hot summer for carcharias1130 (1/2)
Title: hot summer
Recipient: carcharias1130
Pairing: OT6
Rating: NC-17
Wordcount: 13,353 words
Warnings: alcohol use, mentions of drowning/fear of drowning and water
Summary: Sanghyuk gets a summer job at the beach.
The sun hits the roof of the hut Sanghyuk will spend all summer in with a vengeance. It's barely ten in the morning and there it is, blazing away. The third week of June dawns hot and terrible, and all Sanghyuk really wants is to be inside an air conditioned building until the wonderful beginning of autumn, but here he is.
A summer job sounds great. In theory, a summer job is great. Getting up at eight after only half a week of summer break is not great at all. Sanghyuk's mother, a truly fantastic woman, had thought a summer job would help keep Sanghyuk busy, like he needed to be kept busy when he just finished his freshman year of college. He's had enough busy and he's still got years of education to go.
Still, he'd said fine, because extra money never hurt anyone. Probably. His mom had a friend of a friend who had a cousin who..etc. knew the guy who runs the shop down at the beach. Now, if a summer job is great in theory, then a summer job at beach is even greater in theory.
Sanghyuk, squinting at the small shack through the sunlight, thinks he really should stop having theories.
---
"Here." Taekwoon says, shoving an apron at him. It's white, with red stripes running down it vertically. Sanghyuk doesn't want to wear it, but Taekwoon seems insistent and it's best not to piss off your boss on the first day.
"I'll show you where everything is." Taekwoon says. He's not looking Sanghyuk in the eyes, and it unnerves him for some reason. Taekwoon doesn't seem mean or anything, he just seems- well, he's intimidating.
"Ok," Sanghyuk mumbles in reply.
Taekwoon goes off on a long list of where things are kept, he shows Sanghyuk the price list and supply sheet. He teaches Sanghyuk how to count the money, and explains how much petty cash should be there in the morning. It's a lot of information, a lot of Sanghyuk nodding even when he doesn't quite understand. Taekwoon seems to pick up on this, because he occasionally narrows his eyes and huffs before explaining something a second time. Sanghyuk is grateful, even if it is a little embarrassing.
"You don't have to get everything," Taekwoon says at the end of his explanation, "The other store is close, you can come get me if you need to."
Sanghyuk nods, still taking everything in, and Taekwoon nods back, seeming satisfied with the way things are going. Sanghyuk hopes he still feels that way after they open.
---
A shadow covers Sanghyuk as he sits in front of the counter. His head is down, focused on counting the petty cash for the day on the shelf underneath the counter. He looks up slowly, expecting Taekwoon to be looming over him, and is instead greeted by a incredibly big smile attached to a man that is much too handsome for his own good.
"Hi, uh, hello." Sanghyuk fumbles out. How suave. The man keeps grinning and Sanghyuk glances down to take what he can see of him over the counter in. He's tall, not as tall as Sanghyuk, but tall. His shoulders are broad and cause his shirt to be a little too tight across his chest. His very nice chest. Shit, he's hot.
Sanghyuk glances up to his face again, and he seems to be barely holding in giggles. Which Sanghyuk is thankful for.
"I'm Hongbin," he says finally. "One of the lifeguards."
Sanghyuk hadn't even noticed the red cross on his shirt, he'd been too distracted imagining what was under the shirt.
"Sanghyuk." He says.
"Taekwoon's new underling?" Hongbin asks, and Sanghyuk doesn't know him, but he can still tell he's being teased. "Wanna know what happened to the last one?"
Sanghyuk narrows his eyes, and he's about to come back with something great, when an arm swings over Hongbin's shoulders.
"Why are you being so rude to the poor thing?"
Hongbin rolls his eyes, mouth pulling down in distaste, and he steps out from underneath the other man's arm.
"I wasn't being rude."
"Right," the man says, "and I wasn't born yesterday."
He turns his eyes to Sanghyuk, who has been busy noticing that this man is also grossly hot. Do they only have hot lifeguards?
"I'm Hakyeon," he says with a smile, reaching his hand over the counter, "nice to meet you."
"Sanghyuk." He reaches up to shake Hakyeon's hand, and sees Hongbin rolling his eyes again. It must be a habit of his around Hakyeon.
"I'm the head lifeguard here," Hakyeon says, "let me know if you need anything. I used to work for Taekwoon before I became a lifeguard, I know how difficult he is."
Sanghyuk thanks him, and then he's walking away briskly with Hongbin in tow.
---
It only get hotter as the day goes on. There's not enough people in the first few hours for it to distract Sanghyuk from how sweltering it is. He thinks he can see heat waves rising from the counter. He's counted the money at least three times, even though he's only sold one bottle of water (to an old man, walking an adorable dog who probably needed the water more than him). He's gone over stock, and taught himself where things are, and now he's just sitting in the miserable heat. Sanghyuk pouts, this is no way to be spending a summer morning.
"Sanghyuk!" someone yells from out of sight, and boy, he must be spacing out more than he thought to not notice the group of lifeguards bounding up to him. Really, Hakyeon seems to be the only one bounding, along with someone he hasn't seen before, but someone he really wouldn't mind seeing again. There most be some kind of lifeguard law about being ridiculously hot.
"This is Jaehwan," Hakyeon announces, "and this is Wonsik."
Jaehwan winks, actually winks, at him, and Wonsik offers a much less mortifying greeting.
"I thought you should know all of us, since we'll be spending all summer together." Hakyeon says, looking particularly pleased with himself.
---
"You met Hakyeon." Taekwoon says, a scowl on his face.
"Yes." Sanghyuk answers hesitantly.
Taekwoon makes a unhappy noise, it reminds Sanghyuk of a small dog and he accidentally smiles, which only makes Taekwoon scowl more.
"Don't let him distract you." Taekwoon says, with finality, like he's already had enough of the subject.
Sanghyuk can't help himself though. He's curious about Hakyeon, and the rest of them, but Hakyeon stands out the most, with how loud he is.
"Hakyeon says he used to work for you," Sanghyuk starts questioningly, but he's interrupted by Taekwoon snorting.
"I wouldn't say he worked," Taekwoon shakes his head, glaring at the counter top, "he talked. All he does is talk."
"He invited me to a party, with all of them, tonight."
Taekwoon glances up at him, still glaring.
"I don't know if I'm going yet." Sanghyuk adds, quickly.
"He'll just talk more if you don't."
Sanghyuk guesses that is Taekwoon's way of saying he should go, and really, Sanghyuk is considering it, but he doesn't know Hakyeon, or any of them. He's been known to enjoy a party, and a bonfire is always a good time, but he still doesn't know if it's a good idea to go. Hakyeon seems the type to invite someone because it sounds like a good idea in the moment, and he talks so much he probably didn't even think about it.
"Hey," Taekwoon says, pulling him out of his thoughts, "let's finish, I want to go home."
Sanghyuk nods, returning to his count, getting out of here sounds like the best decision right now.
---
By the time Sanghyuk gets home he doesn't feel like doing anything. His bed is calling to him, and there's a movie he's been meaning to watch. It doesn't seem worth it to head back down to the beach only a couple hours after he's left it.
He can’t help but wonder though, why had Hakyeon invited him? Why had none of the others protested when he did? Sanghyuk isn’t bad to be around, he supposes, but they’re all friends. All friends and all older than him, and all over the top hot. Not that Sanghyuk finds himself unattractive, he thinks he’s pretty hot. Still, if he compares himself to Hongbin, he’s coming up short.
Earlier, he’d seen Honbin coming out of the water, shirt off and water glistening on his torso in the too bright sun. His jaw had almost dropped, Hongbin was unreal. Then out had come Hakyeon, soft and smooth looking where Hongbin was defined, but beautiful in a way Sanghyuk can’t explain. Hakyeon looks so delicate, and it’s so strange on someone so big.
The moment had been ruined by Jaehwan, diving into both of them, and Wonsik up in the life guard chair, shaking his head, and blowing his whistle at them. He could hear Wonsik saying something about “bad examples”, and see the rest of them laughing.
They’re all hot, older than him, and friends. All reasons Sanghyuk should avoid going down to the beach, but they seem to have so much fun. Sanghyuk is experiencing his first summer as a college student, and even if he’s home, he should be having fun, right? He’s seen enough movies to know that.
Hakyeon had said they meet at the beach at sunset, and from his place on his bedroom floor, Sanghyuk can see the sky beginning to turn colors. He makes a decision, and later he’ll decide if it’s good or bad, but for now, he’s going back to the beach.
