The beach is nothing more than a few minutes' walk away and they make their way there in a leisurely pace. Zitao purposely ignores how Sehun's hair is a little more disheveled than what Sehun would usually allow as well as how Jongin's lips seem a little more puffy than they were before. There are quite a lot of people scattered on the white sand and it takes some time for the three of them to find the perfect place to settle down, but they manage. They unfold their blanket, bring out their drinks and set up the huge umbrella Sehun insisted on bringing (and subsequently forced Jongin to carry).

The moment they're done, Jongin peels off his shirt so he's wearing nothing but his swim shorts. His skin is tan and smooth and his body is lean from dancing. Zitao would be lying if he said he doesn't admire Jongin's looks. He's definitely easy on the eyes. He grins at them and then sprints towards the water. The other two watch him go. Sehun shakes his head. "Idiot," he sighs.

Zitao bumps him with his shoulder. "You still like him." He tries to come off as playful, but a bit of sadness somehow sneaks into his tone. Sehun doesn't seem to notice it. He just blushes and mutters something unintelligible under his breath.

They sit, Sehun in the shade, Zitao in the sun. It's hot so Zitao strips down to his tanktop, though he's a little more reserved about it than Jongin had been. He leans back, propping himself up on his arms to watch the sea. There are a couple of guys playing with a ball nearby, throwing it back and forth between them, and some kids shrieking as they splash each other with water by the edge of the ocean where it's shallow. Other than that it's mostly quiet.

"I do," Sehun suddenly says. Zitao looks at him. He's sitting with his knees pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, eyes fastened on Jongin, who can be seen swimming in the distance. "Like him, I mean." His cheeks are a little pink. It can't be from the sun, they haven't been out here very long. "I like him."

Zitao's mouth twitches. "I know," he responds. He tries to smile when Sehun looks at him. He's not sure it's entirely convincing, though.

Sehun looks like he wants to say something else, but then Jongin is resurfacing and coming towards them and he remains quiet, staring. Jongin is dripping wet, droplets of moisture trickling down his torso, and he slicks back his hair with his hands. Sehun shifts a little on the spot. "You guys should come swimming with me," Jongin calls out when he's still a few yards away. "The water's really nice."

"No thank you," Zitao declines. He has never been a big fan of water.

"Uh, no," Sehun says with his face scrunching into an accompanying frown at the mere thought. "Ew. The salt would totally ruin my hair."

Jongin grabs the towel Zitao hands him and dries off before flopping down next to the other two on the blanket. He fixes Sehun with an even gaze. "Why did you even agree to go to the beach in the first place? You hate the sun, you hate the sand, you hate the water. What else is there?"

Once more Sehun parts his lips to speak... and gets a mouthful of sand courtesy of the guy who accidentally kicked it at him before he fell flat on his face right next to their blanket. The volleyball he was chasing rolls past them and stops by Jongin's feet. It takes about a second and a half for everyone to react. Then Sehun starts spitting to get rid of the sand while Jongin curls in on himself with laughter. Zitao grimaces. The stranger slowly gets on his feet. "Whoops," he says with a sheepish, undeniably charming chuckle, scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry."

"Oh my God," Sehun wheezes, grabbling desperately for a bottle of water to rinse his mouth.

"Oh my God," Jongin wheezes, wiping at his wet eyes. "That was amazing." Sehun shoots him an affronted glare and reaches across Zitao's body to punch Jongin in the chest.

Another guy approaches them. He's tall and extremely handsome with blonde hair and striking features and he's wearing a tight-fitting, white shirt that clings to his body in the most amazing way. Zitao can't tear his eyes off him. The second guy slings an arm around the first one's shoulders, leaning his weight on him despite being almost a full head taller and his body being notably bigger. "Are you getting us into trouble again, Baekhyun?" he says with a sigh.

"I didn't do it on purpose, I swear," the guy, who's apparently called Baekhyun, objects.

The taller one rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "I'm sorry about my friend, he's an idiot." He's looking directly at Zitao as he speaks and it's a little intimidating (and a lot painful because of reasons).

Somehow Zitao manages to find his voice even though it feels like his heart is stuck in his throat and he only stumbles over his words a little. "D-don't worry about it, it's fine."

"Fine?" Sehun sputters. "You try eating sand and you see if you're ing fine. Who knows what kind of diseases are spread on this beach? What if- oh God, what if someone peed there? I ate pee sand!" Jongin is laughing so hard he can't breathe, while Sehun looks genuinely offended. Fortunately Jongin quickly seems to pick up on it. He drags his body over to sit next to Sehun instead and he wraps his arms around him and murmurs something in his ear that makes his body less tense. Somewhat. Zitao clenches his jaw and when he looks away his eyes lock with the tall guy's that seem to have been watching him all along. Flushing, Zitao averts his gaze. Again.

