Hideout
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
"How far is this place?!"
Sunoo's voice echoed on the empty beach. The five of them had walked for a little more than a kilometer, but their destination wasn't that close yet.
The burning afternoon Sun hit the beach, making the sand too hot to walk on it barefooted. Because of this, the small group decided to walk on the shore instead, where the seawater would refresh their feet from time to time, sending a cooler feeling to their whole bodies.
"It's not that far, just wait." Minji turned to look at him, lifting the cat-eye sunglasses from her eyes to her head, and removing her damp hair from her face.
"We've been walking for so long, my legs are tired!" Sunoo cried out dramatically, fanning himself with his hands as he tried to cool himself down, despite only moving hot air, "And my head is burning! Why didn't I bring a hat?"
"It's not even been 10 minutes." Doyun laughed, stopping on her feet to wait for the last one in the line, which happened to be Sunoo. She removed the beige cap from her long brown hair, placing it on the boy's head, "And here."
"I can see the mountain!" Another masculine voice happily announced, catching everyone's attention. Hanbin pointed to the small mountain popping up in the distance. They could immediately recognize the opening in it, thrilled to finally go back to their secret place.
Despite their happiness, Sunoo only widened his eyes at the sight of the faraway mountain, "We have to go there? It's too far!"
"Oh, shut up, Sunoo," Hanni rolled her eyes, "It's only a matter of minutes."
Thankfully for Sunoo, it really was just a matter of minutes. The mountain was closer than it seemed and the scenery was even more beautiful than he imagined.
Despite it being Sunoo's first time there, the other four visited that place every year, calling it their hideout. It was so secluded that only a few people knew about it.
Hanbin and Doyun had used that place as a hideout ever since they were children, running away from their parents and finding refuge in the beauty of the sea. In fact, the mountain hid a small beach in a cave the sun could barely reach.
The crystal-clear water reflected the few rays, illuminating the ceiling of the cave with a water pattern, that being the only proper source of light in the cave. Differently from the sand out in the daylight, the sand on the hidden beach was cold and felt way better under the feet. A few rocks, probably fallen from the cave's ceiling during the centuries, decorated the beach.
They were led into the grotto by Hanbin and Doyun, the most familiar ones with the place. For the most part, the beach was exactly as they left it the year before: the water was still as crystalline, the sand was cool and the water reflection shone on the ceiling. The only difference this time was an acoustic guitar lying on a striped towel, along with four boys splashing each other in the water.
Doyun looked at them confusedly, switching her gaze to the boys, still unaware of their arrival, and Hanbin. How did they find our place? It was way too secluded for anyone to even notice it, how did they get there?
The youngest of the group finally noticed their presence, stopping the beach ball in his hands after it fell in front of him, splashing his covered abdomen. He looked at the oldest, pointing at the group at the entrance.
Heeseung turned around, meeting their confused looks, "Hi there!" He smiled.
Hanbin fixed the bag hanging on his shoulder, before lifting the shades from his nose and walking towards them, followed by his friends. They all laid their things on the beach, a few meters away from the boys' towels and bags.
"Hi, guys." Hanbin stopped in front of the water, allowing it to wet his feet, "Do you mind if we stay here?"
Jay plopped himself underwater, feeling cold with the fresh breeze hitting his bare back, "Of course not, there's enough space for everyone." He said, running a hand through his wet hair.
Hanbin thanked them, walking back to his friend, where they were already rolling out the towels and laying down on them.
Doyun grabbed Hanbin's arm, pulling him away from the others. "How do they know about this place?" She whispered in his ear, making sure no one would hear.
In fact, Doyun felt weird about that situation. She felt as if her hideout had been exposed, as if it wasn't a secret between her and her friends anymore, all because other people knew about it.
She glanced between Hanbin and the oblivious boys. Hanbin looked at her, "How would I know? I didn't expect it either."
And why is it always them, Doyun thought. Ever since she met them, Doyun always saw them everywhere. It was like a curse.
Hanbin seemed to understand what was going on in the girl's mind, patting her shoulder to comfort her, "Don't worry too much, it's not the end of the world." He smiled fondly at her,
"We can share the beach with them."
Doyun nodded, "You're right." Maybe her behavior was a bit egotistical. It's not like that beach was exclusive to them, anyone could come there and stay there as long as they wanted. Technically, it wasn't even part of the resort, so it really wasn't anyone's.
"Let's go." Hanbin led her to the others.
"Minji, give it back!" Doyun almost fell on the sand when Minji sprinted in front of her, followed by a fuming Sunoo. The girl ran around the beach, holding the sunscreen – the most precious thing in the world for Sunoo – away from the boy. He quickly bent down, panting as he couldn't run anymore, "Minji, if I freaking catch you."
The girl could only bend in two laughing, "We're covered, you don't even need it."
After a good ten-minute rant from Sunoo about why he desperately needed the sunscreen, Minji had finally decided to give it back, as they all sat down on the towels as if the boys just a few meters away from them weren't even there.
They were actually reminded about them, not too long after, when a wet ball landed among them, splashing sand everywhere on their – until then – clean towels. Doyun's sky-blue towel was now a sand mess, as she stared at the ball in front of it. Despite her undying love for the sea, she hated sand going everywhere on her stuff and she could feel her eye starting to twitch at the sight.
