Thursday, 11 am
"THE FIRST FLOOR BATHROOM IS MINE!"
Huening Kai's strident voice forces its way inside Beomgyu's ears the moment he turns off the engine and the ravenette isn't even a little bit shocked when he sees through the rearview mirror Kai's figure opening the van door and running towards the beach house, the jangle of Lia's ring of keys echoing in the air as he runs at full speed, relieved that he could finally go to the bathroom. The others all watch as the younger boy dramatically screams his way inside the house and they all decide to just shrug it off and pretend nothing has happened, secretly relieved they won't be hearing him complain about having to pee in the next few hours.
Soon after that, Beomgyu watches as everyone starts to leave the rented van at their own pace, cheerful conversation floating in the air along with a few complaints about leg pain from Yeonjun. Beomgyu is so focused on the others that doesn't notice when a slim figure stops just right next to his window.
"Thanks for driving."
A red-haired girl Beomgyu noticed to be Chaeryeong, one of Lia's friends, thanks him, and he shows her an awkward smile in response, not really knowing how to react.
"I know it was quite boring for you because we were all far away and didn't include you in our conversations. I only thought about it now. Sorry for being insensitive." She continued.
Beomgyu wants to stop her and tell her he didn't mind being left out of the conversation as he actually prefers to drive in silence because this way he doesn't feel pressured to answer meaningless questions and doesn't feel forced to engage in conversations that can perfectly take place after the 3-hour ride when they all reunite in the living room. But he would be lying if he said he couldn't hear anything, as the driver's seat wasn't really that far away and his ears would sometimes capture some curious information about the new girls (and Ryujin). After listening to some of the words that were spoken, he now knows Yeji is a picky eater, Ryujin is dating a new guy she met online 3 weeks ago, Lia is finally learning how to play the electric guitar, and Yuna is a horror enthusiast. However, he couldn't hear anything about Chaeryeong and now that he thinks about it, maybe the only thing he learned about her was that she had a very nice tone of voice, even though he only remembers hearing her speak two or three lines during the whole three-hour car trip.
"You don't have to thank me." Beomgyu manages to say. "If you need help with your bag I'm here."
"Nah, it's okay..." She smiles and then fades away with the rest of the group that was busy taking their luggage and bags out of the van.
Beomgyu never understood those types of people who dragged their entire wardrobe inside a huge suitcase for a four-day trip. Is it so difficult to select what's more important? Anyone could agree that having a big full suitcase for such a short holiday wasn't practical at all, so why would some people do it? Beomgyu was aware that it was usually girls who did that as he has a few faded memories about his aunts' luggage whenever they stayed in his house for a holiday. So it doesn't fail to surprise him when he sees Taehyun's big black suitcase just casually placed inside the trunk. That thing was almost Ryujin's size! Beomgyu tries to contain his inner thoughts and just keep his mouth shut, but as soon as Taehyun makes eye contact with him, his mouth starts moving against his will.
"Are you finally moving out of the dorm, considering you have your entire room inside this big ass suitcase?
Taehyun looks at him with an unfazed expression as he just had the worst three hours of his life and nothing was worse than being car sick for so long, not even Beomgyu's stupid comments.
"I wish, but you would miss me too much." Beomgyu makes a nauseous sound but Taehyun just ignores him and takes his suitcase out of the trunk. "I like to have my things with me when I go on holiday."
"I can see that. But it's only four days though..."
"It could be one night and I would still bring all my shit with me. Or have you forgotten I have a stalker that is waiting outside our dorm every day that might rob us when we aren't home?"
Beomgyu gulps and him and Taehyun start following the rest of the group that was heading inside the beach house. "Shh, talk quietly. I don't want Soobin to think about that creep while we're in here..."
"Yeah, whatever." Taehyun seems to think for a bit, while they walked to the living room. "By the way..." He makes a long pause and Beomgyu looks at him with a questioning look. "Nothing... It's nothing."
"What is it?" Beomgyu says while placing his bag in a chair. Taehyun just shrugs.
"Nothing."
