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Chapter Text

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Someone really should've told Beomgyu, Huening Kai and Soobin that they take Truth or Dare way too seriously, like, 10 months ago. 

But, for real, someone really should've called the cops on them by now because the things they've done and the stunts they've pulled in the name of the game should be considered illegal.

Because when they play, they play to win. Truth or Dare was a matter of life or death for them.

The one rule of their games? Choosing ‘Truth’ was the coward's way out.

“Dare.”

“Go to the rooftop and climb over the edge to the window of the next floor down.”

“Dare.”

“Break into Mr Yoo's office and stay in there for 5 minutes.”

“Dare.”

“When you go to the bathroom, you have to piss at the urinal directly next to someone else for the rest of the term.”

When it's Beomgyu's turn again, Soobin and Huening seemed to have joined forces and are whispering into each other's ears deviously. Huening Kai looks so evil right now that devil horns might as well be sprouting up from his head. 

Beomgyu won't admit it, but he's a little nervous now. However, he's done unspeakable things for this game before. I am fearless. I'm. A. Superman.

“...dare.”

“Join the swimming team.”

Beomgyu blinks, waiting for more. Drown for a minute, pull down his speedos in front of the swim team and belly dance, drink a gallon of pool water—something worse on top of what he'd been given. “That’s it?” he asks. 

Soobin wears an ominous smile. “For the rest of the year.”

There’s the catch.  

“Swim with Taehyun? For a whole year? You guys might as well start shopping for caskets because you're killing me here, guys.”

They should really be capping the length of the time their dares last for, Beomgyu thinks. Well, to be honest, Beomgyu is a huge hypocrite because he loves to force Soobin into doing stupid shit for a whole semester—he gets off on that. So, a year isn't really out of the question. Especially because the dares Beomgyu comes up with are always the worst ones, so it is only fair for him to receive the most severe one. 

The biggest issue Beomgyu has with this dare is with who is in the swim team. His best friends are well aware of his antagonistic relationship with the current swim team captain, Kang Taehyun. Everyone in their year level knows about this. Every teacher knows about this. Every person and their mother know about this. After all, they have the rivalry of the 'century' (in high school terms, anyway). 

They battle over everything: in grades, petty playground insults, looks, confessions received and even how fast they can run. The list goes on. Basically, everything you can think of that is feasible in a high school setting? Yep, they compete over it. It's almost unrealistic the number of the things they clash over; their rivalry resembles that of a corny anime dynamic, where the main characters butt heads over every activity and are both inexplicably good at everything with no explanation ever given for their God-given talents. Not to mention, the protagonists always happen to be extraordinarily good-looking compared to the rest of the student body, and Beomgyu and Taehyun are no exception to this cliche. Oh, to be the main character of a romantic comedy anime. 

“Are you giving up?” Huening smirks.

Beomgyu glares at him. “No. Of course not. Who do you take me for—Soobin?”

Soobin whacks him over the head.

“If things get too intense between you two and you're afraid you'll actually commit homicide, we should have a safe word for when that happens so we can call off the dare,” Huening offers.

“How about moist?”

Beomgyu hisses, “What the fuck is wrong with you, Soobin?”

“It’s just so icky and abrasive that we'll know exactly what you're telling us. It's not like we ever use it in conversations so it won't be confused with anything else,” Soobin explains in unnecessary detail.

So, that’s how Beomgyu lands himself in the swimming team's first meeting of the year the very next day. His face lights up upon seeing the plates of snacks on the tables. Score. He's starting to think this would be a reward, after all, as he stuffs his face with chips and pastries. 

Taehyun, as expected, recoils at the sight of Beomgyu.

“What are you doing here?”

This doesn’t even come across as a question, more as an accusation. Seeing the shock on Taehyun's usually deadpan face is already a small victory for him. This dare is actually doing him good for once—that was rare. Dares have gone much worse before. And, things haven't been the same since...The Incident™.

Once upon a time, Beomgyu was dared to fart in front of a group of freshman girls (this had been Huening's idea...yeah how mature, right?) and he received detention for ‘indecent behaviour’. It apparently fell under the same category as harassment and for that reason, Beomgyu's been blacklisted by the school and is banned from interacting with freshman girls. For flatulence. Fucking flatulence. He's afraid the petty crime would even appear on his graduation transcript and taint his perfect academic record. Mind you, he did fart directly next to a poor, innocent girl's ear. Loud and proud. Not the non-scented kind either, a real stinker he let out. So, he deserved the detention partially. Still, they don’t ever talk about that Incident™ in their games, and doing anything involving freshman girls is completely off the table. 

“I'm here to swim, why else would I be here?” he replies with a shit-eating grin, swallowing down an enormous mouthful of food. Taehyun’s eyes turn into slits, trying to decipher Beomgyu's words as if they had a hidden meaning, an ulterior motive.

He ends up sighing in defeat. 

“Fine. Welcome to the team, Beomgyu.”

Beomgyu feels like he's won this battle. Go him. 

Taehyun takes control of the meeting with his vice-captain standing by his side.

"Welcome, everyone! Thank you for your interest in the school's swim club. I am the swim team's captain, Kang Taehyun, and beside me is the team's vice-captain, Choi Yeonjun." Yeonjun waves at everyone, grinning.

"—we'd like to extend a warm welcome to the new members joining and returning members."

His eyes fall on Beomgyu and he almost scowls before catching himself. Mr Perfect Kang Taehyun doesn't show emotion, especially not anger. That would be considered unprofessional for a captain.

"Most of you seem to be here for genuine reasons and for your passion for swimming, which is great. Most of you, anyway." He looks at Beomgyu even more pointedly this time. 

Beomgyu winks and blows a kiss coyly in his direction. Taehyun purses his lips, stuttering in his next sentence, "I-I would like to take the time this meeting to get to know each and every one of you joining us this year! We're a great, tight-knit bunch here and we've truly earned our place here with our many swim meet medal wins."

Beomgyu snorts under his breath at the clear humble brag, earning an annoyed glare from the guy next to him.

Taehyun continues, "Yeonjun will also be wandering around talking to you all. Feel free to grab some of the many refreshments—"

He sees the now mostly empty plates and blinks rapidly in confusion. Beomgyu chews the biscuit in his mouth slowly to avoid suspicion. Hey, if someone is offering free food, he's taking full advantage of it. It's just everyone else's fault for being too slow. You snooze, you lose. 

Taehyun shoots a death glare at him as he walks past him to greet the other fresh-faced members. "You pig," he mutters. Beomgyu smiles innocently back at him, basking in the glory of being able to knock Taehyun down a peg today—knocking the King off his throne and his pedestal. Suddenly, his gleeful expression turns into mortification.

Oh, yeah—there is just one glaring problem with all of this.

Beomgyu has never learned how to swim.

Chapter Text

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Although he remembers the general circumstances under which they met, Beomgyu can't exactly pinpoint the time when their rivalry started.

He always finds it irritating how high-strung Taehyun is all the time at school. Whenever he sees him, the other is never relaxed. 

"Some people have to actually work hard to get where they are, Beomgyu," Taehyun glowered. They were in 10th grade then, using their independent study time for the upcoming chemistry test. Beomgyu, as always, was annoying Taehyun while he was trying to study. 

Beomgyu grinned in response. "Just chill for once, Taehyun. Live a little—get that stick out your ass. I can't imagine what you'd be like at parties. Is your idea of an icebreaker a 90-minute formally run debate with trained adjudicators?" Beomgyu pretended to look deep in thought, "oh, wait. I forgot, sorry. You need friends for that." 

Taehyun rolled his eyes and put his head down to resume reading his textbook. Beomgyu laughed gleefully.

1-0: Beomgyu. 

Now, he's realised that it's fun to tease Taehyun. He derives so much satisfaction from seeing his tiny body all riled up and angry, throwing empty threats of punching Beomgyu with his perfect, little pixie face screwed up in rage. He's all bark but no bite. It doesn't help that they get the same grades in everything, being equally matched academically to Taehyun's dismay. He just doesn't understand how Beomgyu fits all the knowledge from his classes into his smooth, peanut-sized brain. If his immature comments and jokes are of any indication of his intelligence, his IQ should be in the negatives. He never sees Beomgyu study, so how is he pulling it off? It must be witchcraft, Taehyun concludes. Or, he's cheating. 

Taehyun's no Mother Teresa either. He gets under Beomgyu's skin too with sly remarks about his promiscuity and terrible attitude. And his lack of any semblance of work ethic whatsoever, leading him to make accusations about Beomgyu cheating or doing 'favours' for teachers. Beomgyu would retort by saying Taehyun is rather the one sucking off his teachers by asking and answering questions all the time, having one-on-one time with them after class and always seeking extra feedback on his assignments.

Yeah, their arguments don't exactly consist of petty playground insults at the best of times.

Now that Beomgyu's watching Taehyun command the swim team meeting, in a completely different context to how he's used to seeing him, his incessant need to drag Taehyun comes flooding back. 

"Our first practice will be next Monday at 4pm at the gym pool. Practice will be three hours for this first session only then two hours thereafter. See you there, everyone!" Taehyun calls out, dismissing the meeting. 

Beomgyu sucks in a deep breath. He hasn't figured out what he was gonna do about his inability to even doggy paddle across a square metre of water. He really hasn't thought this through at all, actually.

"Now, why are you here, really?" 

Taehyun stands in front of him, crossing his arms. Beomgyu already wants to taunt him. 

"Did you have a stroke? I already said why. I'm here to swim. For your team." 

Taehyun snaps, "I'm not dense like you, Beomgyu. What do you really want? What do you need from me in order for you to quit before you screw my entire team over?" This is my territory, you better leave, Beomgyu translates. 

Beomgyu plasters on a fake smile, both saccharine and acidic, "I genuinely want to learn—err, I mean—compete in competitions and be the very best, like no one ever waaaaas—" he breaks into the Pokémon theme song, causing Taehyun to groan. Needless to say, Beomgyu makes extremely lame jokes.

"I know you're up to something. What was this—a dare, or some shit?"

"Bingo." Beomgyu winks, throwing up a peace sign. 

Taehyun's mouth drops to the floor. 

"You can't be serious. You must be full of it if you think you're gonna join my swim team and take the piss out of us for a dumb game. This is serious stuff, Beomgyu. We're all trying to qualify for the Spring Invitational."

"You can't kick me out for no reason, can you?" Beomgyu quips. His lips quirk up in amusement. 

Taehyun storms off, fuming. Beomgyu grins.

2-0: Beomgyu. 

During lunch that day, Huening seems to be channelling his inner Satan again as his facial expression forms into something downright satanic. Beomgyu reckons he needs an exorcism ASAP.

"I dare you to wear the most revealing speedo you can find to your first practice." 

"Kai, no—please. I already can't bloody swim, do you want me to flash my balls in front of everyone while simultaneously drowning?"

"Wait—you can't swim?!" Soobin yells. "Why didn't you tell us that? We wouldn't have given you that dare if we knew that." 

Beomgyu screams back, "What do you mean?! I don't go back on my dares, I never admit defeat, no matter the circumstances." His voice is so deafening to the point that the next table turns to scowl at them. 

Huening gives him a sympathetic look. "We can give you another—" 

"No, I need to have the upper hand over Taehyun somehow. I can't quit now, he wants me to quit. I can't give the runt what he wants! I have to beat him." 

"By drowning?" 

"You have no faith in me. How hard can learning to swim be?"

Soobin and Huening glance at each other worriedly.

"How hard can it be, guys? Guys?" Beomgyu repeats, his pleading falling on deaf ears. 

- 

Beomgyu just doesn't understand why people enjoy swimming. He thinks, why do humans voluntarily will themselves to stop breathing and drown themselves for fun? They're humans, not fish. Why the fuck do they need to know how to swim? They surely weren't evolved to do so.

When he arrives at the swim practice 10 minutes late, Taehyun is climbing out of the pool. He combs a hand through his hair, slicking it back away from his face. 

That's when he sees Taehyun without a shirt on for the first time in his life. It shouldn't shock him as much as it did but he can't help but wonder why Taehyun hadn't beaten him up all those times he threatened him. Because he really could have. 

He gulps. Of course, Kang Taehyun is ripped. And, of course, he has a shredded six-pack. He's a competitive swimmer and athlete. Whatever, Beomgyu thinks. He wouldn't put it past the perfect all-rounder beloved star and treasure of the school to be gymming in his free time instead of, you know, having an actual life. A nerd and a gym rat, that is a rare combination, sure. But Taehyun has always been a try-hard. 

"You're late, Beomgyu," he spits, venom dripping from his voice, like his body continues to drip with water, the sunlight reflecting off the curves of his glistening abs.

"Are you using that body to pull some girls, huh, Taehyun? Because you wouldn't be getting them any other way with your dry ass personality?" Beomgyu utters. It's a blatant lie. He knows Taehyun gets plenty of girls confessing to him. But, a petty jab is a petty jab. 

Beomgyu expects Taehyun to monotonously roll his eyes and ignore him rather than fight back. He doesn't expect to get splashed with a rebuttal so strong he almost faints. 

"Is that your way of saying I have a nice body, Beomgyu?" Taehyun smirks. "Thanks, I'm flattered. But are you sure it's only girls it's working on?" 

The blood drains out of Beomgyu's face like air flowing out of a flamingo pool toy. What the fuck. 

A meme that could be used to describe Beomgyu right now is a hybrid between the surprised pikachu and the T R I G G E R E D meme. Beomgyu is livid. 

He does all he can to focus on Taehyun's face while giving his best cold glare, and nowhere else on his body. His chiselled, soaking wet body. "Get your head out your ass, Tyun. If you think I'm attracted to you, you were clearly dropped on your head one too many times as a baby," he mumbles. 

It's his shittest comeback yet, but it's all he can muster in his frazzled state. 

2-1: Taehyun.

Beomgyu faces another crisis. He's never worn speedos before. And he's extremely embarrassed to be putting on such a tiny piece of fabric over his crotch and nothing else. 

He pokes at his exposed stomach, which has gotten a little pudgy after lunch, frowning when he compares his own body to Taehyun's washboard abs. But, his mom liked him this way: a little chubby. Love yourself, BTS said, right? Besides, Beomgyu would much rather eat what he loved than diet and eat exclusively rabbit food. At least that's what he envisions swimmers eating—he doesn't know anything about the sport nor the effort it takes to maintain the peak physique for it. He steps out of the change rooms, right into the heat of Taehyun's seething eyes. Beomgyu looks everywhere but at Taehyun's face. Geez, this was humiliating. 

Taehyun clicks his tongue, glancing up and down Beomgyu's body. "Well, alright, get in the water then. We're starting off with an easy, breezy 800m freestyle warm-up. You're behind the others but that's fine. You can just stay back a bit after practice to finish the schedule." 

Beomgyu doesn't move. 

Taehyun cocks an eyebrow, "hello, piss boy Beomgyu? Did you hear what I said?"

"I did—it's—it's just..." Beomgyu starts. Taehyun waits impatiently, tapping his foot on the ground. "Spit it out, Beomgyu. We don't have all day."

I'm ill. I have explosive diarrhoea. I recently found out I'm allergic to water. My grandpa died at sea and I'm traumatised by the mere sight of water. I got my period today. He grimaces at the last excuse—he really is just a fucking moron. 

He inhales sharply. "I can't...swim." 

Taehyun doesn't say anything. He blinks once, as if he's just been told a terrible joke that he didn't understand.

"What?"

"You heard me. Don't make me say it again." 

"Oh," is all Taehyun says. The tips of Beomgyu's ears are bright red. He is never going to live this down. 

This is the part where you kick me out of the club and we never cross paths again, Beomgyu thinks. 

"Well, do you wanna learn, then?" Taehyun suggests. There is no malice behind his words. 

Beomgyu looks up at him for the first time. He feels so helpless and vulnerable. "Would you...actually teach me? Seriously?" 

"Yeah, you owe me one, though. But I'm a good coach, everyone tells me so. If I can teach a toddler, I can surely teach you," Taehyun snarls. Bastard.

Beomgyu huffs and agrees. 

Taehyun waves his hand to grab his vice-captain's attention.  

"Yeonjun, can you help lead the rest of the session with the coach? I'm teaching Beomgyu in the shallow end." He draws out the end of the sentence mockingly. Beomgyu's eye twitches. He is determined not to fail now. That would only make Taehyun reign victorious for years to come. 

Taehyun leads him into the shallow end of one of the end lanes. Beomgyu hisses through gritted teeth when he dips his legs into the water, cringing at how cold it was. 

"It's freezing at first but you just need to dive in all at once and you'll adjust," Taehyun says. He watches Beomgyu frozen on the pool ledge, a smirk growing on his face. He grabs Beomgyu's arm and pulls him in.

"What the fu—" Beomgyu's face is promptly flooded with water. He resurfaces, spluttering and thrashing about erratically in the water. His arms have moved against his own will to grip Taehyun's shoulders, his body acting on its own, anticipating that he'd drown upon impact. The first thing he can see once his vision is no longer blurred with water is Taehyun's leering face looking down on him. He lets go of Taehyun quickly, flustered at the sudden contact he initiated. 

"Maybe put on your goggles first. You look like a fucking Magikarp, oh my god. You are useless in the water," Taehyun guffaws, clutching his stomach in pain from laughing too hard at him. Fucking hell. 

2-2: Taehyun.

