bikers & beaches | tk ✓

❧04

a/n: tw for aquaphobia

❧ The Feather Tattoo ❧

Rain slamming into the earth like a million bouncy balls falling from the sky. The muted song of nature was the first thing he came to recognize even while his eyes were closed in sleep. It comforted him, the muddled noise a simple lullaby signifying that terrifying silence wasn't taking over.

Then his eyes opened, dazed and blurred at first until he saw the dark wash of light spilling into the bedroom. The ocean was a deep bluish gray in the distance, waters storming with large waves as the room's floor reflected the droplets racing down the balcony's sliding glass door.

No signs of lightning, such was clear from the absence of thunder, and Taehyung used it as reassurance to slip out of bed for his plan. Careful not the disturb Jimin who warmed the other half of the bed, the chill of the rainy glass cooled his palms as they splayed against it.

His eyes were trained on the water.

He had surfed in the rain before— a mere storm would fail to deter him— so he had little doubts in his mind. Nervousness was unavoidable, he wouldn't deny, but it wasn't overpowering.

Dressing quickly, in warmer clothes than the day before due to the rattling showers outside, Taehyung felt goosebumps trail up his clothed arms. A small parasite of doubt began to feed on his determination when the rain's pour worsened, piercing instead of falling.

But his mind was unknowingly plagued with the craving for self-validation.

It went further than just surfing in that moment; it went back to the support for his work being left on his shoulders, a push to give himself due credit when he deserved it, or harsh criticism at times he may have not.

The rain splattered on his arm like one of his favorite paint techniques, the small pricks engulfing the dry canvas of tan skin. He embraced the water soaking into his clothes and hair, causing both to stick to him like second skin, as he left the front doorway and made it to the front. Taehyung had moved the convertible into the garage the night before, Jin's precious car safe from damage, the vehicle coming into view as he hoisted the garage's door up.

He brought in the rain with him as if he was leaving a trail of clear blood. Hands grabbed the board resting against the wall, being abandoned for only the moment of closing the garage again before Taehyung was headed in the direction of the diner in record time.

The waves were usually safer at the diner, the closer to the end of the shoreline, the less dangerous the surfing tides.

Once he set his mind to it, Taehyung was focused on accomplishing it, proving others wrong, and gaining respect through success.

No one was out at that hour, leaving him to tread alone on the path, hair dripping water down his face like tears.

But he wasn't sad. He was excited, the coursing adrenaline taking over when the diner came into view, the ocean just behind.

He knew his hyungs didn't like surfing in such weather, so he was on his own for the morning— something he didn't mind. He liked keeping to himself.

The damp sand was firm under his toes, jogging feet easily maneuvering to the shore. Taehyung dumped his small bag on the sand and ripped off his shoes. The waves were still towering, he noticed, as the small remnants washed over his feet moments later.