Changhyun took off like a rocket. His hand flew to the top of his head in an attempt to keep his Cookie Monster hat from flying off his head. His feet pounded against the sand as he ran, kicking up sand behind him. Before he knew it, the sand beneath his feet had dampened. Toes in the water, he finally was standing at the Pacific Ocean’s edge. Teen Top had briefly visited the ocean when they had traveled to Japan, but they hadn’t been able to stay there all way. He got to splash around with Byunghun and Chanhee for a little bit, but that was all. He was most familiar with the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, but he’d been to the Pacific only once. He’d never been to this side of the Pacific before, either.

                “Changhyun-ah!” someone called behind him. Changhyun whipped around to find the voice. It had belonged to Minsoo. He was standing with the rest of Teen Top, the three girls, Mr. and Mrs. Lee and Andy. Minsoo waved at him, motioning for him to come back. Slowly, Changhyun picked up his bare feet and jogged back up the sand. “I thought we had picked a location already,” Changhyun muttered as he rejoined the group.

                “Not yet. There are too many people around,” Uncle Sunho stated, glancing around. In truth, there really were people everywhere. Public beaches in Los Angeles were always jam-packed with people, mostly tourists. Natives knew the secret beach locations, where lifeguard towers and hot dog stands couldn’t be found. The private-public beaches, as I liked to call them. Anyone could visit them, but they were hardly ever crowded. Usually they were just stretches of beach land across from neighborhoods. I loved those beaches; they were a little more private. The public beaches, though, was where all the action was.

                Mom squinted in the sun even though she was wearing sunglasses. “How about over there?” she asked, pointing to a gap in the crowd to the left of us.

                “Looks good to me,” Dad agreed, re-adjusting his grip on the handle of the cooler.

                Our massive group of eleven maneuvered in our sandals through the maze of umbrellas and towels. Blonde, golden-skinned girls rubbed tanning oil on their amber skin and slid their gigantic aviators on their perfectly straight noses. Shirtless guys with eye-catching tattoos and golden, sculpted muscles threw footballs and kicked soccer balls back and forth. Sun-conscious mothers rubbed sun lotion on their young children’s faces and the beer-bellied fathers dug through the coolers and picnic baskets in search of something to eat. Sandals were aplenty. Bikinis were abundant. The blue waves were shining and the sun was sizzling. It was finally starting to feel like we were in California.

                I heard Daniel and Changhyun snicker behind me. I turned my head around just as we passed a copper-colored girl lying on a hot pink beach towel. Her long, blonde hair spilled onto the towel in beachy waves and her lips were plump and covered in pink gloss. Enormous sunglasses covered nearly half of her face. She was exceptionally curvy but still quite thin. She was lying on her stomach, the clasp of her hot pink tube-top bathing suit unhooked and her round almost entirely exposed thanks to her thong-like bikini bottoms. Changhyun pretended to cover his eyes with his hands. Daniel giggled immaturely.

                Chanhee noticed right away. He smacked Changhyun’s arm. “Hey!” he hissed. “Stop staring!” Just as Changhyun and Daniel ashamedly averted their gazes, Chanhee’s curious eyes took their place.

                I rolled my eyes. These sights weren’t uncommon in Los Angeles. Everyone once in a while, you’d come across the brave girl who wouldn’t wear a top at all. That was just something you had to get used to.

                Luckily, we had reached our spot soon afterwards. Mom dropped a large towel blanket in the sand and spread it out. Dad staked the umbrella. “You kids don’t have to stay with us,” he said in English.

                “Really?” I asked, my face lighting up.

                Dad nodded. “As long as you don’t go too far, you can set up somewhere else. Deal?”

                “Deal!” I cried. I turned around to inform the non-English speakers of my dad’s words. Everyone was all smiles, chatting about where we could set down our towels and umbrella.

                We migrated to the left, our dark eyes scanning the crowd for an open space we could claim. Hyerin pointed in the distance to a space relatively far from the ocean, where the sand was still soft and white. It was within a reasonable distance away from my parents, but they were completely out of earshot. The rest of us nodded in approval, and navigated through the network of beachgoers in our path.

                As soon as we reached our acclaimed spot, Changhyun dropped his armful of towels in the sand. “Can we go swimming yet?”

                “Not yet,” Chanhee responded, hastily picking up the towels Changhyun carelessly dropped. He shook the sand out of them. “We have to set up first.”

