." He leaned forward and kissed HyungJoon again, unable to help himself.
HyungJoon didn't have to reply, just returning the kiss happily. Yes, JongWoon was weird, and that was probably exactly why he liked him. Getting a firmer grip on JongWoon's waist, he pulled them both down to lay down on the bed, continuing the kiss.
JongWoon didn't protest the movement, shifting closer to HyungJoon and twining their legs together as he deepened the kiss, nipping a little at HyungJoon's lower lip. He couldn't believe he was actually kissing HyungJoon, enjoying every second.
Making a small sound of contentment at the nips, HyungJoon rolled slightly so JongWoon was underneath him, sliding a hand over his side and belly. He had never imagined that JongWoon's lips would be so soft. His hand had started to slide under JongWoon's shirt when there was a loud knock on the door.
"Lunch is ready," YoungSaeng called through the door.
JongWoon broke off the kiss with a whine of protest, blinking dazedly up at HyungJoon. He flushed a little at the hand under his shirt. "I-I guess we should...go eat," he murmured, trying to memorize HyungJoon's face at that moment.
"Guess so," HyungJoon nodded, too focused on JongWoon's lips right that second so he leaned down for another short kiss. "We can pick this back up later right? You're not going to go all weird on me again?"
"No," JongWoon pouted at him after the kiss. "I wasn't being weird, I was being a best friend." He tickled HyungJoon's sides to get the younger man off of him.
HyungJoon shrieked, flailing in an attempt to get away before rolling off of JongWoon and coincidentally the bed, landing on the floor with a thump. "Ow... what'd you do that for?" he whined, rubbing at his backside.
"To get you off of me!" JongWoon laughed, rolling onto his stomach to grin down at him. "You weren't supposed to fall off!"
"Well I did," HyungJoon huffed, getting to his knees so he could lean over and peck JongWoon on the lips before standing up. "Come on, before they eat everything," he said, holding out his hands to help JongWoon up.
Grinning widely at the kiss, JongWoon took HyungJoon's hands and jumped to his feet. "Yeah, or the power goes out on us." They went to the door and out of the room. The others had already gathered to eat, except for HyunJoong and Daniel. "We're missing people?"
"We gave up trying to call them," KyuJong chuckled, staying out of the way as RyeoWook brought the plates of blackbean noodles to the table.
"I was prevented from going in and dragging them out," YoungSaeng said with a sigh, sitting down at the table. He looked at JongWoon with a raised eyebrow, noticing how giddy he looked, as well as the blush in his cheeks.
"Yeah... no one really wants to see that," JungMin said with grimace, his arm around KyuJong's waist.
"Definitely not," JongWoon made a face, dropping down into his own seat once RyeoWook was done placing everything on the table. KyuJong wandered closer to the table too, fingers brushing along the back of a chair and sitting down.
"I kept their share in the pots to keep them warm," RyeoWook said, sitting down and looking around the table with a small smile.
"Hopefully they're out of the shower before the storm hits," YoungSaeng said, glancing towards the window. The dark clouds were getting closer and closer towards them. "What are we going to do now that we're stuck inside?"
"I'd suggest a movie," HyungJoon said, starting to eat happily. "But we'll probably lose power halfway through, so I think it's either board games or talking," he said with a shudder.
KyuJong laughed. "Don't sound so thrilled."
"It's sad how there's really not much to do," RyeoWook chuckled, playing with his chopsticks.
"We can watch the show outside," JongWoon perked up.
"What show, the storm?" YoungSaeng tensed, scowling at JongWoon. "No thank you, I'll hide in my room if that's the case."
"There's not much to do cause it's a beach house, you're supposed to spend all your time on the beach," HyungJoon said, chuckling at JongWoon. "I'll watch the storm with you."
JongWoon beamed happily at HyungJoon. RyeoWook smiled sympathetically at YoungSaeng. "I can keep you company."
"Did you want to watch it?" KyuJong tilted his head towards JungMin.
"It doesn't matter to me, are you okay with storms?" JungMin asked quietly. He could see how storms might scare KyuJong, the rattled JungMin enough depending on how bad they were.
"Not...really," KyuJong chuckled nervously. "They're deafening. We're not going to be able to do much though, I suck at board games."
"I can think of at least one thing we could do," JungMin whispered into KyuJong's ear, his hand brushing down his back a little.
"Go flirt somewhere else," YoungSaeng said, wrinkling his nose a little. "I'm trying to eat here."
"Sorry," KyuJong flushed, smiling up at JungMin and resting one hand lightly on his knee under the table before continuing to eat.
"Sorry, did we miss lunch?" Daniel appeared, hair damp and lips curled upwards in amusement. RyeoWook hopped back up to get their plates ready.
"Yes, you don't get any now," YoungSaeng said mildly, smiling sweetly at the two who came in.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," HyunJoong sat down, looking relaxed. "That storm's just about on us," he said, noticing how the light from the windows dimmed considerably. "What are we doing while we wait for it to pass?"
"That's what we were discussing," HyungJoon said through a mouthful. "JongWoon and I are going to go watch the storm, you're welcome to join us."
"Don't see why not," Daniel mused, glancing at HyunJoong as he sat down as well. RyeoWook placed their plates in front of them, going to sit back down himself.
"The storm didn't late that long last time," RyeoWook looked at YoungSaeng beside him with a small smile. "It probably won't this time."
