#58:Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
OT12; Baekyeol
Continuity: Shortly after drabble #31 and before #38. Relationship-wise that means HunHan are married but they’re the only ones. KaiChen and Baekyeol are openly a thing and OT3 is just getting started. Yixing is called Lay and Kyungsoo’s gift is blocked.

Why did the people of this planet feel like such bright colors were a good idea? This was what Baekhyun wondered as he looked around at the selection of swim wear—which showed far more skin than he was accustomed to putting on display. Specifically, his whole upper body. Baekhyun sorely missed his Guardian’s robes, he felt so safe in them.

An arm wrapped around his waist and he couldn’t stop a grin as Chanyeol kissed his cheek. “Those look good,” he said, flicking the shorts Baekhyun held. They were violently pink. Kris said it was called neon. Baekhyun called it an eyesore. They had stumbled upon a warehouse full of swim gear, and had torn open boxes upon boxes of the clothing. Daisy and Keen were wandering around, chewing on some of the discarded pairs of shorts. Baekhyun rolled his eyes as he noticed Lu Han and Sehun gaping incredulously (and slightly horrified) over what seemed to be a swim suit for a woman, which was more string than anything else.

“What’d you find?” Baekhyun asked, and Chanyeol held up a pair of neon yellow shorts with palm trees printed on them.

“Ugh,” Baekhyun groaned, dropping his shorts to cover his eyes. “Those are truly, spectacularly hideous.”

Chanyeol laughed and back-hugged Baekhyun. “Doesn’t matter, they’ll get the job done. Anyway, if you’re not quick about choosing then you may end up swimming in your underwear.”

Baekhyun wrinkled his nose and kicked at the shorts. “Maybe I just won’t swim,” he said quietly.

Chanyeol knew him too well not to hear the change in his voice, and he stepped in front of Baekhyun, trying to look him in the eye. He had to bend his knees quite a bit.

“You okay, babe?”

Baekhyun’s heart swelled at the nickname—it was one they had discovered after coming to this world, it was all over the books and even on some billboards. He loved hearing it, he thought it sounded beautiful coming from Chanyeol’s lips. “I’m alright,” he said with a shrug. “Just not eager to swim.”

And he wasn’t the only one. Tao and Kyungsoo were also hesitant, and Kai too seemed to be apprehensive. To Baekhyun’s surprise, Chen seemed pretty excited.

“Get a swim suit anyway,” Kris advised, overhearing the conversation as he was walking by. He spoke a little louder, so everyone would hear. “Even if you don’t want to swim now, you may change your mind when we get to the ocean. Be prepared for anything!”

Suho called him over. “Is this sunscreen actually expired?”

Once Kris was gone, Baekhyun picked the shorts back up off the floor and shoved them at Chanyeol. “Put these somewhere I never have to see them again,” he demanded loftily. “I’ll find something else.”

But in the end, he never did.

They were going to a place called Silver beach, which Kris said if they were going to see the ocean for the first time—really, for the first time, that time when seven of them had sailed on the big cargo ship absolutely did not count—then it was probably the best place to go. It hadn’t been that far away, and Kris kept them going by showing them a travel book with pictures of the beach. It did look beautiful, with bright blue water and sparking white sand. Chen couldn’t stop talking about how excited he was, and one night when they stopped for a rest Kai finally got him to say why.

“I’m hoping it’ll rain at least once,” Chen admitted. “I’ve heard that storms near the ocean are amazing.”

Baekhyun felt a little sorry for Chen—his gift was so strong, and it was something nearly all of them were afraid of. It was kind of the one area where Chen had an advantage, and he so rarely got a chance to show it off. It turned out to be a longer walk than they had expected, but it was very much worth it.

“Do you smell that?” Kris asked on the eighth day since they had set out. Everyone stopped, and the dogs paused too, giving them all dirty looks.

“Smell what?” Lu Han croaked—it wasn’t that hot, but they had been walking under the sun for hours and they were all tired and thirsty.

“It’s the ocean,” Kris said, a smile on his face. “Go on, inhale.”

So they did, and for a second Baekhyun felt really stupid, but then he smelled it—it was sharp and heavy, but crisp at the same time. Water and salt, and something else Baekhyun couldn’t identify.

