[Fic] The Beach Trip
Title: The Beach Trip
Pairing: Donghae/Henry, ninja!Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, fluff
Summary: Of all the things the prospect of a beach trip had made him anticipate, a crush wasn’t one of them.
***
Summer smelled like coconut-scented sunscreen, watermelon, grilling chicken and pineapple skewers. That summer it also smelled like dirty socks, stale ramen, and a gummy candy someone had smashed in the bathroom. And no matter how many looks he got, Henry knew he wasn’t responsible for that. Yes he had snacks in his bag, and yes he ate in his sleeping bag, but he didn’t keep food in it.
But most of the problems were because Henry was sharing a house with eight other guys, and it wasn’t meant to be lived in by quite that many people. There was a certain amount of cleanliness, because Hyukjae did a mean glare and no one wanted to get hauled around by their ears. They were a strange mix of strangers, acquaintances and friends. Three countries of origin, and four different universities. It was a convoluted mess from Henry, who was friends with Ryeowook and Sungmin and Kyuhyun, who was friends with Youngwoon and Zhou Mi, who was friends with Donghae and Hyukjae and Siwon. They didn’t even have some kind of epic road trip, which Henry was fine with. He and Ryeowook hopped a train as soon as Ryeowook’s classes were finished, and they were the last there. No big deal. It meant they hadn’t had to go grocery shopping or fight about where they were sleeping since they got the last available spaces by default. Kyuhyun mostly introduced Henry with mumbles around cereal he was eating at noon, and the others nodded or waved, all minus two of them.
It wasn’t until after Henry had stowed his bag that the stragglers came in, wet from the ocean and looking like they’d been dragged over the length of the beach.
“Tripped me,” the abominable sandman said.
“Hyukjae,” Kyuhyun said by way of introduction, and then pointed his spoon at the guy paused dramatically inside the door. “Donghae. Henry.”
Henry was feeling very loved that he got a whole half spoon gesture when Donghae grinned.
“Hey Henry!”
Henry was pretty sure he made a sound that was supposed to pass as a greeting in some language or other, struck dumb by a guy who was wet and covered in sand. Hyukjae’s greeting was a smile from under filthy bangs, and Henry only saw that because his view was blocked by Siwon trying to shepherd Donghae off the rug.
Kyuhyun was eating, and the others were talking, and Henry was watching Donghae saunter back toward the showers until he couldn’t any more.
“How old do you think he is?” Kyuhyun said, startling Henry out of feigning interest in the wall.
“What? Who?”
“Donghae,” Kyuhyun said, smirking at him.
It took Henry a good five seconds of panic to realize that Kyuhyun’s smirk had nothing to do with his stare and everything to do with the fact that he knew Henry had no chance of guessing Donghae’s age correctly. So Kyuhyun was right. Once.
***
Of all the things the prospect of a beach trip had made him anticipate, a crush wasn’t one of them. Of course, it wasn’t a full-on crush at first, more like admiration from afar. Appreciation of a nice face, and really nice body. There were enough of them - and then adding in the girls in the house next door - that they either sort of all hung out together in a mass blob, or split off into little groups. Henry stuck close to Ryeowook or Kyuhyun, getting to know the other guys in the process of dinner complaints and burying people in the sand. Zhou Mi was the king of some sandpile until Siwon carried him away, and Hyukjae and Donghae squabbled over who carried the most buckets. Well, they squabbled over anything, really. Suave, Handsome Donghae was getting a few more facets in his overactive mind, at the same rate Donghae was picking up a suntan.
The first time Donghae sat down beside Henry during a meal, Henry had nearly apologized like he’d done something wrong. But Donghae’s left arm went around him, leaning into Henry like he didn’t think Henry needed an arm to eat with.
“The best movie in the entire world,” Donghae said to him, very serious like he was revealing a secret of the universe. “Wow, these eggs are good.”
Henry blinked at him. Charmed. Inexplicably a little turned on with the way Donghae was licking his lips, and completely oblivious for about thirty seconds that Donghae was stealing his food.
And then his brain engaged, running the sentence previous to the food declaration and realizing Donghae was trying to get information out of him. Like what movie Henry thought was the best.
He was being asked weird half-formed questions. He was officially “in.” Whatever that meant, since he wasn’t entirely sure in his head either.
***
Times nearly brained with a water bottle or sports drink: five
Times dunked in the ocean: eleven
Number of grains of sand wedged into every crevice of his body: eleventy billion
Henry was pretty sure his hair was standing up right, some kind of modern sculpture of salt and sand, but at least he’d weaseled out of getting buried. Though Ryeowook got it easy since he was one of the few of them who knew how to do more than scramble an egg, plus he wasn’t the squirt of the group. That was a nickname he had Kyuhyun to thank for, as someone who was trying too hard. And succeeding, Henry conceded, as Kyuhyun sent him a toothy grin from where he had Zhou Mi building him a sand castle.
Henry thought that was a nice grin, at first. Until he realized that sand had pretty awesome sneaking properties.
Henry had enough time for exactly one warning squeak before Donghae tackled him. Silly him, he’d thought he was safe since the game of soccer (or more accurately kick-the-beach-ball-into-people) had devolved into Sungmin piggybacking Ryeowook and Hyukjae determinedly stalking a crab for some nefarious purpose.
Donghae, the beach ball, a floppy hat, and Henry all went skidding into a sand pile. He was too startled to land wrong, almost hiccuping with laughter at the surprise and triumph on Donghae’s face as he settled onto Henry’s body with a determined flop.
“Got you.”
“But you lost something else,” Henry said. Something important, given Siwon was making off with the beach ball. It was safer to focus on that than the way that Donghae was pressing his face close to Henry’s so they could look in the same direction. His heart was half beating because Donghae, close, surprise, and half because he was so stupidly happy. It was nice because he wasn’t exactly the shyest of the people he knew, though it was easy to be kind of quiet when he’d been learning languages and immersing himself. But he’d been that kid watching the others play, elbows on his knees and hoping to get picked or called out or missed.
“Oh yeah. We have to get the ball back,” Donghae said, as though he hadn’t lost it to begin with by mowing Henry down.
Their eyes met and Henry actually felt himself flush. And then giggle. And then belly laugh as Donghae’s fingers skimmed and dug into his sides, until he could help but squirm and shove and gasp, until Donghae shoved up to avoid the repercussions of his actions.
