title: taste
word count: ~ 900
warnings: none
a/n: this is only acceptable soundtrack for reading this !! i don’t make the rules
one word prompt flash fics; still accepting !
Changyoon thinks this is what the brink of insanity must feel like.
It’s absolutely absurd. You are his friends. Friends do not stare at friends as they pose for photos on pool floats. At least, he thinks they don’t. He’s pretty sue, at least, that they don’t stare the way he’s staring right now. He doesn’t know exactly what it is that’s changed. Maybe -- probably nothing. It’s not like it’s the first time Changyoon has seen you in a swimsuit. It must be at least the millionth time he’s seen you laugh and smile. Yet Changyoon still feels like he can’t possibly look away from you and your antics, like he might regret a single moment he missed out on drinking you in.
From the edge of the pool, Yuto shouts for you to change poses. The attempt to shift on the inflatable chaise goes wrong - with a scream and a splash, you’re suddenly dunked under the water for half a second before emerging with a sputter and a laugh, eyes wiping chlorinated water away from your eyes. You squint your way through a few poses while treading water before shouting a thanks to Yuto and swimming over to the edge to pull yourself out.
Yuto dutifully shows you the photos he’s taken, and you alternate between laughing and insisting he send one to you, shading your eyes from the sun with one hand as you do. You thank him with a quick, one-armed young -- and as the worst symptom yet, Changyoon feels jealous.
Madness. To be jealous over a simple show a gratitude towards a friend you both have. Changyoon thinks he ought to force his focus away from you. Find someone to talk to. Find something else to think about.
The trouble is that you’re walking right his way. Water droplets still on your skin catch the sunlight and add a glimmer that Changyoon figures might be some kind of hallucination brought on by his newly found fixation on you.
“Did you see what happened to me out there?” you ask him as you come up to the lounge chair he’s in. As if he could have been looking anywhere else. “Yuto actually got a shot of me falling in.” You laugh and grab a towel from the side table to pat at your face and torso. “What’re you doing on the sidelines, anyway? How am I supposed to get a good picture without you in it?”
Changyoon does his very best not to mistake your usual playfulness for flirtation. He shifts on the chair, pulling his legs off to the side to wordlessly making room for you to sit on the end of the chair. “And risk messing up my hair?” he jokes. You pull a face at him as you plop down at the foot of the lounge seat, the towel gathered in your lap. “Besides, you falling into the water will be a great profile picture.”
“Oh, ha.” You shake your head at him, but crack a smile all the same. “Either way, you know what I think we both deserve?” Changyoon prompts you to carry on with a quirk of his brow. “Ice cream,” you suggest, and reach out a hand for his forearm. “Are you in or are you breaking my heart?”
He breaks into a laugh, simultaneously caught off guard and endeared by your dramatics. Your touch is cool against his skin. A flutter starts there and draws a straight path to just between his ribs. “I’m in, I’m in,” he agrees. The notion of a world where he denies you feels impossible today.
You hop up with a grin and head back into the house with him, leading the way with ease to the kitchen. A few others are already there, seeking refuge from the sun and enjoying their own ice creams. Someone put music on a speaker, making the well lit room feel as much a party as the backyard.
Both of you peer into the freezer, weighing the pros and cons of different bars available. At first, you both reach for the same one - and Changyoon retracts his hand as if a lingering touch would burn.
“It’s yours if you want it,” you offer, standing up straight with a smile. He stares at you for a moment, then figures out you mean the ice cream bar in your hand. He glances back into the freezer.
“That’s the last one,” Changyoon realizes.
You shrug. “Still, if you want it.”
“It’s okay. Finders keepers?”
“I didn’t find it,” you correct with a laugh. “Or we could share it?”
That sounds fair and good. Neutral, maybe. Neither too eager to give to you nor to accept your kindness. A good, middleground.
Changyoon doesn’t know what he expected sharing an ice cream bar to look like. He doesn’t quite process it when you take the popsicle stick from him and take a bite after him, Changyoon feels like he’s short circuiting.
He must not be subtle enough about it either, because you chortle as you hold the ice cream out to him again. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing!” Changyoon stammers out quickly. You tilt your head just slightly, and the skepticism is obvious. He takes the bar from you, if only to try to dissuade your suspicions.
With his next bite, all he can think about is whether your lips would taste more like this or chlorine.