---
The sky above the water is bright orange, surrounded by purple and blue, and it's not something Sanghyuk would normally pay attention to, but he notices now.
He hadn't exactly rushed on his way back to the beach, he didn't want to be winded or seem like he was to eager when he got there. It's silly to worry about, there's nothing wrong with being excited, but he still stops to take in the sunset, strolls slowly down to the bonfire he sees roaring a ways down.
Hakyeon sees him first, and he jumps up from the sand, stumbling just a little. Sanghyuk can see a case of beer and a bottle of something from where he is, and he giggles a little as Hakyeon weaves through nothing to get over to him.
"Sanghyuk!" he yells, throwing his arms around Sanghyuk's neck when he gets to him. "I was worried you wouldn't come."
Hakyeon gives him a disapproving look as he tugs him over to the fire, plopping down next to Taekwoon and pulling Sanghyuk with him. Taekwoon's cheeks are rosy, and he nods at Sanghyuk, ignoring Hakyeon as he leans onto his shoulder.
"Sanghyuk is late." Hakyeon announces.
"How awful, how dreadful." Jaehwan says dramatically, clutching his hand to his chest. "How will we go on?"
"Hush." Hakyeon scolds, but Hongbin and Wonsik are laughing so loud Jaehwan doesn't seem to notice.
"You're not late," Wonsik says, shaking his head, "Hakyeon just got here too early."
"Made me come too early." Taekwoon pipes up.
Hakyeon groans, rolling away from Taekwoon to lean on Wonsik.
"Cruel, all of you."
Sanghyuk joins in on the laughter this time.
---
The breeze on the beach gets stronger as the night goes on, and Sanghyuk wishes he had brought a jacket. Even the alcohol and the fire isn't enough to keep him from shivering every now and then.
Wonsik is wearing a shirt with the sides cut out, it's distracting, how much Sanghyuk can see of his skin. Wonsik doesn't seem to notice him staring, but Hongbin does.
"Nice view." Hongbin says, grinning a little to wide for Sanghyuk's comfort.
"What?" he stutters out.
"Wonsik," he answers, "you know, it feels even better than it looks."
Sanghyuk's head whips around to stare wide eyed at a still grinning Hongbin.
"It's true, he's got a nice body."
Sanghyuk's mouth falls open, he can't think of anything to say, and he's sure he looks great sitting there mouth agape and looking stunned.
"You wanna know something else?" Hongbin leans in conspiratorially, and Sanghyuk nods before he can think, "You could touch, if you wanted too."
Sanghyuk continues to stare at Hongbin, not sure how to respond. He can't think of anything he could possibly say to that, or why Hongbin is saying that to him in the first place.
Wonsik squeals, saving him from the awkward silence, and they both turn to see Jaehwan grabbing at his sides, fingers wiggling in an attempt to tickle. Wonsik takes off, running down to the water, and Jaehwan follows, though he doesn't seem to run as quickly.
"Hongbin!" Jaehwan hollers, "Help!"
Hongbin laughs, and as he stands up he trails his hand up Sanghyuk's back, lingering on his shoulder before he walks calmly after them. Sanghyuk shivers, but not from the cold this time.
He doesn't notice that Hakyeon has scooted next to him until the other places a hand on his thigh, just a little too high up to be casual. He barely avoids squeaking in surprise.
"I hope Hongbin was being nice," he says accusingly, sending a glare down to the three of them playing at the waters edge.
"He wasn't being mean." Sanghyuk says, it's surprisingly easy to talk to Hakyeon, especially after Hongbin.
Hakyeon narrows his eyes, "He's sneaky."
Sanghyuk laughs, leaning closer to Hakyeon as he does, and Hakyeon doesn't seem to mind. His hand is still on Sanghyuk's thigh, and their knees knock together when Sanghyuk gets closer. He can see Hakyeon smile out of the corner of his eye, and he's not sure if it's because of him, or the three down by the water, splashing each other and yelping at how cold the water is.
Sanghyuk glances over to Taekwoon, he's been so quiet he almost forgot he was there. Taekwoon is curled up on the sand in front of the fire, seemingly asleep.
"Cute, isn't he?" Hakyeon asks, catching the direction of Sanghyuk's gaze.
Sanghyuk wouldn't agree, normally, but in his sleep Taekwoon does look cute. His lips just barely parted as he takes in deep breaths, chest moving up and down slowly. He looks peaceful, soft.
"We have to wake him up." Hakyeon says, a glint in his eye, much too gleeful for the situation.
Hakyeon gets up, goes and gently sits down next to Taekwoon. For a moment he does nothing, simply smiles down at Taekwoon, a gentleness in his face that completely contradicts his intentions. He leans down, nuzzling into Taekwoon's neck, and Sanghyuk feels like he's intruding by looking at them, it seems so personal, so familiar, but then Hakyeon blows a raspberry into his neck.
Taekwoon moves so quickly it's almost like he wasn't asleep. He jolts up, grabbing Hakyeon around his middle and throwing him down into the sand. Taekwoon throws one of his legs over Hakyeon, straddling his thighs. Sanghyuk can't see his face from where he is, but he's sure Taekwoon is furious. Hakyeon's wrists are in Taekwoon's hands, and he's surprised to see Hakyeon is still smiling. Not as surprised as he is when Taekwoon bends down to cover Hakyeon's body with his own, pressing Hakyeon's wrists against the sand. Hakyeon's head tilts to the side as Taekwoon noses against his neck. He must bite down, because Hakyeon gasps, and Sanghyuk can see his hips push up against Taekwoon's, and if he felt like he was intruding before, it's nothing compared to how he feels now.
Hakyeon lifts his head up, whispering into Taekwoon's ear, and Sanghyuk can see Taekwoon's ears turn red before he's rolling off of Hakyeon, looking absolutely mortified as he avoids Sanghyuk's eyes. Smug, Hakyeon sits up, and completely opposite to Taekwoon, looks directly at Sanghyuk.
Sanghyuk is baffled, prior to this moment he had thought Taekwoon had merely tolerated Hakyeon, but Taekwoon had been on top of him, and his actions didn't seem new, Hakyeon hadn't been surprised or offended by them. This night is full of too many things Sanghyuk doesn't understand.
Hakyeon is still looking smug, and just as Sanghyuk is sure he needs to do something to stop that look, Wonsik comes up behind him and wraps his arms around him. He's wet, and probably cold, from splashing around in the water. Sanghyuk bursts out laughing as Hakyeon starts yelling, twisting around to smack Wonsik in an attempt to get him off. His laugh turns abruptly into a scream, too high pitched, as Hongbin does the same to him. He hears Jaehwan scream, and figures he must've tried the same on Taekwoon, but he can't be bothered to look. He has priorities, and they are getting a freezing, wet, Hongbin off him.
---
Sanghyuk's alarm goes off, and he groans, rolling onto his stomach and pulling a pillow over his head. Getting up is the last thing he wants to do, he really should've been more insistent about leaving, but it's so hard to argue with a determined Hakyeon. It wasn't until Taekwoon woke up enough to point out that they all had to get up early that he managed to leave, stumbling all the way home and falling asleep almost immediately.
The alarm keeps blaring, Sanghyuk's pillow no match for it, and he eventually gives up, throwing his arm out to stop it. If he gets up now he can have a long shower, he usually only gets a couple minutes before he has to rush off. A long shower does sound nice, even if it isn't as nice as sleeping in.
Sanghyuk turns the water on just a touch hotter than he normally does. The lack of sleep makes his muscles tense, and he thinks he's got a bruise from when someone tackled him last night. He can't help the way his mind wanders, and he gets stuck on Hongbin's voice, sounding so smug, when he caught him staring at Wonsik.
Sanghyuk thinks Hongbin is more than a little infuriating, but surely he wasn't wrong, touching Wonsik would be better than staring. Hell, touching any of them would be better than staring. Sanghyuk runs his hands over his abdomen, looking down at his own muscular structure. It’s not bad, he’s got some definition, but it’s not the same.
---
The sun is going strong enough by the time Sanghyuk gets to the beach that he almost regrets the too hot shower. He can see the beginning of heat waves on the roof of the shack and he grimaces. It's going to be a long day.
He spots Taekwoon as he gets closer, his forehead laying against the door as he tries to turn his keys. Sanghyuk smiles, trying not to laugh, at least he's not as bad off as Taekwoon. He has a feeling Hakyeon didn't let him go home as easily as he let Sanghyuk go.
