Ava adjusted the rolled up towels that were propping up her shoulders, and then she lay down flat again on the long pink towel that was spread across the edge of the sand pits. She adjusted the black sunglasses on her face and then plucked at the straps of her bikini bottoms to adjust them for comfort.

She heard the sound of sandals padding through sand.

"Shae, what are you doing? Are you a nun?" Ava propped herself back up on her elbow to give Shae a pointed look through her black sunglasses.

Shae was, meanwhile, wrapped tightly in a baby blue towel and her elbows were tightly hugging at her sides while a grey bandana was wrapped around her forehead to help pin back the flyaway blonde hairs that poked out of her messy bun.

Shae looked nervously around at the empty practice arena sand pits, then back down at Ava.

Ava muttered, "No one is here. No one's booked this place for practice until 4 o'clock today. So, dagnabit woman, get down here and soak up some well-deserved sun and relaxation with me before we lose this golden opportunity."

Shae looked suspiciously down at Ava's sexy black bikini. "Easy for you to say." Then she peeled her pale self shyly out of her blue towel to reveal a ruffled powder blue halter top bikini that was hugging her pale skin.

Ava clucked her tongue. "Where is Jung Hoseok? He's missing this PRIME sneak peek premiere. My friend is hot and she's practically naked."

"SHUT UP AVA." Shae started to lay her towel carefully down in the sand next to her best friend.

"Maybe I can make you a dog whistle, and whenever you need him you can just use it to summon him." Ava smirked at this idea as she lay back into her towel again, stretching her arms lazily up over her head. "I bet that'd be his kinda kink. He seems like the type."

"He's not a dog," Shae grumbled.

"Shae--let me enlighten your poor innocent soul with a little nugget of wisdom about the ways of men."

Shae rolled her eyes as she lifted the backs of her hands to rest against them, shielding her face from the sun.

Ava went on, "In some ways, men really are as simple as dogs. There are certain things men want that are pretty basic to their general daily function. All yah gotta do is summon them to the table, so to speak, and they're ready to go. Food. Sleep. Se--"

"AVA!"

"WHAT. You know I'm right. You whistle, and Jung Hoseok'd be right there at your feet ready to give you ANYthing you want." Ava shrugged. "And what's so bad about that?"

Shae groaned. "Ava. You are LITERALLY the voice in my head that tries to convince me to do all the bad things that I shouldn't do in life. You know that, right?" Shae gave a sigh tinged with regret. "I still can't believe I let you talk me into tanning out in broad daylight like this. ANYONE COULD SEE US."

Ava smirked. "Oh, Shae, that's obviously half the fun. We've probably already been spotted and are being spied on and isn't that a RUSH? But also, the fact that I play this vital role in your decision-making process in life really is the highest compliment you could give me. So thank you."

"You truly are incorrigible," Shae said through a laugh.

Ava went on, "My middle name. So. Tell me one more time, the sensuous tale of Hobi trying to hold your hand in a dark sweaty tent. Because three times wasn't enough to feed my angst-thirsty soul."

Shae propped herself up onto her elbow and shifted her body towards Ava. She sassed, "Now hold on one flaming hot minute there, Ava. You've still managed to comPLETELY avoid this whole 'what the hell happened with Yoongi' situation and, as your best friend, I've given you your emotional space to feel all the things and think about all the things and decide what you really truly think about said feelings. But enough is enough. Now, it's time to fess up."

"Psh." Ava sat up and started digging through her bag to pull out her small lipgloss and trace it over her lips. Then she replied haughtily, "There's nothing to tell."

"OH. I beg to DIFFER." Shae sat up as well, and the two best friends eyed each other.

Ava, puckering her glossed lips and giving a careless shrug.

Shae folding her arms tightly into her chest and giving a playful scowl.

Before Shae could pressure any half-truths out of Ava, the two young women heard a voice: "Uhhhhh."

No proper words.

No sentences to form.

Just a wide-eyed Vernon gaping like a deer in the headlights a few feet from where the girls now sat.

Ava flipper her auburn hair flirtatiously. "Oh, hey Vernon! What brings you here this time of day?"

The young man swallowed. "Uh, I was just tryna find Shae." His eyes didn't seem sure of themselves. "And now I have."

"And now you have," Ava echoed meaningfully, certainly enjoying this.

"Did you need anything, Vernon?" Shae's tone was polite, but secretly she thought to herself, This is what you get for following me around like I'm a helpless child. Sorry bout'cha, Vernon.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, do you plan to be here long?"

Ava shrugged. She tilted her black sunglasses down her nose a smidge and gave a wink. "You're welcome to join us if you'd like."

Vernon started tugging at the collar of his shirt. The sun is certainly hot today. He mumbled, "Do you need a drink or anything?"

