Even if they had already been close before their time in Australia, they now only had grown closer.

They cooked together, took long walks on the beach, made amazing trips and sometimes even slept together in one bed.

They had become a small family of their own, in which everyone had their place without ever having to talk about it.

Chan was undisputedly the head of the family and fulfilled his "duties" with a certain pride.

It somehow filled him with inner peace to be able to provide for the younger ones. When he saw how their eyes glowed on their trips, how they stood together in the kitchen and cooked, or simply the feeling of belonging together.

In his time before he met Changbin, he had often felt lonely and worthless. And even now, due to the quarrel with Changbin, these feelings had tried to crawl back to the surface again. But his new small family had managed to make him feel loved and needed.

Even if the place in his heart that belonged to Changbin, still hurt.

But again and again he pushed the thoughts of the younger one further back and decided to deal with him again only when he was back in Korea.

Deep in his thoughts, he sat on the terrace and tried to answer some emails from his father, even if he actually wanted nothing more than to lie in bed and cuddle with the others.

But Hyunjin and Jisung had left to buy souvenirs and Felix had gone to visit his parents, which was why Chan wanted to take advantage of the moment and work at least a little while the others weren't there.

Sighing, he closed his laptop and took it inside to the living room. His father's emails somehow didn't help to make him feel better, which was why he decided to postpone work until later.

And although he would certainly have found something else to do if he had looked for it, he directed his steps into the bedroom and threw himself on the bed.

His thoughts returned to Changbin again and again, even though he kept trying to push them aside, but somehow he just didn't succeed today.

Sighing, he buried himself in the duvet and finally fell into a restless sleep.

That's how Jisung found him when he came back with Hyunjin some time later.

Chan rolled around in bed restlessly. His naked upper body covered with sweat and his face turned into a grimace.

Worried, Jisung climbed to him on the bed, put a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently. Chan whimpered before he finally opened his eyes and looked at Jisung confused and somehow panicked.

"Hey angel... it's all right," Jisung murmured and gently stroked through Chan's sweaty hair.

Wordlessly, Chan pulled the younger one to him and buried his face on his shoulder. His body shook and although he tried to suppress his sobs, it finally broke out of him.

"Everything is fine... I'm there." Helpless, Jisung stroked Chan's back and tried to calm him down, even if he didn't understand in the slightest what was going on.

"I-it i-is b.... b-because of Binnie," Chan sobbed and only pressed himself closer to Jisung. Because although he had tried to push the thoughts of Changbin aside, he had followed him into his dreams. Or to be exact, nightmares.

"I'm sure everything is fine with him... otherwise you would have heard something long ago," Jisung tried to reassure him without having to reveal that he had texted with Changbin for quite a while now. "And if you are that worried, you still could call him..."

The sobs slowly became quieter, but Chan still pressed himself relentlessly against Jisung. The words of the younger one had certainly reached him, but Chan was still torn back and forth.

It was quite possible that Changbin was doing well and the nightmare had just been just that. A nightmare.

After he had breathed deeply, he finally detached himself from Jisung and looked at him with a tear-soaked face, somehow desperately.

"I don't know what to do..." he whispered.

A gentle smile appeared on Jisung's face as he gently wiped the tears of Chan's face. "If you want, I can call him and ask."

After thinking for almost half an eternity, he tilted his head and looked at Jisung in amazement and curious. "I thought you were mad at him?"

"I am. But it hurts much more to see you suffer that much than it costs me to overcome my pride and put my ego behind and call him."

There was so much love, honesty and sincerity in the younger's words that tears immediately gathered again in Chan's eyes.

Hesitantly, Jisung let his fingers wander over Chan's naked skin. Painted circles and drew invisible lines while he waited for Chan to answer.

But the older found it incredibly difficult to put his thoughts into words. On the one hand, his heart was filled with incredibly deep love for Jisung. As much trust and affection as he was sure he had never felt. And on the other hand, there was the longing for Changbin. The loss weighed heavily, even if he knew that he had contributed a not inconsiderable part to it. It felt like the part of his heart that belonged to Changbin was burning incessantly. As if acid would eat a hole in his heart. He missed the younger one insanely.

Sniffing, he finally nodded.

For a moment, Jisung felt a lump in his throat. He hadn't seen how deep the connection between Chan and Changbin was ever before, but for a moment he had just been able to see it very clearly. Even if Chan was otherwise really a master in suppressing his feelings. Especially in front of himself.

"Okay... I'll call him and I'll be right back...," Jisung murmured quietly, pressed a gentle kiss on Chan's lips and disappeared outside with his phone in his hand.

With trembling fingers, he dialed Changbin's number.

And almost dropped his phone when Changbin picked up right at the second ring. "Is everything okay? Did anything happen to Chan?!"

"Hey Binnie, nice that you ask, I'm fine and I'm happy to hear from you too," Jisung said sarcastically, but had to shake his head grinning.

"Sorry... I.. You've never called before... I just assumed that something bad happened...," Changbin mumbled contritely. "Of course, I'm happy that you're calling me and that you're doing well..."

Giggling, Jisung sat down at the pool and let his legs dangle in the water. "Everything is fine. I'm just calling because Chan is worried about you and I should ask if everything is okay."

"I... and why doesn't he call me himself?"

That made Jisung sigh again. "Because he's still angry, Binnie. But he loves you with all his heart and misses you insanely... maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea if you text and apologize to him. Maybe that would make him go all soft for you."

"I'll think about it..."

For a while, the two talked about the past few days, but then said goodbye quite quickly.

After taking a deep breath, Jisung returned to Chan, who was still lying on the bed exactly as the younger one had left him.

"He's fine."

Surprised, Chan looked at him and then nodded slowly. "Thank you..." he murmured and stretched out his arms to Jisung, who immediately snuggled up on Chan's lap. "I love you."

"I love you too!"

And although Jisung had expected Chan to ask what Changbin had said, he just let himself sink into bed with him and cuddled up to him.

Just when he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, there was a soft knock on the door and an unhappy-looking Hyunjin came into the room.

"Can I... may I cuddle with you? Felix called. He will probably take a while and I somehow feel very alone," he muttered and looked very lost.

"Of course, come here!" Jisung answered without hesitation and stretched out his arm to Hyunjin.

"But only if it really doesn't bother you..." he whispered and snuggled a little hesitantly up to Jisung.

"You don't bother us, Jinnie! We are a family and none of us is left alone!" Although Chan was definitely struggling with his own problems, he definitely didn't want Hyunjin to feel alone. And he really had absolutely no problem with the fact that the younger had cuddled up with them.

"Exactly. We'll just wait for Felix together and maybe watch a movie together later." Satisfied smiling, Jisung pulled Hyunjin closer and kissed him fleetingly, causing Chan to grumble behind him.

"If you also want a kiss, you just have to say it," Hyunjin giggled, bent over Jisung and kissed Chan.

"I'm sure that wasn't what Felix thought about leaving you in our care," Jisung giggled and wrapped his arms around Hyunjin, while he kissed Chan again and then cuddled back to Jisung.

"Then he shouldn't have left me alone with you..." Hyunjin sighed theatrically and wiped non-existent tears from his face.

"You are such a drama queen," Jisung giggled and kissed him again lovingly.

꧁⟢𓆩♡𓆪⟣꧂

I'm sorry if there are any mistakes in this chapter, I wrote it overly tired after work. And since I'm -overly tired- on my way to work again, I have no time to reread it again. Sorry for that.

I'm not entirely sure, how more many chapters there will be for this part of the story. Somewhere between five and ten chapters I guess, from which are only two nearly fully written.