                Changhyun grabbed the towels from Chanhee’s hands and hastily spread them out on the sand. The rest of us watched, giggling. Changhyun straightened back up and placed his hands on his hips. “Okay, there. All done. Now let’s go swimming!”

                Chanhee rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, go.”

                Eyes beaming, Changhyun turned to Daniel. “I’ll race you to the water!”

                “You’re on!” Daniel accepted, kicking off his sandals. He and Changhyun took off laughing and disappeared in the crowd of people somewhere near the ocean’s edge.

                “Crazy kids,” Minsoo muttered playfully, shaking his head.

                Min Neul plopped down on one of the towels Changhyun carelessly spread out on the sand. She neatly smoothed the edges and brushes some excess sand off before patting the space beside her. Jonghyun plopped right down beside her and folded his legs like a pretzel.

                We arranged the towels in a star shape so they all met at a point together. Minsoo stuck the umbrella in the center, casting a cooling shadow in the center of the star. Chanhee positioned our mini cooler in the center of the shade.

                Hyerin flopped down on her back. Behind her sunglasses, her eyes were closed peacefully. “I haven’t been the beach in years.”

                “Really?” I asked, leaning back on my arms.

                Hyerin nodded. “Not since we left Mokpo.”

                “We never get to go to the beach either,” Minsoo confessed.

                “Last we went was in Japan, right?” Byunghun asked, tilting his head to the side.

                Chanhee nodded. “And that was while ago.”

                Byunghun sighed longingly. He closed his eyes and let his orange head roll back, his face to the sun. “There’s nothing like spending all day at the beach in Los Angeles.”

                “How do you say ‘beach’ in English?” Minsoo asked.

                “Beach,” I said slowly in.

                “Beach,” the non-English speakers repeated.

                “Good!” Byunghun encouraged in English. “We are at the beach.”

                “We are at the beach,” Jonghyun repeated with near perfection. Min Neul giggled and clapped her hands. She thought his English was the most adorable thing in the world.

                Byunghun and I clapped. “They’re learning so fast,” Byunghun said in English to me.

                “I’m so proud,” I giggled as I reached into the beach bag at my side. I pulled out a bottle of sun lotion and proceeded to pop the cap off. I squirted a reasonable amount into my palm and started to rub it on my shoulders.

                “Didn’t you already put sunscreen on?” Daniel giggled.

                “Yes,” I admitted, squirting more into my palm. “But if I burn extremely easily.”

                “Extremely?” Hyerin repeated, raising an eyebrow.

                I nodded. “I’m too pale to tan.”

                “You used to live in California and you can’t tan?” Byunghun chuckled.

                I stuck my tongue out at him. “And you can?”

                “I can get pretty dark, actually,” Byunghun laughed. “You’d be surprised.”

                That was surprising, considering Byunghun was pretty pale. He had flawless white skin, and I couldn’t picture it any differently. Still, it made me curious to see Byunghun, tan and tone, on the beach, flipping his orange hair and smiling his radiant smile. I bet he’d be gorgeous; the ideal California beach boy.

                I raised an eyebrow. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” I replied. I reached behind me to try to cover my back with sunscreen again. It wasn’t the easiest task, as I couldn’t exactly reach very well.

                “Need some help with that?” Byunghun asked

                I lowered my arms as a smile spread across my face. I didn’t have to answer, because Byunghun grabbed the bottle of sunscreen, squirted it into his hands, and motioned for me to turn around. Slowly, I followed his orders. I held my breath as I felt him press his warm hands on my shoulder blades. He took great care in covering every centimeter of my back with sun lotion. I loved his gentle touch.

                Jonghyun’s eyes were scanning the crowds of people. “Everyone’s so…tan.”

                I glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, the vast majority of the beachgoers had shining bronze skin. “America is different than Korea is,” I explained as I turned back to face Jonghyun. “People in Korea are really conscious of the sun and protecting their skin from it. A lot of Americans, on the other hand, prefer having tan skin. That’s why tanning beds are so popular over here.”

                Byunghun was glancing over his shoulder as I spoke. “I prefer paler skin,” he announced. He looked at me. “You know, it’s more natural looking.”

                Byunghun wasn’t a fan of makeup or perfume, for that matter. He complimented me the most when I wore little or no makeup at all, actually. He was drawn to more natural-looking girls, so he unsurprisingly found artificially tanned skin unattractive. I always thought it was ironic that he tended to dye his hair unnatural colors: bleach blonde, pink, and now orange.

