Chapter Text
“But I can’t swim. And I
hate
the water. I can barely even balance on a skateboard. Or a bicycle. Or my own two
feet
-”
“Just try one class. If you hate it that much you can drop it and I’ll take it by myself, okay?” Seungmin pulls on Hyunjin’s arm, practically dragging him along the sizzling hot sand toward where their surfing class is about to begin.
Hyunjin kind of feels bad for all the whining he’s been doing when he remembers his best friend of three years now doesn’t like trying new things alone. That’s the only reason he signed up for this class and came here today - because of the way Seungmin’s eyes dimmed when he saw that all the surfing classes he had been looking forward to this semester filled up before it even got to his enrollment date, and because of the way they lit up when he’d been notified of an added extra class, due to high demand for the popular sport. One with a ‘temporary instructor’. Whatever that meant.
The unforgiving southern California sun rays beam down on them and Hyunjin feels himself starting to sweat already, feels entirely too lanky and exposed in his wetsuit, and his arms are starting to burn from having to carry the gigantic surfboard they rented earlier. He tells himself he’ll wait one or two classes until Seungmin makes a friend in the course, and then he’ll drop the class and never have to come back here to make a fool out of himself ever again.
He tosses his board onto the sand to sit down on it when they’ve joined the rest of the students near the shore. It’s one of the beaches further down the coast, so the waves are slower and bigger, they crash much more melodically than the ones up in Santa Monica.
“ Yeah, it looks like all the students have the right size boards…it’s approaching three, so I'm gonna start now. I’ll get those papers to you by tonight.”
Hyunjin and Seungmin both whip their head to the right and spot an older man and a younger man speaking. They watch in confusion as the older one, who looks like he could be their professor, walks…. away?
“Is that the professor?” Hyunjin points to the younger boy with shaggy hair. He looks like he’s one of the students. But he did just say something like he would ‘start’ now.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Seungmin rolls his eyes. “He’s obviously not old enough to be the teacher.”
Hyunjin eyes him again, the brown hair that blows around his face in disarray as he swipes some sand off his surfboard, the way his wetsuit clings to his body, the way it's supposed to, the way everybody else’s is - but somehow his is a lot more captivating. Hyunjin gulps when he lifts the board to carry it under his arm and his biceps flex with the movement.
“And close your mouth, you’re drooling,” Seungmin says.
“Am not,” he mumbles. But now he’s secretly thinking maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to come today. Maybe he could get something out of this.
Like a phone number. For example.
“Alright guys, it’s nice to finally meet all of you,” the guy says as he stands in front of where all the students are sitting in various spots on the sand, the ocean as a backdrop behind him - as if he’s in a painting. Hyunjin thinks he kind of looks like somebody that belongs in a painting. “I’m Lee Minho. Or just Minho. And I know what you’re all thinking- how am I your teacher this semester when I look just as old as you guys…”
Hyunjin and Seungmin turn to each other, jaws practically on the floor. So he is the professor.
“But your university offered me this position for the semester and, well, the usual demographic for the classes I teach are kids and toddlers. But toddlers and college students… pretty much the same thing, right?”
The students let out a few chuckles and Minho starts telling everyone about his qualifications and the past competitions he’s won, and also about the private surfing classes he teaches on his own during the spring and summer. By the time he’s done introducing himself, Hyunjin feels like a failure of a person for not having even half as many accomplishments under his belt as Minho does for his age. (The only trophy he has in his room at home is for a chess tournament he competed in sometime during middle school. And it was a participation award.) And he’s sure he’s not the only one in the class who feels that way.
“I know you guys are eager to get in the water,” he says, still leaning against his surfboard that sits propped up in the sand. It looks considerably faded- probably from all the time it's spent burning in the sun. “But today we’re just going to introduce ourselves and work on the basics. Maybe by the end we can get in for a few minutes though. Any questions?”
A girl raises her hand.
“Will we be able to surf by the end of the semester?” She asks.
“We’ll mostly just be learning the basics in this class, like form,” Minho responds. “But on rare occasion I have seen a student or two ride a wave within the first few months.”
