"Yeah," Sam said. "It's no big deal. We just happened to end up in some shop, Soojung started trying stuff on and I bought a few things. You know..." he cleared his throat. "Like a gift."

A gift, Sehun, thought. Right. 

"And he wouldn't take no for an answer," Soojung added, shaking her head. 

"That's what friends are for," Sam said, giving Soojung a warm smile that bothered the hell out of Sehun. , he was losing his mind.

Still, he couldn't stop himself when he stood up, slowly stretched his back and eyed both Soojung and Sam. "Since when are we buying each other clothes?" Right as he said the words, he realized how his question sounded, but it was too damn late to take it back now.

Sam was staring at him, but Soojung just laughed. "Don't worry, Sehun. No one expects you to start buying anyone clothes—especially if those broke-down Asics are any indication of your fashion sense."

At that, Sam faked a wince. "Wow, Soojung, you really know how to hit where it hurts." He crossed the room and sat down in a large, plush side-chair. Besides the bed, a small mahogany desk and a table near the door, that chair was the only other piece of furniture in the room.

Sehun watched Sam settle himself and waited until Soojung sat back down on the bed before he sat, too. "So, where've you been all day?" he asked Sam.

With a light shrug, Sam flicked his gaze toward the TV. "Around. Had some business to take care of."

"Family business, right?" Sehun asked. He knew Sam's dad lived out here and he also had a pretty good idea of the custody mess going on with Sam's sister, but he didn't want to bring all of that up in front of Soojung.

And, from the way Sam was studiously staring at the TV, it didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it right now, either. "Yeah. That's right," he said, simply.

Nodding, Sehun glanced at Soojung who was now sitting next to him on the edge of the bed. She had her arms propped behind her, both legs dangling slightly above the floor as she swung her feet back and forth. Damn he wished she'd go put on some sweats or something.

After a second, she caught him staring. "What?"

Sehun opened his mouth to reply, not knowing what he was going to say, but Sam's interjection saved him. "Oh, damn, I completely forgot why I came over here," Sam said.

"Why?" Soojung asked.

Sam stood up again. "I did a little exploring earlier, and I found the hotel's pool room."

Sehun laughed. "Way to go Magellan. They have little signs all over the place telling you where everything is."

Sam shot him a dirty look. "My point, smart , is that you guys haven't been up there yet, have you?" When both Sehun and Soojung shook their heads, he grinned. "You've gotta see it."

"What's so great about it?" Soojung asked, searching around for her flip flops. 

"It's huge," Sam told her. "The pool room, alone, takes up almost half of the top floor."

"You coming, Sehun?" Soojung asked, bracing a palm on the bed next to his thigh as she put on her sandals.

He almost said no, since he was so damn moody right now. But he knew Soojung would want to know why and he didn't feel like making up excuses, so he got up and slipped his bare feet into his Asics. 

Turning back toward Soojung, he grinned at the look of amusement and disgust on her face. "I know I look like a bum or a dork or whatever, so you don't have to tell me that," he said.

Soojung, meanwhile, was trying very hard not to stare at the well-sculpted, lightly-furred perfection of his tan calves. She'd never been able to figure out how he managed to stay such a perfect, golden-brown color year-round in Seattle. He definitely wasn't the tanning booth type and he'd probably never even heard of that bottled stuff. It was just genetics, she decided, that had conspired against her to make him irresistibly gorgeous.

Even in a pair of faded basketball shorts, a plain white t-shirt and those damn sneakers, he still gave Sam a run for his money when it came to male eye-candy. And, she thought, shooting him a last glance before she opened the hotel room door, once again, he won hands-down.

"Just make sure you don't walk too close to me," she said, over her shoulder as he and Sam followed her out into the hall. "I'm afraid your crap fashion sense might be contagious."

Sam laughed, but Sehun ignored them both. "Sugar, when you're as pretty as me, fashion sense is optional," he drawled.

"Oh God," Sam groaned. "Go make out with yourself, already."

"I know!" Soojung exclaimed, as they all stepped into the elevator. "He makes me wanna puke sometimes." She tried to sound teasing and nonchalant because, honestly, that was the only thing that reminded her where the boundaries on their relationship stood. She was firmly in the Friends Only column, so that's how she needed to act.

Upstairs, the elevator doors dinged open and they piled out. The air smelled faintly of chlorine and pool water. Off to the left, there was a set of two doors, all black, only one of which was open right now. Inside, Soojung could make out the dimly lit interior and the edge of what looked like a bar.

