Chapter Text
The sun is nowhere to be found. The sky’s dark and filled with gray clouds, not the bright blue color as it was yesterday.
Ahh, it's gonna rain isn't it? Soobin thinks to himself, looking up at the sky. Should've brought an umbrella.
He's walking by a river, sipping coffee he bought from a café nearby the university as he waits for the time to come for the next subject he’ll be going to. He sighs, all that’s occupying his mind at the moment are works left to them by their professors just before their one month break, and sad to say, there’s a lot of them. He wonders if he’ll be able to finish them all until—
His phone rings. He reaches for it in the pocket of his coat, looking at the caller ID and seeing that it’s his aunt calling him.
“Hey, auntie,” he greets her.
“Binnie, how are you?” She asked, her voice as sweet as ever.
But Binnie , he scrunches his nose at the nickname. Not many people really call him by that nickname now, except his family. It was cute when he was a kid, calling him that since it sounds close to ‘bunny’ as he resembles one, but he grew out of it except for his family.
“I’m doing fine, auntie. I’m just waiting for our next subject.” He tells her as he sits down at the side of the stairs that leads to the sidewalk. “How about you, how have you been?”
“Oh, you know, fine as always. I also called to let you know that Yeonjun will also be coming home for their summer break. I’m so glad their school finally gave them one, he also said he’ll be helping us out with the guest house too.”
Ah, right, the guest house. Soobin is reminded of agreeing to help out at his aunt’s guest house for three weeks. She had told him that a group of friends had finally booked it recently after she posted about it months ago. He’s happy for her, he saw how his aunt was excited to let others know about the guest house so they can book it after it was finished getting built, and someone finally did.
“That’s good news then, he’s definitely gonna enjoy acting out as the tour guide for the guests once they arrive.” He smiles, taking a sip of his coffee as he remembers the many times that Yeonjun would try to drag him to go explore almost the entirety of the island of his hometown, even after the countless times they’ve already been to those places.
His aunt laughs, it is an endearing thing that Yeonjun does. “Oh, you know it. He already has plans to take them to as many places as he can in a span of three weeks. I hope the guests are able to keep up.”
“Don’t worry, auntie, I’ll be joining them.” He assures her.
“Thank you, Binnie. I’m really grateful for both of you, for agreeing to help me with the guest house.”
“It’s nothing, auntie. It’s what family’s for, right? We’re really happy for you.” He sincerely said.
“Alright, I should probably let you go now. Your next subject might start soon so I don’t want to hold you up. Can’t wait to see you guys soon. Bye Binnie.” She says her goodbye, voice still as sweet.
“Bye auntie.” And the phone call ends.
Soobin is left alone with his drink once again, looking up at the sky to still be met with the same gray clouds instead of the sun. In a week from now, he’ll be at his aunt’s house and meeting the guests she has, but right now, he’s trying to figure out the best and fastest way to finish all his work first so he doesn’t have to worry about it once he boards the plane. The thought of a relaxing vacation that awaits him is what he’ll be using as his motivation to finish his work.
I hope I finish them in time before my flight.
🐚
“Ladies and gentlemen, Air Seoul welcomes you to El Nido, Palawan, Philippines. The local time is 2:56 pm.”
And finish them in time, he did. He had actually finished all the work he had earlier than expected. The amount of workload didn’t equal the difficulty of the work. He’s also thankful that their professors didn’t give them any group projects while on break or else he would have been more stressed out on his work as he handles a group than when he already was without it.
Now, he’s completely free to enjoy his break. No more university work to worry about, no more difficult to contact professors, and no more stress. Just him, Yeonjun, his aunt, and the guest house they will be taking care of along with the guests who will be arriving tomorrow. Complete freedom and relaxation. Hopefully, that is. After all they still don’t know these guests or what kind of people they are, he just hopes they would be nice.
He exits the airport once he has his two bags with him and looks for Yeonjun from a number of people outside waiting for their family or friends. It didn’t take him long to find him since he’s easily one of the few tallest people amongst the others. He holds up his hand to try and wave at him when their eyes meet.
“Yo, Soobin!” Yeonjun greets him, waving in his direction.
They started walking towards each other, passing several people along the way until Yeonjun got to hug Soobin.
“Hey, Jun,” he hugs him in return, patting the other’s back.
“Let me get that for you,” Yeonjun said as he took the larger bag from Soobin’s hand and carried it himself. He then proceeded to walk a few steps away from Soobin, stopping him from walking and looking him up and down. “Wait, something about you changed.”
Yeonjun takes a pause, leaving Soobin confused about what about him that changed. Was it his hair? He did have a haircut but that was long ago. His style, maybe?
“ Pumo-pogi . [You're getting more handsome.]” Soobin rolls his eyes, smiling at his friend. He already knows what Yeonjun means by this, and this time, he remembers what to say next.
