The beach was slightly chillier than Jin had anticipated, which made Jungkook's sweatshirt a fitting choice. It wasn't that the weather was particularly cold, but the shoreline was rather windy, and Jin was regretting his decision to only wear a t-shirt.

"Aren't you cold?" Jin asked Aika, feeling his plans for a nice relaxing day at the beach slowly deflate.

Aika was wearing a modest bikini with a thin white cover up that didn't really hide altogether that much. If anything, she should be colder than him. "Not really."

Jin stopped walking to look over at her, his mouth hanging open. "What- how?"

"Girls are just always cold, Jin. To be fashionable, you have to be okay with being cold. Beauty is pain and all that."

"So you are cold," Jin summarized. "You're just in denial."

"Precisely."

"Great, just wanted to make sure we're on the same page."

They'd settled for walking along the beach. Jin, sensing that Jungkook didn't really want to spend time with them, let him walk off on his own while keeping an eye on him. Jin had always felt that there was something about the beach that was just freeing to the mind. Maybe it had to do with the constant white noise of waves crashing against the shore, or the calling of birds, or the way the sand got between your toes and rubbed against the soles of your feet, scraping away the outermost flaws and blemishes. Or maybe it just had to do with the realization that you were walking alongside something so powerful, so overwhelming, and yet you were dancing on grains of sand, unharmed.

Whatever it was, he hoped that Jungkook felt that today. It was why he'd chosen this place, after all. Maybe Jungkook could let go of whatever he was hanging on to and let it be swept out to sea. And maybe Jin could attempt the same.

"So," Aika said, following his gaze to watch Jungkook, who was moving slowly down the beach. His leg had healed up, but he still wasn't moving as quickly as before. Or maybe he just had no incentive to move faster. That was okay, Jin decided. It was okay to take things slow, just as long as he kept moving forward. "Yoongi seemed nice."

Jin snorted, eyes drifting over to the waves and getting caught up in their rhythm. "That's not exactly the first word that comes to mind."

Her smile grew wider as her gaze dropped to the grains of sand being carried across their feet by the wind. "He respects you a lot. It's cute."

Jin shook his head, flabbergasted. "He disrespects me a lot, you mean. I think he thinks he's the older brother. He's plotting on usurping the sibling hierarchy, mark my words."

"Nah, I meant what I said." Aika once more followed Jin's gaze, taking in the ocean waves and their short lives. They formed from raw ocean into individual waves, rolled toward the shore, and broke apart into sea foam. An existence, created and dismantled so quickly. "It's how he looks at you."

"How does he look at me?" Jin asked with a raised eyebrow, only now realizing that they'd stopped walking. He started again, tugging Aika long with him.

"Like he trusts you," Aika said, matching his footsteps. "More than anyone in the world. Like if you can't fix it, no one can."

Jin's eyes found Jungkook, a little smaller now, a little farther away now. "I don't know if I can fix him," he whispered, his words almost lost by the ocean noise.

"Maybe not by yourself," Aika said with a small shrug. "But you have Yoongi and your other brother-"

"Hoseok," Jin filled in.

"Hoseok, and you've got your dad and his special lady friend too." She paused, her feet coming to a stop as she turned to face him, a mischievous smile on her face. "Speaking of, 'Jin's special lady friend with no specific title'? Is that what I am now?"

Jin grinned somewhat nervously, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck as he looked down, digging his foot into the sand. "Well...I'm not really sure what we are anymore." He looked up at Aika. "What...what do you want to be?" he asked, holding in his breath because it had taken a lot of guts to ask the question, and he was afraid of the response.

Aika's smile was slow and warm. "I want to be with you," she said simply, swinging her hands by her sides. Maybe she was a little bit nervous too.

Jin just chuckled, taking her hands and letting her pull them back and forth. "I used to do that when I was a kid," Jin recalled fondly. "Swinging my legs back and forth, I mean. The teacher would always kick me out of class for doing it."

"Rude," Aika said, laughing with Jin even as their arms kept up their swinging motion.