"There's a bar up here?" Sehun asked, looking at Sam.

"Yep. It's called the Skyline or something like that," he replied. "I guess, during the week, it's just a bar. But on weekends it turns into a nightclub." He started walking in the opposite direction. "The pool room's this way, though."

The entire far end of the hallway was made up of frosted glass, and as they approached, the chlorine scent grew stronger. Finally, Sam held the door open for Soojung and she walked through. 

"Wow, this is beautiful," she breathed. Sam was right. The room was huge. Most of it was taken up by an Olympic-size pool, but another, smaller pool, for kids apparently, and two kidney-shaped hot tubs were arranged around the slightly humid room.

The best part, though, was the view. The wall directly across from them was lightly tinted glass that opened up onto a balcony twenty-five stories above downtown Chicago. Outside, the glittering gold and white lights of the early evening cityscape beckoned.

Soojung grabbed Sam's hand excitedly and looked up at him. "Do you know if the balcony's open? Can we go out there?"

Sam grinned. "I didn't check when I was up here before, but we can see."

"Let's go." She tugged him along next to her, leaving Sehun to follow.

And as he did so, Sehun was scowling at where Sam and Soojung's hands intertwined. Okay, they weren't holding hands, exactly, since Soojung was clearly just trying to hurry both him and Sam along, but...it still made him uncomfortable.

Digging his hands into the pockets of his shorts, he followed them. There were a few dozen people milling about the room; some parents lounging on deckchairs and six or seven kids splashing around in the water. They were whooping and hollering, all of them ignoring their mothers' attempts to shush them. 

For some reason, Sehun was reminded of all those summers he, Soojung and Nate had spent swimming in Lake Purdy, out by her dad's fishing cabin. Then, something occurred to him. It'd been a long time since he and Soojung had gone swimming.

He stopped near the deep end of the pool and said, "Hey, Sam...think Soojung's a better swimmer than she was when she was eleven?"

They both stopped, and turning to face Sehun, all Soojung needed to see was the mischievous smirk on his face to know what he was thinking. Oh, crap.

She immediately started backing away. 

"Sehun...don't." Trying to edge behind Sam, she let out a short-lived squeal as Sehun quickly caught her from behind and, laughing, dangled her over the pool's deep end.

How could she have forgotten? Ever since they were kids, Sehun had always gained a weird delight from throwing her into large bodies of water. While fully clothed.

"Sehun, put me down!" she demanded, despite the fact that he had both her arms pinned to her chest. She could feel his laughter rumbling through him, vibrating against her back.

"But you said you were hot earlier, sugar," he said in a disgustingly innocent tone.

"Well, I changed my mind."

"Too late," Sehun proclaimed and, before she could react, he flung them both into the cool, clear, and cold, water.

She came up sputtering. Her hair was plastered all over her face and tasted like chlorine as she blindly swam for the pool edge. Dammit, every single time they were near open water, he pulled this stunt. And she, stupidly, forgot about it until it was too late.

"Here, Soojung, gimme your hand." She glanced up and saw Sam bent over the edge of the pool, reaching out for her. And he was clearly trying not to laugh. Ohhh, she hated them both.

Then, right on cue, Sehun's grinning, water-drenched face popped up next to hers. He bobbed in the deep water, lightly splashing her.

"What're you, twelve?" Soojung grumbled, blowing beads of water off her lips. She'd reached the edge of the pool, but didn't immediately grasp Sam's hand.

Sehun's grin widened. "Come on, sugar, it's tradition."

Soojung's eyes narrowed, but, dammit, now she was fighting the urge not to laugh at him. God, he was such a goofball sometimes. And she loved it. Still, she tried to maintain her irritation.

"How about we start a new tradition?" she suggested, finally taking Sam's hand so he could pull her out.

"A new one?" Sehun asked as he hauled himself out, too.

"Yep," she replied, primly. "Every time you do this, I kick you in the shins a week later."

"Why a week later?" Sam laughed, giving them both a wide berth to avoid being dripped on. 

Soojung smirked. "Because that way, he won't be expecting my retaliation. And it'll hurt a hell of a lot more if it's a surprise."

Sehun grimaced and shot Sam a wary look. "Oh, . I'm kinda scared now."

Laughing, Soojung made a futile attempt to wring some of the pool water out of her dress.

Watchin