In Times Of Struggle

"Actually, I very much feel the same way," He said, making a face and smiling. "I didn't imagine you did though," He admitted. "I can be pretty annoying sometimes."

---

"Ice cream? Nah," She shook her head. "I don't like ice cream much. I had a boyfriend and we worked in an ice cream parlor for a summer once," She said, laughing a bit. "Worst summer of my life, I'll never like ice cream the same."

To say she was shocked was an understatement, she looked back down at the water unsure of what to say, "you're not annoying to me," she said softly then looked up at him and smiled a little,"you keep me on my toes for sure, but it's nice to have a distraction sometimes," Talia told him as she met his eyes.

---

He laughed a little"Ice cream with me would be different, I could probably make you like it again," he said with a small smile as he looked at her.

She shook her head. "I doubt that, ice cream has left me irreversably scarred. Plus, I..." She stopped talking, realizng what she would have said and what he meant. "I don't think that's a good idea," She said quietly, looking down at the water. "Besides, I prefer shaved ice," She laughed,

---

He smiled a little. "So then, it's settled. And we should start dating. It might be a bit hard, I can't take you nice places, but I can still take you around the island."

She laughed a little, "What better date can a girl ask for?" she asked as she looked at him then sighed as she sunk into the water sitting at the bottom of the hot spring soaking in the warmth and also trying to regulate her heart beat that he so successfully sped up in less than a second just by looking at her.

---

He tilted his head a little, "What wouldn't be a good idea? Eating ice cream?" he asked her curiously but laughed a little his cheeks heating up a little, "I'm not a kid you know," he told her.

She nodded and laughed a bit. "Eating ice cream is a terrible idea," She said, before sighing because he knew what she meant. "I know you aren't, but you are very young, you know that."

---

He sat back and smiled to himself, happy for listening to Bambam and Jinyoung. "Have you figured out who you're rooming with in the tree houses? I was talking to Yugyeom about it earlier."

He furrowed his brow then sighed a little as he shook his head, "Doesn't mean anything," he said to her.

---

She came back up for air then sighed, "I was probably going to room with Naomi," she told him honestly as she thought about it, "Wasn't sure who else I'd room with, I snore," she joked.

She looked at him and sighed. "You're 5 years younger than me," She murmured. "That's not nothing," She said seriously.

---

"And Naomi sleeps like the dead, so that works well," He joked. "Keep your house from mine, I don't need you waking me up," He teased playfully.

"Age is just a state of mind," he said to her as he shook his head, "We're not that different, if I was really a kid as you put it then we wouldn't get along so well,"

---

She laughed a little,"It's not ike a chain saw or anything," she said to him as she splashed him a little.

"I never said you were a kid, Yugyeom, I said that you were young- which is true. Yes, you are mature, and yes we get along well. But also, yes, you're young, and I'm not sure how I feel about it, or if it's a good idea." She explained to him.

---

"How would you know? You're normally asleep!" He laughed, shaking his head. "You would have no idea, you could be heard ten miles away," He said pretending to be serious.

"In that case you're screwed anyway," she said to him as she looked at him then shrugged. "You will never escape my snoring,"

---

He smiled a little as he looked at her, "I'm sure everyone who did something different or out of their comfort zone said the same thing,"

"Actually, I'm fine." He said, matter of factly. "I shove sand in my ears when I sleep, so I'm deaf to all the noise." He grinned.

---

She sighed and shook her head. "Again, you're really young, theres a lot more than just out of my comfort zone," She said seriously. "And I really don't think its a good idea."

She smiled a little,"Oh so that makes sense like you slept like a log and almost got soaked when it rained that night," she said to him smiling a little as she looked at him.

---

Yugeyeom didn't know what else to say so he stayed quiet for a while before looking at her, "I'm eighteen, besides the guys think we're already dating just cause of how much we're together,"

"The sand helps me get my beauty rest," He laughed. "Plus it's good for exfoliation, you should try it, but it might make you harder to wake up."

---

"That's..." She sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know what to say," She said to him.

"I'm not trying to push myself on you but I like you, and I'm not underage, and the gap isn't significant at least not to me," he said leaving her with those words he sat in the water against the wall.

---

She nodded,"Hm, maybe I will," she said to him as she rubbed her face, "My skins never been this clear before - I've always had breakouts,"

She stared, watching him move away slightly. She was stunned. She would be lying if she hadn't thought of him in that way, but it was his age that kept her from thinking further in the first place. "Yugyeom. I... Fine. I like you too, okay, I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But think of what will happen once we're found. If we're together, whether you're a celebrity or not, that's a big gap."

---

He laughed a little. "That's not a bad thing, maybe we were sent here to get perfect skin, and then they would rescue us when we all looked flawless."

He shrugged a little, "You can't please everyone, after everything when we get back I'd hope people were just happy I'm alive rather than worry about my relationship status," he said to her.

---

She nodded,"Then I'll start a new company with all natural ingredients, sand and salt water as a base scrub then coconut fat and coffee beans as a mask and gentle scrub and then recommended twelve hours in the sun per day, with a diet of fish, fish and more fish,"

"I'll be the face of it, I can get you great coverage," He laughed a little. "I promise, you'll be huge in no time."

---

She looked at him. "And if I say yes, and I can't see you as a man? That would bother you, I know you well enough to know that it would." She said curiously. "Then?"

She smiled a little as she shook her head a little then went to sit next to him,"That'll be nice, think of all the money I'll make," she said to him teasingly.

---

He grew serious for a moment then nodded, "I'd prove to you how much of a man I am," he said to her as he looked at her.

She sighed a little but nodded. "You do that, and I'll think about it," She said softly. It wasn't something she thought she would have to worry about, and now she was nearly kicking herself for feeling the way she did.

---

"Tons of it, probably," He grinned, nudging her gently. "And you'll have me to thank," He grinned.

"Of course I'd take you out to lavish dinners and buy you suits by guicci," she said to him as she laughed a little then wet her lips, "and then I'd proceed to eat gamey meat for the rest of my life,"

---

He nodded a little as he looked at her how could he get her to see her as a man? There were a couple ways in mind but he didn't want to officially scare her off.