JEON JUNGKOOK'S POV
"LAST ONE THERE BUYS DRINKS LATER!" Jimin yells while starting to sprint to the water. After hearing that, we all start running across the beach like we're being chased by death itself.
I have no problem speeding passed everyone else, and I feel great as wind slaps me and my hair whips around, sand kicking up behind my feet. When I glance back, however, I notice that despite how fast she is, Ji-won is struggling to run with her flip-flops and hair covering her eyes.
Without a second thought, I turn around and run to her, and without any sort of warning, I scoop her up in my arms, bridal style. She screams loudly in shock and starts laughing hard when I keep running to the ocean. She throws one arm around my neck and grabs my flexed bicep with the other to keep from falling. I feel her bare side against my abs, her skin is smooth and warm.
She whoops and cheers for me as I let out a strained yell of struggle, about to collapse. I push further and keep sprinting, desperately trying to save us both from buying drinks. The second my feet touch the water in 3rd place we start yelling in victory together, right before I stumble and we both scream. We collapse into the shallow water while clinging to one another, causing a huge splash. We're laughing hysterically at our fail-win when we resurface.
As everyone else, including the losing-drink-buyer Yoongi who didn't go further than a slow grandpa jog, reach the water and start splashing and messing around, I push myself to my feet and help up Ji-won.
"You better thank me good for that, I saved you." I chuckle with a big smile. Fuck it, moments like these are more important than being petty.
She giggles and leans on me in a side hug. "Bless your soul cuz drinks here must be hella overpriced."
Before I can even get the chance to bask in our little hug, she pulls away way too soon and runs over to Hoseok, who's panting and talking to Jin a few yard away.
"I BEAT YOU BITCH!!" She yells to him, punching his shoulder.
He laughs and shoves her a little. "No, he did. Don't go taking credit." He says, jerking his head at me in an oddly friendly manner.
"Well I high key wish you lost. It'd be so satisfying to watch you buy me drinks after you made me pay for everything at Halmeoni's last week." She says, bumping into him again. He kicks some water onto her, starting a little play fight with lots of laughing.
Ohmyfuckinggod they still go out to dinner? What the actual literal fuck??
I guess I'm being blinded by jealously at the moment because I don't even see Taehyung in front of me, splashing me and being followed by Jimin, laughing and not even noticing how conflicted I look. Good thing, no one has to know. I laugh and go along with them, forgetting Ji-won and focusing on my hoes. I can have a good time without her, just like she can have the fucking time of her life without me, as is being displayed currently in front of my crushed and pained soul.
Haters will call me dramatic, but if only they knew how confused I felt right now.
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JUNG HOSEOK'S POV
"You top or bottom?" Ji-won asks.
"Whichever you want baby." I reply with a wink, steping closer to her.
"Oh fuck you," She says as she shoves me away. I laugh as I stumble backward, and I catch her trying to hide a chuckle too.
"I'm kidding, I'll be top so you're more comfortable." I say. We're talking about riding on a boogie board, unfortunately. We only have 3 of them and the others are being used by Jungkook and Jin, so we're gonna attempt to go boarding on one together.
It's a very weird position- she's laying on it properly while I'm above her and holding onto the sides of the board, my legs open and my crotch directly over her butt. I can just feel Jungkook's eyes burning through me from a couple yards ahead of us.
I lean my lips close to Ji-won's ear and whisper seductively "Is this good baby?"
"I WILL PERSONALLY FUCKING THROW YOU OFF THIS BOARD HOSEOK!" She yells while I burst out laughing. She shakes her head as we starting swimming out to the waves.
She knows I'm just messing around, but I wish I could really call her that. She's moved on so quickly, and yet I don't think I ever will. Even if she believes I have, I'll still always want her, maybe even need her. It's worse when someone's just barely out of reach like this. So close yet so far.
But I'm okay, and I'm just grateful we're not strangers right now, that we can still joke around like this. That's more than I can ask for, and I respect what she's feeling. At this point I know it's Jungkook. I pretend to be okay with it.
