TWENTY-ONE

“Listen up, everyone!”

The door slammed open in a familiar manner, and one of the group’s managers walked in, arms folded.

“Everyone, gather around! Everyone! I want everyone over here, right now!”

The twelve members eyed each other in confusion, curious and slightly frightened, and formed a small semi-circle around the man. He counted them all quickly, before he shut the door and began to speak.

“Your schedules for today have been cancelled.”

The whole room was silent.

“What?” Sehun spat.

“I said,” the manager sighed, a small smile playing on his lips, “your schedules have been cancelled. For today.”

The members were dead quiet, and manager seemed frustrated.

“I don’t get it,” Junmyeon said slowly.

“Your schedules,” the manager drawled, “for today, have—”

“Yes, I know, but—why? What does that mean?”

“It means, you’ve got a free day today. No work.” The manager smiled again. “So I organised a little something for you all, as a little treat for all your hard work.”

Jongdae’s jaw dropped. “No way!”

“Is it food?” Baekhyun gasped.

“Do we get chocolate?”

“Ice cream!” Chanyeol cried, “can we have ice cream?”

Most of the members chorused ‘ice cream’ in agreement, and the manager laughed. “We can have something better than that after today. For now, there’s a van coming in ten minutes to drive you all to a private pool booked for the whole day.”

All the members were speechless, until Sehun screamed.

“No way!”

“We’re going swimming?” Zitao cried, jumping up and down, “for real?”

“Yes, Zitao.”

Sehun screamed again and turned to Jongin, picking him up and spinning him around, making him shriek.

Luhan put a comforting hand on the latter’s shoulder, and Minseok looked at the floor, sighing.

“We’re almost here!” their manager observed, pointing out the window. “That’s the building over there.”

“An indoor pool!” Yixing gasped.

Sehun turned to Jongin and shook his shoulders violently. “Look, Jongin, we’re here! We’re almost here!”

Jongin beamed at him and turned around in his seat, looking at Kyungsoo. The elder smiled at him weakly, “nearly here, Jongin.”

Sehun bounced up and down in his seat, tearing off his shirt, and unbuckling his jeans. “Can I change now?”

“No, Sehun!” Chanyeol shrieked. But it was too late – he was already kicking off his shoes and peeling his pants off, making Jongin blush and look away.

“You’re stripping next to someone gay, Sehun,” Baekhyun laughed, “look, he’s going red already!”

“Gay?”

Silenced crashed upon the van like a boulder, and everyone turned to their manager, who had anger flashing in his eyes. Baekhyun had frozen, and Jongin looked mortified.

“Are you gay?” he hissed, pointing at Jongin with a shaking finger. He immediately shook his head, breathing hard.

“I-It was a joke, sir!” Baekhyun gasped, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t realise—”

“Do not joke about that kind of thing, Baekhyun. You should know better than that. If one of the higher staff had heard, your whole career would have been shattered.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened, and Luhan stared at him anxiously.

“We’re sorry, sir,” Junmyeon said softly, “we were just messing around. It won’t happen again.”

The manager sighed. “Be careful next time.”

Sehun, fingers still hooked around his boxers, frozen into place, was yanked back down into his seat. He turned to Zitao, who glared at him and whispered, ‘get dressed’, in very accented Korean.

“But I’m almost undressed.”

“Sehun,” Yifan growled, “if you’re going to get , do it somewhere else. Nobody wants to see you . Especially Jongin.”

Jongin offered Yifan a small, thankful smile, and he nodded back. Sehun made an angry sound, before collecting his swimming trunks and storming to the back of the van, where Luhan, Minseok and Kyungsoo were hiding away together.

“I’m changing here. Deal with it.”

Minseok frowned at him. “Rude boy.”

Kyungsoo stared at Sehun as he turned his back to them and pulled off his underwear, stepping into his swimmers. If Luhan didn’t know any better he would have said he was sick for staring, but he knew Kyungsoo wasn’t staring at his backside. Admittedly, he was staring as well.

