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Taehyung does not like summer. He prefers winter, because in winter he gets to stay inside and game until his hands are sore. In winter he can wear embarrassing sweaters and drink hot chocolate until he’s sick of it.
Summers are hot and sticky. The sun is always too bright and too hot without any shadow to run to. He associates summer with discomfort and crammed beaches, with his parents scolding him if he doesn’t go outside and his friends teasing him for his soft tummy and tan skin.
Long story short, he doesn’t like summer.
Why he still agrees to go on a trip to Jeju island with his friends Jimin and Hoseok, he doesn’t know. His friends love summer. The drinks, the fun, and the freedom that summer gifts them. He didn’t want to disappoint them so in the end he still decided to join them. His plan is to stay inside the hotel room for most of the time, anyway.
That is, until they convince him to go to the beach with them. Beaches, where there are people on every inch of sand. It promises nothing good, but he can’t resist their puppy eyes. ‘Just this time,’ he tells himself. Without reluctant whining or complaints he helps packing their necessities such as sun screen and cold drinks, and eventually goes with them.
When they arrive they are met with blue seas for as far as their sight can reach and golden sand. The water looks clear and like an inviting escape from the scorching sun. Taehyung must admit that it’s beautiful here. He wished he had brought his camera so he could capture the beauty, but he knows part of its allure is thanks to the charm of summer. One he could never capture with a lens.
Now that he’s here, he might as well try to have fun. A mischievous grin tugs on his lips as he kicks some sand at Jimin who’s absorbed into a book. When he doesn’t notice him, he kicks harder and this time the sand lands between the pages. Jimin looks up at him, and Taehyung can tell by his dark expression that he made him mad.
He means to run away before Jimin can catch and punish him, but almost immediately after he does he trips over his own feet and falls face-first into the sand. This is how I meet my end, Taehyung thinks and braces himself for the merciless impact of Jimin’s punishment.
When it doesn’t come, he dares to lift his head and look around. “Hobi hyung!” He hears Jimin call in his sweet, innocent voice. It’s the tone he always uses whenever he wants to get someone to do something for him. He sounds so sweet, but Taehyung knows the true evil behind Jimin’s squishy cheeks.
“Taehyungie hurt me! Do you think we should punish him for that?” he asks, his eyes big and lips curled into a pout.
Hoseok frowns and looks between the two. “What did he do?”
“Kicked sand into my face!”
Hoseok shakes his head and looks at Taehyung who is already expecting a grave punishment. They loved ganging up on Taehyung, be it tickle fights or killing him mercilessly in computer games. Luckily Taehyung loves it and gets back at them a tenfold every time.
“How about we bury him alive?” Hoseok offered after a few moments of deliberation.
“I’m sorry, what?” Taehyung exclaims, but they just ignore him and start discussing their punishment plan. He can already feel the impending doom and he doesn’t like it at all. Without wasting another second, he starts running as fast as he can.
Unfortunately, his best friends are both in a far better shape than he is, so Hoseok has tackled him in no time. He has barely been here for an hour but he already had violent meetings with mother earth twice. Sand is disgusting, but he never wanted to taste it to find that out.
“Yep, you’re definitely getting punished,” says Hoseok from behind him. “Jimin! Hold him still while I get a shovel!”
He attempts to get up again, but a heavy weight lands on his back and he groans loudly. “I hate you,” he says to whom he suspects is Jimin. From on top of him he can hear soft giggling. It sounds so sweet, yet the source is so evil.
Somehow, Hoseok doesn’t just come back with a shovel, but also with three kids who seem ecstatic about the idea of burying an adult alive. He can only watch while they dig a hole while Jimin is still sitting on his back. This isn’t really how he imagined his day to go, buried alive by his friends and three children.
Taehyung may despise summer, but he’s not bitter. He can see that it’s funny and he really doesn’t want to disappoint the snickering children, so he willingly lets Jimin guide him to the hole they dug. When they start filling it he squirms a little because the texture of the sand is weird and cold. Seeing the grinning faces of his friends makes it worth it, though.
When they’re done his head and a part of his shoulders are the only body parts sticking out of the sand. He sighs, this is his life now.