“ Naman. Parang ikaw . [Of course. Just like you.]” He winked and signed finger guns at him. This made Yeonjun laugh and clap his hands.
“There we go, you finally remembered what to say.” Yeonjun said, looking proud as he puts an arm over Soobin’s shoulder and patting it.
“What can I say, I did learn from the best.” He said with a smile that made the other chuckle and ruffled his hair as they walked to where he parked his motorcycle.
Soobin has been learning Tagalog from Yeonjun. He already knows some words since he’s been visiting his aunt every year and contacting both her and Yeonjun often, it’s understanding a full sentence and saying one that he’s having a hard time with. These days he’s learning bit by bit, he’s thankful to Yeonjun for that.
It didn’t take long to reach Yeonjun’s motorcycle, it was conveniently parked close. The owner of the large bike places the bag he has at the back of it, tying it there so it wouldn’t fall as they ride it to the house and Soobin helps him. Once it was all tied up, Yeonjun reaches for the two helmets, giving the other one to Soobin.
“Let’s go?” He asked and the other nodded.
They hop on their ride, Soobin wearing his backpack in front before he does, and they drive out of Lio Airport to the road to Nacpan Beach. The ride from the airport to the house will take them about thirty minutes, so Soobin takes in the scenery he's met with along the ride. He closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling as he let the wind go past him. The wind brings the smell of the sea along with it, enough to help him instantly forget about all the worries he had, especially with university. It finally settles in that he's free now, that he has all the time in the world to himself, he smiles in ease.
The moment he opens his eyes to watch their surroundings, he spots familiar houses and places he'd always pass by when on his way to visit here, as well as new ones he only saw were being built a few months ago. Seeing these familiar places, it makes him feel like he's being welcomed home again, bringing him ease and comfort. Palawan has become his second home, after all the time he spent here especially during his childhood.
The next minutes of the ride went by fast, they are now slowly approaching the beach. More and more palm trees were appearing and the sight of the sea seemed to have waved at them. His aunt's house is located at the far right of Nacpan Beach, somewhere not too crowded with tourists and perfectly placed where you could easily see the sun as it sets and the waves of the sea hitting the shore. As they got closer, he saw his aunt outside the house, smiling and waving at them. He smiles and waves at her in return as Yeonjun parks his motorcycle near.
Soobin removes his helmet, giving it to Yeonjun as he gets off the bike and walks to his aunt who has her arms wide open for a hug. Soobin hugs her tight, adjusting her height to hers since she’s smaller than him.
“Binnie abunjing bunjing , I missed you so much.” She cooed as she broke away from the hug to squish her nephew’s cheeks. He can already hear a soft chuckle from the back. “I’m glad you arrived safely, are you tired?”
Soobin cringes at the nickname again but even more so with the added “abunjing bunjing” next to it. Yet even when he doesn’t seem to be too fond of the nickname, or any of the additions added to it, he also doesn’t have the heart to tell her to stop using it.
“No, not really tired yet.” Soobin shakes his head.
“Good, then let’s head in. I prepared some food for all of us.” She tells them before heading to the front of the house to go in.
“Thank you, auntie.” He thanks her for the food before looking back to where Yeonjun was. The other was already holding onto his other bag, having already untied it from the back of the motorcycle himself, and he’s looking at him like he’s been holding on to a laugh.
He walks up to him, patting his shoulder. “Let’s go abunjing bunjing .”
“Shut up,” he groans, following the other as they walk up the front of the house.
They enter the house, opening the glass door which instantly leads them to the spacious dining room of the house. This whole dining room connects the kitchen and living rooms of the main house and the guest house on both sides. Meanwhile, the back and front of the room are built with high glass walls and doors — the back door leading to the garden and the front door leading right to the beach. Nothing much has changed from the last time Soobin visited, except for the Christmas decorations being removed and there seems to be more plants than before.
“We’ll be heading upstairs.” He calls out to his aunt who’s currently in the kitchen.
“Alright, just head down soon after.”
Soobin’s room is located at the end of the hallway, next to Yeonjun’s room. They stop in front of their doors and Soobin reaches for his bag that Yeonjun has been carrying.
“Need any help unpacking your things?” Yeonjun offers but Soobin shakes his head.
“No, it’s okay. It’s just a few things anyway since lots of my clothes are still here.”
“Alright, just call for me if you ever do need some help. I’ll go help Ma with the food.” Soobin nods at him, and with that, Yeonjun goes downstairs to the kitchen.
Soobin finally enters his room, the view of the ocean from his windows immediately greeting him. He walks next to his bed, placing his bags there and goes straight to the window next, sitting on the chaise lounge sofa placed beside it instead of unpacking his things first just to admire the view that he missed seeing. It hasn’t been that long but because of the amount of stress university has brought him, he missed just sitting by this window and watching the sun set which helps him relieve all that stress he once had. It’s such a beautiful view and he’ll never get tired of it.