Though Siwon bounced the beach ball off of Donghae’s head, and even if it wasn’t for Henry, he still felt a little bit avenged. When he narrowed his eyes at Donghae as he went by, Donghae gave him a look full of angel wings and innocent puppies. He liked to think his own face held a little bit of promise in the warning.
***
A bucket of water over the head on the beach, and an elbow to Donghae’s side as Henry almost got sat on was about the only retribution Henry meted out. He was a good guy, was his excuse. He didn’t need to put crabs down anyone’s shirts or sneak hot sauce into their food. Plus, his method was win-win because Donghae looked hot when he was wet and dripping, and any kind of contact was better than none. He did his best not to turn colors every time Donghae happened to catch his eye, or casual interjects aimed at him, or shouts of Henry’s name.
They crashed hard, ate tons, and played harder. Henry felt hungry for attention, and if he couldn’t outright ask for it from Donghae, then he got it from Ryeowook who liked to use Henry as a leaning post, or sometimes from Siwon who was an octopus with four limbs.
Attention from Donghae always seemed to come when he least expected it. Like when he was sitting cross-legged and enjoying Sungmin and Ryeowook singing together as Sungmin played the guitar - and he felt someone tug on his flip flop.
And then he realized it was gone.
And there was Donghae fleeing down the path toward the beach.
“Hey! My shoe!” Henry shouted.
Of course it was leave his other flip flop behind or run awkwardly with one flapping. So he ran without, hoping his superior height was going to make up for Donghae’s head start. Crafty Donghae, darting, pausing, laughing, shouting as Henry got closer
Donghae lobbed the shoe at his head, because not having possession of the object totally negated the fact that he’d taken in the first place. Yeah right. Donghae was shorter but he was craftier, and apparently more fit as Henry panted with his hands on his knees.
“Truce?” Donghae asked, smiling over a tuft of beach grass.
“Truce,” Henry conceded. But that didn’t keep him from throwing the flip flop at Donghae’s head anyway.
The sun was setting as they made it back to the porch, and everyone had rearranged, making room for the girls and relaxing finally. Henry, with both his shoes, stretched out and finally started to cool down.
He decided that Zhou Mi was the soul of patience. Kyuhyun had somehow snagged a spot right behind him, rocking with Ryeowook on the swing. Zhou Mi was knee to knee with Victoria, syncing up their phones or sharing pictures or something. Henry wasn’t quite sure because Donghae was hanging over the railing and giving orders to Hyukjae. So Henry was mostly trying to pretend he was interested in the pile of sand he was making with his foot and not the way Donghae’s butt was waggling right in front of him. Also, the show Kyuhyun was putting on - every few seconds lobbing pieces of popcorn at the top of Zhou Mi’s head. One piece actually stuck for a few seconds, causing muted snickers from around them but Zhou Mi just kept chatting, even after Victoria started glancing around since she was getting hit, too.
And then a piece sailed over Zhou Mi’s head and onto his cell phone, sitting there like Kyuhyun was offering him a snack.
A pause. Donghae craned his head to get a view and Henry’s eyes snapped to Kyuhyun instead, as Zhou Mi turned. Kyuhyun tried for innocence. Really, truly tried not to smile but he was fighting a losing battle.
And then everyone oohed as Zhou Mi stood up. No one needed TV when watching to see if Kyuhyun was going to be ended right there on the porch was right in front of them.
“No. Zhou Mi. Don’t be like that,” Kyuhyun said, first offering the bowl of popcorn in supplication and then shoving it at Ryeowook as though thinking better of handing Zhou Mi a weapon. On his feet, Kyuhyun skittered around Victoria and down the stairs with Zhou Mi following, silent. “Zhou Mi, no!”
At that shout, Zhou Mi started running, and the porch dissolved into shouts, some urging on Zhou Mi and some Kyuhyun. They could still hear Kyuhyun’s pleas and apologies and laughs, and then shouts and indignant squawks and that was pretty much the end of the group’s involvement as everyone went back to what they had been doing. Sungmin took Zhou Mi’s place by Victoria, as Sooyoung and Jinri were trying to give instruction over the porch rail to whatever Hyukjae was doing.
Henry just laughed as Kyuhyun’s yelling started up like he was being skinned. He was still listening while scraping at sand on the porch as Youngwoon rocked them.
Everyone stopped and looked up as Kyuhyun went quiet, even Ryeowook who’d closed his eyes and spread out on the swing to cover the space that Kyuhyun had vacated.
“Zhou Mi is our friend, so. Does anyone know how to bury a body at the beach without getting caught?” Hyukjae asked, just the top of his head visible over the rail.
Sungmin just snorted. “You wish that’s why he stopped shouting.”
He and Victoria snickered, and Henry shoved himself up as Donghae darted down the stairs.
“En garde!” Hyukjae shouted, tossing Donghae a stick.
It was pretty clear that neither of them were going to win any fencing tournaments, and probably would’ve lost limbs if the sticks had been able to cut anything.
“You suck,” Donghae taunted.
“You suck more,” Hyukjae shot back, and that got more laughter than anything.
If they’d been more awake, they probably would’ve taken bets on who was going to win, and they probably would’ve lost, too. No one was telling them to be careful, but there was an audible snap as one of the sticks broke after its timely shove against Donghae’s forearm.
So Hyukjae stood with his stick broke and sadly dangling in half, and then yelping as Donghae smacked him over the head with his own stick.
“Ow!”
“That’s what I should be saying,” Donghae sulked, holding out his arm.
There was a mark there. Maybe a splinter or a cut, and Hyukjae pretended to fawn over it before Donghae shoved him away.
“You’re no help. I’ll find someone to patch up my battle wound,” Donghae said, and turned to survey the people left on the deck. Some were half asleep. The girls were either laughing at Donghae or ignoring him, and there was Henry. And he felt when Donghae’s eyes settled on him, sitting on the step a little straighter. “Henry! Henry will help me. Henry’s a good guy.”
Donghae pulled him up without much resistance, almost using his “injured” arm to sling around Henry’s neck before thinking better of it and using the other one. It meant Henry had to slouch a little.
“Go get your Hello Kitty bandaid,” Hyukjae said, sniffing. But he was grinning and so was Donghae.