“Park Jimin!” he yells, his voice low and growling. “Jung Hoseok! I hate you both!” He tries to wiggle his body, but to no avail. There is sand in places he never wanted to feel sand and just when it can’t get any worse a stranger starts running towards him.
Poseidon is the first thing he thinks. Or at least someone related to the Greek god, as no human could possibly look that good. Sun kissed skin, toned biceps, strong thighs, and an eye-blinding smile to top it off. Taehyung is pretty sure he’s drooling as the man approaches him.
“Do you need help?”
Definitely a god, Taehyung concludes. His voice is soft and mellow, and it sounds like something the nine muses or even Apollo would envy.
“No,” Taehyung squeaks. “I mean! No, I’m fine. Just buried in the sand.”
“Who did this? You really don’t need help?”
“See. I’d point at them, but I can’t use my arms.” His tone is bitter when he says that. At least the man is looking at him from above, that’s one of his better angles despite his current position.
“Anyway, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry Herc- Sir. They’ll dig me up soon.” Taehyung tries to show him a convincing smile, but it’s kind of difficult when he’s buried almost neck deep in the sand.
The stranger, he presumes it’s a lifeguard judging from the band around his bicep, smiles back at him. It’s a sideways smile, only one of the corners of his lips curled up and Taehyung has never felt so warm in his life. “If you say so, sand man,” he says, so obviously meant to tease. “If you need someone to dig you out, just yell. Don’t want the tides to catch you.”
Taehyung doesn’t care about the tides, he already feels like he’s dying. Of course the first time he encounters a man so beautiful he would make Narcissus insecure, he’s buried in the sand. It’s embarrassing enough for him to wish his head was buried as well.
“Thanks,” is all he mutters. If the situation had been any different he wouldn’t have wanted him to go, but now he wishes nothing else but that. “I’ll be fine, really. I’ve been more stuck than this.”
He probably shouldn’t have said it. The curious smile is back on Godly Lifeguard’s face, now also with quirked eyebrows and a gleam in his eyes. “Well, if you say so. Good luck!”
Just like that he’s gone. Likely off to clean up candy wrappers so they don’t end up in the stomach of seals or turtles. Maybe occasionally saving a child who can’t help but run into the waves.
Taehyung likes to think that that’s not the only thing he’s doing. Maybe this man is a little more Olympian than any other people he met. Fighting giant sea serpents and other monsters from the ancient myths to protect mere mortals such as Taehyung.
Within no time he’s dreaming again, imagining the man he just encountered in the myths he loved. Making him a God in his mind makes it easier for him to distance himself from him. It would be a little humiliating if he developed a crush on a guy whose name he didn’t even know.
After what feels like hours of being buried, but it ends up being only twenty minutes, Jimin and Hoseok come to dig him out. As soon as Taehyung is freed he runs into the sea to wash off the sand itching on his skin.
The three stay for a few more hours before they get bored and go back to the hotel. It’s only been their first day, but they’re already glowing with tan skin. Taehyung is too busy thinking about Poseidon to care. That’s what he called him in his mind, since he doesn’t know his real name.
Jimin knows something is up, of course. He can read Taehyung like an open book and he asks if something happened while he was buried, but Taehyung denies this.
“Maybe he had a spiritual experience with crabs or sand replaced his brain,” Hoseok jokes, but Taehyung doesn’t laugh. If they found out they’d tease him mercilessly and he doesn’t know if he’s particularly looking forward to that.
They planned two weeks here. So far five days have passed and they’ve gone to the same beach every single one of them. Most of the time, to everyone’s surprise, it’s Taehyung proposing they go. He tells himself it’s because he finally saw the beauty of summer, but he knows it’s all about a different beauty. One with soft brown hair, sparkling eyes, and hands he totally doesn’t want to hold.
The beauty he learnt to know didn’t belong to a God, but to a boy called Jeon Jeongguk.
So, he knew his name, that he was a lifeguard, and the most attractive creature alive. Most of the time he could only catch glimpses of him patrolling around the beach. One time Jeongguk had spotted him and even waved at him. Taehyung knew Jeongguk only saw him as the guy who was buried in the sand, but it still does something to his heart.
When Hoseok and Jimin force him to go to the other touristic sights on the island Taehyung is far from happy. He tries to tell them to go without him, but all of his efforts are futile and he has to spend his day in touristic shops and looking at waterfalls.
