머문다(Never Setting Sun)
Title: 머문다 (Never Setting Sun)
Author: mcts051129
Parings: Haehyuk, Kyuhyuk, Ubomb
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff
They had been on the bus for five hours when the roads started to grow bumpier. The first wave of tide appears in the corner of their glimpse, and there, a notice board flashes across their eyes.
Mokpo: 20 miles.
It was after half an hour later did the driver decided to finally stop the bus, parking the vehicle in an appropriate place to let the passages down. The sea breezes are strong, salt lingering in the air and moisture filling Hyukjae’s lung once he gets off the bus.
“I think I can smell the ocean here.” Junsu exclaims as he inhales deeply.
“Of course you do, it’s just right before us. Blind bat.” Kyuhyun, for the first time of the day, switches off his PSP and slips it into his bag, helps Hyukjae with his luggage while a raven whiney boy presses his hair with one hand, the free one scrambling through his possessions in attempt to find a cap.
“No one really cares about your hair, Minhyuk.” The said boy snorts, kicking Junsu right on his knee and fits the cap on his messy hair.
“Right…” Hyukjae laughs, taking his bag from Kyuhyun as the boys walk off the sidewalk and stand before the beach.
“Sounds like a promising vacation.” One of them says shakily.
The area is packed with low rising hotels and condos, yet they aren’t the place the boys are searching for. The first few streets that they came across are relatively more city-like, with crowds entering and coming out from little shops and tourists dragging heavy bags into hotels; but after a few more minutes of walking, the noise dies down, crowd more disperse, building scarcely dotted around the roads.
It was just a complete mistake to let Junsu lead the road, and after for god knows how many times of getting lost and Minhyuk still complaining about his hair, they manage to make their way to a house they rented beforehand.
3000 square feet in total, a white little house settled next to the beach. The rent is reasonable, and the owner, Mrs. Lee, seems nice.
“Hello kids, I’ve been waiting for you all quite a time.” With heavy accent, the woman comes into sight as soon as they four steps up the stairs. With a pleasant face and an easy smile, she hands in two sets of key to Kyuhyun, who apologizes for the delay of their promised arrival, not forgetting to shoot a glare to Junsu’s direction.
“I try to see if I could take you for a tour around the area later on.” The owner offers nicely, at least making Hyukjae a bit more secure staying in a foreign place and nods, bidding farewell to the middle-aged lady and watches her walk away.
His friends grunt, fiddling with the key and throw the bags into the empty house as the boy stands outside studying the house. An old-fashioned rocking chair is placed in a nice shadowy place on the front porch, white fences surrounding the porch, the wooden siding bleached gray from sun and salt.
Hyukjae is staring at the rusty nail on the wooden plank when a soft mewl draws his attention. Raising his head, he comes in contact with a set of large black eyes flickering before him, whiskers tickling his cheeks.
“Hey there kitty.” Whispering lightly, the boy draws out his hand tentatively, afraid that the cat would leap on him and scratch him any second. But the animal seemed tamed, mewling contentedly when Hyukjae rubs the fur behind the left ear.
It was quite a comfortable companion, given that it’s around seven, the sun is setting, sky getting less blinder, the air getting less hot. The kitten turns, finding a spot and settles itself in a sitting pose and stares out, in which Hyukjae steps down the stairs and sit next to it, following it’s gaze.
There a little way far from the beach, a group of teenage boys running out the water, bodies drenched and ready to pack and leave. A boy shouts, and there he sees, another boy he didn’t quite notice before emerging behind a high tide, the orange beams of sunset seems to make his brown hair and tan skin glow.
He was caught mesmerized, eyes following the glowing boy, watching him getting off the surfboard and punches a boy that smiles like a cat-Hyukjae looks down, just to find the kitty companion already gone.
“Hyukjae if you’re not getting in within 5 seconds you’re sleeping on the floor for the rest of the vacation!”
By then the red headed boy scrambles up his feet and dashes into the room. They play a few rounds of rock paper scissors to decide who’s sleeping where. Hyukjae didn’t end up sleeping on the floor, but sharing a bed with Junsu and he doesn’t know which is worse. Kyuhyun and Minhyuk will be using a room each for their own.
After the decision was made and arguments were subdued, Hyukjae walks closer to the window, peeking out through the blinds towards where he has seen the boy earlier, just to find him and his friend gone.
