Lay woke up to something hitting his leg. Hard.

            “Ow!” He grabbed his calf, checking that nothing was broken. “What was that for??”

            “Oh good,” Chen deadpanned, jumping down from Lay’s bed and looking at him with a somber expression, “You’re up.”

            “I mean, kind of,” Lay blinked at the sunlight, “It’s so early, what kind of role reversal exercise is this? Why would you get up so early? Oh my god. Are you dying? Are you hurt?” Lay said, now alert and carefully assessing Chen’s physical state with his darting gaze.

            Chen is silent for a few beats, blinking at Lay with the same dull expression. He takes a deep, audible sigh. Then he leaves the room.

            Lay blinks at the place Chen just was. What in the world? “Well good morning to you too!” He shouts, before grumbling to himself sleepily and laying back down, in denial of how wide-awake he was feeling.

            About an hour later, Lay had given up on trying to sleep more, and now he stood brushing his teeth, in clean clothes with a clean face.

            Chen appears, leaning against the doorway.

            “Hey, appuk beevore I,” Lay giggles and rinses his mouth, “Hey, about before, I was wondering if everything is alright with you?”

            Chen stares him down blankly, then sighs, turns, and goes.

            Lay spooned out equal portions of his freshly made seaweed soup and some rice, bringing the bowls to the table and sitting across from Chen, who was still quiet. They eat in the same kind of eerie silence and Chen sighs as soon as he’s done. Lay swallows his rice and meets Chen’s gaze.

            “Is it a problem with the air conditioner? Did you break it again?” he asks.

            Chen shakes his head.

            “Then what?” he asks, but it’s too late. Chen leaves the room.

            There have been four more instances of Chen sighing and wordlessly leaving the room when they’re sitting in the living room, watching TV. The sun is bright through the windows, and on the screen a man is staking out a supposedly haunted house.

            Chen sighs.

            Lay’s eye twitches. He mutes the TV.

            “Is it the channel?” He asks.

            Chen shakes his head.

            “CHEN WHAT IS WRONG?” Lay screams in frustration.

            Chen gets up and arches his back, drawing emphasis to the way his head slumps back and he lets out the loudest sigh of the day so far, dragging his feet out as he begins to leave the room.

            “Oh no you don’t!” Lay yells. And just like that, he tackles Chen.

            “Ouch-Lay what the ?? I like just did my hair!!” Chen’s arm is pinned to the ground and he struggles to free it and fix his hair.

            “Are you joking right now? You have absolutely no right to be frustrated with me. Chen you have been terrorizing me all day with your teen angst can you please for the love of Suho tell me WHAT IS WRONG?” Lay glares down at Chen.

            Chen stares back at him for a long moment, before finally answering, “Time.”

            It takes Lay a second to even process what Chen just said, then he snorts, “Oh my god could you be any more abstract? You know what, don’t answer that. What do you mean ‘time’?”

            Chen sighs, now in frustration, “I mean time. Like, school.”

            Lay’s face contorts in confusion, “School? Why are you worried about school? It’s like the middle of the summer.”

            “That’s exactly the problem!” Chen yells, now frantic.

            “Chen. Chen, you’re scaring me. And this is you we’re talking about.”

            “I knew you wouldn’t understand,” Chen says, sounding disappointed. He wiggles again but Lay still doesn’t let go.

            “Chen help me help you, you have to be more specific. Please.” Lay says, patiently.

            “First, let me go.” Chen bargains.

            Now, they sit across from each other on the rug, TV turned off. Lay watches Chen expectantly, but doesn’t try to rush him.

            “Well. You’re right,” Chen begins, “summer is about half done. The exact halfway point was a little over a week ago so there are only 23 days 9 hours and 37 minutes until school days start back up. But hey, who’s counting?” he adds jokingly.

            “So. You’re stressed over school then?”

             “No no, of course not. I’m a model student why would I be scared about that?”

            “Chen, last year alone you failed three cla-“ Lay begins.

            “I repeat: model student,” Chen cuts him off.

            “Okay. So if it’s not school, what is it?” Lay asks.

            “Summer. The clock is ticking Lay. This is when we’re supposed to have fun and make memories, we have accomplished so little.”

            “Okay, so what do you want to do?”

            “Anything!” Chen spreads his arms wide, “I am in my prime, and the possibilities are endless.”

            “What about the beach?” Lay asks brightly.

            “Allow me to rephrase that last bit: I am in my prime, my body is not.”

            “Oh come on, we haven’t been in so long. You can cover up if you want to.”

            Chen hesitates, “Curse you for being right. All right, I’m going to go get dressed. Are bathrobes acceptable? Maybe one of those special nuns dresses… I could just clothe myself in toilet paper like a mummy. Or bring the toga back.”