“Wow,” Tao cried. “Are we that close?”

Kris nodded. “If we go over that hill up there,” and he pointed ahead of them, “We should be able to see the ocean.”

Right away Tao took off running, screaming that he was going to see it first.

“NOT IF I TELEPORT THERE!” Kai roared, chasing after him, but everyone knew he wouldn’t dare.

After a brief hesitation, they all started to run. Even Baekhyun ran, clinging to Chanyeol’s hand the whole way. The dogs ran with them, barking like crazy and even howling, and Baekhyun laughed even though he was tired and hot and felt like he was about to collapse, but there was something about the moment that made him feel invigorated, like what was ahead would be worth it in the end, and it was. The ocean rose up over the hill, almost indistinguishable from the cloudless sky. Baekhyun looked away until he reached the top, and was glad that he did because seeing it all at once was amazing and it took his breath away.

“It’s beautiful,” he breathed, clinging to Chanyeol’s hand. Clear blue water, white sand, green trees—it was all so vibrant, and on this polluted world it was like paradise. Baekhyun was so wrapped up in his own mind he didn’t realize that Chanyeol was crying—it was Lay who noticed.

“Why are you crying?”

Baekhyun turned to say that he wasn’t, but then he realized who Lay was talking to. He smiled and reached up to wipe the tears off Chanyeol’s face. “It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” Baekhyun asked gently, and Chanyeol managed a nod, his lips pressed together tightly. Then Baekhyun had to laugh, because Lay was crying too. In fact, almost everyone was crying, except himself, Kris and Suho. And the dogs, who were pacing back and forth in front of them.

“Come on guys,” Baekhyun said impatiently, tugging on Chanyeol’s arm. “Let’s go!”

And they ran the rest of the way together, laughing and screaming the whole way.

They all charged at the beach, stopping just at the edge of the sand to once again drink in the sight of the ocean. It was unlike anything Baekhyun had ever seen before, even what he’d seen with Lay and Chen couldn’t possibly compare to this, the ocean on a calm day, a beautiful day. Baekhyun looked down at the sand, a brilliant white that nearly blinded him, and knelt to touch it.

“It’s so warm!” He cried, picking up a handful and letting it run through his fingers. “And it’s soft, too!”

Kris snapped out of his dazed intake of the scenery and sprang into action. “Sand gets everywhere,” he reminded them, “So I suggest you wear the sandals we found. Also try to wear sunglasses, the sun reflecting off the sand and water can damage your eyesight.”

“Not ours,” Kyungsoo reminded him, “We can heal right away.”

Kris hesitated. “I’d still rather we not have to take that chance. Anyway, the hotel we’ll be staying in is just over there—” and he pointed to a tall building overlooking the beach. “Do you guys want to go change, or hang out here for a while?”

Everyone was hesitant to actually step onto the beach, even though they really wanted to. The dogs were already scampering across the sand, barking at each other.

“Maybe we should change,” Xiumin suggested. “It’s hotter now than I think we expected, and we’re not dressed for the water.”

Baekhyun looked around. They were all wearing jeans and sneakers, and it was really hot, so they agreed to go change first. Daisy and Keen followed along slowly, as if they too didn’t want to leave the beach. But Baekhyun thought the hotel made up for it.

“Wow,” Suho cried as they walked in. “I can see why this place is called Shangri-la.”

“It’s almost too over the top,” Lu Han muttered, and Baekhyun almost wanted to agree. They were only in the lobby, they hadn’t even seen the rooms yet.

“Hey, check it out,” Chen called from the window. “There’s a pool!”

“Ew,” Kai said with a wrinkled nose.  “It must be gross.”

Kris went to have a look. “They haven’t turned off the electricity here either,” he said, “And in a place like this, the central air and filtration systems must all have been converted to the self-maintenance kind like…a good twenty years before the decline really started. I’m sure we can clean up the pool, it’ll be nice to have for after the sun goes down.”

