I woke up to the sound of Joshua pounding on my door and yelling. I groaned and reached for Chan as I nuzzled into him, breathing in his scent before my eyes snapped open when I realized I was just cuddling the sweater and it was just a dream that Chan was still at my house and cuddled up to me. Letting out a sigh I rolled over on my back and looked up at my ceiling.
Is this healthy? Nope. Is it a good idea to be so... interested in him? Nope. Am I over and healed from my last relationship? Yes. Do I have self confidence issues from the truama? Maybe. Will Joshua and Jeonghan kill me if I fuck this up? Yes.
I threw the sweater over my face and let out a soft scream before getting up to throw on my swimsuit. Once I was ready I sat on the bed and started checking my phone. Nothing from Chan but that's not surprising since he was out late. He doesn't seem like he's used to doing that and then getting up early. I think he lives more at night and less in the day. Probably because he's so shy...
I looked back to my phone as I got a notification of Jeonghan sending a text to the group chat, "Has anyone heard from Channie? I've been trying to reach him all morning but can't, and I'm not home right now so can't go check."
Not home right now, good he didn't see us almost kiss... thinking about it, he's probably at Seungcheol's since he was upset. Figuring out those two were a thing kinda solidifies the fact that he's gonna be there.
"I haven't, maybe he's still asleep?" Seokmin answered.
"But he knew we were going swimming today?" Minghao texted.
"Might've slept through his alarms? Does he have someone to pick him up at least so he's not walking on that road?" Seungkwan messaged.
I realized I should probably say something then, especially since I can go get him, and I wanna jump on the excuse to see him alone, "He was out pretty late last night, but he was fine when I dropped him off. It's likely he's still asleep. I didn't know Jeonghan wasn't home, I figured they'd ride together. I'll go check on him and give him a ride!"
"Thanks Vernon, let us all know that he's okay if he doesn't beforehand please!" Jeonghan replied.
"Will do! I'm on my way there now."
I messaged before I got up and went to the car, thankfully Joshua was driving himself to get some others from the group so I didn't have to wait on him. I was a bit worried since Chan did seem apprehensive yesterday about going swimming.
Maybe he was worried about the clothes stuff? Or being in the group again? Maybe public stuff since there could be others? I drive quickly just in case he was having a panic attack or something. When I got there I got out quickly and went to his door, knocking on it softly, considering it might scare him if I start beating on it. I didn't hear a response so I knocked a little harder, waiting a minute to see if maybe he was just making his way to the door.
Suddenly the door opened and I looked up, freezing as I took in the sight before me. Chan was standing there. Hair wet. Body wet. In nothing but a towel. A dangerously short towel at that. I felt my face getting very hot. Speaking of hot... A part of me wanted to look away and hide my eyes. A different part of me wanted to drink in the sight. I couldn't get myself to make any movement at all so the second part won.
I took in his shoulders, broad and defined, he had some small arm muscles, not as dainty under the sweaters as I imagined, but it doesn't surprise me with him being a dancer. Speaking of dancer, my eyes traveled down... and down... and the hem of that towel was right at his thighs. Which, did I mention he's a dancer and that means muscles? Because yeah. His dancers thighs... I need to stop. I can't think about him like this!! This is bad! Bad Vernon! Bad bad!!
That's when I finally snapped out of it and looked away, "Ah, sorry, uh, nobody could get ahold of you so we decided I'd come check on you since we're supposed to go swimming and you'd need a ride anyway and you know, wanted to make sure you were there and didn't oversleep and you came with us because we want you there today and you know yeah I'm here okay I'll go wait in the car okay bye!" I started rambling before backstepping, almost falling as I went to get back in the car. I needed to get out now before my thoughts get dirty and a problem arises and I embarrass myself and make Chan uncomfortable or hate me.
"W-wait!" Chan reaches forward and grabs my hand causing a shock to shoot through my body, "C-come in! Wait in here I won't be long, I just need to get dressed and get some last minute things together!"
I let him pull me in and blushed more, avoiding eye contact to keep myself sane. Chan this close, his hand on mine. The only thing keeping him decent is a towel he has a death grip on. Then there's me who's having the most uninnocent thoughts about the innocent boy in front of me.
"Yeah, okay I'll wait in here!" I said before walking in cautiously, trying to think of anything else as I made my way in and sat on the couch.
"I'll just be a few minutes!" Chan said, before running into his room and shutting the door.
"Take your time!! No rush at all!" I called out after him, remembering to message the group chat to let them know he's okay and awake.
Chan came back out quickly and I looked up, noticing he was wearing a short sleeved shirt before realizing it was OUR shirt. A Bands Boys shirt. That we don't even sell yet. I wonder how he got that? I guess maybe Jeonghan or Minghao? I blushed at the thought of him having merch of us before he started speaking and I finally made eye contact, "Sorry about... all of that... Here's your shirt back... Thank you for letting me borrow it."
I nodded as I carefully took it from his hands, "Of course, any time, I think it looked good on you, better than on me so... where did you get that shirt?" I asked, smiling widely at him as he blushed.
"Oh... Minghao gave it to me on the night we met... I guess you can say that I'm your number one fan now!" he said jokingly.
My heart skipped a beat as I smiled softly, "Well, then you're my favorite fan... I like it. It looks good, I've just never seen one before. Wait, that's what you're wearing to swim in??" My stomach sank as I thought of him using it as a swim shirt since it would be ruined.
"No! I have a change of clothes!" Chan went and grabbed a bag near the door, "An old shirt and shorts! I would never risk ruining something I got the night we met!"
I smiled and nodded, almost giggling to myself at the fact that it's apparently special since he got it the night we met. Maybe he thinks I'm special too... "Oh, okay! Just making sure since you're in jeans!"
"Is that bad? I've never gone to a pool like this before." Chan asked, tilting his head. I can never get enough of that cute puppy look.
I looked at him curiously, "You've never gone to a pool like this?? But any pool would be bad with jeans! They get wet and gross and heavy and you can't swim and they stick to your legs!"
