Crashing Ashore - 4b/11
[Title] Crashing Ashore
[Pairing] Haehyuk and all the other couples I’m too lazy to name.
[Genre] Romance/Fluff (at times)
[Rating] PG-13
[Disclaimer] I own them all! I barely own myself.
[Summary] Forced to spend his summer working at his uncle’s beach shop, Eunhyuk finds himself getting swept up in the in the current that is Donghae. Will he be able to swim out or will he let himself drown? (Oh Shisus, this wordplay is killing me)
*~*~*~*~*~*
After spending 20 minutes of dealing with Donghae’s sly smirks and endless flirting we ended up at the aquarium on the boardwalk. The building was bigger that I thought it would be and strangely reminded me of an old movie theater.
“This is the best aquarium in town,” Donghae told me as I admired the carvings on the wall. “I love this place. I come here a lot.” He pulled me gently through the doors (I had long gave up trying to pry my hand from his grip) and we walked up to the front desk. There was a dark-haired man sitting there with a blank expression on his face as he stared at a toy turtle.
“Hey Yesung hyung,” Donghae called. He looked up at Donghae with the same blank expression.
“Hi Hae,” he said. He suddenly turned to me and his blank gaze turned into a piercing stare. He stared at me without blinking and I flinched back from him and cowered into Donghae’s side.
“Donghae,” I whispered, “can you make him stop. He’s freaking me out.”
He laughed at me. “Don’t worry. Yesung’s harmless. But hyung, what are you doing at the front. I thought you weren’t allowed up here anymore.” I raised an eyebrow at that.
“Yeah, but Onew called in sick, so I had to cover for him. Who’s your friend?”
“This is Eunhyuk, my date.” He smiled softly and I couldn’t tell if I blushed from his words or his expression.
“Oh, you’re Eunhyuk? Ryeowook’s told us all about you,” he said, suddenly perking up. He smiled at me. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too," I said. His whole weirdo aura dissipated almost immediately when he smiled.
Wait a minute.
“Us?” I asked.
“Yeah, me and Ddangkoma,” he said lifting up the toy turtle that suddenly started to move. I yelped, startled at the sudden movement.
“It’s alive?” I asked.
“Yeah. He’s me and Wook’s baby,” he smiled fondly at the turtle and stroked his back. “Want to pet him?” he asked placing the turtle in front of me. I looked at it for a second before reaching my finger out to pet it’s head. Surprisingly, it didn’t shrink back into its shell like I thought it would.
“That means he likes you,” Yesung said, smiling brightly at me. I smiled back.
“I’m glad.”
“Okay, you’ve spent enough time with the turtle and his oddball owner. Time to go,” Donghae said, pulling me further inside the building. “Bye hyung,” he called, without looking back.
“Bye Yesung hyung,” I waved and he made Ddangkoma wave back too.
I followed behind Donghae as he moved expertly to each of the tanks. He showed me his favorites and he knew so much about them I would’ve sworn he worked there. I watched him in awe as he talked with so much enthusiasm and joy. I found that I was enjoying myself a lot. Donghae was actually fun to be around when he wasn’t he usually arrogant self.
“There’s one more I want to show you. It’s the best part of the whole place,” he said with a beautiful smile on his face and an innocent twinkle in his eyes. I stared mesmerized and just barely was able to make myself nod.
He walked us to the end of a hallway and opened the doors. The inside was giant tank, from the ceiling to the floor. It even went over the ceiling, making it seem as if we were walking in the middle of the ocean. Everywhere I looked there was water. I started to panic. Visions of water blurring my eyes and I found it was getting harder to breath. I could feel my head pounding loudly and I even felt like I was wet. The sound of rushing water flowed in my ears and I started to shake.
Donghae must have felt me trembling because he turned around to face me. “Eunhyuk? What’s wrong? Are you ok?” he asked in alarm. His face was blurry and I could feel the water running down my face.
“P-please. I can’t be in here,” I stuttered out reaching out to grab Donghae. “I c-can’t. Please Donghae,” I begged, gripping his shirt tight.