It’s pretty, but not Jeon Jeongguk pretty. It’s then that Taehyung realises that it isn’t just a ‘You’re a modern Adonis, please do me raw’ kind of crush. He wants to know why Jeongguk is a lifeguard, whether he likes Overwatch or not, and how he likes his eggs in the morning.
The next day Jimin and Hoseok decide that they don’t want to go to another waterfall or mountain with additional museum and go to the beach again. Taehyung is more than happy about that. On the beach there’s Jeongguk, hopefully, and he can relax without having clothing sticking to his skin with sweat.
He still hates summer, but his longing to see Jeongguk is stronger.
It’s after a week on Jeju while the three are having dinner that Jimin brings up a subject Taehyung wishes he avoided. “I think I know what’s wrong with our Taehyungie,” he says, his voice sweet like always. “He has the hots for that lifeguard.”
Hoseok looks up from his plate, his eyebrows raised in interest as his gaze flicks between his two friends. “Really? That lifeguard with the big bunny smile?” Hoseok questions to which Jimin nods in response. “He’s cute. I don’t blame him.”
A blush deep red and warm spreads on Taehyung’s neck and creeps up to his face. “I don’t,” he said, but his defence was weak and Jimin only laughs at him.
“Sure. Why don’t you ask him for his number?” Jimin makes it sound so casual and easy, but it isn’t. Not at all. Not for Taehyung.
All he does is shrug to try and show that he’s indifferent. Although his sped up heart and fidgeting fingers show otherwise, his acting skills never betray him. His crush will probably be gone as soon as he’s home again and, if he’s very honest, he doesn’t feel like teasing right now. Especially not when it’s related to the subject of Jeon Jeongguk.
“Hey, TaeTae,” Jimin calls softly and reaches for his hand. “I’m sorry. I was just teasing you, it wasn’t my intention to hurt you.”
At this Taehyung smiles. “It’s fine, Jiminie. Thank you.” He has never been one to hold grudges. Almost instantly he’s smiling again, all cheerful and relieved his friends aren’t mad at him for being so grumpy.
His crush will fade when summer shifts to autumn and disappear like the green of the leaves. That’s what he tells himself, even when he’s on the beach again the next day. He doesn’t just stare at the lifeguard, that would get boring even though he’s beautiful. He goes for a swim, plays around with his friends, reads some magazines. If it wasn’t so risky he’d take his camera with him, but he doesn’t want to deal with sand damage.
Six more days until they go home, but Taehyung isn’t counting down because he wants to leave so badly. He’s counting down until he won’t ever see Jeongguk again. Never will he be able to find out what beauty lives in his mind and in his heart. He has been enjoying the beauty he wears on the outside, but Taehyung never took satisfaction with that.
It’s as though he drank from the Lethe when Jeongguk walks past him for the first time that day. He forgets everything around him. The crashing waves, the heat, the sand sticking to his legs, and, most importantly, the Frisbee game he and Hoseok were playing. His mind only knows Jeongguk and his breathtaking body, smile, everything.
He’s so transfixed on the two seconds of him walking past, that he forgets the Frisbee flying towards him. It hits his head with a dull thud and knocks him backwards against the sand.
“Ah, fuck! Hyung!” Taehyung exclaims and rubs his hand over the painful spot where the Frisbee hit him. He winces a little when he gets up and dusts the sand off the back of his thighs. “That hurt,” he whines, his lips curling into a heavy pout.
Hoseok shakes his head and picks up the Frisbee again. “You seemed a little distracted, figured this would help.”
Taehyung sighs and nods. He had been distracted and he knows it needs to stop. “I’m sorry,” he mutters, almost resembling a kicked puppy. “Let’s play!”
The next day Taehyung doesn’t go to the beach. He agrees to go shopping with Jimin and Hoseok and get souvenirs for their friends. The realisation dawns on Taehyung that the end is really nearing, but maybe that’s better. It was fun while it lasted and he’ll just have to live with knowing he will never see Jeongguk again.
He still hates summer. The sand that sticks to him and the sea water that salts his lips annoy him. He still hates the heat that makes ice cream melt and stick to his skin, the rays of light that tan him. Most of all, he hates a beautiful boy and the heartbreak he never got to experience.
