Amalia's POV
We all got changed pretty quickly after breakfast, with Yuna putting on a cute peach-coloured crop top along with some distressed denim shorts, and Riley slipping into a flowery yellow play-suit and sandals. Although I admired how great they both looked, I decided to keep it simple, picking out a white band t-shirt which I tucked into the waistband of some light denim shorts, finished off with a pair of black converse; keeping me modest, but showing enough skin to help me stay cool. The sun was so bright that it was barely dimmed by the curtains, so I grabbed a black baseball cap to shield my face before filling a backpack with essentials for the day, including the book I'd been wanting to start before we left for L.A. and never got the chance to.
Before we left, Rose told us to grab the deck chairs from the garage which I volunteered to do, although I'm sure my slight panic somewhat confused my family. Taemin may have promised to be out by morning but I couldn't help worrying, especially because of how desperate he seemed to stay out of the paparazzi's eye. Still, to my relief, the moment the door opened I saw he and his brother's car were both long gone.
Once everything was packed up and ready to go, the three of us got into the car with my mom and Tao, with the younger of us squeezing into the back seats. I rolled my window down before we set off; the air was warm, but I enjoyed the feeling of it sweeping over my skin as we travelled down the roads towards Venice Beach.
Despite some traffic, it wasn't too long before we were pulling into one of the few free spaces left in the parking lot. Since the weather was so pleasant, many people were out and about making the most of the day, so we were lucky there was any room left. The beach itself was full of kids running around and having fun, building sandcastles and flying kites, and I could tell Tao was just itching to get out and join them. It was pretty cute.
Because of this, I wasn't surprised when Tao clambered over my lap to get out of the car before I'd even had a chance to undo my seatbelt. Mom tried calling out after him but he ignored her, sprinting across the sand in the direction of a group of kids that seemed to be building a sand town, rather than just a castle. He'd always been skilled at making friends, so it was no surprise they instantly got along.
Rolling her eyes at my little brother, our mom grabbed the deck chairs from the trunk and, along with Yuna, found a spot to set up nearby where they could watch over him. I followed behind them with Riley, who seemed pretty torn about how she wanted to spend her time, placing her bag on one of the chairs before glancing out at the ocean. Like me, she had put a bikini on underneath her outfit on the off chance she felt like going swimming.
After a few moments, she grabbed my hand and tugged. "Come on, let's cool down in the ocean."
"I..." I drifted off, trying to think of an excuse as I didn't particularly feel like getting wet at that moment. "I'll join you soon, okay? I just wanna chill and read for a bit." My eyes glanced down, and I couldn't help feeling a little bad as I wiggled my hand out of her grip.
"Okay..." A slight frown took over her face, but it was quickly replaced with her usual smile. "Just don't take too long!"
With that, Riley slid out of her playsuit to reveal a flowery white bikini, folding it up into her bag before kicking off her shoes and turning to jog down the beach towards the clear blue water. I took a deep breath and looked around, taking a moment to admire the scenery; I was close to dropping my bag and taking a seat beside my sister when I spotted someone who, even from a distance, looked familiar, and an empty seat next to them.
My curiosity got the better of me and pushed me in that direction, leading me a little further up the beach, the soft sand moulding around my sneakers with each slow step.
"Hey, do you mind if I sit here?" I asked, a smile pulling at my lips.
The person, who was wrapped up in a dark hoodie with a baseball cap and sunglasses covering their face, simply nodded in response. I could only imagine how much they were overheating, especially since I wasn't even wearing a jacket and felt incredibly warm. My gaze stayed glued to them as I lowered myself into the chair and tucked my backpack in beside me, leaning back with a sigh.
"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" They continued not saying a word, only shuffling in their seat and crossing their arms across their chest. "Aren't you a little hot in that?" My attempts at conversation didn't seem to be getting much more than an occasional glance, but I wasn't going to give up so easily. Acting as casually as possible, I slid my right leg over my left and shrugged, trying my best to keep a straight face as I said, "Huh... guess you wanna end up in the hospital again."
Finally, the person reacted, pulling their sunglasses down slightly to be able to look at me with a small smile. "How'd you know it was me?"