Taehyun takes him through the basic fundamentals of swimming. Before Beomgyu learns how to do any of the four core strokes, Taehyun teaches him how to breathe and float first. 

"Okay, before you can go into the deep end, you need to learn how to breathe properly and float in the water," Taehyun explains calmly.  

"You're teaching me how to breathe? Gee, that sounds impossible—can we lower the difficulty level a little?" Beomgyu scoffs. 

Taehyun isn't fazed by the sarcasm. "Breathing is very important in swimming, you would be surprised. You've never swum before—you won't find it as intuitive as you think." 

He guides Beomgyu through holding his breath underwater and through breathing. They move on to floating. 

"Can't I do this in the deep end? It's so shallow here," Beomgyu whines.

"You're not ready to do these exercises out there, this is literally the first time you've been in a pool."

Beomgyu blows a raspberry, "Pfft, I can do it. Watch me." 

Beomgyu feigns confidence and struts off the edge of the shallow end of the pool and immediately flails his arms around when he can no longer touch the ground. His heart sinks. 

Taehyun swims out to hug Beomgyu into his muscular arms, treading water to keep both of them afloat. Out of survival instinct, Beomgyu wraps his arms and legs around Taehyun's body to save himself from drowning. Fortunately, he doesn't make them sink as Taehyun carries him easily. Except now, Beomgyu's face is buried into Taehyun's chest. His built chest. 

"You're gonna drown at this rate, you beached whale. Just follow me, okay? Baby steps, Beomgyu," Taehyun chides gently.

Beomgyu's heart is accelerating at 110km/h. He can't even form coherent thoughts or insults because his head is clouded by a thousand lewd and panicked thoughts all related to Taehyun's bare, wet pecs that are (rudely) in his face. He stops breathing. It would be better for his sanity if Taehyun let go of him and he dropped to the bottom of the pool and met his demise in the lost city of Atlantis or whatever was down there. 

He remembers back to his exchange with Soobin and Huening Kai the day he was given this dare. What was the safe word they came up with again? 

Beomgyu screeches in his head, moist, moist, moist, moist, moist—fucking help me.

Taehyun's breath is warm and, God forbid, moist on his neck. Not only that, Taehyun's neck veins are visible, teasing him, as if to remind him: "hi there, I'm here. Don't forget, your mortal enemy is sexy as fuck." Beomgyu feels a heavy weight drop in the pit of his stomach the longer he's wrapped in Taehyun's embrace. 

2-3: Taehyun.

GAME OVER. Taehyun wins!

Would you like to try again?

Chapter Text

--

Over the next few weeks, Taehyun continues to teach Beomgyu the basics of swimming at practice. Beomgyu even trains outside of school with Huening Kai at the community pool, desperate to improve and prove Taehyun wrong. 

"So, tell me, how horrible is it between you two now? Are you at each other's throats yet?" Huening asks, clutching Beomgyu's hands as he's learning to kick in the water, "do you need reinforcement? I have my trusty butterfly knife if he tries anything on you." 

"It's—" not bad. Pretty good, actually. "—okay. Taehyun's not as much of a monster as I thought he was," Beomgyu replies. 

Huening cackles, "that's because you pretty much bullied him over these years into becoming a cold-hearted gremlin, Beomgyu." 

"I did not."

"Did too." 

They continue swimming in silence.

"Well, are you gonna continue swimming with the team, after all?" Huening questions, breaking their silence. 

Beomgyu thinks over this for a long moment. He was making a lot of progress, and maybe—maybe swimming wasn't too bad after all. Even if it still made no sense to him that the sport was essentially washing yourself in an oversized bathtub only with more steps. Even with the sight of Taehyun and his frustratingly sexy, wet, muscular body swimming into his thoughts uninvited. He sighs. With either choice he makes in this situation, whether he quits or continues training, he was losing to Taehyun somehow. 

Moist. 

The word floats into his mind, taunting him. 

Unlike Huening, Soobin is not nearly as nonchalant about the whole dare situation. 

He grows sceptical the longer Beomgyu stays with the swim team. He was expecting Beomgyu to throw in the towel (literally) and give up after one practice. So, why wasn't Taehyun making Beomgyu's time in the swim team a living hell after all these years of pent-up anger and hatred, especially with all the leverage he has over him now? Something just didn't add up. 

"You sure Taehyun's not making you feel like shit for not being able to swim?" Soobin interrogates Beomgyu one day at lunch. 

Beomgyu shoves his sandwich into his mouth, devouring it in two bites. Huening watches him in shock. Beomgyu has his mouth full, so his response comes out muffled: "Nomshhsfkf he isn'tshmmsmmd—".

Soobin glowers, "can you, like, fucking swallow your food before you talk, pig." Beomgyu gulps the sandwich down at once. How he doesn't manage to choke on his food ever is beyond them. 

"He's not been bad, actually. I expected him to bully me about it constantly, but Taehyun's been a pretty decent person." 

Soobin cocks an eyebrow at that. Taehyun—a decent person? Beomgyu has never once used the words 'Taehyun' and 'decent' in the same sentence before. His suspicions rise. Was Taehyun up to something? Was he planning to humiliate Beomgyu in front of the whole team? To pay him back for joining the swim team on a whim and taking up his precious time?

You see, Soobin's biased. He's extremely protective of Beomgyu—he was like a younger brother to him, after all. He's aware that the two enemies both spit degrading things to each other amidst the heat of their arguments, but Soobin knows the effect Taehyun's words have had on Beomgyu in the past. And, he knows very well that Taehyun is no saint, contrary to how the rest of the school views him. 

He doesn't like Taehyun, to say the least. Beomgyu, on the other hand, gets over the insults pretty quickly—at least, on the outside, he does. But, Soobin is not as forgiving. Soobin doesn't easily forget. 

"By the way, why don't you join Beomgyu and me at the pool, Soobin?" asks Huening Kai. 

Soobin puts his head down bashfully, "I don't know how to swim."

Beomgyu gasps.

"You're just like me! Soulmates, much? Wait, no, we'd both die if we were on our own on a deserted island. Too bad, guess we're not destined to be." 

"Gross, I would never wanna be stranded on an island with you," Soobin scrunches his nose up in disgust, "you'd eat up all our supplies in a day, tops." 

Beomgyu pokes his tongue out at him. 

"Do you wanna learn to swim as well then?" Huening offers, tilting his head to the side, "I can teach you, too." 

Soobin shakes his head. "I'm good, I'm not the one who was forced to join the swim team for a dare. I'm not in any rush to learn." 

Huening nods. Then, an expression of mirth reaches his face. 

"Hold on - do you guys remember that time we dared Soobin to dance in front of the swim team's vice-captain?"

Beomgyu slams his bottle down. "I do! We made him twerk in front of Yeonjun! And, the funniest thing about it was he also twerked and started twerking on him - holy shit, Soobin's reaction was the funniest thing I've ever witnessed in my entire life." 

Huening and Beomgyu both crack up, struggling to breathe from laughing too hard. 

Soobin scowls, "you guys are still dead to me for that." 

"Do you remember how he looked?"

"Yeah, he looked like fucking Tina from Bob's Burgers!" Beomgyu yells. He bends over, roaring with laughter. Huening loses his shit next to him when he tries to imagine the scene in his head. 

"I'm gonna kill you guys. Keep one eye open when you sleep tonight," Soobin declares, an unmistakable blush rising to his face. 

"Yeonjun probably thought he looked like a dying fish," Beomgyu is wiping tears out of his eyes at this point. 

"You gotta admit, that guy could dance, though." 

"Yeah, far better than Soobin. Though, that's not saying much." They both dissolve into a fit of giggles again, their ribs in searing pain now. 

Soobin grumbles, "wow, some friends you guys are. I need new friends, pronto." 

"Oh, then if you're not our friend anymore, I know who could teach you how to swim, Soobin—" Huening starts.

"—the vice-captain of the swim team should be free—oh, that's Yeonjun!" Beomgyu finishes. They die of laughter together for the third time. 

Soobin frowns, "I've never even talked to him before even though he's in my year. He's too popular."

"So, you're saying that dare was your first time interacting with him? No way, that is fucking gold," Beomgyu guffaws. 

"You guys looked cute when y'all were shaking your little asses together, not gonna lie," Huening coos.

"I ship it." 

Huening thinks for a moment, "what's their ship name? Soojun?"

"Yeonbin. That rolls off the tongue better, I reckon," Beomgyu offers. They high-five each other. 

Beomgyu hasn't had many chances to talk to the vice-captain himself, since he was always being trained by Taehyun, but he knows that, unlike the captain, Yeonjun was unhinged. His twerking skills that one fateful day demonstrated that perfectly. He didn't try to put on a serious front at practice, as Beomgyu has noticed while he's being coached that the vice-captain often dances and frolics around to encourage the other members and lighten the mood. Yeonjun also, lowkey, seems like a talented dancer even when he's just messing around. 

"I'll make sure to introduce you two," Beomgyu teases, "in a non-booty-shaking context this time." Soobin rolls his eyes, having already given up on his two idiotic best friends. 

He glances over at Beomgyu discreetly. 

Beomgyu looks happy now. Soobin doesn't want that to change, even if it was at his expense sometimes. And, if he has to take matters into his own hands to make sure Beomgyu stayed happy, he will. 

-

Before practice one day, two guys approach Beomgyu in the change room. One has long blonde hair while the other has shorter blond hair. Beomgyu jolts when he sees them walk towards him, his panic-driven mind automatically thinking he's about to get jumped. He's pretty sure they're both in the year above him and have been swimming with the team for a while. 

"So, you're the guy that can't swim?" Goldilocks with the long hair says. Beomgyu doesn't detect any ill intentions in the question but it still doesn't make him any less ashamed. 

The other guy with him slaps Goldilocks lightly, "Hey, be nice. Everyone starts somewhere, right?" His voice is deeper, like smooth velvet. Beomgyu was eternally grateful for the cave-voiced dude standing up for him for absolutely no reason.

Goldilocks purses his lips, "I guess so. But, I question why you'd want to go to a swim meet without having swum before, the Invitational only accepts very elite swimmers. It's not like some low-level, small-town competition for anyone to come along." 

Beomgyu swallows. Swim meet, invitational, elite swimmers, competition. These weren't words that sprung to mind when he signed up for this dare. Well, in truth, he hadn't signed up for any of this, frankly. 

"They're never going to put me on the team, that would make literally no sense," Beomgyu mutters, embarrassed when Goldilocks stares daggers into him. He has sharp, narrow eyes—attractive but intimidating. 

Cave-voice smiles gently, "Oh well, but you'll improve a lot in no time by coming to these practices! Taehyun is really amazing—he's no joke—so you're in very good hands. He can help you become a great swimmer in no time."

Beomgyu winces. Ugh, he was indebted to Taehyun of all people, now. Fuck's sake. 

"I'm Felix, by the way. Lee Felix. It's nice to meet you! We're Year 12s," Cave-voice—no, Felix—introduces himself. Beomgyu just notices that he has cute, brown freckles underneath his crinkled eyes and that he is a foreigner. 

"I'm Hwang Hyunjin," Goldilocks says coolly. He brushes his hand through his soft hair, a smirk on his handsome face. 

Beomgyu smiles, albeit, meekly, "I'm Choi Beomgyu, but you already know that by now. Since word is probably getting around that I'm a beached whale who can't swim."

Hyunjin laughs now. It's shrill and loud and begins to melt the icy demeanour that Beomgyu unknowingly assigned him. 

"Oh, don't worry. Taehyun is not trashing you—surprisingly. You guys have that funny rivalry thing going on right? That must be hard for you right now." 

Tell me about it. 

Today, Taehyun is teaching him to tread water. He's instructed to do it in the shallow end, which is useless because his feet end up just brushing against the ground of the pool. He was too tall for this.

"I'm too tall, man. I see why you're not struggling, you're tiny as fu—" Beomgyu yelps when Taehyun lands a punch on him. Now that hurt. Taehyun was finally starting to get violent. Beomgyu gives himself a maximum of two weeks before Taehyun sends him to a hospital bed, with Beomgyu mysteriously dying the next day from 'unknown causes'. 

"I'm barely shorter than you, ass wipe."

Hah. Ass. 

Speaking of which, Taehyun's is nicely shaped and very well-defined. He has well-developed glutes. Wait, no, he didn't just ogle his arch nemesis' ass. No homo, right? 

Eventually, Taehyun allows him to try in the deep end. 

Beomgyu stands at the edge of the shallow end, peering nervously into the deep dark waters ahead. He couldn't see the bottom of the pool and that made him all types of nervous. He could honestly drop a log in the pool right then and there out of sheer anxiety. He stares at the water for far too long, trying to work up the courage to take the plunge. Just do it! His subconscious cheers him on. 

Beomgyu wishes Shia LaBeouf would just shut the fuck up. 

Belatedly, Taehyun holds out his hand, his gaze focusing anywhere else but at his own hand. Beomgyu looks at him incredulously. Taehyun shakes his hand around furiously now, shooting Beomgyu down with a glare.

"Hold onto me, you loser," he growls. 

Geez, tsundere much? 

Beomgyu takes his hand, pleasantly surprised at how warm it feels. 

"I won't let you drown, dumbass. Don't worry. I'm not letting anyone die here on my watch—not even you," Taehyun asserts firmly, "and I've wanted to do a lot more than drown you before, let's be clear." 

Kinky, Beomgyu thinks. 

Beomgyu steps out and tries to employ the treading water technique, still grasping onto Taehyun's hand tightly. He manages to keep his head above the water while kicking his legs like he's riding a bicycle underwater. He feels like one of those circus clowns on those miniature bicycles (ironically, because he was a clown for agreeing to this dare in the first place). He's close to being submerged in the water but he is managing, at least. He regrettably lets go of Taehyun's hand and continues to tread. That's progress. 

Fuck, his leg has cramped up. Ow ow ow ow—

Beomgyu shrieks in pain and starts sinking down to the ground below.

Down...

.

.

.

Down...

Like he was being rescued by a guardian angel, he feels Taehyun's arms curl protectively around his waist as he scoops him up in his arms and lifts him back to the surface with ease. Beomgyu coughs up a litre of water when he can finally breathe. 

Taehyun watches him with a concerned look. He's still holding Beomgyu in his arms tightly. When Beomgyu recovers, he finally registers that he's only an inch away from Taehyun's face.

"Are you okay?" 

Shit. He's so close to Taehyun now. So close he can see water drop from his eyelashes when he blinks. So close that Beomgyu's lips could probably graze against his. Taehyun's pink, wet lips are right in front of him. Most normal people looked like bald, wet mole rats when they're swimming, but Taehyun—Taehyun looked like a whole ass bikini model. 

Fuck him. How did he not know before that Taehyun was this pretty?

Taehyun interrupts his niggling thoughts, "did you wanna grab onto the wall now, I'm struggling to keep us both afloat." 

Beomgyu realises he's still clutching onto Taehyun's chest, heat rising to his cheeks immediately. He paddles to the wall in a frenzy and grabs onto it, heaving a sigh when he does.

"Hold on—what the fuck?" Taehyun spits. 

Beomgyu throws him a confused look. "What?"

"You-you just swam." 

Huh? 

Beomgyu notices the distance between him and Taehyun. And the gaping chasm between Taehyun and the wall. Wait—what? 

Taehyun beams at him, his dimples in full view. It's dazzling, blinding almost. "What the hell—you just skipped like five steps—oh my god!" 

"You doggy paddled, well, it was more like beaten-up, drenched poodle paddled, but it was still technically swimming."

He swims over and claps Beomgyu on the back (ouch), laughing ecstatically. He conveniently ignores the way Beomgyu is still gasping for breath from swimming the length from the lane rope to the wall. Beomgyu might have an asthma attack at any moment now. However, Taehyun's healing laugh rings in Beomgyu's ears, distracting him from his near-death experience. It sounded oddly...beautiful. Like music to his ears. 

Beomgyu doesn't know what he'd been doing the past few years. He thought he liked seeing Taehyun in a horrible mood rather than the opposite. Now, he doesn't know why he insisted on tormenting Taehyun 24/7. 

Because, at that moment, he realises Taehyun's smile is a lot nicer to look at than his scowl.

Chapter Text

--

A month passes by since Beomgyu joined the swim team. Beomgyu skips to swimming practice that afternoon cheerily, excited for another training session. Taehyun had promised him that he would teach him how to do freestyle today. His first proper swimming stroke! 

When he arrives, he looks around for the shorter boy to no avail. He can't find the captain anywhere. Usually, Taehyun was waiting for him upon arrival, his arms crossed in disapproval ("you're 30 seconds late to practice, Beomgyu," Taehyun grumbles like a disapproving father, looking down at his watch in annoyance).

That's weird. Where is he?

Yeonjun approaches him. "Hey, Beomgyu!" he greets him enthusiastically. 

Beomgyu acknowledges him politely, looking over the vice-captain's shoulder to see Taehyun sliding into the pool. Huh? 

"Hey, Yeonjun, um...is Taehyun taking a break from coaching me today?" 

Yeonjun smiles.

"Oh, he said he wanted me to coach you from now on. Didn't say why, I'm not too sure. He sprung it up on me out of nowhere, but," he grins, "I'm not a bad swimmer myself. He told me you wanna learn freestyle." 

Beomgyu isn't given a chance to process this turn of events when Yeonjun is already whisking him away to the gymnasium hallway. 

