“WE’RE GOING TO THE BEACH!”  Dok Mi yelled as she ran out of the school.  Minah chased after her with equal enthusiasm.  

   “I GET TO SPEND A WEEK WITH MYUNGSOO OPPA!”  Minah screeched.

   “YAH!”  Dok Mi yelled at her.  She grabbed her hand and laughed.  “We get to see the beautiful ocean!  Aren’t you excited?”

   “Yeah, but I’ve seen it before,” Minah told her.  “But it’ll be your first time, right?”  Dok Mi nodded her head and swung her arms.  

   “I’m so excited,” she whispered.  “Is it wonderful?”  

   “Mhm,” Minah said.  “Hey, let me go home and pack.  Where’s Woohyun?”

   “He’s coming; he had to talk to the teacher first.”

   “Okay.  I’m going to catch up with Taejoon before he gets off campus.  See you tomorrow!”  Minah waved.  Dok Mi flashed a peace sign and watched her friend run off.  She leaned against the railing of the steps and looked around at the blossoming flowers.  She heard a soft snicker and soon felt a liquid pouring down her back.  Fortunately, it was water.  Unfortunately, it was Hye Ri that poured it.  

   “Just thought you needed to cool down,” Hye Ri blurted.  She walked away and Dok Mi stuck her tongue out at her from behind.  She started making faces and rude gestures and felt a hand grab her shoulder.  She turned to see Woohyun.

   “What are you doing?”  Woohyun laughed.  Dok Mi straightened up and combed her fingers through her wet hair.  

   “Hye Ri thought it’d be funny to pour water on my head…  I thought it’d be funny to make rude gestures behind her back,” Dok Mi admitted.  Woohyun poked her forehead and began walking off.  

   “Let’s get you home early.  I still have to pack my things.”

   “Okay,” she agreed.  She skipped over to his side and they walked to her house.  They made a bunch of small talk about school, K-Pop, and life in general.  It looked like they had obtained a high level of friendship.  Once they reached her house, she invited Woohyun in for a snack.  He came in, greeted the mother, took a granola bar and insisted he leave.  Dok Mi waved him off and he bowed to her mother, then left.  

   “I still don’t know how you don’t think he’s cute,” her mother said as he closed the door.  Dok Mi shrugged her shoulders and made her way to her room.

   “He’s nice.”  

   “Good morning, sunshine!”  Sungjong greeted Dok Mi as she walked over to his car.  He picked up her suitcase and threw it in the trunk.  “You don’t look bad at five o’clock in the morning,” he complimented.

   “Erm… Thanks?”  She giggled.  

   “Minah looks like she’s about to pass out.  She’s already in the backseat propped against Myungsoo.  Makes me sick, quite frankly,” Sungyeol said.  He got in the passenger’s seat and Sungjong turned to confront Dok Mi.

   “So, you can sit in the back with those two love birds, or you can ride in Sunggyu’s car.  If you ride with the snuggly one, Woohyun might use you as a pillow.  Just a warning,” Sungjong advised with a weird smile.  Dok Mi didn’t understand what it was for, but she thought about it.  

   “Which car will have more music?”  She asked. 

   “Are you kidding me?  Sunggyu’s!  With his love of rock and Dongwoo’s and Hoya’s love of hip hop, you’ll be jamming the entire way there.”  

   “I’ll ride with Sunggyu!”  She cheered.  She heard a car turn into Sungjong’s driveway and turned to be blinded by headlights.  Sunggyu was smiling and Dongwoo was pointing and laughing at her from the back seat.  Hoya watched Dongwoo go crazy, and Dok Mi assumed that Woohyun was in the back tuning them out.  Sungjong walked with Dok Mi over to Sunggyu’s car and greeted him.

   “Looks like you get Dok Mi.  I’m stuck with a jealous Sungyeol and two sleeping love birds in my back seat.”  

   “Dok Mi, you made the right choice,” Hoya teased.  She laughed and pulled her hair behind her ear.  Woohyun was secretly watching her and became jealous; she never did that around him.  He shrugged it off, opened the car door, and slipped out of the car.  

   “Dok Mi-ah, you can sit in the middle.  You’re the smallest,” he half mumbled.  He was obviously tired.  Everyone laughed at him and Dok Mi thanked him.  She climbed in and buckled up.  Once Woohyun was in, he immediately crashed onto her shoulder.  “And you’re probably the best pillow.”  Dok Mi blushed as the guys made an “ooh” sound.

   “We’ll call you guys if we get separated!”  Sungjong said.

   “Us, too!”  Sunggyu told him.  He rolled up his window and began backing out of Sungjong’s driveway.  “Beach, here we come!”

   The guys in Sunggyu’s car decided to be quiet the first hour so they could let Woohyun catch up on his sleep and tease Dok Mi.  She would sigh, want to push Woohyun off, look at him resting, sigh again, then give up.  She couldn’t win in this situation.  Eventually, the radio was and everyone began singing along, including Woohyun.  On the last stretch of the trip, people began asking random questions in a desperate attempt to amuse themselves.  

   “Yah, Dok Mi, Minah told me that you’ve never been to the beach before,” Dongwoo said.  “Is that true?”  Dok Mi nodded in response and everyone gasped.  

   “Operation: Make Dok Mi Enjoy The Beach, is now in effect,”  Woohyun joked.  He and Dok Mi laughed.  Both of them were unaware that the others had planned something to that extent…  But it included Woohyun.  

   Finally, they got to the beach house they had rented.  Dok Mi couldn’t wait and she ran to the beach before seeing the house.  Woohyun chased after her and everyone watched in anticipation.  

   “Why don’t they just get together already,” Minah whined.  Myungsoo put an arm around her and laughed.  

   “They just aren’t as cool as we are,” he teased.

   “EEEEEEEEEW,” the guys all said.  “Myungsoo, this isn’t you!” 

   “You’re right, you’re right,” he said.  He pulled his arm off of Minah and grinned.  “Just thought I’d tease you all.”  

   Dok Mi took her shoes off and jogged to the water.  It hit her feet and she became incredibly excited.  She jumped around and it splashed her legs.  She didn’t mind if it was cold; it was the ocean!  She spun around in circles and Woohyun laughed at her from behind.  She didn’t care.  She kept dancing and he eventually came over to kick water at her.  She screamed and laughed and kicked some back at him.

   “Let’s go inside and wait for it to warm up before we play in the water, shall we?”  He asked.  She nodded and hooked her arm through his.  

   “This is going to be the best vacation ever.”

   “Yep,” he lazily agreed.  

   “And I get to spend it with you!  Ah, I’m so lucky~” she cooed.  She walked off balance in the sand and he smiled.  She had complimented him, and he felt like a million dollars.