As his eyes wander around the beach, it soon falls back to his room and to his bags on his bed then to his other window, right next to his bedside table. There, he sees the window of a room in the guest house.
The guest house, thinking about it now, feels a bit surreal for him. He grew up looking at that window and only seeing palm trees and people below whenever he visited, until they finally started to build the guest house that he saw getting built too. Now, it’s really here, completely built and will be occupied by people tomorrow, making him feel even happier for his aunt who has been wanting this for a long time now.
Standing up from his sofa, he reaches for his bag and starts to unpack his things. Putting some of his clothes in his closet, his laptop on his desk and some books he bought at the airport he decided to read during his stay here on his bedside table. He cleaned out one of his bags, placed it somewhere in his closet, and decided that he’ll unpack the rest later after he has finally eaten. When he finally finished unpacking his things, he walked up to his door and examined the entirety of his room before leaving.
He really did miss this, missed the beach too — the smell of the ocean breeze and the seashells he’d find and keep — missed the overall feeling of being free, without having to worry about anything. Nacpan Beach, Palawan has truly become his second home, a safe place he’d find comfort and happiness even in the smallest of things.
He starts to head downstairs, after he’s done admiring his own room, and finds Yeonjun and his aunt cutting green mangoes, dipping them in bagoong to eat as a snack. On the table, there’s also rice, pork sisig his aunt has made (it’s Soobin’s favorite, she would always make that when he comes back to Palawan), and some drinks. His aunt Carmelita notices him walking up to the table and smiles at him, patting the chair next to her for him to sit down on.
“You’re favorite,” she says as she slides the plate of sisig next to his plate.
“Thank you, auntie.” He smiles at her and takes the plate to put some food on his. He scoops up some rice as well to put on his plate. “Where’s uncle by the way?”
“Oh, you know him. He has lots of projects so he’s in Manila at the moment. Probably won’t be able to come back until almost Christmas again.” His aunt answers his question but with a downcast face. She must miss him, after all, the time they would get to have for each other is very short with just how busy his uncle is from all the projects he receives.
“Speaking of Pa, I just remembered he gave me something as his gift to you. He said he misses you.” Yeonjun tells her and she smiles in an instant, with a faint color of red on her cheeks.
“I’ll thank him later.” She cheerfully says.
And they continue eating until the green mangoes are gone and there are less sisig left. Soobin and Yeonjun tried convincing Carmelita to just sit down and let them handle the cleaning after they were done eating. It took a couple of tries but she finally lets them as she relaxes on the couch in the next room, watching a telenovela.
“So there's three people coming here tomorrow, right?” Yeonjun asked his mother as he washes the dishes.
“Yes, they're here for vacation, they said.” She answers from the other room.
For vacation , Soobin thought for a moment. They're probably old men then who were able to take a break from work then , he concludes even without seeing them first. After all, these kinds of people are the ones who have enough time and money to book a private guest house somewhere where it's already summer (or the really hot, dry season as they call it here in the Philippines). Again, Soobin just hopes that they're easy to get along with and are nice.
🐚
It's only the day after that Soobin learns that the guests are also Koreans. This makes communicating with them easy.
They’re currently at Lio Airport again, waiting for the guests to arrive at the waiting area. Soobin and Yeonjun are both holding a banner that says “Carmelita’s Guest House” made by Carmelita herself. She said it would be easier for the guests to find them and for them to find the guests since they don’t exactly know what each other looks like.
They’ve been standing out in the sun for quite some time now, the guests are taking some time to arrive. They’re both already sweating, but Yeonjun came ready and brought two fans for them to use as they waited. The heat in the Philippines really is something else, especially during the dry season.
A few minutes later, a new wave of people started to exit the airport. They lifted their banner higher so the guests, if they were in the crowd, could see it and walk up to them. In the meantime, Soobin started to look if there are people in groups of three that may be their guests. There were some but they were mostly families, parents with their child, and when there was one, they would only walk past them since they weren’t the ones those people were looking for.
It's until he sees another group of three that something, or someone, caught his attention. They seem to be three college students; one that has a wolf cut and blonde highlights, one who has blonde-ish hair with his dark roots, and lastly, one taller than both the first two with light blonde hair, wearing a pastel hoodie. They seem to be around his and Yeonjun’s age as well. They’re a group of three, but Soobin doesn't think that they're the ones they’ve been waiting for so he tries to look for another group of three.
Keyword: tries. Because his eyes are now glued on the blonde, pastel hoodie wearing guy who first caught his attention. Doesn't know the reason why he can't look away, his eyes just seemed to have locked on him. On his beautiful curly, blonde hair, on his shining eyes, and on the smile on his lips that's so bright it could rival the sun. Or maybe, Soobin had just seen what the sun would look like if it was a person. But unlike the sun, looking at him doesn't burn your eyes, instead it draws you in. Draws Soobin in.
Oh, god, is he pretty.
