drift away | j.p. + y.m. (yoonmin)

zéro

The sun sat happily in the cloudless sky, blazing down onto the golden blankets of sand and vigorously heating everything in it's path. Waves meandered calmly back and forth onto the shore, slightly cooling the humid air with small, salty spritzes of the sea. While the majority of the vast stretch of land was swarmed by crowds of excited people, numerous spots across the beach were almost bare, one of which being the area surrounding the battered-looking lifeguard tower.

Min Yoongi, a small, dark haired boy who, despite being young, had the air of maturity around him, sat atop the wobbling cream-coloured spectacle, staring out into the seemingly endless horizon contently. While most might have thought that training to be a lifeguard would be a rather stressful job, there was surprisingly very little to it, as hardly any problems occurred. This made it the perfect position for Yoongi, who had arrived from Daegu to visit his grandparents weeks ago and was beginning to feel slightly tired and drowsy from his unusual productivity. That being said, the young boy was at ease in such a stark contrast to his home city. While Daegu was beautiful in many ways, it was often overwhelming, and despite having been to this beach before, he was always breathless at the sight of it.

This, alongside the encouragement of his parents, was what made him apply for the job, and for someone who was particularly lazy most of the time, he found it to be surprisingly fun. It was rare for Yoongi to find something to spark his interest, but he felt like he finally had, and it made him incredibly happy.

He chuckled slightly, as he watched a giggling group of enthusiastic kids tiptoe into the ocean. They splashed around in the shallows like they hadn't a care in the world - each of them bravely wearing fluorescent pairs of swimming trunks that were equally as flashy as their effortless smiles. As they began to immerse themselves further into the icy depths, they pulled rather peculiar and sour faces at the true harshness of the water. Yoongi sighed deeply at the sight of this, his lips almost curling into a smile as he wondered why they hadn't considered how cold the water would be.

They couldn't have been much younger than him, yet he still felt a surge of bittersweet reminiscence; they reminded him of a younger version of himself, of his old friends, and of a time before he had the excess stress and strain of school and his future. While he knew it was a long way away, he was still concerned, but attempted to keep his spirits high nonetheless. Luckily,  doing so while watching such a delighted group of kids enjoying their day was rather easy - their energy was practically infectious.

The group soon seemed to dive into handstands beneath the water. Occasionally, Yoongi would see one of them dip under the surface and frantically wave their legs in the air, coming up for air a few seconds after and most likely boasting about how long they had held. He watched as one by one they elaborately showed off their skills, each of them rising up again and grinning with confidence. After a while, Yoongi thought it looked as though they had all had a turn, but was surprised to see that their competition was continuing as they swam further out.

As the once fully-visible group became merely dots engulfed by the wide, ocean, Yoongi could barely see what they were doing so far away. That being said, they remained within the two safety flags to indicate that they were still within the swimming area, so he was not yet concerned. He squinted down at his watch, reluctantly wiping tears of sweat from his forehead as he read the time. Quickly realising that his duties would be done for the day in a few minutes, he heaved himself out of his chair to check with the lifeguard as he usually would.

"Help! Please!" A chorus of voices interrupted him before he could reach for the door. Instantly struck with the though of danger, Yoongi whipped around, only to be met with the distant flailing of arms and jumps of the boys he had been watching before. He immediately realised that one was no longer there - he must have been underwater. 

The intense drumming of his heartbeat in his chest kicked in as soon he leaped from the top of the tower. Only just stabilising himself on his feet as he landed, he quickened his pace to a sprint as he reached the shore. Yoongi could already feel his heels beginning to rip and tear as his feet violently pounded the against the sharp rocks beneath him, but he ignored it entirely. Soon finding himself just over knee-deep in the numbingly-cold water, he launched himself forward and rhythmically pushed through the water.

"Over here!" One of the boys piercingly shrieked, very clearly panicking as Yoongi approached.

Before he could fathom any reassurance in response, he ducked below the surface. Frantically waving his arms around in search of the boy, he felt nothing. He would need to swim deeper. His lungs tightening with every second, he hauled himself upwards again, gasping for air. However, with no time to loose, he took merely one breath before forcing himself under once again. This time, something brushed his hand - a leg. He latched onto it with all of his strength, dragging the body toward him. With a firm grasp around the shoulders, he reached the surface once more, this time with the boy clutched in his chest. His arms very quickly began to ache under the intense pressure.

"Somebody take his legs!" Yoongi desperately yelled backwards, stopping to see that one of the boy's friends had done so. When he saw that one had immediately raced toward him and gripped his foot, he continued on once again.

As the sight of the sand drew closer, and the kicking of his legs became weaker, Yoongi looked up to see swarms of people, all looking particularly distressed. Stepping out of the water, he shoved his way through, keeping hold of the kid's arms as firmly as he could, and staring intently at the boy's friend to ensure his grip was just as tight.

"Please, mind out of the way!" He bellowed, hastily weaving in and out of the crowd. One area of beach lay untouched, and Yoongi swiftly lowered the boy down, instructing the friend on the count of three.

The boy had dark waves of hair that cascaded over his eyes - which were closed in discomfort. His round face and plump cheeks seemed to be entirely drained of colour, and while his mouth was partly open, it was hard to tell whether or not he was breathing. Yoongi - who by this point had calmed himself to a point in which he had accepted what he had to do - proceeded to lightly tap the boy on the shoulder like he had been taught. Leaning closer down toward him, he carefully turned his head to the side, readying to speak as clearly as he could in his ear.

"Can you hear me?" Yoongi began, his voice slightly shaking, his hands steadier than they had ever been. Nothing. He forcefully tapped and shook the boy below, desperately hoping for a response. Nothing.

Despite the rather distracting and shocked mumbles of the people around him, Yoongi calmly moved the boy onto his back, preparing to perform CPR. While he had only ever practiced on dummies before, he was infinitely determined to do it correctly, mentally retracing the instructions he had been told before placing his hands on the boy's chest.

Just as he began to apply pressure, the boy abruptly crawled onto his side, and as if he had been punched in the gut, violently coughed and spluttered, whistling in between each gasping breath. After a few moments, small amounts of water started to escape from his lips, letting his airways settle slightly, and flooding his face with colour again. Yoongi proceeded to gently rub the boy's back as he sorely watched him in pain.

"Where am I?"

"You're here, on the beach. And you're going to be fine."

-
wowee that was v dramatic! hopefully it wasn't too rushed and i described everything properly, but most of all that it's given a good starting point for the rest of the story to unfold ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

what will happen next? who knows? (well nikita and i do but you will have to wait until next week for her banger of a chapter mwhahaha)

i really hope that you enjoyed! see you next time pals

- sophie

ps. i attached a song called "shapeshifting" by a band called great good fine ok featuring the lovely and very talented orla gartland partly because i've been listening to it a lot recently and i think it's such a bop but perhaps it also contains sneak peeks about what's gonna happen next.... (changing and future perhaps??? we shall see)

have a nice day!!