fluid: haobin

31

"how are your rooms so far?" hao asks the boys as they all start eating lunch. the group just walked a couple of blocks down and decided to eat at a small sandwich shop. it was sunny outside, perfect weather to eat outside.

which is why they were all sitting on the soft grass in a nearby park, enjoying gangneung and looking out to the clear beach. hao mentally thanked god that it was a clear summer day, meaning they could go into the water, if they wanted to.

"the view is so pretty!" gyuvin speaks up. "higher than i thought, but still really pretty!"

"ricky hyung seems to be doing fine with it," yujin teases the older, who holds up a balled-up wrapper, threatening to catapult it.

"how're you doing, knowing you're separated from your best friends?" hao asks gunwook, who finishes chewing and takes a sip of soda.

"honestly, i think both of them are really good roommates. iahn doesn't snore but hajun wears some kind of nose thingy when he sleeps, which he swears will help keep the volume down. we're all clean with our stuff, which is the big thing when it comes to sharing a room with these three," he points to his friends, who all pounce and get ready to defend themselves.

"hey, that was a one time mistake!" gyuvin points a finger at his cousin.

"how is putting all my socks in your drawer a mistake?! i don't even know how you can confuse my stuff with yours!"

"we both had the same white socks!"

"mine had the nike logo!"

"how am i supposed to know, when the logo is all faded out?!"

"ok, let's calm down before we get in trouble," hanbin calms the two students down as he walks in their direction. "the general consensus is to go to the beach and splash around a bit. how does that sound?"

"let's do it, this heat is really starting to get to me," hao wipes his imaginary sweat to prove a point.

.

.

.

"aughhhhhhhhh, please, show mercyyyyyyy!"

yujin zooms past where hao and hanbin are sitting while gyuvin and ricky run after him. in the distance, gunwook is laughing loudly at the whole spectacle his friends are making and then goes back to his conversation with his roommates.

"i should've realized that this isn't going to be a calm trip from the beginning," the dance coach shakes his head and chuckles.

"as long as they keep screaming, i know that i don't need to step in," hao leans back against the mound of sand behind him. "this job is more like babysitting sometimes."

"literally! especially with how immature they can act!"

the two just burst out laughing talking about their students while watching yujin get picked up and carried towards the ocean.

"by the way, i'm really sorry for just running off without saying anything earlier," the manager plays with some broken shells as he talks. "i didn't mean to put you in that awkward position."

"don't worry, i understand how urgent it must've been. i'm just glad everything worked in our favor. so, how did it get resolved anyway?"

"yoochan-ssi put on the song the routine was for and had us dance to it simultaneously. i did whatever i remembered, and the other person did the same moves as me. it proved that he watched the video i uploaded and was using it in his team's choreography."

"you said that coach's name is jiho?"

"yeah, han jiho. how do you know him?"

"we were in the same crew in the past; it was my second one while he was a founding member. everyone was really nice and welcoming when i joined, except him. very competitive, kind of ruthless sometimes, and stubborn about himself. honestly, i'm sad to see that his personality is preventing his team from participating."

"so, i'm guessing you two aren't on really good terms then?"

"when i wanted to leave, he got mad at me and accused me of joining the crew just for clout. truth be told, he's the main reason i left because every practice was his time to pick on me or put me down. the others joined in as well cause who can go against what your leader tells you?"

"hanbin..."

"that's in the past though. i've healed and i've been in other crews who treat me like an actual person on the team. i'm also now in charge of my own group of students, and i want them to never have the same experiences i did."

as hao finds his reply, a sudden gush of cold water hits his back and makes him freeze. hanbin seems to have been victim to the same trick because they both turn around to see gunwook and yujin holding plastic buckets and laughing.

"you two are so dead," hao gets up and goes after the duo duo, picking up his own buckets as the three of them run into the water. it's freezing, but cools them down from the heat wave they're experiencing.

"it was gyuvin hyung's idea!" yujin points to the tall male being chased by hanbin.

"you and hanbin hyung were taking way too long to jump into the water, so we had to lure you guys," gunwook splashes the water. "we came all the way here to have fun, but you two are still talking!"

"you both are going to regret this," the manager takes a bucketful of ocean water and sprays it to the younger two, making them yell in shock. soon, it's a whole war that neither side was winning, leading to the three ending up sopping wet afterward.

"hyung, are you going to ever confess to hao hyung?" gyuvin brings his teacher back into reality as he had zoned out watching the manager play with the students.

"huh?" the older stares with a blank face.

"he asked if you're ever gonna confess to hao hyung because it's becoming way too obvious," ricky joins the conversation. "the bus ride here is the biggest giveaway so far."

"i don't know what either of you are talking about," hanbin tries to slip out from the topic.

"weren't you two kissing in the bus?" the chinese asks.

"no! where'd you get that idea?!"

"gyuvin came back out saying that we shouldn't enter the bus for another 5 minutes."

"hey, you should've seen the situation!"

"he tripped while trying to get up. of course he was gonna fall on to me!"

"hyung, you also let him sleep on your shoulder for the entire last half of the trip," ricky brings up. "i'm just saying, these next 2 days could be an opportunity for you to finally spill..."

"or you can wait some more time if the trip doesn't give enough time for it," gyuvin cuts in, not wanting to give an opening to where he could lose the bet. after all, he plans to take advantage of the free snacks for that entire week.

"you two should focus on your own things," hanbin flicks their foreheads, earning two groans of pain. "don't forget that i'm still your hyung and teacher."

"a very dense one," the two students roll their eyes, giving their coach time to splash them with his bucket. "hey!"

ensuing another round of water fights for the next hour.