Zitao knows they're getting close before he can even actually see it. It's in the way the air begins to taste dry and salty on his tongue with each inhale and the slightly stale smell of sea drifts into his nostrils from the open car window. And soon enough the seemingly endless expanse of greenish blue water comes into view lined by blindingly white sand as far as the eye can see. The beach. The ocean.

Next to him Sehun stirs. "Are we there yet?" he mumbles and cracks one eye open to look blearily up at Zitao.

Zitao pats his hair. "Soon."

"Wake me up when we're at the hotel," Sehun says and promptly goes back to sleep with his head lolling back against the taxi's headrest. Zitao maneuvers him to lean it on his shoulder instead and a sleepy Sehun is a compliant Sehun so he easily gives in, curling into his side with a yawn. Smiling softly, Zitao pulls the bill of Sehun's snapback down to cover his eyes. The rising sun is setting the horizon ablaze with orange.

The resort they're staying at is expensive and luxurious, a huge, white building with beautiful archways and large windows and it's within walking distance of the beach. Sehun's parents are paying for their entire stay, just like they paid for the plane tickets and even gave the boys a little extra to spend while they're there. They took care of everything. Sehun's parents are loaded and Sehun had said not to worry about it. Zitao worries. He doesn't like taking money from others, especially not an amount as substantial as this one most likely is. But here they are, pulling up in front of the hotel, and Zitao tries to suppress his concerns. They're here to have fun.

Zitao leaves it to Sehun to pay the cab driver and exits the car to go stand next to Jongin, who has climbed out from the front seat. He looks asleep on his feet, a blank expression on his face. "It's too early to exist," he grumbles when Zitao presses against his side, snakes both arms around his waist and leans his chin on his shoulder. "Can I just sleep for the rest of my life?"

"And miss a great opportunity to stare at hot babes in tiny swimsuits?"

Jongin hums noncommittally. "You make a good point."

"Come get your , dickheads," Sehun calls and they both shuffle towards the back of the car to grab their luggage from the trunk.

Jongin's hoodie-sneaker-dufflebag combo and Zitao's ripped up jeans and combat boots are on the receiving end of many a disapproving stare from the hotel staff as they walk through the lobby and it makes Zitao bristle. It lasts all the way up until Sehun mentions his father's name. In the blink of an eye the borderline hostility turns into 'yes, sir, of course, sir, right this way, sir' and a bellboy rushes in to take their bags. Zitao has to stifle a snort. "ing hypocrites," Jongin mutters under his breath.

The woman at the front desk is wearing a smile and it goes tight around the edges as though she heard the boy's remark, which she probably did. Jongin wasn't exactly trying to be subtle about it. "Have a pleasant stay," she grits through her teeth. None of them bother with a response.

Their room is on the third floor, bright and extravagant and with a view of the ocean due to the hotel's elevated location. There's only one bed but it's huge and it has never been an issue for the three of them to share anything so it's not a problem. The first thing Jongin does after kicking off his shoes is fall down on the bed face first. "Can we just sleep for a while?" he murmurs into the comforter. His hoodie has slid up to expose most of his back. "Just for a few hours or something? I'm really tired."

"You're always tired," Sehun retorts. The yawn that follows gives him away, however. He's tired too. It was an early flight. It's still early. "Alright, scoot your fat over." Jongin groans in protest at the thought of motion but complies and moves so he's closer to the edge of the mattress. Sehun flops down next to him. He looks expectantly at Zitao, arches a brow. "Coming?"

"Sure." With a bit of struggle and a few incidents of nearly falling over Zitao manages to get off his boots. When he approaches the bed he hesitates, but he's only allowed to do so for a second because Sehun grabs him and pulls him down into the space between the two bodies as if it's no big deal. Zitao wriggles until he fits snuggly there.

Jongin whines. "Stop moving already, you ." He punches weakly at Zitao's shoulder and then throws his arm over him with a sigh, pressing himself against Zitao's side much like Sehun had done earlier in the car on the way there. Sehun is already falling asleep, but he tangles his legs with Zitao's and places his hand on Jongin's arm and as Zitao drifts off there is a sensation of happiness bubbling warm in his chest.

It's close to two pm when Zitao wakes up again. Sehun is gone by then, but there is the sound of a faucet running so it's not hard to tell where he is. Jongin is still in bed, clinging to Zitao like a koala while breathing heavily against his neck, and Zitao considers pulling away, but he feels too comfortable to move. "We should probably get something to eat," Sehun says once he emerges from the bathroom. The bed shakes when he plops down on it and it makes the others bounce.