Shae was about to say no when Ava interrupted her and said, oozing with feminine charm, "That would be deLIGHTful of you. Could you bring us some waters?"

Vernon gave an awkward almost-bow and then scurried away at lightning speed. His ears burned a little at the sound of feminine laughter somewhere behind him, but as he ran he thought to himself that it was worth it.

While Ava and Shae were giggling with the purest glee, Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung strolled out into the sand pits.

Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Jungkook was strolling while giving Taehyhung a piggyback ride, and Tae had propped his starlight-smiling face up onto the top of Jungkook's head. The two of them seemed like they were joking around about nothing in particular.

The sight of Ava and Shae made Tae let loose a shamelessly eager wave, and Jungkook bounded over to the ladies beneath him. At the edge of their unfurled towels, Tae slipped from Jungkook's back and smoothed out his gym shorts while Jungkook laughed down at the two young ladies with his hands on his hips.

Jungkook mused, "You're tryna give these young boys a heart attack, aren't you?"

Shae flushed in mild embarrassment.

Ava pulled down her sunglasses and gave a wink. "Someone's gotta do it. Why not us?"

Jungkook shook his head in brotherly disapproval, while Taehyung giggled with glee.

Then, Tae bounded to the edge of the arena and back again with a rather solid ball in his hands that he was bouncing up and down. Through his playful grin, he asked, "You ladies know how to play volleyball?"

Ava straightened just a little where she sat. "Know it? Boy, I am the QUEEN."

Shae muttered, "Ava, I feel like you could use that line in just about any situation."

"You're not wrong."

Shae and Ava exchanged subtle fist-bumps.

Tae's bright voice bounced along once more: "Well then... LET'S PLAY!"

Shae and Ava were all hype as they prepared to square off against Tae and Kookie using a sparring ball of some kind and a makeshift net, by the time Vernon trailed back onto the scene with a couple of water bottles in hand... and a few additional followers: Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok.

Yoongi's eyes didn't know how to compute what he was seeing. There was Ava. And there was more of Ava than he'd gotten to sample before in his earthly life. Out of sullen delight, and a pang of jealousy, Yoongi grumbled under his breath, "Holy hell."

For once, Hoseok didn't have any words at all. Simply eyes and thoughts that swam... and he didn't want to reign them in.

Vernon's voice gave a boyish crack, interrupting his two superiors in their thoughts, as he said, "The teams seem a little unevenly stacked. Don't you guys think so?"

Yoongi didn't hesitate. He peeled off his shirt and shoved it in the form of a tight fist into Hoseok's chest, catching his friend by surprise. Yoongi growled, his small eyes glinting, "I couldn't agree more, kid."

Then Min Yoongi ran out into the sand... to join Jungkook and Taehyung's team.

Vernon said apologetically, "That's not really what I meant."

Jung Hoseok felt a stir of masculine energy in his gut. Just as quickly, he peeled himself out of his shirt and let his and Yoongi's clothes fall into the sand. Hoseok gave Vernon's shoulder a paternal kind of pat before jogging away.

Hoseok sent a friendly smile and a wave as he jogged over to the side of the sand pits where Ava and Shae stood close together. The two girls were muttering what could have either been suggestive jokes or strategy talk, based on their tone of voice.

Ava let out a low, "Yeeeeeeees," at Hoseok's approach. She even exchanged a high five with him.

Hoseok sent a small, casual, "Hey," in Shae's direction.

"Hey," she said softly back.

Then Hoseok beamed mischievously between the two of them and said, "Don't worry. I'm better at volleyball than any of those other fools."

Ava sassed back, "Oh, good. That makes two of us."

Hoseok laughed.

Shae smiled shyly in the direction of his laugh.

And Ava thought to herself how her genius idea of tanning in broad daylight really couldn't have unfolded any more perfectly.

Meanwhile, Vernon was looking down at the water bottles in his hands. He sighed and muttered, "I guess this means I gotta be the ref. UGH. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME FOR CALLS, HYUNGS."

The sandy volleyball match quickly devolved into playful shouts of challenge and laughter.

Ava, Shae and Hoseok were so far behind in score that at one point the ball was driving straight for Shae herself. She let out a squeal as she squared up to recieve it. And then... she squealed even louder as Jung Hoseok scooped her up from behind and twisted her out of the path of the ball.

She fell back into his laughing, sunkissed chest as she smacked playfully at his skin.

"I had the shot! Why'd you do that!?" Shae was half laughter, half frustration.

Hoseok's arms lingered around her a moment longer as he said in his sunshine voice, "Because you just looked so good."

She flushed.

He flushed right back, his eyes unyielding up to hers.

Then his hands fell away from her, and the game fell into step again.

Ava's dark eyes sent her best friend a self-satisfied, knowing look as she let out an, "Uh HUH"--for she had been close enough to hear what Hoseok said.