"Lil shit," Beomgyu whispers and Taehyun mocks him with his hand before walking away.
The first thought that appears in Beomgyu's mind as soon as he takes his time to observe the house is wow, this is stunning. It was probably the biggest house he has ever been in and definitely the one with the most flawless decoration (not that he cared that much about furniture as he is a very practical guy and is okay with anything as long as it's functional). He looks up to the wooden staircase and watches as Lia climbs three steps and clears her throat, catching everyone's attention.
"So guys, we drew our names to see who would get each bedroom and it turns out Taehyun and Chaeryeong will both have a room for themselves and the shared room pairing will be organized in the following way: Yeonjun and Soobin; Beomgyu and Kai; Ryujin and Yeji; and Yuna and I." Her smile was brighter than the sun and Beomgyu could see she was a fan of organizing things. "Now me and Yeonjun will start preparing lunch so feel free to unpack your bags in your rooms and hang out by the pool!"
Beomgyu takes a glance over Taehyun and watches as Yeonjun makes his way to him first, bringing a chair with him so he can place it next to Taehyun, making it clear that they would be talking for a few minutes. Beomgyu gets a little closer to the corner of the wall so that he could hear their conversation without them realizing it, his mind already guessing Yeonjun's next words.
"Do you want me to ask Soobin to change rooms with you?" Yeonjun asks and Beomgyu can sense empathy in his tone.
"Why would you do that?" Taehyun asks quietly and Beomgyu can guess he's a little bit embarrassed.
"Because you have trouble sleeping alone in new places. Don't you want me to help you?" Yeonjun seems confused and Beomgyu watches as Taehyun shuts his mouth into a thin line, thinking of something.
"I..." Beomgyu can recognize Taehyun's nervous tone. "I don't need your help. I don't have that issue anymore, but thanks for asking!"
Beomgyu frowns his eyebrows and steps away when he notices Taehyun has switched their conversation theme to a TV show Beomgyu has no clue about.
Interesting...
+×+
Taehyun's eyes followed the scene that was happening right in front of his nose with little excitement, as everything was starting to piss him off today. Everyone was having fun at the pool except for him and Ryujin that were laying side by side in the beach lounge chairs.
"Our friend Beomgyu seems to like Chaeryeong a lot. Do you think I can pair them up?"
Taehyun hears Ryujin's voice and doesn't even bother hiding the disgusted expression on his face. While some of the guys were playing a weird game in the pool, Beomgyu and the red-haired girl were sitting on the pool's little steps, giggling and smiling like two fools. Taehyun observes as the two of them play with the water while talking about something probably stupid.
"No."
"Thanks for the monotone. You're not fun to talk to." Ryujin says and puts her sunglasses on her face and crosses her arms, the sun warming her skin.
"What do you want me to say? That it's an excellent idea?"
"I mean, it kinda is. Look at them!"
Taehyun takes another glance at the two new friends and feels his blood boiling when he sees Beomgyu's big smile and curious eyes looking at her face while she talking about something that clearly caught his interest. I don't think he's ever smiled like that to me before, Taehyun thinks to himself as a pout starts to form on his lips, his mood dropping down real quick.
"I mean she's a weirdo and he's also a weirdo. What could go wrong?" Ryujin continues and moves her sunglasses away from her eyes so that she could look at Taehyun while she talked. "And quit doing that sad face. If you're that jealous I can try and pair her up with you instead..."
"I don't want to have anything to do with those two." Taehyun takes a last look at them and puts his sunglasses on again, the pout replaced by an unconscious sulk. "Do whatever you want."
Ryujin rolls her eyes and makes some jokes about Taehyun being on his period, but the blonde couldn't care less as he had his eyes closed and was concentrated on his useless thoughts. His brain seemed to be Taehyun's worst enemy at the moment because it kept playing fake scenarios of Beomgyu and Chaeryeong having dates at the beach and kissing in the sea. Taehyun feels a grumpy feeling inside his belly and twists his face with that last image. He then tries to just think about the fictional movies that he likes to create in his head before going to sleep and erase Beomgyu and the red-haired girl from his memory, however, the world seemed to be against him because when he feels he's almost falling asleep, a few cold drops fall on top of him, startling him. Confused, he takes off his sunglasses and looks at the person standing next to him.