**
He was woken up by the unbearable heat of the room. Squinting his eyes, he could feel a string of sunlight casting long shadows over his face. The room is dark, the house is silent. Instinctively his gaze is drawn to the window, greeted by a light blue curtain that doesn’t quite exist in his room, but he smiles remembering it’s vacation. Definitely away from home.
Obviously none of his friends is awake at this moment of time and the boy checks his phone, it reads a quarter pass 8 in the morning.
Stretching lazily, Hyukjae pulls the blind of each and every window, deciding it is best to use a more quiet and subtle way to wake the lazy asses up and heads to the front porch.
“Meow.”
A faint call, but Hyukjae is very sure he heard it right. It repeats, and the boy follows the voice, sees the same cat on the chair yesterday. A light smile curves up his lips when he picks the kitten to his lap and sits down, rocking to and fro gently while playing with the ears of the cat. It mewls again softly.
“She seems to like you.” Hyukjae jolts up a bit, the cat sits straight, followed by the boy. Looking up, he sees the boy from the beach yesterday, tan skin, brown eyes, soft smile. Everything blended under the sun perfectly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” The boy chuckles, walking closer and leans forward elbows propping up the fence of the porch.
Hyukjae shakes his head, looking down at the kitten curiously and cuddles it in his arms, standing up to approach the brunette.
“Is this cat yours?” Hyukjae asks, seeing the boy shrugs and sighs lightly, long fingers touching the tip of the cat’s nose.
“It’s my friend’s. But it likes following me everywhere. They say I look like a fish, that’s why the cat follows me.” There is a stiff moment of awkwardness, before Hyukjae breaks into laughter. Now that he has mentioned, the tan boy does looks like a fish, the way he laughed yesterday with head thrown back gasping for air…
“I’m Donghae by the way.” The speaker extends his hands, offering a handshake and Hyukjae tries hard to balance the kitty on one arm. “Hyukjae. From Seoul.” They smile.
“I know.” Hyukjar raises a high brow, letting the cat jump off his cuddle onto the fence and trots playfully on it. “My mom’s the owner of this house. She told me to give you some of these before I go to work-” Donghae flings off his bag and digs into it, taking out a pile of papers and brochures, “Some maps and bus timetable. Stuffs to do, eat, play... she’s written some side notes on the map. And she apologized for not being able to tour you around since she’s quite busy this week.”
“It’s okay.” Hyukjae takes the pile of information from Donghae, thumb slightly brushing each other’s and he quickly looks down, fumbling through the maps and leaflets. “It’s already very nice of her to offer us this…nice, cozy little house. Your mom’s really kind.”
“She does it for everyone who rents the house.” Donghae mutters, zipping up his bag and throws it around his shoulder. Hyukjae watches him, a part of him wondering how many times Donghae showed up before the house, giving maps and brochures to visitors with that dazzling smile of his; and how many more encounters he would have after his vacation is over.
His face falls, flipping through the leaflet absentmindedly when Donghae clears his throat.
“I don’t usually tell the visitors but, I work at the library in the community center. You can go there if you want.”
Hyukjae looks skeptical.
“I mean, there’s air-con and empty seats and Wifi-” Donghae seems having a hard time rubbing his nape and the boy giggles.
“I’ll see if I have time.” As if his reply has eased Donghae, the boy scans up slowly, corner of his thin lips tugging up into a smug smile as he nods, raising a thumb up and quickly squirrels back to his bicycle before taking off down the street.
Free air-con and internet access. Hyukjae mentally adds another spot in the ‘to visit’ list right on the map.
**
Adventure aside, for three straight days, they went to the beach. Junsu seemed particularly fond on fishing, even if his hooks were always caught between rocks and carol. They spent sunsets playing mud war, Minhyuk ended up being the only victim every time and almost had the drainage of the tub clogged since he was just a complete mud man. For three straight nights they eat nothing else but ramen since that’s the only thing they brought along with them and watched TV.
In times when they grew bored, they went out during midnight, Kyuhyun turning in some sort of adventurer roaming across a dead city shooting off zombies.
He is just delusional.
For the fourth day, Junsu wakes up complaining his muscle fatigue, groaning in the process as he kicks Hyukjae off the bed. The fallen one shoots up, hitting his friend hard with a pillow and drags him off the bed.
The TV is playing continuous episodes of Powerpuff Girls, and that’s the only channel that they find amusing enough.