"I don't know why I did it," Jin said with a small smile. It wasn't entirely true; he had some idea of why he'd done it, but it wasn't an idea that he could really put into words. He knew he'd feel silly trying. Why had he ever thought he could make time pass faster simply by swinging his legs? It was utterly nonsensical.

"I don't know," Aika said even though there hadn't really been a question. "It just feels like...you're in rhythm with something, with life I guess. It's hard to sit still when the world is constantly moving, you know? It just feels like when we're moving, we're part of it, somehow. Just a little cog in a big clock. I like that feeling."

Jin's lips parted slightly because how was Aika able to make it sound so simple and so lovely and so poetic? Not necessarily identical to his younger self's perception on it, but similar nonetheless. "I- I like that," he said after a moment, looking down at their entwined fingers.

"Aika..." It felt silly and stupid to do this here and now, like some bad Hallmark movie, but...it just felt right. "Aika, I really want...I really want to be with you. For a long time. For...forever. Do you...do you want that? With me?"

She looked up at him, their arms slowly moving in smaller and smaller pendulums before stopping in the empty space between them. "Jin?" Her eyes darted between his, searching for something. "Is that a proposal? Because it sounded like a proposal."

"It sounds like a proposal...but?" Jin filled in, sensing the final unspoken word and trying to push away the immediate feeling of rejection. "But what?"

"Well I mean, I've never been proposed to, and I know Japanese customs are different than Korean ones and a lot of people still stick to old traditions instead of more modern Western ones, but usually the guy goes down on one knee and there's a ring, right?"

"Ah..." Jin looked down at his bare feet, one of which had been entirely covered by sand. "Well, it's kind of sandy, you know." He paused, looking up at Aika. "I mean, do you want the one knee thing? Cause I can do it if you want it. It just seems kind of silly to do it retroactively and now I'm rambling..."

"Okay, let's slash the one knee thing," Aika agreed with a laugh. "And the other thing?"

"The other thing...oh, the ring, yes, well, the ring is in the car," Jin said before throwing his head back in exasperation. He should have known spontaneously proposing would be a big mistake. "I've literally had it with me every waking second of the day for the past I don't know how many months but the one time I decide to leave it in the car-" He shook his head, looking back down at their hands. "I was worried I'd drop it in the sand or in the water and would lose it, so I left it in the glove compartment."

"Exactly how long have you been walking around with a ring?"

"I can't remember exactly, since the day after we had breakfast at your place and we drank orange juice from teacups. Since then, I think. And I swear, it's been in my pocket the whole time, I just left it in the glove box today and that was obviously a rookie mistake but I can't help the fact that my own brain betrayed me-"

Okay," Aika said with a small snort, and he looked up.

"Are you upset that I left it there?" Jin asked, biting his lip. "Because I'm sorry, I really should have planned this out ahead of time but it just felt like-"

"No, I mean 'okay' to your original question," Aika said, rolling her eyes as she smiled widely. "To forever and then some, with you."

"Oh..." Jin froze up for a minute, having somehow forgotten amidst all his explanations that he'd proposed and hadn't yet gotten an answer. "You...want to marry me? Really?"

"Hey buddy," Aika said, removing one of her hands from his and poking him in the chest. "You wanted to marry me. All I did was agree. Let's get the facts straight here, shall we?"

Her laughter spiraled into his, and then his hands were on his waist as he pulled her closer to him, one of his hands slipping up to hold her face as they kissed. Despite the wind scraping at them and the water crashing nearby spraying a fine mist against their skin, he felt warm.

They broke apart a moment later, grinning at each other like the ridiculous fools that they were, and with no ring having been exchanged, there was no proof to anyone else on the beach that the proposal had just happened. Only two people in the entire world knew. A secret just between them and the ever-listening ocean.

"Jin, are you crying?" Aika asked, smile slipping as she stepped closer to inspect his face.

"Sorry," Jin mumbled, ducking his head down and to the left. "It just...for so many years, it felt like nobody got me. Like nobody understood. But you..." It just feels like when we're moving, we're part of it, somehow. Just a little cog in a big clock. "You get me. And I..."

"Hey, hey," Aika murmured, grabbing his hands and pulling him flush up against her so he had no choice but to meet her eyes. "It was lonely, right?"

