when you're ten, you're a prodigy,

when you're fifteen, you're a genius,

but once you hit twenty, you're just an ordinary person.

haruka nanase; free!

"But seriously, Woohyun-ah, L-ah swims the best, don't you think?" ten-year-old Sungyeol asked, eyes huger than a girl's. Woohyun, a short boy, nodded, and Sungjong added, "He is like a dolphin! So beautiful!" Myungsoo knew it already – that he was the best. But he didn't care for times or performances. He never would. All he cared for were two things.

One, his three friends who were always with him, and who loved to swim just like he did.

Two, water.

Water was the most interesting element in Myungsoo's eyes. Without it, you couldn't survive, but it could also kill you in an instant. Water had a bad temper. To Myungsoo though, it was nice. It would always be nice to him. And if water would be a girl, he would be the clingy, obsessive boyfriend.

He and water – that was the best pair in the world.

And his friends and him – that was the best relay team in the world.

The doorbell rang and it brought a now seventeen-year-old Myungsoo back to reality. There was only one person who would ring the doorbell, so he acted like he hadn't heard it and got a bit deeper to the bathtub water. Myungsoo hated bathtub water more than anything else. Still, right now, he was in one, filled with water that wasn't added with chlorine, and too small to actually swim.

As long as its water, I don't care, ten-year-old Myungsoo would say.

"Are you there? I'm coming in," a familiar voice said from outside, and Myungsoo acted again as if nothing happened. He kept staring at the little dolphin figure, until a tall figure came and sighed.

"Yah, L-goon, what are you actually doing in the bathtub? Why weren't you at school yesterday?" The voice wasn't as bright as it used to be seven years ago. It was rather deep, but somehow not, and smooth, and rough at the same time. A pure mystery, like the ocean.

"I told you to lay off the goon," Myungsoo replied. It was an utter stupidity, the goon. This suffix indicated somebody who was younger or below themselves, and was the pendant to the Japanese kun. But the boy and him, they were at the same level.

(Utter stupidity.)

There was a pause. "Ah. Still, why weren't you at school yesterday?"

"I called in sick," he answered without looking at his friend. His voice had always had the same husky tone since he had hit puberty. Steady and smooth, like the water on the pool.

Or the one in the bathtub.

"I know. Water sick, that is. Seriously, I know no one else except you who loves water that much." He stretched out a hand. "It's still too cold to swim outside, right?"

Myungsoo turned and faced the tall boy, with long, brown hair, and big, teardrop-shaped black eyes. His bright mouth curved up to a grin. But despite his child-like face, his body was fairly built out, especially his shoulders, which were broad and strong. Perfect for backstroke.

And perfect for the best backstroke swimmer – Lee Sungyeol.

"Right," Myungsoo replied, and took the hand. Sungyeol pulled him out of the bathtub, and said, "You were bathing with your shorts again?"

Myungsoo shrugged.

"Swim addict," Sungyeol added (it was rather a loud thought) and they went to the kitchen. No one except them was there – Myungsoo was used to it.

"Seriously, how many times have I told you that you can stay with us?" Sungyeol asked, while he waited for Myungsoo to eat his breakfast (mackerel in toast, how delicious)

"And I have told you often enough that I don’t want to," Myungsoo answered and took a bite of the sandwich.

"Daeyeol thinks that it's because of him."

Myungsoo needed some seconds to realize that Daeyeol was Sungyeol's younger brother, and same age with Myungsoo. "Tell him that it isn't his fault."

"But I can't tell him that you're into pools and bathtubs and- water in general!" The faked nagging tone made Myungsoo chuckle inwardly. (It sounded like a cough on the outside.) "My parents know that my best friend used to be a competitive swimmer, but they don't know that he has a secret relationship with water. I mean, not like it's all that secret, still-"

"Let's go," Myungsoo interrupted him, and he took his schoolbag and was about to go, but then Sungyeol held him up.

"Myungsoo, you know that you're wearing an apron and shorts only, right?"

~

"We're in the same class again," Sungyeol remarked, and although Myungsoo acted like he didn't care at all, he actually liked it. Sungyeol was like the pool in the desert that was his class. During his years in high school, Myungsoo became more and more known as the Ice Prince, and more and more girls started asking if he wanted to go out. And every time, they received a roll of eyes, which marked his title even more. Sungyeol, on the other side, was commonly known as failed character or angel with gums, but the first name was more known. His best friend loved to rant about it when he spent his free time with Myungsoo, and often said, "hey, if I were you, I would date them all! But then again, they aren't water, right?" True, they weren't water, and Myungsoo loved water, but it wasn't like he didn't like girls at all. It was just that all the girls he had met so far weren't really the best. "If someone," Myungsoo had told Sungyeol, "anybody, I don't give a single who it is, doesn't call me Ice Prince Kim Myungsoo Ice Prince L, then I will date her. I can't guarantee a happily ever after, though."