But Soobin shakes that thought after. He should really be looking for their guests instead.
Another group of three exits the airport, and they perfectly fit the description of the guests Soobin had in mind. And so, he waits for them to walk up to them, which they look like they are. They seem to be looking their way as well, so it really must be them.
Soobin was about to greet one of the three, almost welcoming them to Palawan and to Carmelita’s guest house. That is until they walked past him. He looked back and saw them greeting the person behind them instead of him and Yeonjun. He watched them shake hands with the other person, looking like they knew each other already.
Soobin was dumbfounded, he really thought it was them.
“Carmelita's guest house?” A bright voice had asked just in front of him.
Soobin turns his head back and meets eye-to-eye with pastel boy. He looked like he was waiting for an answer from him, but all he could say was “Huh?”
Soobin was too stunned to speak. He didn’t really expect this person would talk to him, let alone ask him about his aunt’s guest house. Why was he asking about his aunt’s guest house?
“Yes, yes we’re from Carmelita’s guest house.” Yeonjun chimes in after seeing Soobin not answer. “Are you guys—Are you the ones who booked it?”
“Yeah, we did! I’m Kai,” the pastel boy introduces himself, reaching his hand out for them to shake. They took it, shaking the blonde’s hand and bowing.
Kai. Soobin finally has a name to a face.
“And these are my friends.” He gestures to them with a smile. Yet after seeing them not respond — both of their attention were towards Yeonjun who only smiled at them upon noticing — he nudged his closest friend’s arm to say something, still with a smile.
“Ah, right. I’m—I’m Taehyun,” said the one with the blonde-ish hair, bowing and reaching his hand out as well.
“And I’m Beomgyu!” said the one with the wolf cut who seemed to have lots of energy.
They all shook each other’s hands after their introductions and just stood there at their spot, not really knowing what to do next. Though it did give Soobin a moment to look at pastel guy, Kai, again. Something about him just seems so bright that Soobin can't help but look every time. He then noticed how they’re about the same height, how he holds his large sling bag with both his hands, and how, despite the situation being a bit awkward right now, he still has a smile on his face as he examines his surroundings.
That’s… kinda cute actually , he smiles to himself.
“Alright, then!” Yeonjun claps his hand, probably to gather everyone’s attention. “Uh, we should head to the house now, since you guys are probably tired and it’s really hot out here.”
“Right, right, we should.” Taehyun agreed and looked at his friends who nodded their heads as well.
Without any more words, they head to the parking spot where two motorcycles and a tricycle have been waiting for them. Yeonjun called for the one who will be driving the tricycle, apologizing for taking more time than expected. Carmelita made them bring a tricycle with them going to the airport since two motorcycles can't really carry all the baggage their visitors might have.
“You guys can put your bags inside here since we can’t put them all at the back of our motorcycles. And don’t worry, Kuya Ferdy will take good care of your things. ‘Diba kuya ? [Right, kuya?]” Yeonjun gave a thumbs up to the driver of the tricycle who gave one back. This was his way of reassuring the guests that their bags will be alright.
The three friends placed their bags inside the tricycle as Yeonjun and Soobin tied them together to the vehicle so it wouldn’t fall once they’re on the road. Now, they only have to decide who will be riding the motorcycles with who.
“I can take two people with me on my motorcycle, so…” Yeonjun tells the three friends, looking to get an answer on who will be coming with him.
No words were spoken between the three, but Beomgyu and Taehyun only looked at Kai and he seemed to already know what to do. He sighs and turns to Soobin with a smile.
“I’ll ride with Soobin, if that’s okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course.” He answers, not even having to think twice.
Soobin wouldn’t exactly say that he is the only pretty stranger who got to ride with him on his motorcycle, but Kai is the only pretty stranger who got to ride with him on his motorcycle. That would probably be because other than Yeonjun, Kai is the only other person who he really got to ride his motorcycle with. He hands him the other helmet he has and Kai thanks him for it, their hands brushing together for a moment when he took it from him. There was a slight electric shock when their hands touched, Soobin just brushed it off.
Once they were all set, Yeonjun was the first one to go, followed by Soobin and the tricycle. The heat from the sun may be strong today but the wind as they drive makes up for it, cooling them down from being in the sun for quite some time. It's such a nice feeling, the wind blowing on him everytime he drives, not to mention the view he gets to see when he’s out here driving.
“Woah,”
And it seems like he's not the only one who enjoys the view on their ride. Kai lets out a gasp and utters a few compliments to the places he sees here and there. Soobin exhales a light laugh at his enjoyment, finding it cute, endearing even. It was something expected really, going to a place you didn't know for the first time and seeing how beautiful it is will really leave you amazed. The only thing Soobin wasn't expecting though, was for this pretty guy to rest his head on the back of his shoulder.