“He’s so skinny,” Kyungsoo breathed, eyes raking up and down Sehun’s thin frame. He could see bones poking through Sehun’s back, even the beginnings of rib outlines. Anyone else would have told him he was underweight, but the three members curled up in their seats together thought he was perfect.

As Sehun adjusted his trunks, Minseok looked up and down his long legs in envy. He could only dream of such long, slim, beautiful legs.

Sehun turned around, smiling dumbly, and put his hands on his hips. “I call dibs on being first in the pool!”

“Not if I beat you first!”

“You’re not even changed yet, Jongin.”

The van pulled to a halt, and before the manager could even speak, Sehun and Jongin barrelled out, yelling and pushing each other aside.

“I’m going to be first!”

“In your dreams, you dark little freak!”

The other members, minus Kyungsoo, Luhan and Minseok, quickly pushed themselves to their feet and followed the younger members out the door. Their manager motioned for the three at the back to hurry up, before he also left the van, thanking the driver.

Kyungsoo was the last to leave the van and shut the door behind him, turning to Jongin and Sehun. Jongin was on Sehun’s back and pounding at his chest lightly, while Sehun laughed and spun him around, playfully trying to shake him off.

“Me first!”

“No, me first!”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and pulled the dancer off Sehun’s back. “Cut it out. We’re in public.”

When all twelve members were gathered around the entrance and their manager finished speaking to the staff, he turned to them.

“Does everyone know the safety rules around pools? We can’t afford to have any of you get hurt.”

“Yes, sir!” they all chimed.

He smiled. “Alright. The whole thing is yours.”

With a loud whoop, Sehun and Jongin pushed past and ran through, followed by shrieks of “no running near the water!”

“I’m going in first!” Sehun yelled, elbowing Jongin out of the way and diving into the pool, slicing through the water without so much as a splash. Jongin wailed in disappointment, “you !”

Rising to the surface, Sehun flipped his long hair from his eyes and laughed, grabbing Jongin’s arm and pulling him in, fully clothed. The water muffled his screams, and Sehun dived down to tackle him underwater.

One by one, the boys pulled off their clothes and hastily put their swimmers on, hardly caring that they were being witnessed by the other members and their manager. They jumped into the Olympic-sized pool with screams of delight, and savoured the cool feeling of water on their skin. Even their manager had emerged from the bathrooms and sat down in a separate spa, enjoying the warm water.

“He’s not here.”

“Where’s Luhan?”

“Where’s Minseok?”

“Where’s Chanyeol?” Baekhyun wailed.

“I’m right here,” Chanyeol laughed, popping out from under the water and dunking Baekhyun underneath.

‘There they are!”

Yixing pointed to the three members sitting quietly on the bench, away from everyone else, and frowned. Everyone frowned.

“Why aren’t you coming in?” Zitao whined. Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow, not understanding the Mandarin. Minseok and Luhan didn’t respond.

Suddenly, Jongdae moved, diving under the water and swimming over to the edge of the pool. He pushed himself out of the water, shaking his hair, and stood up.

“Come in, guys,” Jongdae asked sadly, picking up a towel and wrapping it around his chest. The air was cold, and he began to shiver.

The three looked at each other, and Jongdae crossed his arms. “Come on.”

“No, thanks,” Luhan said quietly.

“Why?”

Luhan breathed in deeply. “I-I don’t feel well.”

Jongdae sighed. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“What about you two?”

Kyungsoo looked away. Minseok met his eyes, and felt himself flush.

With everyone watching, Jongdae took careful steps towards the bench, cautious of the slippery floor, and held out his hands to Minseok. The elder took them shyly, and let himself be pulled to his feet.

“Come join us, Minseok. Please. It’s not the same without you.”

“You only just noticed I was gone.”

“I would have noticed earlier if it wasn’t for Yixing trying to drown me.”

Minseok looked at his feet and tried to suppress a smile, but Jongdae could see it, anyway. He chuckled and lifted Minseok’s chin, staring into his eyes.

“I saw that smile.”

