“Join me, Kibum?”

Kibum stood there trying hard to act normal under Minho’s expectant gaze. What had he been expecting? Obviously an activity like swimming was going to involve the removal of clothes. And the removal of clothes would inevitably lead to a lot of exposed skin; dark and perfectly smooth skin apparently, as Kibum could see now.

“Kibum?” Minho asked.

Kibum heard his voice but the words did not register. Instead, what registered in his mind was Minho’s soft, black hair that was being ruffled by the slight breeze now, his toned chest, that was illuminated by the moonlight, rising and falling in slow, steady breaths and the veins on his biceps that popped out of his skin when he bent his arm at the elbows. 

There was definitely something wrong with Kibum to be finding all that attractive, but he couldn’t care less right now as Minho continued staring at him with those piercing eyes.

It’s okay. We’re both guys. There is nothing to be shy about. Just think of him as Jonghyun hyung. Everything will be fine.

It would have been fine except that Minho was nothing like Jonghyun. They were quite the opposites actually and it was impossible to perceive one as the other.

“Hey, are you spacing out again? You seem to do that a lot,” Minho chuckled, his voice interrupting Kibum’s inner ramblings. Kibum frowned at him, feigning annoyance.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming! You go first…”

Minho smiled then, before moving his hands to take off his pants. Kibum looked away, blushing. He hoped Minho hadn’t seen him because he would just die of embarrassment if he had.

“It’s okay, Kibum. I’m not fully ,” Minho said. When Kibum slowly turned to see the former again, he was already in the water, smirking. The water was only waist-deep where he was standing because the tide was just coming in. Kibum wanted to dig a hole in the ground and stuff his face in it to hide his scarlet cheeks, but he didn’t in order to save himself from more embarrassment.

Minho was still waiting for him, looking expectant. Kibum let out a heavy sigh before turning around to remove his shirt so that Minho could only see his back. He didn’t know what he was trying to hide since there was nothing to (they both had the same anatomies, after all…) He then fumbled with the buttons on his pants for a longer time than it should have taken. By the time Kibum got to stripping himself off of the article so that he only had on his boxers, Minho was already waddling towards the deeper region.

Kibum followed suit, wanting to get into the water fast so that it will provide a temporary protection from Minho’s eyes. The water was warm and it felt good on Kibum’s freezing skin.

“The water’s rea-“ Minho stopped abruptly in the middle of his sentence when his eyes fell on Kibum for the first time. He seemed to be entranced by something. Kibum was in deep enough for the water to be at his chest now so he quickly bent his knees in order to hide himself in the dark waters.

“Yeah?” Kibum asked, pretending nothing happened.

“It’s re-really n-nice,” Minho said, stuttering. That was the first time ever that Kibum saw him that way.

“It is…”

Minho turned away, a blank expression on his face. Then, he continued waddling through the waters like a zombie to even deeper regions, wordlessly.

“Minho, I can’t go that deep,” Kibum called out to him. Minho stopped.

“Okay then. We shall just play here…”

“Play?” It was not even a few seconds after Kibum asked that when suddenly Minho dived into the water, disappearing out of Kibum’s sight. Kibum looked around on the surface of the water, waiting for him to come up. But when a few more long seconds passed without any signs of Minho, Kibum felt panic rising in his stomach.

“Minho?” Kibum called. No movements. Kibum opened his mouth to call out louder when he suddenly felt a strong tug on his right leg. Kibum’s head went under the water as he struggled to release the hold on his leg by kicking wildly, something that was hard to do with his eyes shut tight and water entering his nose.

Kibum broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. He choked a little on the salty water as he regained his footing on the ground. Minho’s boisterous laugh filled the night air.

“Yah! You think that’s funny? I could’ve died,” Kibum exclaimed, wiping the water off his face.

“It was. And don’t be silly Kibum, I’m not going to let you die-“ he paused, smirking, “-At least, not yet…”

“Oh you are so dead!” Kibum said as he launched himself towards Minho, jumping on his back and pushing his head down into the water. He remained in that position, letting his weight weigh Minho down. However, Minho was too strong and he managed to straighten up, pushing Kibum back into the water as he did so. Kibum came back up with a renewed will for revenge and he smiled menacingly at Minho to show him that his doom was approaching.

Kibum was having fun. For the first time in a long time. And with Minho too, the military man he had begun hating since he first laid eyes on. Kibum let go of all his inhibitions and confusions, letting Minho handle him roughly because he too was returning the favor twice as hard. Their limbs tangled in this wrestling match of sorts, both of them far too occupied in throwing playful threats at each other to notice it. Their intention had been to come here to relax and here they were doing the total opposite. But this too was relaxing in its own twisted way, to be able to release all the tension between them in this play.

“Yahyahyah! My hair!!” Minho screamed as Kibum tugged a handful of hair to push him into the water. He reached behind and freed himself from Kibum’s grip and proceeded to push Kibum back by the shoulders.