"I vote room service," Jongin mumbles sleepily and Zitao jolts. He thought he was asleep.

Sehun reaches over to smack Jongin's , causing him to yelp, and his hold on Zitao grows tighter. "Come on. You can't stay in the room for the entire trip."

"Is that a challenge?"

Sehun rolls his eyes. "Lazy bum," he says, but it's good-natured, Zitao can tell.

It takes the joined effort of both Zitao and Sehun to finally haul Jongin out of bed, but once he's on his feet he follows them compliantly. Not that Sehun would give him much of a choice if he didn't, they're all fully aware of this. They find a nice restaurant by the shore and they eat seafood and make plans to go to the beach. "Are you sure that's a good idea with your sensitive skin, princess Oh?" Jongin teases with a lazy grin stretched broad on his face. "You'll probably burn like a ing vampire in the sun."

Sehun sneers and flicks a piece of breaded shrimp at Jongin's face. "Shut up, dickhead, I have sunscreen." Zitao puts a great deal of effort into not laughing, he really does. Unfortunately Jongin's mirthful expression is infectious and a chuckle escapes him. Sehun crosses his arms with a pout. "I hate both of you."

Jongin bites his lip to stifle his laughter. He slings an arm around Sehun's shoulders, presses his forehead to Sehun's temple. "You're so cute when you're all grumpy."

The scowl on Sehun's face dissolves right away and is replaced by the flush that wells up in his cheeks. "Shut up," he mumbles tamely, which just makes Jongin laugh more. Zitao looks everywhere but at them.

Afterwards they make their way back to the hotel. Jongin has an arm slung around both of the others as they walk. Zitao wraps one around his waist in turn. Sehun side eyes them, but for once he keeps his snide remarks to himself. Once they're back in their room they change into their beach clothes. "Do my back, I'll do yours," Jongin offers, tossing a bottle of sunscreen at Zitao, who catches it effortlessly.

"Sure, turn around." He squirts a liberal amount of lotion into the palm of his hand and starts rubbing it on Jongin's , making sure to cover everything. He lets Jongin do the same to him afterwards. His skin may not burn as easily as Sehun's, but he's not taking any chances. He's not a big fan of pain.

"You too, Oh Sehun," Jongin says as he turns to their younger friend, who is sitting on the bed with his own tube of sunscreen, this one with a ridiculously high factor. "Strip."

Sehun glowers the way he knows best. "There's no way I'm letting you do that to me," he says, bristling. "And it won't be necessary, anyway. I'm not planning on taking my shirt off. I'm not some sort of exhibitionist like you seem to be."

Unperturbed Jongin crawls onto the bed next to Sehun. The wolfish grin on his face is in no way reassuring. "Come on, you never know what might happen once we're actually there." Sehun merely continues to scowl and Jongin's grin fades into a soft smile. He tugs lightly on the hem of Sehun's shirt. "Hey. I'm just looking out for you, alright? I don't want to see you hurt." Sehun swallows something. So does Zitao. "Please?"

Sehun lets out a sigh as if this is the most tiresome thing he has ever had to do. He pulls his shirt over his head so he's topless and he looks a little bashful, covering his chest with the discarded fabric. "Just... do it quickly. I want to get to the beach before it's too late and all the good spots are taken." Jongin reaches for the sunscreen and starts applying it. He's a lot more thorough than he was with Zitao, running his hands across Sehun's back, over his shoulders, up and around his neck and down to his collarbones and chest. Sehun's head falls forward. His eyelids slide shut and he lets out a soft noise of content.

Zitao clenches his fists. He feels like an intruder, like he's witnessing something he shouldn't be seeing. The lump in his throat is back. "I'll... I'll just go wait outside," he mutters.

"Yeah, we'll be out in a second," Jongin says. He doesn't take his eyes away from the work he's doing. Zitao grabs his bag from the floor and leaves without looking back.

~*~

A/N: uhm, yeah. this is the first chapter. there's some sekaitao friendship and cuddles and sekai being disgusting with each other and poor taozi feels all kinds of awkward (but maybe there's more to it than what we know? :000). I don't know what else to say. the story's not very eventful right now, but I promise you guys that things are going to be more exciting in the next chapter heheheheheheh...heheh.....heh..........

thanks for reading!