Next they had to decide where to sleep, and that was always a project. They had to make sure they knew where everyone was, so if they needed to find someone they wouldn’t wander around for hours on end, but at the same time they didn’t want to be on top of each other. Finally they chose to spread out over two floors about midway up the hotel—they weren’t too high, and they still had a great view. Some of the rooms faced the city, while others faced the beach. As far as Baekhyun knew, everyone wanted a room with a beach view. He and Chanyeol sure did.

“Okay!” Chanyeol cried as he and Baekhyun entered their new room—at the end of the hall (Chanyeol’s idea), with two beds and its own bathroom. Chanyeol rambled on and on about what they would need for the beach, while Baekhyun tested to make sure the toilet flushed and the shower had hot water. The toilet did flush, but something seemed to be wrong with the hot water. He would need to tell Kris.

“Baekhyun?”

“Yes?”

Chanyeol was in the door, already changed into his swim shorts and a t-shirt. He was wearing huge sunglasses that blocked most of his face. “Aren’t you changing?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “I didn’t bring a suit.”

Chanyeol bit his lip. “Oh, okay then. Well, at least put some shorts on, yeah?”

“Sure, why don’t you go on ahead?” Baekhyun said, grabbing a towel off the rack and throwing it at Chanyeol. “Take that with you, I’ll meet you at the beach.”

Chanyeol nodded and moved away from the doorway, but when Baekhyun walked out Chanyeol stepped right back in front of him.

“Hey—” Baekhyun cried, but Chanyeol cut him off with a kiss. Even though it caught Baekhyun totally by surprise, he reacted instantly. How could he not? He loved Chanyeol’s kisses—they were always warm and sweet, and Chanyeol always held him close when they kissed, his hands locked around Baekhyun’s waist like he couldn’t bear to let go.

When they finally pulled apart, Baekhyun almost asked Chanyeol to stay with him a little longer. Or a lot longer. It wasn’t often that they go to stay in a place that afforded them their own space, Baekhyun wanted to take advantage of it, but he also knew Chanyeol wanted to swim.

“Okay,” Baekhyun said with a smile, “That was great, but get going. I’ll see you down at the beach.”

Chanyeol kissed his cheek and told him to hurry up, and then he was out the door.

Baekhyun took his time going outside, collecting a massive amount of towels before he went because he figured that a few of the others wouldn’t have thought of it. on an empty world, it wasn’t hard to find them. Baekhyun could hear them from half a mile down the beach, and then there was the fact that Keen ran up to him and practically pushed him to where the others were.

“You goofy dog,” Baekhyun sighed fondly, patting Keen’s head. He looked out to the water—Tao, Chanyeol and Chen were actually swimming; Kyungsoo, Suho, Sehun and Lay were having a splash fight and Suho was (of course) winning; Kris was standing with Kai and Lu Han in the shallows, and Xiumin was sitting on the beach with Daisy. He waved as Baekhyun approached.

“Awesome, you brought towels!” He cheered, coming over to help Baekhyun carry them.

“The bottom one might be sweaty,” Baekhyun warned. “Man, it’s hot.”

“I know,” Xiumin nodded. “Well you can keep that towel, I’m gonna go get my feet wet. You want to come with me? Supposedly the water’s really warm.”

Baekhyun shook his head and plopped down on the beach. “I’ll stay here.” Someone, probably Kris, had set up an umbrella and there was something called a cooler sitting there. Baekhyun spread out a towel and opened the cooler—it even had ice!—and took out a soda. It should have been fizzy, but it had long gone flat. Even so, Baekhyun thought it was pretty good, and hot as he was anything cold was great.

Xiumin grinned at him. “Well, since you look comfy I’ll go on ahead.”

Baekhyun watched him run to the water. He wasn’t so far from the waves, close enough where he could hear most of what everyone was saying. They were all having a lot of fun, and Baekhyun smiled as he watched his friends (mostly Chanyeol) enjoy themselves. It was great to just be here, be together. The last time they’d gotten together like this and had fun had been Sehun and Lu Han’s wedding. Most of the time it felt like they were constantly moving onto the next big thing, and they could never stay too long to enjoy what it was. Baekhyun hoped they would stay here a while. It was nice, and he could definitely get used to it. Being here, it truly felt like there was some hope on this world.

