ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗬-𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥
─◌✰್ 𝖻𝗅𝖺𝖼𝗄 𝗌𝗂𝗅𝗄 𝗋𝗈𝖻𝖾

robin_is_a_penguin y'all look so cool, but you would've looked even cooler if you went with us smh
> cheesecakehannie i didn't wanna get pushed in by any of your friends 😔
> ramenoodlaska @cheesecakehannie hey, i wouldn't have pushed you in!
> matchatess @cheesecakehannie me either!!
> the.official.hwang @ramenoodlaska what about me?
> catdad_lee @matchatess or me??
> robin_is_a_penguin @the.official.hwang @catdad_lee okay you're literally just setting yourselves up now...

sk8terjj loving the denim on denim, very hot
> the.official.hwang did you just call me hot...?
> sk8terjj @the.official.hwang no, i mean it looks like you're warm. it was a sunny day

> ramenoodlaska @sk8terjj jesus girl, think before you type next time, i almost shat myself
> the.official.hwang @ramenoodlaska YOU almost shat yourself?? what about me??
> dingdonghong @ramenoodlaska @the.official.hwang please stop using that word it's making me gag

minniemouse- did you guys wear those outfits into the sauna?
> cheesecakehannie i got to wear a fuzzy robe!!
> sunshine.lix @cheesecakehannie wait is that where my robe went??
> bin.there.done.that @sunshine.lix i noticed my silk robe was gone too @the.official.hwang you have some explaining to do
> the.official.hwang @bin.there.done.that ... no answer
> ryerye @bin.there.done.that ewe, @the.official.hwang in a silk robe??? 🤢
> mymymy @ryerye i need to burn my brain now
> ramenoodlaska @ryerye @mymymy i've seen him wear one, it's just as terrifying as you're imagining
> the.official.hwang @ryerye @mymymy @ramenoodlaska you guys are so mean, what did i do to you 😩

Shockingly, paddle boating was not one of Changbin, Jeongin, Chan, or Seungmin's strong suits.

Or, in hindsight, maybe that was not so shocking.

"Paddle, come on, just push with your legs!!" Chan pointed at Seungmin, who was sitting next to him. "How are you paddling backwards??"

Seungmin smirked, ignoring the older boy, and kept moving his legs the wrong way. Clearly, he just liked getting a rise out of his friend. "What, this isn't how I'm supposed to do it?" he asked innocently.

Chan groaned, as he tried in vain to push the boat further past the dock. They had only gotten a few feet away, and most of it was because the light current helped push them. "Jeongin, you're helping, aren't you?"

Jeongin giggled from the other side. He had already given up on pedaling, and was running his hands through the water instead. "What? Oh, sorry Chan!" He pulled his arm back inside the boat, even though he'd already gotten caught.

Changbin shrugged from his spot next to the youngest. "All this hard work is no fun. I'd rather just sit here and let the boat take us where it pleases." He sat back, kicking his legs out over the side of the plastic duck. It was such a beautiful day, he didn't feel like doing anything. He wasn't sure why Chan cared so much. They were paying for fun, not free labor.

Chan shook his head at them, giving up with a resigned smile. "I'm just gonna get out and go to the sauna if none of you are going to help," he warned.

Seungmin shrugged, standing up. "I'm down to go to the sauna. Can we get some beers from the cooler first?"

"Ooh, I want a beer too," Jeongin agreed, finally starting to pedal his feet back towards the shore.

Changbin shook his head at his friends. They had been in the boat all of ten minutes out of their two hour limit, and they were already giving up? He supposed he hadn't been quite as excited as the girls to paddle boat anyways. And based off the fact they could no longer see Felix and Minho, they were more into it, too.

"I'm right behind you guys," Changbin said finally, and they paddled the couple of feet back to shore, in a much faster time than it had taken for them to get out there in the first place.

The four guys trudged up the hill and towards the sauna. They stopped in the changing room, stripping off their jeans and t-shirts, and switching into just a pair of athletic shorts. Chan had brought a green and blue plaid robe. Changbin realized with a start that he wasn't sure where the black silk robe he'd packed had gotten off to. Maybe he should look for it when they got back.

The moment Changbin entered the sauna, he was suffocated by a blanket of hot air. It smelled of smoke and warm bodies, which had always kind of freaked him out. He didn't entirely know why the gym, which was a sweaty body haven, didn't have the same effect on him, but he followed his friends inside anyway.

"Hi guys!!" Han waved to them from his spot on the bench. He was sprawled out, wearing a fluffy white and yellow polka dot robe that Changbin seemed to remember belonged to Felix. He took up about half the bench. Sitting up, he patted the spot next to him, and Seungmin sat down.

