"The school is re-opening soon." Haruki shouts with all his might, facing the ocean.
"I'm not ready yet." Jimin shouts with him.
"I really thought we could enjoy more. Why did they suddenly changed the vacation schedule?" Taehyung asks, not familiar with how it all works.
"Well, we're now high school seniors so we have to prepare for the entrance exam." Natsuki sighs, kicking the sand out of her way.
The sea shore is their all time favourite spot for hang outs in summer. While fumiya has gone to buy some popsicles for them, natsuki, jimin, haruki and taehyung chat about random things.
"Do you think I can finish my bucket list before school starts?" Jimin asks Haruki who is busy picking on- playing with -little crabs with a small wooden stick and doesn't pay attention to what jimin is saying.
"Hey, haru, don't bother them. Look how tiny they are!" Jimin stops him as he snatches the stick and makes a run, away from everyone.
"Hey, hey! Come back!" Haruki starts chasing him as jimin starts giggling. At least, he is having fun.
"I'm back!" Fumiya approaches them as he runs with a polythene bag in his hand.
Jimin and Haruki both stop running and gather around for the popsicles.
"I want the watermelon one!!" Haruki says, raising his hand up in the air.
"Hey, no! I brought it for suki-chan! She loves it." Fumiya hides the watermelon flavoured popsicle from him when he tries to take it and sneakily gives it to natsuki.
"Thank you, fumiya-kun! You're the best!" She throws a funny wink at fumiya who laughs when Haruki pouts in disappointment.
"You all are so bad." He mutters but gets ignored brutally.
"Um, do you have strawberry flavour?" Taehyung asks as he interrupts their laughter.
"Oh, yes! Here you go." He hands taehyung the red wrapper.
"Oh, do you like strawberry too?" Natsuki asks him as she tears the wrapper, throwing it back in the polythene bag.
"It's my favourite." Taehyung smiles, nodding his head.
"I like it too, but in summer, watermelon is the best refresher!" She says, taking a bite and then hissing as it was too cold for her teeth.
Taehyung laughs at her. "Eat slowly." He says, taking a small bite as well, savoring the sweet yet a little sour taste inside his mouth.
"Ahem! Are we ready to go yet?" Fumiya clears his throat, looking at natsuki and taehyung.
"You guys keep forgetting that I exist. It's sad. After fumiya, now you two are going to ignore me too?" Haruki butts in.
"Hey, hey! We're not ignoring you or anyone." Natsuki protests against his accusations.
"Yes, they're just chatting!" Jimin says as he skips forward, draping a hand around taehyung. "Let's go! We have to get ready for the festival too!" He starts walking and drags taehyung with him too.
Natsuki rushes to follow them as fumiya and haruki bicker while walking behind them.
•~•~•
"Mom! Do you know how to wear a yukata?" Taehyung asks as he trails behind his mom who is collecting the dry clothes from the backyard.
"A yukata? Um, sorry. We have bought some yukatas and kimonos but never had the chance to wear it so, I don't know." She says and puts the last cloth in the basket before turning around to face him.
"Then, maybe, dad knows?" He asks with stars present in his eyes full of hope.
His mom laughs. "How can he know? He doesn't know, tae." She walks inside leaving taehyung behind.
"Mom!" He whines, following her. "What do I do now? Everyone has to wear yukata." He says and his mom stops, turning to him.
"Why don't you take some help from natsuki? Go over to their place, they will surely help you." She suggests happily.
"Uh, but, wouldn't I be bothering them?" He asks hesitantly, "is that okay?"
"Why are you suddenly an introvert? Come on! Go or you'll be late." She feels the need to encourage him.
He thinks about it. Maybe it's really okay, right? Of course it is!
Just then, his phone rings, indicating an incoming call. He runs to the dining table where the phone was put.
"Natsuki? Hi!" His surprised voice surprises even himself.
"Oh! Okay, I'll be there." He says and hangs up.
"What was it about?" His mom asks.
"She asked me to come over so she can help me with the yukata. She already knew that I would struggle with it." He chuckles. All that thinking only for getting called to come over by her.
"That's good! How considerate!" His mom smiles and taehyung nods.
"Okay, I'll go now! Bye, mom." He quickly runs to grab the yukata from his closet and runs outside after saying bye to yeontan.
"Natsuki!" He shouts as he enters inside the main gate of her house.
"Get in. The door is open." He hears her yell from inside so he slides open the door, stepping inside.
He sees kei soundly resting on the couch and glances inside the kitchen. Her mom isn't there.
"Yukio! What are you doing out there?" He suddenly turns towards the voice only to get stunned.
Natsuki gets out of her room to call him inside. She stands just beside the door, one hand on the door as she looks at him.