Minseok blushed. “Cut it out, Jongdae.”

“Come swim with us!”

Minseok tried to look anywhere but Jongdae’s eyes. “I don’t want to.”

Jongdae fell silent, but still cupped the elder’s face in his hands.

“Are you embarrassed?” he asked quietly.

Minseok didn’t respond.

Jongdae sighed and pulled him into his arms, trying to comfort him despite being sopping wet. Sehun snorted, “get a room, you two!”

“Don’t be embarrassed, Minseok. Here, look, I’ll make you feel better!”

Jongdae stepped away and half-ran – being cautious of the wet tiles – over to where he’d discarded his clothes, and picked up his shirt, tugging it over his head.

“Jongdae!” Junmyeon cried, “that’s your clean shirt!”

He turned back to Minseok and smiled. “We’ll both swim in our clothes, okay?”

Luhan and Kyungsoo were both watching Minseok in curiosity. They could see, from the way his eyes were darting back and forth between Jongdae and the pool, the way he was clenching and unclenching his fists, the way his bottom lip was lodged in his teeth – that he really wanted to give in.

“Please, Minseok?” Yifan chimed, “come join us!”

“I’m swimming in my underwear,” Jongin added, pointing over to a pair of jeans and a shirt at the side of the pool, “I didn’t even put my swimmers on.”

Minseok looked at Luhan and Kyungsoo uncertainly for confirmation. They both shrugged.

“I don’t know…”

Jongdae groaned and walked back over to Minseok.

“Then I’ll decide for you, okay?”

“W-Wait!”

Jongdae scooped the Minseok into his arms easily, and he threw his arms around the Jongdae’s neck, clinging on tightly in fear.

“Don’t throw me!” he shrieked, squeezing his eyes shut. Jongdae chuckled, “I’d never do that. We’re going in together.”

With a deafening splash, Jongdae jumped into the pool, Minseok screaming and kicking his legs in fear, and everyone cracked up laughing – even Kyungsoo managed a smile.

“Hyung, you come in as well!” Jongin chirped, smiling at Kyungsoo.

“You come in too!” Sehun added, motioning for Luhan, “the swimming will make you feel better, I promise!”

“We won’t even splash you!”

They both shook their heads.

“No, thanks.”

“Maybe later,” Luhan said gently.

The other members seemed upset, but Minseok waved them away, seeing the panic in their eyes. “Leave them alone, guys. They’ll come in later.”

Jongdae agreed, slowly letting go of him, and tenderly brushed the wet hair from the elder’s face with a shy smile. Minseok turned bright red and pushed him away, ducking his head under the water to cool his burning cheeks.

Somehow, everyone knew Luhan and Kyungsoo wouldn’t “come in later”, but nobody spoke up.

Afternoon had come around and everyone – excluding Luhan and Kyungsoo – had left the pool shivering and wrinkly-..

Minseok entered the van wrapped in towels, as his clothes were all soaked through, and sat right next to Jongdae, their arms wrapped around one another. He’d almost forgotten what sadness felt like; he was so carefree, so happy.

The van drove away from the indoor pool, some members sighing and complaining that they wanted to stay for longer, some members (Sehun and Jongin) whining about their hunger like children.

Luhan and Kyungsoo were both watching Jongdae and Minseok, who were a few seats in front of them, in suspicion. Minseok rested his head on Jongdae’s shoulder and the younger chuckled, wet hair tickling his neck.

“They seem to like each other a lot,” Luhan murmured.

“No kidding.”

Luhan looked over at Kyungsoo, who had switched his gaze and was now watching Sehun and Jongin. Jongin was sitting on Sehun’s lap, and they were swaying dramatically with every turn of the van, occasionally banging their heads on the window. They looked unbelievably stupid, and undoubtedly hilarious, but Kyungsoo just looked sad.

“Hey,” Luhan said quietly, “look at me.”

Kyungsoo continued to watch them.

“Look at them,” he whispered.