Great , Hyunjin thinks. So surfing is even harder than he thought.
He raises his own hand after hesitating for a bit.
“What if we don’t know how to swim?” He asks when Minho gives him a nod of acknowledgement.
He doesn’t expect everybody to whip their heads toward him and look at him as if he just admitted to murder.
But that’s exactly what happens.
He throws a hand over his forehead to act like he’s blocking the sun, but really he’s just doing it to hide how red his face just turned.
‘Why would you ask that in front of everybody ,’ he hears Seungmin mumble from next to him.
Minho raises his eyebrows, tries to not look too surprised by the question, but it’s obvious he is a little taken aback. “You can still learn how to surf…” he says, seemingly trying to find the right words. “It’ll just be a little harder to feel comfortable in the water.”
Hyunjin gives a meek nod in response and their instructor offers him a small, encouraging smile, even though it just leaves him feeling scrutinized.
After a few more questions and answers, Minho passes around a survey that’s supposed to assess their previous experience, if any, and their physical ability.
Hyunjin knows before the paper even reaches him that this is the first test of the semester that he’s going to fail.
“ Have you played any water sports within the last five years? Swimming, water polo …” Seungmin reads a question aloud to him. “You can go ahead and check ‘no’ on that one, Hyun,” he says, just to be annoying.
Hyunjin doesn’t satisfy him with any response. If he were someone a bit more ambitious, maybe he’d reply with something like ‘ we’ll see which one of us is laughing by the end of the semester’ . But the truth is - he’ll be lucky if he’s even able to balance on his board by the end of the course.
The class goes pretty much just the way Minho said. And by the time they actually get to the learning part, it’s approaching the end. They don’t end up making it into the water, much to Hyunjin’s relief. The most that they do is lay on their (burning hot) boards and learn the correct form for paddling. He’s sure it looks more like a pilates class than a surfing one to any onlooker.
By the time Minho’s walking around to check everyone’s movements and also collecting their surveys from before, Hyunjin’s surprised he’s not drenched in sweat. He’s really looking forward to the latter part of the semester, when it will no longer feel like God is trying to burn them to a crisp from his place in the sky. It won’t be cold , since LA never really drops below a certain temperature, but it’ll be a nice in-between - not too hot, not too cool. Just right.
Hyunjin pulls his hair into a small ponytail, desperate to get the long strands out of his face, and hands his paper up to Minho when he reaches them.
“Please tell me we’re graded on effort and not on actual skill,” he says.
Minho huffs out a laugh, eyes scanning the answers on his paper in a flash. Hyunjin can’t help but notice that he’s even prettier up close. As he takes it all in - the long, windblown hair and set of piercing, dark eyes, the sun-tanned skin that proves he’s a lot more acquainted with the sun than the rest of them - he thinks it shouldn’t be such a deadly combination. But on him it is. Especially for Hyunjin, who, on a scale of 1-100 of how gay he is, considers himself somewhere in the thousands.
Seungmin, his best friend who is also fairly high on the gay scale, knows this. Hyunjin can feel his eyes on him as they conversate.
“Automatic fail if you can’t ride a wave by the end of the semester,” Minho jokes, grabbing Seungmin’s paper even as he directs a pair of playful eyes Hyunjin’s way.
Hyunjin purses his lips, says, “Then I have bad news for you.”
The only way to describe the face Minho makes is ninety-nine percent amused and one percent concerned. “Hey, don’t lose hope yet. You can’t give up before you’ve even started,” he says, voice taking on a softer tone as he suddenly goes from his teasing demeanor to something a little more serious. “Plus, I can really see you becoming an expert surfer. You have the body for it.”
Hyunjin thinks he feels his brain flatline. “The body for it?”
“Yeah. Lithe. And you move loosely. Not stiff like some other people,” Minho says. “That’ll come in handy when you’re in the water.”
You noticed all of that about me just in the last two hours?
“What’s your name?” He asks. Even though there’s a paper right in front of him with that information on it.