The usual natsuki, who would always be in a simple shirt ot t-shirt and shorts, today wore the traditional dress and that made taehyung keep his eyes on her for more than necessary.
The tightly yet comfortably wrapped obi belt on her waist compliments her body really well. The soft blue colour with faint white and pink cherry blossom flowers printed on it goes perfect with her skin tone. Her hair is braided softly and tied with a blue ribbon.
"Is something wrong?" She asks when she finds taehyung looking at her dress and checks herself once again, looking down at her dress.
"No, you look really pretty!" He says without hesitation and smiles with his eyes.
Listening to his words, she looks up again, not quite believing her ears.
"Really?" She smiles awkwardly yet her ears turn red at the small compliment.
"Yes. Um, aunty isn't home?" He asks, avoiding her eyes.
"She already went out with her friends because I was waiting for you, silly! And yet, you're still standing here. Come on!" She almost yells and grabs his arm, pulling him in the room.
"This is your room?" He asks, looking around once again.
It's a small room, walls painted in lovely yellow colour. Window that gives a view of the backyard and a study table and bed beside it. Other minimal furniture compliments the room.
"Of course! Okay, now, did you bring everything?" She asks, making him stand in front of the mirror. He gives her his bag with a shrug of his shoulder.
She goes through the clothes inside his bag and takes it out, putting it on the bed.
"Okay, you have everything." She says, taking the yukata in her hand as she looks at it. "Hm, it will fit you perfectly." She then looks at taehyung.
"Do you want to keep your shirt on?" She asks.
"Uh, will that make any difference?" He asks, confused. "I don't know much about this." He says truthfully.
"Okay, listen! It's usually worn without anything underneath but it's okay to wear a cotton shirt inside since it's summer so we can get sweaty. You're not familiar with this so you can keep your shorts on. The shirt however, it depends on you. What do you want to do?" She explains.
"It's not that hot yet though?" He asks, thinking to himself. Natsuki shrugs, leaving the decision to him.
"Um, are you....?" He starts to speak with hesitation but trails off, not knowing how to ask.
"Am I... what?" Natsuki raises her eyebrows.
"Don't get mad at me! Do you prefer wearing anything inside?" He asks shyly and exhales a long breath.
"Dummy! I'm a girl, it's different for me." Natsuki starts laughing and taehyung's cheeks go pink because of the embarrassment as he rubs his nape.
"Ah! Whatever!" He says loudly, quickly beginning to unbutton his shirt and soon tosses it on the floor.
"I'm ready!" He stands still, looking away from her.
She clears her throat, running her tongue over her lips out of habit and stops laughing, eyes losing focus because of taehyung's sudden actions.
"Okay! Wear this first." She holds up the yukata, keeping her eyes only on his face. But, that doesn't help much. His eyes looking back at her, made her nervous for some reason.
He slides his hands in the sleeves as she helps him. "The left side stays up and the right side goes under the left one, okay?" She does exactly that and glances at his eyes to see if he got it or not. He nods and she moves on.
"Hold this here. I'll help you with the obi belt." She takes the belt out of the bag while taehyung keeps the yukata in place as she informed before.
"The dark blue colour suits you well, huh?" She says, looking at him, who is now in the dark blue yukata with minimal black linings and patterns on it.
"Anything looks good on you." She sighs, mumbling under her breath and comes closer to him once again. He doesn't hear her.
She wraps the belt around his waist, her hands going around him smoothly. She can hear him breathing above her hair as she tries to focus on tieing the belt properly.
"Is this comfortable? It's not too tight, is it?" She asks, looking up at him while her hands are still on his waist. She didn't know that he's looking down at her too and the sudden close proximity catches her off-guard.
He nods his head slowly, not looking away.
Stupid! What are you doing? She scolds herself inside her head, quickly looking away and secures the belt with the perfect knot.
"Perfect!" She says, stepping away, looking up and down at him.
Taehyung looks in the mirror, turning left and right as he admires the traditional clothing.
"Do I look like a japanese boy now?" He smiles, putting his hand on the belt elegantly.
"Your face gives it away but you look so good in it." She says, holding both of her hands up in a thumbs-up.
"Wait, let me touch up your hair." She says, stepping forward.
Taehyung is too tall so she gets on her tippy toes but taehyung bends his head down for her and she stands comfortably again. She quickly parts his hair properly, brushing away the stray strands to give him a neat look.
"All set to go!" She says, proud of her work.
"Thank you so much, suki!" He says genuinely, again checking in the mirror happily.
"Suki-chan! It's time to go!" A loud voice is heard from outside that steals their attention.
"Oh, I think it's fumiya-kun. Let's head out." She says and taehyung nods as they walk outside.
■□■□
You might not know but... it really takes me so much time to just write one chapter TT I have to research for many things in Google lol. In short, I work hard 🤚🏻😮💨
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