The van ran over a speed hump and Jongin’s head hit the roof, making him cry out in pain. Sehun snorted and patted his head, swinging him back and forth, leaning over his shoulder and making faces at him. Despite the pain in his head, Jongin laughed.

“Be careful, you two,” Junmyeon warned.

Kyungsoo finally looked away.

“I can’t make him smile like that.”

He slumped back in his seat, defeated, and Luhan took his hand.

“You can.”

“I can’t. I can’t love him properly. You know I can’t. I made Jongin upset today because I’m too self-conscious to have fun with him. Sehun’s humour comes naturally. He’d be better off without me.”

Luhan shook his head, “that’s not true.”

“I have to force myself to be happy for Jongin,” Kyungsoo said, exasperated. Luhan motioned for him to speak quieter.

“I have to force myself to smile, just so I won’t pass on my sadness to him,” he hissed. “Sehun can drop a hat and make Jongin laugh. They’re both so happy, and I’m so…I’m so…”

The van turned and Jongin almost tumbled off Sehun’s lap, but the younger’s strong arms held him tight. Jongin shrieked as if he was on a rollercoaster, and Sehun pulled him back.

“Sehun,” Yifan snapped, “cut it out. Let go of Jongin.”

“No way,” he laughed, “we’re having fun.”

“You’re going to kill him.”

“I’m not going to kill him.”

The car jolted to a stop and Jongin swung forward, head almost bashing on the seat in front of him. Yifan glared at them, and Sehun shrugged.

“It’s because Sehun’s skinny,” Kyungsoo said weakly, “isn’t it?”

Luhan was about to reply, but he was interrupted. As if on cue, Sehun released an arm from Jongin’s waist to push his bangs out of his eyes, and the van started driving again with a lurch. Jongin yelled out in horror as he fell out of the younger’s lap, into the middle of the van, and hit the floor with a bang. Sehun gasped, and Yifan stood up.

“Oh Sehun!” he roared.

Zitao slipped out of his seat to help Jongin up, who was whimpering, and Sehun cowered.

“I didn’t mean to!” he cried.

“What happened?” their manager snapped.

“It’s okay,” Jongin gasped, “it’s okay. I’m okay.”

The van lurched again and Jongin toppled back into Sehun’s arms with a choked gasp. Yifan looked he was about to breathe fire. Sehun grinned sheepishly and pulled Jongin into a sitting position between his legs.

“Sehun,” Yifan growled, fists clenched.

He pushed Jongin into the empty seat beside him and buckled both their seatbelts, head bowed. Jongin giggled quietly into the back of his hand.

“I don’t want to see either of you move for the rest of the trip,” Yifan hissed, waving Zitao back to his seat.

 “Yes, sir,” Sehun drawled. Jongin choked on his laughter and slapped his arm, covering his face.

Kyungsoo could feel his heart clunk at his feet, and he looked out of the window, unable to watch any further. Grey clouds were beginning to gather, shimmering silver in front of the pale sunlight, and tiny droplets of rain were falling.

He was crying by the time the rain really started pouring, the patter of water on glass muffling his quiet sobs.

✏ [ a/n ] hi everyone! relatively happy chapter, hopefully this'll cheer you guys up. in case you didn't see the previous update chapter that i've deleted now, i'm going to be putting this story on a potential temporary hiatus. because of all the kris issues, i'm selfishly hurting too much to edit this story and post more, so hopefully this break will benefit, and the kris thing will blow over, and i'll be able to edit/write again. for the next week i won't be on aff so i won't be able to reply to you guys but since this chapter is ready to post i'll post it for you. please guys, don't be offended by my short and cold replies. i'm really just so down because of this whole kris thing and it's hard for me to want to talk to anybody anymore. i'm sorry if i can't be your cheerful author anymore but i'm trying to stay strong and express my thankfulness to you guys. i'll be back on towards the end of the week and i promise i'll reply to all your comments in the happiest way possible, and hopefully i'll be able to keep updating regularly. this is just so hard for me. please stay strong, guys; for exo, for the fandom, for you and i. we'l get through this together. thank you guys. i love you.

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