We're swimming out and getting some of the softer waves, and our duel-boarding is actually working for now. We laugh when we get splashed and work together to keep swimming forward. A relaxing kind of teamwork.
A big wave finally comes toward us, and we can't help but scream as we explode through it. Since the waves are powerful here, I'm fully pressed against her to not fall off, my bare chest on her bare back. I'm sure he's watching.
I decide to just forget about Jungkook and focus on this time with Ji-won. We don't go to the beach often and I want to enjoy it.
We fall off our board a big handful of times, freaking out and screaming every time. We've flipped over entirely too, which is even more thrilling than the boarding itself. We both laugh like crazy and it's hella fun, but it does get exhausting to continue swimming so much. After a while we turn our board around and start heading back to the shore, still getting some nice waves to help us move closer too.
When we're a couple yards away though, out of literally no where we get slammed into by another board- probably Jin's because he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing when it comes to this- and all three of us scream on impact. I'm thrown underwater and I shut my eyes tight to keep the salt water out since it would sting like hell after. I reach out and feel for Ji-won, grabbing her wrist when I find it.
Another bigger wave comes in just then and sends us recklessly flopping closer to the shore underwater. I keep my grip on her wrist tight up until we roll onto shore, landing with me laying face-up in the moist sand and her on top of me laying face-down, head resting on my chest. It reminds me of how we were back at the ski trip, when she once loved me back. It reminds me of us laying in the grass next to the lake that night when I confessed, when she once wanted me back. The position is comforting and tormenting all the same... but something is off.
Since fucking when did Ji-won get abs?
My eyes shoot open and instead of my best friend I see Jungkook laying on me like some damsel in distress. He looks up at the same time as me, and we scream at the top of our lungs at the same time.
"SHIT!"
"FUCK!"
We scramble away from each other at the speed of light, panting wildly.
"I knew your grip felt too manly!"
"I knew your wrist was too thick!"
We yell at the same time again. I push myself to my feet with a scowl, feeling incredibly embarrassed and disgusted. So it was his board, not Jin's. "You did it on purpose." I spit.
He scoffs, getting up just as fast. "I'm not gay and if I was it wouldn't be for you!"
"No, not the gay part on purpose! The board part! And honestly with these abs, yes you would be." I snap back, stepping closer to him.
"I didn't run into you guys on purpose, don't go jumping to fucking conclusions. And trust me, it would be Taehyung!" He yells, shoving me backward.
Jimin gasps in a betrayed manner from across the beach. "WHAT THE FUCK JUNGKOOK!!"
"NOT THE TIME JIMIN!" He yells back.
"You're just all about interference aren't you?" I ask with another cold chuckle, shoving back.
"What am I even interrupting? It's not like there's anything going on with you two anymore." He snaps, spreading his arms out at his sides.
"Yeah, all because of a certain asshole I know." I say while sticking up my middle finger. Right when he looks like he's about to lunge at me, I turn and run back to the water to help a struggling and coughing Ji-won out. I put my arm around her waist and she slings hers over my shoulder for support. She's truthfully not badly injured or anything, but it puts on the right image for a pissed Jungkook watching. I'm here for her and you're not, and it will always remain that way.
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SONG JI-WON'S POV
We've been at the beach since the sun's presence to absence, replaced by a waning moon, soft breezes, and few tiny stars. The waves are low and calm, and we're the only people left. Our laughs and yells echo around us and hang in the air, like we own this place, like our words will always hang here. It's a good feeling.
We discovered a fire pit as we were exploring the beach, and we decided we had no choice other than to start a bonfire. Good thing, because I was getting kinda chilly in nothing but this bikini. While Yoongi pulled out his lighter and struggled to start the fire, I rubbed my forearms for some warmth. Since it's passed 10 and very dark, I didn't expect anyone to see, but it didn't go unnoticed by Hoseok. He doesn't hesitate to take off his t-shirt while waking over, holding it out for me without a word.