He nodded, setting his head down on her shoulder so he could deposit his tears there instead.

Her arms slipped out of his hands and went to his back, holding him against her, keeping him standing tall in his moment of weakness.

"I've got you," she whispered, and Jin hugged her close until the tears had subsided.

--

They walked along the beach a little farther, following an old set of footprints made by some other couple. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Jin realized he couldn't see Jungkook anymore.

"Do you see him?" Jin asked, craning his neck and placing a hand over his eyes to block out the sun. He scanned the beach along the direction Jungkook had been walking. "He was there just a minute ago, only I don't see him anymore."

"I don't either," Aika said, a hint of worry entering her voice, and he didn't have to even ask as the two of them went jogging toward the last place they'd seen Jungkook.

"Jungkook!" Jin called out. There weren't very many other people on the beach today given the strong winds, but he asked everyone they came across. Most of them remembered seeing someone with Jungkook's description heading down that way.

Jin had just stopped another person to ask when Aika grabbed his arm. "There," she said, pointing toward the ocean, and Jin followed her finger, searching between the waves until he saw a small dark blob being tossed about by the waves. "I think that's him."

Jin squinted, trying to discern whether or not that small blurry blob was his brother, but the clock was ticking. "Stay here," he said, grasping her arms tightly and meeting her eyes before jogging off to where the water met the sand. He threw off his shirt, tossing it in Aika's direction so it hopefully wouldn't get wet. He left his shorts on and began wading into the water, and as he got a little closer, he could make out a few more details of the figure, enough to determine that it was indeed Jungkook.

Without hesitating, he dove in further, pushing past the incoming waves until he was a good fifteen or twenty yards out from shore, about halfway to the figure.

"Jungkook!" he yelled, but he got no response. He kicked further, asking his body to work even harder because he couldn't lose another brother. Not now, not like this, not Jungkook. Although it was probably only a minute at most, it felt like hours before he reached Jungkook, his younger brother pale and shivering, barely staying afloat. Jin wasn't even sure if he was conscious.

He knew there was probably some special method of retrieving swimmers, some special handhold or stroke he was supposed to use, but he didn't have any lifeguard training or safety experience. Instead, he opted to just wrap one arm around Jungkook's upper torso, anchoring himself right below Jungkook's arms, and began pushing back toward shore with his free hand. It was doubly troublesome because he was now swimming with only half the power and double the weight, plus he had to make sure Jungkook's head didn't end up submerged. Then there was the matter that Jungkook was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, both of which were entirely waterlogged and only served to weigh him down further.

Still, Jin pushed on, trying to put all the strength he could into his legs to propel them forward and keeping as tight of a grip as he could on Jungkook. Meter by meter, they inched closer to shore.

Finally, finally, Jin felt land coming up to meet his feet, and he gave up on swimming, instead wading forward out of the water, one arm still locked around Jungkook in a vicelike grip.

A few people had gathered on shore to watch the transaction; meanwhile, Aika ran down to meet him, helping pull Jungkook out of the water and getting him flat on his back.

"Is he breathing?" someone asked, one of the strangers.

Jin ignored them, instead putting his head to Jungkook's chest. A heartbeat. Faint, but there.

"I can do mouth to mouth," Aika said firmly, giving Jin a slight nudge as though intuitively knowing that he had no idea what the proper procedure was.

Jin got out of the way, adrenaline slowly exiting his system as he watched Aika check for pulse before turning Jungkook's head slightly, letting any excess water drip out before she realigned his head with his neck. Then she pinched his nose and breathed several times into Jungkook before putting her ear near his mouth, listening for breaths, and checking for a pulse again. She repeated the process four times before Jungkook began spluttering, coughing up seawater, and she moved back to give him space as he started sucking in breaths.

Someone started clapping like she'd done a magic trick, and Jin did his best not to snap at everyone and yell at them to go away.

"Bet you're glad..." Aika began, leaning into Jin's side as she shivered. She'd gotten soaked helping Jungkook out of the water, and she was wearing less than Jin after all. "...that you proposed to me earlier."

Jin just pulled her against him, hugging her tightly because he didn't have words sufficient for his gratitude and he was terrified at how close he'd come to another funeral.