“I’m bored!” Junsu flails, Kyuhyun looking up from his PSP for a second before returning to his game. Hyukjae grunts, he swears he’s still having a grudge on this boy who kicked him out of bed this morning.
“You can go fishing if you want.” Munching on a pack of chips, Minhyuk mutters out of midst, taking the remote control and changes channel; the latter blinks, clasping his hand and rushes into his room to take out his sun screen and hat before yelling.
“Let’s go!”
No one moves.
“Who’s coming!”
Still no one moves.
“Fine I’ll go by myself!” The boy groans, slipping into his slippers and goes to the shore himself. Even if Junsu knows swimming, Hyukjae couldn’t help but to feel a bit worried about him. The waves are rough near the other side of the beach, Junsu might fall if he’s clumsy enough, in addition to the muscle fatigue he has today.
Sighing, Hyukjae enters his shared room and gets changed, but is stopped when he’s about to get out.
“You’re tired. I’ll go.” As if he could read mind, Kyuhyun disconnect his game console from the charger and leaves the house, catching up with Junsu who even has a trouble walking fast on the rough sand.
Kyuhyun has always been the most understanding one within the group and Hyukjae is beyond glad that he has brought someone who got brains along during the trip. They might have ended up blowing the house in the first night if he hadn’t. Who knows.
The TV only catches a few channels from Seoul and they’re all about fashion and politics and golf…Hyukjae ended up slouching down on the coach next to Minhyuk, eating chips from the same bag as they watch a talk show.
The host stomps on the stage, the audience laughing ecstatically while the speaker continues. Totally a Mokpo version of Strong Heart in which none of them understand what they are talking about with those heavy accents.
“I’m going to kill myself if I watch another episode of this.” The other mutters lowly enough for Hyukjae to catch his voice.
And then he suddenly remembered Donghae. Reminding himself of the short meeting they had few days ago, he offers going to the library in the community center. Minhyuk snorts, scrunching up his nose in disgust and slumps deeper, then I’d rather watch another episode of this, munching on the last piece of chip in the bag,
“It’s not that bad.” His friend quirks up his brow giving an intrigued look at Hyukjae, and the latter bites his inner lips. “There’s free air-con, internet access…”
It was when he heard the word ‘internet’ did Minhyuk bounces up happily, eyes flickering with great interest and even takes Hyukjae’s hand.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
With the constant hushing of the raven boy, the half-an-hour journey turns into a 10-minute running. Hyukjae was pretty sure there’s a bus to the community center but Minhyuk practically pulled him out of the house before he could get his map. It didn’t take long for them to search for the exact location since the board sign couldn’t be any bigger, pointing at the entrance of it and Hyukjae wonders what’s the reason of making the sign so big when there’s only one large architecture around.
The library is not too big, fairly spacious enough to hide a collection of books and magazines for a small local community. Rows and rows of books are lined up neatly in the room, while computers are placed behind the information desk. There are less people than Hyukjae has expected, perhaps it’s a Wednesday and people are either going back to school or having work.
Right. Work.
Hyukjae steps in carefully, smiling when he notices the floor is carpeted that could block out any unnecessary noise of footsteps, for example, Minhyuk running towards the information desk to check on the access of computers before dashing to one of the counters. He is so sure the first thing the raven boy would do is check his twitter.
He follows behind more slowly, walking through the stacks of bookshelves. Dragging his fingers along the spine of the books, his eyes aren’t really quite studying the titles, but peeking through gaps and shelves to spy on something else.
A cart came rolling before him and he quickly turns around, taking a book and flips to a random page, pretending to read.
“Oh.” a voice exclaimed from immediately beside him. Hyukjae jumps a bit in surprise, knocking his head on the shelf next to him when he leans slightly towards it while reading the book. Slightly muttering a curse, he holds his head, watching the person who just shocked him pick up the book for him and before he knows, it’s all brown eyes and tan skin, Donghae standing there, mouth pulling into a thin line trying hard to hold back his laughter.
“Are you okay?” he asks, and Hyukjae is sure he’s fighting back not to laugh so hard at his agony.
“I’m fine,” he pouts, smoothing back his red bangs and takes back the book, randomly putting it in a space on the upper shelf. Donghae chuckles, holds the other’s wrist to halt him just in time.
“Wrong place.” He smiles, taking the book from Hyukjae and slips it back to the original place. “You’re here alone?” Donghae asks, reaching around Hyukjae to return a book from the cart. The boy stutters a bit at the sudden motion, eyes wandering to the end of the counter.