He's pretty sure that he only unconsciously did that, too mesmerized by what he's seeing that he lets himself be comfortable. So Soobin lets him, not wanting to interrupt this little nice time he has and he does find it cute how he mumbles nice things about the place. It also somehow makes him feel proud. Palawan is his second home after all.
They arrive at the house after minutes of being on the road. Yeonjun and the other two were already there, standing and waiting for them. The tricycle was already there too, Soobin didn't notice that Ferdy had already passed them on the way.
Well, if he was being honest, he did slow down his driving for a while, totally not because Kai was enjoying the scenery and he was letting him see more of it so he didn't want to rush his way home. Yes, definitely not because he also found him cute during those times or when he completely rested his head on his back that he was able to feel him smiling. Absolutely not because of those, the only reason was because he just felt like slowing down his ride and nothing else.
“Why did it take you guys some time to arrive when we drove off at the same time? Kuya Ferdy was even faster than you.” Yeonjun chuckles at the two, also a bit confused as to why they did take some time.
“Oh, uh, you know, sometimes I have to slow down because... the motorcycle, yeah.” Was Soobin's poor excuse as he sheepishly smiles and pats his motorcycle.
“Okay…? You already know where to bring it if there are some problems, so,” Yeonjun turns to the three who were already collecting their bags from inside the tricycle and thanking Ferdy. “Let’s go help them.”
The two of them walked up to the trio, helping carry the heavier bags they have and the three thanking them in return. They make their way inside the house, once they thanked Ferdy one last time for helping them, and they were instantly met with Carmelita in an apron and with different meals placed on the dining table.
“Oh, you’re here! Come in, come in. Welcome to Casa Carmelita !” Carmelita raises her hands, welcoming her guests with excitement.
The trio instantly smiles at her warm welcome, greeting her in return and introducing themselves to her. Carmelita has this way of making things lighter around her, making almost everyone cheer up and have a good time. Soobin can see where Yeonjun got it from now. She ushers them to place their things at the side for a while so they can eat first after getting off a long flight. The three sit down at one side of the table while Soobin and Yeonjun help Carmelita with the remaining food that’s left in the kitchen.
Carmelita really prepared ahead for this day, cooking these different meals for the guests to eat. There’s Chicken Inasal, Sinigang na Bagnet, and Seafoods like Kibao and Lato Seaweed. There were also some desserts like Buko Pandan and Leche Flan for them to try.
“Wow, parang may fiesta . [It’s like there’s a fiesta.]” Yeonjun says under his breath that only him and Soobin can hear. He was quite surprised at the amount of food there is, thinking how it could be mistaken that there’s a celebration of some sorts.
They all sat down at the table, the room becoming even livelier than before as the three guests were happily enjoying the food Carmelita had made which delighted her. She even encouraged them to eat more till their heart’s content and they all did. They all have already started to get to know each other a lot after just meeting a few minutes ago, all besides Soobin and Yeonjun who decided to just listen to the four of them as they eat.
“You hear that, Soobin? They’re from Seoul too, and they attend a university somewhere near yours.” Carmelita calls for Soobin, making him pay attention to what they are talking about now. “Wouldn’t it be great if after their stay here, you’d still be able to hang out with each other when you’re all in Seoul?”
“Y—yeah,” was what he said as he awkwardly nodded. Auntie, we’re not even friends yet , was what he’s saying on his mind.
“I’d like that.” Says someone from the three.
Soobin looks up to see who it was. It was Kai, who smiled at him before returning his attention back to his food and to Carmelita who was happy with his reply. Soobin wasn’t really expecting anyone to agree with what his aunt said, given that it wasn’t even a day after their meeting, but that guy did. He decides to give another thought to what his aunt had said, and it doesn’t sound too bad actually, if they all get to know each other more and become friends. Soobin changes his mind, he thinks that he would like that too.
Time went on as they continued to eat until their stomachs were full and had to politely decline Carmelita’s offers of more food for them to eat. They stayed sitting at the table even after they're done eating, letting themselves recover from a full stomach because of the amount of food they ate. It was worth it though, they enjoyed every last bite of it, especially the three guests who only got to eat most of the food for the first time ever.
Carmelita started bringing some of the dishes to the kitchen already once it looked like no one’s going for more. Soobin and Yeonjun started helping her out soon after she went to the kitchen, the three friends watching as they both stood up and picked up the other plates on the table. Feeling like they should also be lending a hand, the trio started cleaning up their side of the table and picked their plates up to go to where they think the kitchen is when—
“Oh, no, no. You’re our guests so we’ll be taking care of the cleaning.” Carmelita tells them, taking the plates they have on their hands. “Just sit down there and rest, okay?” She gives them a sweet smile as she ushers them to sit down again before going back to where the kitchen is.
“Yeah, she’s not gonna let you help with the cleaning as long you’re here as guests.” Yeonjun walks up to them followed by Soobin, they went to pick up the other plates left and the ones with the leftovers. “And Ma’s right, you guys should just take some rest, especially after that long flight.”