"I mean... My high school had a pool! We'd all change in a locker room so everyone would change before going into the pool!" Chan said, seeming cautious.
I nodded casually, deciding to just drop it, "Oh! Okay, yeah me too, but I just wear my suit where I'm going if I'm going straight there! I guess everyone does things differently! Are you ready!"
Chan blushed and I watched him glance at my lap, "So... is there no underwear or...?"
I blushed, putting the folded shirt in my lap. I didn't even think about that. What if he noticed a reaction earlier! I don't think I had one but... "Uh, I mean... there's built in underwear net stuff in most swim trunks do you... do you not swim in swim trunks? Did you wear like a..." I gulp at the thought of him in anything with less fabric than swim trunks, "A speedo or something in highschool???"
He looked at me, head tilted, "What's a speedo?"
Oh thank God. Now how do I explain this, "Tight... uh... underwear like swimsuits? Like... women's swim bottoms... bikini bottoms for men? Spandex? I don't know how to describe it... uh... leotard? That's just underwear? But it's a swimsuit? I mean... I'm sure you'd look good in one but... I can't imagine they'd have them in highschool!" I rambled, turning redder and looking away. I glanced back to see him looking back at his butt before quickly looking away again.
"But if they're bikini bottoms for men... and say... um... a tushie was involved... We had wetsuits! The full body swimsuits! Everything was covered!"
His butt would look amazing in a speedo... or in anyt- VERNON BAD.
"Oh! So they go around your existing shorts! That's why, okay! That makes sense!" I said, nodding, still not able to look at him.
"Yeah!" Chan sat down next to me, the closeness causing me to gulp.
I finally got brave and glanced at him, "So... ready to go then? I came to give you a ride too..."
Chan nodded, glancing back at me, "Yep! All ready! Though you really didn't have too... It's daytime so I can walk!"
"It's so far though! You'd be like 2 hours late if you left now!" I said as I checked the time on my phone.
"Oh... so I'd miss breakfast with everyone... I'll definitely enjoy the time I get to spend with you in your car though so... wanna get going?" Chan asked.
He must really like car rides since he can't drive and that's why he likes spending time in my car. Definitely not because of me.
I nodded, getting up and holding a hand out to him, "Of course! We'd never let you miss breakfast by the way!"
He took my hand and gave the the brightest most beautiful smile, "Let's get going then!"
I smiled and led him to the door, opening it for him before leading him out to the car and letting him in, going to the driver's side and starting the car.
I glanced over to see him smiling softly at his phone before he spoke, "Everyone's so caring... I hate that I worried them all though..."
I smiled softly at him, "We care about you, and we were worried you might run away from us after yesterday," I only halfway joked.
"I don't want to run away. I wanna be in the group. I want to be with you..." There was a pause as I watched him blush, "And everyone else..."
I blushed and nodded, wishing he had just stopped at the first part. "Good, I want to be with you too, we all do! We all want you in our family!!"
Chan smiled at me, "So have you ever been to this place we're gonna eat at before? I haven't, so gotta make sure I look at the menu first!"
I smiled and nodded, thinking about what they have that he might like. I want to order for him like Seungkwan did. I want him to know he can count on me too.
"It's so good! You want me to show you the menu online before we get there so you have time to decide? They have amazing pancakes. There's even some that are cupcake flavored. Or some with cotton candy sprinkles!"
"Cotton candy sprinkles?" Chan asked, looking at me in excitement.
Yep he's addicted to cotton candy. I chuckled happily, "I knew you'd be interested in that. Yeah, they're baked into the pancake! With an icing syrup on top too!"
"I don't think I need a menu then, I'll just get what you described!" Chan smiled brightly at me and I felt like the whole world lit up, causing me to smile too.
"There's other stuff with it, do you like sausage or bacon? And eggs?" I asked, wanting to know what all he liked so I could order today.
"Scrambled eggs and bacon! My school had a special breakfast thing once so I got to try them! Sausage is good too so I'd be happy with anything really."
I nodded, "How about potatoes?"
"Potatoes at breakfast?" Chan asked with his head tilted. Oh yeah it's an American thing and he's sheltered. I guess this might be odd.
"Yeah! It's an American type place, it's kinda normal there to have shredded potatoes with breakfast!" I explained, glancing at him again, admiring the puppy-like look as usual.
"Ohhh. What do you recommend then? I'll get whatever you suggest!"
I smiled, he trusts my judgement so I have to get this right, "I think they taste really good! I recommend them, especially with eggs."
"Okay!" I glanced over as there was a pause and he started blushing "Can you help me order in there? I tend to mess up sometimes and get flustered..."
I nodded happily as I pulled in and parked, looking over at him fully, "Of course! That's part of why I was asking now actually, I kinda noticed you seem to forget and stuff yesterday so..." I trailed off blushing, hoping he didn't think it was weird.
"I'm a little scatterbrained sometimes..." Chan trailed off, awkwardly laughing a little.
I smiled, unable to resist the urge as I reached over, patting his hand gently, "Me too, it's okay! That's why I wanted to help!"
I couldn't take my eyes off of him as I watched him look at the entrance before suddenly he was speaking, "Oh! Everyone's here!"
I followed his eyes and panicked that they had seen that, "Oh! Shit! I didn't even notice! Let's go then!"
I got out and opened Chan's door for him, smiling back at him as he gave me the sweetest smile. I shut the door once he was out and blushed brightly as I felt him gently grab my hand, leading me to everyone. He was holding my hand and everyone could see it... oh I'm never living this down.
"Hey! They're here!" Mingyu shouted excitedly, making everyone look over. I watched as Jeonghan, Seungkwan, Junhui, Seokmin, Soonyoung, and Jihoon stopping and staring at Chan for a moment.
I felt Chan stiffen a little as he stood there awkwardly for a moment before taking a deep breath, "Hi... I'm..."
"YOU'RE LETTING US SEE YOUR ARMS!!!!!" Seokmin exclaimed before running over to Chan and hugging him tightly, causing me to release his hand.