(Any other best friend would now instantly start searching, or even convincing, a girl who didn't call Myungsoo by the stupid title and more stupid nickname, but Sungyeol didn't. What? It's your love life, not mine, he would say. And Myungsoo was really, really grateful for that.)

"I already want to go home," Myungsoo said. Sungyeol nodded. And what happens when you actually get home? a voice inside him mocked.  Nothing. You would sit in the bathtub and do nothing.

Shut up, he replied to that voice. It sounded, funnily enough, like Sungyeol's.

"L-hyungie is just as enthusiastic as always! And who is that person beside you? Is that Sungyeollie-hyung by any chance? Woah – he really got tall!" a familiar voice said. A familiar voice which he haven't heard for a real while. It felt like a decade – maybe it even was. The voice was still bright, and still nicely manly with a feminine ring. Like the sea at the beachside.

"L-hyungie," Myungsoo repeated dumbfounded. (One day, he told himself, he would kill Sungyeol for bringing that stupid nickname up. )

"Sungyeollie-hyung," Sungyeol added. "There is a person who calls me Sungyeollie, and that's Myungsoo. And only one person calls me Sungyeollie-hyung, and that's-"

They both turned around and faced a boy with feminine and manly features.  Thin eyebrows, doe eyes, nice thin nose, and nice lips. Definitely pretty, but also handsome.

(The ocean at the beachside.)

"Lee Sungjong!"

"Yes! Oh my god, it's been ages since I've seen you guys! When was it last time? Eight years? Seven years?"

"Seven," Sungyeol confirmed, a huge grin plastered on his face. And Myungsoo smiled, too, which made many passing girls swoon.

"Seven years! God, Sungyeollie-hyung, I bet we were same height when I was nine, and now you are way taller than me! And your shoulders are really broad, I mean it!"

"Ah, thank you!" Sungyeol beamed. "And you became handsome, too!" Meanwhile, Myungsoo examined Sungjong's body with his eyes. It didn't quite seem like he had really trained. Not like it would make a problem, generally, but when he recalled their promise again they did as children – we will be swimming forever! – he felt something gathering together in his stomach. Like clouds gathering before the thunderstorm.

You can't swim during a thunderstorm, oh no.

"L-hyungie! I bet you were swimming all day!" Sungjong then says. Myungsoo looked at him, gazed deeply into the big doe eyes, and was unsure whether he should actually reply to such a stupid statement – of course he is in water all day long, but no, he isn't  swimming competitively, not anymore – or not. It's Sungyeol, then, who replied.

"In terms of water, yes, he still loves it. He still loves swimming, too. So do I. It's just that the two of us stopped swimming competitively. We really do swim, though, but the weather is still too cold to go swimming."

Myungsoo actually wanted to thank Sungyeol, but the words get caught somewhere in the throat. He wondered why.

"Oh, I see. So our precious dolphin, L-hyung, is in the desert."

Myungsoo opened his mouth, but when he thought about the words, it was almost true. Did bathtub water count as desert, though?

(For Myungsoo, it did.)

"What about you? What are you actually doing here?"

"Well, as of today, we are attending the same school!" Sungjong beamed. "Isn't it cool?"

"Woah! That's awesome!" Sungyeol exclaimed, and Myungsoo nodded.

"Right? And I was thinking, since we are all united again, we could visit the swimming club again. You know, the one we used to go. It's going to be destroyed soon, you know."

"Oh? Really?"

"I dunno, really. I just heard that it will, so we could give it a shot, right? And also swim a little."

"Hm, sounds good."

"Count me out," Myungsoo said. Sungyeol and Sungjong looked at him in surprise.

"But why, L-hyung?" Sungjong asked.

"I don't want to," he replied briefly and turned away.

"Ah, how bad," Sungyeol said, a mischievous tone in his voice. "You know, there will be water. And a pool."

He turned back to Sungyeol again.

"And a pool is bigger than your bathtub, after all. And the water is fresh and nice and with chlorine and-"

"Got it," Myungsoo interfered. "I'll go with you."

"Yes!" Sungjong cheered. "I knew you weren't that stiff, after all."

Sungyeol smiled widely on him. "So, call then!"

"Call! Tonight at seven pm!"

~

Weird was the best way to describe the new homeroom teacher. Nice, but weird. Myungsoo couldn't tell if that weird was positively weird – like Sungyeol – or negatively weird, like Myungsoo sometimes was.

But he already knew that he wanted to visit the swim club. Now. Or generally to go home and to take a bath.

"Kim Myungsoo-goon?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. The homeroom teacher faced him, then, and blinked once or twice. He rolled his eyes and sighed inwardly. Everytime the same , he thought. He felt a poke, and turned around. Sungyeol was looking at him, a little smile graced his lips, and he handed a little fold note to Myungsoo. He looked away and opened it.

Everybody likes dolphins, after all. Don't be all that pissed about it.

