Chapter 9
Being Human
"How did you manage to convince me again?" Yongguk stared at the black van with a deadpan expression.
Ren gave him a cute smile. "Because I said that last time I went to the beach, some dirty old man tried to me in the bathroom. I was scared that he was still there."
"I'm not doing this." Yongguk tried to walk away.
Ren launched himself at the taller boy and held onto his arms with all his frail might. "You can't! You promised!"
"I don't want to go to the beach." Yongguk glared at the blonde.
"I'm asking you as a friend. We want to make Minhyun smile again and what he needs right now is people who care and are there for him." Ren said, honesty spilling from his pores.
"We're not friends." Yongguk grumbled, but he followed the smaller anyway.
"You're too good of a person." Ren smirked and received a huff in response.
Baekho eyed the deep-voiced boy as they entered the van. Nonetheless, his eyes slid over to Ren and he asked him, "Did you get a hold of Key?"
"Minho will drive them down later. He said he had something to take care of." Ren replied, holding onto Yongguk's arm as if he would jump out of the van at any moment.
Minhyun stared out the window.
The ride mostly consisted of awkward small talk and looking down at feet but after a long four hours, the ground lightened in color and shells dotted the surface.
Baekho grinned eagerly as he plastered his face to the glass. "Wow, these shops are still here from last time I came! Hey! That's the fish man!" He pointed and waved to the man in a giant fish costume.
Ren felt his mouth quirk up at Baekho's bubbliness.
Minhyun watched the mohawked boy too and Ren noticed his features soften as he regarded his friend.
"That place has the best crabs ever!" Baekho continued to narrate the drive until parking lots for the beach and piers came into view.
Without waiting for any of them, Baekho stumbled out of the car and raced away down the boardwalk and onto the sand only to come running back screaming about burning feet. He grabbed his shoes and disappeared again.
Minhyun jogged lightly after him. He seemed to be in a better mood now that he was here.
Ren and Yongguk followed quietly.
Ren had almost forgotten the quiet boy was even there until he felt a hand on his elbow. He looked up at Yongguk curiously.
"Don't wander off." The red haired rapper ordered gruffly.
Ren grinned at his concern and skipped away. "You should take your leather jacket off before you get heat ." He called.
Suddenly, the ocean filled his vision and he stumbled to a halt with a slight smile on his face.
Ever since he was little he'd loved the water. He admired and envied its beauty. It was the only thing in his mind that could rival his own. The way the sun glittered on the surface, and refreshing breeze it provided, the ocean was like an old frenemy Ren couldn't help but love.
Baekho was a few meters away from him throwing handfuls of water at the seagulls with Minhyun tugging at his arm.
Yongguk stood beside Ren and he sprinted off again.
Wet sand seeped through his toes and he joined Baekho in splashing water at a shrieking Minhyun.
He could see Yongguk still standing on the shore in his leather jacket and it took all of his efforts not to roll his eyes at how out of place the older looked.
"Could you look any more awkward?" Ren shouted at him before a wave of water hit his side.
He turned and chased after the blonde culprit.
Minhyun eventually dragged him away from his war on Baekho and they collected sand dollars together until the water level rose, suggesting the tide would be coming in soon.
Yongguk was still standing in the same spot Ren had left him in an hour ago.
The diva tugged on his arm. "Come look for shells with us."
Yongguk winced at the thought.
"Then at least hold these." Ren dumped a handful of dried sand dollars into his arms and he rejoined Minhyun in pelting seaweed at Baekho.
Yongguk looked down at the sand dollars seemingly unsure of what he was supposed to do with them.
"I can see your sweat from here. Why won't you take off your jacket?" Ren trotted up to him once again.
"I like my jacket." He grunted.
"I like my jackets too but even I can depart from them when it's ninety degrees outside. You look like you're about to die."
Yongguk shifted the pile of sand dollars into one arm and he shimmied a sleeve off before repeating with the other arm.
Ren mentally applauded the sight of Yongguk's arms in that teasingly light tank top. "Better?" He asked sarcastically.
Yongguk shot him a look.
"I'm hungry!" Baekho whined and Ren glanced over at him.
Minhyun had successfully been able to hold him down long enough to bury him completely save for his head in the sand. Now, he was sitting atop the pile of sand currently encasing the blonde.
"We can go to the crab place." Minhyun suggested. He'd lost the distant look in his eyes and he appeared more like the Minhyun Ren had first met.
"Help me out, please?" Baekho pleaded with the indifferent boy on top of him.
"I'm thinking about it."
Ren grinned and helped Minhyun grab Baekho's arms after finally locating them beneath the sand and together they heaved him up, grains of sand pouring off of his body like a waterfall.
Once again, he didn't wait for the rest of them and Baekho sprinted off towards the car.
"Don't you dare get my van dirty!" Ren shrieked, chasing after him.
。。。
"So Yongguk," Baekho pulled a leg off of his crab and Ren winced. "What do you like to do?"
The older boy stared at his crab as if he wasn't quite sure what it was doing on his plate. He looked up when he realized Baekho was addressing him. "Oh," He trailed off. "Nothing much."
"He likes rapping." Ren said, pulling the lettuce out from underneath the crab and nibbling on that.
