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Anton is annoyed. He likes the beach, don’t get him wrong, but the salt clings to his skin and leaves him sticky in ways that chlorine doesn’t. He loves his family too, but after being away at college for the year and spending the whole summer at home, the seamless way they used to fit together feels clunky in a way it didn’t before. Needless to say, Anton needs some one on one time with the pool.
The one at the hotel is too small, too hot, and too filled with screaming children, but luckily Anton found a nice outdoor pool a short 10 minute walk away. After a quick shower, he packs his swim bag, put his headphones on, and makes his way over.
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Anton thinks this may be heaven. The pool is nearly empty, the only other patrons being people over the age of 40. Lane lines run down the whole length of the pool, an unexpected find given the time and location, but Anton has always been one to count his blessings. Plus, he really wasn’t in the mood to get hit by an errant football in the middle of backstroke.
The lifeguard is pretty nice to look at as well; his lips are thick and a smile seems permanently etched onto his face. Anton can’t help but steal a few glances as he strips down to his suit and puts on his cap and goggles.
All is forgotten when he hops in the water and pushes off into streamline. The water is cool on Anton’s skin as he glides through it, and it’s exactly what he was needing.
After about 20 minutes, Anton finishes his warm up and takes a break at the wall. As he tries to think of what to do—he never remembers to plan his vacation workouts ahead of time, much to the chagrin of his coach—his eyes wander around the rest of the pool before remembering the lifeguard from earlier. Anton’s gaze finds the sole lifeguard stand, and is a bit disappointed to find that the employees have rotated while he was warming up and a new man sits in his place.
Luckily for Anton, the new lifeguard is just as handsome as the first. Maybe even moreso, as this lifeguard is without a shirt and putting his impressive physique on display. This lifeguard is, also, staring straight back at Anton.
Anton feels himself flush, embarrassed at likely being caught ogling the hot lifeguard. He quickly turns his head back to the wall before pushing off into freestyle, as if he can swim his problems away—which is something Anton tries to do more often than he’d like to admit.
He swims aimlessly for the next few laps, but his head eventually clears enough that he can decide on a workout and get started. Anton is good at getting in the zone like that when it comes to swimming.
However, his mental clarity proves to be short lived when he switches to backstroke and notices that the lifeguard is once again looking right at him. Anton brushes this off; there’s only a handful of patrons at the pool, so it’s not like there’s much else to look at. It gets harder to ignore when he goes back to freestyle, and Anton can see the man staring at him every time he takes a breath.
Anton can’t help but wonder what this guy’s deal is. Does he think Anton is going to drown or something? A little insulted by the lifeguard’s hypothetical concern, he doubles down on his efforts and makes sure his stroke is perfect. Not to show off of course, just to make sure that this guy knows that Anton knows what he’s doing. Because he does.
After another hour or so, Anton brings his workout to a close. He periodically checked to see if the lifeguard was still watching him, each time with similar results. However, Anton realizes, he had gotten so into his last set that he didn’t notice when the first lifeguard had come back to relieve the second one of duty, the later now nowhere to be seen.
Both disappointed and relieved—the lifeguard was hot, sure, but Anton is anxious as hell—Anton pulls himself out of the pool to towel himself off. He’s unhurried as he gets ready to leave, but he knows his parents have made dinner reservations and he doesn’t want to get on their bad side by getting back late. Just as he’s about to put his headphones on, he hears someone clear their throat behind him.
Anton turns around quickly, startled, and the butterflies in his gut decide to stick around when he realizes who got his attention.
In front of him stands the lifeguard from earlier, the smile on his lips doing a poor job at distracting Anton from the washboard abs and defined arms he’s sporting. Anton thought he was desensitized after spending years around shirtless and practically pantless men, but something about this guy and his penchant for paying Anton way too much attention seems to have scrambled his brains in a way he hopes to god isn’t permanent. The man begins to speak, mercifully cutting off Anton’s derailing train of thought.
“Hey! You’re pretty good at swimming, do you do it often?” the man says cheerily. His eyes are bright as he looks at Anton, more expressive than he could have noticed from his place in the pool.
“Um, yeah. Thanks.” Anton doesn’t mean to be awkward, but he’s not sure what else to say. He really hopes he looks like he does it often, given the sheer amount of practice his college team puts him through, but a compliment is a compliment, especially when it comes from a guy as good looking as this one.
“Sorry, that was probably a weird question.” The man says sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head, but his smile remains.
“I’m Sungchan by the way.” he says while sticking his hand out, presumably to shake.
“It’s alright, I’m Anton.” he replies, grasping the offered hand with his own.
“What a strange person”, Anton thinks to himself, yet he’s unable to keep himself from softly smiling back.
“Well,” Sungchan starts, elongating the vowel sound, “I was wondering if you happened to be free after this? I get off in 10.” he finishes while kicking the ground with one of his feet.
Anton mind is running at a mile a minute. A man like Sungchan wants to hang out with him? Is he interested in Anton? People don’t stare at a stranger they caught checking them out for a literal hour and then approach them later and ask to hangout if they just want to be friends, right? God Anton is so bad at this.
His heart sinks a little when he realizes that none of his erratic thoughts even matter, since the rest of his day has been designated for family.
“Ah, I’m not, I have a dinner to get to and my parents will be pissed if I skip.” Anton replies sadly, a small pout resting on his lips. Of course the one time a hot stranger approaches him and asks to hang, Anton, who tends to never have any plans outside of swimming, is actually busy. The universe must hate him.
“Damn, that sucks. I was really hoping to get to know you out of the water.” Sungchan says, his grin still there but a bit crooked now.
Anton’s mouth starts moving before his brain can even catch up and he blurts out, “Are you working tomorrow?”
Fuck, Anton seems way too eager, but hot and weird is unfortunately his exact type and he cannot let Sungchan just slip away.
At his response, Sungchan’s smile was brought back to full force.
“Yeah, 10 to 4. Gonna pay us another visit?” Sungchan asks almost teasingly, leaning into his space in a way that makes Anton realize the other is slightly taller than him, and Anton thinks his brain is going to leak from his ears.
What’s left of Anton’s gray matter reminds him that his only obligation tomorrow is lunch with his family, and the rest of the day is his to decide.
“I’ll be here at 3.”