(EXOt)ox(ic)

Chapter 7: Sandy Gourmet

The next day...
"We're finally hitting the beach! Ahh, I can't wait to get wet!", exclaimed Ally.

"Ew, Ally!", Harui teased Ally, twisting the meaning of her innocent comment.

Ally frolicked her way to the beach in her stunning beach-wear that consisted of a plain yellow two-piece, a bright pink flower above her left ear, rose gold sunglasses that mirrored the blazing sun and an exotic, long chiffon skirt which started off as pink but gradually faded into a beautiful orange-pink shade towards the hem with cute floral designs. The beach was just a few minutes away from the mansion, towards the opposite side of the terrain that was covered by thick forest trees. As she twirled and skipped around the stunted shrubs which bore juicy looking berries, Xiumin, Harui and Baekhyun giggled as they trailed behind her in their own comfortable swim wear.
Chanyeol and his two 'girl fans'  were walking a little further away from the rest of them to get to another part of the beach nearby. Xiumin sighed in relief upon noticing this, but still felt a bit disappointed as he had expected to spend some time with Chanyeol as well. That was the whole point of their short vacation. Nevertheless, they continued to walk towards the shore.

As Ally was way ahead of the rest, she was the first to be struck by the stunning view of the blue ocean and the waves hitting and retreating from the warm beach sand. The tall coconut trees cast a shade that loomed over her as it formed a canopy. At a distance, she was able to spot a small speed boat that left a trail of white foam on the surface of the sea as the propellers rotated at a high speed, accelerating the boat. But, these weren't the only reason Ally was gawking as she stared straight ahead. The reason was more of a 'who' than a 'what', to be honest.

A small girl - who Ally immediately identified as Sunny- was tittering and splashing water on her brother, who seemed to be the reason Ally stood frozen for a good few seconds. She took her time, examining this guy. Suho was completely drenched in sea water, just like his sister. His choice of clothes - a thin, white sleeveless shirt completely drenched and sticking onto his bare chest with no undershirt beneath, perfectly outlining his chest muscles, and a pair of disrespectfully short trousers that revealed his thigh muscles- marvellously highlighted his well built body. As the beaming sun cast harsh rays of light which seemed to soften as it struck his clear-cut profile, his hair a wet mess which looked surprisingly good, he smiled ear to ear while he danced around in the shallow water along with his gleeful sibling.

Soon, Suho had turned around, just to meet Ally's pleasantly surprised eyes. Both of them had turned pink because one of them was embarrassed of being caught staring at  the other while the other was embarrassed about how he was openly affectionate and playing around with his sister.

Soon, the two of them snapped out of it and the others who had caught up had assumed that they had gotten slightly tanned, not even guessing that they probably were just flushed with embarrassment. While Sunny was trying to build a small sandcastle with her tiny bucket and four different shaped shovels, Alisha (Ally) sat beside her, trying to help her out. Suho had been buried under the sand by his sister who insisted on trying it out, though she was scared to try it out herself owing to the fact that the tiny crabs that crawled about would bite. 'I would ruin my blue swimsuit and get sand all over it', was the (not so satisfying) reason she gave her brother for not joining him in the pit. Harui was playing beach ball in her white and sea foam green one piece swimsuit with frills that made it look like a small frock, with Xiumin- who decided to leave his multicoloured shirt completely unbuttoned and wore navy blue shorts.
"You're too slow", chortled Xiumin as Harui missed the ball.
"It's too difficult to move in water", humphed Harui.
As Harui had gone to go fetch her ball, she heard a feminine voice chirp something, followed by a giggle.

"Looks like someone's insecure about their stretch marks", Krystal commented as she analysed Harui's outfit.

"Or mayhaps a bad figure?", Jiwoo joined Krystal's chime-like laughter.

Harui's face showed no emotions, but deep down she felt hella insecure.

'They're right... I've always been insecure about myself. Although I've managed to lose some weight, I do have a few flaws I can't get rid of completely...', Harui thought.

"What's taking you so long?", boomed an impatient Xiumin's voice as he made his way to Harui. All it took was a single glance at the duo for him to understand the situation.

"Stop wasting your time, let's gooo! We've got games to play unlike some jobless pricks"              Xiumin said the last part with a hint of bitterness, obviously referring to the two girls who were busy giggling.

Harui gasped as Xiumin lifted her up and carried her over his muscular left shoulder. He ignored Harui's wiggling and whining as he walked away with her.

Later that evening, at the beach...

Having gotten completely tanned, everyone jumped in joy and ran about, preparing for a barbecue -- and by everyone, I mean everyone. Chanyeol had surprisingly decided to join them, which meant that his sister and ex-girlfriend did too. Perhaps she was his girlfriend again...How Chanyeol and Jiwoo stuck together despite that embarrassing quarrel was a mystery for everyone-but they decided not to make a huge fuss about it, assuming their relationship to be back to the way it originally was. Barbecue dinner was surprisingly normal. Jiwoo and Krystal hardly behaved like they usually did, which completely crept Xiumin out. Chanyeol was pretty close with the boys, so had a great time laughing at Baekhyun's silliness and chugging down beer with Xiumin. Ally, being a light-weight, decided not to have any alcohol and chose to drink mango juice with Sunny instead. That way, she wouldn't be the only one not having alcohol and she'd be giving Sunny good company until her brother returned with some more food to grill. Just when she thought everything was going on smoothly, Jiwoo knocked into Ally, causing her to spill her drink all over herself. While Sunny quickly grabbed the napkins on the table they had set up, Jiwoo mumbled an incoherent "Sorry", while Krystal suppressed a blatant chuckle.

"I better get changed", Ally muttered before quickly scooting away.

As she was trying to cover her stained clothes while she ran, she failed to notice Suho bringing some more barbecue ingredients. Fortunately, their collision didn't cause much harm as they merely hit their sides. Suho, having taken quick notice of the stains on her beach-wear, quickly stopped her with his free hand and offered to help. As Ally-who was a bit surprised-held the box with vegetables and a few cans of meat, Suho removed his outer jacket - which he wore later to conceal his upper body-and handed it to her. She reluctantly accepted it and walked away after chirping a soft 'thank you'.

It's just a favor for a gift... Suho thought as he remembered the key-chain Ally had selected as a gift for him and his sister. That was when he noticed something shimmering on the sand. A silver locket.

Ally's room...
"Ugh... Mango juice does stain clothes... And this cute beachwear was brand new ;_;", whined Ally as she held the stained bikini top and skirt in her hand after several attempts to wash off the stain. Slightly disappointed, she sat herself on the edge of her bed with a short towel covering her otherwise naked body.
"Guess I'll just have to take a shower now", Ally said to herself.
Before she could step into the bathroom, she heard someone barge into her room.
"I believe this locket belong to yo-"
Suho froze, realising two things ...
One. He had forgotten to knock first
Two. Since he had forgotten to knock, he had to witness Ally in just a short towel that barely covered any skin.
Suho had turned completely pink like a strawberry before Ally's confusion was replaced with embarrassment when realisation struck her. Before she could react, Suho quickly dashed out of the room and shut the door close, leaning his head against the closed door while he tried to regain his composure. A good two minutes later, Ally's eyes spat fire with extreme embarrassment and anger combined. She rushed to lock the door before someone else insolently barged inside again. "The audacity of that mannerless spinach!", she muttered while gritting her teeth.