--

"It was my fault," Jin said right off the bat, unable to meet Yoongi's eyes. Aika, who had a change of clothes in the car, had run into a nearby supermarket to buy some extra clothes and blankets to keep Jungkook warm as they'd driven him back to Yoongi's apartment. Jin had asked Aika to wait in the car while he carried Jungkook into the elevator, as he had fallen into a deep sleep, and deposited him into his room before explaining to Yoongi what had happened.

"I was watching him, and then I got...distracted...and when I looked back, he was gone. I'm sorry, Yoongi. It's my fault," Jin said, his eyes heating up with tears. If it were anyone but Yoongi, he would have hidden them or wiped them away.

"It's not your fault," Yoongi said patiently, far calmer than Jin had expected. "Jungkook is an adult, Jin. He knows how to swim. He should have known not to go that far out by himself."

"If Aika hadn't been there..."

"But she was," Yoongi said, leaning against the kitchen island. "She was there, and Jungkook is alive. Everything is okay, Jin."

"But it almost wasn't okay, Yoongi, can't you see that-"

"Jin," Yoongi cut in sharply, clearly not about to support Jin's need to seize culpability for things outside his control. "You did your best, and it was enough. That's the whole story. This isn't your fault so stop acting like it is. Jungkook was probably just swimming and got caught in a riptide or something, and that's his fault for going so far off."

Jin shook his head, eyes bright and teary. "Yoongi, there wasn't...there wasn't a riptide. I swam out there to get him, and I didn't feel any sort of tide dragging me out to sea."

The two stared at each other, neither one of them wanting to pose the question.

Eventually, Yoongi just sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It was an accident," he declared firmly. "And he's okay. He just needs to get some rest and to stay warm. You said you already changed him into dry clothes, so I'll let him sleep under some extra blankets, and I'll make him take a hot shower once he wakes up. And then I'll try and have a chat with him." He met Jin's eyes with his strong gaze. "Jin, he's going to be okay."

Jin, he's going to be okay.

Maybe if he heard it enough, he'd believe it.

"Okay," Jin murmured, still feeling doubt creeping along inside his chest, but arguing wouldn't do anything. "I'm sorry, Yoongi. So sorry-"

"Not your fault," Yoongi repeated sharply as though he were annoyed at having to say it (again).

"But- I wanted to give you a day off," Jin mumbled, looking down. "I've just created more problems for you."

Yoongi sighed but didn't deny it, and Jin appreciated that Yoongi could be honest with him. "I'm just glad he's okay. And I did have a nice day, two people thought I was blind and tried to help me cross the street when I was out with Microwave. So, net positive."

Jin sighed but let a weary smile grace his face, trying to show Yoongi in some small way that he appreciated his brother's attempts to support him. "Just, keep me updated on how he's doing..."

"I will," Yoongi said even though both Jin and Yoongi knew that Yoongi rarely looked at his phone throughout the day. "Now," Yoongi said firmly, starting to push Jin toward the door. "Go hang out with your girlfriend."

Technically, Aika had been upgraded from 'special lady friend' straight to 'fiancé', and the title of girlfriend had been surpassed in his haste. "She's not-"

"Shoo," Yoongi said, raising an eyebrow like he was one step away from grabbing a flyswatter.

Jin hesitated by the door, palm resting against the doorframe. "Thanks, Yoongi," he said quietly, a simple thank you to cover a lot of things, and Yoongi just nodded before pointing to the door, and Jin laughed before slipping out of his apartment.

--

published 09/24/22 (mm/dd/yy)

3330 words

a/n: hey guys! just wanted to shout out that i recently released a new book called "terminal velocity" which you can find on my profile. it mostly follows the storyline of the 2022 tv series "terminal list", only it features voltron legendary defender characters (with lance as the main protagonist). i've been working on this since early july and am really excited to finally release it!

i've actually already written the entire book, so i'm just re-reading/editing the chapters and releasing one every few days. there are 12 chapters total, and 3 are already out. i hope some of you will take the chance to read it and let me know what you think! i was going to say that it's a bit darker than this book but this book already got kinda dark kinda fast so...

enjoy :)