            Lay chuckles, typing on his phone, “Wow Chen, you’re actually being modest for once.”

            “This is merely for the safety of everybody else, it would be unfair to blind them with my beauty.” Chen says with a pretend hair flip, “I’m a chill god, not one of those Greek glorified frat boys. I mean what was that? Some ancient reality show? ‘Keeping Up With the Offspring of Lightning Boy’? Keep it in your pants Zeus, that’s not the lightning bolt I wanted to see.”

            Lay smiles, putting his phone back in his pocket, “Good news! Speaking of gods: Suho is in!”

            Chen freezes, “Suho is coming?”

            “Well, yeah. I told Xiumin that we’re going to the beach and he invited Suho.”

            “Why did you invite Xiumin?” Chen screeches.

            “We need a ride to the beach Chen! Did you not consider that?”

            “UH.” Chen freezes for a moment, “BIKES! We can ride our bikes! It’ll be like some cheesy teen movie beach trip! Make the whole experience more authentic don’t you think?”

            Lay laughs, “You want to ride a bike eighteen miles? Each way?”

            Chen nods slowly, regret slowly sinking into his features. Lay laughs harder. “Chen, your body isn’t exactly in its prime. Just take the charity car ride from Xiumin. He said to meet in his driveway in twenty, you should get ready.”

            When they show up, Xiumin is kneeling in his trunk, fitting in an umbrella. He wears swim trunks, a zipped up gray hoodie, and no shoes.

            “Need any help?” Lay calls, setting down his backpack on the pavement.

            “Thanks but no thanks,” Xiumin gives the umbrella a final push into the crevice behind a row of seats, then turns and grins at Lay, “Pass me your bag, I’ll pack it.”

            “Thanks,” Lay smiles, grabbing the bag back up off the ground.

            “What do I do?” Chen asks.

            “Just get in the car, Suho should be here soon. He’ll want to see you,” Lay says with a wink on the last part.

            “Of course! Because anyone would like to see me! Not cause there’s anything special about Suho… What? Crazy talk…” Chen says quickly, turning red against his words. Xiumin and Lay share a knowing look.

            Chen opens the door to the back seat.

“Hey, Chen,” the back seat says.

            Chen screams.

            Suho laughs back at him, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He smiles with one eyebrow quirked apologetically.

            Chen turns and glares at Xiumin, “I thought we had moved past this little surprise Suho, twisted peek-a-boo game of yours. What do you have to say for yourself?”

            “Uh,” he climbs out of the trunk and reaches up to close it, shrugging at Chen, “Oops?”

            Lay laughs. Xiumin tries not to stare too obviously at the dimples that form. Chen rolls his eyes. He had been noticing the not-so-secret glances those two gave each other all summer, and while he was happy for his friend and didn’t want to ruin the surprise, at times it was just too much. So he turned back to Suho, “What’s up? Why are you in here?” He sits down and scoots over to make space for Lay.

            “I try to spend as little time in the sun as possible cause I burn after approximately two seconds of sun exposure,” he laughed stiffly and Chen smiled at how cute it was. “Is that why you’re wearing that?” he asked Chen.

            Chen looked down at himself. True to his word, he was wearing a long sleeve deep-sea-diver type black shirt to hide his disappointingly weak body. “Umm… yeah, yeah. Sun exposure. UV rays. Basically synonymous with evil, I’ve got to keep those away. Not today, Satan.”

            Suho smiles, “Exactly! It’s so nice to finally meet someone with the same problem.”

            “Ha ha, I know right!” Chen laughed a little too hard and tried to avoid looking directly at Suho.

            “Move over!” Lay sat next to him, forcing him closer to Suho with his hip.

            “You back me in to the corner like a savage,” Chen whined, “Good god, you are a man not a beast!”

            “Tell that to my absolutely rippling pectorals,” Lay shot back, grinning cheekily.

            “Lay we’re not even at the beach yet, if you start flexing and showing off your abs now I swear to God.” Chen said, wagging his finger at Lay.

            “Well you see, I would flex, but I really like this shirt,” he patted his sleeves, pursing his lips. Suho laughed. Chen scoffed. Xiumin perked up from his seat up front.

            “You have abs, Lay?” he asks, wide eyes peering over his chair.

            Lay flushes and nods, embarrassed Xiumin heard that.

            Xiumin’s eyes trail over his body thoroughly, staring at his stomach for what seems like for longer than necessary. Finally, he raises his full head above the chair, climbing to his knees, “Mine are better.”

            “OOOOOOOOOOO! A new challenger shows himself!” Chen comments from the side. Suho laughs.

            “If you really think yours are better,” Lay gets up on his knees and leans forward so his face is just a few inches from Xiumin’s, “Then prove it.” He winks suggestively.