“Hyunjin. Hwang Hyunjin.”
“I’ll keep an eye on you, Hyunjin,” he says, then points down at him. “Now, lift your arms up a bit higher and keep going. Looks like you’re gonna need to build a little more arm strength than everyone else.”
Then he walks away.
It's not until a few minutes later when they’re picking up their boards and getting ready to leave that he realizes what he actually said.
“Wait.” He whips his head toward Seungmin, whose eyes now have a humorous glint to them. “Did he just imply that I have noodle arms?”
Seungmin stifles a laugh. “Dude. Yes.”
-
It’s not really a surprise when the surfing class doesn’t go as smoothly for Hyunjin as it does for the other students. He’s admittedly a little bit worse than everyone else. But, in his defense, he was never supposed to be here in the first place. And to be fair, him and large, deep bodies of water don’t really get along . Never have and most likely never will.
But he tries. He swears he does.
If his apparent lack of skills results in Minho paying him a bit more attention than the other students, then so be it.
Today they’re in the water, still not really practicing any specific techniques, more just learning to get familiar with their boards and learning how to spot good waves.
Seungmin’s a few feet away from him lying on his board and looking back at where the waves are forming in the distance, swiping his hands through the water leisurely.
Hyunjin grabs onto his board as it wobbles due to the movement of the water. His body feels awkward when he lies on it and it feels like he can’t get in a good position no matter how many times he adjusts himself. Even though it seems to be so easy for everyone else.
(But maybe that’s because nobody else is as scared of drowning as he is.)
They’re not even that far out. If he were to stand up, he'd be able to touch the sand and still have his upper chest out of the water. But that doesn’t mean some accident couldn’t still happen. His brain is extremely creative when it comes to imagining all the various ways in which he could, well, drown .
He comes to the incorrect conclusion that he’s balanced enough to look back at where the waves are forming to try and spot a wave that’s small but powerful, and unbroken- or whatever word Minho used earlier. But apparently he’s not because the second he turns around, he leans too far to one side and does a complete one-eighty on his board, dunks himself like someone just hit a bullseye at a party somewhere.
One second he’s above the water, safe and sound, and the next he’s flailing wildly beneath the surface.
“-you okay? Hyunjin?” He hears Seungmin’s voice when he finally finds his footing and pops his head back up, out of the warzone below and back into the atmosphere where there’s oxygen for him to breathe .
“I’m fine. Doing amazing,” Hyunjin grumbles in response. He swipes back the waterfall of drenched hair covering his face and opens his eyes to find Minho heading toward them.
“Need some help?” He asks when he reaches them. He grabs the board and flips it back upright, all with that same amused smile that seems to always be on his face when he’s around Hyunjin.
On the other hand, Hyunjin must look like a kicked puppy, with the pout now lining his lips.
“Don’t look so sad. It’s okay, we all fall sometimes,” the older says as he holds onto the board to stabilize it and reaches out a hand.
Hyunjin feels like everyone’s eyes are on them as he grabs ahold of it and is helped back onto his board.
It’s only been a few days, but honestly, they should be used to this by now.
“What matters is that you get back up again, right?” Minho says once the younger is situated back onto his board, sitting down this time, looking like a wet mop. A sad wet mop.
“Right,” he mumbles. He looks down to find that he’s still gripping Minho’s hand like his life depends on it. He lets it go in a flash as his face fills with heat.
-
Despite the fact that being in the water is considerably difficult for him, and that he’s probably one of the worst students in the class when it comes to skill, Hyunjin doesn’t sulk or whine on his way to class anymore like you would expect him to.
Seungmin doesn’t fail to notice this.
“What’s got you in such a rush?” Seungmin asks as they’re walking along the sand toward where the class is about to begin, Hyunjin a few feet ahead of him with an expression on his face that doesn’t look nearly as miserable as the one he wore on the first day.