I looked over at him confused, wondering why that's so surprising. I know he wears sweaters a lot but isn't he just cold and likes fluffy soft things?
"Wait, is that not something common? I thought he was just... normally cold?" Minghao asked, looking at him.
Junhui laughed softly, coming over and gently pulling Chan away from Seokmin, wrapping an arm around him, "Chan basically just removed his security blanket around us."
"He's comfortable around us!" Soonyoung cheered.
I raised my eyebrow, "Security blanket?" What is going on?
Seungcheol moved towards them, holding out a dino plushie as he spoke, "I'm glad then... I got you something to apologize for scaring you yesterday... I hope this means you're-"
Chan suddenly ran forward, crashing into Seungcheol and hugging him tightly, cutting him off. I watched in surprise as everyone stood silent, watching them, "I'm so, so sorry..." Chan said.
Seungcheol gasped, pulling him in tighter, "No, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you or make you think I was going to hurt you!!"
Chan let out a sigh, "I'm just glad you don't hate me now... I didn't mean to flinch or be a brat or anything. I just don't want to burden anyone."
Seungcheol shook his head, pulling away, "Oh you sweet child, of course I don't hate you!!" He then pulled him back in.
Chan hugged him back again, "I'll try not to flinch anymore, Vernon told me that you'd never hurt me, even though you are a little scary..."
Seungcheol chuckled softly, "Well I kinda have to be when I'm the dad of 11 chaotic evil kids that take after Jeonghan."
Chan giggled at that, before going to pull away.
Seungcheol smiled and pulled him in, throwing his arms back around him and looking at Jeonghan, "This is MY baby now."
Jeonghan gasped, going over and trying to gently pull Chan away from Seungcheol, "No! My aegi! We've been over this!"
Seungcheol kept hold of him, "Nope, he's mine now!"
Jeonghan glared at him, "I was the first one to meet him in our group! And you have more of the babies!"
Mingyu looked at us as we all stood around watching, "Uh oh, Mommy and Daddy are fighting..."
Seungcheol looked Jeonghan dead in the eyes, "I'll trade you Mingyu."
"HEY!!!"
I laughed and shook my head at them, just observing the chaos, enjoying the fact that Chan was in the middle of it all. I like when he's got everyone's attention. It makes it feel more accepting for him, I'm sure. Less on the outskirts. Makes you feel important and loved. He deserves that. I'm also glad that he made up with Seungcheol. I knew he wasn't mad at Chan.
Joshua pulls Chan away as Seungcheol is distracted, "Don't fight over the baby."
Soonyoung then comes over, wrapping an arm around Chan's shoulders, "You ever had pancakes before? Let's go in, our table might be ready!" He led Chan over to the entrance, turning around to stick his tongue out at Seungcheol and Jeonghan.
Seungcheol gasped dramatically and pointed at him, "HEY! HE'S STEALING OUR BABY!"
Jeonghan gasped and grabbed Seungcheol's hand, running after Soonyoung, "KWON SOONYOUNG, CHANNIE IS OUR BABY NOT YOURS!"
I just shook my head at them, following the others as they went in.
As I walked in I noticed Soonyoung talking to the hostess about their reservation, Seungcheol counting everyone as they came in and Jeonghan standing next to Soonyoung. Chan came over to me as we made eye contact and I smiled softly at him.
"See, I told you it was all okay!"
"I'm glad!" Chan smiles back.
"Okay! Everyone follow!" Soonyoung called out before following after the hostess.
I followed them, sitting down next to Seungcheol and waiting for Chan to sit beside me.
"I knew it..." I heard Chan mumble, causing me to look up at him.
"What's wrong? Sit down Channie!"
I watched as he went to sit in the floor between me and Seungcheol, confused I looked down at Chan and made eye contact with Seungcheol.
"What are you doing?" I asked worriedly.
"Oh my god there's only 12 chairs. Chan! Get off the floor, we'll get you a chair! Everyone make room! Scoot around," Seungcheol said as he got up, careful not to hit Chan with the chair as he did so, grabbing a chair from an empty table.
Oh my God I can't believe I didn't notice! I stood up carefully as Chan didn't move, holding my hands out to Chan, pausing as he didn't take them, leaning down and carefully lifting him up off the floor, holding him carefully, "Come on Channie, gotta make room for the chair!"
Chan let out an adorable squeak when I lifted him, still holding him as everyone shifted to make room for him.
Seungcheol pulled the chair over, putting it between his and mine and standing behind it.
I stood behind the chair, letting Chan down on his feet carefully.
Chan just stood there and looked at the chair before looking around at everyone, looking confused, "You... don't want me to move somewhere else? It's not gonna be too crowded?"
"I told them thirteen chairs Channie! Party of thirteen! Sit down! We want you with us!" Soonyoung stated.
I nodded, "Plus it's not too crowded! Look at how everyone moved together! Not too tight at all!"
Seungcheol looked at him, "We want to eat together as a group, why the heck would we want you somewhere else?! I'm not sitting down until you sit first!"
"O-oh..." Chan sat down and we pushed the chair in for him.
Seungcheol and I both sat down, Seungcheol handing Chan the dino plushie slowly, "Here Channie, you never took the gift!"
I looked over curiously to see Chan holding a dino plushie. He tilted his head at Seungcheol, "Oh! There's weight to him!"
Seungcheol smiled and nodded, "Yeah! He's good for anxiety! The weight is like deep pressure therapy! It's supposed to help you so... I thought maybe it would be good for you!"
I watched as Chan looked down at the plushie and held him close, petting his head gently, he's so adorable... "The weight is very comforting... feels like a hug." He then looked up at Seungcheol and smiled, "Thank you so much!"
Seungcheol smiled at him, "Good! I'm glad you like it!"
Chan smiled back down at the plushie, "I'll take very good care of... Theo!" He then hugged Seungcheol and suddenly he was turning to show me the dino, "Look what Seungcheol gave me!"
I smiled happily, "He's very cute! He reminds me of you!"
Chan giggled, "I love him!"