"I can only hope it won't," YoungSaeng said, flinching when a roll of thunder was a bit closer than the others had been. "I think I'm done eating," he said, dropping his chopsticks and getting up. He avoided looking out the windows and went straight to his and RyeoWook's room, closing the door.
"He's really that scared of storms?" JungMin blinked, watching him go.
"Yeah, he doesn't like them at all," KyuJong sighed, placing down his own chopsticks. He'd finished eating either way. "I'll be right back," he leaned up to kiss JungMin's cheek before getting to his feet, heading after YoungSaeng.
RyeoWook pursed his lips a little, figuring he might as well start cleaning up. He got to his feet, gathering together the plates and going to dump the uneaten food. "JungMin hyung, could you help me clean up? I want to finish before that storm hits."
"Uh.. sure, you didn't eat much," JungMin blinked, gathering up the plates of those that were done and brought them into the kitchen. "There was a storm when you guys were here last time?"
"Yeah, it took out the power for most of the night," RyeoWook said, placing what he could in the dishwasher after rinsing off the plates. "It was quick, but very loud."
"Huh... well I hope this one doesn't last, and it's the only one this week," JungMin said, stacking up plates and utensils by the sink. "Otherwise this will be kind of a boring vacation." He glanced at RyeoWook with a smirk. "Except you and grumpybutt seem to be getting kind of close, is this new?"
RyeoWook flushed deep red. "It...yeah, it's new. In more ways than one." He loaded the plates and utensils into the dishwasher. "What about you and KyuJong hyung? Everything going all right?"
"Good for you," JungMin nudged the younger with his elbow. "Yeah, things are going good... I think we're getting close to how we were before."
Going more red at the nudge, RyeoWook pouted at the older man. "That's good then, you both seem happier. You've told him already, right?"
JungMin winced slightly, turning away. "Uhh.. not... entirely, no," he said sheepishly. "I don't see why it would do any good."
RyeoWook stopped, blinking at JungMin with wide eyes. "Hyung, you said you were going to tell him!" he whispered urgently. "You don't want a repeat of all this, do you?"
"I didn't think it was really that big a deal, he never asked, so I didn't go into details," JungMin replied, withering under RyeoWook's look. "Telling him now will just make things worse."
"No hyung, risking him finding out by himself or through someone else, again, is going to make it worse," RyeoWook said seriously. Sometimes he felt like the older of the two, lecturing a younger sibling. "Do you really want to lose his trust a second time?"
"Of course not," JungMin sighed, crossing his arms. "It's not going to do any good, he'll hate me and never forgive me for it, and how is he going to find out? Are you going to tell him?"
RyeoWook frowned deeper. He'd already figured out since their first month being partners that sometimes JungMin needed a kick in the ass to get moving. "I won't, but I think YoungSaeng might."
".... You wouldn't," JungMin paled at that, but he already knew that RyeoWook meant it. If YoungSaeng knew, he would tell KyuJong immediately and that would really not go well. "You're an evil, evil little man," he pouted. "Fine, I'll tell him when he comes back out."
"Good," RyeoWook smiled. "I'm sorry hyung, but it's for your own good, you know it." He closed the dishwasher and set about cleaning the pots and pans, hurrying; he wanted to get to their room before the storm was right on top of them.
"Still evil," JungMin muttered, leaving the kitchen. "You can finish by yourself just for that," he huffed, going to stand outside of YoungSaeng's door to wait for KyuJong.
"So much for getting this done quickly," RyeoWook sighed, shaking his head as he worked to clean up.
Chapter: 32/?
Pairing: JungMin/KyuJong, HyunJoong/Tablo
Rating: R overall
Warning: AU, violence, angst
Summary: As part of the security detail for the online game known as Never, two officers encounter a group of elite hackers that seem intent on destroying the game, and it's their job to stop them.
A/N: RP with yeonah. Crossover with Super Junior, U-Kiss and Epik High
They all slept in the next morning, relaxed by the fact there were no appointments to keep, nothing to worry about. When the others started to stumble out of their rooms finally, RyeoWook made them a nice breakfast, and they'd split up to do their own thing before deciding to take a swim.
"Race you!" JongWoon pulled at HyungJoon's arm before releasing him and bolting for the water. The loud yelp when he realized the water was colder than he thought made KyuJong burst out laughing.
HyungJoon just shook his head, following up behind JongWoon. "You have to get used to the water, here, let me help," he said, taking JongWoon's arm and lifting the older man up over his shoulder to take him out deeper into the water before dropping him.
"Well this is going to be an interesting swim," HyunJoong chuckled, dropping his blanket and the cooler of drinks down on the sand.
JongWoon's loud shriek as he was dropped made RyeoWook cover his ears, watching in amusement when the man tackled HyungJoon's legs and brought him down along with him. Chuckling, RyeoWook carefully went to the edge of the water. Like last time, he wore a shirt as well as the beach shorts he'd thought to bring with him.
KyuJong placed down his own blanket out of the way, straightening and smiling widely. "Let's go swim," he chuckled, taking JungMin's hand.
"Don't forget your life jacket," JungMin said, having carried it down with the rest of their things. "HyunJoong says the current is pretty strong here, and we're not losing you," he said, holding up the life jacket to help KyuJong into it.
"Yes sir," KyuJong sighed softly, carefully getting into the life jacket with JungMin's help.
"We'll be watching you anyways Kyu, you'll be fine," Daniel chuckled. He'd waded into the shallows up until his knees, glancing back at where RyeoWook was still near the end. "Are you coming in?"
