I LIKE U, IS THAT OK? ☆ jukyu

vii. plot-twist

when they arrive at the beach juhaknyeon is the first to swim inside the water. not having the fear of how cold it'd be. hyunjae follows right after, immediately taking off his shirt and asking changmin to hold it for him. the younger is dumbfounded and doesn't know what to do, but hyunjae grabs his hand and before he knows it, changmin is holding hyunjae's shirt.

hyunjae smirks and walks towards the water.

as he leaves, someone behind changmin decides to whistle at him and he snaps back to reality and turns around to face his other friends. chanhee is smiling ear to ear at him as if he knows something is going on, but changmin wishes for his best friend to know there wasn't. something going on between him and hyunjae.

younghoon who was setting a blanket down for the group glances at changmin who makes his way back to them. "are you two paired as roommates together?" younghoon asks.

changmin looks at the older and slowly shakes his head. "no...why do you ask?"

younghoon shrugs, "you guys just seem closer than before."

chanmin flinches, and he awkwardly recomposes himself. juyeon who was standing near his boyfriend takes a quick glance at the brunette boy, but then chanhee is asking to take a selfie together so he pays attention to that instead. once they posed and took 3 photos chanhee puts his hand down and smiles at juyeon. "thanks," the boy says before he walks away to take sit down with changmin on the blanket.

chanmin shifts his attention to his blonde haired boy friend. chanhee's lips curve slightly and he smiles at changmin. "are you having fun?" chanhee wonders, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

changmin hums. "so far, i guess. it's only the first day and we still have four more days, so, yeah. it's starting to fun..."

chanhee grins, "i can see that."

it's only then when noticing the way his best friend was looking at him did changmin figure out that chanhee wasn't talking about fun, he was talking about hyunjae. the brunette's eyes widen and he quickly shakes his head in a hurry. "ah, no, no, it's not what you think. hyunjae and i are just friends. we literally just started talking to each other in the lobby today," changmin explained, almost irritably and exhaustively, wanting nothing more than his friends to stop questioning if he and hyunjae are "involving feelings for each other."

chanhee hums but he doesn't sound at all convinced. "you know, this vacation might help you inquire...something new in your life," chanhee commented.

changmin rolls his eyes in a playful manner. "i'm sure you mean, love by that."

"c'mon, min, what's the worst that can happen? why don't you just-... give it a try?"

"he's not...my type," changmin lied.

chanhee raises a brow, unconvinced yet again. "yeah, right. anyway, he totally has a thing for you. so, i'd take advantage of that."

changmin chuckled quietly. "i'm sure you would."

chanhee hums enthusiastically. "yeah! i would! because being liked by someone isn't something that always happens frequently. it takes...months, possibly years to find another that has fallen for you."

suddenly, a thought creeps in changmin's mind and he hesitates to say it. unsure if he wants to know what chanhee's response would be. feeling as if he wouldn't be ready for it. but, his best friend obviously catches it and he gestures changmin what was on his mind just now. changmin lowers his head for a moment for a brief moment before he returns a nervous gaze back to chanhee.

"was that what happened between you and juyeon?" changmin wondered.

chanhee flinches, and he looks taken aback. his gaze falters and he blinks multiple of times now, his head now falling down as he stared at his fiddling fingers. changmin waited. and chanhee sighed, and grabbed changmin's hand. "let's go for a walk," is what chanhee says, and he stands back up. changmin doing so the same too.