Study dates with Johnny go surprisingly well from there.

It almost becomes a routine, really; they study on Tuesdays and Thursdays, each of them go home, and then they'll see each other for a couple of minutes at practice, now that Coach Kim isn't having the captains help with the other lanes as much anymore.

Not to say that things still aren't awkward. Some nights, Taeil loses sleep over a particularly dumb comment he made, or he'll worry he did something a little too strange, but then he remembers their promise and it's a little easier. Each time he remembers, it's like a tiny half step forwards, inching closer and closer out of his comfort zone, only for him to grow comfortable with those changes, too.

Their second swim meet is spent mostly by Yuta and Sicheng's sides. He finally finds out they usually spend their meets cheering for the other swimmers, so he gives that a try.

The rush of seeing his new friends (they are his friends, right?) chase after their personal victories is exhilirating, and after Chenle improves his personal record during the 50 Back, he learns that sometimes even getting last place can be a victory.

So maybe he shouldn't be so embarassed around the others. Like what Johnny said about not worrying with him.

And if he shouldn't be embarassed, then he should be able to ask for advice without feeling queasy or watched, right? The thought of either Yuta's or Taeyong's piercing gazes analyzing him still makes his stomach twist uncomfortably, though, so he decides to ask Johnny instead.

It's after practice, and since Johnny's lane finished long before Taeil's, he had to find him in the locker room.

"Hey, sorry if it's too late, but can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Tae, what's up?"

He takes a deep breath. Things are going to be okay, it's okay to ask for help. He helps Johnny all the time, he's literally his tutor at the moment.

He forces himself to say everything in one go. "Can you help me with something? I don't understand the exercises we've been doing this week."

The taller nods.

Everything's fine! Taeil doesn't know why it's such a relief.

"Yeah, we can try. Let's see if the Coach is cool with us staying."

He slips the towel off of his hair and shoulders, stuffing it back into his locker, and the shorter follows him as they wander back into the pool to see if Coach is still there.

"Oh, I don't see him. Uh, let's try his office."

While Johnny peeks his head into a side room, Taeil looks around the abandoned room for any signs of Coach Kim or the lifeguard.

They're seventeen, so they should be old enough to continue swimming after hours anyway, Taeil reasons to himself. It isn't the safest if there is an accident, but oh, well.

"Guess we'll just die then," he mumbles to himself.

"That's very edgy of you, Moon Taeil." The younger quips back from inside of the office. He then walks out and leans on the office's door frame, pondering, "It should be safe though, right?"

"Well, as long as you don't drown me or anything, yeah,"

"I should really expect this by now, and yet here I am, still wounded. 'Would you drown your favorite hyung?'" He repeats with a sigh. "What if I told you I used to be a lifeguard or something?"

Johnny? A lifeguard?

"Maybe if this was a cheesy romance movie,"

Johnny props his elbow on the doorframe so that he can cover his smile with his arm. It doesn't work. Nevertheless, he threatens,
"I will toss you into the pool,"

Taeil raises his eyebrows and opens his arms, almost as though he's surrendering just to dare him to go through with it.

He forgot, however, that the others were still in the locker room, and he was not prepared to see Jisung, Chenle, Lucas, and Jungwoo walk out only to freeze in some combination of shock and amusement.

Jungwoo smiles softly and waves while Jisung stays frozen, wrinkling his nose in disgust. The other two boys only laugh harder at that, and Taeil is unable to move as Jungwoo nudges them to move on. He stays frozen as the others gradually follow, even as Mark comments,

"Yo, Taeil hyung, why are you t-posing?"

"He's opening his arms for a hug, dork," Jaehyun scolds him.

A short, tanned boy argues, "It's the mannequin challenge,"

"You're all wrong, he's one of those holy Renaissance paintings. Hey, Johnny," Ten waves.

"Hey,"

The rest of the team slowly leave the room, and even after the door closes with a resounding, final thump, Taeil doesn't move.

"Are you stuck?"

"I said I dare you,"

Johnny rolls his eyes and is the first to stop posing. He strolls past Taeil and over to the shallow end, saying, "I'm not going to push you into the pool, Tae,"

The short boy finally drops his heavy arms to his sides, shaking them a little in the hopes of shaking out the stiffness.

"I win!"

The younger's smile widens, and he dangles a foot in the water just so he can kick water back in Taeil's direction.

"If you say so. Anyways, come get in the water."

He does as the captain says, sitting down on the ledge of the pool before sliding his legs and waist in, until his feet are on the rough surface of the bottom. Meanwhile, Johnny crouches next to him, presumably trying not to get his sweatpants wet.

"Alright, so I need you to do a 25 of the exercise you have in mind, and then we can figure out what's going on. Sound good?"

Taeil stops fiddling with his tangled goggle straps in order to nod. "I was mostly having trouble with the elbow thing. And the zipper one. And the breast stroke kick."

"Breast stroke kick would probably be a little awkward for me to fix," Johnny admits, scratching at the collar of his tank top. "Can you do it at all?"

"Coach Kim says I look like I'm doing a dolphin kick instead of a frog kick."