            “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I take that back! A new challenger should show himself, if you know what I’m saying!” Chen’s elbow nudges at Suho jokingly, and Suho grabs onto Chen’s shoulder to keep from falling over, making Chen stare at his shoulder in surprise, cheeks tinting pink.

            But Chen’s cheeks are nothing compared to Xiumin’s, tomato red at Lay’s flirty remark. He ducks back down to hide his cheeks, only his eyes showing once again. He watches Lay laugh at Chen’s joke.

            Suho and Chen start chanting, “Take it off! Take it off!” right before Xiumin’s dad opens the driver side door.

            “What in the world is going on in here?” He asks, smiling at a very red Xiumin. The chanting cuts off and is replaced with laughing.

            “Nothing!” Xiumin turns to the window so they can’t see his face. “Let’s go!”

            “I mean,” Xiumin says as soon as they arrive at a clear area in the sand to set up, “I’m not saying I could take you with one arm… but I could totally take you with one arm.”

            Chen leans towards Suho, “‘Take him’? Lay’s practically screaming ‘Take me I’m yours’ it’s not a difficult thing for him to do.” The two of them snicker.

            Not hearing the sass on the sidelines, Lay snorts, “You’re acting all tough like you can kick my but-“

            “Because I can!” Xiumin adds, pointing at him decisively.

            Lay smiles, shakes his head, continues, “But how can you kick anything without shoes?”

            “Yah! I am your elder!” Xiumin cries, kicking Lay’s shin, who merely giggles and runs away.

            “Ew, do you smell that Suho?” Chen wrinkles his nose.

            “Smell what?” Suho asks, only half paying attention as he opens an umbrella and curls up beneath its shade.

            “The two of you,” Chen points to Xiumin and Lay, “absolutely reek of testosterone. And , but we can address that later.” He adds quickly.

            “Wait, what?” Lay and Xiumin ask in unison.

            “Nothing, nothing, don’t worry about it,” Chen says, trying to gloss it over calmly. Suho, being the only one who heard, turns away from the group to hide his red face and laughter. “Look, amigos, there’s only one way to solve this: strip.”

            “Strip? Excuse you?” Xiumin sputters.

            “Now Chen, if this is some twisted fantasy of yours for me, I get it. But don’t include Xiumin in your dirty, fifty shades of-“

            “Oh my god! Ew!” Chen interrupts, “Lay, don’t flatter yourself. Ew. I just want this debate to be over. Also: ew.”

            “Sounds good to me,” Lay says with a shrug after a pause. Xiumin nods. Lay makes to pull off his shirt but Chen throws out his arms.

            “Wait!”

            Lay freezes, “Yes?”

            “Can I hype you up?” Chen asks sheepishly. From the ground, Suho laughs. Chen kicks some sand at him.

            Lay smiles, “I would love that.” He removes his shirt and turns around. Xiumin tries and fails to disguise his gasp as a cough. “Whenever you’re ready, Chen.”

            Chen clears his throat. Xiumin rolls his eyes. Suho sits up and grins. “AAAAAAND IN THIS CORNER! Hailing from China; he’s the best from the west! He’s got moves, he’s got grooves, he’s got old smelly dolls in his side of the room! 177 centimeters of pure fury, gentlemen and gentlemen, are you thirsty? I’ve got a six-pack right here. I present to you: Zhangg Layyyy!”

            Lay turns and leans forward, flexing his arms and abs, trying not to laugh all the while. Xiumin’s eyes rake all over him. He has a tall build, with slender muscles, but they were still prominent-especially with no shirt on. Hubba hubba. Xiumin dabbed at a sweat on his brow, trying to convince himself it was there from the heat.

            Lay noticed the dabbing, his smile disappeared and his brows drew together in concern, “Xiumin, are you alright?” He took a step closer and reached out to him, Xiumin watched the muscles in his arm move and thought about how maybe he could use some time alone to question his self control. And take a very, very cold shower.

            “Ye-yeah, I’m fine. It’s just uh,” he swallows thickly and points at the sun, “Hot.” And so are you. He coughs.

            Lay blinks, then smirks, eyes half-lidded, “Well, Xiumin,” he takes another step closer, “If you’re so over heated, maybe you should take off your shirt.” He winks.

            Chen rolls his eyes from where he now sits next to Suho, “That god damn smell is back.” He utters and Suho laughs.

            He doesn’t trust himself to speak, so Xiumin just s the hoodie and lets it fall from his shoulders, watching Lay’s face for a reaction. Lay’s eyes widen considerably, and if Xiumin could actually form words yet he would for that.

            Chen is the first to speak, but he lets out a whistle before he does so, “Damn. My man has a chocolate bar for a torso.”