Swallowing thickly past the feeling of panic that had suddenly hit, RyeoWook nodded and stepped into the water, shivering.
Coming up next to RyeoWook, YoungSaeng took the man's hand. "We can go in together? The water isn't that cold," he said with a soft smile.
Looking up at the older man, RyeoWook smiled and nodded. "Okay." His fingers tightened around YoungSaeng's as they made their way to where JongWoon and HyungJoon were roughhousing further out.
"And you, fearless leader?" Daniel quirked a brow at HyunJoong.
"Hmm.. I was considering just laying out and sunning myself for a while," HyunJoong said, cocking his head to the side in consideration before he shrugged. "Seems like everyone else is swimming though, come on," he grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him towards the water.
"There, all set," JungMin finished locking the buckles and pulling the straps so the jacket was snug against KyuJong's body. "I know you hate it, but you know it's for the best right?" he asked, kissing KyuJong's cheek lightly.
"I know," KyuJong pouted a little; he couldn't swim that well, and the undertow was pretty bad farther out. "Can we go in now?"
"Yes, yes, come on," JungMin chuckled, taking both of KyuJong's hands and walking him towards the water. "I'll be right beside you the whole time, okay?" he said, taking a step into the cold water, making a little squeaking sound. "Okay, really really cold."
Stepping in as well, KyuJong shivered. "It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't standing out in the sun trying to fix this," he chuckled, pulling on his life jacket. He started to pull JungMin further into the water.
"You'll get used to it, quit whining JungMin!" YoungSaeng called over from where he and RyeoWook were about hip deep.
"I'm not whining!" JungMin shot back, going out further, shivering all the while.
"Sounds like whining to me," HyunJoong laughed, jumping on Daniel's back to dunk him under the water.
"Maybe we should go back to the house if they're going to be like this," JungMin grumbled lowly to KyuJong.
"Relax, we're having fun," KyuJong laughed, nearly drowned out by Daniel's yelp. He pulled JungMin up to their waists in the water, before he grinned widely and suddenly tackled the man over.
JungMin let out a very undignified yelp as he fell over, trying not to latch onto KyuJong lest he pull him underwater too. Luckily he missed YoungSaeng laughing at them, and calling out to KyuJong. "Good job Kyu!"
KyuJong laughed loudly, waving in YoungSaeng's direction before he pulled back and helped JungMin back up, still laughing.
"I think we're the only ones not completely soaked," RyeoWook chuckled, watching Daniel flip himself around to dunk HyunJoong under the water instead.
"Want me to fix that?" YoungSaeng perked a brow, ignoring HyunJoong's shriek. "I can do like HyungJoon did and throw you over my shoulder. But we're not going out very far, should have brought you a life jacket too."
"Uh, no thanks," RyeoWook laughed nervously at the question. "I think...with enough people here, I should be fine." He hadn't let go of YoungSaeng's hand, watching HyungJoon and JongWoon go further out.
"We can stay in the shallows," YoungSaeng said, squeezing RyeoWook's hand. The water was hip height, the waves barely noticeable. "We should have spent some time in Never teaching you how to swim."
"That would have been a good idea," RyeoWook chuckled sheepishly. "We can always try when we get back?" He stepped a little further out. "You like swimming, don't you? You don't have to keep me company like this, if I stay here I should be fine."
"I'm fine right here as well," YoungSaeng said, grabbing RyeoWook's arm and holding him steady when a larger swell crashed over them. "I'll swim later if you want to head up to shore."
"Are you sure?" RyeoWook steadied himself after the wave, looking at YoungSaeng. "I don't want to take away your fun."
"You're not, it's more fun with you anyway," YoungSaeng said, pulling RyeoWook a little closer and dropping a light peck on his lips. "If you climb on my back, I can swim us around a little bit if you'd like."
RyeoWook flushed at the peck, but none of the others seemed to notice, too into their own worlds. "Hm? But won't I be too heavy to swim?" he asked, blinking at the older man.
"You're skin and bones, no, you won't be heavy," YoungSaeng chuckled, turning around and lowering down into the water. "Come on, climb on."
Shuffling a little, RyeoWook pursed his lips before wrapping his arms loosely around YoungSaeng's neck, carefully climbing onto his back. He was as red as a tomato. "Like this?"
"Just like that," YoungSaeng nodded, making sure RyeoWook was holding on before he pushed away from the bottom. It was a little awkward to swim with someone on his back, but he adjusted and used large broad strokes to swim out a little deeper. "If we get caught by a wave, let go, or you're going to drown me."
"Okay," RyeoWook nodded, adjusting his grip to hold onto YoungSaeng's shoulders instead so he wouldn't accidentally choke the older man. A small smile curled his lips though.
JongWoon resurfaced from being dumped into the water again, sputtering a little as he wiped the water from his eyes. Seeing RyeoWook and YoungSaeng, he blinked at them. "What are they doing?"
Standing up a little, HyungJoon looked towards where JongWoon was looking. "Uh.. swimming I think? Unless RyeoWook is drowning him."
"If he is, he isn't doing a very good job of it," JongWoon chuckled, before turning around and splashing HyungJoon full in the face.
HyungJoon had opened his mouth to say something, catching a large gulp of water in his mouth. Sputtering and coughing, HyungJoon splashed JongWoon back.
"You're not supposed to drink ocean water Joon!" HyunJoong called, floating lazily around Daniel.
Glancing at HyunJoong in amusement, Daniel snorted when a swell promptly washed over HyunJoong's face. "You were saying?"
