THE LIFEGUARD ✔️vk

FOUR

Taehyung was so tired of crying. He missed Jeongukk so much, and the more he thought (which was all the time) the more he pictured the boy in his head. He didn't want to feel the urge to cry every time he thought or saw his own best friends face. Yeah, Taehyung was pretty mad the day before, but it wasn't Jeongukks fault. He can't control that he's so irresistible to every living person. He inwardly groaned. If anything it was his fault..or that mean girls fault.

And now his best friend probably hated him.

He avoided the boy at school earlier today. He didn't even see him, so that was probably for the best because then he wasn't ready.

Now he was. Well, not quite. But he sort of had a plan.

If Jeongukk was here he'd tell him to try not to think about it, and just do what he wanted to do.

And then Taehyung would tell him that he didn't even know what he wanted to do.

And then the younger would just laugh, and say to do the first thing that he thinks of because "everything happens for a reason, and no matter what, there is always a happy ending if you wait long enough for it to come true."

Hopefully Jeongukks right about it this time because all the other times he has tried it ended absolutely horribly.

On the way there he thought about how he was going to get on his knees and beg the boy to forgive him, and then give him some flowers that he picked from the garden in the front (by garden he means the random flowers he found growing by the road), tell him that he doesn't care if he finds an annoying girlfriend because he'll put up with her for him, and ask him to be his best friend again with tears in his eyes. Jeongukks always been weak for tears. But this time they're sincere.

He found himself at the front gate of the pool. He didn't have any sidewalk flowers because he forgot, and now he was suddenly nervous.

What if he rejects me?

Maybe I should just go home.

Maybe I should leave and then cry some more.

None of them sounded like good options, so he just went with his first plan like Jeongukk had said. He walked inside the public pool. He has always been afraid of it. There must be so many germs all around it. So gross. And on top of that he would drown so..

He walked further down the path.

He didn't see the boy anywhere, so he could have possibly been off shift considering he wasn't in his lifeguard tower.

Taehyung realizes now that thinking about Jeongukks shift times would have probably been a good step. He could be at home for all he knows.

Nonetheless he still walked some more. He checked the showers, which had him cringing the entire time. He checked all of the individual pool chairs, that one resulting in him making full on eye contact with a fully lotioned, half naked guy who reminded him of Chewbacca. His eyes burned from that, and he checked everywhere. But somehow he thought that it would be a good idea to check in the pool. Obviously he wasn't going to actually get in because ew germs and he couldn't swim, so he just stuck with squinting his eyes and looking very diligently. Wow he was really fucking blind.

He saw this cute little baby, and this guy with a weird head shape, then a girl that was eating Doritos in the pool. He was going to judge her but then-

Oh fuck he was falling in.

Looking for Jeongukk while he was leaning over the deep end of the pool was pretty stupid of him. But he was desperate, and pretty sure that he was a good few feet away from the edge at least.

He tried to float or swim or something, but all that happened was him splashing around all hopelessly. Eventually he stopped and started submerging to the bottom of the pool, and that's when things started to get blurry.

...

The next thing he remembers is waking up suddenly, almost head butting the person hovering him as he coughs up water and spits it out.

He lays there for a second, confused and breathless before making eye contact with the said person.

Hmm. This person looks a lot like Jeongukk.

He smiled at the thought of him, before stopping because- oh right, he hated him.

He looked to the side again, and wow the person that saved him was really hot. He had muscles and abs, and he must have been really strong if he fished Taehyung out of the water like that. If he wasn't so focused on Jeongukk he would..

"Tae."

Wait.

He thought for a second.

"Tae are you okay?"

That was Jeongukk.

He opened his eyes without even noticing that he closed them in the first place.

Jeongukks face hovered his, and he looked down worriedly.

"Jeongukk?" He coughed.

The boy only nodded, brushing his hair behind his ear. "Yeah, Tae Tae it's me."

Taehyung breathed out. "Jeongukkie." He cried.

Jeongukk pulled him into a hug, "I know. I know. I'm so sorry." He apologized, rubbing his back soothingly.

"It's all my fault my fault Tae I'm so sorry." He repeated. Taehyung closed his eyes. "No."

"I'm sorry too."

Jeongukk shook his head, "shh. It's not your fault."

"You were only trying to help me."

He pulls away, looking the blonde directly in his eyes. "It must have been so scary."

He knows that Jeongukk was talking about drowning, but he couldn't help but think about their fight. Losing Jeongukk. That was way scarier than drowning.

So instead he just bursts into tears, Jeongukk pulling him into an even tighter hug. He apologizes some more.