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“When you said you wanted to catch the attention of the cute lifeguard on duty, I thought you meant you’d parade around in your nicest board shorts and purposely trip and fall in front of his station – not wade so deep into the ocean that you can’t touch the floor with your toes anymore.”
Hyunjin is rarely the voice of reason, nor the most responsible one in their little friend group (that would be Seungmin ), but the way he’s staring at Jisung right now is far too reminiscent of Chan’s disapproving, fatherly gaze.
“And dude, you’re like three feet tall and don’t even know how to swim – “
“Okay, okay, I get it . Can you lay off me now?”
Hyunjin glowers down at him as if he’d just sprouted a third head. “Uh – no? Dude, I’d probably be actually mad at you if I wasn’t more relieved that the guy you were trying to impress actually managed to save you.”
When Jisung and his friends all decided to stay in town for the summer, they thought it was going to be drinks, parties, and firecracker romances from June to September. And they certainly didn’t think their first day down by the beach should have started with one of their friends almost drowning.
For reasons that Jisung couldn’t justify now, he had come up with this “master plan” of sorts to pretend to drown in the ocean to “catch the cute lifeguard’s attention”. Cute lifeguard being an upperclassman Jisung had seen around campus for a while now, with sleek brown hair, bright eyes, and a stunning smile. Jisung was...more than electrified to see said boy being a lifeguard at their quaint college town’s beach.
Hyunjin thought it was a stupid idea, Seungmin thought it was a terrible idea, and Felix stared at him in only a way that an actual accomplished swimmer like Felix could.
“Couldn’t you just...I dunno, talk to him ?”
“That’s not how you make a super impression, Minnie.” claimed Jisung. “Besides, I’ll be fine , and when he kisses me – “
“ Resuscitates? ”
“ – Kisses me, he’ll be smitten. He’ll wanna know more and then we spend the rest of the summer together and we’ll all laugh about it in the end.”
Except he wasn’t laughing when he waded so deep into the ocean that he could barely feel the sand with the tips of his toes.
“Are you sure we should just be letting him go into the water like that? He can’t swim, Hyunjin.”
“If he wants to make a fool of himself, I say, let him make a fool of himself. And if he wants to get out the water, Felix will go fetch him himself.” Hyunjin barks out a dry laugh and squints his eyes in the sun to get a better look at Jisung. “Of course...when Felix comes back from the food shack with our snacks.”
Both of them watched as Jisung beamed at them with his large teeth, his head just bobbing above the gently rolling waves.
“See, he’s fine .” Hyunjin laughs as Jisung is trying his hardest to keep his head above the water’s surface. Seconds later, the water level dipped low enough for Jisung to crane his neck up, only for a cresting wave to come crashing down on his head, prompting Hyunjin to break into a fit of laughter. “God, he’s so stupid.”
Where Jisung’s head was supposed to resurface was now replaced by frantic hands, punching through the surface to grasp at nothing but air. The sight makes Seungmin’s face fall and he clutches onto Hyunjin’s arm in alarm.
“...Hyunjin, was he supposed to start “pretending” before Felix got back?”
“Hm? What are you talking about?”
“No – look…! ” Seungmin immediately grasps him by the arm and points out at the water, where it quickly looks like Jisung is fighting the crashing waves. “Hyunjin, he’s – he’s actually drowning! We have to go get help…! ”
“It’s a good thing that upperclassman you were completely head over heels about literally came to the rescue.” Hyunjin muses, crossing his arms and tilting his head back in memory. “He ran to the shoreline so fast, blowing his whistle and everything, and just dove right in to get you. So cool.”
Jisung pouts and crashes onto his bed with a groan. The sheer panic led to him passing out underwater, but thankfully his guardian angel pulled him right out. His chest still aches when he thinks of him being dragged back up to full consciousness like a fish reeled in on a hook. Perhaps coughing up saltwater wasn’t the best way to make a first impression; he couldn’t even appreciate just how angelic his savior looked, with those sharp features and his damp hair slicked back, because Jisung simply burst into tears right on the spot.
“...Can you help me make it up to him, Hyunjin?”
Hyunjin looks up from his phone. “What?”
Jisung bolts up and off the bed, prompting the other boy to jump. “You heard me. Help me make it up to Minho hyung.”