I chuckled happily, looking behind him to see a beaming Seungcheol, "Seungcheol did a really good job getting you him!"
Chan nodded, just then the waiter came over, "Hey guys! I'm Beomhan! Can I get you all started on drinks?"
Everyone just blinked at him, confused. Beomhan? The same guy from last night?
Wonwoo looked up at him, "Oh, hey it's you again! Yeah, I'll have a coffee please."
"Yeah, I have lots of jobs! Okay, and you?" Beomhan said going around the table getting the orders.
Before he gets to us, I realized I never asked for Chan's drink order in the car so I moved the menu over to him, "What sounds good? Chocolate milk? Coffee? Regular milk? A milkshake?"
Chan moves closer to me, causing me to smell the enticing scent of vanilla as he looked at the menu, "Chocolate milk sounds good!"
I nodded happily and as Beomhan got to me, I ordered for the both of us, smiling over at Chan, happy I can actually order for him this time.
Chan smiles happily at me and I felt my heart skip a beat again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I turned on my Bluetooth, playing some of my downloaded songs, a comfortable silence settling over us as I drive. I skip a few songs, settling on one that's not one of our own. After it's over the Bands Boys song "Rock With You" comes on and I embarrassingly can't reach over to skip it yet as I need both hands to make a turn. I thought about apologizing as I finally went to skip it, pausing as I glanced over, noticing him singing along.
I guess if he doesn't mind listening to my music... I just smiled softly and enjoyed his singing.
Chan just smiles as he sings along, his falsetto coming out at the higher parts that Joshua sings. I decided to leave the next song of ours on, wondering how many I could get Chan to sing to, just wanting to hear his voice more.
As it started I realized it was "Game Boi" and went to skip it, thinking Chan wouldn't rap, stopping as I heard him starting to rap along anyway, jaw dropping as I glanced at him.
He raps along to the song, glancing over and suddenly pausing, "I'll stop! Sorry! I didn't... I know all of your band's songs... I'll shush now..."
I immediately began to panic, "No! No, don't stop!!! Don't apologize!! You're really good! I love your voice! I think we should put you on some songs with a voice like that! I just didn't expect you to rap too!! That was so good!"
Chan blushed, "Really? Normally everyone tells me to stop and that I'm annoying, so I try not to do that anymore..."
I shook my head a bit violently, wanting to get my point across, "No! Don't stop! Ever! You're so good! Better than me even! I mean you sound like an angel! Or uh... I just mean, you're really good is all. You should sing more. I really like to hear it so... don't think you have to stop around me okay?"
Chan smiled, reaching over slowly to start the song from the beginning so he can rap to it from start to finish, blowing my mind all over again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We got to the pool and everyone went to change who hadn't just worn their suits. I decided to wait for Chan because I had an idea. I know he likes to see me shirtless. I have to admit I have a nice body so maybe, just maybe, I could have an affect on him like he had on me earlier.
He walked out and sat at the edge of the pool, I planted myself right across from him and slowly pulled my shirt off, throwing it down and watching his reaction. He turned bright red and didn't look away so I smiled over at him and winked, finally jumping into the pool. I came back up near him, able to easily stand up and have the water at my waist. I pushed my hair out of my face and looked up at him, just admiring his blushing face glowing in the sunlight.
Suddenly Jihoon popped up, "Kiss kiss fall in love!!" He yelled before being dunked by Minghao for ruining the moment. God damnit Jihoon! Gotta thank Minghao later.
I watched as Chan covered his face with his hands to hide and blushed brightly myself, going under to hide it, swimming over to Chan at the edge and coming back up. As I made my way out I watched Chan uncover his eyes.
"H-hi..."
I smiled softly at him, shaking my head like a dog to splash Chan as I move the hair out of my face, chuckling happily, "Hi!"
Chan giggles at the water splashing on him as he moves back a little. I just watched as he leaned closer, I decided I was going to move closer to him, putting a hand against the pool on each side of him, practically between his legs, resisting the urge to fully move forward into them, "And why aren't you getting in Channie?"
Chan blushes and the urge gets stronger, "Oh... um... I just... don't wanna get in the way?"
I chuckled as I stopped resisting and went closer, wrapping my arms around his waist, "Well there's a whole pool here and only thirteen of us so..." I quickly pulled him in, not letting him go, hoping he would wrap his legs around me so I could feel him close against me. He yelped and then immediately did just what I wanted, wrapping his legs around my waist and hugging me tightly.
That's when I noticed it, his face was bright red but he had taken a breath and was holding it, he looked terrified like I was about to dunk him. I held him to me tightly, "Hey, you're fine, breathe. I got you, you're not even underwater!"
Chan let out the breath he was holding, still holding on tightly, "I'm not gonna drown?"
I rubbed his back carefully, trying to comfort him, "Of course not, only Jihoon would drown in four feet of water! You can stand and your face is completely out of the water!"
Chan slowly unwrapped his legs from my waist, causing me to be a bit disappointed, standing on the bottom on the pool floor, "Oh..."
I held his waist still, any excuse to hold him, that's when I realized, he's like Jeonghan, and I'm an asshole for pulling him in, "So... that's why you didn't want to get in? You can't swim?"
Chan's face turned bright red and then he looked down, he slowly nodded his head. I carefully took one of my hands off of him, making sure he was still secure, lifting his chin up towards me, "Don't be embarrassed! I'm sorry I pulled you in! I shouldn't have done that. I'm so sorry Chan... you're safe here... maybe we could teach you?"
"Don't be sorry! I'm the one who should be sorry! I didn't say anything to anyone!" He then gently put his hands on my shoulders, "I'd love it if you would teach me though..."
I then realized what I had done and moved my hand away, blushing slightly as I became aware just how close we were, his hands on my shoulders and my hand on his chin, I could have just leaned down a little bit and captured his lips, but I didn't, "It's not your fault for not saying anything, I should have respected that you didn't want to get in... I'd be so happy to teach you! Most of it will probably be easy for you because it's like a dance only in the water."
"I do want to be in the water with you all though..." Chan said shyly.