“Minhyuk dragged me here.”
“Minhyuk…your friend?” Donghae follows the boy’s fingers and throws a gaze at the row of computer, a raven boy busily scrolling down the tons of mentions in twitter. “He’s a pretty boy I must say. An ulzzang?”
“Yep.” Hyukjae’s lips curl into a grin, the other finds himself smiling back, “He’s quite the Prince Charming at school.” Donghae’s lips pull into a grim line, a vague V between his brows and Hyukjae’s quite sure he’s frowning. “It’s just he still hasn’t found his Snow White yet.” The frown loosens, and they laugh lightly when Minhyuk takes a selca not-so-discreetly in the corner.
The boy wanders around the library while waiting for his friend to finish his self obsession on net. Tapping on the counter impatiently, Hyukjae walks off to the other side of the room when Donghae pulls him back behind the shelves by his wrist, him almost falling onto the ground.
“Sorry.” If it wasn’t Donghae covering his mouth he could have yelled out right at the spot. The boy looks at him apologetically, looking around quickly and whispers lowly. Hyukjae finds the cart already empty. “Don’t want to let others see me slacking off.”
The boy chuckles with a sly grin.
“Slacking off scaring people?”
“Ha! You’re funny Hyukjae,” He pauses for a while tapping his chin, as if pondering something, “My mom wanted to invite you guys over for dinner tomorrow. Um, so…”
“Your mom.” His words came out unamused. Hyukjae is feeling grateful, really, to think about a night without ramen and more ramen, it sounds nice. But the feeling that Donghae’s putting his mom ahead of everything he says-wait- Hyukjae shakes, regretting the words almost as soon as he notices how he sounds much like a little bitch. They’d only had two short conversations so far and he did not need to be acting so flirty before Donghae.
The latter’s eyes flicks up to his face though, fixing his gaze on him to take the blushing boy in completely. The grin on his lips grows a little wider.
“I wouldn’t have told you it if I didn’t want you to come, would I?”
**
“This is…wow.” There is a sharp gasp, the scene too breathtaking that even Kyuhyun had to put down his game and stare at the venue. The boys stand at the edge for a minute taking in the crowd-it was as if half a town appeared tonight.
Hyukjae squeezes himself through the people, not knowing what exactly he has to do in such a time. They were just 4 and know no one except Mr Lee and Donghae (and he was the only one that had really talked to him). They stayed there awkwardly, Junsu scanning around like a cautious cat and Minhyuk found a great place to sit, staring at something more interesting, for example, the swimming pool.
They are in the midst of confusion when a group of boys around their age crashed the place, “So you did come,” someone says from behind them. They turn around to find Donghae holding his phone, white screen flashing blindly before Hyukjae’s eyes.
“Was about to call you.” A smug grin, Hyukjae lifting up his brows in a doubtful look but he finds himself laughing. The boy is surely amusing.
“You have my phone number?” he asks, playfulness etched deeply in his tone.
“No, but I’m pretty sure I’ll have it soon.” Hyukjae rolls his eyes; corner of his gaze catches the glimpse of Donghae stuffing his phone into his hand. He is tugged away immediately by Kyuhyun when two other people slip in; a tall fit guy with a charming smile, another boy (or is it a girl?) who looks extremely like Donghae, instead the features softer and daintier.
“Oh,” exclaims Donghae, pointing at the doppelganger next to him, “This is Amber, my sister.” Junsu gulps, staring at the short haired girl with a yellow cap, eyes scanning excruciatingly slow along her body…Hyukjae can see the reason why. Amber isn’t slim comparing to other girls, and she’s relatively boyish, one would need some time to figure her gender in the first encounter. “Minho. My friend.” He looks pass Hyukjae, pointing over him, “And another one, Yu-”
A loud grunt brought their gazes together and they turn, seeing Minhyuk sitting on the ground with another red headed boys collapsing on him- I see you’ve meet Yukwon- half chuckling, Donghae helps his friend up and Hyukjae gets to have a clearer look on the boy. Cat-like feature, thin eyes, sharp nose. Minhyuk raises to his feet, brushing the invisible dust on his trousers and slants a glance at Yukwon, the corner of his lips unconsciously tugging up.
They had a little round of warm-up, getting to know more about each other and chat a bit, when someone pats on Donghae’s shoulder whispering something. It seems urgent despite the way he waves the man off and the boy notices it. The way he clutches his hand and his eyes traveling between faces without focus.
