Yuanfen [UAU V; The Complete UAU Guide]

[BONUS CHAPTER] I / Rings

WARNINGS: Strong language; mentions of PTSD; depictions of separation anxiety

-Day 1508; June 12th, 2021-

oohsehunnie: meet at my place for 2
oohsehunnie: ill have a babysitter so bring your kids
kim junmyeon.: im not leaving my kids with some random
oohsehunnie: it's not some random it's minseok and I'm paying him so get your ass over here before I make jomgdae drive me out there and beat your ass
kim junmyeon.: why can't the twins just come with
oohsehunnie: you won't want you're kids where we're going
kim junmyeon.: kinky
kim junmyeon.: but fine see you at 2

Kim Junmyeon hadn't even stepped in the door before he was already being pushed out by Oh Sehun.

"What? Wait!" Junmyeon cried, trying to push past Sehun and into the home, but Sehun was stronger and not as tired, as all of Junmyeon's energy had gone into trying to get his kids ready and out the door, and Sehun easily overpowered Junmyeon. "Daddy loves you!" he called to his children, Kim Eunra and Kim Eunjoon, as the door closed behind them. "Fuck off." he scoffed.

Sehun laughed, linking his arm with Junmyeon's as they walked back down the driveway, to where Junmyeon's car was parked. "They're fine, you're fine, everything's fine."

Junmyeon risked a glance over his shoulder, to where Eunjoon stood in the window, Kim Jongdae behind him, his own daughter, Kim Yoojoo, in his arms.

Junmyeon waved, and he could see Eunjoon turn to Jongdae, who nodded at him, and then the small boy ran off.

"Junmyeon," Sehun whined, and Junmyeon looked over to the passenger's side of the car, where Sehun repeatedly pulled on the handle, leaning back. "Let me in."

Junmyeon sighed, fumbling with his keys. "You're just as bad as the twins."

He unlocked the car, and both Junmyeon and Sehun climbed in. Junmyeon dropped his phone in the cupholder, and backed out of the driveway.

"Where are we going?" Junmyeon asked. "Can you put it in my GPS, please?"

Sehun turned as attention the the GPS built into Junmyeon's dash, tapping around on it.

"I still can't believe you bought a mom van." Sehun commented.

"It's not a mom van," Junmyeon rolled his eyes. "It's convenient."

"It's filthy is what it is." Sehun turned around in his seat, peering into the back. There were crumbs pushed into the cracks of the seats, the backs of the chairs and sides of the car doors were covered in small, dusty footprints, there were handprints on the windows, and there were toys and drink cups forgotten in the car seats.

"Listen," Junmyeon said, turning a corner. "I have two four year olds, this is as clean as it's going to get."

"Take a vacuum to it."

"When I have the time in thirteen years, I totally will."

~

Junmyeon carefully pulled into a parking lot situated on a hill, which overlooked a small beach. It wasn't very busy, but the majority of traffic consisted of docks and boats.

Junmyeon and Sehun clambered out, and Junmyeon followed Sehun down to the beach and up to a building, where a few boys laid behind. The boys were young, no older than seventeen.

"Mr. Oh!" one cried, smiling widely. "Pleasure to see you! This must be Mr. Kim," The boy gestured to Junmyeon, and Sehun nodded. "Are the two of you ready?" Again, Sehun agreed, and Junmyeon shot him a glance - he was still unsure of what it was exactly they were doing there. "Great!" the boy continued. "I'll just get you to sign off on these for me, please." He pushed them both a clipboard with a pen attached with a string. Junmyeon quickly read over the terms, signed at the bottom of the waiver, and then slid the clipboard back.

The boy took the boards and then disappeared out the back, and then re-appeared at the side. "Follow me!" he chirped cheerily, and the two men followed him down the beach. "Do you need me to show you everything again, Mr. Oh? I don't mind, but I'm sure you remember everything from last time," he turned to face Junmyeon. "He's a real natural, you know! I was so shocked to hear it was his first time out ever."

Junmyeon was still confused onto what the two were doing, but was quickly ushered onto a boat by Sehun, and before he knew it, the excitable boy was waving back at them from the shore.

"Sehun?" Junmyeon questioned, slight demand in his voice. "Are you sure about this?"

Junmyeon knew better than anyone that Sehun was scared of the water, and he was worried his friend had been possessed or had gone mad when he saw him behind the wheel of a small boat.

"I've done it before, I'm fine," Sehun insisted. "I'm okay."

"Just be careful. Please."

"Do you want to know what we're doing?" Sehun asked, cocking an eyebrow and plastering on a cocky smile.

"Do I?"

"Well, you're not going to find out until we're there."

"I thought we were there. Like, there was here."

"Nope. We're not too far, though."