"Need help?" Sanghyuk asks when he gets next to Taekwoon. Taekwoon turns, keeping his forehead to the door, and levels Sanghyuk with an impressive glare. Sanghyuk has to bite his lips to avoid laughing, a much harder thing to do now that he can see Taekwoon up close.
Taekwoon grumbles something unintelligible, pushing off the door and handing the keys to Sanghyuk. Sanghyuk pats him on the shoulder, a small attempt at sympathy, since he can't stop himself from laughing.
"Shut up," Taekwoon grumbles slightly louder this time, following Sanghyuk inside.
---
"So," Sanghyuk starts, and Taekwoon doesn't even open his eyes, but he does make a vague humming noise, "I was wondering about you and Hakyeon."
Taekwoon opens his eyes at that, but the rest of him stays the same, arms crossed over his chest, leaning back in his chair with his head resting on the wall behind him.
"Don't wonder."
Sanghyuk glares, completely unsatisfied with Taekwoon's fake answer.
"We're friends." Taekwoon answers, glaring back.
"Right," Sanghyuk snorts, raising his hands up to make air quotes, "friends."
"Jealous?"
Sanghyuk jumps up, letting out a shrill shout that only makes Taekwoon glare more. He seems completely unsurprised by Hakyeon showing up out of the blue. It must be something you get used to.
"No," Sanghyuk splutters, "and you should announce yourself."
"So cute." Hakyeon coos.
"Well, you should." Sanghyuk says stoutly, trying his best not to be embarrassed.
"You didn't answer my question," Hakyeon smirks, it makes Sanghyuk feel quite unsettled, "are you jealous?"
"Stop it." Taekwoon says.
Sanghyuk glances over at him, his eyes are closed again, head tilted back against the wall, but there's the smallest smile on his face.
"Stop what?" Hakyeon whines, "I was just hoping someone might finally appreciate my attention."
That startles a laugh out of Sanghyuk. This Hakyeon, who is silly and dramatic, this is what he's used to. The Hakyeon that smirks at him, that little glimpse of something else, Sanghyuk doesn't think he's ready for that.
"Oh!" Hakyeon exclaims, "Sanghyuk, we're going swimming tonight you have to come with."
That must've been the actual reason he'd come over to the shop, not to tease Sanghyuk, but to invite him to something else. Sanghyuk wants to say yes, if anything swimming will mean all of them with their shirts off, but, well, he doesn't know if he can say yes.
"You have to come." Hakyeon says, because apparently Sanghyuk is taking to long to answer.
It's not that Sanghyuk doesn't want to go, he'd had fun last night, and he seems to have fun whenever he's around them all, it's just that he doesn't want to admit that he can't go swimming with them.
"You're taking to long to answer." Hakyeon's hands are on his waist now, and he looks a little concerned.
"Uh," Sanghyuk starts, unsure how he's going to answer without making himself look bad, "it's not that I don't want to."
"What, you can't swim?"
Hakyeon means it as a joke, but Sanghyuk's face falls, and Hakyeon catches on immediately.
"Oh," he says, and then more excitedly, "oh!"
Sanghyuk doesn't know what there is to be excited about, he can't swim. He's tried learning, but he sinks like a rock every time he gets in the water.
"That's not a problem," Hakyeon says, "we'll teach you."
Sanghyuk grimaces, but Hakyeon is chatting away about how swimming is easy and fun, and Sanghyuk already knows he's in for another long night.
---
There are a lot of things Sanghyuk regrets, like his hair cut in middle school, or that time he tried to rebel by not eating breakfast for a week, and the list goes on. Tonight is pretty high on the list already, and he's not even to the beach yet. Sanghyuk's not worried about drowning, there will be four life guards there, at least one of them should be competent enough to save him. He's worried about how ridiculous he's going to look, flopping around in the water, looking, and sounding, like a chicken trying to fly.
Water is scary. The ocean is vast, and full of sharks and weird ass deep sea creatures. Sanghyuk doesn't want to fall victim to some strange fish. The more he thinks of it, he doesn't really want to swim at all, but Hakyeon had seemed so excited, and Sanghyuk thinks he looks too cute to turn down. Which, honestly, may be the real problem here. Still, he keeps walking to the beach, and if he walks a little slow, he can't blame himself for it.
He spots Wonsik first this time, he's out in the water, bobbing up and down as the water moves him. He looks comfortable, laughing and splashing at Hongbin as he swims closer. Taekwoon and Hakyeon are still on the beach, Hakyeon leaning against the others shoulder as they talk. Sanghyuk squints, looking closer at the area they're all in, but he can't seem to find Jaehwan.
"Hey," Sanghyuk calls in greeting, waving to the two on the shore.
Hakyeon runs up to him excitedly, he's beaming, and Taekwoon waves back, so calm he makes Hakyeon's enthusiasm stand out even more.
"You're here!" Hakyeon says, grabbing his arm and tugging him over to Taekwoon. "I'm so glad."
"What? You thought I wasn't gonna show up?" Sanghyuk laughs, letting himself be pulled along.
"I had my concerns," Hakyeon glances back at him accusingly, and Sanghyuk really has no idea what he means, but it does make him laugh again.
"Where's Jaehwan?" Sanghyuk asks, he still hasn't seen him, and it seems odd, since they're always together.
"Out there." Hakyeon answers, motioning towards the water.
"But where?"
"Look at Wonsik." Taekwoon says, he's smiling and Sanghyuk is suspicious.
"I saw Wonsik but I didn't see-oh," Sanghyuk cuts himself off, he does see, if he looks very closely. Jaehwan's head is on Wonsik's shoulder, like he's clinging onto his back.
"I wonder how you think Wonsik's head looks." Taekwoon says, smiling more now.
"He does have a big head," Hakyeon says, nodding understandingly.
Sanghyuk glares at them, and all it does is make them laugh. In his defense, Wonsik actually does have a big head, and it's getting dark.
"If you're done making fun of me," Sanghyuk starts, and is interrupted by Hakyeon clapping his hands excitedly.
"It's swimming time!" he yells.
Sanghyuk groans, that's not really what he wanted.
"Shoes off, let's go." Hakyeon says.
Sanghyuk bends down, untying his shoes before he takes them off. He doesn't normally untie them, but Hakyeon doesn't know that, and he wants to dawdle as much as possible.
Untying shoes isn't a long process though, and they're off before he's ready. He can't put off getting in the water for too long without Hakyeon noticing what he's doing, he's sure of that. So, he takes a deep breath and stands up, facing a much too happy Hakyeon.
"First," he says, all business like, "you have to get used to the water."
Hakyeon walks into the water, and Sanghyuk can see him shivering but he keeps going until he's waist deep.
"C'mon." He calls over his shoulder.
Sanghyuk walks to the water's edge, dipping his toe in delicately.
"It's cold!" He yelps, jumping back. Hakyeon laughs, and then disappears under the water, resurfacing a moment later, further out.
"That's why you have to get used to it!"
"Ridiculous." Sanghyuk grumbles, but he starts again. He walks into the water slowly, pausing every other step. It's so cold, he doesn't understand how they're all in and enjoying themselves.
"It'll get better." Hakyeon says, smiling as he walks over to Sanghyuk. He's in up to his thighs, and it's not getting better. He frowns, and Hakyeon puts a hand on the small of his back, which would be comforting if Hakyeon weren't wet and freezing.
Hakyeon uses the hand to guide him, keep him going when he wants to stop, and before he notices he's in up to his waist. It's distracting to have Hakyeon's hand on him. His fingers are spread so it covers as much of his back as possible, and Sanghyuk focuses on the feeling rather than the cold of the water.
"Put your arms down." Hakyeon says gently, and it's just then Sanghyuk notices that he's got his elbows tucked tight to his sides and his hands clasped in front of his chest. He nods, slowly moving his arms down, but the second his fingertips touch the water he brings them right back up.
"It's cold," he whines, "couldn't we do this in warm water?"
"Would you like to take a bath together?" Hakyeon teases. He's stopped pushing Sanghyuk forward, but he hasn't moved his hand from Sanghyuk's back.
"Maybe I would." Sanghyuk says, his face turns red, and he hopes Hakyeon can't tell.
Hakyeon laughs, and he rests his other hand lightly on Sanghyuk's stomach.
"Maybe we will, but first, you have to get in the water all the way."