“You can go if it’s urgent. I’ll be-we’ll be okay.” The thin boy reassures, giving back the other’s phone and flashes a deep smile, fingers lingering a bit too long on the gadget as Donghae takes it back, smiling back equally deep.
“I’ll be back in a jiffy.” He leans in, muttering lowly before disappearing in the crowd, leaving Hyukjae behind trying to push back the blush that is floating up his cheeks.
“He seems good.” Hyukjae looks to his side, watching Minhyuk crossing his arms with dimples showing on his cheeks.
“You mean Donghae?”
“No. Him.” Raising his chin, the raven boy points at the red headed boy that he has just bumped into, watching him taking the cat and holds it in his arm. “He’s kinda cute, don’t you think?” And he scoffs.
This vacation sure is promising.
**
It was late afternoon the next time Donghae showed up. They were all lying on the porch since it’s the only place that seems to be the coolest after a day of scorching heat in the beach. Fanning himself, Hyukjae is taken aback when a dark shadow hops over the fence and steadies on top of it.
“Getting bored of the beach already?” The same playful tone, the boy finds himself looking up grinning. Watching the last rays of sun bouncing off his tan skin, hairs tossed in a messy way shining different shades of brown. Part of Hyukjae wishes to bring this shimmering goldness back home. It was ironic, really. When city people use all kinds of beauty product and technology to look pretty, someone out of the norm just has to be gorgeous without doing anything.
Donghae brushes his fallen bangs, lifting his right legs and rests his arm on his knee and Hyukjae wonders could it be any easier for him to look so god damn perfect.
“We hadn’t been on the beach truthfully,” Donghae stares right back at Kyuhyun, almost disbelieved, “All we did was fishing, TV, ramen and fishing.” The younger throws a sarcastic look at Junsu, who was rolling on the wooden floor with his tummy down.
Hyukjae was in gaze, and the other must have seen it, hopping down and nudges him with something cold against his bare arm. A bottle of coke.
The other boys erupted into different noises, groans, shouts, cheers-taking Donghae’s bag and rummage through it, digging few packs of chips and cans of drinks. He turns, pop the lid on the wall and gives it to the boy. He isn’t some wimpy guy who can only use straws to drink from a bottle, and so Hyukjae takes the coke, tilting his chin and takes a long swig, breathing out waiting for his burp.
Everything’s raw and simple, but Hyukjae thinks it’s better this way.
“-Although I’m quite curious, how old are you Donghae?” Obviously Junsu just had to cut in the brief peacefulness between the two and everyone turns at the said boy. Donghae blinks, a quizzical look etched on his face before breaking into a smile.
“Nineteen. You guys?” He asks nonchalantly, eyes wandering between the four city boys.
“Same here.” Junsu chirps, points at Minhyuk, “Eighteen”, and to Kyuhyun, “Kyu’s sixteen, but he’s in the same class with Hyukjae.”
The red headed boy stares back, the feeling of Donghae’s warm arm against his skin gone when the boy leans back a little as if to take in a better view, gaze scanning him all over having the weirdest look on his face.
“What?” He isn’t used to it but hey, it’s not every day someone stares at him like he’s some kind of specimen. “You don’t look…sixteen to me.” It was barely a low mutter, but Hyukjae manages to catch it, lips curling into a little smirk. Donghae takes that as a reply, face suddenly falling, body going stiff and rubs his nape.
“Afraid I’m jailbait or something?” Laughing lightly, Hyukjae leans in, catching Donghae’s wrist when the latter seems to be shifting further away from him. The brunette gaps, raising a questioned eye, “I’m nineteen you stupid. Kyuhyun jumped several years back then.”
“That’s…good to know,” followed by that, Donghae splutters something incoherent, breathes out lightly and thin boy wonders if the other’s relieved or just merely amused.
And he silently hopes it’s the first one.
**
The first tree appeared. Then another, followed by a dozens of thick trunks and leafy shades. The road seems to get rougher, the neighbourhood thinned out the further they rode.
“Erm, where are we going again?” Watching the last row of houses disappearing into the trees, Hyukjae shouts over his shoulder, decelerating his bike so Donghae could catch up.
“Didn’t I tell you just now?” Now that the boy has pulled his brake, Donghae’s voice grows louder by every word.
“You only said ‘follow me’ and last time I checked there isn’t a place called-” The brunette zoomed past him, and Hyukjae swears he could see the shit-eating grin on Donghae’s face.