"What's going on? Who's choking?" KyuJong blinked, wading around with the water up to his chest.
"JongWoon splashed water into HyungJoon's mouth, HyunJoong laughed at him, now HyunJoong is choking on water from a wave that crashed over him," JungMin said, chuckling softly. He was still holding onto KyuJong's hand, not letting him get too far.
KyuJong chuckled in amusement. "Murphy's Law." He tried to pull JungMin further into the water. "If I could swim better, it would be fun to play marco polo."
"I think you'd have an advantage if it was your turn, and a disadvantage if it wasn't," JungMin said, wading out a little farther. "We're not going out too far, not over our heads, or mine at least cause I'm sure you'll be fine just floating like that."
"Okay," KyuJong smiled. He was already starting to float, feet scrapping the sea floor. "You're able to swim though, aren't you?"
"Yes, just not well," JungMin chuckled, swimming towards KyuJong a little. "You enjoying yourself though?"
"Very, even if it is cold and I'm not the biggest fan of deep water." KyuJong looked like he having the time of his life, simply too excited to be out of the house to really care about the water right now. He kicked his feet until he could float along on his back, smiling happily.
JungMin chuckled softly, floating quietly near KyuJong and watching the blind man. He hadn't seen the man so happy before, and hoped he could he could make him this happy in the future.
"You okay back there?" YoungSaeng had to stop, panting a little as he tread water. Even if RyeoWook was tiny, it was still extra weight on his back and it was tiring to swim this way.
"Yeah," RyeoWook nodded, noticing how YoungSaeng was tiring. "I can go sit on the shore for a bit, so you can swim properly," he chuckled, squeezing the older man's shoulders lightly. "Thank you for this."
"I'll go with you, I'm kind of tired," YoungSaeng said, turning and starting towards shore. Some of the others looked like they were getting tired too, HyungJoon plodding his way through the shallows to get to the beach.
RyeoWook waited until he thought he'd be able to touch the bottom before slipping off of YoungSaeng's back, yelping a little as he misjudged and went under the water before resurfacing.
"Careful," YoungSaeng said, getting his footing on the rocks and sliding an arm around RyeoWook's waist to help hold him up. "When we get back, definitely getting you swimming lessons."
"I thought the ground was closer than that," RyeoWook pouted a little, flushing deeply at YoungSaeng's arm against his bare waist; his shirt had rode up thanks to the water. He covered his face to avoid being splashed as JongWoon made his way by to the shore.
"It's hard to judge until you can feel rocks under your toes," YoungSaeng said, pulling him along until he was sure RyeoWook could touch the bottom. Though he didn't let go until they were both at least hip height out of water. "We breaking for lunch or did you two wear yourself out?" he called to HyungJoon and JongWoon, the former having flopped over onto the beach.
"Lunch sounds good," JongWoon laughed, dropping down to sit next to HyungJoon.
"Where'd everyone go?" KyuJong blinked, hearing the lack of splashing as he stopped floating.
"I think they went in for a break," JungMin replied, glancing towards shore. "HyunJoong and Daniel look like they're on their way too. You want to stay out for a while longer?"
"Can we?" KyuJong asked, enjoying his time out on the water. "They'll call us if they want to head back."
"That's fine, we can stay out as long as you want," JungMin said, pulling KyuJong a little closer by way of the life jacket, kissing him gently.
KyuJong chuckled against JungMin's mouth, wrapping his legs around the younger man's underwater as he returned the soft kiss.
"Does staying on the beach mean we have to watch them?" JongWoon asked the others, covering his eyes.
"It's either them, or them," HyungJoon sighed, motioning around him to the other two couples. "Is there something in the water here? It was just JungMin and Kyu when we left home, now it's like everyone's kissing on each other."
"Someone sounds jealous," HyunJoong chuckled, leaning his back against Daniel's chest.
"Not jealous, just confused," HyungJoon grumped.
"JongWoon, kiss him so he'll stop complaining," YoungSaeng said, rolling his eyes a little as he and RyeoWook finally made it up to their towels.
JongWoon turned bright red, scrambling to his feet. "I-I think I'll just go back in the water." He hurried back down towards the water to get away from them.
RyeoWook blinked at them, watching the older man go as he sat down on his towel next to YoungSaeng.
HyungJoon watched JongWoon go with a frown, a little confused. JongWoon didn't want to kiss him anymore? What had that confession been then? He sighed and lay back down, covering his eyes with his arm. He had no idea what to do about JongWoon now.
"Was it something I said?" YoungSaeng said, confused by the reaction as well.
"No idea," RyeoWook blinked at them, drawing his legs up to his chest.
Daniel ran his fingers through HyunJoong's hair absently. "We coming back here after we break for lunch? It's a nice day."
"I don't see why not," HyunJoong shrugged. "Not like we have much else to do today."
"I wouldn't mind spending a day at the beach, and Kyu sure looks to be enjoying it," YoungSaeng said, watching KyuJong and JungMin. They had stopped kissing and we're swimming again, and YoungSaeng was happy to see KyuJong looking so relaxed.
"He does," RyeoWook smiled softly at the two in the water. "Coming out here was really a good idea." He lifted his head a little and blinked at the dark clouds across the water. "Is that a storm over there?"
"I didn't think it was supposed to storm today," YoungSaeng sighed, his face falling. "We may need to cut this short."
"That's too bad, I was enjoying myself," HyunJoong pouted, tilting his head up to look at Daniel. "Tomorrow works too I guess."