"You're wearing the same clothes." Although Tae's disguise appeared to have worked for him thus far, it didn't fool me, though maybe that's just because I'd spent several hours with him last night trying to hide his identity in the exact same way. He seemed genuinely surprised by that, however, glancing down at his outfit and then back up at me. Sensing an opportunity to be cheeky, I stopped him before he could comment by inhaling and grimacing. "It wasn't hard to tell."
It became difficult to hold back a chuckle as I watched him raise an arm and sniff several times, struggling to see what I meant.
"I don't smell that bad. You make it sound like you could smell me from across the beach." I was fully prepared to make yet another snide remark, but this time he stopped me. "Don't— And for the record, you were the one in the hospital."
"Yeah, because someone put me there."
There was a short pause before his shoulders raised and fell in a shrug. "...fair point."
"So..." I pulled my hat down to shield my eyes and leaned back slightly to get comfortable. "Why haven't you gone home? You planning to run away and start a new life... maybe join the circus?"
"Funny," Tae scoffed, smiling a little before skimming a hand through his hair. "I tried... but I couldn't."
The urge to continue the joke was overwhelming, and I couldn't resist. "Right, I doubt they'd let just anyone in." I giggled, but once I saw the look on Tae's face, I quickly regained composure and said, "Sorry... what happened?"
"There was... it's—" It genuinely seemed like he wanted to tell me, though something caused him not to. "Forget it. You wouldn't understand."
"Why? I'm so plain and ordinary that I couldn't possibly understand what it's like to be the legendary Taemin Seong?"
He rolled his eyes, the corner of his lips twitching up into somewhat of a smirk, but I could sense his worry over the possibility of people overhearing and that alone was enough to make me consider what I said. Even though I may not have been Tae's biggest fan or a fan at all, I didn't want to cause him any kind of trouble; I wasn't that cruel.
"Alright, if you wanna know so bad." I found myself instinctively leaning closer as he turned onto his side to face me, wanting to keep the conversation quiet. "There were paparazzi vans parked on my lawn and all down the street. I couldn't even count how many were there." His voice was close to a whisper, and yet it would've been clear to anyone how frustrated he was. "I could barely even get near the front door."
My mouth opened but for a second, no words came out. "Wow... sounds like a nightmare." He nodded, eyes locked with mine, his gaze never wavering. Somehow, the distance between us had closed even more and once I noticed, I cleared my throat and shuffled back. "Couldn't you just sneak in the back?"
Although my response was somewhat genuine, Tae didn't seem amused. "It's not that simple. Just... don't worry about it." I rolled my lips together, feeling some impulse to apologise yet being unable to. "I just need to wait it out till it's safe to head back."
"When do you think that'll be?" He shrugged. "How long has it been?"
"I don't know... around five hours."
The way he spoke was so nonchalant, as if that was just day-to-day life for him, which I suppose it was. "You can go back now though, right? Surely they can't stay there forever."
"...you'd be surprised," he mumbled, just loud enough for me to hear. I may have known Taemin for barely a day, but as much as he loved his career and all it had given him, it sure seemed to bring up a lot of negative emotions. "Will you come with me?"
I quirked an eyebrow, unable to stop myself from laughing at the tone of his voice. "You sound like a child."
"I'm serious." The look on his face confirmed that. "I'm pretty sure a hooded man trying to cover his face would seem less suspicious with a sweet-looking girl by his side."
I felt a lump grow in my throat and quickly swallowed, unsure if I'd heard him say such a simple sentence correctly. I could only hope he didn't notice my cheeks flush. "That's debatable. But I'm here with my family, Tae. I can't just disappear again."
"I'll make sure you get back before anyone gets suspicious." His smile made a reappearance, though this one was different; I'd seen it a few times before, and it gave me an odd feeling in my stomach. "I swear."
I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as I glanced down the beach in the direction of my family. "Fine, alright. Just— stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"That!" I exclaimed, emphasising my point by raising my hand and waving it in front of his face. "That smile."
Despite turning away before he could respond, I just about managed to catch a glimpse of his smile growing into a grin and the chuckle that followed. Even more so than earlier, I could feel my face heating up and knew my cheeks were bright red; I tried desperately to hide it, but I had a feeling he knew.
"Whatever you say."