Still, Henry steered them up the stairs before that could cause a fight, too. The others were too used to it, he guessed, as he got the door opened for them, too. He wasn’t sure if Donghae actually expected him to fix up his arm or not. It wasn’t like he had some kind of ulterior motive, but he was kind of both enjoying being stuck against Donghae and also kind of hoping to put a few inches between them in case. In case.
“He should’ve been more concerned,” Henry said, trying not to laugh while saying it.
Donghae did it for him, cackling and letting Henry go so he could haul out the first aid kit that someone’s mom had packed alone with foresight.
“Right? He’s the one who stabbed me. Whatever. I’ll get it out of him later. I mean, sure it’s my fault, but.”
Donghae just shrugged. It wasn’t like Henry was a newbie to scrapes, growing up with siblings. There weren’t any splinters, just a place where the stick had punctured. He wasn’t sure rooting around in Donghae’s skin counted as making good memories together. He probably could’ve done that to Kyuhyun, on the other hand. But it was nice with everyone outside or sleeping, just being alone with Donghae. They’d both settled from the hype, and as Henry washed Donghae’s arm with soap and water, Donghae was telling him stories from when he and Hyukjae had been younger, all the trouble they’d gotten into. He wondered how many times Donghae had gotten out of things because of his smile, but he was wise enough not to ask that. Donghae was content to ramble, and Henry to let him as he dabbed at Donghae’s skin with a paper towel and then with ointment.
“Do you want the one with rainbows on it, or the one with puppies?” Henry asked, holding up two bandages and trying to keep from grinning.
Donghae took a very long moment, looking between them. “Puppies,” Donghae said gravely, and cracked up. It took about three times as long to get the paper backing off and the bandage on, since Donghae was nearly in his lap, wiggling close.
“It’ll be easier,” Donghae promised, and Henry wasn’t sure about that since all Henry had to do was plant the bandage on a pretty flat area of Donghae’s arm. If Donghae would just let him.
“You’re having fun, right?”
“Yeah,” Henry said, feeling inexplicably shy. Then he flourished the bandage on, like it was some kind of work of art or something. And then his mouth ran off without his brain because Donghae was too close. “There! But yeah. I’m really glad Ryeowook asked me. Otherwise I’d be sitting in my apartment alone because my roommate is gone. Wishing I could do something, but since I don’t have any-“
Donghae kissed him. By the time he’d spotted movement, he’d had only the time to take half a breath before all words he’d planned tumbled away. And it wasn’t like what he’d had to say was so dumb that Donghae was using desperate measures to shut him up, Donghae was kissing him.
The press of Donghae’s lips against his, and Henry was frozen with his neck tilted. His whole spine was dissolving, pressing back against Donghae’s mouth and gripping the chair arms to keep himself from falling right out of it.
Someone jumping on the porch had them jerking.
Donghae shot upright as the door opened and people began to file in.. “Hey, look at my bandaid!”
“The girls all left!” Hyukjae complained.
“Because I wasn’t out there,” Donghae shot back, prompting jeers and good-natured stomping as they got drinks or started filtering back to their rooms to sleep. Henry was just glad he had something to do, packing the first aid kit back together and putting it in the cupboard. By the time he was done, Donghae had joined Siwon and Hyukjae on the couch and was gaming with them. He just stopped for a moment, wistful, but mostly confused. Instead of creeping to the edges or trying to sit near Donghae, he headed to his room where Ryeowook was already mostly asleep. He spent a lot of time just staring at the ceiling, hearing random sounds, distant snores, and night sounds. He embraced the cliche, pressing his fingertips to his lips and reliving Donghae’s face that close. He wished he could have slowed it down, relived Donghae’s eyes closing - had they been closed? - and how he’d gotten close, and the way he’d smelled. That little snap when their lips had parted, Donghae’s eyes on his mouth just before the others had come in.
He wanted to know what it meant, and pressing his pillow over his face and biting it in his frustration wasn’t telling him. But he eventually fell asleep.
***
And when he woke up, Donghae was gone. Well, not just Donghae. Hyukjae, and Zhou Mi and Siwon all took off. And they were gone for at least a day.
“Some 86-line club meeting or something. I got a text saying they ran out of spaces in the car, so they left without asking everyone,” Kyuhyun said, sounding much less cranky about that fact than Henry would have thought. Perhaps because Kyuhyun had claimed one of the large hanging swings all for himself, like some kind of king waiting for someone to bring him grapes. And that wasn’t going to be Henry, that was for sure.
“Move,” Henry said, pushing at him,and thus sparking a minute long swatting-kicking battle that had Kyuhyun grumping and conceding. Though Henry magnanimously allowed Kyuhyun to stretch his legs across Henry’s lap, since he had taken up half the chair anyway.
“Has anyone just kissed you without saying anything about it?” Henry asked, eyes half closed as the breeze rocked them. But after a few seconds of silence, he looked over and Kyuhyun was sound asleep - open mouth and all. He was probably going to start drooling soon.
A quick pat to his pocket told Henry he had his phone. Useful in all kinds of situations, like amusing himself when friends fell asleep on him.
***
They fed themselves just fine. The girls were all busy, but Youngwoon and Sungmin were still there, so between all their input they managed to put together a decent meal without having to grimace and eat it anyway. Ryeowook was their secret weapon, but everyone had had a hand in it. Almost everyone.
“It’s just us and the old guys left,” Kyuhyun said. “It’s kind of nice.”
“Oh?”
Kyuhyun froze, half turning his head and bracing as Sungmin loomed behind him. “Not you?”
Sungmin just flicked at Kyuhyun’s head and did the most devastating thing he could do, stealing an ear of corn off of Kyuhyun’s plate.
“Did you used to do this in Canada?” Sungmin asked, elbowing in beside Kyuhyun for his spot.
“Yeah. I mean, sort of,” Henry said. “I’d go to the beach with my family sometimes, but we didn’t rent a house like this. Usually we just got a hotel. This is nice.”
Chaotic and loud, and full of utter personal confusion, but nice.
“We’ll get everyone back and won’t be able to hear ourselves think again,” Sungmin said, using Ryeowook to lean on. Then he smiled at Kyuhyun, who leaned away, wary. “You can do dishes.”