I smiled softly, "Good! Then, we'll start here since you can easily stand... are you good if I let you go?" I really didn't want to let him go, but if he wanted to learn to swim, I can't just hold him.
"I think so..." Chan then looked at me with puppy dog eyes, "You'll save me if I slip, right?"
I chuckled at how cute he was, "Of course I will, just see me as your personal life guard." I then slowly and reluctantly let him go, letting him stand on his own.
I watched as Chan carefully stood, keeping his balance. He then tried to take a step and slipped, falling right into me. I caught him quickly, looking down at him and smiling, "Woah, you almost fell for me! Be careful there Channie, it is slippery!"
Smooth Vernon, so smooth. Chan looked up at me and blushed, nodding.
I carefully held his waist, "Here, try to walk while I'm holding you, then you can try to float!"
"Okay!" Chan took a careful step forward, smiling as he kept going, looking back at me, causing me to smile back at him and slowly let go.
"There now lift your feet and keep your balance, you'll float!"
Chan did so, smiling brightly as he started to float, "I'm floating!" he giggled.
I swam around beside him, "Yeah! I knew you'd be able to do it! Now do you wanna try swimming?"
Chan nods, losing his balance and falling backwards into the water, letting out a yelp. I tried to grab him, jumping up and just barely missing his arm. I yelled out as his arm passed my hand, "Nooo!" I dived under, grabbing him up and pulling him out of the water.
Chan immediately reaches up to his face, wiping his eyes, letting out a whine as he leaned against me. I realized he must have had his eyes open. I looked over him carefully, "Are you okay? Can you breathe?"
"My eyes sting really badly." Chan whined, blinking to try to fix them.
I thought for a second, moving over to the edge with him and getting up carefully and sitting at the edge, grabbing a towel and leaning forward, wiping Chan's eyes and face off. Chan just let me do it, probably trusting that I would make him feel better.
"I wonder if they sell goggles at the front desk..." I mumbled, realizing my card was in the car as I kept wiping at his eyes, making sure they were dry and clear.
Jihoon then comes over, probably hearing me ask that, "Vernon, go get my black card from my bag, they sell goggles and stuff at the front desk."
I nodded, getting up, "Just, keep Chan at the edge here, hold on to the side and you won't go anywhere okay Channie?" I said, making sure he nods in agreement before going to Jihoon's bag, looking through it, not finding the card, "Where is it in here?"
Soonyoung comes over, reaching into the bag and immediately pulling the black card out of Jihoon's bag, "Here, he keeps it in the hidden pocket of whatever bag he's using. I'll go with you!"
Of course he would know, Jihoon pulls that out whenever he even remotely wants something. I think he likes him, at least a little. I smiled at him and nodded, walking to the front with him.
Soonyoung looks around at the stuff they had for sale, "Hey, goggles!" he points them out.
"Oh, perfect! Hmm... you think Jihoon would be mad if I got him some water wings too?" I asked, pointing the goggles out to the lifeguard working there at the desk before pointing the water wings out to Soonyoung.
"He won't be, he cares a lot about Channie so anything you can get to make it safer while he's learning will be fine." Soonyoung says.
I nod and signal the lifeguard to get those too, "Anything else we need?"
Soonyoung hums, looking around. He then gasps, "The tiger water gun too please! Also a bunch more of them! We're gonna have a water gun fight!"
I laughed, shaking my head and looking at him, "Well, I guess Jihoon won't be mad since it's you, right?"
"Nah, he lets me use his card whenever." Soonyoung said, paying for everything before happily opening up his new water gun.
I shook my head and grabbed the stuff for Chan, leading Soonyoung back to the pool, "Just make sure you don't spray near Chan, okay? He doesn't need that stress while he's trying to learn... and probably safe to keep it away from Seungcheol and Jeonghan too, unless you wanna die."
"I won't do that to Channie, and I know better than to hit those two if they don't join in. I'll make sure the others know to be careful." Soonyoung then goes running towards the pool where almost everyone else is.
I looked over to find that Chan and Jihoon had gotten out, standing next to Wonwoo. I walked over to them, "Oh you got out! I got you some water floaties too! I thought that would help you not go under again."
Chan tilted his head, "Water floaties?"
I nodded, holding them out, "We blow them up then put them over your arms and you can't go under!"
Chan took one and looked it over, he then opened it and blew into it as hard as he could, "Like that?"
I busted out laughing, "No you gotta hold on to it, here, let me see..." I said through laughs, holding my hand out for it back.
Chan looks down at it again, "No, wait, I think I can do this..." he then puts it back up to his mouth and blows until he is out of air. He keeps going still, not taking another breath.
I shook my head, looking at Wonwoo and Jihoon, mumbling, "Cute..." I then moved towards him, "Can I help? Please?"
Chan glances up at me, finally stopping his blowing and taking a breath, "Y-yeah... I don't think I've inflated it at all..." he hands it to me and I smiled softly.
"It takes some getting used to," I then took it and started to carefully blow it up, succeeding and then closing it up before blowing up the second one.
Chan watches me, childlike innocence to him. He then takes one back and holds it in his hands, "Feels kinda like a balloon of some kind..."
I laughed softly, "Yeah kinda... you just put it up on your arm, want help?"
Chan blushes and nods, handing the floaty back to me. I took it, moving to him and gently taking his arm, moving my hands down and pulling the floaty over his hand, slowly pulling it up until it's to his biceps, casually feeling his muscles as I did so. My ears turning red as I tried to remain calm since I was practically groping his small muscles. I then grabbed the next one and did the same, leaving my one hand on Chan's and looking at him, "You have really nice arms, you should wear short sleeves more often."
Chan blushed, "Thank you... I'll try to be confident enough to wear short sleeves more..."
I smiled softly at him, "You should be... you should really be a lot more confident with how good you look..." I then looked down awkwardly, "Uh... anyway, there you go, all safe... and here's the goggles..." I slowly handed them over.
Chan took the goggles before carefully putting them on, "Think I'm all ready?"