“Okay. Don’t cry,” he said gently and walked me out of the room. He sat me down on a bench and held me as I cried into his shirt. He rubbed soothing circles in my back and whispered calm assurances in my hair as my sobs quieted down. We sat there for a while, until I had calmed down enough to stop crying.
“Are you okay now?" he asked.
I sniffed. “Y-yeah.”
He pulled me back and wiped the remaining tears from my face. “Are you sure?” he asked, his hands gently cupping my face. I nodded and he sighed before pulling me back into his arms.
“I’m sorry for taking you in there.” I could gear the regret and anguish in his voice. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault Donghae. I just have a bad experience with water,” I said, finding comfort in his warm embrace.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
“When I was 10, I got caught in a strong wave while I was on the beach. It pulled me in and I was dragged further and further away from the beach. I only remember the water pushing and pulling me everywhere when my lungs started burning and I passed out. The next thing I know, I was in the back of an ambulance.”
Donghae was quiet for a minute before saying, “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” I pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. “You didn’t know. But unfortunately I’ve had a bad relationship with water since then. Kind of funny that I’m stuck on a beach for the summer, huh?” I said smiling a little, hoping to lighten the mood. He stared at me, apprehensive before pulling me to my feet.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” I followed behind him. We waved good-bye to Yesung, who was still talking to Ddangkoma when we walked out.
We walked in silence for a while and it was starting to feel weird not hearing his voice. I felt bad that I had ruined our date. Before my incident I was actually having a good time. I racked my brain for something to do to get rid of the awkward atmosphere. I tentatively reached out and grabbed his hand again. He looked back at me in surprise and I smiled, what I hope was a reassuring smile at him.
He smiled back and gripped my hand tighter. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah.”
“Then come on,” he said, dragging me in a down the street. “You don’t have any food horror stories I need to know about, do you?” he asked.
“Not unless you count that time Kyuhyun tried to make me breakfast.” I shuddered at the memory. He laughed at that and I felt a smile climbing onto my lips as well.
He took me to a little restaurant where you can stir-fry your own food. I had fun watching him almost set his shirt on fire as he tried to cook our meat. After successfully saving a few pieces, we started to talk, having light conversation flowing between us easily. I found out that we actually had a lot of things in common. We sat there long after our food was gone talking about any and everything that we could.
We spent the rest of the day walking around the town. He showed me different restaurants and thing saying that he wanted to give me an idea of where we were going next. I told him that there was no guarantee that we were going out again but he just smirk and said “Like you have a choice.”
As the day winded down he talked me into walking on the beach. We arrived just as dusk set in. The fading sunlight was casting a beautiful glow on the water. It was a clichéd way end to our day, but I couldn’t find it in me to complain.
“I want to teach you how to swim,” he said, walking me back home.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because it’s a wonderful feeling. There’s nothing that it can be compared to and I want you to be able to enjoy it too.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I said. We reached my door and he turned to face me.
“I know you have bad memories, but I want to change that. I want to erase those experiences and replace them with something good,” he said. I stared at him, stunned. “And what better way than to include me in them.” He smirked at me.
I sighed. “You almost had me.” I turned to go inside but he grabbed my arm and spun me around. He leaned in close so that our noses were touching.
“Think about it, okay?” he whispered, his breath tickling my face. I felt my face heating up and I held my breath, not knowing what to do. I almost hoped that he would close the distance between our lips, but I didn’t want him to know that.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Saying good night.”
Just when I though he was going to place his lips on mine he pulled back and placed a soft kiss on my cheek instead. I brought my hand up to the place where his lips had been and stared at him. I don’t know if my face showed the disappointment I felt but he chuckled lightly.
“I’m sorry Hyukkie, but Leetuek hyung would kill me if I kissed his baby on the first date. Don’t be too disappointed, there’s always next time,” he said and winked at me. “Good night,” he said and turned to walk away, leaving me leaning against my door, red-faced and contemplating killing Leeteuk.
Previous .:|:. Next
A/N: Here’s chapter 4! It would have been posted earlier but the SJM MV came out and effectively wiped my brain for a few days. (I’m still cleaning the drool off of my keyboard.) Hope you liked this chapter! I’ll try to post the next one soon! ^^
[Pairing] Haehyuk and all the other couples I’m too lazy to name.
