Raquel

Jinki has always hated summer.

The air is sticky, weighing you down and clogging your breath, the cicadas’ shrill voices interrupting your every thought, and the sky...

Jinki shakes his head, exhaling deeply as he trudges along.

He’s walked this path a million times. Summer after summer he navigates winding roads and steep inclines, whizzes past the town’s most distant houses, and abandons his bike once the ground becomes too rocky around that one patch of marigolds, or daisies, or whatever.

Jinki huffs, sliding down the last little hill before he reaches the pond, and plops onto a rock. He dangles his feet over the ledge, his shoes only centimeters above the mirror-like surface. It’s tempting to dip his toe into the water, barely grazing the surface just to create a ripple, but he knows he shouldn’t. He knows he should wait.

Fireflies and moths dip and dive beneath cattails, eventually leaving Jinki’s line of sight. He keeps his eyes trained on the pond, sighing as his impatience grows, wondering why he puts himself through this every single year, and pretending like he wouldn’t do this every single evening if he had to.

Suddenly, the world stills. The warm summer breeze no longer rustles trees, crickets pause their nightly song, and Jinki feels the tension in his shoulder ease.

“Finally.”

A droplet of starshine hits the pond, spreads over the surface like oil, and shimmers like white opal before fading away.

Jinki smiles.

The stars twinkle in the pond’s reflection, the water now jostled by their light rain. He can almost see something soaring into view, but he has to wait a bit longer. He sits on his shaking hands, watching as the pond illuminates for just moments at a time, all of the year’s anticipation climaxing in this instant.

All at once, a blinding white light invades the water’s reflection, Jinki’s skin cools, and life feels exhilarating again.

“Minho?”

“Jinki.”

He looks up, heart hammering in his chest as his eyes land on Minho. Astro is grinning with astro’s arms wide open. Astro’s metallic blue coat and long silver hair sway in a nonexistent wind.

“You look beautiful,” Jinki breathes, jumping to his feet.

“You say that every year,” Minho laughs, and floats across the pond to him, wrapping him in a hug. Jinki clings to astro, astro’s chilled skin making him shiver.

“I missed you so much,” he whispers, and breathes in the other’s inexplicably electric scent.

“I missed you, too,” astro sighs, threading fingers through his hair. They hug for a while longer, both unable to articulate their emotions, but well aware of the terrible sadness that shrouds their excitement all too quickly.

Jinki backs away, marvelling at how his entire body glows white for just a moment, and then dims into a faint sparkle.

“Everything happens so quickly...”

“I know,” Minho replies, voice tinged with guilt. Jinki knows it isn’t astro’s fault; astro didn’t ask to be a comet, just as he didn’t ask to live on a planet that Minho would only pass by once a year.

“I love you, you know?” Jinki says. He stares up at Minho, memorizing how astro’s eyelashes brush astro’s icy blue cheeks, how astro’s lips edge into a sad smile, how astro’s deep voice resonates through the atmosphere.

“I love you too. There’s nothing more wonderful than you in the entire solar system,” astro smirks, “And I would know.” Jinki laughs, despite the tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

“I wish...” He mumbles, afraid to admit what they both already understand.

“I have to go now,” Minho laments, and Jinki gathers astro into another hug. They grip each other so tightly that, for just a moment, it seems like they’ll never have to let go.

“See you soon?” he asks, as if he isn’t painfully aware of exactly how distant their next meeting is.

“See you soon,” Minho nods.

That same blinding white light appears, and astro is gone just as swiftly as astro came. The breeze picks back up, crickets resume their chirping, and his shoulders slump again.

Jonghyun bursts through the gate of the apartment complex’s pool, adjusting his massive sunglasses and running a hand through his pink lemonade hair. He struts past little kids splashing and diving, and sends one of his ultra charming smiles towards his fellow residents, all of whom are lounging and drinking and tanning. He spots his reflection in the window of the nearby rec room, nearly gasping at his own appearance.

