Work Text:
“Hobi hyung, hold my phone?” Jimin asks, taking his phone out of the pocket of his swim trunks. “I want to swim.”
Hoseok takes it without question, but looks at the ocean cautiously. “It’s cold, you know.” He looks down at Jimin’s clothes--only the pair of swim trunks, not a wetsuit, as would be proper for waters like these. “You’ll freeze your ass off.”
Four other voices hum their assent, but Jimin doesn’t care. It’s a perfect day, the band and their crew on the beach, and since they’ve wrapped up filming, he might as well waste whatever time they have left here goofing off.
Jimin shrugs. “Life is short,” he says, looking to Taehyung where he stands beside him. “You coming?”
Taehyung, as the only other person there dressed to swim, nods. “Let’s do it.” He shucks off his shirt, tossing it over to a waiting Seokjin, whom he offers a wink before he takes Jimin’s hand, and the two of them run off toward the waves.
The sand is rough beneath his feet, and he nearly stumbles trying to avoid a seashell where it pokes out of the ground threatening to stab his soles. He laughs, grabbing hold of Taehyung’s hand as they splash into the sea, and it’s just as cold as promised.
Shrieks of laughter leave him, Jimin’s other hand coming up to wrap around his chest as if to shield himself, though he knows resistance is futile. “It’s cold!”
Taehyung giggles, pulling him in deeper as waves begin to strike at their bodies. “Come on, let’s go deeper,” he says, sputtering as a wave drives ocean water right into his face. “Oh my god, it’s salty.”
“Yes, Taehyung-ah, it’s the ocean.” Jimin falls back into the waves, letting the water soak into his hair, into the very fiber of his being. “Maybe don’t swallow ocean water.” He rises to his feet, tugging on Tae’s hand to pull him to his side. “Think we can body surf?”
Taehyung winces as another wave splashes up against his body, then he lets go of Jimin’s hand, falling back into the next wave, allowing it to carry him closer to the shore. Peals of laughter rumble in Jimin’s chest, then he follows suit, jumping into the wave behind Taehyung, and together, they drift back in toward the shore.
It feels almost like flying, this drifting together, this weightless floating where for a moment, the entire world around him disappears. He becomes vaguely aware of Taehyung’s hand reaching out for his, a dot of warmth in this literal sea of cold.
Their fingers lace together as they rise from the ocean floor, toes digging into the sand. Jimin looks over at Taehyung, watching the delight in his eyes shine brighter than the setting sun. He’s smiling so big, lips parted into that boxy shape he loves so much, and oh, how he’d missed seeing it over the past couple of years.
Sure, he’s spent time with Taehyung off and on since their military service started, but something about seeing the others--even Jeongguk, whom he’d served with--hadn’t been quite the same with that stressor looming over their heads. Now that they’re free, it feels like they’re finding each other again, like they’re returning to themselves after so much time away.
Tugging on his hand, Taehyung pulls Jimin back out into the ocean, the two of them jumping over the waves as Jimin cries out from the impact. It’s not a distressed cry, the wave just hits a little harder than he thought it would, and he can feel his pants start to abandon him. “Oh no,” he whispers as they come down, tugging his pants back up as the wave starts to retreat.
“What’s wrong?” Taehyung asks, then he laughs. “Oh. What a shame, I would’ve loved to see that.”
“I’m sure you would, you fucking pervert,” Jimin protests, then he reaches for Taehyung’s pants, his bandmate screeching in protest as he falls back toward the ocean, pulling Jimin down with him.
Jimin’s giggling as he’s pulled under the water, Taehyung’s arms wrapping around his waist beneath the surf. He can’t see under here, he’s practically blind, but he’s fully aware of Taehyung pulling him closer, of Taehyung’s lips finding the corner of his mouth.
He tastes salt as Taehyung kisses him properly, tongue prodding at his lips. Jimin is only too eager to grant him access, arms wrapping around his neck as they kiss, lips parting and coming together in this tiny bubble of secrecy.
Sure, the others know what they’re doing, the others even partake from time to time, but Jimin has Taehyung to himself right now, has him in his arms. No one else can see them like this, under the ocean’s surface--no passersby or unknowing watchers--it’s just them, private and beautiful, the way he likes it.
Eventually, they have to surface for air, and Jimin wishes beyond all wishing that they could kiss up here, too, but that wouldn’t be as private, wouldn’t be as intimate if they shared it with everyone else. Maybe if the seven of them had the beach to themselves, but they don’t.
Jimin reaches for Taehyung’s hand, offering it a squeeze as he looks back toward the other five, Hoseok’s laughter loud enough to reach them from here as he films the whole thing. “Come on, that’s enough fooling around for one day,” he tells Taehyung. “I’m cold.”
Wrapping an arm around Jimin’s waist, Taehyung nods. “Yeah, me too. I think Namjoon-ie hyung had the towels.”
“If he didn’t lose them,” Jimin mutters, more laughter spilling from their lips as they return to their family, and two becomes seven once more.