"That was fast." Hyunjin opened his eyes when they stepped in. He was across from Han, with his legs and arms crossed. It looked almost like he'd been dozing. He was also wearing...

A black silk robe.

"Yeah, I guess paddle boating just wasn't for us," Jeongin chuckled as he sat with Hyunjin.

Chan glowered at the boy. "Yeah, seeing as there was a complete lack of effort, I would agree." Despite his scathing words, there was still a faint smile on his lips.

"What the hell are you wearing??" Changbin finally burst out, jabbing a finger at the robe.

Hyunjin cackled, glancing down at his torso. "Oh, this?" he asked innocently. "I found it in our room! It was just hanging on the back of the door, and I thought I could wear it. It's really comfy, thanks for asking."

"You better give that back, I was looking for it!" Changbin warned, but Hyunjin just grinned.

"So, how was paddle boating?" he asked, ignoring Changbin's angry stare.

Relenting, Changbin sat on the other side of Hyunjin, and Chan sat on the side closest to the furnace.

"It was fun, for the five minutes that it lasted," Changbin joked, spreading his legs out and resting his hands behind his head. He had to admit, the heat was relaxing on his muscles.

"What about the others? Are they still out there?" Han queried, glancing towards the door again.

Chan nodded. "Yeah, all the girls were far away from shore last I saw. And I couldn't see Felix and Minho, so they must be out there, too."

"Why? Are you waiting for your lady?" Seungmin teased, smirking and nudging his friend in the side.

"Hey, I'm allowed to miss her!" Han protested. "You get it, right Chan? Jeongin? Bin?"

Chan shrugged, thinking for a second. "I dunno, I'm not really in a relationship, yet. But I do miss Riley when she's not here. She's fun to be around."

Jeongin nodded with a goofy smile. "I miss Mya when she's not here. I like doing things for her."

"Are you two really dating?" Hyunjin raised his eyebrows at the boy.

Jeongin frowned. "Why wouldn't we be? We go on dates. I kissed her!"

Hyunjin shrugged. "From what she's been saying, you're not."

Jeongin's shoulders sagged. "Oh, well... I dunno then. I thought we were."

"Maybe you should talk to her," Chan encouraged. "She won't know you think that unless you say something."

Jeongin paused, then sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I really am bad with this whole... relationship stuff, huh?"

Hyunjin slapped him on the back. "That's why you have us, your older brothers, to help you out!"

Seungmin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, as if you have any idea what to do in a relationship. Jeongin is doing a way better job."

Hyunjin pouted. "Like you would know! Your situationship with Renee is sooo uncomplicated, right?"

Seungmin grimaced, his face reddening. "I feel like every time I want to ask her out officially, she'll either start talking about some problem she's having at work, or pretend she has an important call, and run away. And honestly, I get a little nervous, too. So I just put it off. Kinda lame, huh?"

"No!" Chan, Jeongin, Han, and Changbin chorused.

"Yeah, sorta," Hyunjin laughed, and Seungmin threw the towel he'd been holding at him. "Ow, I'm kidding!" he yelped. "I get it, I don't know how to ask a girl out, let alone make a move! Especially when she's one of my sister's friends!"

"You mean JJ, right?" Changbin asked, raising his brows. "You're literally in the same cabin as her. You fight over the bathroom every night. She steals your moisturizer. You don't think she'd say yes to a date?"

"As much as I like to pretend that I think I'm the coolest guy in the world, I don't know if she thinks so." Hyunjin furrowed his brow. "She really hasn't shown much actual interest in me, outside of being friends. Sometimes she says I look good, but I don't think she wants to be with me."

"Well, that's a start, isn't it?" Chan asked encouragingly. "And you don't know for certain that she wouldn't date you."

Hyunjin shrugged. "Except for the billions of times she's friend-zoned me, or casually told me she's not looking for a relationship."

Seungmin winced in sympathy. "Ouch, dude. That's worse than Ren and me."

Hyunjin pursed his lips, but ignored him. "Honestly, I wouldn't care that she doesn't want a serious relationship, if she would just give me something. I'll take what I can get, you know?"

"You mean like, friends with benefits?" Jeongin asked, wide-eyed. "You'd do that?"

"Our hopeless romantic would be down for a fuck buddy??" Seungmin shook his head in disbelief. "I don't see it."

"Me neither," Han agreed. "I think you'd fall in love with her."

"I bet you're already getting there!" Changbin snorted. "I see the way you look at her, when she's just come out of the shower, or when she's tipsy after drinking too much wine with Hua. You like her, too much."