            “Your man?” Suho raises an eyebrow.

            “Pf, it’s a figure of speech oh my god, let me live for once. Don’t be so jealous, Suho,” Chen says, shaking his head pityingly.

            “Jealous? Hah!” Suho snorts and turns to hide his red face from Chen.

            “Thoughts?” Xiumin asks Lay.

            “Uh, well uh,” Lay stutters intelligently, “holy dude. Can I…” he trails off and pokes at Xiumin’s abs without permission. “Whoah.”

            “Wow, what simple mating rituals these brutes have,” Chen observes thoughtfully. Suho laughs.

            Xiumin tears his eyes away from Lay and looks somewhere, anywhere else. The water, I can actually hide myself. “Hey, Lay, wanna go swim for a bit?”

            Lay’s eyes make their way up Xiumin’s body slowly, biting his lip. Xiumin gulps. He really needs a cold shower. “Yeah, okay,” Lay finally answers, “Race you there.” And then he’s off and running, the wind carrying his laughter back to Xiumin, who follows, beaming, after a heartbeat.

            “Be careful!” Chen shouts, hands cupping his mouth, “You have abs! Hide them if you see old women they might mistake you for washboards!” Suho collapses next to him, laughing hysterically. Chen smiles down at him and scoots a bit closer under the umbrella.

            “I win!” Lay said, stopping at the water’s edge.

            “Oh, shut up,” Xiumin whines, kicking water at him and making his way forward so the water is at his knees. He turns and points to Lay, walking backwards, “I will punch you, do not test me.”

            Lay just laughs at the notion, “Like I should even be scared? You’re not that strong.”

            “I am,” Xiumin says simply, stopping again to look over his shoulder at Lay. The water is up to his hips now.

            Lay walks really close up to him, stopping just a few inches from his face. “Prove it.” He whispers. His eyes look at Xiumin’s lips for a split second before widening as he realizes how close he is.

            But before he can turn to go, Xiumin grabs his wrist, hoisting him up, “I warned you!” He says over Lay’s panicked yelp, before plunging them both under.

            He stands back up, laughing and wiping water from his eyes. When he opens them, Lay is gone.

            “Help!!! Please, Xiumin, I can’t swim!!”

            Xiumin’s heart stops.

            Lay is gone. Suddenly he’s fifteen feet from Xiumin and rapidly being pulled further out. His arms flail and his voice sounds terrified. Xiumin dives in and rushes to Lay. His lungs burn with how he exerts himself. He can only imagine how Lay feels, his voice keeps getting cut off as water gets in his mouth, down his throat. But he keeps screaming for Xiumin, and that’s all Xiumin can focus on.

            It isn’t long before Xiumin can’t feel the ground anymore. Open water, with nothing to hold him up but his own strength. The waves push him back but he pushes back harder, concentrating on Lay.

            He lifts his head to look around for Lay. He doesn’t see Lay anywhere. Now his breathing isn’t fast from the swimming, and his eyes aren’t burning from the saltwater; it’s all from fear.

            “Lay!” He screams. He whips his head around and treads water, turning himself in circles. It feels like a million years before he sees Lay’s face again. When he does, his reaction is immediate and within just seconds he latches on to Lay.

            “It’s okay, I’ve got you, don’t be scared,” he murmurs, pulling Lay back toward shallower water. He doesn’t let go until they’re both able to stand.

            He feels terrible for nearly making Lay drown, and for a long moment stands there, mind racing to conjure up some acceptable form of an apology.

            “I’m sorry.”

            Xiumin freezes, because it was Lay who spoke the words.

            “Wait, hold the phone, why the are you sorry???” Xiumin asks immediately, “I nearly killed you why are you apologizing? I didn’t know you couldn’t swim and I put you in danger. I should be apologizing.”

            “But you… didn’t,” Lay says sheepishly, peering up at Xiumin before looking back at the ground, worrying his lip between his teeth, “I can swim just fine. I did that as a joke to get back at you for dunking me under. I didn’t realize you would react so strongly, I’m so sorry.”

            “You…” Xiumin trails off, “I thought you were dead, Lay. I thought I killed you and you were just playing around? Do you have any idea how terrified I was? Of losing you?? Damnit Lay-I really li-really care about you! You can’t just, just play me like that. I was scared you were dead.”

            Lay’s head is hung low, all Xiumin can see is his black, soaked hair stuck to his scalp and reflecting back sunlight, “I’m so sorry. But at least I’m alive.”

            “I know, and that makes me so happy,” Xiumin smiles, his tone soft again.

            Lay raises his head at that, smiling back at Xiumin. But it falls from his face, replaced with an alarmed expression and he asks, “Xiumin, why are you crying?”