"And, your vice-captain here, he's fairly good at freestyle. Not to toot my own horn or anything," Yeonjun says, before proceeding to, indeed, toot his own horn. 

They stop in front of a trophy cabinet. Yeonjun points at a smaller trophy perched on top of a shelf. 

"Who's that on the trophy?"

Beomgyu squints his eyes to read the small print.

"100m freestyle junior South Korea national record holder 2019, Choi Yeonjun," Beomgyu's eyes widen in astonishment, "shit, that's amazing." 

Yeonjun puffs out his chest in pride. "It's Yeonjun. I'm Yeonjun." 

Beomgyu creases his forehead, slightly perturbed. Was this guy really jerking himself off with self-praise? How big was his ego?

"—not bad, huh? I'm kind of the real deal around here, so don't worry that you're not being trained by Taehyun anymore," he winks at him, "because you're in good hands."

Beomgyu has a sinking feeling that this won't be the last time he hears about this particular record. 

Yeonjun examines his expression for a moment. 

"Hey, don't be too sad Taehyun won't be coaching you anymore, he'll still be around," he coos. 

Beomgyu laughs nervously, "Sad? Hell no, more like thank God. I was getting sick of that guy. We were this close to beating each other up." 

Beomgyu is a terrible liar with an equally terrible poker face so Yeonjun sees straight through him. The corners of his lips turn upwards in amusement. 

Beomgyu's never given an explanation as to why Taehyun insisted on not coaching him anymore. Maybe he was imagining it, but it seemed like Taehyun was trying to totally avoid him altogether. When Beomgyu is about to wave and direct a patronizing comment at him, Taehyun puts his head down and walks in the other direction, refraining from making eye contact. Beomgyu is confused. Had he done something wrong more recently? Why was Taehyun giving him the cold shoulder all of the sudden (and by cold, he means colder than usual)?

However, he seems to have gotten his answer to his woes by overhearing a conversation that takes place in the change rooms before practice one day.

Taehyun's voice is unmissable. Beomgyu walks in and crouches behind the wall leading into the change room, eavesdropping in. Taehyun is talking to one of the other team members.

"Why is he still here?" he recognises the voice as belonging to another member named Chanhyuk. Beomgyu tenses. Was Chanhyuk referring to him? 

The question is met with silence. 

"Taehyun, did you hear me? Why are you keeping him in the team? He's just gonna bring us down, he's a waste of space." Beomgyu flinches. Ouch. That hurt. 

Taehyun's silence on the matter inclined Beomgyu to believe that he agreed. He doesn't know why that fact hurts him as much as it does, considering how horrible they've been towards each other in the past, but he was starting to think they were on good terms.

He shudders. Good terms. That phrase was so strange and foreign when it came to their relationship. But, despite all the jabs they make towards each other, it seemed true enough. Until now. 

"I don't know. We all thought he'd quit after a week max, right? It's only a matter of time before he gives up," Taehyun replies in a monotonous tone. 

Beomgyu's mouth drops. This shouldn't be painful, but he felt a searing stabbing in his chest. Taehyun wanted him to quit. That shouldn't be surprising, he had made it clear that he wanted that from the very start.

But, had the last few sessions meant and changed nothing between them? 

It was indisputable now - Taehyun wanted him to leave. And, for some reason, that made him feel like utter shit. 

Well, of course, Taehyun wanted him to leave. He was probably a burden that was holding him back from training. Nothing more than a waste of space. 

"Why are you bothering to teach him? He's in high school but he never learnt to swim? Pathetic." Chanhyuk's words are like poison, seeping into the wounds of Beomgyu's heart. "He clearly takes us all for a joke coming in here without knowing how to swim, he's just taking the piss like with everything else he does." 

Taehyun grumbles, "hey, okay, not everyone—"

Beomgyu doesn't want to listen anymore. He's heard enough. He and Taehyun were just destined to despise each other, to remain as enemies, in the end. The progress they'd made (or as Beomgyu was led to believe) meant nothing to Taehyun. He still hated him. That was fine. Completely fine. He can convince himself that it was the truth. He can convince himself that the past interactions they've had were just nothing but false hope. He can act like it, anyway. If he can learn to find Taehyun likeable he can surely unlearn. 

He scuttles away, not bothering to change into his swim gear. He goes home. 

The day before this change room incident, Soobin waits around in the gymnasium for a certain blond-haired boy.  

Taehyun walks in, gym bag slinked over his shoulder. He notices Soobin. Although perplexed at his presence, he nods at him. Soobin doesn't return it. 

"So, Taehyun, how long are you going to keep this friendly act on?"

Taehyun raises his eyebrow in confusion, "what do you mean?"

Soobin glares at him, "with Beomgyu. Why are you stringing him along? Trying to give him a false sense of hope before kicking him out of the team?" 

Taehyun drops his bag to the floor. He surveys Soobin from top to bottom, trying to determine what he was going on about and what he wanted from him. 

"I'm afraid I don't follow you. I'm teaching Beomgyu how to swim, what do you mean 'stringing him along'?" He answers. 

"You hate him, don't you? You guys hate each other."

Taehyun cringes. Hate was too strong of a word to casually just throw around like that. 

Soobin continues, "so, the most logical thing for you to do is kick him out of the team. Would really show him. Yet, you haven't done that. I don't trust you, Taehyun."

What have I ever done to this guy? I've never talked to him before in my life. 

"I'm not planning to do anything to him, I swear. If I really wanted to, I would've done it by now." 

Soobin's frown deepens. He's furious at this seemingly ignorant act Taehyun's putting on. 

"Have you already forgotten what you said to him last year? I haven't, though I'm not at all surprised that you probably have."

Taehyun tries to remember back to his and Beomgyu's many exchanges and fights last year. He said many things while enraged, as did Beomgyu.

"You said you'd make his life miserable for as long as he lived, remember that?"

Taehyun's eyes expand. He'd said that? That was way too harsh, even for him. 

Soobin continues, "you also said he should go fuck the entire school population, since he's already sucked off the teachers to get his perfect grades, he might as well go for a home run across the school. Like a whore." 

Taehyun remembered that day. Beomgyu had gotten on his nerves by saying he was sucking up to the teachers and secretly doing sexual favours for them, so he naturally retaliated with an insult of similar severity. Hearing it relayed back to him now, though, only showered him with a wave of regret and shame. He really had been so nasty to Beomgyu then and gone way too far. A line had been crossed. 

"The worst thing you've said to him before, though?" Soobin is so angry, his ears are the colour of crimson, "you told him to get on his knees and give all the boys in his grade a blow job, like the little gay boy he is." 

Taehyun splutters. He'd said that? That was unbelievable - did intense rage cloud his memories? He had no recollection of saying those horrible words. They were ghastly and didn't reflect his current attitude at all. So why did he say it? 

Soobin scowls, "and, Beomgyu's been struggling with his sexuality for years now. It's his greatest insecurity. So with you bringing up him being gay was—" 

He clamps his hand over his mouth. He'd revealed too much. Fuck. 

Beomgyu hadn't come out yet to anyone but him and Huening Kai. 

Taehyun's mouth is agape as he blinks his huge eyes in disbelief. He feels like he wasn't supposed to know this. Beomgyu was actually gay? He must have said that to him under the impression he wasn't actually gay—it was a petty, gross, immature, playground boy-to-boy insult every kid would throw around casually at least once in the schoolyard. Beomgyu actually being gay and not yet coming to terms with it was something he had never accounted for, however. He always received confessions from girls, so he just assumed he was straight. 

Taehyun's bottom lip trembles. 

Soobin shoves his face in his hands in regret, "Beomgyu, I'm so sorry. I'm the worst friend. I can't believe I said that. I fucked up, oh my God-"

"I-I won't tell anyone else. I promise," Taehyun manages, voice quivering. He feels like he's about to burst into tears any second.

Soobin ignores him and rushes out of the gymnasium. He stops in his tracks, briefly looking over his shoulder before leaving. "If you dare hurt Beomgyu again, know that I'm coming for you." 

Taehyun stands there still dumbfounded and ashamed of himself. It hits him then. 

He didn't deserve to spend any more time with Beomgyu. He didn't deserve to see Beomgyu's endearing, goofy smile whenever he praises him. Not after what Soobin just told him. What if he had never gotten over what he'd said to him? He couldn't forgive himself for that. 

He fights back tears, gulping. It hurts. 

Taehyun decides there that he was going to stop interacting with Beomgyu. Someone else should coach him from now on. Anyone else but him. It was for the best. He couldn't bear to be around Beomgyu anymore knowing that he'd struck his deepest insecurity without hesitating. 

I'm sorry, Beomgyu. I didn't know. Honestly. 

I swear I'll leave you alone now. 

Chapter Text

--

Beomgyu doesn't show up to any biweekly swim practices for three weeks straight. 

He busies himself with schoolwork since everyone seemed to love to get on his nerves making claims that he never studied (he studies at home, thank you very much—school was supposed to be reserved for picking petty fights with Soobin and doing stupid dares that'll get him blacklisted by the school). So, he spends most of his lunchtimes and breaks in the library. He's pretty devastated, to say the least. Huening Kai and Soobin, of course, notice his sudden change in behaviour and are astonished when Beomgyu insists on spending his lunch in the library of all places. 

"I think he finally gave up on the dare, what should his punishment be?" Huening comments one day.

Soobin's narrows his eyes at the younger. "That's seriously what you're most concerned about? Taehyun probably upset him and I'm gonna make sure that he knows he fucked up big time for messing with one of my friends. Beomgyu looks miserable and it's got to be his fault!" 

Huening considers this accusation, scrunching his forehead. "But, Beomgyu said Taehyun was being nice to him at practice."

"Clearly not—look at him! He's studying at school and not showing up to practices. Beomgyu being quiet for this long means he's going through something worse than we can even imagine—he's in some kind of rut," Soobin waves his arms around frantically as his voice picks up in intensity and panic, "and, Beomgyu actually studying at school for more than five minutes is a sure sign of the apocalypse."

Huening nods solemnly. He does agree with that last part. Pursing his lips, he starts to form an idea in his head. 

"Screw it, I'll talk to Taehyun myself, alright? You're not you when you're angry. Eat a Snickers or something." 

Soobin hits him on the chest multiple times, making Huening Kai double over in pain ("it's a joke, it's a joke!" he cries, begging for mercy). 

The next day, Huening Kai approaches Taehyun after maths class. 

He practically leaps up from his seat as the rest of the students rush out of the classroom, ambushing Taehyun before he can slink off, "Heyyyy, Taehyun. Can we talk for a bit?" 

Taehyun freezes. Great, another one of Beomgyu's friends. Now, what does he want from me? Does he want to give me more receipts of how I tormented Beomgyu in the past?

"Sure, go ahead," he responds, his voice devoid of enthusiasm. 

Huening seems to hesitate before his next words for whatever reason, and what he does end up saying catches Taehyun completely off guard:

"Beomgyu's been a little bitch lately and frankly, I'm sick of it."

Taehyun almost trips. "What? What did you just say?" 

Huening clears his throat, maintaining an exasperated look, "he's just so...ugh...he's driving me insane with his mood swings lately." 

"Aren't you guys supposed to be—like—best friends? Why are you telling me this and not him?" Taehyun snaps. 

Huening Kai's mouth forms into a pout and he huffs, "He's refusing to talk to anyone like a baby. I can see why you guys never got along before, I'm done with his shit too."

Taehyun frowns. This was who Beomgyu considered one of his best friends? Geez, he needs new friends, he thinks. Oddly enough, Huening Kai was such a direct contrast to Soobin that it almost didn't seem real. In fact, the boy was such a direct contrast to the boy's own bubbly personality that he portrayed in all of their shared classes. 

"For someone that's supposed to be his friend, you're being pretty harsh on him. Couldn't you sort this out between the two of you? Why are you venting to me of all people?"

"Because you'd understand better than anyone—better than dumb ol' Soobin, anyway—how much of a colossal turd he is. Don't you agree?" Huening cocks an eyebrow at him, waiting for a response. 

Taehyun's mouth is agape. He blinks, still trying to process this entire exchange. 

"I-I don't think I agree completely. Well, of course, he drives me nuts—"

"Yeah—right? Don't you just want to, like, strangle him when he gets on your nerves, Taehyun? Doesn't he piss you off so much?" Huening's left eye twitches when he says this. Taehyun catches the split-second movement in the corner of his eye. 

He's really pushing this anti-Beomgyu agenda, it's weird, Taehyun suspects. This has to be a ruse to get me to slip up or something. 

"No, I mean, he angers me to no end but I wouldn't go as far as to say I would strangle him. I more so pity him if he has friends going behind his back to talk shit about him like this, though," Taehyun replies. He keeps his composure as he stares back at the taller boy, forcing himself to glare at him. 

Huening's cold façade finally breaks and his face breaks into a smile. 

"Congrats—you passed the test, Taehyun!" He grins dopily. 

Taehyun rolls his eyes, "you had me in the first half, not gonna lie. 

Huening Kai leans his head back and laughs maniacally with the ferocity of a banshee. Taehyun is startled. What the fuck was that? Were all of Beomgyu's friends as psychopathic as the guy himself? This was exhausting to deal with. 

"I wanted to see if I could bait you into badmouthing Beomgyu to confirm Soobin's suspicions. Just for the record, I knew you weren't a bad person, unlike what Soobin thinks." Taehyun doesn't know whether to feel scared or relieved.

"What I really wanted to ask you was: Do you know why Beomgyu has been acting distant recently? He hasn't been going to your practices either. Have you noticed?" Huening queries. 

Of course, Taehyun has noticed. He waits at the start of every practice for the long-haired boy to arrive, only to be disappointed each time he doesn't rock up. He catches himself every time he deflates at the boy's absence—really, it had been much easier back when he couldn't stand the mere sight of Beomgyu. Now, he actually wanted him to show up to practice? Fucking hell. 

Fidgeting with his hands, Taehyun mumbles, "yeah, I've noticed. Thought he'd just gotten sick of swimming or whatever...not like I care that much, anyway. He is technically a member of my team, that's all." 

Huening Kai has a knowing smile on his face. "Mmhm. Alright. Well, do you know if anything happened that could have upset him recently?" 

Taehyun instantly thinks back to when he and Soobin spoke at the gymnasium (AKA the most uncomfortable confrontation of his life thus far). Even though Taehyun had started avoiding Beomgyu first, he assumed Soobin warned Beomgyu to stay away from him as well and to stop showing up to practices. 

"Well, Soobin interrogated me a few weeks ago threatening me, telling me to stop stringing Beomgyu along. So I stopped coaching him after that. I wasn't even planning to kick him out of the team, just so you know." 

Huening scoffs, "sounds like something Soobin would do. I apologise on his behalf, by the way. He gets a bit protective over us sometimes, like we're his children or whatever." Taehyun gives him an unimpressed look. You don't say? he retorts in his mind. 

"—so, what were you planning to do about Beomgyu before this happened? How do you feel about him now?" Huening asks next. Taehyun bites his lip. That was something he hadn't thought about before. 

"Um..." he starts, hopping from one foot to the other nervously, "I guess I was just gonna keep training him until he asked me not to? He was improving a lot with each practice so I felt good—pretty proud of him even—ahem, I mean, it was an ego boost for me. It made me realise that I'm a better coach than I thought I was." 

Shit, did I just say I was proud of him? Oh god. This wasn't going to look weird at all to the other boy or anything seeing as the two were supposed to be mortal enemies to the rest of the school. 

Surprisingly, Huening Kai reacts to this with joy. "Oh, you guys are so sweet—you don't actually hate each other, after all!"

"Huh? Are you out of your mind? We do not get along, don't get the wrong idea," Taehyun immediately retaliates, his heart beginning to race in his chest. Ba-dump, ba-dump. 

Clearly not convinced, Huening smirks. "Right, right. Well, do me a huge favour and try to speak to him, will you? I think he might cheer up if you approach him directly. He looks like a sad puppy nowadays."

Before Taehyun can even throw in a related insult about the boy in question, Huening bombards him with another question:

"Oh—is your friend Yeonjun single, by the way?"

As he finishes what he says, he dissolves into a fit of giggles like a little schoolgirl. The question comes out of left field, prompting Taehyun to raise an eyebrow. Something was telling him he wasn't dealing with someone normal. Actually, he'd known that from the start of this conversation. 

"Yeah, I think so...why?"

"Oh, just asking for a friend!" Huening answers in a chirpy, unusually high-pitched tone. His eyes dart around suspiciously.

Yeah, right. A friend...uh-huh, Taehyun thinks, unconvinced. 

"Did you want me to pass on a message to him or something?" Taehyun offers. He doesn't know why he's bothering to help the guy, but he was taking pity on him for some reason. Should he even be entertaining the idea of setting Yeonjun up with this weirdo?

"Oh, just tell him to come and reach out to me and I'll take over from there," he winks at Taehyun mischievously. Taehyun is even more confused now. 

"Okay, well, if you don't have any more questions, I'm gonna go to lunch now," he turns on his heel and walks away without getting interrupted by the other. He lets out a breath he'd been holding in for a while. Please, let that be the last time I deal with one of them, he pleads to himself. 