                “Beauty standards must be different over here,” Chanhee commented, taking a glance around to see for himself.

                “Which is stricter: Korea or America?” Minsoo asked, leaning forward.

                “Korea, by far,” I answered without doubt. “Plastic surgery is a bigger deal over there than it is here.”

                “I figured,” Hyerin said.  She reached up to touch her nose. “Remember when I said I thought about getting my nose done? You were totally against it.”

                “You want to get your nose done?” Minsoo exclaimed, his small eyes wide.

                Hyerin blushed and shrugged. “I wanted to, but Kirin talked me out of it.”

                Minsoo was bewildered. “Your nose is perfect. Everything about you is perfect.”

                “Awww,” Min Neul cooed, smiling at her unni. Hyerin was shyly beaming.

                Minsoo turned to me and bowed. “Thank you,” he thanked desperately.

                I laughed. “I didn’t think she needed it. I guess I still think like an American when it comes to plastics surgery. I don’t think it’s necessary. Everybody’s beautiful.”

                Chanhee reached up and touched his golden, light brown hair. “People often tell me that.” Just about everyone rolled their eyes and laughed. Chunji and L.Joe undoubtedly had the biggest egos in Teen Top, so none of us were surprised by his comment.

                “Then how come you’re the only single member here?” Minsoo teased, raising an eyebrow.

                “Yah!” Chanhee pointed a finger at his hyung. “Watch what you say, or else I’ll drag you into the ocean!”

                Minsoo crossed his arms. “You wouldn’t dare.”

                “It’s pretty hot,” Byunghun said in a sing-song voice. “Are you sure you don’t want to go swimming, hyung?”

                Minsoo’s response was in his defiant headshake, despite the sweat that shined on his forehead.

                Hyerin played a delicate hand on his strong bicep. “Oppa, you wouldn’t even stand at the edge of the water with me?”

                Minsoo’s eyes softened as he debated the thoughts in his head. “Maybe later?” he said softly.

                “Oh, come on hyung.” Jonghyun got to his feet. “We’re in California! You have to go swimming in the ocean!”

                “I wouldn’t even go swimming in the swimming pool,” Minsoo reasoned. “The ocean? No way.”

                “Just stand at the ocean’s edge. Just put your feet in,” I offered.

                “You won’t regret it!” declared Chanhee.

                Again, Minsoo shook his head. “I’m staying here.” He turned to Hyerin. “You can go if you want,” he said softly.

                “Not without you,” Hyerin pouted.

                I hadn’t even noticed Jonghyun peel his white t-shirt off his body and flung it on the towel at his feet. “Anyone else coming?”

                “Oh hell yes.” That could only have come from Min Neul. She flung her sunglasses off her nose and onto the towel as she gazed at Jonghyun’s chiseled body. She laced her fingers between Jonghyun’s, enjoying the feeling of his hand against her’s. She could think of a few other places on him she’d rather be putting her hands, but she supposed she’d just have to wait. They had two months together; they’d be alone eventually...

                Chanhee stood up next. “I’ll go swimming,” he announced with a shrug.

                Byunghun mimicked Chanhee. He glanced down at me. “You in?”

                “Of course,” I answered. Byunghun smiled and reached out his hand. I took it, and he helped me up. When we were both standing, Byunghun gripped the hem of his faded grey t-shirt. He pulled it up over his head and dropped it on the towel. His straight, orange hair fell perfectly in place. I had a hard time deciding which to look at; his perfectly flawless hair or his lean arms. Luckily I snapped back into reality so I could peel my tank top and shorts off.

                “Are you two coming?” Chanhee asked, placing his hands on his narrow hips. Sometimes I hated how undeniably gorgeous Chanhee was. Being only a few centimeters taller than Byunghun, Chanhee wasn’t very tall. Still, he had strong, lean legs, a slender waist, and a flat stomach. His shoulders were broad and he his neck was thin. His Adam’s apple jut out from his throat in a demurely y way. Quickly, I looked away.

                Hyerin glanced at Minsoo. Minsoo looked away. Suddenly, Hyerin stood up. “I’m coming.”

                Min Neul and Jonghyun had already taken off for the water. Chanhee, Byunghun, Hyerin and I paraded after them, leaving Minsoo alone on shore.

                I touched Hyerin’s shoulder. “You’re going to leave Minsoo all alone?” I asked tenderly.