[Genre] Romance/Fluff (at times)
[Rating] PG-13
[Disclaimer] I own them all! I barely own myself.
[Summary] Forced to spend his summer working at his uncle’s beach shop, Eunhyuk finds himself getting swept up in the in the current that is Donghae. Will he be able to swim out or will he let himself drown? (Oh Shisus, this wordplay is killing me)
*~*~*~*~*~*
After spending 20 minutes of dealing with Donghae’s sly smirks and endless flirting we ended up at the aquarium on the boardwalk. The building was bigger that I thought it would be and strangely reminded me of an old movie theater.
“This is the best aquarium in town,” Donghae told me as I admired the carvings on the wall. “I love this place. I come here a lot.” He pulled me gently through the doors (I had long gave up trying to pry my hand from his grip) and we walked up to the front desk. There was a dark-haired man sitting there with a blank expression on his face as he stared at a toy turtle.
“Hey Yesung hyung,” Donghae called. He looked up at Donghae with the same blank expression.
“Hi Hae,” he said. He suddenly turned to me and his blank gaze turned into a piercing stare. He stared at me without blinking and I flinched back from him and cowered into Donghae’s side.
“Donghae,” I whispered, “can you make him stop. He’s freaking me out.”
He laughed at me. “Don’t worry. Yesung’s harmless. But hyung, what are you doing at the front. I thought you weren’t allowed up here anymore.” I raised an eyebrow at that.
“Yeah, but Onew called in sick, so I had to cover for him. Who’s your friend?”
“This is Eunhyuk, my date.” He smiled softly and I couldn’t tell if I blushed from his words or his expression.
“Oh, you’re Eunhyuk? Ryeowook’s told us all about you,” he said, suddenly perking up. He smiled at me. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too," I said. His whole weirdo aura dissipated almost immediately when he smiled.
Wait a minute.
“Us?” I asked.
“Yeah, me and Ddangkoma,” he said lifting up the toy turtle that suddenly started to move. I yelped, startled at the sudden movement.
“It’s alive?” I asked.
“Yeah. He’s me and Wook’s baby,” he smiled fondly at the turtle and stroked his back. “Want to pet him?” he asked placing the turtle in front of me. I looked at it for a second before reaching my finger out to pet it’s head. Surprisingly, it didn’t shrink back into its shell like I thought it would.
“That means he likes you,” Yesung said, smiling brightly at me. I smiled back.
“I’m glad.”
“Okay, you’ve spent enough time with the turtle and his oddball owner. Time to go,” Donghae said, pulling me further inside the building. “Bye hyung,” he called, without looking back.
“Bye Yesung hyung,” I waved and he made Ddangkoma wave back too.
I followed behind Donghae as he moved expertly to each of the tanks. He showed me his favorites and he knew so much about them I would’ve sworn he worked there. I watched him in awe as he talked with so much enthusiasm and joy. I found that I was enjoying myself a lot. Donghae was actually fun to be around when he wasn’t he usually arrogant self.
“There’s one more I want to show you. It’s the best part of the whole place,” he said with a beautiful smile on his face and an innocent twinkle in his eyes. I stared mesmerized and just barely was able to make myself nod.
He walked us to the end of a hallway and opened the doors. The inside was giant tank, from the ceiling to the floor. It even went over the ceiling, making it seem as if we were walking in the middle of the ocean. Everywhere I looked there was water. I started to panic. Visions of water blurring my eyes and I found it was getting harder to breath. I could feel my head pounding loudly and I even felt like I was wet. The sound of rushing water flowed in my ears and I started to shake.
Donghae must have felt me trembling because he turned around to face me. “Eunhyuk? What’s wrong? Are you ok?” he asked in alarm. His face was blurry and I could feel the water running down my face.
“P-please. I can’t be in here,” I stuttered out reaching out to grab Donghae. “I c-can’t. Please Donghae,” I begged, gripping his shirt tight.