           “What?” Xiumin swipes at his eyes, “I’m not crying.”

            Lay chuckles at that, “Yes you are, hyung.”

           “I’m not!” Xiumin stamps his feet and turns around.

           “Awww, you really care that much about me?” Lay teases, laughing.

          “Yes, but I’m not crying! It’s probably just the saltwater or something.” He sniffles and Lay laughs again.

           Xiumin moves to walk away but Lay grabs his shoulder, “Wait,” he turns Xiumin around and looks at him, “I’m just. I’m really sorry for scaring you.”

          “It’s going to take more that that to win me back.” Xiumin huffs, “I thought you were dead!”

          “You’re right, I owe you more than that. How about another apology hug?”

          “Well, I mean, that’s, it is not uh is very,” Xiumin stutters, trying to seem uninterested. Lay just chuckles and pulls him in to a hug, settling his chin on Xiumin’s shoulder, arms tight around his back to keep him close. Xiumin sighs, closing his eyes and letting himself be held. He doesn’t want to admit how nice it is, or how it makes his heart do that fluttery thing, or how much better it is without shirts on in a totally non-erted way. But that’s all true, so he wraps his arms around Lay and squeezes him back, pulling him even closer. Then he starts leaning.

          “Xiumin?” Lay asks.

          “Hm?”

         “Why are we falling?”

         “It’s quite a simple reason, really.”

         “Uh huh, and what would that be?”

         “Vengeance is mine.”

          Lay squeals and Xiumin smirks just before a wave knocks them completely over.

            Beep beep. Beep beep.

            “Whassup I’m up!” Chen sat up abruptly, eyes blinking open blearily and swiping blindly for drool.

            “Sorry, Chen,” Suho calmly shut his book and tapped his phone screen, bringing the beeping to a stop, “It’s an alarm I use so I know when to reapply sunblock.”

            Suho scoots out from under the umbrella to dig through his bag, tugging out some bright orange bottle. He rubs the lotion on his face, neck and chest before holding it out to Chen. “Here.”

            “Oh, I uh, no thanks. I already applied,” Chen lied.

            “Yeah, so reapply, silly,” Suho laughed.

            “That’s not necessary.”

            Suho’s eyebrows drew together in confusion as his head tilted to the side, “I thought you burned easily like me?”

            “OH!” Chen paused, “Yes. That. That is… true. I should, uh do that.”

            Suho held out the bottle again, and Chen took it in surrender. Slightly annoyed with his previous lies, he quickly glopped it on his face, rubbed it in, and tossed the bottle back to Suho’s bag. Suho crawled over and put it back in, and turned around to go back to Chen. Then he made eye contact with Chen. Then he burst out laughing.

            “What’s so funny?” Chen asked, growing impatient as Suho collapsed on the ground, rolling in the sand, “What the hell are you laughing at? Excuse me is my face a laughing matter??” Suho only laughed harder, face turning red. He even dabbed at a tear. The nerve of this kid I mean honestly. Chen scoffed.

            “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Suho said, heaving, “I just. You need to rub it in.” He snorts again but bites back the laughter when Chen shoots him a look.

            “What do you mean?”

            “It’s uh, it’s so uneven. It looks almost like you got a pie to the face,” and then he’s laughing again, dragging himself beneath the umbrella again with his elbows.

            Chen angrily swipes at his face, feeling himself turning red.

            “No, wait, allow me,” Suho snort giggles as he kneel-waddles his way over. Chen gets angrier cause he has no right to look so cute doing such stupid things.

            “Let me just, here you go,” Suho hands are warm and soft on Chen’s face. He keeps cracking up whenever he gets to a particularly large clump. Chen tries to ignore Suho’s gaze scrutinizing his rapidly reddening face, or the chills he gets when Suho’s fingers brush against his skin in a more tender way.

            “All done!” Suho chirped. Before Chen could react, Suho was back to reading under the umbrella, lying on his stomach with his knees bent adorably. Chen leaned back until he was lying down, peering at Suho from behind so he wouldn’t realize how creepy attentive Chen was. Then, Chen remembered when they laid down together and cuddled, and he smiled.

            “Suho, I think I’m going to take a quick nap.”

             Suho peered up at Chen from his book, “Okay, have fun!” He smiled politely, eyes dropping back to the book.         

           “Do you want to join me?”

             Suho freezes, and it takes a long moment before he looks back up at Chen, “Excuse me? I’m sorry, I think I heard you wrong, did you say you want to, w-with me, to uh-“

           “Nap together, yes. I mean, we’ve done it before,” Chen shrugged, trying so hard to seem nonchalant.

           “Uh, cuddling and all, too?” Suho’s eyes perk up and his foot starts shaking excitedly.