"Go away. You're blocking the sun." He says rather harshly.
Beomgyu ignores him. "Why aren't you at the pool?"
Taehyun looks at him with a deadly stare and thinks about his answer. Not in a million years would he tell Beomgyu that he wasn't in the pool because it frightened him, as in his seventh grade his cousin tried to drown him in his uncle's pool while they were playing a silly game and he got traumatized for life. Telling Beomgyu the other day that he couldn't swim was embarrassing enough, so he chose to stay quiet and ignore his existence.
"Chaeryeong wants to talk to you." Beomgyu tries again. "She thinks you're feeling lonely."
Taehyun raises an eyebrow and looks to his left only to find an empty chair and Ryujin playing in the water. She must have gone there while I was falling asleep. Taehyun then switches his attention to Chaeryeong and notices she is unbothered and talking to the group by the pool. The previous memory of her and Beomgyu smiling at each other replays in his head and he chooses to ignore the older again, his mood worse than before.
Beomgyu sighs and lies in the chair where Ryujin used to be, his eyes instantly closing because of the sun and lack of sunglasses. Taehyun then takes his chance to observe Beomgyu without him knowing, noticing how the little drops of water laying on top of his body start to slowly evaporate in the burning sun. He looked calm, with not a single wrinkle on his face as he had his eyes closed in the most peaceful way. He had his arms up and his hands underneath his head while he enjoyed sunbathing and Taehyun couldn't stop thinking about how he looked so perfect. It was almost annoying the way Beomgyu could be doing anything and always look attractive. Taehyun's eyes then go down to Beomgyu's neck and naked torso and he instantly gulps, quickly moving his gaze back to the older's face again, trying to discipline his eyes to not make the same mistake of looking down. Attractive motherfucker... He observes how Beomgyu's slightly opened lips and long eyelashes looked so flawless underneath the sun and before he knows it, he's lost in Beomgyu's face again, thanking god for having very dark sunglasses on his face preventing him to be caught.
"Beomgyu..." The other one blocks the sun with his hand and turns his face to stare at Taehyun, a questioning look on his face. "Nothing."
Beomgyu lets out an airy laugh. "Again with the nothings? It's annoying."
"You're annoying," Taehyun answers almost automatically and Beomgyu shows him a little smile.
"Are you really going to wait for nightfall to ask me if I can make you company until you fall asleep?" Beomgyu asks in a whisper and Taehyun closes his mouth into a thin line, hating how the other guessed what he was trying to ask for since this morning.
"No. But now that you talked about it..." He makes a short pause. "Can you?"
Beomgyu looks at him with his big shiny eyes and Taehyun thinks he might get lost again if he doesn't concentrate on their conversation properly. "Why don't you ask Yeonjun to do it?"
Taehyun panics and thinks for a bit. "Because we have a contract that states that I have to sleep next to you on Friday nights. So if I ask Yeonjun for help I'll have to make an excuse to push him away on Friday by pretending that I'm okay so I can sleep next to you. But this way he won't help me on Saturday because if I ask him for help again I'll have to admit I lied and I'll make a fool out of myself." Even Taehyun himself is surprised by the way he is improvising. "So sleeping next to you is probably the best option I have. That way neither I nor you break the contract. Unless you don't what to..."
Taehyun frowns his eyebrows when he sees Beomgyu's eyes avert his gaze. If he didn't know Beomgyu better he would think he was disappointed by his answer, his eyes now focused on his friends playing in the water. But Taehyun soon forgets that thought when Beomgyu decides to answer him with his normal playful tone.
"Sure, no problem. Even though you could just admit that I'm a better cuddler than Yeonjun." Taehyun rolls his eyes in response to Beomgyu's grin.
"I'm usually hangover in the morning so I have no clue what you're talking about." Taehyun spouts another one of his cheap white lies as he secretly loved Beomgyu's cuddles.
Yeah, yeah, whatever, I guess...