“You talk too much Hyuk, try catching me!” Yelling, Donghae seems to peddle faster than usual and waves his arm. That brat-the boy hisses, jumping over the bike Donghae borrowed from his sister and peddles quick.
After a twenty-minute ride, Hyukjae notices the road turning into little rocks, then pebbles, debris, and finer sand. Donghae halts before him, getting off the bike and looks back, signaling the other to follow. Hoisting both bicycles against an old palm tree, Donghae takes the Hyukjae’s hand, stepping over sandy roads and slippery rocks when they ended up few meters before the wide horizon of water.
The sun has set and the moon hosts high up, casting long shadows over everything in reach. The bikes. Trees. Him. Donghae. Them.
The beach is deserted, he noted in his mind, hands gripping a handful of sand once he find a good place to sit on. The sand is sharp, rough; the coast throwing high waves out of the seemingly calm sea, splashing cliffs and large rocks at the edge. There is a whistle behind Hyukjae and so he looks back, sees Donghae and his deep smile, patting onto the dry log beneath him.
There are light sparkles, flickering in those deep eyes, shadows, Hyukjae believes, the moon is playing games with imaginations. Hallucinations. The way his heart flutters when the brunette seemed to smile even more beautifully when Hyukjae hops onto the log sitting next to him.
They share a brief moment of silence. The soft sea breeze brushing their cheeks, clashing sound of waves against their ears, moonlight casting over eyelashes.
“I’m sorry I left early that night.” Donghae voices out; low, deep, like the sea rumbling in the night. He quirks up his brows, hugging his knees tighter to keep himself in, at least to keep his sanity to block out from the marvelous plays of the moon. High brows and straight nose. Brown eyes and irises. Do people look like this under city lights? In neon boards and crammy rooftops, cars honking below the building-he wouldn’t get a chance to see such things, Hyukjae later on decides, part of him laughing at himself for disagreeing going to Mokpo at the first place when Junsu suggested it.
“A girl fell into the pool and she doesn’t know how to swim.” Donghae’s voice pulls him back.
“Probably she just acts like she doesn’t know.”
“You don’t sound convinced.” His words are muffled between his deep chuckle, clear and loud, and when Hyukjae realized what he sounded just a moment ago and what Donghae was trying to imply, heat creeps up his face and he hopes to hide his face in the shadows.
“I don’t know how uptown girls act like, but here people are pretty simple minded.” Donghae all the while crosses his legs bouncing lightly, it’s annoying, and the red headed boy squeezes his thigh to make him stop. He did, shifting to another comfortable pose on the log just to have a better view at Hyukjae.
“So you’re saying you’re simple minded?” The city boy teases.
“You can say that. Mind a little bit too easy to read. Am I just innocent?” The smug grin on Donghae’s lips made him laugh hard, back arching and almost falling down from his place but Donghae catches himself just in time.
“I like your laugh.” The boy stops, smile fading and eyes growing wide, mind registering what Donghae has just said. “You should smile more. It’s rather cute, I think.” The brunette turns, eyes staring down at his flip flop, corner of his mouth curling slightly and Hyukjae wonders whether the other half under the moonlight smiles equally sweet. Or perhaps it’s another trick of the moon.
But he’s willing to be tricked. Perhaps. Just this night.
“Saying I’m cute with my ugly gums showing,” he pauses, “You must really like me.”
And what he gets is a chuckle from Donghae. Sweet and light.
(Part II)
Author: mcts051129
Parings: Haehyuk, Kyuhyuk, Ubomb
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff
They had been on the bus for five hours when the roads started to grow bumpier. The first wave of tide appears in the corner of their glimpse, and there, a notice board flashes across their eyes.
Mokpo: 20 miles.
It was after half an hour later did the driver decided to finally stop the bus, parking the vehicle in an appropriate place to let the passages down. The sea breezes are strong, salt lingering in the air and moisture filling Hyukjae’s lung once he gets off the bus.
“I think I can smell the ocean here.” Junsu exclaims as he inhales deeply.
“Of course you do, it’s just right before us. Blind bat.” Kyuhyun, for the first time of the day, switches off his PSP and slips it into his bag, helps Hyukjae with his luggage while a raven whiney boy presses his hair with one hand, the free one scrambling through his possessions in attempt to find a cap.
“No one really cares about your hair, Minhyuk.” The said boy snorts, kicking Junsu right on his knee and fits the cap on his messy hair.