Hyunjin shot him a look filled with venom, but Changbin knew it was out of embarrassment. "Are you saying that if Lanhua just wanted to be fuck buddies, you would turn her down?"

That gave Changbin pause. He'd never really thought about the possibility that you wouldn't want to be in a committed relationship with him. But what if he'd read the situation last night completely wrong? What if you did just want him for his body? You were clearly very turned on by that aspect of him, which honestly still baffled him.

He shook his head. He knew the way you'd looked at him last night. And you'd even mentioned that you wanted a good, healthy relationship, because you'd never had one before. He knew he could be that for you. And he would.

He shrugged. "I dunno, I haven't really thought about it," he responded honestly. "If push came to shove, hell yeah I would. But I know that's not going to happen."

"Ooh, and how would you know that?" Seungmin laughed, trying to goad him on.

"Speaking of you and Lanhua," Hyunjin interrupted, and Changbin could tell, much too late, where this conversation was going. "I couldn't help but notice that neither of you made it back to the cabin last night."

Seungmin perked up at this news. "And I heard from Ren that she saw you come out of one of the guest cabins this morning. Is that true??"

Jeongin gasped, eyes wide. "Did you guys... do it??" he hissed, even though the sauna door was closed, and no one else could hear him.

"Did you finally pluck up the courage to do something about your obsession with her?" Chan asked, all pretense of being the "most mature" friend thrown out like the end of the week's garbage.

Changbin glowered at Hyunjin, but he knew he had some explaining to do. And truth be told, he didn't mind telling his friends a little bit of what happened last night. No details, of course, but... he was proud that everyone knew you were his. No sharing, no sir.

"Well..." he began, waiting for his friends to lean forward with interest, before continuing. "We went home early from the restaurant. I think it was just a lot for both of us. It was a super fancy place, and someone even came up to our table to ask for a picture with Hua. They recognized her from social media, isn't that crazy?"

Han nodded sagely. "Yeah, people stop Robs and I all the time. They totally ignore me and just ask me to take a picture of them, or if I have a pen she can use to sign their shirt or something with."

Changbin gestured at his friend, as if that proved his point. "And then, on the way home, she had us pull over to the side, and she basically forced me to make a leaf pile with her and jump in it. I had no idea what she was doing, but apparently I'm just dense, because things got a little heated."

Seungmin snorted. "Did you guys do it in a pile of leaves?"

Chan laughed. "And here I was thinking that you'd at least have more rizz than Han or Felix. Apparently, I was wrong."

Changbin scowled once again. "No, we didn't do it in the leaves. I'm a gentleman, thank you very much. I took her back to one of the guest cabins, and treated her very well."

"No details?" Han asked, disappointed.

"Ewe, why would you want to know details??" Jeongin yelped, covering his ears.

Hyunjin snickered at his friend. "For once, I agree with Jeongin. I don't want to hear anything about the two of you."

"I'm sure you had a great time." Chan nodded proudly, and Changbin rolled his eyes.

But despite his facade of annoyance, he had to admit he was glad his friends knew, and that they seemed to be very supportive. It made him feel even more confident in his feelings for you, which seemed to be growing stronger and stronger every day.

"Back to what I was talking about earlier..." Han broke him out of his mushy thoughts, which was probably a good thing. Changbin was probably too far gone to be reigned back in, but he didn't want to get his hopes up too high.

"You miss Lanhua, don't you?" Han prodded him. "Apparently the rest of these losers don't care enough about their women, or won't admit it yet. But you... I can tell you're already in it."

Changbin heaved a sigh, but couldn't help smiling. He'd been doing a lot of that lately, hadn't he? Smiling, that is. And, with that thought stuck in his mind, he nodded.

"Hell yeah, I miss her."

laska's note —
MY BEBES!! 😭😭 i'm sorry i literally love these two so much it hurts. they feel very mature but at the same time nervous and a little self conscious, especially since it seems neither of them have ever had a healthy relationship, and have been burned before. it's exciting seeing them slowly start to trust one anther! after all that drama earlier, i just felt like giving them some fluff time 🥹🥹 we can't have them suffering all the time right? plus, i just love giving all of them time to catch up and chat about their lives and relationships, since everyone is kind of in different stages of feelings. what about the bombshell that jeongin thought he was already dating mya?? and ofc han being such a cutie! we know he treats his woman right. and all the boys being so supportive of bin and hua they're so precious! we've got a couple more chapters until halloween, and you know how i roll with parties... hint: drama will be brewing 👀 so enjoy the fluff while you can babes. 😉

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟮𝟱 - 𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝘂𝗱𝗲
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