He enters the library, setting down his textbooks and study materials onto a table in the study area at the back. Opening up his notebook, he tries to concentrate on his neatly scribbled notes but finds that he can't read a full sentence before he's getting distracted by his own racing thoughts over and over again. Unlike how productive he was usually during his study sessions, he can now barely read a single paragraph in five minutes.

I wonder what's wrong with Beomgyu? How am I supposed to talk to him? 'Hey...I know you probably hate my guts and I said some nasty shit to you last year that I definitely regret saying, but could you maybe come back to swimming? I don't miss you or anything but I spent so long coaching you and I'm not getting that time back anytime soon.'

Every approach he comes up with seemed tackier than the last. He sighs, shutting his notebook and leaning back on his chair. He closes his eyes. 

A voice suddenly interrupts his internal spiral. 

"Hey, you."

When Taehyun stays silent, he continues, "Ya, Kang Taehyun. You can't just ignore me now."

The hairs on Taehyun's arms prick up in fear. He doesn't turn to face the intruder because he already knows who that deep voice belongs to.

Beomgyu stands behind him, his arms crossed. "We need to talk. Now." 

Taehyun bites his lip. He's trapped now. No use trying to run away. 

"Okay. I have the time, I guess," he mumbles back. 

He braces himself for the worst. Beomgyu walks over to his side and time begins to trickle forward at 0.5x speed. He stares at Taehyun. The air between them is electric. 

"So, why did you start avoiding me, Taehyun?" 

Chapter Text

--

"Soooooooobin! Soobinnie!" 

Soobin places his piece of bread down back down into his lunchbox as gently as possible, looking straight up into Huening Kai's beaming face. "What do you want?" He asks with his mouth half-full. 

Huening Kai replies gleefully, "I have great news!"

Soobin stares at him with a deadpan expression. A few moments pass by without either person saying a word. When he realises Huening isn't going to follow up with anything, he asks, "Well...what is it?" 

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked!" Huening perks up innocently. Soobin's half-lidded eyes look straight through the other in annoyance. As cute and sweet as he could be, Huening Kai could be really, really dense sometimes. 

"I just talked to Taehyun and turns out you were wrong about him," Huening says in a sing-song voice. 

Soobin squints, "say what now?" 

"You were wrong about Taehyun. He's actually a good person." 

Soobin raises his hand to stop the younger, still chewing on his bread. He shakes his head. "No-no, you do not just come here and bring up He-who-shall-not-be-named to me unannounced like this and then feed me bullshit about what kind of person he is—give a guy some warning, will you? I'm just here trying to have a good day and eat my damn bread." 

Huening Kai sits down on the seat beside him, waiting for the older to finish chewing. The moment Soobin finally swallows, Huening straightens up. He clears his throat as if preparing for a presidential election speech. "Now, hear me out—Taehyun doesn't actually hate Beomgyu. Trust me on this." 

Soobin rolls his eyes. "You've made it very hard to do that in the past, brat. But, whatever, continue." 

"I went to speak to him after class and you wouldn't believe what he said," he continues with a shit-eating grin, speaking with the cadence of a celebrity gossip show host, "Kang Taehyun—yes—the Kang Taehyun, Beomgyu's arch-nemesis, let slip that he was proud of Beomgyu's swimming progress! Which, by the way, you can thank yours truly for. I practically helped raise that boy." 

When Soobin takes another lifeless bite out of his bread without any indication that he'd heard him, Huening Kai deflates. He'd thought it was juicy news and could hardly wait to share it with Soobin. The other's reaction, however, was sorely underwhelming. 

"Shut up, Kai. What kind of joke is this? It's not even funny," Soobin spits.

Huening Kai throws up his hands in desperation. "I'm not lying, I swear! I would never lie to you, my dear friend, my dear brother, Choi Soobin—"

"Oh, shut it, you overgrown infant. How about that time you lied about swapping out the matcha cream in my Oreos for wasabi and blamed it on Beomgyu, or that time you lied to me about it being casual clothes day when it wasn't?" Soobin rants while Huening Kai's face grows redder and more flustered with every crime of his mentioned, "I got detention for that. Also, when—"

"Okay, but you gotta admit, that second one was pretty hilarious—and genius," Huening Kai guffaws at the fond memory.

Soobin punches the younger boy on the arm. "You tainted my no-detention record. How is that funny?" 

Huening Kai smiles sheepishly, mumbling a timid 'sorry' in response. Soobin sighs. "So, you're trying to tell me Kang Taehyun, the devil himself, accidentally mentioned that he was proud of Beomgyu?"

Huening nods. "Yep! And, he tried to play it off afterwards. It was kind of cute!"

An awkward silence settles between the pair. The lunchtime chatter around them in the courtyard engulfs them. Paralysed, Soobin has his mouth basically dragging along the floor now. 

"Did-did you just call Taehyun cute? Kai, that's our enemy we are talking about. Don't become a traitor," Soobin says gravely, a mortified expression on his face. 

"He's not our enemy," Huening Kai reminds him. Soobin shakes his head vigorously, not wanting to believe it, "an enemy of Beomgyu is an enemy of ours. Any friend of an enemy of Beomgyu's is also an enemy of ours - those are the unspoken rules of this friendship, Kai."

"What happened to 'No Rules'? Fine, then. I just don't think he's a bad person. He's only an asshole because Beomgyu is always a pain in his ass, you have to admit," Huening Kai explains. Soobin shakes his head again. In true boomer fashion, he was stubborn and refused to change his views. 

Huening Kai shifts the topic, "also, Choi Yeonjun may be visiting one day. I hope you're prepared for that." He immediately knows he's touched upon a sensitive subject when Soobin's face turns red. A mixture of rage, embarrassment and confusion is evident in his expression. 

"Kai Kamal Huening—what the fuck did you just say?"

Huening scampers off in an instant before he can wait around to feel Soobin's wrath, knowing he'd just set off a minefield. "Bye, Soobin—I love you!" He calls out behind him. Soon enough, the boy's figure disappears into the swarm of students. 

So, Soobin's left alone with his pool of thoughts, wondering what he was supposed to expect—and wondering how he was supposed to act around Choi Yeonjun, the most popular boy in his year level. The most popular boy in his year level who watched him twerk. Jesus Christ. He decided that if he was going to survive this, Huening Kai was going to be sorry for ever existing (unless he died of public humiliation first). 

-

Not too far away, another two boys are engaged in an uncomfortable, tense conversation. Well, you couldn't really call this a conversation. 

"So, why did you start avoiding me, Taehyun?" Beomgyu asks. 

The question is met with deafening silence. Even the quietness of the library was louder than their current exchange. The sounds of yellowed, aged pages of dusty textbooks turning, hushed whispers between students and the mechanical, monotonous typing on keyboards fill the silence between them. Taehyun doesn't know how to respond. Does he play ignorant? Does he tell him the whole truth? How could he approach this in a way that he could still maintain his dignity (that is if he had any left at this point)?

Beomgyu provokes him, "Cat got your tongue, Taehyun?"

"I-I...I haven't...been avoiding...uh..." Taehyun stutters, struggling to form coherent sentences with his pathetic garbage can of a brain, which decided on its own that it would no longer cooperate with him.

Beomgyu raises his eyebrow, "you don't seem to be speaking as eloquently you usually do, Kang Taehyun. Are your Korean literature grades the results of being a suck-up, after all?"

Taehyun clenches his fists, feeling Beomgyu's snide remarks eating into him like termites. "Fuck off. I wasn't...avoiding you," he lies.

"And pigs can fly," Beomgyu drawls sarcastically, "what other lies are you going to tell me?" 

Taking in a deep breath, Taehyun almost caves in. "I stopped training you because I thought Yeonjun would be a better coach for you," he chokes out.  

Beomgyu looks like he's considering this (despite it being a bullshit response that he'd constructed on the spot—Taehyun was an excellent improviser). He thinks over it for a moment, then says, "while that may be true, as he's made it EXPLICITLY clear on multiple occasions that he's the King of Freestyle—both the swimming and the rap kind—why do I have a feeling you're still lying to me?" 

Taehyun sighs. As hollow-headed as he was, Beomgyu could see through his lies. "Okay, fine. Your friend Soobin approached me weeks ago and told me to stay away from you, basically. Oh, and he threatened to hurt me if I pulled anything on you again." 

Beomgyu's mouth falls open in an 'o' shape. "That...that sounds like Soobin. He acts like he's my father, seriously."

Taehyun rolls his eyes. Yeah, he was well aware of that now. He'd just been told the same thing merely five minutes earlier. In other words, Soobin was absolutely terrifying.  

They look around the library for a while, eyes flicking back and forth, both of them not knowing what to say next. Taehyun's not sure how much time passes, but it feels like the silence lasts for an eternity. He really wants to sink into the ground right now. 

Beomgyu finally breaks the silence. "Okay, but were you gonna try to hurt me?"

"No," Taehyun answers, "well, you sure do tempt me because you're a gigantic piece of shit but I wasn't gonna kick you out of the team or pull a sadistic prank on you or anything—I'm more mature than you and your friends."

"Hey, don't bring my friends into this, Taehyun. At least I have friends," Beomgyu retaliates. He says nothing for a bit, then drops a bomb, "I'm going to quit the team anyway—in case you wanted to know. That should make you happy, right?"

Taehyun's heart stops. "You-you're gonna—what?" 

Beomgyu frowns at him. "You're getting real dumb nowadays, you know that? Either that or you're deaf. I said I was quitting, dipshit."

Not knowing how to deal with this information, Taehyun leans back on his chair numbly. He should be overjoyed with this revelation, ecstatic even. Yet, why did he feel so empty?

"If that's what you want, I can't stop you. It's a bit of shame though, you were making good progress," he murmurs, trying to fight back the disappointment in his voice. Beomgyu picks up on the sad undertones of his words. 

"Wait...you can't...you can't actually be disappointed at that," he begins hesitantly, noticing how Taehyun refuses to make eye contact, "are you?" 

"...shut up, Beomgyu," Taehyun huffs. A slight smile starts to spread across Beomgyu's face. 

"Naw, did you miss me, then? Do you want actually me to stay, Taehyun?" he coos. They enter what seems like their 10th uncomfortable silence that afternoon. 

"Maybe," Taehyun grunts through gritted teeth, "only because I invested so much time into training you, you know. At least be grateful or something." Beomgyu laughs. "Right, right. Whatever you say, Taehyun. I do owe Yeonjun an apology, though I was starting to lose my sanity around him. Is he really that egotistical or is it just because I suck? I was starting to miss being trained by you, even." 

The two make eye contact for a brief second, unaware of how they've both just acknowledged that they missed the other's presence.

Beomgyu shuffles his feet awkwardly. "I haven't swum in about three weeks now. I've probably regressed back to beached whale status. I have to catch up." 

Taehyun hums in agreement, "well, um...we could catch up outside of training sessions..."

"You want to spend time together outside of school? You might as well just profess your undying love for me now, Taehyun," Beomgyu snickers, "but, just so you know, I'm not interested."

Taehyun groans. "You know what? I shouldn't have offered—I take it back. I hate you so much." Beomgyu lets out a witch cackle. 

"Okay, well, I accept your gracious offer, your highness. I've actually been going to the local pool with Huening to practice sometimes after school so we could go there. That was before I stopped showing up to practices, obviously." Taehyun's mind promptly does a 360° spin.

"You-you've been swimming outside of school?" he asks, visible confusion settling on his features. 

Beomgyu nods. "Yep, don't look too smug, though. I wanted to improve as fast as I could and prove that you were wrong about me. I wasn't as bad at swimming as you thought. Okay, but I guess that was three weeks ago..." 

Taehyun is still registering this newfound information. The cogs in his brain turn, helping him process what is being said to him. It still doesn't seem real. "I'm shocked. Wait, so you do care about the club, after all? Wasn't this all for a dare?" 

Beomgyu scoffs, "get over yourself. This isn't for your club, this is for my own pride and our bitter rivalry in case you forgot about that." 

"That-that's so cute," Taehyun blurts out. In the middle of interjecting with another insult, Beomgyu stammers, "Huh? What?" 

"Cute," Taehyun splutters, "it's cute that you cared enough to start swimming outside of practice. And, here I thought you didn't give a shit about anything. You surprise me, Beomgyu."

Beomgyu stares at Taehyun for a full 30 seconds as if the other had grown an extra ear on his head. He opens his mouth to say something, only to close it right after. He was speechless. Another student enters the study area, bringing Beomgyu's focus back to the situation at hand. 

"What-what are you going on about? Fuck it, well, alright j-just meet me at the front of the school tomorrow after school. Smell you later, loser." And then, Beomgyu runs away without another word.

A keychain falls off the other boy's backpack as he rushes out of the library, not like Beomgyu realises it'd fallen. Taehyun picks it up. It's a little bear keychain—the LINE bear one. It was cute. For some reason, it kind of resembled the boy it belonged to. The only problem with it was that the bear part had broken off the chain. Taehyun rolls the keychain around in his palm, fixating on the bear's gaping black holes it had for eyes. 

He spins around to the front of his desk again and resumes 'reading' his notes, trying not to think about Beomgyu's flushed cheeks and the flustered expression he'd been wearing on his face for the last minute. 

Chapter Text

--

It is near impossible to focus in class that day. 

Beomgyu twirls his pen with his fingers, his teacher's physics lesson going through one ear and out the other at the speed of light (which, by the way, is c = 3x10⁸ m/s—that's as far as he can remember at the moment). He usually excels in school and picks things up relatively quickly after working on practice questions himself, but whatever's written on the board today looked more like ancient hieroglyphics to him than actual words. Beomgyu hammers his head with his fists, trying to 'increase his concentration power'. This, of course, doesn't help. 

He and Taehyun were going to the community pool to practise after school. By themselves. Outside of school. By themselves. He has no idea how this all happened—yesterday's conversation was a complete blur. All he could remember was that Taehyun, the most uptight boy he'd ever met and with whom he'd shared only petty insults for the past three years, had indirectly called him cute. 

Fuck my life.

Once his class ends, he's at the front of the school gates, waiting for the other boy while fidgeting with the straps of his backpack. Taehyun still doesn't show up even after 15 minutes. Beomgyu heaves a sigh. What's taking him so long? I don't have all day (this wasn't true. He does, indeed, have all day). 

Taehyun finally arrives with his hand clutching his chest, puffing hard. "Sorry I'm late, I had a few assignment-related questions I needed to run by my Biology teacher first," he wheezes. 

Beomgyu scoffs, "Teacher's pet."

The phrase seems more like a term of endearment than anything from the number of times Beomgyu has called him that, so Taehyun ignores it.

"So, how are we getting there?" He asks.

"The 204 bus comes in eight minutes," Beomgyu states as nonchalantly as possible. 

They sit next to each other on the bus, unsure of what to do or say. They'd never once hung out together outside of school (let alone voluntarily), so they both knew that this ride was going to be extremely awkward. 

"Um, so, how is the team going?" Beomgyu manages. 

"Oh, everyone's doing well. People are improving, and I can see some promising candidates for the Invitational. We're hoping to start training more seriously for the swim meet soon," Taehyun answers. Beomgyu nods along to what he's saying, not really taking it in. They look at each other for a second in acknowledgement then turn away. Beomgyu gazes out the window, biting his lip. This was beyond uncomfortable. He hated silence. He always needed to be talking. And, it wasn't like him to be silent around Taehyun. He should be roasting him right now, for God's sake, so why can't he think of anything to say? 

As the bus prepares to leave, a flash of blonde appearing at the front of the bus almost blinds Beomgyu. Another student at their school boards, bowing profusely to the bus driver for holding him up. His face lights up when he recognises the two of them from afar. 

"Oh—hi, Taehyun! Hi, Beomgyu!" Felix greets with a bright smile.

Taehyun's throat feels like a net—and a fish has gotten tangled in it. He forces a smile at the older boy and shifts away from Beomgyu slightly. 

"Hey, Felix," Beomgyu says. He hadn't really spoken to him since their first change room meeting, but he finds it easy to like the year 12 boy. His smile was infectious. A wave of concern washes over Felix's face, "I haven't seen you at practice for a while. Are you okay?" 

Beomgyu's face warms up. "I'm fine, I promise. I was just...a bit unwell. I'm coming back though." 

Felix grins. "That's great! Can't wait for you to be back. Taehyun, you must be happy about that, right? I always see you waiting for him each practice." 

Taehyun's body becomes rigid.

"Uh...yeah. Sure," he responds. 

"Didn't realise you missed me that much, Taehyun," Beomgyu chides, ignoring the heart palpitations in his chest. "Why have you been waiting for me?" 

"Because...I..." Taehyun mumbles. "I...take attendance." 

Felix makes a noise of dissent. "I've never seen you take attendance before though, Taehyun. Was this something you started recently?"

Taehyun fights back the urge to put Felix in a headlock and slap duct tape over his mouth. He looks down at his shoes. He's embarrassed now. Worst of all, he can feel Beomgyu's heated stare burning a hole through him. 

"I was just being vigilant because he skipped consecutive trainings. I have a responsibility to ensure all my members are showing up to practices as the captain, you know," he lies. Taehyun realizes that's he's probably lied more in the past two days than he has his whole life. All men do is lie. 

"Oh, okay," Felix quickly accepts this explanation. Beomgyu glances at Taehyun, suspicion still evident in his expression. 

After a few minutes of silence between them, Felix stands up. "This is my stop, guys. See you at practice!" He waves at them as leaves.

