The long-awaited six-hour journey from campus to the resort had finally begun. While everyone initially expected a peaceful and quiet bus ride, Earth's unexpected boarding had stretched the atmosphere to its breaking point. Not a single soul dared to speak.
About half an hour into the drive, Sun and his group were hanging out at the back while Moon and his friends were seated at the front.
Moon, naturally under First's control, sat by the window right next to him.
As for Ten, he hadn't slept all night due to the excitement of the trip. Thinking he could catch up on his rest until they reached the resort, he closed his eyes and tried to drift off.
Since Bee had already made plans with Mint, the two of them were sitting in the middle section, chatting away and having a great time. This left Ten all alone, with no shoulder to lean on for a nap.
Fortunately, he had brought his neck pillow. He pulled it out of his bag with great enthusiasm and put it on, planning to fall asleep by counting the sheeps just like his childhood days.
He had just closed his eyes and started to doze off when…
An unnecessarily loud, piercing laugh erupted from behind him, the kind of sound that made it impossible for a person to even sit properly, let alone sleep.
Ten rolled his eyes and turned around with a burst of fury.
"It's seven in the morning! Have some respect and keep it down!" he shouted, his voice sharp enough to cut through the heavy silence of the bus.
With Ten's childish outburst, every head on the bus suddenly turned toward the back.
The owner of the laugh, Wee, lowered his gaming console to his knees and blinked in surprise.
While Sun and Earth, sitting beside him, remained silent at this sudden confrontation, Wee smirked slightly as he looked at Ten's face, which was flushed with anger and framed by that fluffy neck pillow.
"My bad, princess!" Wee said, his voice carrying that sarcastic and slightly mocking tone.
"I didn't expect to beat the last level right then so I got excited."
Ten was just about to open his mouth to give an even sharper response when the bus suddenly began to slow down with a jarring noise.
The driver, grumbling, pulled the bus into the emergency lane. As everyone looked at each other in confusion, the driver got up and walked toward the back.
"Listen up everybody, the ventilation cover in the back has loosened; it's dripping water. Those in these two rows have to move until I fix it" the driver said, pointing to where Wee, and some guys were sitting.
After everybody fastly found a new seat to sit with their friends, Wee was late to found a new spot.
The double seat next to where Ten was sitting in the front had remained empty since Bee and Mint had moved to the middle. The driver turned to Wee and said, "You, move to that empty spot next to your friend for now." pointing to the seat beside Ten.
Ten's eyes went wide. "No, no! Isn't there anywhere else? I'm trying to sleep!"
"Son, the bus is packed, that's the only empty spot in front of this bus now. Come on, don't block the way." the driver snapped.
Wee shrugged as if he were taking a secret pleasure in the situation, grabbed his backpack and console, and walked toward Ten. Ten watched in despair as Wee sat into the seat next to him; he had already started counting his 100th sheep in his head, but this time out of frustration, not for peace.
Wee settled into the seat, stretching his long legs into the space in front of him. He leaned toward Ten and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll play quietly this time. But if you snore, I make no promises."
Ten adjusted his neck pillow with fury and turned his face to the window. "I don't snore!" he hissed.
The six-hour journey had turned from a restful nap into a test of patience, spent side-by-side with this "noisy" guy he couldn't stand.
~~~
Two hours had passed, and the vibration of the road had finally put everyone into their own dreams.
As the driver steered into a large rest area and the bus slowed down, the hiss of the air brakes brought Ten back to consciousness.
In his dream, Ten felt as though he were floating on clouds, leaning against a massive, warm piece of cotton candy.
But when his eyes slowly opened, his heart nearly skipped a beat at the sight before him.
The "cotton candy" he was leaning on was none other than Wee's shoulder, stuffed in a black sweatshirt.
Ten hadn't just rested his head; he had literally wrapped both arms tightly around Wee's arm, his neck pillow slipped to the side as he snuggled deep into Wee's shoulder.
Wee, meanwhile, was still looking at the gaming console in his other hand as if nothing were wrong. Even though he realized Ten had woken up, he didn't move an inch.
Ten stood straight instantly, as if he'd been struck by lightning. Within seconds, his face turned bright red, and he stared at Wee in total disbelief.
"You... why didn't you push me off?" Ten stammered, his voice no longer loud but gripped by intense embarrassment. "How long have I been like this?"