"We have a week," Daniel chuckled, looking down at HyunJoong with an amused smile.
"It still looks a bit off at least," RyeoWook said, finding YoungSaeng's hand and squeezing it lightly.
"And it could move in quickly," YoungSaeng said, lips pursed as he got to his feet. "KyuJong! Time to go in!" he called, cupping his hands around his mouth.
JungMin looked back at the shore, frowning slightly. "Already?" YoungSaeng was pointing behind him at the horizon, JungMin looking over his shoulder. "Oh, looks like it's going to storm Kyu."
"Storm?" KyuJong blinked with wide eyes. "Oh, those are never fun out here. Let's go then," he sighed, pouting at having to go back inside already. He pushed himself in the general direction of the shore, trusting JungMin to redirect him if he was going the wrong way.
"How bad do they get?" JungMin asked, steering KyuJong a little to his right as they swam back to shore, JungMin feeling rocks beneath his feet after a little ways.
"It's been a while since I've been in a storm here, but they made me feel like I'd lost my hearing along with my sight, they get so violent," KyuJong chuckled ruefully, swimming dutifully in the new direction. Soon the ground was close enough for him to stand and wade his way back to the shore.
"Wow, sounds exciting," JungMin said, trudging along. "I bet power gets lost pretty easily then too."
"You too JongWoon, come on!" YoungSaeng called, waving the older man to shore.
"We'd better get our stuff together, he's going to mother hen us all the way back to the house," HyunJoong sighed, sitting up a bit out of Daniel's lap. "It's a good half hour away Saeng, calm down."
"And it takes you an hour to get anywhere," YoungSaeng countered, grabbing his towel and starting to dry off.
"Maybe I should make a quick lunch before it hits then, if we might lose power," RyeoWook blinked, drying off as well. JongWoon made his way back to shore, hurrying to grab his towel and shivering.
KyuJong stepped out of the water, stopping in indecision as he tried to remember where he'd put his towel. "I think there's some small gas burners in a cupboard somewhere still, we can use them if the power goes out so there's no rush."
"We'll be fine," HyunJoong rolled his eyes a little. "There's always cold stuffs to eat, we don't always need a hot meal."
"I'm cold, I want something hot," YoungSaeng said, wrapping his towel around his shoulders. JungMin grabbed his and KyuJong's towel, helping him out of the wet life jacket so he could dry off. HyungJoon was already heading towards the stairs ahead of them.
JongWoon watched HyungJoon go, shoulders slumping a little as he looked down and finished drying off slowly.
"Something hot it is then," RyeoWook beamed, slinging his towel over one shoulder and starting to walk up to the house as well. His wet shirt was clinging to his skin and making him shiver.
The group filed up the stairs to the top of the cliff and back into the house. YoungSaeng watched the storm coming in closer to shore from the window in the living room, his towel still around his shoulders. It looked to be a pretty violent storm this time as well.
"I'm going to take a shower," HyungJoon said, disappearing into his and JongWoon's room soon after they got back inside.
"So are we, come on Daniel," HyunJoong said.
"Don't use up all the hot water," KyuJong pouted, tilting his head up towards JungMin. "Maybe we should wait until tonight then."
Bright red, RyeoWook mumbled something about changing into warmer clothes and went to the room he shared with YoungSaeng.
Chuckling, Daniel messed up KyuJong's hair a little before following HyunJoong. JongWoon hovered out in the hallway for a bit before sighing and going to change.
"Let's at least get dried off and changed," JungMin said, his hand at KyuJong's back. "I don't want to be walking around in wet clothes, and I'm sure you don't either."
"Not really," KyuJong chuckled, heading towards their room.
RyeoWook changed quickly, brushing out his damp hair before heading to go cook lunch. He peeked out one of the windows at the approaching storm, judging how much time he had. He'd be able to at least get something cooked for them before it got here. Pulling out ingredients, he blinked as JongWoon slipped past him, changed into new clothes, to step out onto the porch and close the door behind him.
YoungSaeng had just come out of the bedroom, his hair brushed and in clean clothes. He frowned slightly at seeing JongWoon heading outside. "Where's he going?" he asked, seeing HyungJoon emerging from their room.
"No idea," HyungJoon shrugged, moving past him to collapse on the couch. "He doesn't tell me anything."
YoungSaeng's eyebrow went up at that but he said nothing, going to the door to the porch instead. "I'll be right back, RyeoWook," he said softly to the man in the kitchen, opening up the door and stepping out. "JongWoon?"
"Hm?" JongWoon looked up from where he was leaning against the railing, seeing YoungSaeng. "Oh, hey. It looks kinda cool when it's far off, doesn't it?" He pointed to the storm over the water, flashes of lightning and the distant growl of thunder.
"Yes, as long as it stays far away," YoungSaeng said, flinching a little at the thunder. "Is everything okay? You don't seem yourself today."
"Yeah, I'm fine," JongWoon shrugged, looking back out along the water. "Just didn't sleep well I guess. You must have slept well, you're not scowling like you usually do," he chuckled.
"I'm trying a new thing RyeoWook's taught me," YoungSaeng said, his lips curling upwards. "It's called smiling." Leaning up against the railing beside him, YoungSaeng crossed his arms over his chest and watched the storm. "I don't buy that by the way, you not sleeping well. Something's up and I think it has to do with HyungJoon. He just gave me the brushoff when I asked about you. What's going on?"