She grabbed the ball, looking around. A boy towered over her as he ran towards them, his cheeks flushed a soft pink with embarrassment, "I'm so sorry." Jake ran his fingers through his hair distractedly, "I didn't mean to kick it this hard."
"It's okay." Doyun contained herself, handing him the colorful ball. He grabbed it timidly, apologizing once again before walking back to his friends. Doyun watched him walk away before wiping the sand away from the towel, or at least trying to.
Hanbin helped her get rid of the sand before focusing on the boys playing football on the shore. Now it was Sunghoon's turn to kick the ball and Jay's turn to block it.
After what seemed an eternity of contemplating whether to tell it or not, he decided to speak up, "Do you guys mind if I go play football with them?"
"Not at all," Hanni smiled as the boy stood up from the ground. Doyun caught his attention as she was still trying to remove the sand from the towel, "Doyun, wanna come with me?"
The girl looked up at him, a frown visible on her face, "Why?"
Hanbin shrugged, "Why not? It's going to be fun."
"I don't know, I don't like football." She shrugged, trying to convince him.
Hanbin only got closer to her, trying to pull her up despite her insisting on staying there, "C'mon!"
"We'll play too!" Minji jumped up, holding Hanni and Sunoo's hands to pull them up. In the end, Hanbin managed to get her up, as they all walked towards the four boys.
In the meanwhile, the boys had changed the game. They were now playing volleyball, throwing the ball at one another as it would occasionally land in the cool water.
"Can we join you guys?" Hanni cheered, making the boys turn towards her.
They all started playing together in the lower part of the water. They started in a circle, sending the ball in a random order. Then, they decided to play in teams, before switching up again to football.
Jake had thought of bringing some beach tennis rackets and they all divided into different groups playing different things.
The sun was slowly beginning to fade. It was still too early for the nighttime to overcome the sunlight, but the first orange hues started to appear in the late afternoon sky. The faint clouds adorned the view, stopping the sun from entering the cave, which was now way darker than before but still lit enough.
Hanni, Sunghoon, and Sunoo went back to the sand, deciding to sit down on the boys' towel, which was big enough for all of them to sit comfortably on; Heeseung, Jay, Hanbin, and Minji were still playing volleyball in the water while Jake and Doyun went back to the shore to play beach tennis.
"You're good at this." Jake smiled as he jogged towards the ball he had just missed.
Doyun scoffed teasingly, "I grew up on the beach playing beach tennis. Of course, I'm good at it." She twisted the racket in her hand, "Frankly, I'd say you're pretty bad at it."
Jake smirked, getting ready to serve the ball, "You're competitive, I love myself a challenge."
After about half an hour of Jake missing every single ball Doyun served, the game finally ended with Doyun defeating Jake. Despite his loss, Jake's smile never faded from his face as he congratulated Doyun, "You're too good at this, it was lowkey embarrassing for me."
The girl left out a delicate laugh, "It's okay, and I guess you're not that bad."
"Hey, Jake!" Jay's voice echoed in the cave, making the two turn around to face the group sitting down in a circle, "Come here, you two!"
Jake and Doyun glanced at each other before walking side to side toward the group. They sat down next to each other in the small space the group had created for them. Their bare thighs touched for a second, making Doyun flinch at the contact with his cold skin.
Her eyes moved to Sunghoon, avoiding Jake's gaze next to her. Sunghoon grabbed the guitar from behind him, handing it to its respectful owner, "Play something for us, Jake."
Jake tore his eyes away from the flustered girl next to him, gently grabbing the wooden guitar from his friend's hands, "What should I play?" He asked the group.
Minji leaned forward, hugging her legs to keep herself warm, "Whatever you want."
Jake's mind was empty. That was the most generic answer ever, should he play something chill, or should he play a funk riff? He looked around, waiting for someone to elaborate more on Minji's answer. When no one replied, but just eagerly stared at the guitar waiting for him to play, he decided he was going to play what he felt like playing.
He tuned his guitar, it was a sacred ritual for him. He wasn't going to strum a single string if he wasn't sure it was perfectly tuned. His hands were still on the guitar as its strings waited patiently for his skilled hands to play.
Finally, a gloomy but relaxing melody started playing. Everyone was captivated by his talent, and they couldn't tear their eyes away from the guitar. That melody was perfect for the moment: the sun was just about to set and the melancholic vibes melted perfectly with the now cool breeze of the cave. Some of them even covered themselves up with a towel or a jacket, if they had thought of bringing one.
Although everyone was looking at the guitar, enjoying the somewhat warm vibes, despite the temperature, Moon Doyun admired Jake's features illuminated by the setting Sun. Every part of his face was focused, playing as best as he could, as Doyun's eyes darted from his almost closed eyes to his slightly parted lips.
The crimson light of the Sun gave him a new, beautiful light, almost as if he was shining underneath it. When he turned around, meeting Doyun's big eyes, his cheeks turned pink as a small grin grew on his face.
No one noticed it though. No one but Doyun.
☆ AUTHOR 's SPACE ☽˚｡⋆.
Saurrr things are getting interesting 🤭
I love this chapter so much !! It
turned out exactly like how I envisioned
it and it makes me so happy :,,)
Thank you for reading till here ♡ ,
JYR .