Wee slowly turned his head to look at Ten. The usual mocking smirk was gone; instead, there was a strange calmness.
"About an hour and a half," Wee said, stretching his numbed arm slightly.
"You were clinging so tightly I was afraid you'd wake the whole bus if I moved. Besides..." He paused and gave a small smirk. "It was the only way to keep you quiet. At least you don't complain in your sleep."
Ten stood frozen at those words. Wee's noisy, rude persona had vanished, replaced by an attitude that could almost be described as "understanding."
Seeing Wee rub his numbed arm only deepened Ten's guilt. The fact that he hadn't made a sound and had offered his shoulder as a pillow completely shattered Ten's bad thoughts about him.
"I... I'm sorry, but you also should've just woke me up!" Ten whispered, looking away.
"I didn't know what I was doing in my sleep."
Wee stood up as the bus doors opened and headed for the aisle without a word. But just before stepping off, he turned back to Ten.
"No worries, princess. My shoulder is still in one piece." he said with a wink before hopping off the bus.
Ten sat there, glued to his seat, trying to suppress the strange mix of excitement and shame as he watched Wee walk away.
As the bus doors hissed open, the tense air inside mixed with the fresh but chilly morning breeze outside. While the dust from that strange moment between Ten and Wee hadn't yet settled, the four people who made up the bus's heavy tense rose silently.
The moment the bus stopped, First grasped Moon's arm gently but firmly. He didn't take his watchful eyes off Moon's still-uneasy expression, following him like a shadow. As they moved down the aisle, Sun had gathered his own group, descending with an expressionless face.
When they stepped out onto the wide concrete area of the rest stop, Earth had already made it down. He was looking around with a relaxed face, hands in his pockets, as if he were on the most peaceful trip of his life.
First led Moon toward one of the tables while keeping an eye on Earth; every cell in his body was on high alert.
Sun paused when he reached Earth's side toward the back. Mint's words from the other day and Moon's exhausted, vulnerable state on the bus were spinning in his mind. Looking at Earth, he felt an indescribable sense of confusion.
"Are you okay?" Sun asked Earth. His voice was flat as usual, but there was a hidden meaning within it.
Earth turned to Sun with that sharp smile. "I'm perfectly fine, Sun. Just wanted some fresh air. The journey is turning out to be... more interesting than I expected." he said, intentionally fixing his gaze on Moon, who was sitting at the opposite table under First's protection.
The moment Moon felt Earth's eyes on him, he looked away, trembling, and clung tighter to First's arm. Seeing this move, First slowly rose from his seat, his eyes flashing like a blade toward Earth.
Among the ordinary crowd of the rest area, an invisible but fraying rope was stretched tight between these four. On one side, First, burning with protective instincts, and Moon trapped in his fear. On the other, Sun, more confused than ever, and Earth, the architect of all this messy destruction.
As the automatic doors of the market closed behind Mint, Wee, and Bank; the noise of the rest stop suddenly turned into a humming silence in the narrow space where Sun and Earth stood.
Sun had his arms crossed, watching Moon, who was trying to practically look invisible next to First a few meters away.
Without taking his eyes off Moon, Sun asked in his usual distant tone:
"Earth, be honest. Seeing Moon there, in that state... how do you feel?"
Earth paused while playing with the cap of his water bottle. The unwavering feeling on his face shadowed for a second, but he quickly recovered.
"How do you expect me to feel, Sun? I was just honest. I told you what happened."
Sun slowly turned to Earth, locking his eyes onto his.
"According to what you told, you are the victim. You said Moon was obsessed with you, that he harassed you. So you should be the one that is uncomfortable now. But as I'm looking at the scene over there, it makes me confused to be honest.
Moon is trembling as if he's seen the grim reaper, and First is protecting him as if he is preparing for The Great War. If he's the guilty one, why does he look so vulnerable now?"
Earth laughed lightly, but this time it was more of a forced one.
"Sun, you should be the one who knows what manipulation is. Some people use a victim card as a weapon. Moon is doing exactly that right now. He's playing on your conscience and the others' by making you pity him.
You expect me to feel bad seeing him cry like that, but have you forgotten what I went through, those messages he sent me?"
Sun remained silent for a while. The logical side of him wanted to believe Earth's documents, but his heart had seen that "darkness" in Moon's eyes that Mint mentioned earlier.
"I don't know, Earth." Sun said, his voice lower and filled with doubt this time.
