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Salted gems slide down his neck as he freshly emerges from the crystallized aquamarine waves. Cold nips at his porcelain skin in quick increments as he walks upon the coarse, golden sand.

Beneath his toes are layers of boiling sand — hot to the touch from the 1-pm, midsummer sunlight. Felix has complained about the heat ever since Minho and Hyunjin proposed going down to Santa Monica to stay at Minho's "rich-boy" beach house for the remainder of the summer.

Typically, the beachfront city never gets too hot (fluctuating between the mid-70s and low 80s), but it's far warmer than San Francisco, making it "too hot for Felix's liking". The only way to escape the unbearable heat is by engulfing himself deep within the ocean waves while the water is cool.

If there's one part about staying with his best friends for the summer that Felix absolutely adores, it's spending as much time as possible swimming in the salty blue oasis that takes form in Santa Monica's crystalline blue waters. He loves how the ocean waves push him around; how the salty air whips his face into a flushed, pink mess; and how he can see all the way to the bottom of the sea floor.

Felix would've spent more time in the water (trust me, if he could've, he would've), but when Hyunjin had hollered his name loud from their striped beach chairs under the pretense that "it's important", Felix figured that he ought to see what's going on.

When he eventually makes his across the masses of sun-baked sand in a hot stride and reaches his best friends atop their respective beach lounge chairs, Felix mentally prepares himself for Hyunjin's dramatized storytelling to come.

"What?" Felix asks irritatedly, snorting up salty water whilst towel-drying his blond hair.

(Upon his arrival, Minho and Hyunjin had been doing more giggling than explaining. Felix is starting to think that this "important matter" isn't as important as Hyunjin had initially claimed.)

"Eye candy~. Three–o'clock," Hyunjin sing-songs, lowering his brown tinted sunglasses seductively to side-eye the alleged 'eye-candy'. "Don't look."

"What?!" Felix echoes, incredulous. Naturally, he instantly whips his head around to get a quick glimpse at who Hyunjin's talking about.

(In Felix's defense, why say "don't look" if you really don't want him to look?)

Felix is just about to complain about his inability to see through the unbearable glare of the fire-disk sun, but suddenly, his eyes meet the most breathtaking human being he has ever laid his eyes upon.

Holy–fuckin'–smokes.

Sitting alone underneath a bright-blue beach umbrella, a young man (a.k.a. the most beautiful man Felix has seen since Hyunjin Hwang) is casually sitting and reading a book. A paperback novel, from the looks of it. He's an absolute stunner: wavy blond hair that's pushed from his forehead, chiseled jawline, thick eyebrows, broad shoulders, and a row of abs that protrude under a dark muscle tee.

Fuck. He's so...

A soft smile plays upon his plump lips as he rests his head in the crook of his elbow, flipping the pages of his book. It's almost as if the guy's glowing with the way the sun rays hit him in a heavenly spotlight.

And Felix?

If it's not obvious by now, Felix thinks he's an absolute beauty.

"So~," Hyunjin prods, tracing Felix's veins with his fingertips. "What do you think?"

"He's..." Felix trails off, not wanting to give anything away. He feigns indifference. "...not bad."

"Not bad?!" Hyunjin repeats, voice pitched high. "Look at his fucking biceps!"

Felix glances back over his shoulder.

Ah...those are some nice biceps.

"Okay, fine," Felix concedes, rolling his eyes. "He's hot."

"Damn straight he's hot," Minho snorts, turning the page of his magazine. (Felix wonders if Minho can even see anything with those orange-rimmed tangerine sunglasses he's wearing.) "You've gotta' talk to him, babe."

"Oh, yeah! I bet you're just his type, Lix!" Hyunjin chirps. "Just go say hi!"

"Are you two out of your minds?!" Felix sputters, aghast. "I can't just go up to him!"

"Yes you can!" Minho retorts. He even goes the extra mile to flick Felix's forehead. That fucker.

"You're hot. He's hot. It's meant to be!" Hyunjin chimes in. "Plus, Minho and I worked super hard trying to find the perfect Ken to your Barbie."

Felix rolls his eyes. "Yeah, 'cause scoping out hot guys is so hard. Don't you two ever get tired of eye-fucking strangers?"

Minho and Hyunjin shrug in unison, not bothering to answer the question.

"Well, we're not asking you to marry the guy, Felix. Just...talk to him. Ask him out," Minho says as if it's the Easiest Thing In The Whole World.

"Yeah! Like, a date. Nothing too serious."

"Or maybe a little bit serious," Minho adds. "A little hot, steamy sex sesh' never hurt nobody."

Felix snorts. "I don't think that's how the saying goes."

Minho lowers those obnoxious tangerine sunglasses that sit atop his nose bridge, eyes narrowed. They sort-of match the pastel orange painted cleanly onto his nails, glowing under the sun's marigold hues.

"That's besides the point, babe," he says. "He's got friends, and you gotta' be our gateway to them."

Hyunjin nods eagerly, his brunet hair bouncing in the ocean wind. Felix tentatively peers over his shoulder again, catching a quick glimpse of the 'friends' in question. By the looks of it, the 'friends' are the two, equally attractive beach volleyball-ers playing only a few feet in front of Mysterious Blond Reading Heartthrob Guy.

Felix internally groans. He knows that he's not getting out of this one.

"You're both so annoying," Felix grumbles, turning his head back towards his friends. "Why can't you guys just talk to them yourselves?"

"'Cause, if all three of us go up to all three of them," Hyunjin pauses to play some wild gesticulation pointing game, "we're going to look so desperate. Not hot."

"Yeah," Minho nods, a faux frown upon his lips. "So not hot."

"We don't wanna' scare them off," Hyunjin whines, bottom lip protruded in a pout. "And, Lixie, you're so cute! You can do this! Please?"

"I'm not going," Felix reaffirms.

(Sure, Felix hasn't dated, let alone gotten laid in a long time, but that doesn't mean he's willing to jump on any hot guy he sees. He has decorum. Unlike Hyunjin and Minho.)

"Please?" Hyunjin echoes, batting his eyelashes.

"Pretty please?" Minho follows up, mimicking Hyunjin's batting-of-the-eyelashes action.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Pretty please with a cherry, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream on top?"

"Awh, come on, Felix, please~."

Felix sighs, throwing his towel across his neck and shaking his head. He's not sure why he's always a sucker for their antics.

"Fine," he mutters. "But, only because I love you two."

"Yes!" Minho and Hyunjin shriek at the same time. Felix doesn't miss the way they high-five behind his back.

No take-backs exist in this agreement, as Felix knows that there's no way in Hell he'll be able to escape Hyunjin's grasp as he's yanked by the wrists and aggressively shoved into the direction of the beach hotties. Bursts of sand fly in the air as Felix stumbles on the beachfront, struggling to regain his composure.

Mysterious Blond Reading Heartthrob Guy peers up from his novel for a second, understandably startled.

Well, that's one way to make an impression... Felix wishes he had just face-planted into the sand.

When he turns to Hyunjin, the boy is sending fat, obnoxious air smooches his way. Ugh.

"You've got this, baby! Knock him dead!" Hyunjin squeals, clapping his hands together.

"I'm gonna' knock you dead," Felix grumbles under his breath, voice bitter. He's certain he must look like a madman with the way he's glaring at his best friends.

"Go get 'em, tiger!" Minho hollers, cupping his mouth with his palms. "You'll be thanking us later, trust me!"

Felix is pretty sure the last thing he'll be doing is thanking his friends, but whatever. He'll cross that bridge when he gets there.