I chuckled at him and nodded, "Perfect, now I can teach you how to swim and you'll be all safe..." I then looked towards the pool, realizing that Jihoon and Wonwoo were still there. Oh god I want to bury myself alive. If I'm going down I'm taking him with me. Deciding to save my sanity, I looked at Jihoon, "Oh by the way, Soonyoung bought himself something with your card, he said you'd be fine with it... it had a tiger on it so, not surprising."
"Another tiger thing?" Jihoon looked at me confused, "What was it?"
Before I can even answer...
"HORANGHAE!" We all heard Soonyoung shouting. We all look to see him shooting Minghao with the tiger water gun.
"...that." I said before busting out laughing as Minghao got blasted in the face.
"OH IT'S ON!" Minghao yelled, grabbing the frog water gun Soonyoung had handed him beforehand and spraying him back, "YOU'RE NOT A TIGER!!!!"
"Oh god... Wonwoo, let's go keep it somewhat under control?" Jihoon said, watching as chaos happened.
Wonwoo nodded at him, going and sliding into the pool.
I smiled over at Chan, "I told them to make sure not to hit you."
Chan looked at me, "It looks like fun though... but I should probably learn how to swim first..."
"It can be fun, but if you get sprayed and can't really run away, it's horrible!" I said dramatically, looking back at him before thinking, "Here, come over here," I pulled him closer to the edge, stepping back before running and jumping in, the splash big enough to gently splash Chan.
I swam back up, seeing him sitting in the edge, moving and putting my arms back on either side of his waist, "Ready to get back in?"
Chan smiled, "Yeah! Been ready for a while now!" He joked, playfully sticking his tongue out at me.
I laughed with him, finding it very cute, "Okay, okay, I just wanted to make sure you were safe and comfortable!" I said before picking him up by the waist, pulling him down into the water. He held on to my shoulders and smiled and I had to resist the urge to just hug him to me.
He put the goggles up onto his forehead. He stayed close to me before I heard him speak, "It's cold in the water now..."
I smiled and kept him close, "Yeah, it's always cold when you get out! You'll warm back up!"
Chan nodded before laying his head on me, him against my bare chest causing butterflies in my stomach as my heart beat faster, "With you I'll warm up quickly."
I blushed and chuckled, "I mean... yeah huddling together does help... stay here for as long as you need and then we can start learning the doggy paddle..." I mumbled, looking away embarrassed before meeting eyes with Seungkwan, turning even more red as he looked at me and mouthed 'I told you so'.
Chan snuggled closer and after a moment, he pulled away, "We should probably start..."
I let out a small sigh of relief as I turned my attention back to him, "Yeah! Let's start!"
Chan lets go, backing up a little and lifting his feet up. The floaties keeping him upright, "So... how do I doggie paddle?"
I smiled, "I'm gonna hold your stomach, okay? Float forward and let your legs come up, I'll hold your stomach to keep it up and keep you from going under."
Chan nodded, slowly doing as I said. I carefully held his stomach and thighs, trying not to think about where I was holding him, keeping him up against me to make sure he wasn't going under, "Now, try to just float, get used to the feeling of your body."
"Okay..." Chan did so for a minute before looking back at me, causing me to smile.
"Now whenever you're ready, start moving your arms and kicking your feet in the water!"
Chan immediately starts doing so, pulling away from me and just going. He turns around and starts coming back over, smiling brightly, "I'm doing it!"
I smiled widely at him, clapping, "WOOO!! You did it! Good job, I'm so proud!"
Chan starts to do circles around me like I was doing to him earlier, giggling as he goes round and round.
I chuckled as I spun around, looking at him, "You're doing so good!!"
Chan stopped going around suddenly he's coming right for me, hugging me tightly, "Thank you..."
I smiled widely and hugged him back, "Don't thank me, it's all you!"
Chan shook his head, "You're the one who taught me and got me the floaties and goggles..."
I chuckled, blushing softly, "Technically Jihoon bought them so..."
"Still... you got out of the pool to wipe my eyes and then went to the store to get them." Chan said, pulling away. His hands landing on my chest causing me to blush more.
I looked down at him, "Well, you were in pain... you deserved the help, and I'm the dumb one who pulled you in without asking if you could swim first so..."
"I'm the one who didn't tell anyone I couldn't swim and didn't tell you when you asked why I wasn't swimming!" Chan pouted.
I moved my hands down to his waist, "Yeah well, it was my fault so... no thanking me!"
"But you're the one who's teaching me how to now! I can probably start doggie paddling by myself now!" Chan went to pull away and I watched as he realized where his hands were "Oh..." his face turned tomato red.
I chuckled softly, trying to joke away my own blush, "I know I'm hot, it's okay you can feel me up all you want." I then winked at Chan before holding my nose and going under the water.
I noticed he didn't follow and realized the floaties kept him up, so I came back up laughing, "Come on, let's swim to the other side and back, then you can get more practice!"
Chan smiled again and nodded, "Okay!"
I smiled over at him before leaning down, "First one to the side over there wins!"
Chan blushed and nodded, "O-okay..." he then started to swim over to the side.
I stood and watched to give him a head start before slowly floating towards the side, pretending to actually swim.
Chan makes it to the side, he holds onto the edge and looks back at me. He then started to doggie paddle back over to me so I started to actually swim to him, smiling, "Dang, you're fast!!"
Chan smiled innocently before reaching over, "You're it!" he giggled before quickly starting to doggie paddle away.
I laughed happily and started swimming after him, going under and touching his leg before coming up, "You're it!!"
Chan giggled, turning around and swimming after me, "You can go underwater and I can't! Not fair!"
I smiled, "Fine, I'll stay on top!" I then swam away, going slowly.
Chan then stopped, "I wanna go underwater..." he trailed off, looking down at the water.
I turned back to him, "You'd need your goggles on your eyes first, then you hold your breath, they cover your nose too, so you don't have to hold it, then you just dive down! Wanna pull the floaties off and try?"
"What if I can't come back up?" Chan looked back up at me, looking scared.
