The beach that afternoon was very peaceful and beautiful. Since it was so late in the day, there were only a few other people and I smiled at the quiet atmosphere. 

 

I looked back at Jonghyun and Jinki who were carrying our cooler filled with water bottles and sodas. Minho and Taemin were holding the bags of food we were going to eat later. I glanced at Kibum who walked next to me, we both held the beach towels, three each. 

 

I gazed at the shore, amazed at how gorgeous it looked. The sun was almost about to set and the sky was painted with light shades of orange and yellow. The gentle sound of the waves crashing onto the sand sent a sense of calmness flowing through my body. 

 

I let my eyes fall shut for a few seconds before Taemin's voice dragged me out of my trance. 

 

"So, where should we put our stuff?" He asked. We walked closer to the shore for a few more moments before anyone answered. 

 

"Let's stop there." Jinki was pointing to a spot a few feet away, far enough from the shore so that our stuff wouldn't get wet. 

 

When we got there, we put our stuff down and laid our towels on the sand, relaxing from the ten minute walk from the parking lot to the shore. 

 

I glanced up as I saw Jinki stand, opening the cooler to grab a bottle of water. I reached out my hand dramatically and made a pathetic face.

 

"Jinki, water, please." I made my voice scratchy and weak sounding.

 

Jinki scoffed and rolled his eyes, tossing a water bottle at me. I flinched away as it almost hit me but picked it up gratefully and took a few gulps before setting it down next to me.

 

Taemin and Minho both got up and threw off their shirts and shoes, running into the ocean with happy screams. 

 

Kibum and Jinki ran in a few minutes later, joining in on the water fight the first two had started. Me and Jonghyun watched with amused smiles, choosing to rest in the sun for a little longer. 

 

I scooted closer to my older friend, nudging his shoulder gently. He looked down at me and I tried not to think about how beautiful his face looked in the fading sunlight.

 

"Wanna go?" I used my head to gesture to the ocean. 

 

Jonghyun smiled gently and nodded, standing up slowly. I followed and we kicked off our shoes, taking our time as we walked to the shore together.

 

We wandered into the ocean, only letting the water go up to our ankles. I let my eyes fall shut as the wind blew softly through my hair. A small smile grew onto my face as I listened to the sound of the waves and the slightly distant shouts of my friends. 

 

I didn't open my eyes when I felt Jonghyun lace his fingers through mine, gently pulling me closer until I was pressed against his side. 

 

We stood there for awhile, and I felt more at peace than I had in a long time. My life had been hectic for the past couple of weeks and I didn't get a lot of free time. I was grateful for the much needed break with my closest friends.

 

When I opened my eyes again, the sky had changed colors. There were dark oranges and streaks of pink and the sun was much lower than it was a few minutes ago.

 

I couldn't help but sneak a glance up at Jonghyun, and I wasn't prepared at all. 

 

His face was so... beautiful. Ethereal. The pinks and oranges of the sky reflected amazingly off of his skin, complementing the curves of his cheeks perfectly. The sun caught his eyes and eyelashes, making them look like they were sparkling. His light brown hair had a slight pink color and I felt butterfly's swarming in my stomach. 

 

What was just supposed to be a quick glance, turned into a full on stare. Jonghyun didn't seem to notice, however. That is until I slowly reached up with my free hand to trace his jaw, just to make sure he was real.

 

Jonghyun didn't seem nearly as startled as I thought he would, and he instead turned his head to me with a knowing look.

 

My breath caught in my throat as we locked eyes. The originally brown irises now shone a beautiful rose gold color. Jonghyun gave me a soft smile that made my heart burst.

 

"You're beautiful." The words came spilling out of my mouth before I could stop them. 

 

I've called my friends beautiful before, simply because it's true, but even Jonghyun could tell that it wasn't one of those platonic times.

 

Jonghyun's smile grew wider and he held my hand against his cheek, leaning into the touch.

 

The sounds around me were drowned out as all I could think about in this moment was Jonghyun. He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to mine.

 

Me and my friends were undoubtedly closer than most friend groups. We kissed each other frequently, on the cheek, on the forehead, but none of us have ever actually kissed before. Not on the lips. I wasn't really sure what to make of it. 

 

When we pulled apart, I looked up at my friend with a confused yet content face. He smiled back and kissed my forehead.

 

"We'll talk about it later." He whispered and I nodded, looking back at the sunset. 

 

Soon, the orange sun started to dip into the water, the rest of the sky becoming darker. I glanced over to see that only Kibum and Minho were left in the water. Minho was floating gently in the waves and Kibum stood nearby to make sure he didn't drift away. 

 

When I turned around, I spotted Taemin and Jinki gathered around the small fire pit. I didn't even realize that they had brought it out yet. They looked like they were trying to start the fire, blowing at it and poking it with a metal rod. 

 

I squeezed Jonghyun's hand a bit and looked up at him again.

 

"You wanna go back?" I asked, gesturing towards the two on the sand. Jonghyun glanced at them before nodding, pulling my hand as we started to wade out of the water. 

 

Our hands stayed laced together as we made our way to our other friends. They wouldn't question it, we all platonically held hands often. 