           “If you’d like to,” Chen says, passive as ever.

            Suho squeals-actually squeals-and immediately clamps a hand over his mouth, eyes the size of saucers. Bright red, he closes his book and scoots over near a  smirking Chen. He lies back, keeping a safe distance. Chen entirely ignores the boundary; he shimmies over sideways and rests his head on Suho’s shoulder, eyes fluttering closed. Suho shifts his arm, holding it out behind Chen to get more comfortable. After a moment, Chen curls up facing Suho, closer to his side.

            Suho grins as his eyes finally close.

           “Marco!” Lay focuses, eyes screwed shut, trying to listen.

           “Polo!” the voice is coming almost directly from the left, and Lay charges that way, keeping his eyes closed to avoid cheating.

           “Marco.” He repeats loudly.

           “Polo!” Xiumin sings, stretching out the last syllable. He sounds a lot closer, and Lay takes a few more steps toward the voice.

           “Marco?”

           “Polo.” Xiumin sounds like he’s chuckling, and really, really close. Lay opens his eyes. Xiumin is sitting on top of a large rock jutting out of the water.

          “Yah! That’s cheating!” Xiumin calls down when he sees Lay’s open eyes.

           “So is sitting on a rock!” Lay teases with a chuckle, pulling himself up to sit next to Xiumin. A wave crashes against his back.

          “You’re supposed to keep your eyes closed until you touch me.”

          “Well yeah but you were using camouflage-your abs are so chiseled I wouldn’t able to tell you from the rock,” Lay points out, eying the abs and biting at his lip.

          “Well I mean,” Xiumin brushes a hand through his hair and shrugs, “That is true. But you still didn’t touch me.”

           Lay rolls his eyes, and lays a hand on Xiumin’s arm, “There. You happy?”

           Xiumin scoffs, “Doesn’t count.” He playfully shoves at Lay’s hand, who loses balance and nearly falls off the rock. He glares at Xiumin.

           Xiumin giggles, “Sorry.”

          “Prove it,” Lay challenges.

          “How about another apology hug?” Xiumin offers brightly.

          Lay laughs, “You like those a little too much, no thanks.”

          “Oh,” Xiumin’s smile falls, “You don’t like the hugs?”

          “No, no, that’s not what I meant!” Lay turns to Xiumin, eyes wide with conviction, “I like hugging you very much.”

          “Oh.” Xiumin gets quiet, smiling to himself.

           In the silence, Lay has plenty of time to turn red and regret everything he’s ever done in his entire life. “I’m uh, going to head back,” he mumbles, slipping back into the water.

         “Wait! I’ll come with!” Xiumin jumps in after Lay. Together, they swim to the shore, walking when it gets shallow enough.

        “Ow!” Lay cries out.

       “What’s wrong?” Xiumin asks, immediately coming to Lay’s side, eyes scanning for injury.

       “I just stepped on something sharp. It’s no big deal,” he tries to reassure Xiumin, but his foot is burning.

       “Can you walk?” Xiumin pitches his face forward, adding intensity.

       “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Lay dismisses.

        “Okay, let me know if you need help.” And Xiumin continues walking, er, hovering, by Lay.

        Lay takes a step, “OW!” He leans back his weight on his other foot, lifting his injured foot to examine it and wobbling.

       “That’s it,” Xiumin steadies him, before calmly bending and swooping up Lay into his arms. “I’ll carry you.”

       “This really isn’t necessary,” Lay says, flushing at the obvious muscles literally surrounding him.

       “It is for me, I refuse to let you get hurt,” Realizing the weight of his words, he quickly adds, “besides, I owe you a hug anyway,” then Xiumin flashes that crooked grin down at Lay and Lay gives up.

       “’I refuse to let you get hurt’. Pf. Says the guy who let me stab my foot and nearly drown,” Lay utters, tracing small circles on Xiumin’s chest.

       Xiumin snorts, “You sound like Chen.”

       “Excuse me?” Lay looks up at Xiumin sternly, who begins laughing; stumbling slightly in his effort not to drop Lay. “See? See that?? Then he tries to drop me-yet another attempt on my life. It’s crazy that I still stand by him so much.”

      “Seems you’re not doing much standing at all, now are you?” Xiumin retorts.

       Lay gapes up at him in disbelief. Xiumin laughs harder than before, struggling not to fall.

       When they reach Suho and Chen, Xiumin gently places Lay next to the sleeping pair.

       “Xiumin, thank you,” Lay says softly, cheeks dimpling in gratitude. Xiumin beams and goes to work tugging back on his sweater, smiling to himself.

        “Chen, Suho, get up,” Lay gently shook the two of them

          Chen let out a whine and turns toward Suho in defense. Suho leans closer to Chen, but at Lay’s touch he jumps up, takes in his surroundings, and flushes.