“Nothing,” he says. He spots Minho in the distance looking around, probably for the last few students to arrive. Hyunjin lifts his arm up and waves enthusiastically. He thinks he sees Minho’s mouth quirk up into a smile, even from here, as he waves back. Getting to amuse their instructor for two whole hours is the only plus side to this class, he thinks. “Don’t wanna be late.”
“Sure,” Seungmin mumbles. Decides to leave it at that.
Today they’re practicing more paddling. They haven’t moved past that part yet, and there have been a few muttered complaints from the students about when they’ll move on, but Minho insists they need to perfect the basics first if they want to be able to surf successfully.
Hyunjin is far from perfecting the basics, he knows that. But he is improving, little by little.
“Excited to be tortured by your favorite student for the next two hours?”
Hyunjin slinks up next to Minho to ask the question as everyone walks up to the shore and heads into the water to start the lesson for the day.
“I don’t have a favorite student,” Minho lets out a small chuckle, lifts his board above his head as the water gets deeper. He turns toward Hyunjin. “I’d be a terrible teacher if I did.”
He doesn’t deny the torture part.
“All teacher’s secretly have a favorite student,” Hyunjin taunts.
“Do they?”
“Yeah. I’m yours, right?”
When Hyunjin sees Minho’s mouth quirk up into another smile, that’s when he lets his own do the same. He may be bad at surfing. But at least he has his humor to cancel it out. (If that’s how it works.)
In lieu of any real reply, Minho just tells everyone where to line up so they can start their first test.
There are a few groans as he explains the surprise test where they’ll paddle along a small wave individually. “It doesn’t have to be perfect,” he explains as the first person gets situated on their board next to him. “I just need you to show me that you’ve learned how to do it correctly. I’m here to fix any mistakes before they become habits.”
Hyunjin and Seungmin are near the back of the long line of students, who probably look like little ducklings lined up in the water. And they watch as each student goes, most passing with only a comment or two from Minho, maybe a correction or redo every once in a while. It looks easy enough. But Hyunjin knows by now that the water is deceiving, and that everything out here looks a lot easier than it actually is.
“If I finally drown today, just know my death is in your hands,” Hyunjin mumbles from atop his board as Minho helps him into place when it’s reached his turn.
When he feels a hand come down to his lower back that’s meant to correct his form, he’s sure another ocean has manifested inside his stomach, because he feels the crashing of tidal waves down there like a storm is building.
“I won’t let you die,” Minho responds. Adds with a smirk, “I would get fired.”
Hyunjin's mouth drops open. “ Fired ?”
It’s better than the alternative of blurting out something completely inappropriate, like-
Would you perform mouth to mouth cpr on me?
He only has the thought for a split second before he’s already picturing it in his head; opening his eyes only to meet a pair of big, glinting ones an inch away from his, soft lips pressed firmly against his own, breathing oxygen into his lungs as he regains consciousness, wakes up to the sight of somebody resembling an angel.
(He can almost hear the background music.)
Maybe drowning wouldn’t be so bad, he thinks.
“You care about your job more than your student’s life?” He continues, addicted to the way he’s got their teacher entertained. Apparently. Seungmin claims he’s really not all that funny,
“I won’t let you drown, Hyunjin. Promise,” Minho says, speaking seriously now after a student behind them calls out something like, is it almost our turn?
Hyunjin mumbles out a quiet, ‘okay,’ and Minho heads to his position a couple feet away to watch.
Hyunjin can feel Seungmin’s eyes on him without even turning around.
“ I won't let you drown, my love. Promise ,” his best friend mocks, leaning forward to whisper the words out. “Does the kiss scene come next?”
Hyunjin almost shoves him into the water. But he holds back and instead focuses on how he’s going to paddle forward successfully with all the eyes currently on him, with the endless ocean around him that’s mocking him, telling him it’s gonna swallow him whole.
But he swallows his nerves and tries his best.
He ends up passing the test with flying colors. At least that’s what Minho tells him until he pulls him off to the side and tells him all the things he needs to work on.