Sanghyuk glances at Hakyeon, it's impossible to tell if he's joking or not, he's got the same small smile he's had since started guiding Sanghyuk further into the water. Hakyeon is turned more towards him now, because of the hand he has on his stomach. Sanghyuk's heart is racing, and he's getting close to just sinking into the ocean to avoid Hakyeon's hands on him.
"Put your arms down." Hakyeon repeats, and as much as Sanghyuk doesn't want to, he also wants to get this over with.
Sanghyuk plunges his hands down, the water comes up to his elbows, and he swears. Hakyeon keeps laughing, letting his hands fall from Sanghyuk and he drops down under the water again, coming back up quickly.
"You know, if you just get it over with its better than drawing it out."
"That's easy for you to say," Sanghyuk whines, "you do this all the time."
"Which means I know it works."
"What if there's an undertow and I get pulled under and die?"
"I'll save you."
Hakyeon is only barely holding back his laughter, and Sanghyuk will admit he's being a little ridiculous, but the ocean is treacherous. It's natural to be afraid.
Sanghyuk sticks his tongue out at Hakyeon, and does his best impression of being brave. He takes one big step forward, and then another. The water is coming up to his chest now, he has to stop, he has to be able to touch the bottom, but he wants to prove he can handle himself, so he takes one more.
His foot doesn't touch anything. He can't feel the sand and rocks underneath him. Sanghyuk can feel his heart hammering, he can hear it. He throws his arms up, splashing uselessly as he tries to stay above water. He gulps in a deep breath, and closes his eyes tight. His mind is blank, he can't think of anything that would help him. His chest feels tight, an odd warmth washes over him the more the panic sets in.
He feels something underneath his arms, hooking around his shoulders. His being dragged backwards, and his first instinct is too kick, but then he hears a voice.
"Sanghyuk, Sanghyuk, it's okay."
His back is pressed to Hakyeon's front, and somehow Hakyeon is moving them both closer to the sand. It only takes a second for Hakyeon to be able to stand, but he doesn't let go of Sanghyuk. He keeps them moving, steadily, until Sanghyuk is completely out of the water.
Sanghyuk is shaking so hard he can see the water droplets coming off him. Hakyeon doesn't say anything, just keeps a hand on the small of his back and ushers him towards the fire Taekwoon has built. The others must see him coming because there's a hush around them that is abnormal.
Wonsik comes over with a towel, wrapping it around Sanghyuk's shoulders and helping Hakyeon lead him to a seat next to the fire. Hakyeon sits on one side of him, wraps his arm around Sanghyuk, and Sanghyuk lets himself lean onto Hakyeon.
Taekwoon busies himself making the fire bigger, and Sanghyuk can tell they're all worried about him, but he can't say anything. He's safe, he knows that, but he can still feel terror in the pit of his stomach. He was so sure, so very sure, that he was going to die.
He doesn't notice he's started crying, not until he feels Wonsik pressed against his other side, and he hears Hakyeon's voice trying to soothe him.
"I'm scared." Sanghyuk whispers.
"I know," Hakyeon says, "we don't have to do that ever again."
Sanghyuk nods. He doesn't know if he never wants to try again, but he knows Hakyeon means what he says, and that, it's important to him.
"Knock knock!" Jaehwan yells, and despite himself, it makes Sanghyuk laugh. It makes everyone else groan, but Sanghyuk is curious.
"Who's there?" He asks, his voice raspy.
"Boo." Jaehwan says, and he looks so pleased with himself that Sanghyuk has to keep playing along.
"Boo who?"
"It's just a joke, don't cry!" Jaehwan says, and he starts laughing so hard that it's impossible not to laugh too.
---
Sanghyuk sleeps easy that night. He expects to be too jittery, or to wake up from terrible nightmares where Hakyeon didn't save him, but he doesn't. He gets home, lays down, and is asleep before he even has time to turn his alarm on.
The sun filters in through his curtains, and he wakes up feeling too warm, but he's rested. It's rare he feels this rested before a day of work, and he's thankful for it. He rolls over, glancing at his clock and oh- shit.
Sanghyuk jumps out of bed, his blankets wrap around his legs and he stumbles over to the door, leaning against it while he shakes his blankets off.
"Fuck," he mumbles, moving quickly across the hall to the bathroom. He tries to grab his toothbrush from the cup on the side of the sink, but his body hasn't caught up with his mind yet. The cup is loud when it falls to the tile floor, he hopes his mom is already up. He glare at himself in the mirror, turning the faucet on and splashing his face with water. That and a quick brush for his teeth and hair is all he really has time for. He might still make it to work on time if he runs.
---
Sanghyuk is out of breath when he gets down to the beach. Taekwoon is already there, and he's with a customer, a mother and her child. Taekwoon is crouched down, talking with the child while the mother stares down at them, a proud smile on her face. They're talking so quietly that Sanghyuk can't even hear them when he gets close, but the child sees him, and jumps behind their mother, clutching at her pant leg. Taekwoon turns to glare at him, and Sanghyuk just shrugs.
"I'm sorry," Taekwoon says softly, "I know he's big and scary."
Sanghyuk scoffs, he is hardly scary. Big, maybe, but scary? He doesn't think so. The mother reaches back and pats the child on the head, thanking Taekwoon for being so nice as they walk away.
"You scared them away." Taekwoon scowls, turning to Sanghyuk.
"I'm not scary." Sanghyuk insists.
"Then how come that kid hid from you?"
"I don't know! Maybe it was you glaring at me."
That makes Taekwoon glare more, Sanghyuk definitely doesn't have a winning argument here. He's just not that great with kids, especially not compared to Taekwoon. Taekwoon loves kids, and Sanghyuk only manages to be awkward around them.
"Get to work." Taekwoon says. He doesn't mention anything about Sanghyuk being late before he starts walking off for the other store, which Sanghyuk is thankful for. He doesn't need two reasons for Taekwoon to be mad at him.
It's going to be a slow day, Sanghyuk can tell. It's too hot to be outside, even at the beach. He doesn't mind the slow days as much as he used to, because now a slow day means that he gets to talk to everyone, instead of being too busy to think.
Sure enough, Wonsik comes running over. It's too early to be his break time, but there's no one in the water, and Sanghyuk can still see Hongbin up on the tower.
"Abandoning your duties?" Sanghyuk calls when Wonsik gets close enough to hear him.
"No," Wonsik says, looking bewildered.
"I'm joking," Sanghyuk explains. Wonsik still looks baffled, like he doesn't understand why Sanghyuk would joke about such a thing.
"Okay. I guess it wasn't funny." Sanghyuk mutters.
"Sorry," Wonsik says, at least being nice enough to smile now. Sanghyuk shrugs, apparently he needs to be Jaehwan level ridiculous to get this crowd to laugh.
"Listen," Wonsik says, and he starts shuffling from side to side, like he's nervous. "Hongbin and I are going into town for dinner, we were wondering if you wanted to come with?"
He looks so hopeful, and Sanghyuk has no reason to say no. Plus, if they're in town it's even easier for him to get home.
"Okay," he says. Wonsik grins at him, and gives a thumbs up back to where Hongbin is. Sanghyuk thinks that's adorable.
"Cool," Wonsik nods, trying his best not to look too excited. "We'll meet you here when we're done."
With that, Wonsik trots off. Sanghyuk has to hope that whatever he's signed himself up for tonight is less eventful than the night before, and gets him home before midnight.
---
Normally, the lifeguards get to leave a couple minutes before Sanghyuk and Taekwoon, but today it's too slow for them to bother staying open. Taekwoon leaves his stand around two, coming to laze around in Sanghyuk's instead. Really, it's just so he can sleep without walking all the way home, but Sanghyuk doesn't mind him being there.
It only takes Taekwoon about an hour to decide they're going home. He's had enough of sleeping in a hot box with only a slight wind from the ocean that can barely pretend to be keeping them cool. Sanghyuk hasn't been able to go home early all summer, and he's so ready to get out of there.
While Taekwoon locks up Sanghyuk walks over to Hongbin and Wonsik's tower. They both look miserable, and Sanghyuk snickers as he approaches.
"Rude," Hongbin comments, staring down at him.
"I'm going home now," Sanghyuk says, ignoring Hongbin.
"Rude!" Hongbin yells. Wonsik, sitting beside him under the umbrella, close enough for shade but not touching, pushes him, laughing.
"Meet us at the fountain in the town center at five?" Wonsik asks.
"Yeah, sure." Sanghyuk agrees easily.
"See you later." Wonsik says with a smile, waving goodbye at Sanghyuk.
Sanghyuk waves back, walking off with a smile on his face.