"It's just... something in this frame just doesn't fit. If you are truly the victim, why does a sense of guilt wake up inside me when I see Moon? And why are you so peaceful?"
Earth placed his hand on Sun's shoulder; it felt less like a friendly gesture and more like an attempt to control the situation.
"I'm peaceful because I know I'm right, Sun. When the trip is over, everything will become clearer. Just be a bit more patient."
Sun slowly lowered Earth's hand from his shoulder. He said nothing, but his undoubtable trust in Earth had begun to crack on the cold concrete of the rest stop.
Earth sensed the crack beneath Sun's unusual distant moves. It was clear that Sun wasn't looking at that table with pity.
In his gaze, there was a type of protectiveness, even a deep confusion, that Earth had never seen in Sun before.
When Earth sensed that this interest wasn't just guilt, but a growing attraction toward Moon (even if it hadn't reached Sun's consciousness yet) a toxic rage filled him.
Without breaking his smile, he leaned a bit closer to Sun, like a friend.
"Sun, I've never seen you this scattered."
Earth said, adding a fake concern to his voice.
"Why does that kid affect you so much? I mean, why do you dwell so much on someone you know is guilty? Or is there... something else under that guys innocent mask that even you can't resist?"
Sun paused under the weight of the question. "What do you mean by that just now?"
"I mean…" Earth continued, watching Sun's eyes intently.
"If I didn't know you, I'd think his fragile state touched your heart, that you found something attractive in him. You know, sometimes even the most rational people can develop a... weakness for the wrong person."
Sun wasn't expecting this honesty. He looked away, fixing his eyes on the trees in the distance. "Don't be ridiculous, Earth. I'm just focusing on the strangeness of the situation. I don't have a weakness for anyone."
No matter how much Sun denied it, that momentary pause and the slight change in his voice were enough proof for Earth.
Earth had diagnosed that confused feeling inside Sun—that faint attraction.
Something snapped inside Earth. He clenched his fist inside his pocket, his nails digging into his palm. His jaw, unseemingly clenching.
"So you are into my little Moon like that too." he thought to himself.
The rage sent blood rushing to his head, but outwardly he projected only a cold calmness. The possibility of Sun sliding toward Moon's side, especially with an emotional bond in this case of "rightfulness" that Earth viewed as his own property, was driving him insane.
"You're right, I guess I was talking nonsense," Earth said, his voice ice-cold. "I'm going to get a coffee; I guess I'm not fully awake."
As he turned his back and walked away, the 'sweet' mask completely fell off. Silencing Moon wasn't going to be enough; he had to destroy every bit of value Moon held in Sun's eyes.
The noise of the rest stop went down on Moon as First got up to go to the restroom. First squeezed his brother's shoulders gently and turned to Ten. "Ten, stay here for two minutes. Moon is in your hands, don't let him go anywhere."
Ten nodded with sleepy eyes. "Don't worry P'First, I've got my eye on him." he said, but as soon as First walked away, his sleeplessness won. His head dropped onto the table, and he fell fast asleep.
Moon took this brief moment to take his camera out. He wanted to escape the suffocating tension and just look through the viewfinder. Seeing Ten asleep, he quietly headed toward a calm path surrounded by pine trees.
He was filming nature, the drifting dust, and the light filtering through the trees. For a moment, everything seemed peaceful... Until that familiar, ice-cold voice echoed right behind his ear.
"Beautiful scenery, isn't it Moon?"
Moon flinched as if he got electrocuted. When he turned around, Earth was standing right in front of him with that usual 'clean' smile. But his eyes were more fixed and terrifying than ever.
"Earth..?" Moon tried to take a step back, but his back hit the hard trunk of a tree.
Moon didn't feel the hardness of the tree trunk against his back as much as he felt Earth's suffocating shadow looming over him. Earth had set aside his usual mask of fake kindness, replacing it with a dark, possessive obsession that only Moon was meant to see.
Earth pulled his hand back from the tree and slowly ran his fingertips over Moon's hair, then slid them toward Moon's trembling chin. Moon wanted to pull away, but Earth's gaze pinned him to the spot.
"You know, Moon…" Earth said, his voice so low and smooth it sounded more like a threat than a whisper.
"The interest others have in you, those pathetic 'fans' lingering around... it doesn't even make me angry. It's just... funny you know? How pitiful that they haven't realized who you belong to yet."