He doesn’t know how Minho still talks to him, looks at him like there’s any hope left of him learning. Clearly he’s a lost cause. Surely he can see that, right? Maybe he’s just too good of a teacher to tell him to drop the class - one of those people to be the type to say enough hard work can help you overcome anything. Hyunjin believes that too. Except not when it comes to him and surfing . He can’t even imagine himself being able to ride a wave one day, much less even be able to stand up on the board.
So why hasn’t he dropped the class yet?
(But if anybody were to actually ask him that, he would simply decline to answer.)
-
It’s only a few classes later when Minho decides to make an intervention.
Hyunjin’s all burned out and exhausted from the two hour long wrestling he’s just done with the water, but still attempts to float out a few more waves at the end of class when only he and Minho are left in the water. Most people have packed up and left, but a few students still remain near the shore, changing or putting their stuff away. He can spot Seungmin sitting in the sand waiting for him.
“If you think of the ocean as something scary and daunting, you’ll never be able to ride the waves the way you want to,” Minho calls from where he’s sitting on his board a few feet away. Easy and graceful, so unlike Hyunjin in his current state. “Don’t fight the water. You have to move with the waves, not against them.”
“How?” Hyunjin sputters. “They’re constantly trying to knock you down. And drown you!” Right then, a wave passes by and leaves him wobbling before it knocks him right off his board.
Used to falling by now, he pops back up out of the water within seconds. “Hello! This is like attempted murder or something.”
Minho laughs, so loud and real that Hyunjin’s chest glows with pride at his own joke. Or maybe it glows with something else.
“You do know swimming is a recommended prerequisite for this class, right? And this is exactly why.”
Another wave overtakes Hyunjin from the side and when he comes back up for air, he’s coughing miserably, a pout on his face.
Minho shakes his head, paddles over to him before hopping off his board and leaning against it. Hyunjin does the same.
All thoughts of his surfing skills and death via drowning disappear when he takes in the sight of Minho in front of him, wet hair dripping down his face in a way that makes it seem like they're in some kind of magazine photoshoot right now. He’s still trying to get used to the way his heart picks up speed whenever Minho’s eyes are on him. Like he’s peaking below the surface and seeing something that nobody else does.
“I’m requiring extra lessons for you,” he says, matter-of-factly, bringing Hyunjin out of his thoughts.
“You can’t do that,” he replies.
“I know. But if you agree I promise to give you an ‘A’.”
Hyunjin’s mouth drops open.
“You can’t do that either.” Another wave attempts to start a physical fight with Hyunjin, luckily he’s able to kind of glide over it when he jumps up a little.
“Yeah I can. It’s a surfing class,” Minho scoffs. “The only thing in the gradebook is attendance and effort. That’s why half the people took this class.” He points to the students in the sand.
Hyunjin looks over and realizes, he’s probably not wrong .
“That's coercement,” Hyunjin teases with the smallest quirk of his lips. He moves his board forward a little and rests his chin on it, looking up at the older. He watches him let out a small huff of defeat, like he can’t deny that it kind of is . It’s cute.
“Come on, just an extra thirty minutes after the class ends. It’ll help you get more comfortable in the water, and I can focus on you instead of splitting my attention between a million different people.” Hyunjin wills the heat in his face to go away when he says that, knows he doesn’t mean it like that .
“You can say no,” he finishes, even though he really doesn’t have to convince him. Private lessons with Minho? He’d pay for something like that.
Not that he has any ulterior motives or anything.
“Fine. But only if you buy me frozen yogurt after.”
He points to the yogurt shop in the distance, directly across the street from the beach. That place is always tempting him during class. Sometimes he gives into his desires, dragging Seungmin along with him so they can pile endless toppings into their cups and get their fill of the frozen treat. Those are the best days.
He expects Minho to bring up some technical rule about how professors and students can’t hang out after class. Like he’s forty years old or something. But he takes him by surprise when he says, “Deal.”
They share a smile for a second before they're interrupted by Seungmin calling Hyunjin's name from his place on the sand. Hyunjin can’t really make out the words, but he knows it’s probably him telling him to hurry up.
So they hop on back onto their boards and head back to the shore.