Once things have settled down a little Jongin smiles brightly at the two newcomers. "I'm Jongin," he introduces himself. "The grumpy one here is Sehun and this is Zitao."

"Chinese?" the tall one asks. There's something in the tone of his voice that Zitao can't quite pinpoint. It feels like surprise, but it's mixed with something else and it makes Zitao feel a little wary. He has experienced hostility due to his place of birth before and it wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Yeah?" he says hesitantly. The other just smiles and nods.

"Well, I'm Baekhyun, in case you didn't already pick that up," the shorter of the two says. He's got a nice face and a contagious grin and beautiful fingers that splay out on his companion's chest when he pats it as he continues: "This is Wufan."

Wufan. Zitao mulls over the name in his head and realization quickly strikes him. "Chinese?" he asks back, this time in Mandarin, and he may have sounded a little too eager because Wufan's mouth morphs into a beautiful smile that shows his gums and turns his eyes into crescents (and makes Zitao's heart stutter, but that's probably not important).

"Yeah." Somehow that's a relief. It's definitely a lot better than what Zitao had in mind. Less scary.

Baekhyun pats the other on the chest again. "Oh, look at you making friends like a big boy," he coos. "Good for you, honey." Wufan's glower doesn't seem to affect him at all. (The affectionate name added to the end of the sentence does affect Zitao, though, no matter how hard he tries to tell himself that it doesn't.) Baekhyun looks at Sehun again and he grimaces. "Hey, I'm really sorry about your face."

Sehun's glower is fierce enough to rival Wufan's. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Uh, sorry about kicking sand on you, I mean... not... I didn't..." Baekhyun tries a smile. "I mean, you have a nice face. It's... really nice, actually." Zitao wonders if he's the only one who notices the way his eyes seem to go a little dark as they roam Sehun's features. Sehun crosses his arms and sniffs a little. He doesn't look pacified. Baekhyun cringes. "Is there any way I can make it up to you? Buy you guys some beers or something?"

"I don't drink beer," Sehun huffs as if the mere suggestion is offensive to him.

"Nah." Jongin smiles as he rubs the other's arm with a little too much force for it to be completely affectionate. "Our Sehunnie is definitely more the 'fruity cocktails'-kind of guy." Sehun shoots him a withering look.

"I can do that," Baekhyun says with a grin that matches Jongin's.

Wufan sighs. "Guys, really? It's not even four yet."

"That hasn't stopped you in the past," Baekhyun says and lets out a sudden laugh. "Remember that one time when-?" He's cut off abruptly by Wufan's large hand covering his mouth.

"Shut it," Wufan hisses and he side eyes Zitao. Zitao feels a little warm. "Don't think I won't throw you into the ocean." Baekhyun snorts in amusement but nods compliantly and Wufan removes his hand. His arm remains d around Baekhyun's shoulders. "Actually, we have to leave, anyway. We have some stuff to attend to."

"Later, then," Jongin says. "I'll give you my number?" He types the digits into Baekhyun's phone. They watch as Baekhyun and Wufan goes back to their own blanket to start packing everything. Zitao pretends he doesn't see Baekhyun smacking Wufan's when he bends over.

Once they're done they come back. "I'll call you," Baekhyun promises. "We can arrange something. Hang out, maybe." They wave goodbye as they walk away. Zitao stares at Wufan's retreating back, suddenly feeling bereft, even more so when he sees Baekhyun link their arms together while they walk. He also feels really stupid. Wufan isn't his to want.

"They seemed nice," Jongin muses.

Sehun crosses his arms. "They didn't exactly make a great first impression, if you ask me. But maybe I'm just biased because I don't particularly enjoy eating sand."

"What about Wufan, then?" Zitao questions before Jongin has the chance to throw in some lewd comment about which other things he'd like to put in Sehun's mouth. He purposely ignores how Jongin's expression turns sly.

"Hmm." Sehun looks contemplative. "He threatened Baekhyun so... yeah, I like him. He can stay."

"That's good because I think Zitao likes him too," Jongin says with a knowing leer. Zitao purposely ignores that as well (but his cheeks do color).

~*~

A/N: here's the second chapter. \o/ baekhyun is being a flirt, but he didn't exactly make a good impression on princess sehuna (jongin seems to like him, though). meanwhile zitao only has eyes for mr. tall and handsome, while mr. tall and handsome is making lusty eyes at zitao. oop. I guess you can already see the pairings starting to form from this, hm? :3

thank you all so much for reading and subscribing and all that jazz. ♥
here, have some maknae line hearts (featuring my star, yixing ;~~~;).