>> part 2
Recipient: carcharias1130
Pairing: OT6
Rating: NC-17
Wordcount: 13,353 words
Warnings: alcohol use, mentions of drowning/fear of drowning and water
Summary: Sanghyuk gets a summer job at the beach.
The sun hits the roof of the hut Sanghyuk will spend all summer in with a vengeance. It's barely ten in the morning and there it is, blazing away. The third week of June dawns hot and terrible, and all Sanghyuk really wants is to be inside an air conditioned building until the wonderful beginning of autumn, but here he is.
A summer job sounds great. In theory, a summer job is great. Getting up at eight after only half a week of summer break is not great at all. Sanghyuk's mother, a truly fantastic woman, had thought a summer job would help keep Sanghyuk busy, like he needed to be kept busy when he just finished his freshman year of college. He's had enough busy and he's still got years of education to go.
Still, he'd said fine, because extra money never hurt anyone. Probably. His mom had a friend of a friend who had a cousin who..etc. knew the guy who runs the shop down at the beach. Now, if a summer job is great in theory, then a summer job at beach is even greater in theory.
Sanghyuk, squinting at the small shack through the sunlight, thinks he really should stop having theories.
---
"Here." Taekwoon says, shoving an apron at him. It's white, with red stripes running down it vertically. Sanghyuk doesn't want to wear it, but Taekwoon seems insistent and it's best not to piss off your boss on the first day.
"I'll show you where everything is." Taekwoon says. He's not looking Sanghyuk in the eyes, and it unnerves him for some reason. Taekwoon doesn't seem mean or anything, he just seems- well, he's intimidating.
"Ok," Sanghyuk mumbles in reply.
Taekwoon goes off on a long list of where things are kept, he shows Sanghyuk the price list and supply sheet. He teaches Sanghyuk how to count the money, and explains how much petty cash should be there in the morning. It's a lot of information, a lot of Sanghyuk nodding even when he doesn't quite understand. Taekwoon seems to pick up on this, because he occasionally narrows his eyes and huffs before explaining something a second time. Sanghyuk is grateful, even if it is a little embarrassing.
"You don't have to get everything," Taekwoon says at the end of his explanation, "The other store is close, you can come get me if you need to."
Sanghyuk nods, still taking everything in, and Taekwoon nods back, seeming satisfied with the way things are going. Sanghyuk hopes he still feels that way after they open.
---
A shadow covers Sanghyuk as he sits in front of the counter. His head is down, focused on counting the petty cash for the day on the shelf underneath the counter. He looks up slowly, expecting Taekwoon to be looming over him, and is instead greeted by a incredibly big smile attached to a man that is much too handsome for his own good.
"Hi, uh, hello." Sanghyuk fumbles out. How suave. The man keeps grinning and Sanghyuk glances down to take what he can see of him over the counter in. He's tall, not as tall as Sanghyuk, but tall. His shoulders are broad and cause his shirt to be a little too tight across his chest. His very nice chest. Shit, he's hot.
Sanghyuk glances up to his face again, and he seems to be barely holding in giggles. Which Sanghyuk is thankful for.
"I'm Hongbin," he says finally. "One of the lifeguards."
Sanghyuk hadn't even noticed the red cross on his shirt, he'd been too distracted imagining what was under the shirt.
"Sanghyuk." He says.
"Taekwoon's new underling?" Hongbin asks, and Sanghyuk doesn't know him, but he can still tell he's being teased. "Wanna know what happened to the last one?"
Sanghyuk narrows his eyes, and he's about to come back with something great, when an arm swings over Hongbin's shoulders.
"Why are you being so rude to the poor thing?"
Hongbin rolls his eyes, mouth pulling down in distaste, and he steps out from underneath the other man's arm.
"I wasn't being rude."
"Right," the man says, "and I wasn't born yesterday."
He turns his eyes to Sanghyuk, who has been busy noticing that this man is also grossly hot. Do they only have hot lifeguards?
"I'm Hakyeon," he says with a smile, reaching his hand over the counter, "nice to meet you."
"Sanghyuk." He reaches up to shake Hakyeon's hand, and sees Hongbin rolling his eyes again. It must be a habit of his around Hakyeon.
"I'm the head lifeguard here," Hakyeon says, "let me know if you need anything. I used to work for Taekwoon before I became a lifeguard, I know how difficult he is."
Sanghyuk thanks him, and then he's walking away briskly with Hongbin in tow.
---
It only get hotter as the day goes on. There's not enough people in the first few hours for it to distract Sanghyuk from how sweltering it is. He thinks he can see heat waves rising from the counter. He's counted the money at least three times, even though he's only sold one bottle of water (to an old man, walking an adorable dog who probably needed the water more than him). He's gone over stock, and taught himself where things are, and now he's just sitting in the miserable heat. Sanghyuk pouts, this is no way to be spending a summer morning.
"Sanghyuk!" someone yells from out of sight, and boy, he must be spacing out more than he thought to not notice the group of lifeguards bounding up to him. Really, Hakyeon seems to be the only one bounding, along with someone he hasn't seen before, but someone he really wouldn't mind seeing again. There most be some kind of lifeguard law about being ridiculously hot.
"This is Jaehwan," Hakyeon announces, "and this is Wonsik."
Jaehwan winks, actually winks, at him, and Wonsik offers a much less mortifying greeting.
"I thought you should know all of us, since we'll be spending all summer together." Hakyeon says, looking particularly pleased with himself.
---
"You met Hakyeon." Taekwoon says, a scowl on his face.
"Yes." Sanghyuk answers hesitantly.
Taekwoon makes a unhappy noise, it reminds Sanghyuk of a small dog and he accidentally smiles, which only makes Taekwoon scowl more.
"Don't let him distract you." Taekwoon says, with finality, like he's already had enough of the subject.
Sanghyuk can't help himself though. He's curious about Hakyeon, and the rest of them, but Hakyeon stands out the most, with how loud he is.
"Hakyeon says he used to work for you," Sanghyuk starts questioningly, but he's interrupted by Taekwoon snorting.
"I wouldn't say he worked," Taekwoon shakes his head, glaring at the counter top, "he talked. All he does is talk."
"He invited me to a party, with all of them, tonight."
Taekwoon glances up at him, still glaring.
"I don't know if I'm going yet." Sanghyuk adds, quickly.
"He'll just talk more if you don't."
Sanghyuk guesses that is Taekwoon's way of saying he should go, and really, Sanghyuk is considering it, but he doesn't know Hakyeon, or any of them. He's been known to enjoy a party, and a bonfire is always a good time, but he still doesn't know if it's a good idea to go. Hakyeon seems the type to invite someone because it sounds like a good idea in the moment, and he talks so much he probably didn't even think about it.
"Hey," Taekwoon says, pulling him out of his thoughts, "let's finish, I want to go home."
Sanghyuk nods, returning to his count, getting out of here sounds like the best decision right now.
---
By the time Sanghyuk gets home he doesn't feel like doing anything. His bed is calling to him, and there's a movie he's been meaning to watch. It doesn't seem worth it to head back down to the beach only a couple hours after he's left it.
He can’t help but wonder though, why had Hakyeon invited him? Why had none of the others protested when he did? Sanghyuk isn’t bad to be around, he supposes, but they’re all friends. All friends and all older than him, and all over the top hot. Not that Sanghyuk finds himself unattractive, he thinks he’s pretty hot. Still, if he compares himself to Hongbin, he’s coming up short.
Earlier, he’d seen Honbin coming out of the water, shirt off and water glistening on his torso in the too bright sun. His jaw had almost dropped, Hongbin was unreal. Then out had come Hakyeon, soft and smooth looking where Hongbin was defined, but beautiful in a way Sanghyuk can’t explain. Hakyeon looks so delicate, and it’s so strange on someone so big.
The moment had been ruined by Jaehwan, diving into both of them, and Wonsik up in the life guard chair, shaking his head, and blowing his whistle at them. He could hear Wonsik saying something about “bad examples”, and see the rest of them laughing.
They’re all hot, older than him, and friends. All reasons Sanghyuk should avoid going down to the beach, but they seem to have so much fun. Sanghyuk is experiencing his first summer as a college student, and even if he’s home, he should be having fun, right? He’s seen enough movies to know that.
Hakyeon had said they meet at the beach at sunset, and from his place on his bedroom floor, Sanghyuk can see the sky beginning to turn colors. He makes a decision, and later he’ll decide if it’s good or bad, but for now, he’s going back to the beach.
