When we finally got to the beach around one, there were already hundreds of people there lining the sandy area as far as my eyes could see. That was to be expected, but it didn't bother us. As a matter of fact, it was nice to have so many people all around us. There weren't really any awkward moments except for the first couple of minutes in the car on during the drive. As a matter of fact, every second that we spent together felt completely relaxed... normal... right.

The sand felt warm under my feet as we made our way down the beach to find a good spot to place our things. My cover up flattened against my body as a breeze came through ruffling umbrellas and blankets. Taeyeon was walking in front of me, weaving around groups of people lying out to soak up as much sun as possible which was my plan too. However, when we found a spot and I arranged a blanket so that I could lie out, Taeyeon shook his head at me.

"Oh no," he said, tsking. "You aren't about to sit out here and be boring."

I plopped my down on the blanket resolutely. He frowned at me again and I could almost see the disapproving look behind his sunglasses. I sighed resolutely, "Tae, what more do you want from me?"

"Come hang out with me."

"I'm here!" I indicated the beach with a sweeping hand gesture, "I am hanging out with you!"

He didn't say anything for a long moment, simply studied me. I squirmed under his scrutiny, unsure of what craziness he was planning. "This is your last chance to come into the water with me of your own accord." he said simply.

I stared at him, daring him to touch me with an upraised eyebrow.

He took my dare. In a movement that barely registered to my eyes, he bent down, swooped me up and threw me over his shoulder. Before I could grasp what was happening, I was being carried, screaming, down the beach towards the water.

"Put me down!" I demanded jerkily as my stomach bounced against his hard shoulder making my words choppy. He didn't care. In fact, I don't even think he was listening. Even though I was kicking and screaming, fighting him with everything that I had, he had absolutely no difficulties carrying me. "All right, fine! I'll go into the water with you."

Taeyeon paused for just an instant, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

I gritted my teeth and repeated myself. "Just let me take off my cover up. I don't want to get it wet." We were standing amongst twenty or so people and I could see them staring at us, unashamed. I dug my fingers into the back of his shirt, silently reiterating my demand. Finally, he sighed and I slid down his shoulder and back onto my feet. I glared at him for a minute, all the anger in my eyes. He just laughed.

I trudged back to our blanket, now covered in the sand he had disturbed by picking me up so fast. As slow as humanly possible, I pulled off the white dress and then painstakingly tucked it into my bag, smiling smugly at the impatient sigh I heard behind me. When I stood back up, Taeyeon had his arms crossed over his newly bare chest and his sunglasses were off so I could see all of the annoyance in his eyes. I stood before him in my simply black bikini and I mimicked him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Come on," I said, gesturing for him to walk. Without another word, he turned and began heading to the beach.

"See how much easier this is?" he asked in a sweet voice. I glared at his back, remaining stubbornly silent. His chuckle made me glare even harder at him. I followed him obediently for about ten feet, waiting for a chance to escape. He continued to walk in front of me calmly and confidently. Just as his foot touched the line of wet sand, I turned and took off.

I was running faster than I could ever remember running in my life. Dodging little children and sandcastles, I darted down the beach and away from the water. I could hear his footsteps pounding behind me and I tried to speed up, but running in sand is really no joke. The lifeguard stand loomed in front of me, only a few feet away. I had already pre-determined it as base with the assumption that Taeyeon would of course recognize a base when he saw one and I was making my way doggedly towards it. I was out of breath, but nothing was going to stop me; I was fast.

Unfortunately, Taeyeon was faster. Much faster. Before I could even make it within touching distance of the lifeguard stand, two strong arms locked around my waist and lifted me straight into the air with no difficulty. I yelped as he grabbed me and I fought him, kicking. Taeyeon wasn't in the least bit affected by my squirming. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying it.

"Tricky little minx," he huffed in a fake British accent. He carried my thrashing, screaming self all the way to the water, his breath in my ear. My body bumped against his along the way, and the heat of our bare skin touching created a faint sheen of sweat in combination with the warmth of the day itself.

Taeyeon walked into the surf without hesitation, allowing the water to crash over his ankles, and then his knees and deeper still. I screamed and held my feet up to avoid touching the water that was sure to be freezing cold. "No, no," he tsked, walking further into the water still, "We came to the beach. You are going to experience every bit of the beach."

I didn't want any part of the beach. As a matter of fact, I would be perfectly happy at home. Why did I come to the beach again?

With a completely inappropriate level of satisfaction, Taeyeon hoisted me off of his shoulder and with a quick gasp of air I found myself completely submerged in the salty water that I had secretly sworn to myself I wouldn't touch.

I came up sputtering. The water burned my eyes and tasted sour in my mouth. Taeyeon was laughing as I swiped dripping clumps of hair out of my face and tried to open my eyes. When I finally manage that, I glared at him. "Jerk."

He could barely speak he was laughing so hard, "Your face," he gasped, clutching his stomach, "your face was priceless."

The natural current pushed me forward, towards him and I steeled my body against it, letting the wave crash against the middle of my back. As I had expected, the water was freezing. Goosebumps appeared on my skin and I shivered, still spitting out the salt that seemed permanently stuck to my tongue.

He was still laughing. Just looking at him through my burning eyes made me mad. Water dripped from every single part of me and ran into my eyes from my hair, only exacerbating the problem. I continued to stare at Taeyeon, waiting for him to recognize the murderous look in my eyes, but he was too busy laughing to see it. So, I took drastic measures.

He wasn't expecting me to growl and jump on his back. As a matter of fact, he was so unprepared that he lost his balance and fell face first into the water even after trying his damnedest to keep his balance. For a minute, I was worried that he would actually manage it because he somehow kept my weight on his back without a problem. Still, I only had to shift forward a bit and he went down. Unfortunately, he took me with him.

We both came back up, sputtering, spitting, and laughing hysterically. My eyes burned twice as bad now, but it was actually worth it. Taeyeon ran a hand over his face and flipped his hair out of his eyes smiling at me mischievously. We stared at each other for a moment, laughing. "I can't believe you did that," he said, shoving me playfully.

I shrugged, "You're the one who threw me in."

He shook his head at me, smile still on his face. Somewhere behind us, I could hear little kids screeching and loud bursts of male laughter, but it all sounded so far away. The waves continued to crash against me because my back was to the current. When I wasn't paying attention, one was actually so strong that it pushed me forward and right into Taeyeon's broad chest.

"Whoa," he caught me against his wet skin and held me there as the current washed over us both. I could feel the strength in his arms as he kept us both on our feet and I held on tight, my hands falling to his waist on their own. "It's getting pretty strong." He laughed and I could feel the rumbles of it deep in his chest. He pulled me back and looked at me, his hands still firmly on my arms. "You okay?"

I looked up at him, ready to laugh and shrug the whole thing off. Then I really saw him and the laughter stuck in the back of my throat. The sun was at my back which meant it was shining on his glistening skin, drops of water slowly trailing down his perfectly sculpted chest. In the light, his eyes looked warm brown again and strands of his hair clung to his forehead, sending more drops of water sliding down his face. My eyes fastened to his lips, where little drips of the saltwater had clung steadfa