Four days left and he just wants to go back home. During the entire day he reads a compelling novel about science and extraterrestrial life while Jimin and Hoseok make up silly dances to whatever is topping the charts.
Summer loves them, and they love summer back. Hoseok’s bright smile and crackling energy match the sun in ways that make him think Jeongguk isn’t the only one divine. Helios would look at Hoseok with a proud smile.
Jimin looks so soft with the little freckles on the bridge of his nose and the clear water splashing around him as he runs through the waves. He could almost resemble a siren in the way he looks so at home in the blue seas, luring sailors lost in the waves.
His friends are so beautiful in the way summer wraps her warm arms around them. But summer hisses at Taehyung and he hisses right back.
By the end of the day Taehyung almost finished the book he was reading and it’s time to go. “I’ll catch up later,” he said to his friends. “Just two more chapters.” So the two leave him to be absorbed in his book until the end which he is very happy with. It’s terrible to be pulled away from a story when it’s so enjoyable. Books are the perfect escape from reality and Taehyung has always enjoyed dreaming.
When he’s done packing up the stuff, keeping his book and towel in one hand and an empty bottle in the other, he starts moving to the exit of the beach. A hand touches his shoulder and he jumps before turning around to identify who the hand belonged to.
His own wide eyes meet Jeon Jeongguk’s warm ones. Feeling more surprised than ever before, he falls completely silent. “Uh, hi,” he said after a few seconds. Jeongguk looked incredibly flustered. With flushed cheeks and fidgety fingers Taehyung didn’t think he could look any more adorable.
“Hey, uh, your name’s Taehyung right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it is.”
Jeongguk ran a hand through his hair, but Taehyung was too focused on the conversation to be distracted by that. “Ok, this is gonna sound really stupid. But I’ve been seeing you around for a while now, since you were buried in the sand. Basically I was wondering if-”
He sighed and looked down at his feet. “There’s a bonfire here tonight. Would you like to come? With me, I mean.”
Taehyung blinks a few times as he tries to process those words.
Bonfire. With Jeongguk.
Right.
He totally isn’t freaking out right now. His heart isn’t currently beating at a speed faster than light. Suddenly he wants to jump into the ocean to cool himself down since right now he feels like he’s burning up.
Somehow, he manages to regain some of his composure and says, “Yes! I’d love to!”
He smiles at Jeongguk, bright and boxy. The other smiles back at him and it seems like the nerves he previously felt have melted under the sun.
“Great,” Jeongguk says. “Be here at nine. Just be at your usual spot. I’ll know where to find you. Wear something comfy. It gets kinda cold at night.” There’s another big smile on his face and Taehyung suddenly relates to the melting ice cream of earlier today.
“I’ll be there,” Taehyung says, unable to hide that he’s happy. “Thank you for inviting me. I have to go now. My friends will probably get worried.”
Jeongguk nods and steps back. “Right. See you tonight, then?” His tone is hopeful, as if Taehyung hadn’t already agreed to go with him.
“Yes, see you tonight,” Taehyung says and turns around again, already commencing his walk home. He can already imagine their faces when he tells them Jeongguk knew his name and technically asked him out. A satisfied smile creeps on his face, but it fades to surprise when he hears Jeongguk call his name.
“By the way. You really need to be more subtle when you’re checking someone out.”
Taehyung doesn’t know whether it’s the words, the grin, or the wink, but he flushes bright red. Even the tips of his ears turn a deep shade of pink. He couldn’t be more ashamed of himself yet he knew he was anything but subtle whenever he saw Jeongguk.
They meet that evening as promised and for the first time since Taehyung sees him as more than just the hot lifeguard. He sees his smile illuminated by the crackling flames, sees him joke around with his friends like any boy his age. Somewhere further into the evening, when everyone is speaking comfortably with each other and happiness buzzes between them, Jeongguk wraps an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders. It feels like everything he considered safe. Taehyung almost melts into the touch and even dares to rest his head on Jeongguk’s shoulder.
They see each other every day after that, and even when summer ends they find a way to be together. Taehyung discovers Jeongguk isn’t some kind of god from the myths he knows so well. He’s real and wonderfully human and Taehyung is so in love. He never loved the summer, but it gave him a boy so soft and sweet he is grateful for what he used to hate.