“Hey! Henry’s helping, then.”
Okay, so maybe Henry bared his teeth at Kyuhyun, but he was okay with that.
***
How Henry was going to react when Donghae got back was pretty much useless to think about. He let himself conjure a couple of scenarios where he was looking cool and awesome on the porch as Donghae got out of the car. Donghae of course would saunter up in hot sunglasses and a smile, pull him close and kiss him as everyone made fun. A second scenario was him playing it cool, seeing how Donghae reacted, only to get tugged into Donghae’s lap - and it continued from there. The reality was, when everyone got back there were so many people everywhere, it wasn’t like Henry was ever alone with him. Henry kind of boggled at how much time they’d had together beforehand, but he figured they were trying to wrangle the most possible fun out of the few days they had left. The girls had all gone home, replaced by a family with little kids, but that didn’t keep the house from being overrun and noisy. It wasn’t like he could stare at Donghae to see if he was looking, but that didn’t keep him from glancing. He just didn’t see Donghae looking back much.
And most of those times could be explained away, and yes he knew he was grasping and things that probably weren’t there. He ended up companionably bumping knees with Donghae playing cards one night, and the next morning ended up with Donghae’s cereal all over his neck and shoulders. But it was mostly just normal. So normal he just edged it out of his head, because he couldn’t chat with Zhou Mi in Mandarin just to annoy Kyuhyun while thinking too hard about Donghae in the yard riding around on Youngwoon’s back.
Whose idea the nighttime swim was, Henry wasn’t sure. He had a suspicion it was Siwon’s, but the idea spread so fast that it didn’t really matter. It was everyone in the water or else, full on peer pressure kind of thing, where if someone begged out they were getting carried in whether they screamed down every house on the beach or not.
Henry half though of protesting just because being carried down the beach sounded kind of fun, but his luck they’d probably carry him with his head dragging in the sand.
He was the third one in the water, behind Hyukjae and Zhou Mi, gasping at the cold as he plunged in, and then shouting, and then laughing at the dismay of everyone else that hit the water after. No one got to linger, pulled in by legs or arms or headlocks, shuddering and cursing in a solid string of people until everyone was roughly the same state of cold. Then it was no big deal, diving and getting his ears full of sea water, and listening to everyone calling out names so they knew no one had floated out to sea.
Kyuhyun bailed first, dragging Ryeowook out of the water with him. Henry’s skin was tingling from the cold, but coming out of the water seemed colder than being in it as he chattered and struggled out of the water with limbs that felt too heavy.
“Time to get your dicks measured!” someone crowed.
“Screw you, it’s cold!” was the plaintive reply from even further down the beach.
“That’s the point!”
Henry was half laughing, and nearly choked on his own spit as Donghae streaked out of the water from behind him, getting caught in a headlock by Siwon as he yanked up his struggling underwear. Henry just trotted along behind them trying to keep his mind off everything he’d almost seen and everything he had.
Somewhere about halfway to the beach house, someone realized there was going to be a fight for showering, and the stampede ensued. Kyuhyun tossed a towel into his face as soon as he got onto the porch.
“Whoever got in the bathrooms first, won,” Kyuhyun grumbled. “After that they’re saying it’s by age.”
“Age before beauty,” Henry agreed, ducking as Sungmin lobbed an empty soda can at his head.
***
The shower felt awesome, even if he was almost the last in. Ryeowook shoved him in ahead of himself claiming he had things to do first, but Henry was only the slightest bit guilty about that. But by the time he’d shed his sand and gotten dry, people had split off into groups again. Most were on the porch, some battling at games in front of the TV, or eating in the kitchen. He’d almost turned to join them, having left his wet towel in the bathroom and his clothes too, when he caught movement in one of the other bedrooms.
Donghae. All he could see was movement through the barely opened door, but that was Donghae’s room and the way Donghae moved. Alone, as far as Henry could see. Alone like he hadn’t been in at least a day and a half. Safe was probably turning and going out and beating someone at Mario Kart. But he had questions. A crush he couldn’t do anything about was one thing. He’d pretty much resigned himself that being friends with Donghae was what he got, until the kiss. And sixteen rounds of denial and hope squashing back and forth, he’d finally concluded - yeah, most friends probably don’t spontaneously kiss each other.
His knuckles met the edge of the doorframe, waiting and shifting in the second it took Donghae to come to the door. And then he had Donghae’s wide eyes on him and all he was trying to do was keep himself together, licking his lips and thinking maybe he should’ve thought it through and maybe thought of something to say.
Donghae looked behind him, seeing what Henry knew he’d see - nothing.
Henry took a step through the door, because hey, not like he was running away then.
“Nice room,” he joked, which might’ve been a lie as far as he could tell because all he was seeing was Donghae.
He drew in a breath as Donghae’s hand gripped his neck, and Donghae’s hand pulled him down. And Henry’s brain sent up little flares because finally, finally, he had Donghae’s mouth against his again. He almost stumbled, wanting closer, wanting more as Donghae’s arms wrapped around his neck. It wasn’t suave at all, little peppering kisses as Donghae’s weight pulled him down, and then pinned him down, their lips sliding together as Henry just tried to hold on. Donghae didn’t just want to be friends, check. And Donghae was kissing him, holy-
The sound Donghae made when Henry squeezed his butt was like sex rolled up in peanut butter and chocolate shavings, and Henry’s head might’ve spun. So he breathed, as Donghae grinned at him.
“Finally. I thought you were so cute. I was flirting with you from like the day after you got here,” Donghae said.
They blinked at each other. All those things that Henry had read as fun, offhand, friendly stuff, Donghae had meant as a lot more. In conclusion, they’d both been ridiculous.
“Cool,” Henry said, grinning. That was about as deep as he was getting right then.
Donghae was sucking at his lip, tugging at his hair, and Henry really liked that. In fact, he was pretty sure he’d have done that all night if they hadn’t had a bag of clothes upended over their heads. Apparently Hyukjae took exception to them making out in his bedroom. Possibly on his bed.
It turned out they didn’t live that far from each other, and they both had time before school started.
And Henry’s apartment was empty for another week.
Maybe they let Hyukjae win at Mario Kart after that as apology. Or it could’ve just been because he wasn’t paying attention, because Donghae was leaning against him.