His pastel, floral-patterned swim trunks hug his hips just so, perfectly showing off his soft, tanned stomach. His flip-flops match the towel around his neck, both covered in cute little bananas and pineapples. And his skin, wow, his skin is glistening with numerous coats of sunblock.

I look fucking good.

Jonghyun slides into his favorite lounge chair, nestled between an umbrella and a mini table, and stretches out. Another pool-goer is playing relaxing music nearby, completing the cool summer scene. He glances at the pool once more, ready to sink into his tanning session, when he spots some guy running towards the pool.

Oh god. Oh fuck. No. Don’t jump. Please don’t-

The guy jumps.

Jonghyun splutters and flails as he’s suddenly assaulted by a tidal wave of water, both his looks and his mood entirely ruined.

The guy, the dickhead, quickly hoists himself out of the pool, rushing over to Jonghyun.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see-”

“Listen here, asshole,” Jonghyun sits up, puffs out his chest, and is about to berate this guy for wrecking his perfect summer afternoon, but, wait, the guy is so tall and his face is so cute and his abs are so-

“Hot,” Jonghyun squeaks.

“Uh...” the guy furrows his brow, unable to comprehend how this tiny, pink-haired man has suddenly gone from livid to flustered in two seconds, “Are you okay?”

“I mean- well, it’s- um...” He blushes, soaking wet and embarrassed, but unable to take his eyes off of the godlike figure standing before him, “It’s fine. S- sorry for freaking out...”

“No problem. Sorry for splashing you,” the guy, clearly still very confused, turns away with a smile, and Jonghyun feels his heart stop.

“Minho, hurry up! We can’t play volleyball without you!” somebody, presumably the guy’s -Minho’s- friend calls from the pool, and Minho gingerly re-enters the water, not a droplet of water sent splashing.

Jonghyun smiles at the courtesy, and settles back into his chair. He slyly watches the group hit the ball between each other from beneath his glamorous shades, inhaling sharply every time Minho jumps out of the water to reveal his soaking wet hair and that miraculous torso.

Am I dreaming?

Once somebody declares that the game is over, Minho and his friends gather up, speaking in hushed tones. Jonghyun leans forward in an attempt to eavesdrop, but is interrupted by one of the friends shouts.

“Hey! Pink hair!”

“Me?” Jonghyun looks around for a similarly haired person, a wave of sheepishness crashing over him once again.

“Yes. You. Do you wanna join us?” the friend, somebody with prettily slanted eyes and pursed lips, yells back.

“I- well, I’m kinda- um...” Jonghyun’s eyes land on Minho, floating behind the friend, ball in hand, smiling as if he actually hopes Jonghyun will play with them, “Sure.”

Minho’s grin brightens, and Jonghyun just hopes that his blush isn’t too obvious.

“Hey,” Minho grabs his hand as soon as he enters the water, dragging him towards his group of friends.

Jonghyun just whimpers in reply, all hopes of maintaining his cool lost. He attempts to listen to the blue-haired friend’s instructions -something about ten points to win and keeping the ball within bounds, I think- but god Minho is so attractive.

Everyone backs away as Minho serves, grunting in a way that makes Jonghyun lightheaded. The ball soars between everybody, and Jonghyun paddles towards it every so often, attempting to seem more interested in the game than they way the sun shines on Minho’s skin, or the way his jaw clenches every time he hits, or the way his eyes-

“Watch out!”

Before Jonghyun can even glance away from the most perfect man he’s ever laid eyes on, the volleyball smacks into his forehead, knocking him underwater. Minho scrambles to hoist him back onto his feet, and carefully brushes hair out of his eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asks for the second time this afternoon, flawless face riddled with concern, “You got hit pretty hard...”

“Well, I-” Jonghyun gulps, “Yeah, I guess I did, huh? I’m such a dork...”

“Were you even paying attention?” Minho giggles.

“No, not at all,” Jonghyun laughs openly at his own ridiculousness. He covers his mouth with one hand, but is unable to hide how his smile makes his entire face light up, and for the first time, Minho blushes.