Baekhyun laid down, took off his sunglasses and stared up at the umbrella. It was bright orange, an awful color, but with the sunlight filtering down it looked warm. Baekhyun held out his arm and smiled at how the odd light reflected off his skin, and considered playing around with the light on his own, but then he sensed someone coming towards him and sat up.

“Hey, babe,” Baekhyun called as Chanyeol ran up.

“Hey yourself,” Chanyeol said back as he came closer. “Are you too warm? Wanna come walk with me?”

Baekhyun considered it, then shook his head. “Nah, I’m okay, but thanks for asking.”

Chanyeol looked worried. “Are you sure? Do you want a cold, wet hug then?” and he held out his arms.

Baekhyun had to laugh. Chanyeol was soaked, water even clung to his eyelashes, and the white shirt he was wearing left nothing to imagination, even though Baekhyun didn’t have to imagine.

Chanyeol noticed the change in Baekhyun’s expression. “Ah, I saw that! Your filthy mind is loving this, isn’t it?” He asked, plucking at his shirt.

“You know it,” Baekhyun laughed, and he stood up and stepped into Chanyeol’s waiting arms. Baekhyun wrapped his own arms around Chanyeol’s  neck and buried his face in his neck, inhaling deeply. Chanyeol smelled like salt and warmth, and it was a good fit for him. Baekhyun gently touched Chanyeol’s hair, sticky with sea water. He felt Chanyeol’s lips press against his temple and sighed, worming closer.

Chanyeol held on even tighter, lifting Baekhyun off his feet. Baekhyun yelped, half in surprise and half in absolute panic.

Chanyeol jumped and put Baekhyun down immediately. “Are you alright?” He asked, shocked.

Baekhyun’s heart was in his throat, and he desperately wished he had his sunglasses on so Chanyeol couldn’t see how panicked he was. “I’m fine,” he laughed, playing it off for the benefit of the other people he knew were listening—his shout had not gone unnoticed. “You just surprised me, that’s all. I thought you might have dropped me.”

Chanyeol didn’t look convinced, and before he could call Baekhyun out on his lie, Baekhyun hugged him again and whispered in his ear, “We’ll talk about it later.”

Everyone played in the water for a while longer, though Chanyeol sat with Baekhyun, an arm wrapped around his shoulder or waist as they shared sodas and wrote in the sand. When everyone was done with the water they all went back to the hotel for dinner. Food was always tough—they had to catch it, kill it, and cook it themselves. Luckily whenever they were near unpolluted water, they were almost guaranteed to find fish. Suho used his gift to determine how polluted the water was and determined it safe, and then he and Lu Han teamed up to catch fish. Lu Han would be able to sense where the fish were, and Suho would pull them up from the water. Chen fretted that they might pull up a shark (now, after he’d been in the water) but Kris assured him that the water was famous for being shark free. Sure enough, all Suho pulled out were crabs, clams and some shrimp.

“Awesome!” Kyungsoo cheered as he took in the sight of the haul. “We could eat half this stuff raw if we wanted to!”

“We definitely won’t starve here,” Suho agreed. “And if Kris and I can get a boat working, we can see if we can get some lobsters too.”

“Cool, I wanna try one of those!”

“We have to find a way to make butter, lobsters are supposed to be really good with butter…”

“We should go fishing too—like actual fishing, with a hook and line.”

“Yeah, and catch a shark? No thanks.”

Baekhyun let the conversation wash over him. While some went to the kitchen to start washing and cooking their meal, Baekhyun tugged Chanyeol upstairs to their room. Chanyeol said he’d like to go shower, and Baekhyun said they’d talk when he got out.

Baekhyun fell asleep on the bed near the window while he was waiting, and he woke up to Chanyeol’s arms around his waist and lips on his neck. Baekhyun blinked sleepily, trying to process what was going on. The sun wasn’t setting yet, but it was lower and it was in his eyes. He groaned and rolled over in Chanyeol’s arms, snuggling into his chest.

After a long moment of lying in each other’s arms, the silence was broken. “So,” Chanyeol began, “What were you scared of earlier?”

Baekhyun sighed, keeping his eyes on Chanyeol’s collar as he talked. “When you lifted me up…I thought you were going to carry me into the water.”

