Haseul was glad that she had realized going to the beach with Yeojin would now be a daily tradition. So, she was prepared for Yeojin to yell at her to get ready as soon as she woke up.

She chowed down her breakfast as quickly as she could before washing up and throwing on some clothes, not hesitating to wear her swimsuit this time, even if she knew she wasn't going to go in. 

Haseul appeared out of her room soon enough and again, Yeojin was waiting right outside of her door. 

"Faster this time. But still..." 

"Bleh," Haseul answered, but the two headed out towards the door. 

They again threw on their sandy flip flops and grabbed the sheet, heading out the door and into the sunshine. 

The two girls walked down the road towards the beach, talking and passing by all of the pretty houses, Yeojin whining about how Haseul wouldn't swim while Haseul just chuckled along. But finally they reached the small path and made their way into Our Beach. 

The first thing Haseul noticed when they arrived was that the beautiful lifeguard wasn't sitting at the top of her tower. No, this time she was sitting on the ladder, at the very bottom, still surveying the beach and the water. It was even emptier here than the day before, and nobody was even in the water, so Haseul figured it was safe for her to not be on her high seat. 

As Yeojin laid out the blanket and snacks (after their beach visit yesterday Haseul had taken Yeojin to the nearest grocery, so this time their snacks consisted of two La Croix and cut up watermelon), Haseul turned to look at the gorgeous lifeguard. And found she was staring right back at her. 

Haseul quickly shifted her gaze back down to the sand. After a few moments she let her eyes, but not her head, spare another glance back at that lifeguard, still dressed in her bright red swimsuit, hair again up in a ponytail with the hint of bangs still left out. Haseul saw that lifeguard look at her for just another moment before turning her eyes back to the water. A shiver ran Haseul's spine. 

"Earth to Haseul!" Yeojin's loud voice suddenly shouted, jumping up to wave a hand in front of her older cousin's face. 

Haseul shook her head. "Wh-whah? Oh sorry." 

Yeojin snorted as Haseul sat back down on their sheet, opening the watermelon container for the girls to snack on. Against her better judgement, Haseul spared yet another glance over at the lifeguard. 

Yeojin waggled her eyebrows at Haseul.

"What?" Haseul whispered. 

Yeojin looked over at the lifeguard, then back to Haseul, then waggled her eyebrows again. 

"Oh my god," Haseul breathed out. It was humiliating enough to be so whipped for a girl she'd seen twice in her life and not even spoken to. But it was even more humiliating to have her ten year old cousin pick up on it, and about it. 

Yeojin did it again and Haseul groaned. "Leave me alone!" she whined, grabbing a piece of watermelon. 

"Oh!" Yeojin said, sitting up. 

Haseul stuffed another piece of watermelon in until her cheeks were puffed out just as someone started speaking above her. 

"Hey," the feminine voice spoke with a little giggle. 

Haseul looked up. 

. It was the lifeguard. 

"Mmh," Haseul answered as she tried her absolute best to swallow the watermelon as quickly as she could. Yeojin snorted and the lifeguard laughed a little to but it wasn't at her, it was with her. 

When Haseul finally swallowed the watermelon and managed a smile. 

"I hope this isn't weird," the lifeguard continued. "It's just not often we get a new face around here and I wanted to introduce myself." 

Her voice was soft, slow, deliberate. Haseul thought she was going to pass out. 

"Oh!" Haseul answered as Yeojin made that teasing face again. Haseul slapped her leg as surreptitiously as she could. "Well...um, I'm Haseul!" 

"And I'm Vivi. Do you mind if I sit for a moment? I don't see anyone going in the water..." 

"N-no! No, not at all. We don't mind one single bit, do we, Yeojin?" 

"Not one bit," Yeojin answered with the biggest smirk on her face. 

"Good," the lifegaurd apparently named Vivi said, and sat down beside the two girls. 

Up close, Vivi was even prettier. She was all gentle softness: her delicate features, pretty smile, soft voice. Even her arms were pretty and Haseul was so glad she was sitting because she truly felt weak in the knees. 

"So..whatcha doing here?" Haseul asked. 

Yeojin burst out laughing and Vivi gave her a slightly confused, but still amused expression. "I'm the lifeguard." 