"What, no, you keep it." I say quickly, a sharp pang if unexpected guilt shoots me like a spear. All he does is care for me, every day... and what do I do to thank him for it?
He flashes a perfect smile. "I'll be fine." He says, grabbing my hand and placing the shirt in it. I grin at him and squeeze his hand in thanks before I pull it over my head. It's short sleeved and much too big, but I'm grateful anyway. Somehow it hurts to wear it though, greedy in a way. I take so much and give nothing.
With Jin's help, we finally get the bonfire started. The flames suddenly grow with a gust of wind, leaning fiercely to the left before returning upright. I instantly feel the air around me begin to warm up, filling me with some relief. It's okay, he knows I love him, even if just as a best friend. I don't need to prove that.
We sit in a big circle around the pit, our overall mood being chill and content. I don't know since fucking when he knew how, but Jin pulls out a random ass ukulele from our big duffel bag and starts playing some soft tunes while we all talk. It's so nice- music and fire and laughter and friends. A year ago, I would've never been able to picture myself like this, happy and easygoing. I never would've been able to picture myself loving Jungkook, either. How times change.
Taehyung passes a bunch of banana milks around before we're finally all settled. I'm sitting in between Haru and Hoseok as always, and Jungkook is directly across from me. It's hard to see his face through the flames, but I catch him looking at me.
We have a bunch of random group conversation, and I'm feeling entirely relaxed, up until Jimin The Dumbass decides to suggest scary stories. My heart drops.
"Why don't we just talk? About normal stuff..?" I say, chuckling nervously.
Hobi looks to me with a little smirk. "If you're scared then just annoyingly cling to me like you always do when we watch horror movies."
"But still, it's dark, and we're outside with no protection whatsoever... this just isn't the right setting for scary stuff." I insist, blushing.
"I'll start!" Jungkook says excitedly, completely ignoring me and my unease. Well shit. Looks like I'll just have to go along with this nonsense...
"There was once a young girl, in her senior year of high school with short, light brown hair and good grades..." he begins, meeting my eye through the flames. I grab a handful of sand and chuck it at him while he laughs, covering his face as it hits him.
"Good is an understatement." I mutter before he continues, already getting goosebumps.
He tells his story with a slow and low tone, focused eyes and sharp gestures. He relates every aspect of the horror to me somehow, from it taking place in our area, down to my parents and Ms. Lee being possessed devils and terrible shit like that. Although it was perfectly unrealistic, it felt way too fucking real.
By the end of his story, I was scared shitless. The others applauded for him while I rapidly looked around, my goosebumps to the sky.
"That really got to you, didn't it?" Hobi says, nudging me. I even flinch at his touch. He laughs at how scared at I am and I blush.
"W-what the fuck was that Jungkook!" I exclaim. "Now I'm gonna be terrified every time I see my own parents! My favorite teacher!" I yell while throwing more sand at him. He laughs in evil satisfaction and dodges it.
Luckily, we decided to stop with the scary stuff after that, going back to just talking again. Rather than as a group though, everyone kinda subconsciously split off, just having smaller conversations with the people next to them. Jimin snatched Hobi's attention before I could, and Haru was too busy flirting with Yoongi to talk to me either. They definitely have a thing...
So I resorted to hugging my knees awkwardly and staring deep into the fire, hoping no one would notice how suddenly lonely I was. My feet play in the sand a little, and after a minute passes by I'm completely zoned out.
"Ji-won," someone suddenly says, nudging my arm. I blink myself back to reality, looking over my shoulder to see Jungkook squatting behind me. "You wanna go walk around?" He asks, his brown eyes like small suns from the reflection of the flames. I'm all caught up in them, so it takes me a few moments to reply.
"Oh, uh, sure." I finally say. I mostly just want to stay here, since I'm scared it'll be awkward once we're alone, but at the same time, Jungkook never fails to intrigue me, and capture me with that playful, small grin. He stands up and offers me a hand. With that, we start straying away from the group, going completely unnoticed. Alone, in the dark, at the beach...
I wonder where this could go.