Jihoon practices the whole morning, losing track of time until Jerry calls him over for an awkward lunch of Chinese takeaway. He leaves his board with Jerry, then returns to the house for an afternoon nap; his muscles aching after all the practice he did in the morning. Miraculously, he wakes up just in time for his surf lesson with Seungcheol, so he glues his wetsuit on, pulls a shirt over it and leaves the house. For once, he’s prepared for this lesson, and he’s looking forward to see Seungcheol once again and show off his polished skills. With every step to the beach, his heart’s pounding.

Jihoon spies Seungcheol’s jeep parked by the roadside near Jerry’s shop, but he’s nowhere to be seen.

Jerry’s busy with a couple of customers inside his shop, so Jihoon can’t bother him. Jihoon loiters outside the shop, wondering whether he should get his board that’s kept in the storage room, but decides to dawdle around instead. He remembers hasn’t seen Soonyoung since that morning. Jihoon hopes that his best friend hasn’t gotten into trouble somewhere, and would appear soon.

“Hey!” Seungcheol calls out, emerging from the water like Poseidon. His wetsuit clings to his body; sea water dripping off the tips of his hair, which is pushed back to reveal his forehead. He jogs over to Jihoon, board tucked under his arm; and greets Jihoon with a charming smile. “You’re early today.” He sticks his board upright into the sand – it’s a funboard, much smaller that the longboard Jihoon uses, yet harder to handle. Definitely a pro surfer, Jihoon notes.

“Where’s Soonyoung?” The surfer asks, noticing the vlogpacker’s absence.

Jihoon simply shrugs, then mutters something about getting his board from Jerry. He doesn’t wait for Seungcheol’s response, walking away as fast as his legs can carry him.

There are humans, and there are humans who resemble Greek gods. Seungcheol is one of those who fall into in the latter.

Jihoon feels like his tongue is disconnected from his brain whenever he’s around Seungcheol; and he really doesn’t want to say the wrong thing in front of the surfer – he needs Soonyoung around to mediate social interaction! But his best friend is nowhere to be seen, and besides, Soonyoung would probably just ruin everything.

Jerry’s still talking to his customers, introducing them to boogie boards, when Jihoon bursts in. He easily waves Jihoon to the back room, where his board is propped up next to Soonyoung’s. His best friend is nowhere to be seen, and Jihoon figures that Soonyoung can handle his own board if he ever turns up. He hauls his surfboard out of Jerry’s shop, almost knocking Jerry’s head, half-hurrying because even though he’s almost dreading to see Seungcheol again, but he wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.

Jerry calls out a quick good luck as he exits the little shack, and Jihoon knows he’ll definitely need it today.

Seungcheol’s sitting on the sand, looking out to the ocean longingly, as if wanting to catch another wave. There are a few guys out there, having the time of their lives surfing. Someone wipes out, and his friends holler. Jihoon shudders, then takes a deep breath as he approaches Seungcheol.

“Hey.” Jihoon mumbles, unsure if he should take a seat next to his instructor, so he stands awkwardly with his board looming beside him.

“Hey!” Another godly smile from Seungcheol, this time with dimples. “Water’s good out there; I caught a few good ones. It still looks promising, though.” He glances out to the sea.

“Then go surf. I’ll wait here.” Jihoon’s words are rushed, and his palms are getting clammy.

“Nahhh. Your lesson’s supposed to start now. Can’t have me going off to surf while you sit around doing nothing.” Seungcheol laughs, and Jihoon relaxes slightly – the surfer’s presence is oddly daunting, yet it gives him warm tingles, making him feel all kinds of things. Seungcheol’s friendly personality eases him – even if he’d just known the surfer for about one day, it seems like they’d known each other forever; and conversations come easily.

“I can practice my pop-ups.” Jihoon almost proudly puffs out his chest, remembering all the practice he did that morning. “Go surf.”

“Are you chasing me away?” There’s a playful tone in Seungcheol’s voice. “Don’t tempt me with the waves. Maybe I could catch one while we wait for Soonyoung?”

Jihoon half-wishes that Soonyoung was there with his camera, so that he’d film Seungcheol out on the water, surfing a wave – Jihoon needs it for research purposes; but he doesn’t really need his best friend there, especially with his exuberant energy, only his camera.

He thought too soon.

“HOONIE!”

“Hurricane, in three, two… one.” Jihoon counts down.

“Am I late?” Soonyoung’s just arrived from somewhere in his blue Audi, which is parked right next to Seungcheol’s jeep. He’s stylishly dressed in street wear, reminding Jihoon of his old high school dancer days. He hurries to meet Jihoon and Seungcheol on the beach; sneakers sinking into the sand.

“We’ve barely started. It’s fine, man.” Seungcheol shrugs, getting up to his feet.

Soonyoung turns to Jihoon with stars in his eyes. “Well, I’ve got reaaaaaally good news - I’ve got an offer to dance at Bobby’s class!”

Seungcheol’s jaw drops in disbelief at Soonyoung’s news, and starts congratulating him; while Jihoon looks back and forth between them, like he’s missing out on something.

“Who’s Bobby?”

Soonyoung sighs, as if Jihoon’s a cretin. “Only Bobby G. THE Bobby G. You don’t know him?”

“He’s like the biggest dancer in all of LA.” Even Seungcheol’s starstruck. “Apparently, it’s really hard to get into one of Bobby G’s classes.”

“He has like a million YouTube subscribers, and he does this really cool type of modern interpretive street dance. You’d like his covers, Hoonie. I think I showed you some in high school