---
The sky above the water is bright orange, surrounded by purple and blue, and it's not something Sanghyuk would normally pay attention to, but he notices now.
He hadn't exactly rushed on his way back to the beach, he didn't want to be winded or seem like he was to eager when he got there. It's silly to worry about, there's nothing wrong with being excited, but he still stops to take in the sunset, strolls slowly down to the bonfire he sees roaring a ways down.
Hakyeon sees him first, and he jumps up from the sand, stumbling just a little. Sanghyuk can see a case of beer and a bottle of something from where he is, and he giggles a little as Hakyeon weaves through nothing to get over to him.
"Sanghyuk!" he yells, throwing his arms around Sanghyuk's neck when he gets to him. "I was worried you wouldn't come."
Hakyeon gives him a disapproving look as he tugs him over to the fire, plopping down next to Taekwoon and pulling Sanghyuk with him. Taekwoon's cheeks are rosy, and he nods at Sanghyuk, ignoring Hakyeon as he leans onto his shoulder.
"Sanghyuk is late." Hakyeon announces.
"How awful, how dreadful." Jaehwan says dramatically, clutching his hand to his chest. "How will we go on?"
"Hush." Hakyeon scolds, but Hongbin and Wonsik are laughing so loud Jaehwan doesn't seem to notice.
"You're not late," Wonsik says, shaking his head, "Hakyeon just got here too early."
"Made me come too early." Taekwoon pipes up.
Hakyeon groans, rolling away from Taekwoon to lean on Wonsik.
"Cruel, all of you."
Sanghyuk joins in on the laughter this time.
---
The breeze on the beach gets stronger as the night goes on, and Sanghyuk wishes he had brought a jacket. Even the alcohol and the fire isn't enough to keep him from shivering every now and then.
Wonsik is wearing a shirt with the sides cut out, it's distracting, how much Sanghyuk can see of his skin. Wonsik doesn't seem to notice him staring, but Hongbin does.
"Nice view." Hongbin says, grinning a little to wide for Sanghyuk's comfort.
"What?" he stutters out.
"Wonsik," he answers, "you know, it feels even better than it looks."
Sanghyuk's head whips around to stare wide eyed at a still grinning Hongbin.
"It's true, he's got a nice body."
Sanghyuk's mouth falls open, he can't think of anything to say, and he's sure he looks great sitting there mouth agape and looking stunned.
"You wanna know something else?" Hongbin leans in conspiratorially, and Sanghyuk nods before he can think, "You could touch, if you wanted too."
Sanghyuk continues to stare at Hongbin, not sure how to respond. He can't think of anything he could possibly say to that, or why Hongbin is saying that to him in the first place.
Wonsik squeals, saving him from the awkward silence, and they both turn to see Jaehwan grabbing at his sides, fingers wiggling in an attempt to tickle. Wonsik takes off, running down to the water, and Jaehwan follows, though he doesn't seem to run as quickly.
"Hongbin!" Jaehwan hollers, "Help!"
Hongbin laughs, and as he stands up he trails his hand up Sanghyuk's back, lingering on his shoulder before he walks calmly after them. Sanghyuk shivers, but not from the cold this time.
He doesn't notice that Hakyeon has scooted next to him until the other places a hand on his thigh, just a little too high up to be casual. He barely avoids squeaking in surprise.
"I hope Hongbin was being nice," he says accusingly, sending a glare down to the three of them playing at the waters edge.
"He wasn't being mean." Sanghyuk says, it's surprisingly easy to talk to Hakyeon, especially after Hongbin.
Hakyeon narrows his eyes, "He's sneaky."
Sanghyuk laughs, leaning closer to Hakyeon as he does, and Hakyeon doesn't seem to mind. His hand is still on Sanghyuk's thigh, and their knees knock together when Sanghyuk gets closer. He can see Hakyeon smile out of the corner of his eye, and he's not sure if it's because of him, or the three down by the water, splashing each other and yelping at how cold the water is.
Sanghyuk glances over to Taekwoon, he's been so quiet he almost forgot he was there. Taekwoon is curled up on the sand in front of the fire, seemingly asleep.
"Cute, isn't he?" Hakyeon asks, catching the direction of Sanghyuk's gaze.
Sanghyuk wouldn't agree, normally, but in his sleep Taekwoon does look cute. His lips just barely parted as he takes in deep breaths, chest moving up and down slowly. He looks peaceful, soft.
"We have to wake him up." Hakyeon says, a glint in his eye, much too gleeful for the situation.
Hakyeon gets up, goes and gently sits down next to Taekwoon. For a moment he does nothing, simply smiles down at Taekwoon, a gentleness in his face that completely contradicts his intentions. He leans down, nuzzling into Taekwoon's neck, and Sanghyuk feels like he's intruding by looking at them, it seems so personal, so familiar, but then Hakyeon blows a raspberry into his neck.
Taekwoon moves so quickly it's almost like he wasn't asleep. He jolts up, grabbing Hakyeon around his middle and throwing him down into the sand. Taekwoon throws one of his legs over Hakyeon, straddling his thighs. Sanghyuk can't see his face from where he is, but he's sure Taekwoon is furious. Hakyeon's wrists are in Taekwoon's hands, and he's surprised to see Hakyeon is still smiling. Not as surprised as he is when Taekwoon bends down to cover Hakyeon's body with his own, pressing Hakyeon's wrists against the sand. Hakyeon's head tilts to the side as Taekwoon noses against his neck. He must bite down, because Hakyeon gasps, and Sanghyuk can see his hips push up against Taekwoon's, and if he felt like he was intruding before, it's nothing compared to how he feels now.
Hakyeon lifts his head up, whispering into Taekwoon's ear, and Sanghyuk can see Taekwoon's ears turn red before he's rolling off of Hakyeon, looking absolutely mortified as he avoids Sanghyuk's eyes. Smug, Hakyeon sits up, and completely opposite to Taekwoon, looks directly at Sanghyuk.
Sanghyuk is baffled, prior to this moment he had thought Taekwoon had merely tolerated Hakyeon, but Taekwoon had been on top of him, and his actions didn't seem new, Hakyeon hadn't been surprised or offended by them. This night is full of too many things Sanghyuk doesn't understand.
Hakyeon is still looking smug, and just as Sanghyuk is sure he needs to do something to stop that look, Wonsik comes up behind him and wraps his arms around him. He's wet, and probably cold, from splashing around in the water. Sanghyuk bursts out laughing as Hakyeon starts yelling, twisting around to smack Wonsik in an attempt to get him off. His laugh turns abruptly into a scream, too high pitched, as Hongbin does the same to him. He hears Jaehwan scream, and figures he must've tried the same on Taekwoon, but he can't be bothered to look. He has priorities, and they are getting a freezing, wet, Hongbin off him.
---
Sanghyuk's alarm goes off, and he groans, rolling onto his stomach and pulling a pillow over his head. Getting up is the last thing he wants to do, he really should've been more insistent about leaving, but it's so hard to argue with a determined Hakyeon. It wasn't until Taekwoon woke up enough to point out that they all had to get up early that he managed to leave, stumbling all the way home and falling asleep almost immediately.
The alarm keeps blaring, Sanghyuk's pillow no match for it, and he eventually gives up, throwing his arm out to stop it. If he gets up now he can have a long shower, he usually only gets a couple minutes before he has to rush off. A long shower does sound nice, even if it isn't as nice as sleeping in.
Sanghyuk turns the water on just a touch hotter than he normally does. The lack of sleep makes his muscles tense, and he thinks he's got a bruise from when someone tackled him last night. He can't help the way his mind wanders, and he gets stuck on Hongbin's voice, sounding so smug, when he caught him staring at Wonsik.
Sanghyuk thinks Hongbin is more than a little infuriating, but surely he wasn't wrong, touching Wonsik would be better than staring. Hell, touching any of them would be better than staring. Sanghyuk runs his hands over his abdomen, looking down at his own muscular structure. It’s not bad, he’s got some definition, but it’s not the same.
---
The sun is going strong enough by the time Sanghyuk gets to the beach that he almost regrets the too hot shower. He can see the beginning of heat waves on the roof of the shack and he grimaces. It's going to be a long day.
He spots Taekwoon as he gets closer, his forehead laying against the door as he tries to turn his keys. Sanghyuk smiles, trying not to laugh, at least he's not as bad off as Taekwoon. He has a feeling Hakyeon didn't let him go home as easily as he let Sanghyuk go.