As a single tear rolled down from Moon's cheek, Earth wiped it away by pressing his thumb against his skin.
"I hate that you show this beautiful face to everyone, that you grant that innocent smile to just anyone. You should only look at me; you should only be this vulnerable and gullible in front of me. I don't care who likes you or who tries to protect you; because at the end of the day, all those people will leave, and you will be left in my palms."
Earth brought his face close to Moon's ear and continued with an ice-cold breath:
"So stop smiling at everyone with that beautiful face. And put that camera down. You don't need to see the world through that viewfinder; I am your world. Every sob of yours, every fear, every heartbeat belongs only to me. Letting others love you is like giving something of mine to someone else... And I never like to share what belongs to me."
Moon was terrified by Earth's obsessive possessiveness. Earth wasn't looking for a weakness to drag him down, he wanted to tear him away from the world and trap him in his own dark cage.
"You are mine, Moon." Earth whispered, his lips brushing against Moon's temple. "Now wipe those tears and go back to the table. But never forget; in every step you take, in every breath you draw, there is my fingerprint. I love you so much that no one can take you away from me. It's my kind of love... the kind from which there is no escape."
Moon felt as if he couldn't breathe under Earth's toxic whispers and dark confessions. The moment Earth's lips pulled away from his temple, he ran away, driven by a raw survival instinct. Without a single word, he began to run through the trees toward the center of the rest stop, as if a monster were chasing him.
His mind was focused on one name: First. He hoped his brother had come out of the restroom and longed for the safety of his arms.
As tears blurred his vision, he rounded the corner of the facility and crashed into a big, solid chest.
The person he collided with was Sun, who had just gotten up from the table to look for Earth.
Moon wasn't in a state to care who he had run into. Driven by the desperate need to seek sanctuary in someone who wasn't Earth, he clung tightly to Sun's waist as if the world were crumbling beneath his feet.
He buried his face in Sun's chest, his sobs muffled by the fabric of the shirt as his body shook like a leaf.
Sun froze, completely caught off guard. His arms remained suspended in the air, unsure of where to go.
His heart began to beat rapidly, in sync with Moon's trembling body.
The doubtful moments he had just shared with Earth and that indefinable sense of "protection" within him merged with Moon's helpless embrace, shattering all of Sun's defense mechanisms.
"Moon? Hey, calm down... What happened?" Sun whispered. His voice was stripped of its usual icy tone, becoming worried and soft.
Instead of answering, Moon only clung tighter. Finally, Sun stopped hesitating and slowly placed his hands on Moon's back, pulling him close.
At that moment, the surrounding crowd, the waiting bus, and Earth's presence faded away.
Sun felt not only the innocence of the trembling boy in his arms but also the deep worry in his soul for the first time.
Just then, Earth appeared at the edge of the path and stopped dead in his tracks. His smile froze on his face as his gaze locked onto Sun's hands holding Moon.
Seeing the person he just claimed as "his" find peace in his friends arms truly awakened the beast inside Earth.
First, stepping out of the facility with anxiety, felt the blood rush to his head when he saw his brother sobbing in Sun's arms.
He covered the distance in seconds and reached them with a burst of fury.
"Let go of him!" First roared, harshly pushing Sun aside and pulling Moon behind his own body into the safety zone. "What did you do to my brother? What did you say to him?"
Sun stumbled from the force of the push but couldn't take his eyes off Moon. "I didn't do anything, First, he just came and hugged me suddenly..." his voice still carried traces of that unusual tenderness.
First cupped Moon's face with his hands and turned him toward himself. "Moon, look at me. Why are you crying? Did someone do something? Tell me, who hurt you?"
Sun stepped closer as well, asking with the weight of the trembling he had just felt against his chest: "Moon, really... what happened that scared you this much? Did someone say something?"
Moon momentarily snapped out of it under the crossfire of questions from his brother and Sun.
When he lifted his head from Sun's chest and returned to reality, his heart skipped a beat as he realized who he had just hugged in.
Wavering between shame and fear, his eyes instinctively drifted to the edge of the path.
There, standing in the shadows of the trees, he locked eyes with Earth. Standing at an angle where Sun and First couldn't see, Earth was looking at Moon with that terrifying, silent, and threatening smile.
With his eyes, he was practically strangling Moon, saying, "If you say a single word, I'll ruin both Sun's and your brother's lives."