        “Come on, up and at em Chen, we’re going to get going soon,” Lay pokes at Chen’s shoulder incessantly.

           Suho stands and goes to help Xiumin pack up. He nearly drops something and Xiumin laughs, then he throws it at Xiumin and it’s his turn to laugh. The two bicker and laugh, the sounds somewhat muffled beneath the waves crashing on the sand.

            Chen lazily opens his eyes, looking at where Suho had been laying a moment ago. He pouts and sifts his hands through the sand in the flattened, Suho-shaped area, lifting it to let it fall through his fingers.

            When they were all packed, Suho got stuck with having to carry most of the bags in addition to the umbrella, he struggled to carry all of it. He stumbled because of the weight and vision was made difficult by the sun in his eyes. Chen tugged the umbrella from where it was tucked under Suho’s elbow and opened it, tilting it so both him and Suho were in the shade. Suho looked at him in confusion.

            “Don’t thank me, I’m just trying not to burn,” Chen defended.

            “You don’t have to, Chen, you never burn,” Lay reminded him cheerily. He had his arm around Xiumin’s shoulders so he wouldn’t have to put so much weight on his hurt foot. Chen glared at the foot now, willing it to burst in to flames.

            “Can’t you leave the two lovebirds alone?” Xiumin teased.

            Who are you calling lovebirds? Chen watched them hit each other playfully and Lay giggling at something Xiumin whispered. Chen rolled his eyes.

            After they finished packing the car, Suho and Chen reclaimed their seats side-by-side in the back. Xiumin gingerly settled Lay in his seat next to them, but hesitated before sitting back up front.

            “Is everything alright?” Lay looked up at him in concern.

            “Yes, well technically no, but…yeah?” Xiumin replied, shrugging.

            Lay laughed, “That doesn’t really answer my question now does it. Is anything wrong?”

            “Well, your foot. It’s hurt,” Xiumin said, pointing in case Lay didn’t know.

            Lay laughed again, “Yeah, duh. We can deal with it when we get back.”

            Xiumin bit his lip, “But, but what if it gets worse?”

            “I’ll manage,” Lay promised with a smile. Xiumin’s eyebrows drew together, unconvinced and worried.

            “We have a small first aid kid in the trunk. It’s not much, but I’d feel better if the cut was disinfected and maybe bandaged as soon as possible, before we go I could just grab it and-“

            “Whoa,” Mr. Kim interrupted, “We can’t wait too long, and we have to beat the traffic rush. Mommy’s not going to be happy if I forget Luhan at soccer practice again.”

            “Oh yeah,” Xiumin remembered, scratching at his head thoughtfully.

            Chen had been falling back asleep, but he perked up suddenly, “Again? Forget Luhan at soccer practice again? That sweet little angel was abandoned excuse me back up a second how could you even think of-“

            Suho hushed him, giggling. Chen fell silent, shaking his head in disbelief.

            Mr. Kim shrugged, “Look, it happens. When you have four kids, then you can criticize.”

            “I’ll be okay, Xiumin,” Lay smiled again, reaching out an arm to reassure Xiumin but cringing back when his foot touched his seat.

            Xiumin’s heart ached, “No, I have to help you now.” He went around back to find the kit.

            “Okay, but I’m going to be driving so you have to be sitting somewhere,” Mr. Kim warned.

            “…how about the floor?” Xiumin wondered.

            “Not enough room,” Lay shook his head.

            “Chen, would you mind-“

            “Yes.” Chen said immediately.

            “Please, just move up to the front so I can help Lay?”

            “Oh honey, you lost me at ‘move’.”

            Xiumin thought it really wasn’t fair; Chen could glare way too fiercely with just one eye semi-open.

            “I could sit on your lap,” Lay offers.

            Xiumin stares at him. He blinks. Many moons pass before he finds his voice. “Hnph?” he asks intelligently.

            Lay just offers a half-smile and a shrug. Out of options.

            “Now or never,” Mr. Kim singsongs.

            Reluctantly, Xiumin sits on Lay’s seat, tugging Lay on top of him. Lay adjusts to get more comfortable and Xiumin tries to angle himself so his quickened heart rate might be slightly less audible.

            The car lurches to a start.

            “Wait!”

            Everybody looks to Xiumin, save for Chen, who grumbles and turns toward Suho. “Are you alright, Xiumin?” Suho asks around Chen.

            “We don’t have seatbelts!” Xiumin cries.