JongWoon's shoulders slumped a little. "...Oh, I just messed up, as usual. I told him I like him yesterday...well actually, I kissed him first, then told him. He said he needed time to figure things out, so I'm trying not to press, but I think confessing just made things awkward between us."
"Ah... I see," YoungSaeng's lips pursed slightly. "Why do you say it's awkward? You two seemed normal earlier."
"I know, I don't get it either," JongWoon put his head down on the railing. "Maybe remembering about it made him uncomfortable around me. Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut."
"It would have come out eventually," YoungSaeng said, patting JongWoon's shoulder gently. "But... far as I could tell, you were the one who ran away from him when I made the suggestion earlier to kiss him, which is when things seemed to get awkward between you two."
"I didn't run away from him, I was running away from you people who like to make suggestions like that even knowing that I'm in love with him and he only sees me as his best friend," JongWoon murmured, looking thoroughly depressed.
"You know that you were running away from us, but does he?" YoungSaeng tilted his head slightly. "Maybe you should talk to him instead of hiding out here and hoping to get struck by lightening."
"The lightning's all the way over there, though getting struck by it doesn't seem that bad right now," JongWoon sighed. "He's not exactly trying to talk to me either. I let him know how I feel, it's up to him if he wants to follow up on it or not."
"Lightning can strike from miles away," YoungSaeng said. "JongWoon... if you thought HyungJoon was mad at you, or avoiding you, would you go out of your way to talk to him?"
"If he was mad at me, maybe," JongWoon looked back at him. "But I can't tell what he's thinking now."
"Maybe it's just me, but I thought you were running away from him earlier," YoungSaeng said, meeting the older man's eyes. "It's possible he thought so too. Go talk to him, ask him if he's okay, or what's wrong, or something before I smack the both of you for moping around."
JongWoon pouted a little at him, sighing softly. "I hope you had this conversation with him too, and aren't singling me out just because I'm the older one." He straightened a little, looking depressed, an unusual expression for him.
"No, I saw you first, asked him what was wrong and he got shirty with me," YoungSaeng said. "I'm in a good mood and didn't feel like dealing with his attitude today. That and anyone being outside when it's about to storm makes me anxious, get inside," he pointed at the door with a scowl.
"Yes mother," JongWoon shuffled back to the door, head down. RyeoWook looked up at them from where he was cooking as they both stepped inside.
Looking hesitantly at HyungJoon in the living room, JongWoon drew in a breath and tried to relax before he walked over, dropping down to sit on the floor sprawled out by the head of the couch. "Hey, wanna play a game or something?"
HyungJoon blinked when JongWoon spoke, peering over the side of the couch to look down at him. "Uh... sure?" he said with a small shrug. "I thought you weren't talking to me?"
"And I thought you weren't talking to me," JongWoon said, leaning back on his hands. "So hopefully we're both wrong."
"I hope so... is everything okay?" HyungJoon asked quietly, rolling onto his side.
"Yeah, everything's good," JongWoon nodded, looking up at him. "I'm sorry about that, I wasn't mad at you or anything, I was miffed at them for picking on me."
"Oh.. okay," HyungJoon said, a little relieved. "We can play a game if you want, I don't know what games they have here. or anything... we could just go and talk in our room if you wanted."
"I'm sure they have some board games around or something, they have everything else," JongWoon chuckled, standing. "I don't know what we'd talk about."
"Eh?" HyungJoon gaped at JongWoon in confusion for a second before he got to his feet. "We do have something to talk about," he said, taking JongWoon's hand and pulling him towards their room.
"Huh?" JongWoon stumbled a little as he was pulled along, regaining his balance. "What?" He glanced over his shoulder at YoungSaeng and RyeoWook before he was dragged off into their shared room.
Pushing JongWoon in, HyungJoon shut the door behind him and crossed his arms, facing down his best friend. "I want to talk about yesterday and what you said."
JongWoon looked alarmed at the expression on HyungJoon's face, sitting down on the bed meekly. "...Okay, shoot." He wasn't sure what to make of this.
"Did you honestly mean it when you said you liked me?" HyungJoon asked, his forehead knitted in confusion and his eyes hurt. "Because ever since then you've been acting like nothing happened between us at all, and that you didn't confess to me and I'm really confused right now."
The older man blinked in surprise, not expecting HyungJoon to doubt him. It hurt that he did. "HyungJoon, I have been in love with you for years...not just like, love," he said slowly, voice shaking. "You seriously think I would say any of that if I didn't mean it with all my heart? I thought we knew each other better than that, Joon."
"Then why have you been acting like this? Like you never told me, that I don't know how you feel or something?" HyungJoon continued, his voice wavering as well. "It's really hard to sort out my feelings when you act like we're just friends and nothing more and I don't want that, I want to be more than friends with you."
"Because I don't want to pressure you," JongWoon sank down a little. "And I wanted to show that no matter what you decided, we're still best friends, I want to be your friend before all else. I wanted to give you time to think, I thought you'd appreciate it since that's what you said you needed."
HyungJoon rubbed his hand over his face before moving to sit down on the bed next to him. "I do appreciate that, and that you value our friendship so much," he said, taking one of JongWoon's hands in both of his. "I get the feeling though, that you've convinced yourself that I'm going to reject you, and aren't listening to me. I told you yesterday I liked you too, and you pretty much called me a liar."