Suddenly, Kibum couldn’t feel the sand beneath his feet anymore. Kibum panicked, kicking hard to keep his head out of the water. They must have drifted towards the deeper part of the ocean during their fight.

“Min- Minho, I can’t-“ Kibum struggled to talk as his head kept going in and out of water. He stretched out his hands to reach for any form of support, which was a stupid thing to do since he was in the middle of the ocean.

Strong arms that Kibum remembered all too well wrapped around him, bringing Kibum out of the water. Kibum’s lungs relished in the abundant supply of oxygen now that he was able to breathe.

“It’s alright, Kibum. I’ve got you,” Minho said, soothingly. Kibum’s breathing began to even out after a rough coughing fit and his brain started functioning normally again. It took him a while to realize the position they were both in; Minho’s arms secure around his waist, supporting him up while Kibum’s formed a death grip around the other’s neck. He didn’t dare release the grip in fear of falling back into the water.

Minho’s face was so close to his, so close that their foreheads were almost touching. Their breaths mingled between them. Their chests, pressed up against each other’s, found a rhythm so that when one inhaled, the other would exhale. The warmth of the sea water was nothing compared to that of Minho’s.

“Don’t let go, Minho…” Kibum whispered although he knew that he didn’t have to. Minho would never let him drown.

“I won’t, Kibum…” he said, his voice just as soft as his own. Kibum became lost in those jet black orbs again as they looked down at him in…. what? How does Kibum put into words the look Minho was wearing now? He wasn’t sure but he thought that he himself would be wearing the same look because they seemed to be in the same trance.

An arm unwound itself from around Kibum’s waist but the support never weakened. The fingers of that stray arm traced up Kibum’s side under the water to his neck and finally found solace on his cheek. Kibum leaned into the touch instinctively.

“You are so beautiful, Kibum…” Minho said in a barely audible volume, sensuality lacing his voice.

What was he saying again?

Kibum lost his ability to think, but his ability to feel heightened as he felt Minho caress his cheek gently with his thumb. Kibum watched him in anticipation. He observed every slight change in his expression, heard every labored breath he released through his slightly parted lips. Minho’s eyes followed his own fingers on Kibum’s face. Kibum’s heart began to race as soon as he felt Minho’s thumb make its way uncertainly down to his lips.

“So, so beautiful…” Minho whispered as his thumb pulled Kibum’s lower lip down a little.

Surely, Minho couldn’t be talking about him. Could he?

Minho began leaning in. An effort to close the few inches that were between their lips. Kibum’s heart was playing drums in his ribcage now as he waited and waited for the contact.

“Minho….” Kibum whispered, trying to encourage the still hesitant Minho.

Minho stopped moving altogether. He pulled back quickly from Kibum, breaking the magical moment.

“I’m sorry…” he said, looking apologetic. He was panicking, Kibum could see it in his eyes. Minho pulled Kibum towards shallower waters before putting him down and hurriedly moving away. Disappointed would be an understatement to describe what Kibum felt to lose Minho’s warmth all of a sudden like that.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I’m so so sorry!” Minho rambled, looking frustrated. Kibum wanted to say something, to tell him that it was alright because Kibum wanted it too. But words were failing him as he racked his brain searching for the right thing to say.

“Forget this happened. I was being stupid. I didn’t mean any of it. I mean, you’re a boy,” Minho said the word with such intensity and all of a sudden, Kibum was wishing he wasn’t a boy.

“Let’s just go…”

Kibum watched Minho’s back as he walked to the shore and he felt this sinking feeling in his stomach. He wanted to lean back and let the ocean waves engulf him. Surely, that would be better than watching Minho’s turned back against him. Instead, Kibum opted to follow the other out of the water silently, trying hard to act indifferent. They got dressed without exchanging words or even looks, for that matter.

The trip home seemed hours longer than it really was, time stretching out to lengthen the painful silence between the two of them. They were walking side by side but it felt as though there was this wall separating them. Kibum wanted nothing more than to break that wall, go back to how they were before this night because he was sure that tonight’s event is going to put a huge distance between them both.

The thought of it was heartbreaking. Kibum didn’t want to succumb to the tears in front of Minho and so he put on a strong front. Minho seemed to have turned to stone, for his expression remained stoic the whole time.

“Just forget everything Kibum. It didn’t mean a thing…” Minho had said as his farewell to Kibum instead of a simple ‘goodbye’ that night, before he disappeared into the forest with the last sack of rice on his back.

Was this a permanent farewell?

Kibum would say that he didn’t shed a single tear that night, but he would be lying if he did. 

(A/N) So I'm back!!! How did you guys like this chapter??!! (and their almost-kiss?? hehehe...) I hope it made up for my short absence....

So good news!!! (probably bad news for you guys, though...) I received the scholarship I applied for to study abroad and i will be moving to a new college... This means more settling in guys, and more settling in means no time for writing. And this time I can't tell how long I will be gone... I'm so sorry guys.. I am so excited about my new college and this scholarship... :)

Anyways, I digress. I hope you guys comment!! (pretty please??) Thank you for reading people!! <3