"I'll hold you and go down with you, is that okay?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist.
Chan blushed, wrapping his arms around my neck, "Yeah, I know you won't let me drown."
I smiled and moved my hands up, gently pulling the goggles down over Chan's eyes and nose as he smiled at me, making sure it was tight enough.
I then grabbed his waist again, "Alright! Suck in a deep breath and hold it, then jump up with me and down!"
I sucked in a deep breath, pulling Chan up with me before pulling him under as I went, looking at him under the water, never once letting go. I watched as he looked around and smiled at him, slowly letting one hand leave his waist and moving it up, holding up a questioning thumbs up.
Chan smiles and nods, not letting me go. I nod then pull back up, pushing the hair out of my face and smiling at Chan, "How was it? Wanna go again?"
"It was amazing! Yes!" Chan smiles brightly.
I smiled back before I heard Mingyu yelling, I glanced over to see him trying to shoot Joshua, who hopped away and went underwater just as Mingyu shot the water, causing it to go straight into Jeonghan and Seungcheol, who low-key looked like they were 1 second from making out.
As Joshua came back up he went right into Junhui, causing a huge crash between him, Minghao, and Seokmin. I could tell this was about to get nasty so I turned back, grabbing Chan tightly around the waist, "NOW! GO NOW!" I yelled before taking in a deep breath, making sure Chan did before pulling us both under the safety of the water in our corner.
I looked at him under the water, trying not to laugh so I didn't run out of breath. I watched as he did fine for a minute before his face filled with panic, I pointed up to signal if he needed to go up.
He nodded quickly, grabbing onto me and holding on tightly, practically hugging me. I held onto him tightly to make sure he would be fine and pulled him up, coming out of the water and looking behind us to check on the chaos after making sure Chan was out and fine.
I busted out laughing as I saw Seungcheol jump on Mingyu, pushing him underwater and dunking him, then I looked towards Jeonghan to see Joshua happily paddling him away from the chaos, to safety.
I felt Chan lean into the corner and turned back around, putting both of my hands out to keep him from floating away, one on each side of Chan. That's when I realized I had pretty much pinned Chan into the corner of the pool, blushing brightly as I watched him breathe heavy with his head back like that, admiring the view as a slew of thoughts that shouldn't be in my mind flooded my brain. I gripped the edge of the pool before moving closer, "Don't worry, I'll protect you..." I mumbled out as an excuse for being so close.
Chan looked at me and blushed, causing me to smile at him before leaning down and whispering in his ear, "They're a little crazy but they all love each other"
I felt him shiver a little, "Sounds like a real family..." he mumbles out, his face going redder.
I chuckled, "Yeah, we're one big happy family... you included. I'm so glad you're with us now."
Chan smiled at me, causing my heart to flip, "I'm glad to be a part of this family..."
I just smiled softly, "I'm glad you're finally accepting that you're stuck with us, and our crazy chaos."
"I really don't think I even have a choice anymore..." Chan laughed a little, before looking back at everyone, "But... I wouldn't voluntarily leave, ever."
I moved closer while he wasn't looking, our bodies almost touching as I held him in place, "Good, you better not... you're ours now, our baby Channie! You can't ever leave!" I'd like it if you were just mine...
Chan looked back at me, not looking bothered by how close I had gotten, "I feel like... I can be myself when you're around..."
I smiled happily at him, "I'm glad... I like you when you're yourself."
Chan blushed and smiled, "I like you being yourself too..."
I chuckled and leaned closer, feeling my chest touch his, almost all of us against each other, upper bodies touching now, "I like being around you..."
Chan wrapped his arms around my neck and my heart started beating even harder, "I like being around you too..."
I went to lean down towards him, our faces so close together, "I like this..." I like you...
"I like this too..." I watched his eyes close and realized one inch more and we would be kissing.
My eyes closed as I moved closer, feeling Chan's breath against my lips, causing me to go crazy, I just wanted to grab him and pull him closer, make our entire bodies intertwine as I finally feel his sweet lips on mine. I wanted to say one thing before I did so, "I like y...."
"NO I DON'T WANNA GET OUT!!!" Mingyu yelled, interrupting us. God DAMNIT MINGYU!!!
I then heard Wonwoo from right above us, "YOU JUST WANNA SEE SEUNGKWAN S-," and suddenly I'm being hit in the back of the head with the water gun, causing me to back up quickly and spin around, "HEY! CAREFUL! NO SHOOTING CHAN REMEMBER?!"
"SORRY I WAS GOING FOR WONWOO!" Mingyu yelled back before running away, probably worried he'd be dunked again.
I heard Wonwoo talking to Chan behind me, "We're leaving guys, it's time to get out."
"Oh... okay..." I heard Chan respond as I turn around, he then looked at me before reaching a hand out to him, "Help me out, please?"
I took his hand gently, "Of course, Channie." I then took him, pulling him to me and holding his waist again, carefully leading him back to the steps.
We both went up the steps and he reached up to take the goggles fully off, just in time for Jeonghan to wrap a towel around him and start to dry him off carefully. Seungkwan and Seokmin standing nearby with towels around them already, "Did you have fun? Eyes clear? Nobody hit you with a water gun right?"
"Yes, yes, nobody hit me." Chan told him before his head was covered by the towel, Jeonghan drying off his hair.
"Fucking Mingyu..." Jeonghan mumbled, looking over at him as Seungkwan questioned him on what Wonwoo was talking about.
I laughed as I heard him, "Fuckin Mingyu. He almost did hit Chan, if it wasn't for me... Aren't you kinda glad he shot you guys though? It looked like you and Seungcheol were gonna... you know..."
Jeonghan freed Chan's head from the towel, wrapping it around his shoulders, "Yeah... sure... He did interrupt a kiss that would've started something... Go stand in the sun baby and warm up with Seungkwan and Seokmin." Jeonghan then patted Chan on the back and gently moved him towards where Seokmin was.
"Or two..." I mumbled sadly, fiddling with my hands as Jeonghan hands me a towel too.