JongWoon's fingers curled around HyungJoon's, and he looked at the younger man sadly. "Joon, have you ever thought of me romantically before I kissed you? Seriously thought about it? Would you have approached me if I hadn't said or done anything, or would you have been fine being friends if I hadn't put the idea into your head?"
"Well.. no, but I've always thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with you," HyungJoon said. "When I thought about eating takeout for the rest of my life, I meant with you there as well. We'll be eating take out when we're old men. You're doing it again you know, completely dismissing what I'm saying so I'll reject you."
"I'm sorry," JongWoon said quietly, looking down at his lap. "I just...I'm scared that you only like me that way now because I brought it up, and you really just see me as a best friend, and I don't want to get my hopes up because it would hurt so much after."
"I liked you before, I just didn't understand how you much you meant to me and why when you told me it... opened my eyes," HyungJoon said softly. "I never thought about it before because... I knew that no matter what, you and I would be together."
JongWoon looked up at HyungJoon from under his bangs, daring to hope a little. "You mean that?"
"Of course I mean it, I wouldn't lie about something like that, you know I don't lie," HyungJoon said with a small pout. "I can't say I love you, I don't know that yet, but I know that if you went and dated someone else I'd be really hurt..." He stopped and his face fell. "I'm sorry, about the thing with Saeng... I'm so sorry."
The older man smiled, scooting closer to HyungJoon. "It's okay. I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt, but...I have that chance now, right?" he asked, gently cupping HyungJoon's face with one hand.
HyungJoon nodded, smiling softly. "Yeah... I do like you JongWoon... I don't know why I didn't see it before," he said leaning forward to press his lips against JongWoon's.
JongWoon kissed him back happily, wrapping his arms around the younger man's waist and savoring the moment he'd daydreamed about for years. It was a long minute before he pulled back a little to breath, eyes dancing. "Well, you are a little on the turtle side," he teased. "That's okay though, cause I like turtles."
"How am I turtle?" HyungJoon's eyebrows went up, but his arm went around JongWoon's shoulder anyway. "Why are you so weird."
"You're a turtle cause you're slow, slowpoke," JongWoon chuckled. "And you wouldn't like me if I was all normal and boring." He leaned forward and kissed HyungJoon again, unable to help himself.
HyungJoon didn't have to reply, just returning the kiss happily. Yes, JongWoon was weird, and that was probably exactly why he liked him. Getting a firmer grip on JongWoon's waist, he pulled them both down to lay down on the bed, continuing the kiss.
JongWoon didn't protest the movement, shifting closer to HyungJoon and twining their legs together as he deepened the kiss, nipping a little at HyungJoon's lower lip. He couldn't believe he was actually kissing HyungJoon, enjoying every second.
Making a small sound of contentment at the nips, HyungJoon rolled slightly so JongWoon was underneath him, sliding a hand over his side and belly. He had never imagined that JongWoon's lips would be so soft. His hand had started to slide under JongWoon's shirt when there was a loud knock on the door.
"Lunch is ready," YoungSaeng called through the door.
JongWoon broke off the kiss with a whine of protest, blinking dazedly up at HyungJoon. He flushed a little at the hand under his shirt. "I-I guess we should...go eat," he murmured, trying to memorize HyungJoon's face at that moment.
"Guess so," HyungJoon nodded, too focused on JongWoon's lips right that second so he leaned down for another short kiss. "We can pick this back up later right? You're not going to go all weird on me again?"
"No," JongWoon pouted at him after the kiss. "I wasn't being weird, I was being a best friend." He tickled HyungJoon's sides to get the younger man off of him.
HyungJoon shrieked, flailing in an attempt to get away before rolling off of JongWoon and coincidentally the bed, landing on the floor with a thump. "Ow... what'd you do that for?" he whined, rubbing at his backside.
"To get you off of me!" JongWoon laughed, rolling onto his stomach to grin down at him. "You weren't supposed to fall off!"
"Well I did," HyungJoon huffed, getting to his knees so he could lean over and peck JongWoon on the lips before standing up. "Come on, before they eat everything," he said, holding out his hands to help JongWoon up.
Grinning widely at the kiss, JongWoon took HyungJoon's hands and jumped to his feet. "Yeah, or the power goes out on us." They went to the door and out of the room. The others had already gathered to eat, except for HyunJoong and Daniel. "We're missing people?"
"We gave up trying to call them," KyuJong chuckled, staying out of the way as RyeoWook brought the plates of blackbean noodles to the table.
"I was prevented from going in and dragging them out," YoungSaeng said with a sigh, sitting down at the table. He looked at JongWoon with a raised eyebrow, noticing how giddy he looked, as well as the blush in his cheeks.
"Yeah... no one really wants to see that," JungMin said with grimace, his arm around KyuJong's waist.
"Definitely not," JongWoon made a face, dropping down into his own seat once RyeoWook was done placing everything on the table. KyuJong wandered closer to the table too, fingers brushing along the back of a chair and sitting down.
"I kept their share in the pots to keep them warm," RyeoWook said, sitting down and looking around the table with a small smile.
"Hopefully they're out of the shower before the storm hits," YoungSaeng said, glancing towards the window. The dark clouds were getting closer and closer towards them. "What are we going to do now that we're stuck inside?"
"I'd suggest a movie," HyungJoon said, starting to eat happily. "But we'll probably lose power halfway through, so I think it's either board games or talking," he said with a shudder.
KyuJong laughed. "Don't sound so thrilled."
"It's sad how there's really not much to do," RyeoWook chuckled, playing with his chopsticks.
