"you're the most beautiful man i ever met."

"yeah, people often tell me this..." donghyuck rolled his eyes, not paying attention to the chinese boy that was looking intensely at him.

they had been on the boat for approximatively two hours, navigating towards europe.

jisung had told them that the trip from america to europe by boat usually lasted between one and two weeks. but as he was poseidon's son, he assured all the boys that he could make them get to europe after three days and two nights on the boat – something about having the water currents on his side, and controlling the boat so that it slid better on the water, oh, and preventing any storm to happen too.

anyway, donghyuck was getting annoyed by chenle's behaviour.

the boy was still under the spell of his pink arrow – but hopefully, not for long.

chenle had been glued to donghyuck since he was hit by the arrow, making it impossible for the tanned male to have any bot of privacy – he even had to ask jisung to hold chenle while he was going to the bathroom, because chenle didn't want to leave him alone.

donghyuck had eventually settled on one of the couches in the grand salon of the boat, hoping that chenle would go back to his right mind.

hermes' son had already expressed his loving feelings to donghyuck in all the languages he knew – basically, every language on the planet, even those extinct – and he had been complimenting donghyuck's looks too.

donghyuck loved to be praised and admired, but it was starting to be too much at that point.

"i'm so glad to have met you. i would have missed the love of my life if you hadn't even come to the half-blood camp." chenle said, smiling brightly at the tanned male.

donghyuck huffed, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he sat up on the sofa, facing chenle.

"listen, chenle. this is not you. you're under the influence of a love potion." donghyuck stated, placing both of his hands on chenle's shoulders.

"of course not!" chenle shook his head. "my love for you is real."

"chenle, it's not." donghyuck sighed. "you don't love me."

"i-i do..." chenle pouted.

"no." donghyuck assured. "you don't love me. you have a crush on someone."

"it's you!" chenle told.

"it is not me, chenle." donghyuck continued calmly, his eyes staring through chenle's brown orbs.

he noticed that something changed in them, as if a small layer disappeared, bringing chenle back to reality. this surely meant that the love thing had ended.

"i-i like you..." chenle spoke slowly. "i have a crush on you..."

"chenle, you're telling me this because of the arrow that hit you." donghyuck told.

"no, i do really like you." chenle said. "i have for a few days..."

donghyuck smiled sadly, looking just above chenle's head where his name was written in pale pink letters, next to jisung's name which was in even bigger bold letters.

donghyuck was sure that jisung's name was bigger than last time he checked it.

"chenle, i know i will hurt you by saying this, but you don't like me. you like the idea of me. you like the fact that i am beautiful, and that i am someone particular, and that i have been kind to you." donghyuck explained. "you don't genuinely like me."

"t-this is false!" chenle raised his voice, tears welling in his eyes. "y-you're lying."

"my mother is aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, love, desire and pleasure. i can read people's feelings like an open book. i know who everyone likes in this boat. and i know who you truly like. and i assure you, chenle, this person isn't me."

chenle's bottom lip quivered as the first tears escaped his eyes, crashing on the blue velvet sofas they were on.

"i-i like s-someone that i-isn't you...?" chenle asked, sniffling and wiping his tear with his sweater paw.

"exactly." donghyuck nodded.

"w-who...?" chenle questioned immediately.

"i can't tell you, chenle. this would be too easy. you need to find out on your own." donghyuck chuckled.

"i'll never find him if you don't tell me anything..." chenle pouted.

donghyuck sighed. "fine." he thought for a second. "let's say this person is closer than you think. he has always been there for you, and he will always be there for you. let's add that he has been liking you for a long time, but too scared to tell you. oh, and he will know how to protect you and keep you safe, i'm sure of that."

Ω

"would you like something to drink?"

renjun's eyes opened wide as he leaned his head backwards to see jaemin's figure upside down.

athena's son immediately turned around, raising a brow at ares' son's question.

"you're talking to me?" he asked to make sure. last thing he knew, jaemin and him weren't the best of friends – even if renjun had developed a crush on this perfect demigod.