"Yeah, I'm not doing that then. You're supposed to hold the other person's ankles and move their leg so they can get used to the movement of the kick,"

Taeil is about to protest and say that there's no way he would accidentally kick him in the ribs or anything, but they both know that is absolutely untrue, so he nods again.

"We should probably stick to freestyle then. 25 elbow thing?"

"25 elbow thing. Ready...go!"

He takes a deep breath, then kicks off the wall, focusing on kicking hard and lifting his elbows...however that's supposed to work. He thinks he's going fairly fast. The watched feeling is sorta there, but at least it isn't eating him up or paralyzing him.

There's a few feet to go before he reaches the wall, but it's just the two of them and he doubts it matters, so he stops early.

He looks up at the captain expectantly, tugging his goggles back off. "How was that?"

"Better than several weeks ago! This isn't a race though, be sure to really slow down and pay attention to how you're moving. You had it at the beginning."

"So...like this?"

He kicks off again, not putting much effort into it, just so he can take a few strokes as an example. He stops in the middle of the lane.

"Not quite." Johnny frowns a little, but he looks more...conflicted? Not frustrated or disappointed. "Can I just--it'd be easier if I got in with you for a second."

Taeil frowns for a second. "Johnny, you're fully dressed,"

The younger swiftly pulls his shirt off and tosses it towards the bleachers. "Oh noooo, how did that happen?"

"Oh my fucking god. Don't you dare,"

"You won the last dare, so I think this makes us even."

Taeil instantly squeezes his eyes shut and raises his hand to vaguely censor whatever idea from hell Johnny comes up with.

"No no no no no, no thanks, please don't--"

"Jeez, you really have no faith in me. You can open your eyes,"

Despite that, there's still more sounds of rustling fabric and something hitting the metal of the bleachers. Then a splash and gentle waves moving through the water, and lightly rocking Taeil's legs back and forth as he floats on the lane rope.

A hand taps the arm Taeil was holding up for censorship.

"Hyung."

He moves his hand to cover his eyes, but doesn't respond. He doesn't know what he's afraid of seeing (Johnny's boxers? Surely he wouldn't skinny dip??), but he'd really rather not find out.

"Hyung. Taeil. Taeil. Tae. Open your eyes," the younger laughs, voice growing more and more amused.

There's a pause, then a large hand is pulling his wrist away from his face.

Taeil gives in and opens his eyes, looking at their legs.

...Oh.

"You left your swimsuit on?"

"I was going to shower at home, so I hadn't bothered changing."

Okay, now Taeil definitely feels like an idiot, and his face is turning red for the first time in a while.

Johnny lets go of his wrist and flicks the side of his head, though his finger barely makes contact with his head. "I told you you could trust me. I also said I was a lifeguard," he adds randomly.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"A lifeguard's gotta be prepared,"

"If you say so, Haru." Taeil snorts. Then he's giggling under his breath at his own reference, and Johnny can only stare in confusion.

"We should probably get back to practice, hyung."

Taeil nods in between giggles, face still uncomfortably hot, and clears his throat. "Right. Right."

Neither of them move for a few seconds, and even Johnny looks a little awkward again, like he did before getting in the water.

"Are you...okay with touching, by the way? I just need to touch your arm, I don't know how to explain what needs fixing." He hastily amends.

"Um...I guess? Thanks for asking,"

"I need you to float and try taking slow strokes, and I'll move your arm accordingly."

"Okay...should I start?"

Johnny nods. "Ready...go!"

Taeil starts from the middle of the pool, slowly, slowly making his way forwards as he hyperfocuses on the way he bends his arm and pulls through the water. He can see Johnny walking beside him in his peripheral view, almost in slow motion or as though he's walking on the moon. He's walking so casually that it's easier to match his pace without feeling like he's doing it wrong.

It takes a while to move such a short distance, but a little over halfway across the pool, something brushes against his forearm.

What the he--

Never mind, it must be Johnny. He shouldn't have been startled, really. Nevertheless, the touch becomes even softer; ghosting across his elbow and delicately adjusting his wrist.

The shorter does his best to keep his arm rigidly in place from there, and the next stroke is infinitely better.

They're making progress!

He tries to copy the same rigid pose in his other arm, and it doesn't work quite as well, but they're close to the wall anyways. They stop.

Taeil can't help but smile, even as he catches his breath (he had forgotten to breathe towards the end, which is the worst thing you can forget to do while submerged in water, honestly). But he did it!

"I think I get it now!"

"Yeah?" Johnny grins back.

"Yeah, I think so," he pants back.

"You think so or you know so?"

The shorter boy pretends to look up at the ceiling in deep thought, before concluding, "The anxiety is saying 'think so'. Could we do that again?"

"Adjust your arm? Yeah, sure."

And so, practice and feather-light, guiding touches continue for another half hour, right until the lifeguard comes back and has to kick them out.

a/n: tempo by exo exceeded my expectations, i'm so happy the boys are bAck

have a wonderful morning or afternoon everyone, and thank you for your support as always 💕💖💗💝💞