 

Jinki glanced up at us as he was digging around in the food bags. Jonghyun let go of my hand and sat on his aqua blue beach towel. I glanced around for my towel but was confused when it wasn't where I had left it. Taemin saw my face and laughed. 

 

"We used it to put the food on, hope you don't mind." The slightly older man said with a mischievous smirk. I rolled my eyes and sat in front of Jonghyun, in between his spread legs.

 

"I used your toothbrush to clean the toilet, hope you don't mind." I shot back. Taemin's face fell and both Jonghyun and Jinki burst into laughter. I smirked and looked back at the ocean.

 

Kibum had just glanced at the four of us and said something to Minho, who didn't respond. Kibum looked annoyed and he flicked Minho's , earning him a suprised shout from the taller man. Minho lost his float and flailed in the water before he caught himself and stood up. He shoved a laughing Kibum and then the two promptly started to pull at each other's hair, yelling obscenities at the other. 

 

I laughed at the scene and leaned back on Jonghyun's chest who wrapped his arms around my waist, also chuckling. 

 

"Hey, stop fighting and get over here! We're making the food!" 

 

Minho perked up at the promise of food and pushed Kibum one last time before jogging over to the four friends. 

 

Kibum came over seconds later with a playful scowl on his face. Both friends found their towels and sat down on them, quickly forgetting their little fight in favor of food. 

 

Jinki passed the food bag over to us and I dug around in it, trying to decide what I wanted while Jonghyun looked over my shoulder. 

 

I shrugged and grabbed a bag of potato chips and lifted the bag for Jonghyun to pick something. He reached in a grabbed a bag of cookies. I leaned over and handed off the bag to Minho, who took it gratefully. 

 

I waved my hand at Taemin who was sitting the closest to the cooler.

 

"Taeminnie, pass me a soda." Taemin stared at me blankly and didn't move. I narrowed my eyes and held the stare. 

 

"Me too, Minnie." Jonghyun said from behind me, also stretching out his hand. Taemin quickly reached for the cooler and pulled out a soda can, handing it off to Jonghyun. My jaw dropped and Jinki, who was in between us, chuckled. 

 

"When will you ever stop fighting, maknaes." The oldest said fondly as he held out a kabob over the small fire. 

 

I smiled and made kissie noises at Taemin, who scowled. "Yea Taeminnie, stop being so mean to me." 

 

Taemin glared at me for a little longer before reluctantly handing me a soda can. I took it with a wink. Taemin gasped dramatically.

 

"Hyung, she hit me!" He yelled in a childish voice. My eyes widened and I leaned away from a laughing Jonghyun.

 

"I'm all the way over here!" I sputtered in disbelief. Kibum clicked his tongue and made an exasperated noise.

 

"Hey, stop yelling, I'm trying to concentrate!" The cat-eyed male glared at his kabob as he spoke. I blinked at Jinki in confusion. 

 

"He's literally just holding it over the fire, there's not much concentration needed." I whispered to the oldest. Kibum heard.

 

"There's an art to cooking, which you obviously wouldn't know since you can barely boil water, so don't come at me with that." The last part of his sentence was cut off by the group's loud laughter. 

 

I sat there with my mouth open in shock. Minho have a smirking Kibum a high-five, their earlier quarrel long forgotten. 

 

I folded my arms and leaned against Jonghyun's chest again. Minho smiled when he noticed my pout, reaching over to give me a high-five as well.

 

"C'mon, you have to admit that was kinda funny." I scowled and looked away. Minho retracted his hand and gave his own hand a loud slap.

 

But I couldn't be mad for long when Jonghyun handed me the kabob he had been cooking with a warm smile. I took it with a smile and kissed him quickly, looking around to make sure no one else saw. Jinki glanced at us with a curious look and I blushed. The older mad said nothing as he ate his food.

 

We all sat quietly as we ate and watched the sun finally disappear in the horizon, the beach becoming much darker. The only sources of light were the fire and distant street lamps behind us. 

 

"Let's get the fireworks!" Taemin said excitedly, jumping up. Minho hopped up too, a bright smile on his face. 

 

"Race ya!" Minho yelled as the two sprinted to the cars. 

 

Since letting off fireworks was still illegal even out here, we had all agreed on smaller things, like smoke bombs and sparklers. The smoke bombs were mostly Kibum's idea, since he wanted to take cool pictures to post later. 

 

Kibum and Jinki cleaned up the food while me and Jonghyun continued to just lay on each other. 

Kibum glanced at us and clicked his tongue.

 

"Lazy bums." He said in a irritated yet playful tone. I stuck my tongue out at him and took Jonghyun's hand in mind, looking back out at the waves again.

 

When Minho and Taemin finally came back, they were both panting and building up a sweat. They dropped the fireworks onto the sand and caught their breath.

 

"I won." Minho panted as he raised his fist in victory, Taemin plopped down on his beach towel in defeat. I smiled and reached up to fist bump Minho. 

 

Kibum dug through the pile of fireworks and grabbed a few smoke bombs. 

 

"I wanna take pictures first. Minho, come help me." Kibum started to open up one of the smoke bombs and Minho rested his hands on his knees, bending over. 