When he's gone, Beomgyu comments, "he's such a cutie. I love the way he speaks too, super endearing." 

Taehyun cocks an eyebrow, "didn't think I'd ever see you calling someone else cute other than yourself. Also, do you realise he's older than us?" 

"Yeah, but he's still cute. You can be any age and still be cute," he narrows his eyes at Taehyun, "you should try being nice like Felix sometimes, you know. You'd be a lot more tolerable. You might even make some friends." 

Taehyun's eyes roll into the back of his head. Here it comes. The stupid, pointless arguments—they were only inevitable. 

"You're the intolerable one. Why don't you try being a decent person for once? I'm helping you out here by training you, bastard," he spits. Beomgyu mocks his voice, scrunching his face up annoyingly, and stares out the window again. 

They don't say anything for a while, both zoning out in their own worlds. The bus trudges on bumpily, making their shoulders graze against each other every now and then. Their legs are almost touching. The seats were way too small for them to be comfortably sitting apart from each other.

"Do you remember how we met?" Taehyun finally asks. "Because I don't." 

"I was next to you in English and I asked you for a pen and you refused to give me one because—" Beomgyu puts on an overly nasal tone, "'no, whenever I lend them to anyone I never get them back'—that's what you told me. Absolute prick." 

Really? A pen? Their rivalry had started over a fucking pen?

Taehyun puts his face into his hands. This was so dumb. "I remember now. You ripped into me for the rest of that period."

"Well, it was deserved. What kind of moron doesn't let someone borrow their pen?"

"People should return my pens back to me then. It shouldn't be that hard—they belong to me!"

"This? This is why you have no friends," Beomgyu snaps. 

"I don't care," Taehyun huffs. He crosses his arms angrily. Beomgyu looks over at him. Is he pouting?

They finally depart the bus, only now realising that it's raining. 

"Shit, let's run," Beomgyu declares, shielding his head from the rain with his backpack. They dash to the entrance of the swimming centre. Taehyun pushes onto the doors but they don't budge. A sign on the doors reads: "The main outdoor pool is closed due to bad weather. We apologize for the inconvenience!"

Taehyun mutters, "great. Fantastic. What a waste of time." 

"Lucky I don't live far from here. How far are you?" Beomgyu asks. 

"I have to take the bus," Taehyun answers bitterly. 

Beomgyu opens up his backpack and takes out an umbrella. "I'll walk you there, then." 

Sharing an umbrella now with barely an inch between their faces, Taehyun becomes hyperaware of how loud his own breath is. He peeks at Beomgyu and instantly regrets it. He hated to admit it, but with Beomgyu holding the umbrella for them amid the romantic scenery of the pouring rain, combined with the visual of his long, wet black hair and attractive side profile, he looked kind of ethereal. Beomgyu's eyes take on a more contemplative and reserved look when he's not talking. Not only that, the heavy rain only amplified the weird tension between them.

Beomgyu senses Taehyun's gaze. He turns and they make eye contact for a brief second. Taehyun breaks it immediately, shoving his head down. Fuck, Beomgyu had caught him staring. 

They eventually reach Taehyun's bus stop.

"Alright, here's my stop. Maybe we can swim at that pool another day?" he says. Beomgyu shrugs and turns to leave. Suddenly, a car speeds past the bus stop. 

And poor Taehyun is splashed with water from a huge puddle that had formed on the road. 

Beomgyu would've laughed hysterically at the sight, if it wasn't for the fact that Taehyun's shirt is plastered against his body and it becomes transparent, revealing his chest. Jesus, take the wheel. 

Then, he notices Taehyun shivering and starts to feel bad.

"Um, my house is nearby. I-I can lend you a clean set of clothes if you want," Beomgyu offers out of sympathy. 

Taehyun stops to think about the proposition for a moment. He seems hesitant to respond as if accepting the offer would be conceding defeat. His teeth continue to chatter, chipping away at his resolve. "That would be nice, thanks," he says in a barely-there whisper. So, they both run to Beomgyu's house while sharing the umbrella again, with Beomgyu, obviously, leading them as they make their way through the winding, narrow roads and cobblestone footpaths in his neighbourhood. 

They both wipe their drenched shoes on the welcome mat before Beomgyu opens the front door. 

"Beomgyu? Is that you?" A female voice calls out. 

"Yes, mom!" Beomgyu yells back. 

A woman, who looks no older than 40, steps into the hallway, wearing an apron and a neat bun on top of her head. She's in the middle of drying cutlery when she notices Taehyun. Her eyes widen. 

"Oh—hello! What's your name? I don't think Beomgyu has ever brought you around before," she gives him a motherly smile, her eyes crinkling behind her glasses. 

Taehyun bows politely at a 90-degree angle. "Hello, Mrs. Choi. My name is Kang Taehyun. I'm in the same year as Beomgyu at school." Beomgyu scrunches his nose at the overly formal introduction.

By contrast, his mother is delighted. 

"Oh, you don't have to be so formal with me, Taehyun-ah! You can speak comfortably with me, just treat me like a mother," she says. Taehyun gulps but he nods anyway.

She takes in his soaked appearance and frowns, "you look horrible. Hold on—let me get you a towel."

Soon after, Taehyun wraps himself in a soft towel he's handed, his body still shuddering. He thanks Beomgyu's mother repeatedly for her hospitality. She waves her hand, reassuring him that it was no problem, then asks, "do you want to take a shower? We have plenty of towels for you—Beomgyu, give him some clean clothes."

"I was going to do that anyway," Beomgyu moans. He takes Taehyun up to his bedroom and opens his closet to choose a set of clothes. When he turns around, Taehyun has started to strip his soiled clothes off, first starting with his shirt. 

"Shit, this feels so gross," he mutters, sliding his shirt over his head. Beomgyu freezes in place, his eyes instinctively moving to focus on the other's defined abs.

Taehyun starts to unzip his pants when Beomgyu yelps, "w-w-wait!"

He sees Taehyun's briefs poking out from under his zipper and the prominent curves of his hip bone and chokes. 

Taehyun finally realizes what he's done. "Oh, sorry. I got a bit too comfortable. This is what I usually do after practice in the change rooms. Whoops." 

Beomgyu flushes. He's facing away from Taehyun now, pursing his lips. He thrusts out his hand, which holds a new ensemble of clothes. "Here you go. I'll...leave you to change. Bathroom's at the end of the corridor. We have clean towels in a cabinet next to the sink. Use whatever soap there is. The laundry is to the left of the bathroom." After making sure he's covered everything, he runs out of the room.

Fuck. Fuck. Taehyun is at his house. And, he's undressing in his room. And, he's putting on his clothes.

His body is really something, Beomgyu thinks before he can stop himself. He sees Taehyun's torso all the time, yet he gets flustered every time Taehyun takes his shirt off for some reason. And this time, Taehyun was shirtless in his bedroom—for only him to see. When his pants start to tighten around his crotch, he shakes his head furiously. No, no, no.

Beomgyu runs around in circles in his living room, trying to think of the most horrendous thoughts he can conjure to make his unwanted boner disappear. Spoilt, chunky milk. Mouldy bread. Soobin's face. Getting an F on his final exam. 

But, they all end up with him envisioning Taehyun's bare, wet body. 

Beomgyu stops running. He screams. 

[Fast forward to later that evening...]

Huening Kai 🐧

[18:07:33pm]

Beomgyu

You have some serious explaining to do

Why did I just see Taehyun leaving your house in YOUR clothes ??? what's going on

[18:16:54pm]

Answer me Beomgyu. Or I'm telling Soobin

Chapter Text

--

Taehyun's never settled for less than perfect.

It may be one of the reasons why Beomgyu despises him so much, with his incessant need to know even the most minute details of everything. But his brain isn't the only thing that Taehyun needed to be perfect. And his brain clearly isn't the only thing he's working out.

And that's why Beomgyu is still losing his mind over him in his living room. He's freaking out over Taehyun, the snotty goblin with a stick the size of a tree branch shoved up his ass, and the fact that he has the body of a Calvin Klein underwear model. 

"Beomgyu? Why are you screaming, what's happening?" 

His mother walks into the living room, breathing a sigh of relief when she sees him. "Gosh, you scared me." 

"S-sorry. I'm fine." He gives her a strained smile, failing to show how fine he was. Frantically, he pulls down the front of his shirt over the erection that'd be impossible to explain. 

His mom places the bowl she's drying down onto a nearby cabinet. "Beomgyu, sweetie, isn't that the Taehyun? I thought you said you hated him. What's going on?"

Beomgyu chews his lip worriedly at the sudden interrogation. Okay, his boner was going away more quickly than he'd expected. Phew. Thank you, anxiety. 

"Uh, well, it's a long story. I joined his swim team for a dare—" he begins, not without his mother tsk-ing at how Beomgyu and his friends always play dangerous games. "—and, we went to train outside of school today but the pool was closed, and he got splashed on by a car afterwards. So I offered him a change of clothes. Now we're here." 

Coming from anyone else, this would've sounded like nonsensical word vomit. However, Beomgyu's mother knew his son well enough to know that he wasn't exaggerating any of it. She mulls over his son's words slowly. 

"Well, you seem to be getting along, at least well enough for you to take him here. Maybe he'll be a good influence on you. He seems like such a polite, well-mannered boy. Unlike someone around here," she says, staring at him deliberately. Beomgyu pouts. 

A sinister smile reaches her face. "Also, he's very handsome."

Beomgyu frowns. "Mom, what are you trying to say—" A cough makes them whip their heads to the doorway, where Taehyun stands uncomfortably. 

Beomgyu wishes he had given Taehyun his dad's clothes because, clearly, giving his own clothes to him was a big mistake. His once loose shirt looks tighter on Taehyun's muscular build, emphasising his firm chest and arms. Clothes that once drowned Beomgyu's small frame had never looked smaller than they did now on Taehyun. Beomgyu watches the drops of water that cling to the other's wet fringe drip onto the glistening skin on his collarbones teasingly, one by one. 

Fuck. 

"Thank you for letting me shower in your home, Mrs. Choi. It's really kind of you," Taehyun says, bowing to Beomgyu's mother. "Do you have something I can put my wet clothes in so I can take them home?"

"Oh, no, no. Leave them here—I can wash them for you!"

Taehyun tries to refuse the offer, but Beomgyu's mother is persistent. After about two whole minutes of back-and-forth arguing, Taehyun gives up, thanking her. 

"Where's my thank you? I literally gave you my clothes and took you here. I gave you my room, my shower, my house," Beomgyu complains. "I could've left you at the bus stop and you would've gone home looking like a soaking wet idiot, as opposed to just looking like a regular idiot."  

"All of those things belong to me, Beomgyu," his mother says, her facial expression as hard as steel, "I don't see you paying the bills around here." 

Beomgyu sulks. Taehyun tries his best not to gloat and rub in the fact that Beomgyu's mother was on his side rather than her own son's. 

Beomgyu's mom continues, "Beomgyu can give your uniform back when they're dry. It's Saturday tomorrow, yeah? So, you won't need it until Monday. Beomgyu, do you know where he lives to return it?"

"Ugh. Give me your address then. See, Taehyun? I am a saint, after all," he pokes his tongue out at Taehyun. "Or maybe I should just throw your clothes in the pool on Monday. You like swimming, don't you?"

Taehyun is about to mouth an onslaught of curses at the boy, but he manages to stop himself before he ruins Beomgyu's mother's impression of him. Beomgyu hands him his phone and Taehyun puts his address into the Notes, albeit begrudgingly. 

Beomgyu's mother looks at the two of them in bemusement. 

"Well, Taehyun, I hope you come around again, you seem like such a good boy. You'd be a great influence on Beomgyu. He's been such a handful since he was a little baby. And, as much as I love that Huening Kai boy, they're a bit loud when they're together." 

Beomgyu groans, "mom, I swear to God. Can you stop trying to humiliate me when I'm here? Jesus." His mom chuckles, running her fingers though Beomgyu's hair affectionately. 

"I'll do it while you're not here then."

His mouth falling open, Beomgyu lets out an exasperated wail, "rude!" 

Taehyun is rendered speechless. The dynamic between them was a culture shock to him. It was oddly refreshing but very...strange. Foreign. An open, heart-warming family bond like this was something he didn't witness much at home. 

"Taehyun, sweetie, did you want to stay for dinner?" Beomgyu's mother suggests. Beomgyu flinches. 

"Oh, no no. Thank you so much for the offer but I've troubled you enough," Taehyun says, his words slurring together, exposing how flustered he'd gotten.

"It's not a problem! I insist. I've made plenty of food."

Taehyun continues refusing. "I'm sorry. I—I should go home, really. My parents don't want me to return too late."

Beomgyu's mother finally backs off. "Okay, but next time, please stay over! I barely got a chance to get to know you. I love meeting Beomgyu's friends—"

"Friends?" Beomgyu and Taehyun choke out at the same time. They turn to each other in disbelief. 

Beomgyu clears his throat, "Taehyun has to leave now, okay byeeee." Taehyun bows to his mother once again before he's dragged out of the living room by a frantic Beomgyu. 

"Don't listen to her. She's just bewitched by your fake adult-luring charm," Beomgyu hisses. He opens the front door for Taehyun. They stand in the doorway now merely centimetres away from each other. 

"Your mom is really nice. You're lucky," Taehyun murmurs, scratching his neck awkwardly, "I can't talk with my parents like that. I'd get shot."

Beomgyu gives him a pitiful look. "My mom is pretty awesome, I'll admit. Like mother, like son, am I right?" he grins mischievously. Taehyun finds himself smiling back. It felt like an unconscious move—a reflex, even. 

"Alright, see you later." He walks off without looking back. He feels warm. It might be from the way Beomgyu smiles, or the way Beomgyu's soft clothes hug his body, or how he smells like lavender from the body soap he used to wash himself with, but regardless of what it was from, he feels pretty content. His smile still hasn't left his face even as he walks away. 

-

Huening Kai doesn't expect to see what he sees next. 

He was walking home from tutoring when he approaches Beomgyu's house. They live close to each other, which is why swimming together at the local pool was convenient for them.

That's when he sees an unfamiliar figure leaving the house. His eyebrows perk up—this didn't look like any of Beomgyu's family members or Beomgyu himself, so who was it?

He squints and his mouth drops to the floor when he sees the characteristic blonde hair of the last person he ever expected to see exiting from Beomgyu's home. And he is even more gobsmacked when he sees him wearing Beomgyu's clothes. 

Huening Kai rubs his eyes, wondering if he was imagining things.

Kang Taehyun had just left Beomgyu's house wearing his clothes. 

Beomgyu 🐻

[18:20:45pm]

What are you talking about? 

Huening Kai 🐧

[18:21:20pm]

Don't play dumb. I saw him. What were you two doing? Why was he wearing your clothes??? spill THE TEA BEOMGYU 

Sorry my keyboard was on caps lock ><

Beomgyu 🐻

[18:21:57pm]

NOTHING happened we were supposed to swim together but he got splashed on by a car so he came to mine and changed into some clean clothes

Huening Kai 🐧

[18:22:35pm]

Ummm that's kinda sus tho

Beomgyu 🐻

[18:23:07pm]

What do you want from me

Huening Kai 🐧

[18:23:30pm]

The truth. What were you guys really up to 😏 

Beomgyu 🐻

[18:25:16pm]

I'm blocking you, rat~

Huening Kai 🐧

[18:25:42pm]

Wait no please don't TT

Beomgyuuuu nooo I need to tell you what I planned for soobin and yeonjun

[…]

[18:27:49pm]

Beomgyu :( 

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and today was going to be a beautiful day for Soobin.

Huening had offered to take him out to eat at one of his favourite bakeries for tormenting him so much recently. Saying that he was eager to eat an assortment of pastries would be a glaring understatement. 

He arrives there first, waiting (a little impatiently) for the younger boy to get there. 

---

Huening Kai 🐧

[10:58:45am]

Hey I'm gonna be a bit late. Have to make a stop somewhere before I get there

[7 minutes later...]

Soobin 🐰

[11:05:54am]

get here already. I can smell bread and I'm so hungry I could fucking eat Molang

do you want that, Kai?

---

As soon as he sends the message, a voice calls out to him. 

"Hey, Soobin! I brought someone today." 

Soobin lifts his head up from his phone and almost drops it on the ground. 

"Hi, Soobin," Yeonjun beams. He combs his fingers through his slicked-back, black hair, styled so his forehead was exposed. Next to him, Huening Kai is smiling innocently. But there's an evil glint in his eyes. 

He should've known that Kai Kamal Huening, second-born child of Satan, would've never taken him out without some corrupt ulterior motive.

"Uh, hey," Soobin responds in a monotone voice, not bothering to make eye contact with him. Fine, if Kai insisted on Yeonjun eating with them, whatever. As long as he's eating bread, he doesn't really care (that much). 

They step into the bakery and the heavenly scent of pastries and desserts wafts into his nose. Soobin sighs dreamily. He looks at the marvellous display of desserts at the counter and saliva fills up his mouth, threatening to spill out over his clothes and flood the bakery like the Han River. 

Huening starts searching his pockets frantically. "Oh shit, I forgot my phone at home! I'm gonna go grab it. I'll be back later, guys. Start eating without me!"

"W-wait-" Soobin tries to grab onto Huening's arm, but he makes a beeline out of the bakery. He throws a wave and a wink over his shoulder. 

