San [02:49]
hey dude are u awake
sry in advance if u don't have your phone on silent and this wakes u up
shit i hope this doesnt wake u up
actualky u know what just ignore this
nvm!
ok goodnight sweet dreams
<3
lol
sorry again
Wooyoung squints at his phone, watching the messages pop up one after another. After the final "sorry again bro," San types for a long time, three little dots blinking next to his name. Then the dots disappear. Reappear. Disappear again, this time for good. Wooyoung waits, but San doesn't send anything else.
Wooyoung [02:51]
Uh
Are you okay
San [02:51]
oh!!
yup! totally fine
no worries
you were sleeping right
sorry man go back to sleep
Wooyoung [02:52]
No i'm awake now
Whats up
San [02:52]
nothing srsly go bck to sleep
Wooyoung [02:52]
Where are you
San [02:54]
in bed
Wooyoung [02:54]
Dude u have ur location shared with me u realize i can check right
San [02:54]
then Why Did You Ask
Wooyoung [02:55]
Are you at the pool?????
It's almost 3am what are you doing at the pool
San [02:55]
vibing
Wooyoung [02:55]
Are you drunk
San [02:56]
djfdjfjdfj no oh my god
i'm just. i couldn't sleep ok
so i'm chilling here
it's rly calming you should try it sometime
Wooyoung [02:57]
Ok, I'm On my way!
*omw
San [02:57]
I DIDN'T MEAN RIGHT NOW
Wooyoung doesn't bother replying. He fumbles around in the dark for a pair of pants, stuffs his feet into his loafers, and slips out of his suite. The Jijang Mountain Ski Resort is massive—luxury inns, lodges, and private residences, multiple pools and saunas, nine separate slopes. Wooyoung's family is staying at the same inn as San's, which is how they met. Somehow only a week ago.
The gym and indoor pool are on the below-ground floor. One silent elevator ride and Wooyoung's heading down the wide, dark hallway toward the pool, which is definitely not open to guests after eight p.m., there are like fifteen signs.
But of course he finds the door unlocked.
He slips inside. It's about ten degrees warmer in here than in the hallway and even darker. The only source of light is coming from the underwater pool lights, the water itself reflecting in silvery patterns on the walls.
And there's San. Sitting at the edge of the pool, legs in the water. He turns around when the heavy steel door falls shut behind Wooyoung.
"Shouldn't that door be locked?" Wooyoung asks. His voice echoes faintly.
"What, have you not sweet-talked your way into an employee keycard yet? Amateur hour."
Wooyoung rolls his eyes. He thinks maybe San doesn't realize that not everybody has that magic power, the one where all he has to do is look at you a certain way, with a certain darkness in his eyes, and it makes you want to give him anything. Everything.
Instead of replying, Wooyoung pads over to join San at the edge of the pool. San's wearing nothing but a big, loose T-shirt and boxers, his sweatpants abandoned on one of the bamboo lounge chairs. It would be weird if Wooyoung kept his pants on. A normal person would take their pants off in this situation without thinking twice, so that's what Wooyoung is going to do. He shimmies out of his jeans as quickly and gracefully as possible, tossing them onto one of the chairs, and lowers himself down beside San, keeping a careful person-width between them. The water is warm when he dips his legs in, underwater lights making his calves and feet look unnaturally pale. Tinged aquamarine blue. He breathes in and the thick, humid air tastes like salt.