"Oh. Yeah. Right. Sorry." 

Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot. Haseul barely resisted the urge to facepalm at herself. 

"It's alright, it's alright. Well, what are you doing here? You're the newbie." 

"I'm her cousin," Haseul explained, gesturing to Yeojin. "I live in Morrisville but I'm staying here for the summer with family." 

"Oh, I see..." 

"Do you two know each other?" Haseul asked, looking at Yeojin and Vivi. 

"Well, it's a pretty small town. Everyone kinda knows everyone. We know each other's names and faces, but that's about it." 

"I've been lifeguard at this beach for about four years, and Yeojin comes here a lot. So we're pretty familiar with each other." 

"Four years?" Haseul spoke in surprise. 

"Yeah. You can start the summer after your first year of high school." 

"So you're, like, eighteen then?" 

"Yup. Starting college in the fall." Vivi made a nervous little grimace that drove Haseul absolutely insane. "You?" 

"I'm gonna be a senior." 

"And I'm starting middle school. The scariest event of them all," Yeojin piped up. 

Haseul started laughing but Vivi thought for a moment. "You know what? She's right." 

Haseul paused. Middle school was the worst time in her own life, personally. Just three years in a row of utter hell. "Actually...I agree."  

"Told ya." 

Vivi giggled. "Well, I'm a bit nervous too. I'm going to another state and I don't know anyone that's going to the same school as me" 

"What? Why would you ever leave Egret Cove?" Yeojin asked.

"I know, right? Past Vivi who was applying to colleges was a bit stupid. Although, there aren't really any colleges around here..." Vivi answered. 

"Did you grow up here?" Haseul asked. 

"Of course. I was born and raised here. The lifeguard committee would never have let me work at this beach if I hadn't...it's Our Beach; Egret Cove's secret." 

Yeojin adopted a shameful expression. "I hope it's okay that I brought Haseul here. Even though she and her parents visited a lot, my grandma always thought that since they didn't actually live here, it should still be kept a secret, even from them. But since Haseul is gonna stay here the whole summer, I decided it was okay to show her. Plus, we're gonna go to the beach a lot, and I don't wanna have to go to the touristy beaches...it's okay, right?" 

Vivi laughed but it wasn't making fun of Yeojin. In fact, it was obvious she took this very seriously, just as seriously as Yeojin took the hidden secret of this beach. Haseul had briefly wondered if it was just a children's idea of the importance of Our Beach to Egret Cove. But clearly, her feelings on it were a sentiment shared by the entire town. 

"Of course it's okay. If she's gonna be spending the whole summer here, plus with family that is a real Egret Cove local, it's all good. Plus, Haseul's too cool to keep this a secret from. And I've got a feeling she's more than cool enough to keep it to herself." 

Haseul felt herself flush from something other than the hot sun and looked down at the sand as Yeojin nodded slowly. 

"Haseul is cool. Coolest teenager I know." 

Haseul laughed and shook her head. "Wait, what?" 

"Of course you are!" Yeojin cried, and Haseul chuckled a little. 

Honestly, it was an unexpected answer. Haseul knew herself; she knew she wasn't popular or super pretty or anything...let alone cool. And with Yeojin typically being quite the connoisseur of cool (for a ten year old, that is), Haseul was pretty surprised at her answer. 

"I know, I can tell," Vivi added. 

"You two just don't know me well enough yet." 

"Wrong! I'm your cousin. I'm your family." Yeojin squinted and leaned in closer. "I know you." 

"And...I get your cool vibe. I can feel it," Vivi added. 

Haseul blushed even more as Yeojin made way too obvious little glances back and forth and back and forth between Vivi and Haseul before clearing . 

"Anyways..." 

Haseul shook her head to stop herself from fantasazing about how good of a kisser Vivi probably was as Vivi did her own little head shake too.

Vivi looked towards the water and deflated a little. "Oh, crap," she spoke with a sigh. 

"What?" Haseul asked. 

"A toddler is about to go into the water." Yeojin and Haseul turned to see a very small little boy running along the beach towards the shoreline. "I have to go do my job." Vivi groaned and stood up. 

Haseul pouted at her. "I guess you do...if you must." 