A stolen glance confirmed that Donghae was looking back.
***
Pairing: Donghae/Henry, ninja!Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, fluff
Summary: Of all the things the prospect of a beach trip had made him anticipate, a crush wasn’t one of them.
***
Summer smelled like coconut-scented sunscreen, watermelon, grilling chicken and pineapple skewers. That summer it also smelled like dirty socks, stale ramen, and a gummy candy someone had smashed in the bathroom. And no matter how many looks he got, Henry knew he wasn’t responsible for that. Yes he had snacks in his bag, and yes he ate in his sleeping bag, but he didn’t keep food in it.
But most of the problems were because Henry was sharing a house with eight other guys, and it wasn’t meant to be lived in by quite that many people. There was a certain amount of cleanliness, because Hyukjae did a mean glare and no one wanted to get hauled around by their ears. They were a strange mix of strangers, acquaintances and friends. Three countries of origin, and four different universities. It was a convoluted mess from Henry, who was friends with Ryeowook and Sungmin and Kyuhyun, who was friends with Youngwoon and Zhou Mi, who was friends with Donghae and Hyukjae and Siwon. They didn’t even have some kind of epic road trip, which Henry was fine with. He and Ryeowook hopped a train as soon as Ryeowook’s classes were finished, and they were the last there. No big deal. It meant they hadn’t had to go grocery shopping or fight about where they were sleeping since they got the last available spaces by default. Kyuhyun mostly introduced Henry with mumbles around cereal he was eating at noon, and the others nodded or waved, all minus two of them.
It wasn’t until after Henry had stowed his bag that the stragglers came in, wet from the ocean and looking like they’d been dragged over the length of the beach.
“Tripped me,” the abominable sandman said.
“Hyukjae,” Kyuhyun said by way of introduction, and then pointed his spoon at the guy paused dramatically inside the door. “Donghae. Henry.”
Henry was feeling very loved that he got a whole half spoon gesture when Donghae grinned.
“Hey Henry!”
Henry was pretty sure he made a sound that was supposed to pass as a greeting in some language or other, struck dumb by a guy who was wet and covered in sand. Hyukjae’s greeting was a smile from under filthy bangs, and Henry only saw that because his view was blocked by Siwon trying to shepherd Donghae off the rug.
Kyuhyun was eating, and the others were talking, and Henry was watching Donghae saunter back toward the showers until he couldn’t any more.
“How old do you think he is?” Kyuhyun said, startling Henry out of feigning interest in the wall.
“What? Who?”
“Donghae,” Kyuhyun said, smirking at him.
It took Henry a good five seconds of panic to realize that Kyuhyun’s smirk had nothing to do with his stare and everything to do with the fact that he knew Henry had no chance of guessing Donghae’s age correctly. So Kyuhyun was right. Once.
***
Of all the things the prospect of a beach trip had made him anticipate, a crush wasn’t one of them. Of course, it wasn’t a full-on crush at first, more like admiration from afar. Appreciation of a nice face, and really nice body. There were enough of them - and then adding in the girls in the house next door - that they either sort of all hung out together in a mass blob, or split off into little groups. Henry stuck close to Ryeowook or Kyuhyun, getting to know the other guys in the process of dinner complaints and burying people in the sand. Zhou Mi was the king of some sandpile until Siwon carried him away, and Hyukjae and Donghae squabbled over who carried the most buckets. Well, they squabbled over anything, really. Suave, Handsome Donghae was getting a few more facets in his overactive mind, at the same rate Donghae was picking up a suntan.
The first time Donghae sat down beside Henry during a meal, Henry had nearly apologized like he’d done something wrong. But Donghae’s left arm went around him, leaning into Henry like he didn’t think Henry needed an arm to eat with.
“The best movie in the entire world,” Donghae said to him, very serious like he was revealing a secret of the universe. “Wow, these eggs are good.”
Henry blinked at him. Charmed. Inexplicably a little turned on with the way Donghae was licking his lips, and completely oblivious for about thirty seconds that Donghae was stealing his food.
And then his brain engaged, running the sentence previous to the food declaration and realizing Donghae was trying to get information out of him. Like what movie Henry thought was the best.
He was being asked weird half-formed questions. He was officially “in.” Whatever that meant, since he wasn’t entirely sure in his head either.
***
Times nearly brained with a water bottle or sports drink: five
Times dunked in the ocean: eleven
Number of grains of sand wedged into every crevice of his body: eleventy billion
Henry was pretty sure his hair was standing up right, some kind of modern sculpture of salt and sand, but at least he’d weaseled out of getting buried. Though Ryeowook got it easy since he was one of the few of them who knew how to do more than scramble an egg, plus he wasn’t the squirt of the group. That was a nickname he had Kyuhyun to thank for, as someone who was trying too hard. And succeeding, Henry conceded, as Kyuhyun sent him a toothy grin from where he had Zhou Mi building him a sand castle.
Henry thought that was a nice grin, at first. Until he realized that sand had pretty awesome sneaking properties.
Henry had enough time for exactly one warning squeak before Donghae tackled him. Silly him, he’d thought he was safe since the game of soccer (or more accurately kick-the-beach-ball-into-people) had devolved into Sungmin piggybacking Ryeowook and Hyukjae determinedly stalking a crab for some nefarious purpose.
Donghae, the beach ball, a floppy hat, and Henry all went skidding into a sand pile. He was too startled to land wrong, almost hiccuping with laughter at the surprise and triumph on Donghae’s face as he settled onto Henry’s body with a determined flop.
“Got you.”
“But you lost something else,” Henry said. Something important, given Siwon was making off with the beach ball. It was safer to focus on that than the way that Donghae was pressing his face close to Henry’s so they could look in the same direction. His heart was half beating because Donghae, close, surprise, and half because he was so stupidly happy. It was nice because he wasn’t exactly the shyest of the people he knew, though it was easy to be kind of quiet when he’d been learning languages and immersing himself. But he’d been that kid watching the others play, elbows on his knees and hoping to get picked or called out or missed.
“Oh yeah. We have to get the ball back,” Donghae said, as though he hadn’t lost it to begin with by mowing Henry down.
Their eyes met and Henry actually felt himself flush. And then giggle. And then belly laugh as Donghae’s fingers skimmed and dug into his sides, until he could help but squirm and shove and gasp, until Donghae shoved up to avoid the repercussions of his actions.