Baekho looked up at him in surprise. "Really? You any good?" He shoved another mouthful of crab into his mouth and Minhyun pushed a napkin into his face.
Yongguk shrugged.
"Your voice is really deep. You're probably like T.O.P from Big Bang or something." Minhyun put in, somehow finding a way to eat the carcass on his plate daintily.
"Where's Key and Minho? I thought they were gonna come?" Baekho asked, eyeing the setting sun.
"Me too..." Ren frowned at the blank screen on his phone. Key hasn't texted or even called to let them know where he is or whether or not they could still make it.
"Call him." Baekho suggested, motioning to Ren's phone with his fork.
"I swear you're secretly gay for him. You just haven't realized it yet." Ren mumbled, punching in the digits.
"Sorry, nope. I still prefer s to ." The blonde said through his straw.
"Ew." Minhyun grimaced.
Key's phone rang a few times before going to voicemail.
Ren scowled at the screen.
"What if something happened to them?" Minhyun asked, his eyes getting wider as memories of his mother's death came back to him.
Baekho put his fork down and slung an arm over Minhyun's shoulder. "It's ok. They're fine. I promise."
Ren called again and this time a rushed sounding Key answered the phone.
"Hello?" Ren turned the volume up. "Key?"
"Ren? I'm sorry. Something came up. I have to go." Key whispered into the phone, his voice frantic.
There were muffled noises coming from the other end and Ren creased his eyebrows. "Key? What's going on? Hey?"
"Look, I'm really sorry. Tell Minhyun I'm sorry. Baekho too. I can't talk. I have to go. I'll call you later, I just-" There was another muffled shout and the line went dead.
"Key? Key?" Ren stared down at the phone.
"What's wrong?" Yongguk questioned from beside him.
"I don't know... He just... He sounded pretty upset and frantic." Ren frowned.
"Is he not coming?" Minhyun asked, seeming to have calmed down.
Ren shook his head. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." He stood up. He needed to splash some water on his face.
"I'll come with you." Yongguk scooted his chair backwards and followed him.
On his way, a hand shot out and pinched his backside. Ren yelped and rubbed his bottom.
Yongguk was at his side in an instant, the arm of the molester locked in a death grip.
The restaurant stared as Yongguk shoved the man against a wall.
Someone screamed and the man shouted at Yongguk who stared at him furiously.
Ren yanked on Yongguk's unmoving form and eventually was able to drag him to the nearby restroom.
He still looked murderous when they entered the empty room.
"It's ok. This isn't anything new." Ren said lightly, hoping to distract the angry junior, though seeing Yongguk leap into action like that to save him had slightly thrilled him.
"It's not ok." Yongguk seethed, his deep voice reaching a new level in his anger. "If that guy thinks he can just get away with touching people..." He trailed off, seemingly too angry to continue.
"I said it's ok." Ren touched his arm gently, a little bit scared.
Yongguk looked like he was about to start another rant before he glanced at the blonde and he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry." He apologized when he'd calmed himself down.
"For what?"
"For scaring you."
"You didn't scare me." Ren lied. When Yongguk shot him a look he gave in. "Ok, but just a little. I didn't think you would get so angry. It just shocked me a bit."
Yongguk stared down at the ground. When he looked up, Ren tried not to coo from how adorable the older was acting which was a stark contrast to his original image of the older boy.
Hesitantly, Yongguk reached out a hand.
Ren grabbed it with his own, understanding what the other was trying to do despite his awkward attempts.
Yongguk held Ren's hand for a moment before finally dropping it and looking up at the blonde.
"We should probably get back out there." Ren suggested. "Baekho and Minhyun are waiting for us.
Yongguk nodded and held the door open for Ren in a gentlemanly manner.
The blonde froze when he saw a pair of policemen talking with the guy who'd grabbed his from earlier. The man pointed at Yongguk who was standing behind Ren, assessing the scene quietly.
One of the policemen marched over and stood in front of Ren.
"Excuse me, sir, but we had a call and that man over there is telling us you assaulted him. If you wouldn't mind coming with us so we can ask you a few questions..."
"Wait!" Ren held out an arm to prevent the cop from grabbing Yongguk. "You didn't even hear the whole story."
The policeman raised an eyebrow at the pretty boy in his way.
"That guy over there was trying to touch me innappropriately and Yongguk was just trying to save me. So if you're going to take someone in for questioning, it should be that molester." Ren gave the guy a fierce glare.
"Are there any other witnesses that can attest to this?" The cop asked.
Ren looked around the restaurant. People stared back at him and panic was welling in his chest when none of the faces spoke up.
Suddenly, a waitress poked her hand up in the air hesitantly. "I didn't see anything, but when I delivered the food to his table, that man tried to touch me too."
The usher joined in as well. "He grabbed me when I seated them."
The man who'd accosted Ren looked around the room in disbelief, his eyes wide.
The cop turned to him. "I think we're gonna have to ask you some questions down at the station, sir."
Ren let a grin slip through when the restaurant cheered as the man was escorted out.
He felt a hand touch his back and he looked up to see Yongguk staring ahead.
"Thanks." His comment was almost inaudible but Ren saw his lips form the words and he smiled.
"That's what friends are for." He waited for the denial that they were friends but it never came. Ren grinned to himself once again.
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