Soobin and Yeonjun turn to each other, confused. 

"Guess it's just us two now," Yeonjun muses. Soobin sighs. 

"Well, what do you want? My treat," Yeonjun asks. 

Soobin has no idea why he's offering to pay, but what kind of person would he be if he didn't accept free food? 

"Umm, probably just this custard bread," he points to one in the display. 

Yeonjun raises an eyebrow at him. "Any others?"

Soobin frowns. "That's fine. I usually only buy one for myself. I was gonna make Kai pay for all my pastries, but he betrayed me and left." 

"Pick as many as you want, man. It's on me," Yeonjun demands. 

Soobin doesn't stop trying to argue with Yeonjun, his irritation rising with every word. His stubbornness dissipates when he sees the pastry of the day tempting him on a separate display on the counter. He licks his lips. 

Yeonjun notices this and laughs. "Alright, I'll get you that as well. How about a coffee or a smoothie? What do you want?" 

"Why are you being so nice?" Soobin spits. He hadn't expected one of Taehyun's friends to be so charitable.

Yeonjun shrugs. "I just like treating people to food. I take Taehyun and the others on the team out all the time. I would've taken Beomgyu too if he showed up to practice. So, smoothie or coffee?" 

"Are you a spoilt rich kid or something?" Soobin questions. Yeonjun's mouth settles in a thin line.

"I'm not sure what your problem with me is, but this is not how I expected my Tinder date to go."

Soobin almost stumbles.

"What did you say?"

Yeonjun laughs, "He never told you? We matched on Tinder." 

"We...we...what?!" Soobin yells, "Tinder?!" 

Yeonjun puts a finger to his lips, "Shh, don't blow our cover, honey. Everyone can hear you." 

Soobin whacks Yeonjun's hand away. He's fuming. Huening had blown it this time, for real.

Yeonjun buys the two items and walks them over to a booth. Well, maybe eating would make him feel a little better. When he bites into the custard bread, he realises something. There was no way Huening had forgotten his phone at home. He'd texted him just ten minutes ago.

"I'm gonna kill Kai. I'm actually gonna kill him," Soobin whispers under his breath, clenching his fists. 

"Sheesh, you sure have an anger problem. Scary," Yeonjun comments. Soobin's annoyance escalates. 

"Okay, but I didn't ask to be set up on a Tinder date with one of Taehyun's friends. Give me a break." 

"You might think Taehyun is the worst person in the world because of Beomgyu but he's actually a good kid," Yeonjun says. 

Soobin groans in frustration. He didn't wanna hear it. 

"Well, at least I lucked out in some way, since—" Yeonjun scans him up and down briefly. "—you're really not bad-looking at all." 

His mouth is pulled into a teasing smirk. "I think I can work with this."

Soobin glares at him. "Can you not flirt with me? We're not on a date." 

Yeonjun puts his hands up defensively. "By definition, we are but fine. We'll have it your way. But, c'mon—" 

He grabs a tissue from his pocket and wipes at a smidge of custard on Soobin's bottom lip. 

"—you're dribbling like a baby," he chides. He cups Soobin's cheeks in his hands while he cleans his face, focusing intently on his mouth. 

Soobin almost chokes on his own saliva. His face feels like a sauna, and he's perspiring just like how someone would be sitting inside of one. Yeonjun is dangerously close to his face now. His lips are pouty, thick and—

Flushing, Soobin pushes Yeonjun away. His heart is pounding in his ribcage. He tries to hide his panic from the boy seated in front of him who remains unbothered by Soobin's hostility, winking coyly at him at every opportunity.

He's not at all shocked at how much of a flirt Yeonjun is from how many girls in their year level swoon for him, but what does stun him is how incredibly good-looking he is even up close. Yeonjun's eyes, sharp and fox-like, twinkle mischievously. He's confident in his looks, that's for sure. And he's staring at Soobin so intensely, oblivious (or maybe not so oblivious) to the way he is melting into the same consistency of the custard inside his bread. 

He sighs.

This was going to be a long day. 

Chapter Text

--

On Monday morning, Beomgyu rocks up to the address that Taehyun gives him.

It's a nice house, he has to admit. It looked more like a two-storey executive apartment than a home, though. So it suited Taehyun perfectly. Even from the outside, it appeared pristine and clean. Professional and formal. He presses the doorbell, his leg shaking nervously as he waits. 

A stern-looking man opens the door. "Hello?" he grunts. He surveys Beomgyu's body, the lines between his brows creasing at the slightly wrinkled appearance of his shirt. Beomgyu's tie is also tied loosely and improperly and the top button of his shirt is undone. In Beomgyu's defence, it was way too early and he'd thrown on his clothes in haste. 

"Oh-um, hello." He bows after a split second of processing what he was supposed to do. "I'm here to give Taehyun his uniform back." 

Taehyun appears from behind the man, his hair unkempt. The state of his hair reminds Beomgyu of Odi, Soobin's hedgehog, with the strands standing up perfectly vertically. Taehyun's eyes are barely open. He blinks several times in quick succession when he registers that Beomgyu is on his doorstep. 

"Oh, right. I almost forgot about that. Thanks."

Beomgyu takes in his outfit. Taehyun shuffles over towards him, fluffy slippers squeaking as they rub against the tiled floor. When he grabs his uniform from Beomgyu's hands, the sleeves of his oversized squirrel-print pyjamas slide down his arms, engulfing his hands. Holy shit. 

Beomgyu coos, "Naww, look how cute you look in your PJs, Taehyun!"

He reaches out and pinches Taehyun's cheek. Taehyun doesn't even budge, too disoriented and sleepy to retaliate. 

The man scowls at Beomgyu again. "Who's this, Taehyun?"

"Uh...a classmate of mine. Don't worry about him, Dad. Thanks, Beomgyu. See you at practice," Taehyun mumbles, rubbing his eyes awake. He walks into another room.

Beomgyu is living for this. Kang Taehyun, with his bedhead and cute little pyjamas, clearly in his most unguarded state, is something that he would never forget. This image would be burned into his mind for years to come. He finally had some blackmail material against Taehyun.

Interrupting his giddiness, Taehyun's father calls out to his son, "are these the kind of friends you have at school, Taehyun?"

Beomgyu winces. The question felt targeted and, frankly, he's offended. The emphasis on these already revealed his distaste for him. And he'd barely spoken to the man. Usually, it takes people at least one conversation with Beomgyu for them to realise they're probably better off not interacting with him (their loss, really).

Taehyun trudges out of the room again. "Dad, it's fine. He's just dropping off my uniform."

"So, why does his look like..." he scans Beomgyu's clothes again. "...this? You need to learn how to dress properly, boy. Did your mother teach you to dress like a hooligan?" 

At the mention of his mom, something inside his head snaps with the same intensity of a tree branch snapping under someone's weight. Before Beomgyu can give the man a piece of his mind, Taehyun steps in between them. 

"Okay, no. Dad, his mother is lovely and she even washed my uniform." Taehyun sighs. "He just dresses like this because he wants to. His grades are...as good as mine. He's not a hooligan." 

"So—what—are you saying you're not working hard enough at school if your grades are the same?" Taehyun's dad pats his son's head roughly. "Is that dirty chlorine water getting to your head and making you dumber, Taehyun? I've told you to quit the swim team many times now. You can't waste time on your little hobbies with friends like these when you're graduating next year." 

Beomgyu speaks up now. "How dare you assume that? Taehyun works harder than anyone—"

"—I'm doing well in my classes while keeping up with swimming. We both get pretty much perfect grades," Taehyun cuts him off as his dad's face becomes enraged at being talked back to. Taehyun gives Beomgyu a pointed look, mouthing to him to leave now. 

Beomgyu ignores him. "Taehyun's the top student in our grade. He's basically the poster boy for the school. The teachers adore him. Assume what you want about me, but thinking Taehyun, your own son, is not working hard is the most stupid—"

Taehyun punches him, forcing him to shut up.

"Taehyun, close the door. We need to talk," his dad says firmly. Taehyun gives Beomgyu a death glare and almost slams the door on his face. 

Beomgyu is clenching his fists even after he's shut out of the house.

The dots in his head were starting to connect. Now he's starting to get where Taehyun obtained his mostly abhorrent personality from. He's beginning to understand why Taehyun always stays back at school most days, why he strives for perfection on every assessment, and why he was uptight all the time.

He even starts to feel a bit bad about the assumptions he's made about Taehyun. From the way his father was talking about him and to him, Taehyun was under an immense amount of pressure. 

He walks away from the house (or prison, as he prefers to call it now), praying that Taehyun isn't forced to leave the swim team, which would only devastate the other swimmers. 

Because if he does quit, he'll surely feel responsible. 

-

Huening Kai runs through the school hallways frantically searching for an escape route. He's breathing so hard he thinks he might have an asthma attack from all the running around he's done—something he'd never do voluntarily. But he had to get away from someone. That someone was out for blood. Specifically, his blood. 

When he spots Beomgyu standing next to the water fountain, he practically flings himself onto the boy.

"What the—Kai, what is wrong with you?!" Beomgyu shrieks, peeling the taller boy off him. 

"H-hi, Beomgyu! I'm—running away from...Soobin," he manages to choke out in between laboured breaths, "if you run into him, tell him I...was never here, okay?"

Beomgyu narrows his eyes. "Why? What'd you do this time?"

He grins, his chest still rising and falling rapidly. "I...set him up on a Tinder date with...Yeonjun on Saturday. He's trying to slit my throat now."

"You-what?!" 

"HUENING KAI!" 

Huening Kai shudders. "I have to go. Remember, I was never here. Bye, Beomgyu!" He scampers off. 

Soobin sprints over to Beomgyu. "I-I need to kill him," he pants, equally as exhausted as his intended prey. Beomgyu looks at him with sympathy.

"Fucking hell, you're both so unfit." 

"Says you, dickhead! I never see you running this much." 

"Hey, swimming will increase my endurance, alright? I'm gonna have great stamina," Beomgyu says.

His expression soon shifts to one of smugness. 

"Yeonjun, hey? How'd the date go?" He smirks, eyes twinkling with mischief. 

Soobin glares at him. "I'm gonna kill you too. After Kai." 

"Was the date really that bad?" 

"It was NOT a date!" Soobin yells. He stomps off into the bathroom right next to the water fountain, his face flushed at being reminded of his day with Yeonjun. 

It had most certainly been a date, whether or not he admits it. 

"So, I know you don't want to be around me, but I've always wanted to try out the mini golf place in this mall. Can we please go? I'll pay, obviously."

Soobin glances up at Yeonjun with a sour expression. "What?" 

"Let's play mini golf," Yeonjun reiterates. 

Soobin stays quiet. However, when he swallows the last bite of his pastry, Yeonjun grabs his hand and forcefully whisks him out of his seat. 

.

.

.

How did I get here? 

Soobin stands before a mini golf course, its distinctive feature being a huge bear face carved out of wood with a gaping hole for a mouth where the ball is meant to go through. To his dismay, it reminds him of Beomgyu. He can already imagine the first-born child of Satan laughing at him mercilessly when he hears about this. 

Yeonjun swings his golf club at the ball. He gets a hole-in-one. 

"Whoo! I'm a natural." He pumps his fist into the air. "First time too."

"Are you sure about that? Did you take us here just to flex?" Soobin scoffs. Damn, he realises. I've never played golf before. What the fuck am I supposed to do?

How hard could it be, though?

The first time he swings, he misses the ball completely. Coughing to hide his embarrassment, he tries again. This time, he hits his own shoe instead. He cradles his foot in pain.

"Aw. You're so clumsy, it's cute," Yeonjun giggles. Soobin feels like he's about to explode from rage any minute now. 

"Excuse me? Asshole, who the hell are you calling clumsy—" his whinging is cut short by a warm sensation on his back. Yeonjun wraps his arms around Soobin's waist, reaching around his body to hold his hands into place. 

He guides his fingers to their correct positions on the golf club.  

"Okay, grip the stick with your hands like this. Along the length, not the tip. Now swing it back slightly. Back and forth. Turn your hips but don't thrust them. Keep your movements slow and gentle. Don't hit it too hard," Yeonjun whispers into his ear, his breath tickling Soobin's skin. "Hit it softly, you don't need to go too deep since the hole isn't far. Once the ball enters his mouth, it'll come out the other end and hopefully land close to the hole—meaning you've hit the sweet spot—so you can just push it in easily. You'll feel so good once it's finally in."

Soobin's cheeks heat up at their proximity and how everything Yeonjun says somehow comes out sounding like a sexual innuendo.

With Yeonjun's hands still clasped around his, Soobin swings a third time and the ball goes through the bear's mouth and onto the other side. Miraculously, it stops right next to the hole. 

"Well done!" Yeonjun cheers. He high-fives Soobin. 

"...thanks," Soobin mutters. He walks over to the ball, a small smile finding its way on his face. Perhaps mini golf could actually be fun.

Although Yeonjun has an overwhelming victory after 18 holes, he doesn't rub it in Soobin's face. Surprisingly, Soobin is less grumpy now. Mini golf had been kind of enjoyable, despite how trash he was (on one hole, he'd taken 16 strokes. 16. Yeonjun took 4 shots on that hole.) 

After they return their golf clubs and balls, they exit the mall only to discover that it's raining.

"Ah shit, I forgot my umbrella today," Yeonjun comments bitterly. "I need to catch a bus too." 

Soobin has an idea. "Hold on." 

He takes off his jacket and holds it over the both of them, covering Yeonjun mostly. The other gazes at him in awe. 

"I guess being tall really does have its perks!" 

They run to Yeonjun's bus stop, the rain falling heavily around them. A lot of the rain still pours onto Soobin because the jacket doesn't cover both of them, but he ignores it.

Yeonjun turns to him just as the bus arrives. "Today was really fun. Thanks for agreeing to play mini golf with me."

Soobin rolls his eyes. "Wasn't really given a choice, was I? You dragged me out my seat," he hisses.

Yeonjun chuckles. He stands on the tip of his toes so they're both the same height. From there, everything becomes blurry.

Soobin feels a pair of lips press against his skin and forgets how to breathe. Yeonjun is kissing his cheek. 

Yeonjun lays his chin on Soobin's shoulder briefly. "Thanks for shielding me from the rain, Soobin-ie. You're a sweet guy, even though you pretend to hate me," he says, smirking. "I hope I didn't make you too wet. Get home safely." He winks at him and boards the bus before Soobin can form a response. 

When the bus disappears into the distance, Soobin rubs his cheek where he'd just been kissed. Yeonjun's lips had felt soft and plump, just as he imagined they would. He feels his face heat up. 

I'm gonna murder you, Kai. 

Still standing beside the water fountain, Beomgyu sips from his bottle waiting for Soobin to leave the restroom. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Taehyun approaching.

As Beomgyu expected, he wastes no time in getting angry. "Did you have to be so rude to my dad this morning? He ended up lecturing me for 30 minutes," Taehyun snaps.

Caught off guard by his uncharacteristically severe tone, Beomgyu shoots back, "I was sticking up for you, ungrateful bastard. Maybe show a little gratitude, since you clearly can't stand up for yourself."

"Well, he thinks you're a bad influence on me, as if you have any influence over me, and he's threatening to take me off the team if I continue being rebellious."

"You? Rebellious?" Beomgyu snorts. "Don't make me laugh. The most rebellious you'd ever be is waiting 20 minutes to start swimming again after eating rather than 30 minutes. Goody-fucking-two-shoes." 

Taehyun isn't amused. "I might have to leave the team if my dad thinks I'm fooling around at school. He's convinced I'm getting distracted because I have disrespectful friends like you," he draws out the 'friends' part, using air quotes to express his dissent. "And Yeonjun's in Year 12—he already has too much going on to become captain." 

Although he feels a bit guilty, Beomgyu's stubbornness ultimately takes over. "I was standing up for you, dickhead. I was trying to help you."

Taehyun raises his voice now. "You're such a piece of shit! You think you're so clever and righteous but you're a self-centred moron. You don't know what my family is like, you don't know who I am, and you have no right to talk to my dad the way you did! We don't all get to have cushy lives like you do," Taehyun spits, each word coming out exasperated and distressed. "You only made things worse! If I lose swimming, I'll have nothing left."

Beomgyu notices how his voice breaks slightly at the end. He's startled. He hadn't expected Taehyun to get so emotional. And it wasn't the angry type of emotional he was used to experiencing. It was sad. 

At that moment, Soobin comes out of the bathroom. He pulls Beomgyu to his side and scowls at Taehyun. "Were you yelling at him? What is your problem, Taehyun? Have some respect and leave Beomgyu alone." 

Taehyun looks between the two of them, his gaze falling on Soobin's protective arm slung around Beomgyu's shoulder and leaves. Once he's out of sight, Beomgyu peers up at Soobin, who's still furious. "You didn't have to do that, you know. I can protect myself." 

"Well, he needs to learn his fucking place. He can't just come up to you and start insulting you."

"To be fair, I think I insulted him first," Beomgyu mumbles. He shrugs Soobin's hand off his shoulder and walks off. He replays the previous conversation in his head, rubbing his temples vigorously. He's starting to get a headache from thinking too hard. 

Taehyun's words follow his footsteps. 

If I lose swimming, I'll have nothing left. 

Nothing. 