Though Siwon bounced the beach ball off of Donghae’s head, and even if it wasn’t for Henry, he still felt a little bit avenged. When he narrowed his eyes at Donghae as he went by, Donghae gave him a look full of angel wings and innocent puppies. He liked to think his own face held a little bit of promise in the warning.
***
A bucket of water over the head on the beach, and an elbow to Donghae’s side as Henry almost got sat on was about the only retribution Henry meted out. He was a good guy, was his excuse. He didn’t need to put crabs down anyone’s shirts or sneak hot sauce into their food. Plus, his method was win-win because Donghae looked hot when he was wet and dripping, and any kind of contact was better than none. He did his best not to turn colors every time Donghae happened to catch his eye, or casual interjects aimed at him, or shouts of Henry’s name.
They crashed hard, ate tons, and played harder. Henry felt hungry for attention, and if he couldn’t outright ask for it from Donghae, then he got it from Ryeowook who liked to use Henry as a leaning post, or sometimes from Siwon who was an octopus with four limbs.
Attention from Donghae always seemed to come when he least expected it. Like when he was sitting cross-legged and enjoying Sungmin and Ryeowook singing together as Sungmin played the guitar - and he felt someone tug on his flip flop.
And then he realized it was gone.
And there was Donghae fleeing down the path toward the beach.
“Hey! My shoe!” Henry shouted.
Of course it was leave his other flip flop behind or run awkwardly with one flapping. So he ran without, hoping his superior height was going to make up for Donghae’s head start. Crafty Donghae, darting, pausing, laughing, shouting as Henry got closer
Donghae lobbed the shoe at his head, because not having possession of the object totally negated the fact that he’d taken in the first place. Yeah right. Donghae was shorter but he was craftier, and apparently more fit as Henry panted with his hands on his knees.
“Truce?” Donghae asked, smiling over a tuft of beach grass.
“Truce,” Henry conceded. But that didn’t keep him from throwing the flip flop at Donghae’s head anyway.
The sun was setting as they made it back to the porch, and everyone had rearranged, making room for the girls and relaxing finally. Henry, with both his shoes, stretched out and finally started to cool down.
He decided that Zhou Mi was the soul of patience. Kyuhyun had somehow snagged a spot right behind him, rocking with Ryeowook on the swing. Zhou Mi was knee to knee with Victoria, syncing up their phones or sharing pictures or something. Henry wasn’t quite sure because Donghae was hanging over the railing and giving orders to Hyukjae. So Henry was mostly trying to pretend he was interested in the pile of sand he was making with his foot and not the way Donghae’s butt was waggling right in front of him. Also, the show Kyuhyun was putting on - every few seconds lobbing pieces of popcorn at the top of Zhou Mi’s head. One piece actually stuck for a few seconds, causing muted snickers from around them but Zhou Mi just kept chatting, even after Victoria started glancing around since she was getting hit, too.
And then a piece sailed over Zhou Mi’s head and onto his cell phone, sitting there like Kyuhyun was offering him a snack.
A pause. Donghae craned his head to get a view and Henry’s eyes snapped to Kyuhyun instead, as Zhou Mi turned. Kyuhyun tried for innocence. Really, truly tried not to smile but he was fighting a losing battle.
And then everyone oohed as Zhou Mi stood up. No one needed TV when watching to see if Kyuhyun was going to be ended right there on the porch was right in front of them.
“No. Zhou Mi. Don’t be like that,” Kyuhyun said, first offering the bowl of popcorn in supplication and then shoving it at Ryeowook as though thinking better of handing Zhou Mi a weapon. On his feet, Kyuhyun skittered around Victoria and down the stairs with Zhou Mi following, silent. “Zhou Mi, no!”
At that shout, Zhou Mi started running, and the porch dissolved into shouts, some urging on Zhou Mi and some Kyuhyun. They could still hear Kyuhyun’s pleas and apologies and laughs, and then shouts and indignant squawks and that was pretty much the end of the group’s involvement as everyone went back to what they had been doing. Sungmin took Zhou Mi’s place by Victoria, as Sooyoung and Jinri were trying to give instruction over the porch rail to whatever Hyukjae was doing.
Henry just laughed as Kyuhyun’s yelling started up like he was being skinned. He was still listening while scraping at sand on the porch as Youngwoon rocked them.
Everyone stopped and looked up as Kyuhyun went quiet, even Ryeowook who’d closed his eyes and spread out on the swing to cover the space that Kyuhyun had vacated.
“Zhou Mi is our friend, so. Does anyone know how to bury a body at the beach without getting caught?” Hyukjae asked, just the top of his head visible over the rail.
Sungmin just snorted. “You wish that’s why he stopped shouting.”
He and Victoria snickered, and Henry shoved himself up as Donghae darted down the stairs.
“En garde!” Hyukjae shouted, tossing Donghae a stick.
It was pretty clear that neither of them were going to win any fencing tournaments, and probably would’ve lost limbs if the sticks had been able to cut anything.
“You suck,” Donghae taunted.
“You suck more,” Hyukjae shot back, and that got more laughter than anything.
If they’d been more awake, they probably would’ve taken bets on who was going to win, and they probably would’ve lost, too. No one was telling them to be careful, but there was an audible snap as one of the sticks broke after its timely shove against Donghae’s forearm.
So Hyukjae stood with his stick broke and sadly dangling in half, and then yelping as Donghae smacked him over the head with his own stick.
“Ow!”
“That’s what I should be saying,” Donghae sulked, holding out his arm.
There was a mark there. Maybe a splinter or a cut, and Hyukjae pretended to fawn over it before Donghae shoved him away.
“You’re no help. I’ll find someone to patch up my battle wound,” Donghae said, and turned to survey the people left on the deck. Some were half asleep. The girls were either laughing at Donghae or ignoring him, and there was Henry. And he felt when Donghae’s eyes settled on him, sitting on the step a little straighter. “Henry! Henry will help me. Henry’s a good guy.”
Donghae pulled him up without much resistance, almost using his “injured” arm to sling around Henry’s neck before thinking better of it and using the other one. It meant Henry had to slouch a little.
“Go get your Hello Kitty bandaid,” Hyukjae said, sniffing. But he was grinning and so was Donghae.