"do you see anyone else around?"

renjun looked around, only seeing the back of the boat and the sea, but no one else.

he was on the 2nd deck, peacefully enjoying his time in the private jacuzzi that was there.

he wondered why jaemin had come up there to ask him if he wanted a drink – perhaps that he wanted to poison the drink?

"so, you're talking to me."

"i am." jaemin nodded. "so?"

"no, thanks." renjun shook his head. "you can join if you want."

renjun surprised himself by suggesting this.

jaemin and him weren't close, and they couldn't have a conversation without yelling at one another, or proving the other that they were the best.

but let's say he had proposed that by courtesy, since jaemin had asked him if he wanted something to drink.

"i don't have a swimsuit." jaemin told.

"just go in your boxers." renjun said.

"is someone eager to see me half-naked?" jaemin smirked as he started pulling his shirt off.

"i was just finding a simple solution." renjun flushed red in embarrassment.

"it's okay." jaemin chuckled, walking in the jacuzzi facing renjun and taking a seat. "you're not too bad yourself, it's a shame you're wearing a shirt and i can't see you fully..."

renjun blushed again at those words, wondering how he would survive in the same jacuzzi as jaemin.

the two boys stayed silent for a few minutes, just enjoying the warm sun as well as the feeling of the bubbles sliding against their skin.

"why have we stopped arguing?" renjun asked after a while.

"do you want us to keep fighting?" jaemin raised a brow.

"no." renjun shook his head. "i'm just wondering what happened in your head to change your behaviour towards me."

"jeno happened." jaemin told.

renjun nodded silently.

it's true that jaemin and jeno had started hanging out a lot these days.

at first, jeno was glued to donghyuck, but with time going on, he was spending more and more time with renjun and jaemin – to the point renjun had also developed a crush on him.

and zeus' son always had a peaceful speech, and he was naturally persuasive – the perks of being zeus' son.

"jeno made me change my mind about you." jaemin continued speaking. "he said that our fights to know who was the best were stupid, because we both have different ways. we could actually both be the best in our domain."

renjun smiled at the words jaemin pronounced. he never thought ares' son would change his mind. ares' progenitures were known to be very moody, short-tempered and prideful.

"i'm glad to hear that coming out of your mouth." renjun chuckled, making jaemin smile at him.

"you're not so bad after all." jaemin shrugged. "i'm glad i didn't find a hot girl to do my quest."

"you aren't too bad either." renjun added.

both boys stared at each other in the eye, not exchanging words, just staring.

both were completely oblivious about the fast-beating heart of the other.

renjun had already fallen so deep for the fighter.

and jaemin was starting to discover his feelings for the smaller boy.

anyway, both were finally at ease together, and they hoped to get even closer with time going on.

"do you think that we'll be on the run forever...?" jaemin spoke, breaking the comfortable silence.

"if being on the run means staying in this luxury boat with my friends, then i don't mind." renjun replied.

"sure, but do you think we'll be able to run for long?" jaemin asked again. "i feel like they know what we're doing... i feel like they're so close to catch us..."

renjun sighed, his smile disappearing as he thought about their situation.

"i understand what you mean..." he told. "i feel pretty much the same."

"really?" jaemin raised a brow. "i am able to think like athena's son now?"

"there's something that is bothering me..." renjun continued, ignoring jaemin's remark.

"what?"

"we were attacked by a griffin in new york." renjun stated. "but there weren't any other griffins around."

"he was surely alone, like, patrolling?" jaemin suggested.

"sure, but we learned in mythological creatures class that griffins were always in packs. they never stay alone. well, at least, when one is somewhere, others are roaming around. but we didn't see any griffin, even while walking around the city."

jaemin nodded, recalling his lessons and remembering what happened while they were in the city.

"what are you suggesting then?" jaemin asked.

"i don't know..." renjun sighed. "but we have to be careful..."

Ω

"i think they're going to europe."

"make sure to be there to welcome them, then..."