“I’ll help you get inside the house after I place these in the kitchen first.” Soobin tells them before they go back into the kitchen.
“Thank you,” the three thanked them in unison. They stayed sitting at their seats, waiting for Soobin to come back so they could enter the guest house and pick their rooms.
It didn’t take long for Soobin to come back in the dining room, keys in hand, nodding to the three that they can get their bags now as he opens the door to the other house on the right. He enters the house, holding the door open as the three guests enter with their bags. The room led straight to the guest house living room, so they placed their bags beside the sofa in the middle. The room looks nice and cozy with a warm feeling to it too, like another home.
“Who can I give this key to?” Soobin asked them, Kai and Beomgyu immediately looked at Taehyun’s direction.
“I’ll take care of it.” Taehyun reaches his hand out and Soobin hands him the key to the house.
“The rooms are upstairs, there’s also a kitchen here with a dining table, and there’s two bathrooms: one upstairs and the other one is right there.” Soobin points to where the bathroom is and the three nod as he informs them where the rooms are in this house. “Also, there’s a door there that goes outside if you don’t feel like entering the main dining room first before going outside.”
“Thank you,” the three of them say in unison again, making Soobin smile about how connected they are.
“And if you ever need to get some food, you can always ask me and I’ll happily make you some.” Carmelita chimes in out of nowhere, startling Soobin and making him almost scream.
“Auntie!” Soobin whines at her aunt who only laughed at him as she pinched his cheeks and said sorry.
Soobin's cheeks turn red, not from the pinching, but from getting embarrassed as the three guests watch his aunt pinch his cheeks and call him by his nickname, saying how cute her nephew is. He looked at the three to see their reaction to this and saw Kai covering his mouth to chuckle. Ahh, Soobin somehow feels more embarrassed now.
Carmelita stops soon after, facing the three again. “But really, if you three ever do need some food, or just want some snacks, I’d gladly give and make you some. So don’t be shy and come to me or to Soobin and Yeonjun for anything, alright? We want you guys to enjoy your stay here.” She genuinely said to the three, assuring them that it won’t be a bother if they ever need something so they can go to them whenever they want to.
“Thank you again…” Taehyun bowed to her as thanks but trails off, unsure of what to call her — if he should call her by her name or something else.
“You can just call me auntie too.”
“Thank you , auntie. We’ll be sure to come to you if we ever need something.” Taehyun continues what he was saying, thanking her once again. “Thank you for the meal too, we really loved it, it was the best.”
“You’re too sweet, thank you.” Carmelita puts a hand on her chest, touched by what Taehyun had said. “We should probably leave you guys so you can unpack your things now.”
“Ah, right, we should do that and pick our rooms too.”
“Alright, see you later.” Carmelita waves goodbye at them before leaving the room and closing the door with Soobin by her side. The both of them went back to the kitchen to help Yeonjun clean the remaining dishes and the table in the main dining room.
After they were finished cleaning up, Yeonjun went outside to go get something for his mother while Soobin went back to his room upstairs to get some rest and read one of the books he bought yesterday. Opening his door, he’s met again by the view of the ocean which instantly puts himself in ease. He walks up to his bedside table, picking up the books he placed there and reading their summaries at the back to choose which one he’ll be reading today. He placed the other books he’d like to read later and is now left with two books in his hand, both with really interesting plots; the book on his right is about a video game character coming to life and an art student who has now to take care of them while the book on his left is about is about a prince adventuring deep within the forest and meeting a fairy that soon joins him. Having a hard time deciding which one to read, he momentarily looks up and out his window to think more about his choices. That’s when he sees a light blonde head peeking out the other window in front of him.
Kai was looking down his window, looking at something before he looked up at Soobin and to the ocean. Not expecting what he sees, he does a double take and looks at where Soobin is again. They're now facing each other with a surprised look on their faces, not really expecting to see the other from within their rooms.
So he chose that room? Soobin presumes. That room is probably the biggest one in that house and, just like his and Yeonjun’s, that room also has the best view of the beach and the ocean. It only made sense that he would want to stay in that room.
Kai smiles at him from his window after being surprised, even waving at Soobin as a greeting. Soobin waves and smiles at him in return. Who would've expected that the cute, pretty guy with the bright smile that he could be mistaken for the sun (all Soobin's words) would be taking the room where they could easily see and greet each other. For some reason, that makes Soobin feel kinda… glad? A reason that he can't exactly point out himself. After greeting each other with smiles, Kai turns back to his room, probably to unpack the rest of his things. Soobin also goes back to choosing which book he's going to read, finally deciding to go with the prince and fairy one since he hasn't read a magical fantasy story in a while yet.
He lays on his bed as he turns the front page of the book to read it, he reads the first few pages before arriving at chapter 1. He laid there on his bed, quietly reading his book, but a certain boy who smiles so bright it could rival the sun, or be mistaken for the sun itself, doesn’t seem to leave his mind. This eventually led him to having to read a paragraph numerous times, distracted by that one smile.