“Right…” Hyukjae laughs, taking his bag from Kyuhyun as the boys walk off the sidewalk and stand before the beach.
“Sounds like a promising vacation.” One of them says shakily.
The area is packed with low rising hotels and condos, yet they aren’t the place the boys are searching for. The first few streets that they came across are relatively more city-like, with crowds entering and coming out from little shops and tourists dragging heavy bags into hotels; but after a few more minutes of walking, the noise dies down, crowd more disperse, building scarcely dotted around the roads.
It was just a complete mistake to let Junsu lead the road, and after for god knows how many times of getting lost and Minhyuk still complaining about his hair, they manage to make their way to a house they rented beforehand.
3000 square feet in total, a white little house settled next to the beach. The rent is reasonable, and the owner, Mrs. Lee, seems nice.
“Hello kids, I’ve been waiting for you all quite a time.” With heavy accent, the woman comes into sight as soon as they four steps up the stairs. With a pleasant face and an easy smile, she hands in two sets of key to Kyuhyun, who apologizes for the delay of their promised arrival, not forgetting to shoot a glare to Junsu’s direction.
“I try to see if I could take you for a tour around the area later on.” The owner offers nicely, at least making Hyukjae a bit more secure staying in a foreign place and nods, bidding farewell to the middle-aged lady and watches her walk away.
His friends grunt, fiddling with the key and throw the bags into the empty house as the boy stands outside studying the house. An old-fashioned rocking chair is placed in a nice shadowy place on the front porch, white fences surrounding the porch, the wooden siding bleached gray from sun and salt.
Hyukjae is staring at the rusty nail on the wooden plank when a soft mewl draws his attention. Raising his head, he comes in contact with a set of large black eyes flickering before him, whiskers tickling his cheeks.
“Hey there kitty.” Whispering lightly, the boy draws out his hand tentatively, afraid that the cat would leap on him and scratch him any second. But the animal seemed tamed, mewling contentedly when Hyukjae rubs the fur behind the left ear.
It was quite a comfortable companion, given that it’s around seven, the sun is setting, sky getting less blinder, the air getting less hot. The kitten turns, finding a spot and settles itself in a sitting pose and stares out, in which Hyukjae steps down the stairs and sit next to it, following it’s gaze.
There a little way far from the beach, a group of teenage boys running out the water, bodies drenched and ready to pack and leave. A boy shouts, and there he sees, another boy he didn’t quite notice before emerging behind a high tide, the orange beams of sunset seems to make his brown hair and tan skin glow.
He was caught mesmerized, eyes following the glowing boy, watching him getting off the surfboard and punches a boy that smiles like a cat-Hyukjae looks down, just to find the kitty companion already gone.
“Hyukjae if you’re not getting in within 5 seconds you’re sleeping on the floor for the rest of the vacation!”
By then the red headed boy scrambles up his feet and dashes into the room. They play a few rounds of rock paper scissors to decide who’s sleeping where. Hyukjae didn’t end up sleeping on the floor, but sharing a bed with Junsu and he doesn’t know which is worse. Kyuhyun and Minhyuk will be using a room each for their own.
After the decision was made and arguments were subdued, Hyukjae walks closer to the window, peeking out through the blinds towards where he has seen the boy earlier, just to find him and his friend gone.
**
He was woken up by the unbearable heat of the room. Squinting his eyes, he could feel a string of sunlight casting long shadows over his face. The room is dark, the house is silent. Instinctively his gaze is drawn to the window, greeted by a light blue curtain that doesn’t quite exist in his room, but he smiles remembering it’s vacation. Definitely away from home.
Obviously none of his friends is awake at this moment of time and the boy checks his phone, it reads a quarter pass 8 in the morning.
Stretching lazily, Hyukjae pulls the blind of each and every window, deciding it is best to use a more quiet and subtle way to wake the lazy asses up and heads to the front porch.
“Meow.”
A faint call, but Hyukjae is very sure he heard it right. It repeats, and the boy follows the voice, sees the same cat on the chair yesterday. A light smile curves up his lips when he picks the kitten to his lap and sits down, rocking to and fro gently while playing with the ears of the cat. It mewls again softly.
“She seems to like you.” Hyukjae jolts up a bit, the cat sits straight, followed by the boy. Looking up, he sees the boy from the beach yesterday, tan skin, brown eyes, soft smile. Everything blended under the sun perfectly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” The boy chuckles, walking closer and leans forward elbows propping up the fence of the porch.