Still, Henry steered them up the stairs before that could cause a fight, too. The others were too used to it, he guessed, as he got the door opened for them, too. He wasn’t sure if Donghae actually expected him to fix up his arm or not. It wasn’t like he had some kind of ulterior motive, but he was kind of both enjoying being stuck against Donghae and also kind of hoping to put a few inches between them in case. In case.
“He should’ve been more concerned,” Henry said, trying not to laugh while saying it.
Donghae did it for him, cackling and letting Henry go so he could haul out the first aid kit that someone’s mom had packed alone with foresight.
“Right? He’s the one who stabbed me. Whatever. I’ll get it out of him later. I mean, sure it’s my fault, but.”
Donghae just shrugged. It wasn’t like Henry was a newbie to scrapes, growing up with siblings. There weren’t any splinters, just a place where the stick had punctured. He wasn’t sure rooting around in Donghae’s skin counted as making good memories together. He probably could’ve done that to Kyuhyun, on the other hand. But it was nice with everyone outside or sleeping, just being alone with Donghae. They’d both settled from the hype, and as Henry washed Donghae’s arm with soap and water, Donghae was telling him stories from when he and Hyukjae had been younger, all the trouble they’d gotten into. He wondered how many times Donghae had gotten out of things because of his smile, but he was wise enough not to ask that. Donghae was content to ramble, and Henry to let him as he dabbed at Donghae’s skin with a paper towel and then with ointment.
“Do you want the one with rainbows on it, or the one with puppies?” Henry asked, holding up two bandages and trying to keep from grinning.
Donghae took a very long moment, looking between them. “Puppies,” Donghae said gravely, and cracked up. It took about three times as long to get the paper backing off and the bandage on, since Donghae was nearly in his lap, wiggling close.
“It’ll be easier,” Donghae promised, and Henry wasn’t sure about that since all Henry had to do was plant the bandage on a pretty flat area of Donghae’s arm. If Donghae would just let him.
“You’re having fun, right?”
“Yeah,” Henry said, feeling inexplicably shy. Then he flourished the bandage on, like it was some kind of work of art or something. And then his mouth ran off without his brain because Donghae was too close. “There! But yeah. I’m really glad Ryeowook asked me. Otherwise I’d be sitting in my apartment alone because my roommate is gone. Wishing I could do something, but since I don’t have any-“
Donghae kissed him. By the time he’d spotted movement, he’d had only the time to take half a breath before all words he’d planned tumbled away. And it wasn’t like what he’d had to say was so dumb that Donghae was using desperate measures to shut him up, Donghae was kissing him.
The press of Donghae’s lips against his, and Henry was frozen with his neck tilted. His whole spine was dissolving, pressing back against Donghae’s mouth and gripping the chair arms to keep himself from falling right out of it.
Someone jumping on the porch had them jerking.
Donghae shot upright as the door opened and people began to file in.. “Hey, look at my bandaid!”
“The girls all left!” Hyukjae complained.
“Because I wasn’t out there,” Donghae shot back, prompting jeers and good-natured stomping as they got drinks or started filtering back to their rooms to sleep. Henry was just glad he had something to do, packing the first aid kit back together and putting it in the cupboard. By the time he was done, Donghae had joined Siwon and Hyukjae on the couch and was gaming with them. He just stopped for a moment, wistful, but mostly confused. Instead of creeping to the edges or trying to sit near Donghae, he headed to his room where Ryeowook was already mostly asleep. He spent a lot of time just staring at the ceiling, hearing random sounds, distant snores, and night sounds. He embraced the cliche, pressing his fingertips to his lips and reliving Donghae’s face that close. He wished he could have slowed it down, relived Donghae’s eyes closing - had they been closed? - and how he’d gotten close, and the way he’d smelled. That little snap when their lips had parted, Donghae’s eyes on his mouth just before the others had come in.
He wanted to know what it meant, and pressing his pillow over his face and biting it in his frustration wasn’t telling him. But he eventually fell asleep.
***
And when he woke up, Donghae was gone. Well, not just Donghae. Hyukjae, and Zhou Mi and Siwon all took off. And they were gone for at least a day.
“Some 86-line club meeting or something. I got a text saying they ran out of spaces in the car, so they left without asking everyone,” Kyuhyun said, sounding much less cranky about that fact than Henry would have thought. Perhaps because Kyuhyun had claimed one of the large hanging swings all for himself, like some kind of king waiting for someone to bring him grapes. And that wasn’t going to be Henry, that was for sure.
“Move,” Henry said, pushing at him,and thus sparking a minute long swatting-kicking battle that had Kyuhyun grumping and conceding. Though Henry magnanimously allowed Kyuhyun to stretch his legs across Henry’s lap, since he had taken up half the chair anyway.
“Has anyone just kissed you without saying anything about it?” Henry asked, eyes half closed as the breeze rocked them. But after a few seconds of silence, he looked over and Kyuhyun was sound asleep - open mouth and all. He was probably going to start drooling soon.
A quick pat to his pocket told Henry he had his phone. Useful in all kinds of situations, like amusing himself when friends fell asleep on him.
***
They fed themselves just fine. The girls were all busy, but Youngwoon and Sungmin were still there, so between all their input they managed to put together a decent meal without having to grimace and eat it anyway. Ryeowook was their secret weapon, but everyone had had a hand in it. Almost everyone.
“It’s just us and the old guys left,” Kyuhyun said. “It’s kind of nice.”
“Oh?”
Kyuhyun froze, half turning his head and bracing as Sungmin loomed behind him. “Not you?”
Sungmin just flicked at Kyuhyun’s head and did the most devastating thing he could do, stealing an ear of corn off of Kyuhyun’s plate.
“Did you used to do this in Canada?” Sungmin asked, elbowing in beside Kyuhyun for his spot.
“Yeah. I mean, sort of,” Henry said. “I’d go to the beach with my family sometimes, but we didn’t rent a house like this. Usually we just got a hotel. This is nice.”
Chaotic and loud, and full of utter personal confusion, but nice.
“We’ll get everyone back and won’t be able to hear ourselves think again,” Sungmin said, using Ryeowook to lean on. Then he smiled at Kyuhyun, who leaned away, wary. “You can do dishes.”
“Hey! Henry’s helping, then.”