 

"Wait, let me catch my breath first." Minho struggled to say. Kibum rolled his eyes and stood up. 

 

Kibum moved a little bit away from the rest of us, looking around to decide on how he would do the pictures. Minho finally straightened and found Kibum's phone on his towel, making his way over to the slightly older male. 

 

Kibum borrowed Jinki's lighter and lit the blue smoke bomb first. He set it on the ground out of view and posed, Minho taking pictures immediately.

 

I knew the pictures would come out nice. The small fire reflected on his skin, giving him a beautiful orange glow. The blue smoke drifted around Kibum's feet and he sat on the ground next to it, closing his eyes and leaned his head back. 

 

"y Kibummie." Jinki whispered and Jonghyun snickered from behind me. 

 

Kibum did a few more poses before the smoke bomb ran out of smoke. 

He met up with Minho to look at the pictures. 

 

Taemin was searching through the small pile of fireworks when he made a noise in the back of his throat. 

 

"Let's do that thing where you make a word with sparklers." He held up four sparklers with a bright smile. Jinki grinned and stood up.

 

"Let's do it." As Jinki was walking past me, he slapped my bare thigh and I yelped in surprise. Jinki laughed and grabbed a sparkler from Taemin. 

 

"Hyungs, c'mon!" The younger said, waving at the two still looking through the photos. Kibum glanced at Taemin and took his phone from Minho, throwing it onto his beach towel. 

 

The four men huddled close together, probably discussing what word they would write out. They were probably going to do an English word since it would be easier. They all angled their bodies in Kibum's direction, since he was the best at the foreign language. 

 

Jonghyun leaned forward and rested his chin on my shoulder as I pulled my phone out.

 

"How much you wanna bet they're gonna say something inappropriate?" The older man whispered. I scoffed and got my camera open and ready.

 

"Oh they will, without a doubt. But exactly what will they say?" I said with a mischievous smirk. Jonghyun tightened his grip around my waist as he hummed in thought. 

 

"Five dollars they say '.'" I pouted as he said the word I was going to guess. I rubbed my chin thoughtfully and I smiled as a word popped into my mind.

 

"Five they say '.'" Jonghyun snorted and his shoulders shook with laughter.

 

"Those are basically the same word." I smiled and nudged his head with mine.

 

"Okay, but they're not. It's a bet?" I held my hand out and turned to face to him. Jonghyun glanced at my hand before kissing me instead.

 

"It's a bet. You're gonna owe me five dollars after this." I pursed my lips and shook my head.

 

"Yeah, you wish." I looked up just as Kibum was trying to get our attention impatiently.

 

"C'mon lovebirds, we're ready." I titled the phone horizontally as they passed around the lighter quickly, igniting their sparklers. 

 

I rapidly took the pictures as they swirled their sparklers in the air. I had the camera button pressed down and I bit my lip in concentration. 

 

The sparklers ran out and I looked back at the images. I snorted as I read the word they wrote out.

 

"I guess we both lost." Jonghyun chuckled from over my shoulder. 

 

In big letters, they had written out "bust." I furrowed my eyebrows. 

 

"Why did you write 'bust?'" I said as they all came forward to look at the pictures. Taemin smiled cheekily.

 

"Like 'bust a nut.' Y'know?" The slightly older man said. I rolled my eyes but smiled. 

 

"Let's go again. We have enough for one more word." The four huddled up again.

 

Me and Jonghyun made a bet again, still five dollars, and we decided to keep the same words. 

 

When the group had finished discussing their word, they lined up and I started taking pictures. Jonghyun shouted in victory when the photoshoot was done.

 

"You owe me five dollars!" He shouted in my ear. I pouted as the others came up to look at the pictures. Jonghyun held out his hand expectantly.

 

"Hand it over." I paused for a second before slapping his hand with mine.

 

"Too bad. I don't have five dollars right now." I said proudly as Jonghyun made a exasperated face. I looked up as Kibum was walking over to us.

 

"Thanks. Send those to me so I can post them later." Kibum said as he handed me my phone back. I nodded and shot him with a finger gun.

 

"No problem." 

 

The rest of the night was spent relaxing against the warm breeze. At some point, Jinki went back to his car to grab his speakers and Kibum and Taemin ended up having a dance battle. We claimed Kibum as the victor, much to Taemin's dismay. 

 

As it got later and later, we got to be more and more tired. Although I had thoroughly enjoyed my time at the calm beach, I knew it was time to go. It was almost midnight anyway. 

 

After we had gathered all of our stuff, Minho and Taemin carried the cooler, Jinki took the mini fire pit, Kibum had the left over food bags, and me and Jonghyun carried the towels and the speakers. 

 

While the others were heading back to the cars, I stayed behind a little longer, staring out into the dark ocean. I knew we probably wouldn't be back for awhile, and I wanted to cherish the moment. 

 

Suddenly I felt someone next to me, and I looked up and caught Jonghyun's eyes. He gave me a knowing smile.

 

"C'mon, let's go." I let Jonghyun take my hand and lead me back into reality.

 

(End)