            “I’m your seatbelt,” Lay says simply, cheeks dimpling in a grin, “And you’ll be mine.” He grabs Xiumin’s hand that isn’t holding the first aid kit, placing it on his own waist. After a long moment, he catches on and tightens his whole arm around Lay, pulling him a bit closer (for safety purposes, of course). Lay leans back on Xiumin, back to chest, turning his head slightly to rest on Xiumin’s shoulder, eyes closing.

            Xiumin focuses very hard on Lay’s foot. But disinfecting and bandaging take practically no time at all. When he finishes, Lay wiggles his toes cutely, “Thanks, doc,” he teases, voice groggy and low.

Xiumin takes a deep breath.

            They get caught in some traffic (“We can take our time, I’m not busy tonight.” “But Dad, what about Luhan?” “…oh .”) on the way back, so it takes much longer. The boys all accept that. The beach has a peculiar ability to tire out anyone, and so they all take a nap

            Suho is leaning on Chen this time, temple against Chen’s shoulder, arms against his chest, and his legs wrapped around Chen’s calf. Lay’s hands were draped over Xiumin’s forearm.

            Mr. Kim noticed. His eyes darted to the rear-view mirror for checking traffic, and he kept seeing the two of them. It didn’t seem like much at first. But then he started seeing how Xiumin’s grip tightened on Lay when they went over a bump; how he leaned his head on Lay’s shoulder; how he smiled to Lay even in his sleep.

            “Do you like that Lay kid?”

            Everyone had slumped back home, half-asleep after their backseat nap. Xiumin was alone with his dad, unpacking the car, when he got the question.

            Xiumin’s eyes widen, “Well, yeah. He’s nice, a really good friend of mine, why?”

            “That’s not what I meant.”

            “Oh,” Xiumin flushes, “oh.”

            Mr. Kim smiles at his adorable son, “I take that as a yes.”

            “Oh! No no! Of course not! Why would you think that?”

            “Well, why are you blushing?”

            “Because it’s…this is an awkward question.”

            “No, what’s awkward is how obviously you like each other.”

            “Noooo, there’s no way he likes me back are you insane that’s-“ Xiumin shuts up when he realizes what he says, flushes deeper, and darts away into the house.

            “You’re welcome,” Lay says pointedly when they return back to their room.

            “Rmghh,” Chen slumps on the bannister, numbly marching up the stairs.

            Lay eagerly follows, “It is…enough? Do you want to do anything else? Are you still unhappy? Is there anything at all I can do for you right now that might-“

            “Shhhhhhhh,” Lay blindly puts a hand on Lay’s face, awkwardly fumbling with his cheek until his hand settles over Lay’s mouth, “Let me sleep. Somebody woke me up early this morning, so I’m tired.”

            Lay blinks, “Are you ing serious?”

            Chen’s eyes open widely and he nods solemnly, “Right?? You could not have summarized my feelings about the experience more perfectly.”

            Lay opens his mouth to respond, but is at a loss for words and he merely stands staring at Chen, mouth opened with an incredulous expression. When he snaps to, he notices Chen left him there. He stomps up to the room. Chen is already in the bed, and Lay glares at him, willing him to look up. Chen finally cracks one eye open, closes it, and sighs.

            “You know,” Lay starts, “that actually reminds me of this jerk who woke me up this morning and just kept making that sound.”

            “Sounds annoying,” Chen mumbles. He sighs again.

            Lay is about to respond, but decides not so argue and shakes his head to calm down. He takes a deep breath, letting the anger go.

            Chen sits up immediately, “Did you just sigh? That is my job description!”

            Lay stares him down.

            “Oh good, you’re up,” Lay deadpans, mimicking Chen. Then he sighs in a far more dramatic way and walks out of the room.

            Lay cackles when he hears Chen’s screech of disbelief.

Author's note: HEY EVERYONE!! <3 ! So like, not gonna lie, this chapter was 300% inspired by Xiumin R I P P I N G his clothes off in that concert and ing me up for literally weeks. Also Lay's abs are delicious so bam. Wanna know where my inspiration as a writer comes from? Lol beautiful shirtless men are a pathetically large percentage of my muses, sorrynotsorry. This chapter is kind of long to make up for my millenia-gaps in between updates (oops) (I AM WORKING ON THAT ALSO!) but also it's long cause the next chapter is kiiing of a big deal plot-wise, and I felt like I needed a good build up yknow? Hope you liked it... 

I deeply love everyone who subscribed to or upvoted this story (if you did both then I can confidently tell you that at some point tears of joy probably sprang into my eyes because of you). If you haven't subscribed, it's free, and I will be eternally grateful :). I hope everyone had a good week! Eat well and sleep well! <3 <3 <3

(Totally off topic but I'm v much obsessed with Twice atm (I LEARNED THE DANCE TO OOH AHH LMAO) and if anyone wants to rant in a comment or message or something about them you are MORE than welcome <3)