"The tower is so hot," Vivi whined. 

"Just like you!" Haseul cheered before catching herself, slapping her hand over . 

Yeojin burst out laughing and Vivi turned back to her in confusion, cutely tilting her head. 

"Wait, what did you say?" She asked, so innocently that Haseul was sure she hadn't heard her. 

"Oh! Um, nothing. H...have fun! In the tower!" 

Vivi giggled and gave Haseul an utterly dazzling smile, so bright that it almost knocked her over. "Will do." 

Haseul watched with a soft sigh as Vivi dashed away, eagerly climbing back up the tower. 

Yeojin cleared loudly. 

"Wh-whah?" 

"Earth to Haseul..." 

"I'm here, I'm here!" 

"Finally. Now, I'm gonna go in the water for a bit. You can come with me or be a boring dude, but if you decide to be boring then you have to watch the time for me and make sure we leave before two o'clock. I have a minecraft meeting with my friends at two." 

Haseul checked the time; it was 1:30. "Alrighty, go have fun." 

"Woohoo!" Yeojin cheered, throwing off her cover-up and running into the water, her bright orange swimsuit shining through the waves. With a gentle smile Haseul watched her younger cousin, only sparing a glance at Vivi ten or so times. But everytime she did, the lifeguard was either looking back at her, or watching Yeojin play. 

Finally, Haseul stood up and gathered everything, ten minutes before two. "Yeojin! It's time to go!" 

"Co-ming!" Yeojin shouted back, running out of the water quickly on her little legs. Haseul picked up all of their things and gave Vivi one finally look. She was already giggling at them. 

"Heading home?" Vivi asked. She was smiling, but Haseul thought there might have been a little sadness in her eyes. 

"Yup. Yeojin's got a minecraft meeting." 

"You couldn't miss that! Go home quickly." 

Vivi and Haseul gave each other one finally stare before Haseul waved, her and Yeojin walking away from the beach and back onto the path. 

The two girls were quiet until they were a little ways away from the beach, off the path and back onto the road. 

"You know, I'm not really surprised you're a lesbian," Yeojin spoke out of the blue. 

"W-wait, what?" Haseul chuckled uncomfortably to herself and stared at the ground beneath her, flustered. Did her ten year old cousin really pick up on things that much. 

"Yeah. It's really obvious, especially when you were around Vivi. You got sooo flustered with her; your face was red, like, the entire time she was talking to us. That's how I knew. Even though I always kinda got the vibe." 

"Always? What, you were getting the lesbian vibe when you were, like, six?"

"Yup." 

"I'm sure you didn't know about lesbians when you were six." 

"I did! And I knew you were one. Anyways, there's nothing to be worried about. I'm pretty sure grandma's not homophobic, so it'll be fine. She won't judge if you date Vivi this summer." 

"Who ever said I was going to date Vivi?" 

"Don't you want to?" 

"I-I barely know her!" 

"But you like her. Like, like-like her." 

"Yeojin, that's not how it works." 

"Yeah it is. Older people pretend things are different but I know the truth. That's exactly how it works. And please, Haseul. I saw your googly eyes at her all day yesterday and today." 

Oh god. Googly eyes...and even Yeojin could tell. Well, maybe Yeojin was just extra observant. Probably not...but Haseul could hope. 

"You know what you are?" Yeojin continued.

"What." 

"You're a simp." 

Haseul gave her younger cousin a look. "How do you even know that word?" 

"Everyone knows that word! And you, my friend, are Vivi's simp." 

"Oh my god," Haseul whined. She met the girl two hours ago; and yet, Yeojin wasn't entirely wrong. 

But at this point, Yeojin's ten year old teasing had thoroughly embarrassed her, and she was ready for this conversation to be over. 

"Yeojin!" She cried. 

"What?" 

"Your minecraft meeting!" 

"Ah!" Yeojin screamed and Haseul briefly winced, hoping to god nobody would come out of the houses on either side of the road. "What time is it?" 

Haseul pulled her phone out of her tote bag. "1:59!" 

"NOOOOOO!" Yeojin shamelessly yelled and began to sprint down the road, still dripping wet in her flip flops. 

"Wait for me!" Haseul shouted after her and with a brief laugh, ran after her.