"Need help?" Sanghyuk asks when he gets next to Taekwoon. Taekwoon turns, keeping his forehead to the door, and levels Sanghyuk with an impressive glare. Sanghyuk has to bite his lips to avoid laughing, a much harder thing to do now that he can see Taekwoon up close.
Taekwoon grumbles something unintelligible, pushing off the door and handing the keys to Sanghyuk. Sanghyuk pats him on the shoulder, a small attempt at sympathy, since he can't stop himself from laughing.
"Shut up," Taekwoon grumbles slightly louder this time, following Sanghyuk inside.
---
"So," Sanghyuk starts, and Taekwoon doesn't even open his eyes, but he does make a vague humming noise, "I was wondering about you and Hakyeon."
Taekwoon opens his eyes at that, but the rest of him stays the same, arms crossed over his chest, leaning back in his chair with his head resting on the wall behind him.
"Don't wonder."
Sanghyuk glares, completely unsatisfied with Taekwoon's fake answer.
"We're friends." Taekwoon answers, glaring back.
"Right," Sanghyuk snorts, raising his hands up to make air quotes, "friends."
"Jealous?"
Sanghyuk jumps up, letting out a shrill shout that only makes Taekwoon glare more. He seems completely unsurprised by Hakyeon showing up out of the blue. It must be something you get used to.
"No," Sanghyuk splutters, "and you should announce yourself."
"So cute." Hakyeon coos.
"Well, you should." Sanghyuk says stoutly, trying his best not to be embarrassed.
"You didn't answer my question," Hakyeon smirks, it makes Sanghyuk feel quite unsettled, "are you jealous?"
"Stop it." Taekwoon says.
Sanghyuk glances over at him, his eyes are closed again, head tilted back against the wall, but there's the smallest smile on his face.
"Stop what?" Hakyeon whines, "I was just hoping someone might finally appreciate my attention."
That startles a laugh out of Sanghyuk. This Hakyeon, who is silly and dramatic, this is what he's used to. The Hakyeon that smirks at him, that little glimpse of something else, Sanghyuk doesn't think he's ready for that.
"Oh!" Hakyeon exclaims, "Sanghyuk, we're going swimming tonight you have to come with."
That must've been the actual reason he'd come over to the shop, not to tease Sanghyuk, but to invite him to something else. Sanghyuk wants to say yes, if anything swimming will mean all of them with their shirts off, but, well, he doesn't know if he can say yes.
"You have to come." Hakyeon says, because apparently Sanghyuk is taking to long to answer.
It's not that Sanghyuk doesn't want to go, he'd had fun last night, and he seems to have fun whenever he's around them all, it's just that he doesn't want to admit that he can't go swimming with them.
"You're taking to long to answer." Hakyeon's hands are on his waist now, and he looks a little concerned.
"Uh," Sanghyuk starts, unsure how he's going to answer without making himself look bad, "it's not that I don't want to."
"What, you can't swim?"
Hakyeon means it as a joke, but Sanghyuk's face falls, and Hakyeon catches on immediately.
"Oh," he says, and then more excitedly, "oh!"
Sanghyuk doesn't know what there is to be excited about, he can't swim. He's tried learning, but he sinks like a rock every time he gets in the water.
"That's not a problem," Hakyeon says, "we'll teach you."
Sanghyuk grimaces, but Hakyeon is chatting away about how swimming is easy and fun, and Sanghyuk already knows he's in for another long night.
---
There are a lot of things Sanghyuk regrets, like his hair cut in middle school, or that time he tried to rebel by not eating breakfast for a week, and the list goes on. Tonight is pretty high on the list already, and he's not even to the beach yet. Sanghyuk's not worried about drowning, there will be four life guards there, at least one of them should be competent enough to save him. He's worried about how ridiculous he's going to look, flopping around in the water, looking, and sounding, like a chicken trying to fly.
Water is scary. The ocean is vast, and full of sharks and weird ass deep sea creatures. Sanghyuk doesn't want to fall victim to some strange fish. The more he thinks of it, he doesn't really want to swim at all, but Hakyeon had seemed so excited, and Sanghyuk thinks he looks too cute to turn down. Which, honestly, may be the real problem here. Still, he keeps walking to the beach, and if he walks a little slow, he can't blame himself for it.
He spots Wonsik first this time, he's out in the water, bobbing up and down as the water moves him. He looks comfortable, laughing and splashing at Hongbin as he swims closer. Taekwoon and Hakyeon are still on the beach, Hakyeon leaning against the others shoulder as they talk. Sanghyuk squints, looking closer at the area they're all in, but he can't seem to find Jaehwan.
"Hey," Sanghyuk calls in greeting, waving to the two on the shore.
Hakyeon runs up to him excitedly, he's beaming, and Taekwoon waves back, so calm he makes Hakyeon's enthusiasm stand out even more.
"You're here!" Hakyeon says, grabbing his arm and tugging him over to Taekwoon. "I'm so glad."
"What? You thought I wasn't gonna show up?" Sanghyuk laughs, letting himself be pulled along.
"I had my concerns," Hakyeon glances back at him accusingly, and Sanghyuk really has no idea what he means, but it does make him laugh again.
"Where's Jaehwan?" Sanghyuk asks, he still hasn't seen him, and it seems odd, since they're always together.
"Out there." Hakyeon answers, motioning towards the water.
"But where?"
"Look at Wonsik." Taekwoon says, he's smiling and Sanghyuk is suspicious.
"I saw Wonsik but I didn't see-oh," Sanghyuk cuts himself off, he does see, if he looks very closely. Jaehwan's head is on Wonsik's shoulder, like he's clinging onto his back.
"I wonder how you think Wonsik's head looks." Taekwoon says, smiling more now.
"He does have a big head," Hakyeon says, nodding understandingly.
Sanghyuk glares at them, and all it does is make them laugh. In his defense, Wonsik actually does have a big head, and it's getting dark.
"If you're done making fun of me," Sanghyuk starts, and is interrupted by Hakyeon clapping his hands excitedly.
"It's swimming time!" he yells.
Sanghyuk groans, that's not really what he wanted.
"Shoes off, let's go." Hakyeon says.
Sanghyuk bends down, untying his shoes before he takes them off. He doesn't normally untie them, but Hakyeon doesn't know that, and he wants to dawdle as much as possible.
Untying shoes isn't a long process though, and they're off before he's ready. He can't put off getting in the water for too long without Hakyeon noticing what he's doing, he's sure of that. So, he takes a deep breath and stands up, facing a much too happy Hakyeon.
"First," he says, all business like, "you have to get used to the water."
Hakyeon walks into the water, and Sanghyuk can see him shivering but he keeps going until he's waist deep.
"C'mon." He calls over his shoulder.
Sanghyuk walks to the water's edge, dipping his toe in delicately.
"It's cold!" He yelps, jumping back. Hakyeon laughs, and then disappears under the water, resurfacing a moment later, further out.
"That's why you have to get used to it!"
"Ridiculous." Sanghyuk grumbles, but he starts again. He walks into the water slowly, pausing every other step. It's so cold, he doesn't understand how they're all in and enjoying themselves.
"It'll get better." Hakyeon says, smiling as he walks over to Sanghyuk. He's in up to his thighs, and it's not getting better. He frowns, and Hakyeon puts a hand on the small of his back, which would be comforting if Hakyeon weren't wet and freezing.
Hakyeon uses the hand to guide him, keep him going when he wants to stop, and before he notices he's in up to his waist. It's distracting to have Hakyeon's hand on him. His fingers are spread so it covers as much of his back as possible, and Sanghyuk focuses on the feeling rather than the cold of the water.
"Put your arms down." Hakyeon says gently, and it's just then Sanghyuk notices that he's got his elbows tucked tight to his sides and his hands clasped in front of his chest. He nods, slowly moving his arms down, but the second his fingertips touch the water he brings them right back up.
"It's cold," he whines, "couldn't we do this in warm water?"
"Would you like to take a bath together?" Hakyeon teases. He's stopped pushing Sanghyuk forward, but he hasn't moved his hand from Sanghyuk's back.
"Maybe I would." Sanghyuk says, his face turns red, and he hopes Hakyeon can't tell.
Hakyeon laughs, and he rests his other hand lightly on Sanghyuk's stomach.
"Maybe we will, but first, you have to get in the water all the way."