                “He’ll come soon,” Hyerin responded, glancing over her shoulder. “He’ll realize he’ll have to get over his water phobia soon enough.”

                At that point, we had reached the water’s edge. The water was cool and refreshing on my toes. I took a deep breath and looked out at the ocean before us. A couple thousand miles away from where I was standing was South Korea. Tiny, little South Korea. But behind me, zero miles away, was California. Vast, beautiful California. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath, letting a weak tide brush across my feet, re-baptizing me into the Pacific Ocean. When  I opened my eyes again, I saw that many people were scattered about the ocean, happily enjoying the cool waters. Among them were Min Neul and Jonghyun. They were standing in thigh-deep water, playfully splashing each other.

                No one was bothering them. No one was watching them. Though they were in public, they were free to be together. No one knew Jonghyun was really Changjo, a well-known boy-band member from South Korea. There wouldn’t be paparazzi photos printed in a tabloid magazine of them. There weren’t fangirls watching, pointing, squealing. Jonghyun wasn’t being pestered to sign autographs and take photos with fans. He wasn’t a celebrity in America; he was Jonghyun Choi, a visitor from South Korea who was innocently splashing his girlfriend, Min Neul Park.

                Chanhee took off in their direction, eager to join their splash war. Byunghun splashed after him. I splashed after Byunghun, but I didn’t hear Hyerin splash after me. As I turned back around, I caught Chanhee bend over and slosh a tidal wave of water at the maknae couple.

                Hyerin was standing farther back on shore. She was talking to Minsoo; he had reluctantly tagged along after us. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I saw Hyerin motion towards the water and Minsoo shrug nervously. Hyerin was most likely trying to persuade her stubborn boyfriend into letting his irrational fears disappear so he could have fun with everyone else.

                Suddenly a tidal wave of cold water hit my back. Startled, I whipped around to find a beaming Byunghun behind me. He smiled deviously and cackled, but his eyes were the shape of rainbows.

                I cracked a smile and narrowed my eyebrows. “Oh, you’re going to get it now!” I giggled. I sloshed water at him in return. He yelped playfully as he tried to dodge my wave. He splashed me back. I splashed him back. He splashed me again. I took off after him.

                Giggling wickedly, we migrated further into the ocean. The water was almost waist-deep now, so it was impossible to run after each other. I sloshed water at Byunghun and he giggled as he tried to shield his face. His attempt was useless, because he was already dripping with water. Laughing childishly, we squeezed our eyes shut and soaked each other with mini tidal waves. Suddenly, he grabbed me by the waist. I yelped in delight as he spun me around, his head thrown back and his face to the California sun.

                This was exactly how I pictured our vacation together to be. We’d have a splash war and chase each other further into the ocean. When the water reached our shoulders, we’d stop splashing and laughing and stand close to each other. Byunghun would hook his arm around my waist and pull me close to him, chest to chest. He’d tell me this was the best vacation he’s ever had, and I’d dizzily agree with him. We’d share a kiss, which tasted like salt water, and I’d run my hands through the mess of orange hair on his head. The moment, much like the entire trip, would be perfect.

                Daniel rubbed a colorful beach towel on top of his head. When his hair was wet, it was twice as long; it was pin straight and clung against the back of his neck. It flopped over the tops of his ears and in front of his cat-like eyes. The sooner it dried the better, because then it would softly coil back into a tidy mess of waves, just the way he liked it. Next he rubbed the dripping salt water off of his handsome face and down his neck. He towel-dried his thin shoulders, his gaunt arms, and his slim torso before wrapping the towel around his arms and settled down between Minsoo and Changhyun. All the swimming, laughing, and playing had almost entirely drained him of his energy. He reached forward and opened the cooler, looking for something to eat.

                Chanhee read his mind. “I’m starving,” he declared.

                “Me too,” Daniel agreed. He peered inside the mini cooler. There were plenty of water bottles and juice boxes inside, but no substantial food left. The bag of Lays potato chips had already been devoured, and the turkey sandwiches were nothing more than a few scarps of crust that Changhyun and I refused to eat. Minsoo and Hyerin were sharing the last of the grapes.

                He felt his stomach growl the way it always did before dinner. “What time is it?”

                “Ten of four,” I replied, capping my water bottle after taking a long drink.