Chanyeol jumped and pulled away, looking scandalized. “I wouldn’t!”

“I know,” Baekhyun said quietly.

“I mean, you didn’t want to go, I wouldn’t have made you!”

“I know,” Baekhyun repeated.

“You—wait, what?” Chanyeol stumbled, repeating the conversation in his head. “You…know?”

Baekhyun nodded. “I know you wouldn’t do that to me.”

Chanyeol paused for a moment. “Then…you’re really that scared?”

Baekhyun nodded and hid his face in Chanyeol’s shirt. He had to figure that it was common knowledge among the twelve of them that he couldn’t swim, at all. While the oceans on their home planet weren’t as large as the ones on this world, and only Lu Han had been born near the sea, most people lived near rivers or lakes and all children were introduced to the water at a young age and learned, one way or another, how to swim. But Baekhyun was a baby when he was locked away, and he hadn’t been near any body of water until after he’d joined the Guardians. Small streams were fine with him, because they barely came up to his knees, but standing in front of the ocean earlier…Baekhyun didn’t think he could put even one toe in that water.

That was his secret—not that he couldn’t swim, but that he was terrified of the water.

Chanyeol rubbed Baekhyun’s back almost absentmindedly, his thoughts elsewhere.

“Baekhyun?”

“Hmm?”

Chanyeol hesitated. “Would you like me to…teach you to swim?”

Baekhyun shrugged. “Would you want to?”

“If course,” Chanyeol said softly. “If you want to learn, I will teach you.”

“I don’t even like water,” Baekhyun protested.

“Then I’ll help you,” Chanyeol vowed, pulling back slightly and cradling Baekhyun’s face in his hands. “I’ll carry you in, and I’ll hold you and I won’t let you get hurt. You can trust me, you know that already. I won’t pressure you, but I will tell you that I’m here for you.”

Baekhyun looked Chanyeol in the eye, searching for hesitation. Chanyeol was so honest, there was no way he could hide anything, and Baekhyun did trust him…

“Can we try tomorrow?”

Chanyeol grinned and kissed Baekhyun’s forehead. “Of course.”

Originally I didn’t intend for this to be so Baekyeol focused, but one thing lead to another and now here we are (I do remember people asking for Baekyeol so here you go)! It was inspired by EXO’s trip to the beach in episode 6 of Showtime (why did they go in the winter? Just why?) and I want to have some group focus, so I think I’ll continue with this beach trip for a few drabbles. I have promised fluff and this seems like the best way to give it to you. The next one will pick up where this left off in addition to showing more couple fluff in the future.

Also—the dogs are still alive. For those who need a refresher, Lay found Keen when they first arrived on the planet (he’s the dog from Beautiful teaser with Lay/Baekhyun/Chen) and Daisy is a basset hound that the group gave Sehun and Lu Han when they got married. My thinking is that the dogs hang around with EXO so much on this otherwise deserted world that the magic keeping the boys alive has rubbed off on the dogs and is keeping them alive (this also happens to Lay/Yixing’s kitten). I had planned to write a drabble in which Keen died, but then my dog passed away and…it was a complete surprise and really awful and even though it was a year ago already I won’t be killing any dogs any time soon.

In other news—the timeline of events is all screwed up in my head, I really need to arrange these drabbles chronologically on a piece of paper and then post what the results are. I may end up having to go into the drabbles and change a few things…I’m not looking forward to it.

Links:

http://www.chinahighlights.com/beihai/attraction/beihai-silver-beach.htm (Info on the beach)
http://www.visitourchina.com/city/3_days_beihai_beach_tour.htm (image cred)
http://www.shangri-la.com/beihai/shangrila/rooms-suites/  (Info on the hotel)
http://www.expedia.com/Beihai-Hotels-Shangri-La-Hotel-Beihai.h198406.Hotel-Information?chkin=01%2F08%2F2014&chkout=01%2F11%2F2014&rm1=a2& (More info on the hotel)

I’m officially titling these beach drabbles after Jimmy Buffett songs. Why? Because this whole venture reminds of my past trips to Key West and Jimmy is HUGE down there so any time I think beach, I think Buffett. Plus my parents are big fans of his and I was raised on his music.