Moon's throat went dry, the words caught in his throat. He knew that if he told the truth, Earth would harm both his brother and Sun, who had just opened his arms to him.
He quickly wiped his tears with the back of his hand and stepped back.
"I-it's nothing." Moon said, his voice trembling. "I just... I almost dropped my camera, I got really scared. In a moment of panic... I hugged whoever was there without seeing who it was. I'm sorry."
First frowneed, he knew his brother wouldn't be this shaken over something so simple.
"You cried this much just for a camera, Moon? Don't lie to me!"
"Really, bro."
Moon said, trying to escape Earth's shadow by looking at the ground.
"I think it's exhaustion, everything just piled up. Please let's go, I want to get on the bus."
Sun was smart enough to realize that the pure terror on Moon's face wasn't the fear of dropping a camera.
His gaze swept around suspiciously, but Earth had already started walking toward the market with a casual vibe.
Looking at the dampness left on his shirt and Moon's pure glances, Sun felt for the first time, deep down, that this journey was evolving into something much darker than it appeared.
~~~
The break was over, and with the driver's loud honk, everyone headed back to the bus with heavy steps. However, once inside, things got even more complicated.
The ventilation leak in the back hadn't been fixed; in fact, that entire section of the ceiling had been worse, making the last two rows completely unusable.
"Everyone from the back, sit to the other empty seats, I don't want any standing passengers!" the driver snapped, triggering a frantic scramble for seats.
First didn't want to leave Moon's side for a single second, but as luck would have it, the empty seats at the front of the bus were already taken at a light speed.
Only two double spots remained: one next to Sun, and the other across the aisle, where Earth had coincidentally settled.
First would rather die than let Moon sit next to Earth. Even though he was still furious with Sun, he was at least sure (for now) that Sun wouldn't physically harm Moon.
"Moon, you sit here, next to Sun." First said, his voice trembling with authority. "I'm right in the next row, I've got my eye on you."
Moon sat down to the window seat next to Sun. Sun, still living at that moment at the rest stop and the damp stain on his shirt, noticed Moon's shaky hands and looked away.
First, meanwhile, gritted his teeth and slumped into the seat next to Earth. As if he had been waiting for this very moment, Earth turned to him with that disturbing, 'sweet' smile the second First sat down.
"Looks like we're companions for the rest of the six-hour journey, First." Earth said, his voice as sharp as a blade.
"I hope you don't feel uncomfortable by me."
First gave Earth a look so lethal that if looks could kill, Earth would have turned to ash right there in his seat.
"If you say one more word, I'll throw you out of this window before this bus reaches the resort, so stop with the casual conversation." First hissed.
As the bus set off, the scene was this: while the strange tension between Ten and Wee continued in the front, Sun and Moon were locked in a silent war behind them.
Right next to them, First and Earth sat side by side like two angry birds ready to explode at any moment. The rest of the journey was going to be nothing but short of hell for everyone.
~~~
Ten minutes had passed within the going progress of the bus. First was growing more tense by every second due to the presence of Earth sitting right next to him.
Within the loudness of the bus, Earth knew exactly how to trigger First's protective streak.
Noticing First's eyes constantly lingering on Moon in the back, he shifted his focus to Bank in the front seat.
Earth turned his entire body toward Bank, blocking the line of sight between First and Bank. Lowering his voice to that "warm" and attractive tone, he touched Bank's shoulder.
"You know Bank, I was thinking of suggesting to hang out together at the resort. I feel like we have a lot to talk about, especially in those quiet moments where no one can interrupt us..."
Bank blinked in surprise at Earth's sudden and flirtatious proximity. Since he viewed Earth merely as a popular upperclassman, he couldn't quite make sense of the move.
"Uh, Earth... I actually thought I'd hang out with Wee, Mint and Sun but..."
The moment First saw Earth's manipulative and "flirtatious" behavior, his mind went numb.
After what Earth had just done to Moon, First was 100% convinced he was now trying to trap the clueless Bank.
Instead of sensing Earth's intent to provoke, he genuinely believed Bank was the next target and immediately went into defense mode.
First intervened harshly, shoving Earth's hand off Bank's shoulder. "Get your hand off him!" First shouted.
End of Chapter 9.
~~~
Hello y'all, hope you enjoyed this one!
Sincerely, Teddytimid.