Okay, so maybe Henry bared his teeth at Kyuhyun, but he was okay with that.
***
How Henry was going to react when Donghae got back was pretty much useless to think about. He let himself conjure a couple of scenarios where he was looking cool and awesome on the porch as Donghae got out of the car. Donghae of course would saunter up in hot sunglasses and a smile, pull him close and kiss him as everyone made fun. A second scenario was him playing it cool, seeing how Donghae reacted, only to get tugged into Donghae’s lap - and it continued from there. The reality was, when everyone got back there were so many people everywhere, it wasn’t like Henry was ever alone with him. Henry kind of boggled at how much time they’d had together beforehand, but he figured they were trying to wrangle the most possible fun out of the few days they had left. The girls had all gone home, replaced by a family with little kids, but that didn’t keep the house from being overrun and noisy. It wasn’t like he could stare at Donghae to see if he was looking, but that didn’t keep him from glancing. He just didn’t see Donghae looking back much.
And most of those times could be explained away, and yes he knew he was grasping and things that probably weren’t there. He ended up companionably bumping knees with Donghae playing cards one night, and the next morning ended up with Donghae’s cereal all over his neck and shoulders. But it was mostly just normal. So normal he just edged it out of his head, because he couldn’t chat with Zhou Mi in Mandarin just to annoy Kyuhyun while thinking too hard about Donghae in the yard riding around on Youngwoon’s back.
Whose idea the nighttime swim was, Henry wasn’t sure. He had a suspicion it was Siwon’s, but the idea spread so fast that it didn’t really matter. It was everyone in the water or else, full on peer pressure kind of thing, where if someone begged out they were getting carried in whether they screamed down every house on the beach or not.
Henry half though of protesting just because being carried down the beach sounded kind of fun, but his luck they’d probably carry him with his head dragging in the sand.
He was the third one in the water, behind Hyukjae and Zhou Mi, gasping at the cold as he plunged in, and then shouting, and then laughing at the dismay of everyone else that hit the water after. No one got to linger, pulled in by legs or arms or headlocks, shuddering and cursing in a solid string of people until everyone was roughly the same state of cold. Then it was no big deal, diving and getting his ears full of sea water, and listening to everyone calling out names so they knew no one had floated out to sea.
Kyuhyun bailed first, dragging Ryeowook out of the water with him. Henry’s skin was tingling from the cold, but coming out of the water seemed colder than being in it as he chattered and struggled out of the water with limbs that felt too heavy.
“Time to get your dicks measured!” someone crowed.
“Screw you, it’s cold!” was the plaintive reply from even further down the beach.
“That’s the point!”
Henry was half laughing, and nearly choked on his own spit as Donghae streaked out of the water from behind him, getting caught in a headlock by Siwon as he yanked up his struggling underwear. Henry just trotted along behind them trying to keep his mind off everything he’d almost seen and everything he had.
Somewhere about halfway to the beach house, someone realized there was going to be a fight for showering, and the stampede ensued. Kyuhyun tossed a towel into his face as soon as he got onto the porch.
“Whoever got in the bathrooms first, won,” Kyuhyun grumbled. “After that they’re saying it’s by age.”
“Age before beauty,” Henry agreed, ducking as Sungmin lobbed an empty soda can at his head.
***
The shower felt awesome, even if he was almost the last in. Ryeowook shoved him in ahead of himself claiming he had things to do first, but Henry was only the slightest bit guilty about that. But by the time he’d shed his sand and gotten dry, people had split off into groups again. Most were on the porch, some battling at games in front of the TV, or eating in the kitchen. He’d almost turned to join them, having left his wet towel in the bathroom and his clothes too, when he caught movement in one of the other bedrooms.
Donghae. All he could see was movement through the barely opened door, but that was Donghae’s room and the way Donghae moved. Alone, as far as Henry could see. Alone like he hadn’t been in at least a day and a half. Safe was probably turning and going out and beating someone at Mario Kart. But he had questions. A crush he couldn’t do anything about was one thing. He’d pretty much resigned himself that being friends with Donghae was what he got, until the kiss. And sixteen rounds of denial and hope squashing back and forth, he’d finally concluded - yeah, most friends probably don’t spontaneously kiss each other.
His knuckles met the edge of the doorframe, waiting and shifting in the second it took Donghae to come to the door. And then he had Donghae’s wide eyes on him and all he was trying to do was keep himself together, licking his lips and thinking maybe he should’ve thought it through and maybe thought of something to say.
Donghae looked behind him, seeing what Henry knew he’d see - nothing.
Henry took a step through the door, because hey, not like he was running away then.
“Nice room,” he joked, which might’ve been a lie as far as he could tell because all he was seeing was Donghae.
He drew in a breath as Donghae’s hand gripped his neck, and Donghae’s hand pulled him down. And Henry’s brain sent up little flares because finally, finally, he had Donghae’s mouth against his again. He almost stumbled, wanting closer, wanting more as Donghae’s arms wrapped around his neck. It wasn’t suave at all, little peppering kisses as Donghae’s weight pulled him down, and then pinned him down, their lips sliding together as Henry just tried to hold on. Donghae didn’t just want to be friends, check. And Donghae was kissing him, holy-
The sound Donghae made when Henry squeezed his butt was like sex rolled up in peanut butter and chocolate shavings, and Henry’s head might’ve spun. So he breathed, as Donghae grinned at him.
“Finally. I thought you were so cute. I was flirting with you from like the day after you got here,” Donghae said.
They blinked at each other. All those things that Henry had read as fun, offhand, friendly stuff, Donghae had meant as a lot more. In conclusion, they’d both been ridiculous.
“Cool,” Henry said, grinning. That was about as deep as he was getting right then.
Donghae was sucking at his lip, tugging at his hair, and Henry really liked that. In fact, he was pretty sure he’d have done that all night if they hadn’t had a bag of clothes upended over their heads. Apparently Hyukjae took exception to them making out in his bedroom. Possibly on his bed.
It turned out they didn’t live that far from each other, and they both had time before school started.
And Henry’s apartment was empty for another week.
Maybe they let Hyukjae win at Mario Kart after that as apology. Or it could’ve just been because he wasn’t paying attention, because Donghae was leaning against him.
A stolen glance confirmed that Donghae was looking back.
***