“And here we have some aequorea victoria, commonly known as crystal jellyfish,” Taemin points to the large tank, smiling at the way the nearly-transparent jellies dance around each other, their spindly tentacles swirling behind them. Xe’s been introducing each of the aquarium’s displays all afternoon, using xir best tour guide voice to add a little extra flare. Initially, Kibum thought xir act was funny, and respected xir insistence that xe had to “use that marine biology degree for something now that we’re both artists”, but after hearing xir recall dozens of fish names, it was getting a bit annoying.

“You know I could just read the descriptions posted under each tank, right?” he sighs, walking over to the next display.

“Yeah, but why do that when you have your own personal fish expert right here?” Taemin grins, feeling undeniably accomplished at annoying Kibum, “To your left are various eels, including the zebra moray and, my personal favorite, the fimbriated moray.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Kibum grumbles. Taemin just giggles, skipping along to the coral reef exhibit.

The two continue to explore the aquarium; Kibum begging Taemin to stop with xir commentary, and Taemin smirking evilly as xe recites yet another fish name. The only thing that salvages Kibum’s mood is Taemin getting stuck in an oversized plastic turtle shell, clearly meant for toddlers to slide through. Xe whines and groans as xe attempts to squeeze xir torso out of the shell, pouting as Kibum doubles over with laughter. Eventually, Kibum grips xir hands and pulls xem through the turtle shell, only feeling a little sorry for xem.

“I was really stuck, you bastard,” Xe lightly punches his arm, hiding a smile behind xir hand despite xemself.

“It was a sign from the aquarium gods that you should stop annoying me,” Kibum snorts, grabs Taemin’s hand, and drags xir towards the gift shop. Ignoring Taemin’s grumbling, he speeds towards the massive plushie display, fawning over how adorable each of them are, and begging Taemin to buy him one.

“Look! Isn’t this humpback whale one so cute?” he squeals, hugging the toy tightly and making kissie faces for emphasis.

“Actually,” xe clears xir throat haughtily, “That’s a North Atlantic right whale so...”

“I hate you,” Kibum rolls his eyes, giggling anyway, “But, will you still buy it for me?”

“You’re so annoying!” Taemin laughs, snatches the plushie, and heads towards the register line.

“Oh, how the tables have turned,” Kibum smirks, pecking xir cheek, “I still love you, even if you’re a massive nerd. And besides, I’ll be able to get revenge when we go to the fossil museum next week.”

“You and your obnoxious paleontology degree, surrounded by dead reptiles” Taemin groans, “You better buy me the biggest long-necked dinosaur plushie their gift shop has to offer.”

“Actually,” he clears his throat haughtily, “It’s called a brontosaurus so...”

“Shut up,” Taemin grins at Kibum’s imitation, “You’re the worst.”

Jinki settles back onto his floral beach towel, smiling to himself as the soft, warm sand molds around his form. He spreads his hands and feet out, wiggling his fingers and toes into the sand to fully experience the beach’s comfort. A light, salty breeze lessens the intensity of the summer sunshine on his skin. The distant sound of others splashing and laughing in the ocean combined with the rhythmic crashing of waves blankets a fuzzy, sleepy feeling over his thoughts. He can’t remember the last time he was this relaxed.

“Jinki?” Minjung’s voice punctures his bubble of sleepiness, and Jinki can’t help but feel slightly annoyed.

“Hmm?” he replies, eyes still tightly shut beneath his oversized sunglasses.

“Did you put on sunscreen?” shell asks, voice dripping with concern.

“Yes, Minjung,” he sighs. Shell’s only being an attentive, cute datefriend, but Jinki was really feeling a beach nap.

“Are you sure? If you fall asleep without enough sunscreen on, you’ll wake up with bright red skin, and you remember last time when I had to rub aloe all over you for a week-”

“Minjunggie,” Jinki huffs, finally looking up at shell, “I definitely put enough sunscreen on this time.” Minjung pouts down at him, crosses shell’s arms, and positively exudes disbelief. Jinki groans, sitting up reluctantly, and gestures towards their bright orange beach bag. “The sunscreen is in there, if you really think I need more.”