Sanghyuk glances at Hakyeon, it's impossible to tell if he's joking or not, he's got the same small smile he's had since started guiding Sanghyuk further into the water. Hakyeon is turned more towards him now, because of the hand he has on his stomach. Sanghyuk's heart is racing, and he's getting close to just sinking into the ocean to avoid Hakyeon's hands on him.
"Put your arms down." Hakyeon repeats, and as much as Sanghyuk doesn't want to, he also wants to get this over with.
Sanghyuk plunges his hands down, the water comes up to his elbows, and he swears. Hakyeon keeps laughing, letting his hands fall from Sanghyuk and he drops down under the water again, coming back up quickly.
"You know, if you just get it over with its better than drawing it out."
"That's easy for you to say," Sanghyuk whines, "you do this all the time."
"Which means I know it works."
"What if there's an undertow and I get pulled under and die?"
"I'll save you."
Hakyeon is only barely holding back his laughter, and Sanghyuk will admit he's being a little ridiculous, but the ocean is treacherous. It's natural to be afraid.
Sanghyuk sticks his tongue out at Hakyeon, and does his best impression of being brave. He takes one big step forward, and then another. The water is coming up to his chest now, he has to stop, he has to be able to touch the bottom, but he wants to prove he can handle himself, so he takes one more.
His foot doesn't touch anything. He can't feel the sand and rocks underneath him. Sanghyuk can feel his heart hammering, he can hear it. He throws his arms up, splashing uselessly as he tries to stay above water. He gulps in a deep breath, and closes his eyes tight. His mind is blank, he can't think of anything that would help him. His chest feels tight, an odd warmth washes over him the more the panic sets in.
He feels something underneath his arms, hooking around his shoulders. His being dragged backwards, and his first instinct is too kick, but then he hears a voice.
"Sanghyuk, Sanghyuk, it's okay."
His back is pressed to Hakyeon's front, and somehow Hakyeon is moving them both closer to the sand. It only takes a second for Hakyeon to be able to stand, but he doesn't let go of Sanghyuk. He keeps them moving, steadily, until Sanghyuk is completely out of the water.
Sanghyuk is shaking so hard he can see the water droplets coming off him. Hakyeon doesn't say anything, just keeps a hand on the small of his back and ushers him towards the fire Taekwoon has built. The others must see him coming because there's a hush around them that is abnormal.
Wonsik comes over with a towel, wrapping it around Sanghyuk's shoulders and helping Hakyeon lead him to a seat next to the fire. Hakyeon sits on one side of him, wraps his arm around Sanghyuk, and Sanghyuk lets himself lean onto Hakyeon.
Taekwoon busies himself making the fire bigger, and Sanghyuk can tell they're all worried about him, but he can't say anything. He's safe, he knows that, but he can still feel terror in the pit of his stomach. He was so sure, so very sure, that he was going to die.
He doesn't notice he's started crying, not until he feels Wonsik pressed against his other side, and he hears Hakyeon's voice trying to soothe him.
"I'm scared." Sanghyuk whispers.
"I know," Hakyeon says, "we don't have to do that ever again."
Sanghyuk nods. He doesn't know if he never wants to try again, but he knows Hakyeon means what he says, and that, it's important to him.
"Knock knock!" Jaehwan yells, and despite himself, it makes Sanghyuk laugh. It makes everyone else groan, but Sanghyuk is curious.
"Who's there?" He asks, his voice raspy.
"Boo." Jaehwan says, and he looks so pleased with himself that Sanghyuk has to keep playing along.
"Boo who?"
"It's just a joke, don't cry!" Jaehwan says, and he starts laughing so hard that it's impossible not to laugh too.
---
Sanghyuk sleeps easy that night. He expects to be too jittery, or to wake up from terrible nightmares where Hakyeon didn't save him, but he doesn't. He gets home, lays down, and is asleep before he even has time to turn his alarm on.
The sun filters in through his curtains, and he wakes up feeling too warm, but he's rested. It's rare he feels this rested before a day of work, and he's thankful for it. He rolls over, glancing at his clock and oh- shit.
Sanghyuk jumps out of bed, his blankets wrap around his legs and he stumbles over to the door, leaning against it while he shakes his blankets off.
"Fuck," he mumbles, moving quickly across the hall to the bathroom. He tries to grab his toothbrush from the cup on the side of the sink, but his body hasn't caught up with his mind yet. The cup is loud when it falls to the tile floor, he hopes his mom is already up. He glare at himself in the mirror, turning the faucet on and splashing his face with water. That and a quick brush for his teeth and hair is all he really has time for. He might still make it to work on time if he runs.
---
Sanghyuk is out of breath when he gets down to the beach. Taekwoon is already there, and he's with a customer, a mother and her child. Taekwoon is crouched down, talking with the child while the mother stares down at them, a proud smile on her face. They're talking so quietly that Sanghyuk can't even hear them when he gets close, but the child sees him, and jumps behind their mother, clutching at her pant leg. Taekwoon turns to glare at him, and Sanghyuk just shrugs.
"I'm sorry," Taekwoon says softly, "I know he's big and scary."
Sanghyuk scoffs, he is hardly scary. Big, maybe, but scary? He doesn't think so. The mother reaches back and pats the child on the head, thanking Taekwoon for being so nice as they walk away.
"You scared them away." Taekwoon scowls, turning to Sanghyuk.
"I'm not scary." Sanghyuk insists.
"Then how come that kid hid from you?"
"I don't know! Maybe it was you glaring at me."
That makes Taekwoon glare more, Sanghyuk definitely doesn't have a winning argument here. He's just not that great with kids, especially not compared to Taekwoon. Taekwoon loves kids, and Sanghyuk only manages to be awkward around them.
"Get to work." Taekwoon says. He doesn't mention anything about Sanghyuk being late before he starts walking off for the other store, which Sanghyuk is thankful for. He doesn't need two reasons for Taekwoon to be mad at him.
It's going to be a slow day, Sanghyuk can tell. It's too hot to be outside, even at the beach. He doesn't mind the slow days as much as he used to, because now a slow day means that he gets to talk to everyone, instead of being too busy to think.
Sure enough, Wonsik comes running over. It's too early to be his break time, but there's no one in the water, and Sanghyuk can still see Hongbin up on the tower.
"Abandoning your duties?" Sanghyuk calls when Wonsik gets close enough to hear him.
"No," Wonsik says, looking bewildered.
"I'm joking," Sanghyuk explains. Wonsik still looks baffled, like he doesn't understand why Sanghyuk would joke about such a thing.
"Okay. I guess it wasn't funny." Sanghyuk mutters.
"Sorry," Wonsik says, at least being nice enough to smile now. Sanghyuk shrugs, apparently he needs to be Jaehwan level ridiculous to get this crowd to laugh.
"Listen," Wonsik says, and he starts shuffling from side to side, like he's nervous. "Hongbin and I are going into town for dinner, we were wondering if you wanted to come with?"
He looks so hopeful, and Sanghyuk has no reason to say no. Plus, if they're in town it's even easier for him to get home.
"Okay," he says. Wonsik grins at him, and gives a thumbs up back to where Hongbin is. Sanghyuk thinks that's adorable.
"Cool," Wonsik nods, trying his best not to look too excited. "We'll meet you here when we're done."
With that, Wonsik trots off. Sanghyuk has to hope that whatever he's signed himself up for tonight is less eventful than the night before, and gets him home before midnight.
---
Normally, the lifeguards get to leave a couple minutes before Sanghyuk and Taekwoon, but today it's too slow for them to bother staying open. Taekwoon leaves his stand around two, coming to laze around in Sanghyuk's instead. Really, it's just so he can sleep without walking all the way home, but Sanghyuk doesn't mind him being there.
It only takes Taekwoon about an hour to decide they're going home. He's had enough of sleeping in a hot box with only a slight wind from the ocean that can barely pretend to be keeping them cool. Sanghyuk hasn't been able to go home early all summer, and he's so ready to get out of there.
While Taekwoon locks up Sanghyuk walks over to Hongbin and Wonsik's tower. They both look miserable, and Sanghyuk snickers as he approaches.
"Rude," Hongbin comments, staring down at him.
"I'm going home now," Sanghyuk says, ignoring Hongbin.
"Rude!" Hongbin yells. Wonsik, sitting beside him under the umbrella, close enough for shade but not touching, pushes him, laughing.
"Meet us at the fountain in the town center at five?" Wonsik asks.
"Yeah, sure." Sanghyuk agrees easily.
"See you later." Wonsik says with a smile, waving goodbye at Sanghyuk.
Sanghyuk waves back, walking off with a smile on his face.
>> part 2