The weight of these words don't fully hit him yet, but he knows that they didn't sit right with him for some reason. The way Taehyun said it had made his stomach churn, swirling and swishing around tumultuously like the sea. He'd sounded so vulnerable in that moment. 

Without realising it, Beomgyu now feels determined to make sure Taehyun stayed on the team. He wasn't going to quit.  

Not on his watch. 

Chapter Text

--

NARRATOR: DAVID ATTENBOROUGH

[Attenborough] Everywhere you look, on land or in the ocean, there are extraordinary examples of the lengths living things go to to stay alive. And it is truly a miracle that Huening Kai still has all his limbs intact.

After spending days relentlessly hunting the younger male penguin, the vicious rabbit predator, Choi Soobin, has let the baby penguin escape unscathed (sort of, anyway).

Conveniently ignoring the fact that penguins and rabbits would never cohabitate, let us consider for a second: What would make the formerly bloodlust predator allow his prey to roam freely? 

[Dramatic pause]

The answer? 

[Loud drumroll, followed by the camera panning to Soobin shovelling plates of food into his mouth]

[Attenborough] A lot of food. And the penguin agreed to be the giant rabbit's personal slave for a month. 

[Camera zooms in on Huening Kai's face, now forlorn with the belated realisation of what he's gotten himself into]

[Attenborough] Despite standing well over 1.80 metres tall, at the end of the day, the baby penguin is, still, indeed a baby penguin. Prey-predator relationships sure have evolved over the years. 

Well, at least it all ended civilly. 

-

Soobin has a relentless grip on Huening Kai's shoulder during lunch. Kai's easygoing smile has since been replaced with one that's shaky and lopsided. He is on edge, to say the very least. 

"Kai, can you get a tissue for me?"

"Kai, can you massage my shoulders? They're sore."

"Kai, can you roll up my sleeve for me? It's falling down and I don't want to get it in my noodles."

"Yes, your highness," Huening Kai responds with every time, complying with all of Soobin's demands. 

Beomgyu glances between the two with a disgusted look. "What the fuck am I watching right now?" 

"Kai's my slave," Soobin answers with no further explanation, slurping his noodles nonchalantly as the youngest rolls up his sleeves for him. 

"That sounds a little...wrong."

"Not THAT kind of slave, you pervert. He's just gonna do errands for me until he's learnt his lesson. Kai, go pee for me."

"Oh...my god." Huening Kai finally stands up in protest. "I'm losing it." 

Beomgyu croaks with laughter. "That's what happens when you listen to Choi Soobin. He always calls us two the devils but he—he is the true devil. Why are you so scared of him anyway? He's weak. You would probably beat him in an arm wrestle, Huening—"

Soobin punches him. "Oi."

Beomgyu frowns. "He's violent too. We should warn Yeonjun before it's too late for him to back out—" Beomgyu's cut off again by another punch. "See? It doesn't even hurt. You know what, let's have an arm wrestle right now. I'll win—I'll bet my left toenail." 

At the prospect of witnessing a battle go down between his friends, Huening Kai laughs hysterically. He's mostly just relieved that Beomgyu has finally taken the attention away from him and he isn't going to be forced to spoon-feed Soobin or something equally as stupid. He only has so much sanity left. 

"Why don't you pick on someone your own age? I'm old and greying thanks to you two idiots," Soobin protests. Regardless, he accepts the challenge and grips Beomgyu's outstretched hand. Needless to say, he loses in an instant.

"We keep you young and youthful, old man," Beomgyu says in a mocking tone. He pokes his tongue out. "I win. Look how strong I am, Huening. Aren't I strong?"

Huening Kai rolls his eyes. "I'd like to see you challenge someone actually strong—like Taehyun. He's probably got some muscle, I bet." Soobin glares at him. 

"Taehyun? Pfft, I would crush—" Beomgyu's speech halts abruptly, images of Taehyun's biceps flashing through his mind. "Uh...never mind." 

Huening Kai smirks. He side-eyes Soobin for a moment and then smiles knowingly at Beomgyu. "How are things between you two, by the way?" 

Soobin continues chewing on his noodles with his cheeks full—still sulking from his loss—but his eyes fixate on Beomgyu. 

Beomgyu bites his lip. "What are you talking about?" 

"Playing dumb again, Beomgyu? Hey, Soobin. Did I ever tell you what I saw like two weeks ago?"

"Hey, you said you wouldn't tell him!" 

"I said nothing of the kind," Huening vehemently denies, forming an 'X' with his arms. "Well, Beomgyu here invited Taehyun to his house—"

"Because he wet his fucking uniform," Beomgyu interjects. 

"—because they were going out to swim together. Alone," Huening continues, ignoring Beomgyu. "And Taehyun left wearing his clothes. Beomgyu didn't want you to find out." 

Soobin stops chewing, his mouth agape. "Huh? What the fuck, Beomgyu? I thought you guys were enemies, why'd you do that?" 

"He got splashed by a car! I was being a good person, alright? I don't like him and I never will!" Beomgyu snaps. "Leave me alone, Soobin. You're always trying to defend me when I can fight for myself." 

As usual, they get into a heated argument for far too long, each of them raising their voices and refusing to relent and put their own pride away. Sighing, Huening Kai stands up from his seat again and screeches in frustration. The two stop fighting and shift their attention onto him. 

"You guys are both morons. Morons."

"Yah!" Soobin hisses, his hand clenched into a fist. "How dare you call us that?" 

"Well, you're both acting like infants." 

Soobin almost knocks over his bowl of noodles standing up to hit Huening but Beomgyu pulls him back down first. "Hold on, let's hear him out first. Then you can beat him up afterwards." 

"You two—" Huening Kai points a finger at them, "—are idiots. Beomgyu, you're an idiot because you're too dense to see that you actually like Taehyun. And Soobin, you're an idiot because you still won't let go of the shit they said to each other a year ago." 

Soobin and Beomgyu are rendered speechless. The youngest's facial expression is tense. And it is scary. He faces Beomgyu. 

"So, am I wrong? Wanting to show off to Taehyun how great you are isn't the only reason you've been asking me to swim with you, is it?" 

Beomgyu twiddles with his thumbs. The thought has been niggling in the back of his mind for a while now, even days after his argument with Taehyun. 

"I feel guilty," Beomgyu confesses sheepishly.

"Why?" 

"Well..." he begins, rubbing the nape of his neck. Huening Kai watches him expectantly.

Beomgyu sighs. "Okay, okay. I pissed off Taehyun's dad when I went to drop off his uniform at his house. He threatened to take him off the team. And, I feel pretty bad about it. The other guys seem to like him. So I wanted to train harder to...I don't know...to just keep out of his way, or something." 

Huening Kai seems to accept the confession. For now, anyway. He looks over to Soobin now. "And you? What do you have to say about that?" 

Soobin blinks, clearly in a daze. "Well...I'm not forgiving him. But if Beomgyu is so adamant about caring about him so much—I'll...I'll...try to put it behind me now. I guess." 

The youngest's eye twitches, but he shrugs it off, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with his answer. 

"So," Huening Kai says in a smug tone, grinning at Beomgyu, his usual cheekiness returning almost immediately. "Taehyun's grown on you, hasn't he?" 

Beomgyu groans. The redness of his face doesn't hide his embarrassment. 

"I really, really don't want to get into this. Please," Beomgyu huffs as he rubs his face in agony, "Could you help me practise diving after school though, Huening?" 

Huening Kai nods, but the shit-eating grin on his face stays put. 

-

After training as per usual and practising his dives for a couple of weeks, Beomgyu asks Yeonjun to check his form during practice one day. For his second dive, he climbs onto the starting block, taking a deep breath, and dives into the water. 

When he resurfaces, he swims back to the wall, adjusting his goggles that have filled with water. 

"Your dives are looking better." 

Beomgyu whips his head up to find Taehyun staring at him with a look of both curiosity and genuine surprise. He surveys the area only to learn that Yeonjun has now moved on to coaching another member a few lanes away. He's also talking to the swim team coach about something.

"Thanks," Beomgyu replies. He's about to climb out of the pool when Taehyun extends his hand out. Deliberating over whether or not to take it, Beomgyu eventually grabs onto his hand and Taehyun pulls him up. 

"You've been avoiding me," Taehyun states flatly. "I haven't heard a single insult from you in ages. Are you sick or something?"

Beomgyu scoffs. "Of course you'd think that. I can be a decent human being sometimes too. Are you really that shocked?" 

Taehyun cocks his head to the side, bemused. A few moments pass without either of them saying anything. 

"I'm not mad at you anymore, by the way," Taehyun says, finally breaking the silence. 

"Oh," is all Beomgyu manages. Though, it feels as if a weight has been lifted off his chest. He gnaws on his lip, not knowing what to say. Because Taehyun is staring at him with a heated gaze, large eyes rounded and unblinking, and frankly, it's making him a little nervous. Taehyun eventually gives him a sympathetic look and walks off to check on the other team members. 

Watching him saunter off, Beomgyu brushes wet strands of hair away from his face and heaves a sigh. He isn't sure if he could ever find the courage to tell Taehyun how he really felt—about how apologetic he was. He simply didn't know how to. 

He probably thinks I'm just some slacker who's rude to adults, Beomgyu thinks to himself. But I know I can prove him wrong. 

As the weeks go by, Beomgyu can't really tell who he's trying to prove wrong anymore. Or what he's even trying to prove. Nevertheless, he trains hard. His schoolwork piles up before he knows it but being a chronic over-worker, Beomgyu somehow manages to keep on top of it all while training after school at the community pool almost every day—with or without Huening Kai. The only downfall is that humans just aren't built to work themselves into the ground 24/7 (what bullshit, am I right?). So, naturally, he burns himself out. 

Oh, life is unfair. 

-

Beomgyu 🐻

[07:11:34am]

Guys I'm sick 

Soobin 🐰

[07:11:55am]

Seriously? Are you okay?? 

Huening Kai 🐧

[07:12:43am]

Oh no

Beomgyu 🐧

[07:14:12 am]

Yeah it's just a cold I should be alright

But I don't think I can come to school today. I've been blowing my nose all morning

Huening Kai 🐧

[07:15:40 am]

Dude you've been swimming way too much. And you haven't stopped studying either you need some rest 

Beomgyu 🐻

[07:16:01 am]

That's the plan 

Soobin 🐰

[07:17:00 am]

Take care Beomgyu. I'm coming by later to check on you, just to let you know

Huening Kai 🐧

[07:17:25 am]

Me too. I'll bring snacks~ 

Beomgyu 🐻

[07:19:43 am]

I'm literally sick and infectious

but ok 💋

Huening Kai 🐧

[07:20:33 am]

I'll wear a hazmat suit

Soobin 🐰

[07:21:52 am]

Or a mask.

Wear a mask when we come over too, Beomgyu. We'll just drop in for a bit anyway and let you rest up

As promised, Huening Kai enters his room several hours later bringing Beomgyu's favourite snacks. On the other hand, Soobin drops in a record number of four times within the last two hours to check up on him and bring medication and force him to drink water—being the nurturing and overbearing friend-brother-dad he was. Though, the constant visits are honestly getting a bit too much, even for someone who loves attention as much as Beomgyu. Plus, all he wants to do right now was sleep. 

Half an hour later, he hears footsteps coming towards his room again. He rolls over onto his side and groans.

"Soobin, I swear to god, if that's you again, I'm getting Yeonjun to chain you to your bed..." his voice fades out when it's Taehyun standing in his doorway instead.

"W-what?" Taehyun stammers.

"What?" Beomgyu echoes. "What are you doing here? Did you break into my house? Did you want to murder me in my sleep? Where's my mom—"

"I didn't break in, you fucking idiot. I ran into Huening Kai at school and he told me you were sick, so I thought I'd visit you. Your mom let me in."

"She's a traitor," Beomgyu mutters. He pushes his fringe away from his eyes for a clearer view of Taehyun, who hovers awkwardly in the doorway. He looks extremely uncomfortable. Beomgyu laughs.

"You look like you're being held hostage. You do realise you're the one that came here out of your own will, right?" Beomgyu snickers. Suddenly overcome by fatigue, he lets out a yawn. "Well, what do you want then?" 

Taehyun doesn't answer. He takes one look at the pile of tissues forming on Beomgyu's bedside table and walks towards the bed. Tentatively, he places his hand on Beomgyu's forehead, flinching at the warmth. "Fuck, Beomgyu. You're really hot."

"I'm aware of that—I mean—I have a mirror. But could you tone your thirst down a bit? What a turn-off," Beomgyu retorts. He guffaws when Taehyun flips him off. 

"I see being sick hasn't made you any less annoying," Taehyun comments bitterly. He sits down on the bed beside Beomgyu's legs. "Why did you do this to yourself, though?" 

"I didn't choose to be sick, dumbass," Beomgyu scoffs. 

"But you did choose to train pretty much every single day. Huening Kai told me you've been swimming at the pool a lot lately," Taehyun says, raising an eyebrow at the bedridden boy. "You know swimming too often isn't good for you. Do you really love swimming that much or are you just super committed to the team?" 

A moment of silence follows. Paradoxically, the sound of Beomgyu's bated breath is loud. 

"I felt bad."

"Huh? Why?"

"For what I did. At your house. And what I said to your dad." 

Taehyun recoils in surprise. "Really?" 

"Well, yeah. When you were talking about how you were gonna be forced to leave the team by your dad you sounded like a miserable puppy."

Taehyun winces at the comparison. "You started swimming so much because of that? Because of...me? I don't see the connection." 

Beomgyu's face heats up. But in all honesty, he doesn't know why he is doing this to himself either. For some reason, swimming feels like a way to feel better about himself. "Shut up. Anyways, what do you want? Why are you here? You didn't answer my question," he demands.  

Taehyun averts his gaze quickly, suddenly engrossed in the BTS merch displayed on a nearby shelf. He fiddles with something in his hands. "Um...I came to give you this." 

He places something on the bedside table. Beomgyu shoots up and grabs it. It's a LINE friends bear keychain like the one on his bag. Except this one is bigger. And it looks different. Puzzled, Beomgyu cranes his neck to look for his school backpack. Like the one that had been on his bag. 

"Huh? This isn't mine. Where did mine go?"

"You dropped yours a while ago—back in the library that day. It was broken, though. So here you go. Have that."

"Oh...thanks," Beomgyu mumbles, frowning. "But why? You don't owe me anything." 

Taehyun shifts uncomfortably on the bed, making the bedsprings squeak from how much he's fidgeting. He stares down at his hands. It looks like something has been bothering him for a while. 

"I wanted to say thanks. And sorry. I think I misjudged your character. And thanks for sticking with the team and taking it more seriously now. I appreciate it." 

Beomgyu feels numb. He isn't sure how to reply, and he sure as hell doesn't know why Taehyun is the one apologising. 

"Well, I'm sorry too. Really, I am. I have a bit of an ego and I just didn't think your dad should be allowed to talk to you like that," Beomgyu finally admits. As soon as he finishes, he clutches his head. "Fuck, my head hurts." 

Without hesitation, Taehyun reaches out and strokes Beomgyu's hair. "You probably need sleep."

Beomgyu plops his head down onto Taehyun's shoulder unceremoniously. Despite being in pain, a sweet smile graces his lips. Clearly, he is way too feverish to process what he's doing. He peeks at the keychain in his palm. 

"It's cute. Thanks, Taehyun." Beomgyu shuts his eyes again, still smiling serenely. 

Taehyun stares dumbly into space, unsure of how to react. His heart stills at the sight. Without realising, with Beomgyu resting on his shoulder, something indecipherable starts brewing in his chest—feelings he does not want to entertain the thought of.

Beomgyu snores quietly, having fallen asleep on Taehyun's shoulder now, his chest rising and falling slowly with every breath. Taehyun watches him for a while before he eventually gets up to leave. Trying not to stir him awake, Taehyun lays Beomgyu's head down onto his pillow as gently as possible. 

"Sleep well," he whispers. 

As he leaves the room, Beomgyu opens his eyes to see Taehyun's retreating figure. He blinks twice in confusion, his vision blurred, before closing them again.  

Still holding the keychain tightly in his palm, he finally drifts off to sleep. 

Chapter Text

-- THREE DAYS LATER --

To say that Choi Beomgyu is dramatic would be a gross understatement. 

Okay, but to be fair, he's scared shitless of what he's about to do—it's something he's never done before. So scared he's created a script for the scene in his head that looks something like this: 

FADE IN:

EXT. APARTMENT — DAY 

BEOMGYU (18), nervous and lost in thought, walks to the front door of the apartment. We see him fidget with the keys in his pockets, glance at his phone four times and ring the doorbell. 

He inhales. And then he exhales. He waits for someone to open the door. 

CUT TO:

EXT. APARTMENT — APARTMENT DOORSTEP — DAY 

MR. KANG (50) opens the door, looking unimpressed by the visitor on his doorstep.

MR. KANG

So you've finally returned. What absurd nonsense do

you plan to spit at me this time, immature child?

BEOMGYU

Please forgive me, sir. I did not mean to offend you

at our last meeting. I am not worthy of your presence.

MR. KANG

Thou hast stepped foot onto my fort and infected

my child. Retreat back to thy base or I'll end thee!

Just then, Mr. Kang unsheaths a sword, preparing to strike the intruder.

MR. KANG (CONT'D)

(Booming)

You shall not pass!

BEOMGYU

Look, man, I came out to have a good time and

I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now.