"We can watch the show outside," JongWoon perked up.
"What show, the storm?" YoungSaeng tensed, scowling at JongWoon. "No thank you, I'll hide in my room if that's the case."
"There's not much to do cause it's a beach house, you're supposed to spend all your time on the beach," HyungJoon said, chuckling at JongWoon. "I'll watch the storm with you."
JongWoon beamed happily at HyungJoon. RyeoWook smiled sympathetically at YoungSaeng. "I can keep you company."
"Did you want to watch it?" KyuJong tilted his head towards JungMin.
"It doesn't matter to me, are you okay with storms?" JungMin asked quietly. He could see how storms might scare KyuJong, the rattled JungMin enough depending on how bad they were.
"Not...really," KyuJong chuckled nervously. "They're deafening. We're not going to be able to do much though, I suck at board games."
"I can think of at least one thing we could do," JungMin whispered into KyuJong's ear, his hand brushing down his back a little.
"Go flirt somewhere else," YoungSaeng said, wrinkling his nose a little. "I'm trying to eat here."
"Sorry," KyuJong flushed, smiling up at JungMin and resting one hand lightly on his knee under the table before continuing to eat.
"Sorry, did we miss lunch?" Daniel appeared, hair damp and lips curled upwards in amusement. RyeoWook hopped back up to get their plates ready.
"Yes, you don't get any now," YoungSaeng said mildly, smiling sweetly at the two who came in.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," HyunJoong sat down, looking relaxed. "That storm's just about on us," he said, noticing how the light from the windows dimmed considerably. "What are we doing while we wait for it to pass?"
"That's what we were discussing," HyungJoon said through a mouthful. "JongWoon and I are going to go watch the storm, you're welcome to join us."
"Don't see why not," Daniel mused, glancing at HyunJoong as he sat down as well. RyeoWook placed their plates in front of them, going to sit back down himself.
"The storm didn't late that long last time," RyeoWook looked at YoungSaeng beside him with a small smile. "It probably won't this time."
"I can only hope it won't," YoungSaeng said, flinching when a roll of thunder was a bit closer than the others had been. "I think I'm done eating," he said, dropping his chopsticks and getting up. He avoided looking out the windows and went straight to his and RyeoWook's room, closing the door.
"He's really that scared of storms?" JungMin blinked, watching him go.
"Yeah, he doesn't like them at all," KyuJong sighed, placing down his own chopsticks. He'd finished eating either way. "I'll be right back," he leaned up to kiss JungMin's cheek before getting to his feet, heading after YoungSaeng.
RyeoWook pursed his lips a little, figuring he might as well start cleaning up. He got to his feet, gathering together the plates and going to dump the uneaten food. "JungMin hyung, could you help me clean up? I want to finish before that storm hits."
"Uh.. sure, you didn't eat much," JungMin blinked, gathering up the plates of those that were done and brought them into the kitchen. "There was a storm when you guys were here last time?"
"Yeah, it took out the power for most of the night," RyeoWook said, placing what he could in the dishwasher after rinsing off the plates. "It was quick, but very loud."
"Huh... well I hope this one doesn't last, and it's the only one this week," JungMin said, stacking up plates and utensils by the sink. "Otherwise this will be kind of a boring vacation." He glanced at RyeoWook with a smirk. "Except you and grumpybutt seem to be getting kind of close, is this new?"
RyeoWook flushed deep red. "It...yeah, it's new. In more ways than one." He loaded the plates and utensils into the dishwasher. "What about you and KyuJong hyung? Everything going all right?"
"Good for you," JungMin nudged the younger with his elbow. "Yeah, things are going good... I think we're getting close to how we were before."
Going more red at the nudge, RyeoWook pouted at the older man. "That's good then, you both seem happier. You've told him already, right?"
JungMin winced slightly, turning away. "Uhh.. not... entirely, no," he said sheepishly. "I don't see why it would do any good."
RyeoWook stopped, blinking at JungMin with wide eyes. "Hyung, you said you were going to tell him!" he whispered urgently. "You don't want a repeat of all this, do you?"
"I didn't think it was really that big a deal, he never asked, so I didn't go into details," JungMin replied, withering under RyeoWook's look. "Telling him now will just make things worse."
"No hyung, risking him finding out by himself or through someone else, again, is going to make it worse," RyeoWook said seriously. Sometimes he felt like the older of the two, lecturing a younger sibling. "Do you really want to lose his trust a second time?"
"Of course not," JungMin sighed, crossing his arms. "It's not going to do any good, he'll hate me and never forgive me for it, and how is he going to find out? Are you going to tell him?"
RyeoWook frowned deeper. He'd already figured out since their first month being partners that sometimes JungMin needed a kick in the ass to get moving. "I won't, but I think YoungSaeng might."
".... You wouldn't," JungMin paled at that, but he already knew that RyeoWook meant it. If YoungSaeng knew, he would tell KyuJong immediately and that would really not go well. "You're an evil, evil little man," he pouted. "Fine, I'll tell him when he comes back out."
"Good," RyeoWook smiled. "I'm sorry hyung, but it's for your own good, you know it." He closed the dishwasher and set about cleaning the pots and pans, hurrying; he wanted to get to their room before the storm was right on top of them.
"Still evil," JungMin muttered, leaving the kitchen. "You can finish by yourself just for that," he huffed, going to stand outside of YoungSaeng's door to wait for KyuJong.
"So much for getting this done quickly," RyeoWook sighed, shaking his head as he worked to clean up.