He sighed. He hated that nickname, even though it did suit him. Myungsoo looked at Sungyeol, and the elder smiled a big, gummy smile, prince-like and captivating.

He could never resist that smile, not even once. That smile was like the summer sun, beaming widely at the beach.  Myungsoo really, really liked it. (But Myungsoo would never tell Sungyeol that.)

~

Seven p.m.

"Hey, remember the trophy we buried? Woohyunnie-hyung, Sungyeollie-hyung, L-hyungie and me, when we won that relay, years ago," Sungjong said, as he held three shovels.

"Wow. That you still remember this – I mean, it's been a real while," Sungyeol answered and took one of the shovels. Myungsoo knew that Sungyeol didn't really forget about it, and wondered whether he still thought about it. (He probably did.)

"Did L-hyungie think about it?" Sungjong asked curiously. Myungsoo looked away.

"Whatever," he said. "Let's do this, quickly."

"Same here. We might get caught soon, you know," Sungyeol said, and they entered the club. The trophy was at the other side of the club, where there was a little garden, and in order to dig up the trophy back again, they needed to cross the club. In the past, when Myungsoo was seven or eight, there were a lot of people: yelling coaches,  little children who were eager to swim, and of course, them. They were always together – Sungjong, Sungyeol, Woohyun and him.

Myungsoo didn't want to see Woohyun again, though.

It was dark, and empty, and the lights didn't help much. Sungyeol, who stood right next to Myungsoo, shivered. "Please let's do this quickly," he mumbled, more to himself than actually saying it out loud. All of a sudden, Sungjong's torch light vanished. Just like that.

And the only light they had was the moonlight coming from the windows.

Sungyeol screamed. "Wah! Sungjong-ah! Turn it on again!"

Sungjong laughed. "I was just kidding, you know. Never knew you were going to freak out that much."

"Turn it on, Sungjong-ah!" Sungyeol stressed the –ah in anger, which came from his fear of darkness, which was rooted in an incident he had as a kid. Myungsoo knew it all.

Who said that loud waters weren't deep?

Sungjong, clearly frightened by the sudden change of Sungyeol's tone, turned it on, and they continued walking.

And Sungyeol still shivered, a lot.

"Let's just get outta here."

~

They arrived at the changing room. While Sungjong talked all loudly about the good old times we had together, right, Sungyeollie-hyung, L-hyungie, and Sungyeol tried being a bit more calm (which hopelessly failed, because he still shivered, Myungsoo could tell), and Myungsoo just wanted to get to the pool. To feel the water on his skin. That's all he wanted to do.

"Let's go to the pool now," Sungyeol said, "and then let's go home, please."

And then they heard a voice. This time around, though, it was Sungjong who let out a little scream.

"What-what was this?" Sungjong asked, his voice naturally going two pitches higher, making it sound really girlish.

"I don't know," Myungsoo said.

The torch light went off again.

"YAH LEE SUNGJONG TURN THE LIGHT ON AGAIN!" Sungyeol shouted.

"I'm working on it, really-"

"You never changed, Lee Sungyeol," a new voice could be heard. Deep, beautiful, smooth. Like a lake.

"Who-who is that?" Sungyeol was now clearly frightened. His voice, now one pitch higher, shook. And at the same time, Sungjong managed to open his torch light again. The light fell on a figure, shorter than the three of them, with black hair that fell on his forehead, a thin and pretty nose and thick lips. He was handsome, no doubt about that.

And the figure was familiar. A bit too familiar, if you would ask Kim Myungsoo.

"Nam Woohyun," he said calmly. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same, Kim Myungsoo," Woohyun answered. "Isn't it forbidden to trespass the lines?"

"Why do you even give a ," Myungsoo replied coldly.

"Woohyun-ah!" Sungyeol exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. "It's been a while."

"Why so close, Sungyeol? You are six, heck almost seven months younger than me.  Get a hold of yourself." Woohyun's voice was cold, almost ice cold, and Myungsoo wanted to pierce him with the eyes girls described as black holes that you up.

Sungyeol's happy expression turned into surprise, disbelief, and then the indifferent look people usually had when facing a stranger. "I see you're still the attention seeker as always, Woohyun-hyung." The hyung was spelled with disgust, as if he would spit it.

"I see you're still the clown you've always been. Still-" he turned to Myungsoo- "now that we're here, let's do a battle. You, me, right now."

"L-hyungie, please don't do this-" Sungjong began, but Myungsoo couldn't hear the rest, because Sungyeol whispered in his ear: "Beat him and show how pathetic he is." It didn't sound Sungyeol, at all. Sungyeol was usually the one who would stop him from thing like these things, but now he literally pleased for it. Myungsoo smirked.

"Call. Right now, in this moment."

a/n: so I actually did a thing and finished this, with the help of a great armin fanmix I found on 8tracks. I hope you enjoyed it, elly.