                Daniel groaned and shut the cooler. We’d been at the beach since a little before noon today. That was four hours of swimming, laughing and playing. No wonder he was hungry; it was practically dinner time.

                “I’m exhausted,” Jonghyun exhaled, stretching his long, lean legs across the sand. Examining his legs a little, he noticed his skin had evidently turned darker.

                Looking around, everyone looked much tanner than before. Even though Minsoo hadn’t gone in the water, his skin had still baked in the sun. Hyerin and Min Neul were even a shade darker than they were before. Taking a glance at Byunghun, I noticed that he looked twice as gorgeous when he was sun-kissed. His orange hair, which still hadn’t dried all the way, was still stuck to his forehead. His smile looked brighter. Suddenly I looked down at my own skin. Instead of having golden, tan skin like everyone else, my arms and chest had been dusted with pink.

                While everyone else was about how hungry they were, Byunghun was busy glancing at me. “Babe, are you okay? You’re pretty sunburned.”

                “I am?” I asked, inspecting my arms. My shoulders were bright pink. I touched my face lightly, praying my face wasn’t the former shade of Byunghun’s hair. I was disappointed in myself; I prided myself on being sun-smart. I know I burn easily and never get tan. I’m always careful to put on plentiful amounts of sunscreen and even reapply it as the day goes on. I guess between the splashing, chasing, swimming, and playing, I forgot to put more on.

                “I guess you do burn pretty badly,” Min Neul spoke up.

                I touched my nose. “Is it really that bad?”

                Byunghun bit his lip. “I’m sure it’ll go away quickly,” he offered.

                I pouted. Being sunburned was not part of my dream vacation. I pressed my finger against my stomach. When I lifted my finger, my skin turned white, then quickly faded back to pink.

                Byunghun chuckled softly. “Don’t worry,” he said when I lifted my eyes to him. “Pink or not, you still look cute.”

                My sunburned face broke out into a smile, and I was about to sweetly compliment him in return when I noticed a shadow cascade over me. I turned my head as far around as I could and looked up. Towering over me was none other than my mother.

                “Hi Mrs. Lee,” Byunghun exclaimed in English with an adorable smile.

                “Hi Mrs. Lee,” the others repeated happily in English.

                “Hey Mom,” I said casually.

                Mom squinted as she looked at me. “Are you…sunburned?”

                Everyone snickered a little. I ignored them. “Uh, yeah, just a little…”

                Mom puckered her lips. “Did you put on sunscreen?”

                “Of course!” I replied quickly. “I put on a ton!”

                “Well, I guess you’ll have to be a little more careful from now on,” Mom replied, her hands on her hips.

                “Yes, Mom.” I lowered my eyes.

                “Well, on that note, how’s everyone else doing?” Mom asked.

                “Everyone’s a little hungry,” Minsoo answered.

                “And tired,” Daniel added.

                “We swam so much,” Min Neul said.

                “And played football, and splashed each other, and walked on the beach…” Chanhee began.

                “Well, sounds like you’ve all been busy! Come to think of it, we have been at the beach for a long time,” Mom said. She put her hands on her hips. “Whataya say we pack it up and head home?”

                “That sounds good,” Hyerin spoke up, nodding.

                “Can we come back soon, though?” Changhyun asked.

                Mom smiled. “We can come back here any time you’d like.”

                “Awesome!” Changhyun cried, throwing his hands up.

                Mom laughed. “Well, then start packing up. You know where we parked, right? Meet us there. Alright?”

                “Yes ma’am,” I chuckled.

                “See you in a bit,” Mom said cheerfully before she turned around to leave

                Minsoo clapped his hands once. “Alright, you heard her,” he announced. “Start packing up!”

                The cooler was shut. The umbrella was uprooted from the sand. The colorful towels had the sand shaken out of them and were rolled up once again. The boys slipped their t-shirts back on over their tanned bodies and the girls slid their shorts over their bikini bottoms. Minsoo carried the cooler, Jonghyun took the umbrella, and the rest of us carried the towels.

                As we maneuvered through the crowd sprawled out on the sand, I noticed a considerable amount of people had fled the beach already. It was pretty late in the afternoon, after all. But many of them would be back tomorrow, and maybe even the next day. The refreshing water, the rolling waves, the hot sand, and the scorching sun would be here when they returned. Tomorrow, and for sure, the next day. We’d most likely be back soon. Maybe not tomorrow, but maybe the next day.

                After all, we had two who months ahead of us.