Shell smiles triumphantly, crouching to dig through the bag. Shell retrieves the little bottle, kneels behind Jinki, and gets to work. Despite his stubbornness, Jinki finds himself leaning into shell’s touch, humming as shell lathers him with sunscreen. He just knows that shell is wearing that lopsided grin, the one that means shell feels like shell’s won, but Minjung’s hands feel too good for him to care.

“This isn’t so bad, right?” shell says.

“I guess not...” he mumbles.

“Good.” Minjung finishes rubbing the sunscreen on Jinki’s chest, and just as he’s about to admit that he’s even more relaxed than he was before shell arrived, shell claps shell’s hands on either side of his face, squishing his cheeks between shell’s slimy palms.

“Was that necessary?”

“Absolutely,” shell rubs in the last globs of sunscreen, “We wouldn’t this adorable little face getting sunburnt, now would we?”

“Can I get back to my beach nap?” he grumbles.

“Of course, babe.” Minjung pecks his greasy, white forehead before rising to shell’s feet. Shell adjusts shell’s polka dot one-piece, grinning at Jinki as he sinks back into the sand. “I’ll be back in two hours to re-apply!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jinki flaps a hand at shell, “Don’t talk to the mermaids! You remember last time when-”

“No promises! Have a good nap!” Minjung replies, already halfway to the water. He sighs as he lowers his eyelids, the sun’s rays settle onto his (ridiculously) well-shielded skin, and his mind stills once more.

“Hello?” Jinki answers the phone, his voice still groggy from his afternoon nap. He’d been gardening all morning; stooping down to water his tiny daffodil and zinnia sprouts, pulling at weeds, and sprinkling fertilizer. Caring for plant babies always wears him out, but the harsh summer sun completely sapped his energy. To say the least, he had been really enjoying his sleep before the annoying, blaring ringtone woke him up.

“Jiiiiinkiiiiii?” Taemin says, his voice lilting in the way that means he wants something.

“What?” Jinki sighs, already coming to terms with fact that Taemin will probably convince him to get out of bed, and do whatever he wants, regardless of how exhausted he is.

“I have a slight problem.”

“Okay...”

“You know how Minho and I went to the beach this morning?”

“Yes...”

“Well,” Taemin takes a deep breath before the rest of his words tumble out, “The soles of my feet might have gotten sunburnt and they’re so bad that Minho might have screamed and I might be unable to walk for a while.”

“Taemin, what? How?”

“I was just laying on my stomach for an hour or so, and I didn’t think to put sunscreen on the bottoms of my feet, obviously, so now they’re all red and painful. I know you’re busy, but Minho couldn’t stay over because of work. I need someone to keep me company and bring me stuff and rub aloe vera on my feet” he replies, and Jinki can practically hear the pout in his voice. He sighs and shakes his head, hoisting himself out of bed and getting ready to leave.

“I’ll be right over.”

~

“Heyyy,” Taemin calls as soon as Jinki walks through the front door, shopping bags in hand. He’s sprawled out on the couch, grinning at the other through his bright red feet resting on one of the arms. “Are you ready to pamper me?” He wiggles his eyebrows and toes.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Jinki shakes his head fondly, and sets the bags onto the coffee table, “I bought aloe vera, one of those squishy ice packs, some healing lotion, and those fruity popsicles you like. I’m gonna put the popsicles and ice packs in the freezer, and then I’ll be back to lather up your scaly feet.”

“Rude.” Taemin grumbles to himself as Jinki shuffles over to the kitchen, rolling his eyes at the pile of dishes in the sink, and groaning once he finds that Taemin has nothing besides Fruity Pebbles and mustard in the fridge.

“I don’t know how you’ve managed to survive on your own for this long. When’s the last time you had a real meal?”

“Um... I think Jonghyun brought over pizza a few days ago.”

“You’re so...”

“Adorable? Funny? Talented? Jinki, I know you have a crush on me, but there’s no need to be so obvious about it,” Taemin snickers at the other’s huff, “But, could you hurry up a little? My feet are really starting to burn. Also, can you bring me a popsicle?”

