47: Apparently Jongin's type is cute boys who can't swim. Pairing!ChenKai, Lifeguard!AU, HighSchool!AU

Zero was a big number in Jongin's life.

It's the amount of money his parents gave him for a summer allowance.

It's the number of boyfriend's he'd had.

It's the numerical equivalent for how much he cared that his skin at the end of the summer was considerably darker than it had been when he first started to lifeguard back in early June. (Or how much he cared that his pasty cousin Sehun liked to about it.)

It's the number of times he'd worked up enough courage to speak to his crush of three years, Kim Jongdae, even though they had a lot of classes together and had been in the same grade since forever.

It's the amount of patience Jongin sometimes had at his job, especially on a day like this one when the weather was perfect—not too hot, not too sunny, and with just the right amount of breeze—but some of the pool goers decided to cover every possible inch of skin with clothing.

Yeah, yeah, skin cancer was a thing. Jongin had taken 10th grade health like everyone else; he knew that sunburns could kill a person, just like undercooked pork or too much . Still, he didn't get why those people couldn't just wear lots of sunscreen, or at the very least, clothes made of material that was actually allowed in the water.

Technically, Jongin's sole duty as a life guard was to watch over and rescue those poor beings unable to keep themselves afloat. Non-technically, his boss thought that cotton messed with their particular brand of chlorine and so made Jongin ask guests to please remove their shirt from their body, or else remove their body from the pool.

Jongin thought the whole thing was sort of silly, especially when it required him to get off his comfortable seat high above the rest of the crowd and actually go, you know, talk to people. (Talking wasn't really Jongin's thing—even if Kim Jongdae wasn't somehow involved.) At the moment he still had little patience for the rule or its breakers, but decided on an instantaneous exception when none other than Jongdae walked through the poolside gate, wearing exactly what he shouldn't.

"Guys," Jongdae whined pathetically to his friends, a tall one with big ears and a small one with big eyes. They didn't seem to care that he was in distress and kept pulling him behind them toward the deck chairs, but Jongin kind of wanted to give his poor crush a cookie or something. "Seriously, guys. Why are you doing this to me?"

Why are you doing this to me? Jongin wanted to shout back at the other boy. He felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest as the butterflies in his stomach staged a coordinated revolt at the sight of tiny Jongdae dwarfed by his long sleeved cotton shirt and tiny shorts that Jongin recognized as one half of their high school's gym uniform. The lifeguard caught a groan between his teeth and a bit lip when Jongdae's friends finally found somewhere to sit and tried to physically coerce Jongdae into taking off his mumu of a shirt.

"I'm a pale twig!" The lifeguard heard his crush shout frantically. "No one needs to see the side effects of two months indoors playing Dragon Age!"

This is my chance! Jongin thought joyfully. He didn't think Jongdae was going to give in to his friends anytime soon, but no cotton was permitted in the pool and Jongin was sure as hell going to make sure Jongdae knew that. The lifeguard took a deep breath before counting to three, after which he took another deep breath and counted to three again.

"You can do this," he tried to encourage himself. "Kim Jongin, FIGHTI–oh my god!"

His cheer was interrupted by his own subconscious shout of surprise when Jongdae's friend—the small one who looked ineffectual but was apparently much stronger than he seemed—gave up on the shirt argument and just pulled Jongdae by the collar all the way into the pool. At that point, Jongin's instincts kicked in and his shy crush was momentarily forgotten when Jongdae began to struggle helplessly in the water.

As the tall friend squawked in fear, "Help! Help! He can't swim!" Jongin blew his whistle and dove straight in, no deep breath or three-count necessary.

I've got you, he told Jongdae silently as he swam with powerful toward the floundering boy. "I've got you," he repeated aloud, once his arms came around Jongdae's waist and he pulled both their bodies to the pool's surface. Bystanders clapped in praise and Jongdae's friends let out twins sighs of relief, and Jongdae smiled up at his rescuer in obvious gratitude.

"You saved my life. Thanks!" He looked a little shaken, but Jongin could tell the other was genuine and colored instantly as his feelings returned like a punch in the gut. Carrying Jongdae up the steps of the pool's shallow end, Jongin was so distracted by his crush in his arms that he couldn't even formulate a "You're welcome," and just grunted in response.

"It's Jongin, right?" Jongdae asked as Jongin carried him back to his friends. Jongin grunted in response to that too, and Jongdae grinned. "It's nice to meet you, officially."

That time, Jongin might have actually squeaked to answer because just as he let Jongdae down onto a chair and right before Jongdae's friends swarmed them both, Jongdae placed a palm flat against Jongin's tan, bare chest and said with a mischievous wink, "How about a little mouth-to-mouth action next time, eh?"