“Okay. Don’t cry,” he said gently and walked me out of the room. He sat me down on a bench and held me as I cried into his shirt. He rubbed soothing circles in my back and whispered calm assurances in my hair as my sobs quieted down. We sat there for a while, until I had calmed down enough to stop crying.
“Are you okay now?" he asked.
I sniffed. “Y-yeah.”
He pulled me back and wiped the remaining tears from my face. “Are you sure?” he asked, his hands gently cupping my face. I nodded and he sighed before pulling me back into his arms.
“I’m sorry for taking you in there.” I could gear the regret and anguish in his voice. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault Donghae. I just have a bad experience with water,” I said, finding comfort in his warm embrace.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
“When I was 10, I got caught in a strong wave while I was on the beach. It pulled me in and I was dragged further and further away from the beach. I only remember the water pushing and pulling me everywhere when my lungs started burning and I passed out. The next thing I know, I was in the back of an ambulance.”
Donghae was quiet for a minute before saying, “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” I pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. “You didn’t know. But unfortunately I’ve had a bad relationship with water since then. Kind of funny that I’m stuck on a beach for the summer, huh?” I said smiling a little, hoping to lighten the mood. He stared at me, apprehensive before pulling me to my feet.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” I followed behind him. We waved good-bye to Yesung, who was still talking to Ddangkoma when we walked out.
We walked in silence for a while and it was starting to feel weird not hearing his voice. I felt bad that I had ruined our date. Before my incident I was actually having a good time. I racked my brain for something to do to get rid of the awkward atmosphere. I tentatively reached out and grabbed his hand again. He looked back at me in surprise and I smiled, what I hope was a reassuring smile at him.
He smiled back and gripped my hand tighter. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah.”
“Then come on,” he said, dragging me in a down the street. “You don’t have any food horror stories I need to know about, do you?” he asked.
“Not unless you count that time Kyuhyun tried to make me breakfast.” I shuddered at the memory. He laughed at that and I felt a smile climbing onto my lips as well.
He took me to a little restaurant where you can stir-fry your own food. I had fun watching him almost set his shirt on fire as he tried to cook our meat. After successfully saving a few pieces, we started to talk, having light conversation flowing between us easily. I found out that we actually had a lot of things in common. We sat there long after our food was gone talking about any and everything that we could.
We spent the rest of the day walking around the town. He showed me different restaurants and thing saying that he wanted to give me an idea of where we were going next. I told him that there was no guarantee that we were going out again but he just smirk and said “Like you have a choice.”
As the day winded down he talked me into walking on the beach. We arrived just as dusk set in. The fading sunlight was casting a beautiful glow on the water. It was a clichéd way end to our day, but I couldn’t find it in me to complain.
“I want to teach you how to swim,” he said, walking me back home.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because it’s a wonderful feeling. There’s nothing that it can be compared to and I want you to be able to enjoy it too.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I said. We reached my door and he turned to face me.
“I know you have bad memories, but I want to change that. I want to erase those experiences and replace them with something good,” he said. I stared at him, stunned. “And what better way than to include me in them.” He smirked at me.
I sighed. “You almost had me.” I turned to go inside but he grabbed my arm and spun me around. He leaned in close so that our noses were touching.
“Think about it, okay?” he whispered, his breath tickling my face. I felt my face heating up and I held my breath, not knowing what to do. I almost hoped that he would close the distance between our lips, but I didn’t want him to know that.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Saying good night.”
Just when I though he was going to place his lips on mine he pulled back and placed a soft kiss on my cheek instead. I brought my hand up to the place where his lips had been and stared at him. I don’t know if my face showed the disappointment I felt but he chuckled lightly.
“I’m sorry Hyukkie, but Leetuek hyung would kill me if I kissed his baby on the first date. Don’t be too disappointed, there’s always next time,” he said and winked at me. “Good night,” he said and turned to walk away, leaving me leaning against my door, red-faced and contemplating killing Leeteuk.
Previous .:|:. Next
A/N: Here’s chapter 4! It would have been posted earlier but the SJM MV came out and effectively wiped my brain for a few days. (I’m still cleaning the drool off of my keyboard.) Hope you liked this chapter! I’ll try to post the next one soon! ^^