🐚
Soobin wakes up later than usual. He still has his book on his hand after being up all night reading it, too immersed with the story that the only times he was able to put it down was when it was time for dinner or when he needed to go to the bathroom. Their guests joined them last night for dinner too, and it wasn’t just his aunt who got to talk to them and get to know them better this time but him and Yeonjun as well.
The thought of dinner suddenly made his stomach growl, so he reached for his phone to check what time it was. It’s three in the afternoon, he doesn’t know what time he fell asleep but what he does know is that it’s been more than 12 hours since he last ate food. He places a bookmark between the pages of where he last left the book open and fixes his hair before he goes downstairs for some food. As he is walking down the stairs, he sees his aunt who has her arms crossed and frowning as she watches her favorite telenovela. She notices her nephew just right before he walks into the kitchen.
“Good morning, abunjing bunijng .” After noticing that he probably just woke up from sleep, she greets him with her sweet smile as if she wasn’t just frowning at the characters on the tv. Soobin is also still half-asleep to even notice the nickname his aunt called him by.
“Good afternoon, auntie.” He greets her back, rubbing his eye to keep him awake.
“There’s still some cheese dogs and eggs left on the table, and I also cooked more rice just in case you wake up hungry so you can have all of them if you want.” She remembers to tell him right before he walks into the kitchen again. “Oh, and also Yeonjun and the other three went out to roam around the place. They’ll probably come back some time later so you can join them by then.”
“Ahh, is that so, thanks, auntie.” He says without trying to process what his aunt had said yet and finally makes his way into the kitchen.
Oh, they’re roaming around the island . It’s only just now as he ‘s eating his first meal of the day that he finally processed the second half of what his aunt had told him. He was wondering where Yeonjun and the others were, only remembering what his aunt said after looking outside the window. Knowing Yeonjun, he’s probably leading them to many different places right now. They most likely went to places where he likes to eat and hang out and have made friends at. Those were the places Soobin knows Yeonjun really goes to often when he comes back home. As for Soobin though, he only really stays close to the house or inside it. He’ll only go outside if Yeonjun drags him, if there’s some kind of event he wants to go to, or when he just feels like it really. But he also never forgets to visit some of his friends from around here, and he would do that this time if only most of them were still in Palawan.
After finishing his food and washing the dishes, he went on with his day; taking a shower then watering his aunt’s plants, both inside the house and then everything that’s at the garden since it’s watering day, and finally finishing the book he was reading as it only has a few chapters left before the ending. Soobin wouldn’t say that he was satisfied with the ending — the prince and the fairy dying hand-in-hand in a forest fire — for him, it feels like it could be avoided. It was almost 6 p.m. when he finished the story. He placed the book on his bookshelf this time and went back downstairs.
There’s a small cottage that they call bahay kubo beside the house that his aunt also owns. It’s where they would hang out when they would just feel like going outside or when they have barbecue nights. It’s where Soobin would sometimes stay when he wants to watch the sunset, or the sunrise in the mornings he wakes up early, whenever he wants to see it closer and without a window in between.
Right now, he’s doing just that. He’s laying his head on the table in the middle, watching the sun slowly set on the horizon and the sky change colors. Such a serene view, Soobin thinks he could fall asleep again right here, right now just looking at it.
And just when he almost shuts his eyes, a sudden slam on the table startles him. He didn’t even need to look up to see who it was.
“Yah, Choi Yeonjun!” He looks at him annoyed while the other only chuckles at him.
“You,” Yeonjun pinches his cheek, making him wince. “Didn’t wake up when I was waking you up in the morning. We had to go on without you tuloy .”
“It’s fine, I was reading a book so I ended up sleeping late. Did you guys have fun though?” Soobin sits back up, leaning on the back of the seat.
“I was with them, of course we’re all going to have fun.” Yeonjun crosses his arms as he also leans to the back of his seat. Soobin lets out a small laugh at his response.
“You brought them to the usual places you’d go to didn’t you?”
“And we had fun there. You would too if you just woke up earlier.” Yeonjun says in a way he’s trying to make Soobin jealous of how much fun they had, like a child does to their friend. It only made Soobin giggle at how childish that was.
“Where are they anyway?” Soobin asks him upon finally noticing that the trio wasn’t with him when he arrived at the cottage.
“Oh, they’re right there, building sand castles.” Yeonjun turns to his side and points at where they are with his lips. Taehyun and Kai were the ones doing the building while Beomgyu takes pictures of them with his camera.