Sehun maneuvered the boat a little further in the water, and dropped anchor not too far from a small island. The two boys clambered out, wading onto the sandy beach from the ankle-deep water.

"You should've told me to wear better shoes." Junmyeon scoffed, placing his shoes on the sand and using his sweater to dry his feet off before stuffing them back in.

"It's not that bad," Sehun snapped. "We only have a little further."

Junmyeon sighed, begrudgingly following his friend up a hill, trying not to get sand in his shoes. "You keep saying that."

"Because I'm right."

The boys walked a little further until they reached the top of the hill, where it branched off into a cliff, overlooking the water on the other side of where they began to trek up.

"It's pretty." was all Junmyeon said. Was this it? Sehun had made him leave his kids abruptly, drive about a half hour out of town, spend another fifteen minutes in a boat guided by a man with PTSD from a water accident, and then spent another ten minutes trekking up a hill, where, yes, he did get sand in his shoes, for a little view? Yes, it was pretty, but nothing significant.

Sehun laughed, and then came up behind him, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Close your eyes."

"No!" Junmyeon exclaimed, skirting away from him and further inland. "You'll push me off."

Sehun laughed again. "Is that how much you trust me?" Sehun grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back to where he was standing. "I won't push you, I promise. Just close your eyes and trust me."

"This better not be a mistake, Oh Sehun." Junmyeon sighed begrudgingly, but closing his eyes nonetheless.

"Think about yourself for a second. What do you feel?"

"Honestly? Very unsure and kinda weirded out."

"I'll dumb it down. What do you feel when you think about your home life?"

"Sad."

Sehun sighed. "It is sad, isn't it? What makes it sad?"

"I married and had children with a woman I've never loved, my children are growing up in a home where their mother cares more about another woman than them and with a father who can barely keep himself together," Junmyeon turned around, opening his eyes, grabbing Sehun by the collar and pulling him down. "I don't want that, Sehunnie," he said, choking back tears. "I love them too much, they don't deserve this, I-"

"Sh-h-h," Sehun hushed his friend, gently removing his hands from his collar. "It's okay. This is why we're here," Sehun turned Junmyeon back around. "Close your eyes again," Junmyeon did so. "What can you do to fix that? Make everything better?"

"Have you push Sooyoung and I off this cliff."

"As much as I'd love to do that, I have too good of a reputation to be involved in a murder scandal, even if I do have Kyungsoo as my lawyer. Think of something else."

"I feel like you're looking for a specific answer."

"Maybe. Just tell me something. Anything."

"Anything."

Sehun scoffed. "You have no idea how close you are to getting pushed off. What I was looking for was something like, 'better myself, get over it'. Do you know how we're going to go about that?"

"Just please, push me off this damn cliff."

"We're getting there, shush it," Sehun scolded. "We need to let go of all of that, everything weighing you down and keeping you in the past. Do you know what I think connects you most to the past?"

"You?"

Sehun made a buzzer noise. "Wrong. Your ring," Sehun turned Junmyeon around, grabbing his right hand. "Give it."

Junmyeon wrenched his hand away, and Sehun and Junmyeon exchanged glances. Junmyeon gave in, and hesitatingly, slipped the silver ring off of his finger, dropping it into Sehun's palm.

"This water's pretty deep," Sehun warned, turning Junmyeon around yet again so he faced the water, his back pressed up against Sehun's chest. Sehun pressed the silver ring back into Junmyeon's hand, curling his fingers around it. He then held his closed fist in his hand, guiding his hand up, as if he was a baseball player, throwing the ball from left field to home base. "You know what you have to do." Sehun released him, stepping away, and Junmyeon followed through on his own, kicking up his leg as he chucked the ring into the air.

The two watched as the ring sailed, catching a ray of light and reflecting off before it landed in the water with a gentle plop.

"How do you feel?" Sehun asked.

Junmyeon stood near the edge, looking out solemnly over the water. He was silent for a moment before he said anything. "Sort of strange," he admitted. "Lighter, but like I've left something important behind."

Sehun came back up behind Junmyeon, wrapping his arms around his waist. "It's alright," he cooed, sensing his friend's sensitivity. "You're alright."

Junmyeon turned to face Sehun, meaning to leave, back the way they came, but Sehun laid his hand on Junmyeon's chin, tilting his head up and gently laying his lips on his.

Junmyeon's eyes widened in surprise, and he wrenched away. "What the hell was that?" he demanded, swiping the back of his hand across his mouth.

Sehun shrugged. "Felt the situation called for it." He shoved his hands in his front pockets, turned on his heels, walking away.

"Hey!" Junmyeon called after him. "Get back here! Now I know why your girlfriend is always mad at you!" He took off, chasing his friend.

~