Jeonghan starts to dry me off, "I wasn't talking about Seungcheol and I almost kissing... I had the best view of everything going on between you and Channie."
I turned red, looking up at him, "I... almost confessed to him..."
"You both were going for that kiss..." Jeonghan said before sighing, covering my entire head with the towel before mumbling, "I just wanna smush your faces together..."
I pouted, mumbling through the towel, "That's not even the first time... I wish you would."
"Joshua would have my head on a silver platter..." Jeonghan uncovered my face, "It's happening naturally though, which is good... Channie definitely reciprocates. He's just... oblivious? Not gonna make the first move?"
I blushed and shook my head, "I'm worried he'll start to think I'm not interested and move on if I don't make a move soon... or maybe he doesn't even like me like that and just isn't socialized enough to know what I'm doing? I don't know..."
Jeonghan sighed, "Vernon, he buried himself in your fluffy white jacket that night. He was like a lovesick puppy. Also, he is socialized enough. He's actually had people flirt with him as a joke before. Plus, we have socialized him enough with us that by now he knows what you're doing."
I sighed softly and pouted, "I know, that's exactly what Seungkwan said too... I'm just nervous..." What if he doesn't actually like me and he's just not used to this... What if he's so innocent he doesn't realize that's what I'm doing.
"Seungkwan? Did Soonyoung...? Nevermind... Look, Seungcheol was a nervous wreck before he confessed to me and we hid in the school bathroom to make out. Trust me, if Shua didn't have me on a metaphorical leash, I'd have made you two kiss a long time ago." Jeonghan said.
I laughed, "I still can't believe you never told me. And wow that's kinky. I didn't know Seungcheol shared you with Josh."
"No, Joshua and I are just the devil twins, Seungcheol wouldn't share me and I wouldn't share him. Besides, Joshua is... thinking about other stuff right now..." I followed his gaze as Jeonghan glanced over at him with Chan, talking, "Also, Seungcheol and I never said anything because of his parents. I literally grew out my hair past shoulder length because I needed to pass as a girl just in case... we couldn't risk anything..."
I sighed softly, "I understand, I just wish I could have helped you guys and known about it and stuff... a lot of stuff makes more sense now that I know though, especially back in highschool."
"We're both sorry that we never said anything to any of you... We were actually gonna kiss because we don't really know how else to tell everyone...?"
I laughed softly, "Imagine the look on everyone's faces... maybe just casually mention it or something? I don't think anyone would have a problem with it at all, you're kinda a package deal already."
"Well... I don't know... we've kept it a secret for so long... it's just... awkward?" Jeonghan then wrapped the towel around my shoulders, "Just, next time you're about to kiss Channie, don't let anything stop you, okay?"
I pouted, holding the towel around myself, "No promises... fuckin Mingyu..."
"Guys! Come on! We gotta get changed back into our clothes!" Junhui called out to everyone as he yoinked the tiger water gun out of Soonyoung's hands and added it to the bag of them that he's collected.
I sighed softly and walked back to the group with Jeonghan.
Chan ran up to me as fast as he could with bare feet, "Vernon!"
I chuckled at him, loving how cute he looked, "Channie!"
Chan stops running next to me, holding onto the towel on his shoulders, smiling at me as we walk side by side, causing me to smile too, walking to the changing room, "You seem happier after learning how to swim now! Think you'll be ready for next time?"
"Yeah! All thanks to you!" Chan took my hand swinging our hands back and forth a little.
I blushed softly and chuckled, letting him have my hand, "Hey you did it yourself! I just coached!"
Chan shook his head before looking me in the eyes, "I would've never even tried if it wasn't for you!"
"But you did it yourself! You should be proud of yourself Channie!" I said, smiling at him and meeting his eyes.
"I guess... I'm more thankful to you!" Chan said as we reached the changing rooms, he let go of my hand to grab his bag, making me want to pout at him, "Time to get changed!"
I smiled and nodded, grabbing my own, "Yeah! And then I'm driving you home, it's too far for you to walk..."
Chan blushed a little, "Okay..." He then ran into the changing room.
I followed and changed into a new outfit, a simple black T-shirt and some jeans, before coming back out, smiling at Chan as I did since he beat me out.
Chan smiled back at me and then I heard Soonyoung speaking, "Okay! So we're back to the normal stuff tomorrow!" He smiled at everyone as he looked around.
"Yeah, back to work and practice!" Seungcheol responded, a small smile at everyone.
"Hopefully we'll come up with new songs at some point..." Jihoon trailed off.
"I've already got one I've been working on!" I say happily, thinking about the songs Chan has been inspiring lately.
"I got some stuff I need to work on before tomorrow... Let's get going, maybe we'll finish everything tonight?" Jun said.
"Alright! Everyone out and ready?" Seungcheol asked, looking around and counting everyone.
Everyone nods before we start to leave, Chan walking out with me. I notice him start to shiver a little and glance over at him, opening the passenger side doors of my car when we reached it, "Are you cold? You're shivering..."
"Yeah... Don't really know why though... it's warm out today?" Chan said, sounding a little confused, he looked up at me with tired puppy dog eyes and head tilted. He looked pitiful and adorable at the same time.
I leaned towards him, putting a hand on his cheek, "That's why, you're sunburnt. You didn't put on any sunscreen, did you?" I then took my hand away, opening the back door and pulling out a hoodie I normally keep there, especially since it came in handy as pillows when I slept in the car, gently wrapping it around Chan's shoulders.
Chan blushed, "No, I didn't... Didn't have any to bring and didn't want to be a burden and ask for some so I just... went without..." He then carefully got in, snuggling a bit more into my jacket.
I smiled softly at the sight, leaning in and buckling him up, "If I had known you didn't put any on, I would have done it for you... that's gonna hurt like hell tomorrow," I said before closing the door and getting in my side, starting the car.
I looked over and watched as Chan just snuggled into the jacket more. I turned on my music and started to drive before glancing over at him, "You really like my jackets huh..." I mumbled before starting to drive him home, quietly singing along to the radio.
(~Harley)