Soobin watches them as they keep building more after the ones they built keep collapsing. He can hear Beomgyu telling them to get better at building so he can take pictures of it, and as he was about to take a picture of one of the castles that was still up, Taehyun stood up and posed in front of him which completely blocked the castle. Beomgyu stops taking pictures, staring and blinking at Taehyun who only smiled at him, clearly teasing his friend. The moment he gets up from sitting, Taehyun makes a run for it, already knowing he’s about to get chased and he was. They ran in circles around Kai, and Kai, he was smiling at his friends as the sun set behind him making him look like he was glowing. The colors of the sky behind him matches with him nicely. Somehow that was how Soobin saw him.
He’s really pretty , he thinks to himself again, how can one person be this pretty?
Kai laughs a loud, hearty laugh as he’s now watching his friends throw water from the buckets they have to each other. Soobin hears his contagious laugh, unconsciously laughing as well.
Yeonjun looks at him, confused at his sudden laugh, sees the endeared look on his face so he looks at where the other was looking . There, he finally gets it. He smiles at the realization and gets up from his seat, walking up to Soobin.
“Uy!” He shakes Soobin who was startled by his action. “ Baka matunaw ‘yan . [He might melt.]”
“Huh?” Was Soobin’s response, confused by what Yeonjun meant.
“They look like they’re having fun so let’s join them.” Yeonjun tells him as he pulls him up from his seat so they can walk to them.
“Oh, uh, sure.” And they both started walking to where the three are at the moment.
While almost there, Yeonjun remembers something so he nudges Soobin to tell him. “Oh, yeah, we’re also going island hopping in two days.”
“You helped them book the tour?” Yeonjun nods. “So which tour did you guys get?”
“All four,” Yeonjun says casually.
“All four?” Soobin exclaimed in surprise.
“All private tours so it’ll just be us, and they also decided to go to Puerto Princesa for the underground river right after.”
“Wow, just how much money do they have?” Soobin says in amazement after hearing about the tours.
“That doesn’t matter! We’re going on a trip, Soobin!” Yeonjun shakes him, already excited about going island hopping.
Soobin chuckles at his reaction. “You say that like you haven’t been there countless of times already.”
“The last one was two years ago, and this time we have more friends with us so we’ll definitely enjoy it more this time. Don’t act like you’re not excited too.” Yeonjun points at him and he just laughs.
“Hey, wanna join us build sand castles?” Beomgyu asked the two of them after they stopped walking.
“Sure, we’d like that.” Yeonjun answers for both of them.
“Arlight, let’s make it a sand castle building contest then.” Beomgyu decides and all of them seem to agree but Soobin.
“I’m fine, I’ll just watch you guys.” He told them and was about to sit down when Kai spoke.
“Why? Afraid to lose?” Kai questions him with a smile on his face, almost as if he was challenging him.
Soobin exhales a soft chuckle, who would’ve thought the pretty guy who looked so sweet would want to challenge him in a sand castle building contest. Soobin isn’t really competitive, not like Yeonjun, but something about the pretty boy challenging him made him give in.
“Okay then,” he says, as he stands up straight right next to Yeonjun. “I’ll join.”
The others cheer, especially Yeonjun who immediately claims him as his partner for the contest while the three stay together. Kai smiles at him again, not in a challenging way but in a way he’s glad that he's finally joining them.
Taehyun gives them the extra sand castle building buckets they have and they all start building their own sand castles. They all gather sand and water for building their castles; the trio hurrying up to build theirs even though there wasn’t even a time limit while Yeonjun keeps instructing his partner with what to do and how to keep their castle beautiful. Soobin, on the other hand, keeps subconsciously stealing glances at one person from the opposite team that Yeonjun has to keep telling him to focus, taking the contest a bit seriously with how competitive he is. When he did it again though, Kai had glanced at him at the same time. Surprised, Soobin just freezes as they hold their gaze at each other. A second later, Kai chuckles and smiles at him, so he sheepishly smiles back at him.
“Soobin, focus muna bago landi . [Soobin, focus first first before flirting.]” Yeonjun tells him after noticing him not moving and looking the other way.
“Shut up, I wasn’t!” Soobin denies, red starting to color his cheeks.
The sand castle building went on for a while, even until the sun was gone and the lights outside the house and from the torches were their only light source. Their judges for the competition were the people walking by them, making them pick between the two sand castles — first to get five votes will win. They each have four votes now, they only need to ask one more person for the winner to be decided, that is until one of the castles collapses. It was Soobin and Yeonjun’s.
Beomgyu laughs at their fallen castle, “I guess we win now.”
After saying that, their castle collapses as well, both Soobin and Yeonjun taking revenge by laughing at their poor castle too. They stopped after a minute, both teams now just staring at each other and their fallen castles. Soobin giggles, finding the situation funny, and the others join him until all of them are full-on laughing even as people who walk by glances at them.
There were no winners in the end, but they all had fun nonetheless. Soobin wonders if they’ll have this much fun or more in two days in their island hopping. He quietly hopes for it, if it also means he could see Kai’s bright smile he started to like, maybe even more so than he thinks.