“Such a demanding little shit...”

“Don’t act like you’re not excited to massage my cute feet.” He winks obnoxiously, swaying his feet, and for a moment, Jinki considers tossing him the popsicle and leaving, but decides that that would be a little cruel, regardless of how annoying Taemin is.

“Make sure you get around the edges over there! The hibiscus bushes are always dropping shit into that corner,” Key calls, watching the pool person, Jonghyun, work over the rim of his glass of white peach sangria. Jonghyun nods in response, smiling as they stretch and strain to catch little leaves and flower petals in the pool skimmer, their back and arm muscles flexing.

“Orange really suits them,” Minho says, and openly stares at the tiny, sherbet orange swim trunks squeezing Jonghyun’s tanned, toned thighs.

“Mmm,” Key agrees. He and his boyfriend have spent countless summer afternoons reclining in lounge chairs, sipping fruity cocktails, ogling the sexiest pool person money could buy. Luckily, Jonghyun doesn’t seem to mind their obsessive staring and lustful commentary; they’re content to take their time doing relatively easy work, mostly getting paid to look hot.

“I’m gonna go get them a drink.”

“Good idea. They’re probably thirsty, and if we’re lucky, they’ll spill some on their chest like yesterday, when they were wearing that cute purple bikini,” Key smirks.

Minho gets up, wiggles his eyebrows at Key, and heads to their outdoor bar. Key takes a break from observing Jonghyun to watch Minho masterfully shake and pour and stir various things to fix up a strawberry mojito, his muscular arms and chest on full display, his hair still dripping from their earlier swim. Summer isn’t summer unless there’s at least two partially naked people parading around Key’s mansion.

“Do you want a drink, Jonggie? Minho made your favorite,” Key waves them over.

“Sure! One sec. I need to cool off first.” They set the pool skimmer to the side, dive into the nearly clean pool, and emerge looking like a goddamn model. They flip their hair back, sending water droplets flying, their mouth open and face glistening. Key gasps.

“They know exactly what they’re doing,” Minho snorts, appearing out of nowhere, before padding over to the pool. Key quickly follows, joining Minho in sitting on the edge and dangling his legs into the cool water. Jonghyun paddles towards them, and accepts their drink with a beaming smile.

“Thank you!” they giggle, fully aware that Minho is gaping at the way their arms look folded over, supporting their weight between the two.

Key looks down at his turquoise toenails swishing in the water, and asks, “So... do you have any plans for this weekend?” He can practically feel Minho raising his eyebrows at him. They hadn’t discussed letting Jonghyun any farther into their personal lives, but it was bound to happen at some point, considering how absolutely enamored they were with the pool person.

“No, not much. My puppy has a grooming appointment and I’ve got to pick up some new strings for my guitar, but other than that...” Jonghyun trails off expectantly, swirling their drink around with the little pink and white straw.

“Well, we’re having a barbeque on Saturday, and if you’re not busy, we’d love to have you here,” Key smiles, imagining both Jonghyun and Minho at his side, dressed in tight floral swim trunks, shoveling fancy ice cream into their mouths and laughing at his snobby guests. The whole neighborhood would hate him.

“There are going to be tons of people, so you could even bring friends, if you want,” Minho chimes in with a wink, “As long as they’re as cute as you, of course.”

“Okay,” Jonghyun giggles again, covering their mouth with a hand, “Sounds fun!”

“Great!” Minho slips into the water, staying under for a moment before bobbing back up to spit a stream of water at Key.

“You got my hair wet, asshole,” Key screeches, splashing Minho with one of his feet. Jonghyun laughs, really laughs in comparison to their usual adorable giggles, and joins in on attacking Minho. The two splash and dunk each other in his enormous, Italian tiled pool, their bronzed skin sparkling, arms flexing, voices raised. Key grins. He must be the luckiest, richest, gayest boy in the world.

“What are you smiling about?” Minho asks after sending a particularly large wave of water over Jonghyun.

“This,” he replies, quickly standing up to cannonball into the pool, completely soaking the others.