“W-Wait, hold up, are you sure you’re good to be walking around and stuff? Seungmin said you should stay in bed – “
“ – and that you’re supposed to watch me. But do you really wanna stay inside our hotel room all day? Or do you wanna dick around the boardwalk and help me look for a gift for Minho?” Jisung smirks at him, and paired with that devilish eyebrow raise of his, it’s hard for Hyunjin to turn down the tempting offer.
Which is how Jisung finds himself back at the beach later that day, while skillfully dodging Seungmin out on the boardwalk and coming up with...a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of ramune soda.
Jisung sees the lifeguard, Minho, perched up on the balcony of the observatory shack, his hair shifting slightly in the sea breeze and his sharp, sunkissed features. He inhales deeply – before turning on his heel and walking back toward Hyunjin.
“I can’t do this.”
“No, no, no. You’re gonna do this. I didn’t risk my ass getting kicked by Seungmin just for you to chicken out now. Plus, this idea’s much better than you wading out into the ocean like a toddler who discovered the deep end of a swimming pool. Now go , before I kick your ass.” Jisung opens his mouth to protest, but Hyunjin is already grabbing him by the shoulders, turning him around, and pushing him towards the lifeguard’s observatory deck.
He swallows the thick lump in his throat and marches on, and his knees turn into jelly when the wood beneath his sneakers makes way for uneven, loose sand.
Minho notices him sooner than he arrives at the base of the shack, and Jisung fights the urge to turn around and make a run for it.
“...Is that for someone special? Gonna be a secret admirer?” The older boy’s voice is playful like a cat, and the laugh that comes out of Jisung’s throat is way too shaky for his liking. Jisung supposes he could have done a better job with hiding his little gifts, and now he feels absolutely stupid.
“Actually...they’re for you, hyung!” He forces the most crooked of smiles on his face, his cheeks bubbling up red with timidity. “Uh...thank you. For saving me yesterday.”
Minho blinks down at him from the balcony, almost as if feigning the split-second realization that he already knew Jisung was here for him – the only lifeguard on duty at this section of the beach. “What a surprise,” he replies cheekily, and a grin spreads across his features that makes Jisung’s heart throb for different reasons.
Jisung’s breath hitches in his throat as Minho come down the relatively short ramp to meet him, and wow, he’s so much more beautiful this close , he thinks.
“...Flowers. And a bottle of ramune?”
“Would have been soju, but uh, I figured you shouldn’t have any alcohol on the job.”
“Yeah. Because I’ll get fired .”
“A-Ah.”
A wave of regret causes the fibers of Jisung’s body to tense up, especially when the older boy is staring him down like this with his big, twinkling eyes. All too quickly, however, does the tension ease up when Minho breaks into a chirpy laugh and reaches up to ruffle his hair affectionately.
“Thanks. Not all the time I get people who shower me with flowers and gifts while I’m doing my job.”
“O-Oh…! Well...it’s the least I can do. Because I was pretty stupid yesterday.”
Minho shakes his head before taking the small bouquet and the soda bottle into his hands. “Just doing my job. Normally I’d be more stern with you beachgoers but...you’re lucky you’re cute.”
It’s like Hyunjin himself held a lighter to his hair and set him on fire. “... E-Ehhh?! ” A nervous yet jaunty laugh stutters out of Jisung’s throat, and Minho joins him with a chuckle of his own.
“...Tell you what. I get off at six today. Let’s say you and I go grab some food, some drinks, and see where we go from there.” A tiny smirk plays on the corners of his lips as he tilts his head forward. “How about it?”
Jisung’s eyes widen and the only thing that comes out of his mouth is a droning uhhhhhhh ; he quickly snaps his head back to look over his shoulder at Hyunjin, who simply mouths at him what are you waiting for .
“...Y-Yeah. Yes! It’s a date!” Shit, it’s a date.
Minho grins at him, batting his long eyelashes at him like a pair of butterfly wings. “A date , huh? Already going that far?”
“O-Oh. Well, I mean – “
“Six. Yeah?”
“Y-Yes. Six. I’ll see you then.” Jisung nods emphatically, and Minho regards him with one last sultry look before trudging back up the ramp, flowers and soda in hand.
Perhaps...this summer might actually be entertaining after all.