Beomgyu runs away screaming. He does a flip while running away for style points because, at the end of the day, he is just scared, not a wimp. 

CUT TO BLACK

THE END

Not surprisingly, the encounter goes nothing like this. But Beomgyu will retell the events however he likes to anyone who cares enough to listen, so he might...embellish the story a little bit. However, the confrontation with Taehyun's father doesn't end up going by the script at all. Not in the slightest. 

—

Take two. 

Beomgyu has a game plan coming into this, a script of what to say fully memorised. 

You're not gonna mess this up, he thinks, giving himself a pep talk before he steps onto the property. Just imagine him wearing diapers.

He goes through the deep breathing exercises he'd taught himself the day before to make sure he doesn't hyperventilate at the sight of Taehyun's father. Inhale for five seconds. Exhale for five seconds. 

Someone please calm this man down. Really, he needs some milk. 

Beomgyu presses the doorbell of the apartment, his feet rooted firmly on the ground. Once again, it's Taehyun's dad that opens the door. 

"Hello? Oh, you again," Mr. Kang grumbles, annoyance seeping through into his voice already. After peeking up at the man's face, it's only now that Beomgyu realises that Taehyun takes a lot after his father—from his sharp features to his overall cold exterior, although that's where the resemblance ends. Unlike Taehyun, the boy's father is terrifying to even look at.  

Inhale.

Exhale. 

"Good morning, Mr. Kang," Beomgyu says as confidently as possible, ignoring the fact that his knees are quite literally shaking. "I would like to apologise for my behaviour back when we first met. I should never have spoken rudely to you and it was very disrespectful."

Beomgyu bows so deeply that his head could probably reach past his knees if he tries. The tips of his ears are aflame. 

Mr. Kang narrows his eyes. "Alright. I see." 

"And—" Beomgyu continues, "—I apologise for my attitude, and I'd like to make it clear that my behaviour back then does not reflect Taehyun's character in any way. Taehyun is a respectful and focused student. We're classmates and I'm also on the swim team with him, and I always see him with his head in the books." 

And he's a total buzzkill sometimes. If he ever has a heart attack, you would be the cause of it, Beomgyu wants to add to put the man in his place, but he manages to keep it in. He's mastered the art of self-control. 

Mr. Kang hums in response. "Okay. Is that everything you wanted to say?" 

Beomgyu pauses. He shifts his gaze to the corner of the doorway, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Oh, right! My name is Choi Beomgyu. I should've introduced myself first, sorry." Mr. Kang raises an eyebrow when Beomgyu slaps his own cheek in embarrassment.

"That was rude of me," Beomgyu adds sheepishly. "Just for the record, I wasn't raised badly at all. My mother would have been ashamed, really."

On the list of most humiliating things Beomgyu has ever done, this apology soars all the way to the top. He ranks this even higher than the time Soobin dared him to recite all the lyrics of RM's Expensive Girl to the school janitor. And he's pretty sure that dare had taken 10 years off his life expectancy.

Mr. Kang looks Beomgyu up and down, taking note of his neat attire and nods. "Okay, Beomgyu. I accept your apology and thank you for apologising to me directly," he says firmly. "Was there anything else you wanted to say?" 

After thinking for a moment, Beomgyu decides he'll dance with death and push the boundaries of Taehyun's father's kindness. 

"Um...also, I would like to ask you, well, um...to possibly consider not making Taehyun leave the swim team?" Beomgyu suggests apprehensively. There's sweat trickling down his back now. "I think he's a great captain and a leader for the younger students, and that's kind of important for any future career, in my opinion? I think extracurriculars are also good to keep us motivated." 

Mr. Kang frowns. "Well, I disagree. Back in my day, we didn't need extracurriculars like sports. We studied hard and never cared about any of this 'motivation' nonsense young people moan about nowadays," he comments, rolling his eyes. "But I'll let his grades do the speaking. And I expect Taehyun to be nothing less than perfect at school." 

Beomgyu nods, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as well. But this, at least, is better than total rejection. So he'll take it. "Is Taehyun home?" he asks, desperately seeking an escape from the conversation. 

"Oh, Taehyun was at his mother's place this weekend. But, actually—" Mr. Kang replies, eyes flicking down to his wristwatch, "—he should be coming back in around 10 minutes if you wanted to wait for him."

Mother's place? Taehyun didn't live with his mom? Oh. 

Beomgyu clears his throat to cover up his surprise. "Ah, in that case, it might be better for me to go home before the weather gets bad..."

"You can wait inside for him," Mr. Kang says curtly. 

"Oh, I wouldn't want to be a nuisance, Mr. Kang," Beomgyu answers.

Translation: I don't want to be in a constrained space with a psychopath like you for another minute. Panic rises in his throat.

Mr. Kang looks disgruntled. "It's not a problem. I was just preparing to leave to do some errands, anyway, but I'll wait for Taehyun to return. You can wait in the kitchen." 

Beomgyu decides not to protest any further. 

Just as he expects, the inside of Kang family home is as immaculate as the outside. Still, Beomgyu has to hold back his gasp upon entering, especially when he passes an extravagant, porcelain European-style vase that's almost as tall as him, decorated with three-dimensional, gold-plated vines and Hydrangea flowers. 

This must cost more than our entire house, Beomgyu thinks, shivering.

Mr. Kang leads him into the equally immaculate kitchen and beckons for him to take a seat at the counter. Beomgyu complies, making sure he is sitting upright in the chair and that his back is perfectly straight. He finds the chair extremely uncomfortable, so he looks like he's in an electric chair rather than a kitchen stool, but he tries not to let his discomfort show.

The older man starts to wipe down the kitchen bench. He wipes around the same area about 10 times (yes, Beomgyu actually counts) in a circular motion. It looks like a complete waste of time—the bench is already spotless. 

"So, Beomgyu..." Mr. Kang starts slowly. "What university do you plan to attend after you graduate and what do you plan to study?"

Beomgyu gulps. He isn't sure of what he's going to do after high school, let alone what university degree he wants to enrol in. 

"Um...I plan to go to...uh..."

Just then, the front door creaks open. "Dad, I'm home!" 

Beomgyu's shoulders slump in relief. Seconds later, Taehyun enters the kitchen, overnight bag slung over one shoulder. When he spots Beomgyu in the room, he almost nosedives into the kitchen bench. 

"Huh?"

Beomgyu grins bashfully. "Hii." 

"What...what are you doing here?" Taehyun stammers. 

"I'm..." Beomgyu starts, fidgeting with a loose thread on his shirt, "...visiting." 

Mr. Kang quietly announces his departure and makes his way out of the kitchen. Beomgyu makes sure he bows before the man leaves before turning to Taehyun. 

Taehyun is staring at Beomgyu in disbelief. He waits for further explanation, eventually sighing when he realises he isn't going to get one.

Deadpan, he asks again, "why?" 

"Why, what?" Beomgyu shoots back innocently. 

Taehyun's eyebrows furrow together. "Why are you—you...God, you're irritating—" he huffs, flipping his hair back in exasperation. "Why are you here, Beomgyu? Why are you at my house?"

And because Beomgyu is an incredible pain in the ass, rather than telling him the truth already, he responds, "I just wanted to visit you! Can't I just drop in for a visit?" 

Taehyun groans, no longer keeping his composure. "Beomgyu, I swear, I'll kick you out myself if you don't tell me why you're here." 

Beomgyu wants to retort with I'd like to see you try but he starts to feel a bit bad, seeing as how Taehyun is fuming. He smiles meekly at him. 

"I apologised to your dad." 

Taehyun blinks. "Really?" 

Beomgyu nods. He looks down at his feet, unsure of whether he's relieved or embarrassed. Or both. Yeah, probably both. 

"Yeah, and I think he took it kinda well? Well, I guess that's not for me to assume. But he didn't chop my head off so I take that as a win." 

Taehyun doesn't speak for a few moments. He's visibly stunned. "Hold on...I still can't process this. You seriously came to apologise to my dad? I'm surprised...pleasantly...surprised."

He does a once-over of Beomgyu's stiff, upright posture and snorts. "You look so uncomfortable sitting here. Come to my room."

"Don't you think that's moving a bit fast?" Beomgyu quips, standing up to follow Taehyun to his room. He stifles his laughter when Taehyun stops suddenly. The boy turns around, looking Beomgyu dead in the eye. 

"One more word from you and I will hurl you out my window," Taehyun hisses. Beomgyu sticks a tongue out at him.

When he steps into Taehyun's room, he lets out a gasp.  

What Beomgyu imagines his room being is nothing like what it ends up looking like. For one, there's actually colour. Taehyun's bedsheets have pink, blue and yellow stripes on them. And there's a lot of yellow in the room. Faded yellow curtains, yellow decorations, yellow animal plushies. A yellow beanbag. His desk is neat and is covered with textbooks and papers, of course, but there are several interesting items on there too. Beomgyu takes particular interest in a small cactus plant wearing a tiny sombrero sitting innocently in the corner of the table. Unsurprisingly, there's also a display cabinet next to the desk filled with medals, trophies and other academic-related awards. 

"Are you surprised or something?" Taehyun questions. 

"I was expecting something, like...a CEO's office or something," Beomgyu responds. Taehyun laughs dryly. 

"You can sit on the beanbag or the bed, at the desk or wherever you like, really."

"Can I sit on top of the desk?" Beomgyu jokes. 

Taehyun ignores him. "So, you actually came to apologise to my dad? And he accepted it?"

Beomgyu picks up the tiny cactus, inspecting it closely. "Yep. Believe it or not." Just then, he notices something in the corner of his eye. 

There are two framed pictures sitting side-by-side atop Taehyun's bookshelf. On the right is a portrait of a woman. The left picture has Taehyun, his father and a woman in a wedding dress. The man, Taehyun's father, is wearing an elated grin, much to Beomgyu's shock. When Beomgyu leans in closer, he realises the bride isn't the same woman in the other photograph. 

"That's my step-mom if you were wondering. My mom is in the right picture." 

Beomgyu's eyes widen. That confirmed his earlier suspicions. 

"My parents divorced at the end of my last year of elementary school," Taehyun scratches the nape of his neck, looking down at the floor now. "My dad hasn't always been this...strict, but he really went through a lot after the divorce. He remarried last year to my step-mom so he's doing a bit better now. I think, anyway." 

Beomgyu ignores the scathing voice in his head telling him that Taehyun's father is clearly still a complete jerk and instead tries to focus on what Taehyun is saying.

"I went through a hard time trying to cope with it all," Taehyun continues. His eyes are dark and heavy, his expression now sombre. He lowers himself onto the bed slowly. "I just studied and studied to distract myself, and so I could help my dad out, I guess. If I could show that he didn't need to worry about me, maybe he would be less stressed."

Beomgyu picks at his nails, slowly processing everything. 

"Sorry to hear you went through such a tough change. I can't imagine what that would've been like," he says sympathetically. Taehyun shrugs. 

"I mean, I'm over it now. My step-mom is great. I wish I could visit my mom more, though, but my parents aren't on the best terms. And my mom is not...very...well..." He trails off. 

Beomgyu sits down beside him, observing the wistful look on the other's face. Taehyun stares into the space in front of him for a while. It suddenly hits Beomgyu. He knows nothing about Taehyun. He'd made so many quick judgements of him over the years without considering his personal life outside of school. 

"I'm really sorry for being such an asshole to you," Beomgyu mumbles under his breath.

Taehyun's head whips to the side. "Huh? What?" 

"Don't make me repeat it, please. I'm so embarrassed and don't look at me like that. Just insult me so we can move on to arguing with each other again." Beomgyu turns away, trying to cover his tomato-red face. 

Taehyun scrunches up his forehead. "Are you pulling my leg?" 

"I said I was sorry, okay! Let's just move on, or not, whatever you wanna do. Just stop looking at me like you're so shocked, I feel fucking terrible right now. I'm sorry, Taehyun. I mean it."

Taehyun stares at Beomgyu for the next minute in the same way someone would stare at an extraterrestrial being who's just landed in their bedroom. Then, he bursts into laughter. 

"You're full of surprises today, aren't you? Who are you even?" Taehyun says, chuckling. "Apologising to my dad and now to me? I never thought you were so kind-hearted." 

Beomgyu groans and sinks further into the mattress, covering his face with his hands. "Please end my misery." 

"Thank you, though," Taehyun murmurs, placing his hand reassuringly on Beomgyu's shoulder. "You know what, you're alright." 

"Alright?"

"Does this mean we're friends now?" 

Beomgyu chokes. "Huh?" 

Taehyun shrugs. "I mean, we've gone to each other's houses two times each now and you're not completely annoying anymore, so, by definition, we're friends." 

"Do I get a say in this?" Beomgyu scoffs. 

Taehyun considers his question seriously for a moment and then shakes his head. "Nope. You said it yourself, you were the asshole all along, so I'm the one that gets the final say." He holds out a hand. "Friends?" 

Screwing up his face, Beomgyu shakes it. "Yeah, fine. Whatever. But—" His attention is abruptly taken away by a small purr that can be heard outside the room. Beomgyu makes an inhumane squeal when a brown cat strolls into the room. 

"Oh my God, it's so cute!" He coos, springing up from the bed immediately. 

"That's Hobak, my cat," Taehyun states. 

Both of them start playing with the cat together on Taehyun's bed, and at least five minutes pass where neither of them says a word, both absorbed in the little feline in front of them. Beomgyu giggles, getting increasingly giddy every time Hobak purrs and curls into him. 

"Oh...by the way," Taehyun interrupts. "Did you want me to help you go through the stuff you missed at school while you were sick?"

Beomgyu snaps his head up, worry etched on his face. "Aw, shit. You're right. I'm behind on maths. And our test is in a week. Do you have notes from the classes?" 

Taehyun brings out two binders from his drawer. "Duh. What kind of question is that?" 

With their legs crossed on the bed, they both study last week's material across from each other, with Taehyun occasionally offering Beomgyu help when he notices him staring blankly at the page. It begins raining heavily outside, adding to the comfortable atmosphere. The perfect weather for studying. However, Beomgyu is very distracted and most certainly not in the mood for studying. 

"Man, I don't get how you can study at home when you have a cat this cute," Beomgyu coos, pspsps-ing at the ball of fluff curled into his lap. "I'd always be distracted." 

"Because I need to study. And so do you, so get back to work." 

Beomgyu snickers. "Make me." 

"Fine." Taehyun grabs Hobak off Beomgyu's lap, gently placing the feline down onto the floor. Hobak lets out a small mewl in protest. Beomgyu pouts.

"Well, if you're gonna neglect your cat like this, I might as well take Hobak from you." 

Taehyun gives him a sharp look. "No." 

"But I'd give Hobak the love and attention they deserve!"

"Study, Beomgyu. Jesus Christ. We have a test next week."

Crossing his arms, Beomgyu huffs. "Then I'll just sneak in at night and steal Hobak myself. You wouldn't notice." 

Still focused intently on his textbook, Taehyun hums, amused. "What makes you think I wouldn't notice my own cat gone? Or you sneaking into my home?" 

"Well...I can be sneaky. All the dares I've done have prepared me for a life of crime," Beomgyu jests, his tone light and playful. 

Taehyun finally turns to him. "Do you think you're sneakier than me?" 

"I mean, when have you had to sneak around before? You're the school's darling, you wouldn't break the rules," Beomgyu muses. 

Taehyun laughs. "Oh, sure. But I've had to hide things...especially from my dad, you wouldn't know." 

He sets down his textbook and moves closer to Beomgyu. The corners of his lips are slightly upturned. 

"I might not be some adrenaline junkie like you that feeds off almost getting caught by teachers for some reason, but I do have to take risks sometimes. And I'm very stealthy." 

Taehyun leans in, placing his hands on either side of Beomgyu's legs, effectively backing him up against the headboard of the bed. 

Beomgyu tries not to look flustered. He really tries. He really does. But he feels his heart accelerating faster and faster with every passing second that Taehyun stares at him.

Taehyun traces along Beomgyu's jawline with his finger, his intense gaze unwavering. Slowly, he reaches behind Beomgyu's ear and pulls out the pen that Beomgyu swears he was just holding in his hand. 

Wide-eyed, Beomgyu practically screams, "Huh?! What the fuck—where did that—how did you—"

Taehyun winks. "Magic. And, for the record, I wouldn't mess with me if I were you. I've been working out, you know. You try to steal my cat and I'll take you down."

There shouldn't be any reason for Beomgyu to be attracted to Taehyun right now, but his adrenaline is high, his heart is racing and everything Taehyun says and does is strangely arousing. Not to mention, Taehyun is looking at him really fiercely, unblinking and still, in a way that makes his breathing stop and his mouth dry. 

The crackling sound of thunder takes him out of his daze. Heart stuttering, Beomgyu breathes in sharply and leans away.

"Okayyy, back to work I go, then!" He says in an overly chirpy voice. He's blinking too much, hoping Taehyun doesn't notice how flustered he is now. Taehyun was just trying to rile him up—that was it. It didn't mean anything. 

Taehyun goes back to studying the textbook, unfazed. He hums a song under his breath nonchalantly. 

Does this mean we're friends now? 

Yeah, friends. They're friends now. Nothing more than that. It didn't mean anything, Beomgyu keeps telling himself. 

It didn't mean anything. 

But, for some reason, a small part of him wishes it did.