Hyukjae shakes his head, looking down at the kitten curiously and cuddles it in his arms, standing up to approach the brunette.
“Is this cat yours?” Hyukjae asks, seeing the boy shrugs and sighs lightly, long fingers touching the tip of the cat’s nose.
“It’s my friend’s. But it likes following me everywhere. They say I look like a fish, that’s why the cat follows me.” There is a stiff moment of awkwardness, before Hyukjae breaks into laughter. Now that he has mentioned, the tan boy does looks like a fish, the way he laughed yesterday with head thrown back gasping for air…
“I’m Donghae by the way.” The speaker extends his hands, offering a handshake and Hyukjae tries hard to balance the kitty on one arm. “Hyukjae. From Seoul.” They smile.
“I know.” Hyukjar raises a high brow, letting the cat jump off his cuddle onto the fence and trots playfully on it. “My mom’s the owner of this house. She told me to give you some of these before I go to work-” Donghae flings off his bag and digs into it, taking out a pile of papers and brochures, “Some maps and bus timetable. Stuffs to do, eat, play... she’s written some side notes on the map. And she apologized for not being able to tour you around since she’s quite busy this week.”
“It’s okay.” Hyukjae takes the pile of information from Donghae, thumb slightly brushing each other’s and he quickly looks down, fumbling through the maps and leaflets. “It’s already very nice of her to offer us this…nice, cozy little house. Your mom’s really kind.”
“She does it for everyone who rents the house.” Donghae mutters, zipping up his bag and throws it around his shoulder. Hyukjae watches him, a part of him wondering how many times Donghae showed up before the house, giving maps and brochures to visitors with that dazzling smile of his; and how many more encounters he would have after his vacation is over.
His face falls, flipping through the leaflet absentmindedly when Donghae clears his throat.
“I don’t usually tell the visitors but, I work at the library in the community center. You can go there if you want.”
Hyukjae looks skeptical.
“I mean, there’s air-con and empty seats and Wifi-” Donghae seems having a hard time rubbing his nape and the boy giggles.
“I’ll see if I have time.” As if his reply has eased Donghae, the boy scans up slowly, corner of his thin lips tugging up into a smug smile as he nods, raising a thumb up and quickly squirrels back to his bicycle before taking off down the street.
Free air-con and internet access. Hyukjae mentally adds another spot in the ‘to visit’ list right on the map.
**
Adventure aside, for three straight days, they went to the beach. Junsu seemed particularly fond on fishing, even if his hooks were always caught between rocks and carol. They spent sunsets playing mud war, Minhyuk ended up being the only victim every time and almost had the drainage of the tub clogged since he was just a complete mud man. For three straight nights they eat nothing else but ramen since that’s the only thing they brought along with them and watched TV.
In times when they grew bored, they went out during midnight, Kyuhyun turning in some sort of adventurer roaming across a dead city shooting off zombies.
He is just delusional.
For the fourth day, Junsu wakes up complaining his muscle fatigue, groaning in the process as he kicks Hyukjae off the bed. The fallen one shoots up, hitting his friend hard with a pillow and drags him off the bed.
The TV is playing continuous episodes of Powerpuff Girls, and that’s the only channel that they find amusing enough.
“I’m bored!” Junsu flails, Kyuhyun looking up from his PSP for a second before returning to his game. Hyukjae grunts, he swears he’s still having a grudge on this boy who kicked him out of bed this morning.
“You can go fishing if you want.” Munching on a pack of chips, Minhyuk mutters out of midst, taking the remote control and changes channel; the latter blinks, clasping his hand and rushes into his room to take out his sun screen and hat before yelling.
“Let’s go!”
No one moves.
“Who’s coming!”
Still no one moves.
“Fine I’ll go by myself!” The boy groans, slipping into his slippers and goes to the shore himself. Even if Junsu knows swimming, Hyukjae couldn’t help but to feel a bit worried about him. The waves are rough near the other side of the beach, Junsu might fall if he’s clumsy enough, in addition to the muscle fatigue he has today.
Sighing, Hyukjae enters his shared room and gets changed, but is stopped when he’s about to get out.
“You’re tired. I’ll go.” As if he could read mind, Kyuhyun disconnect his game console from the charger and leaves the house, catching up with Junsu who even has a trouble walking fast on the rough sand.
Kyuhyun has always been the most understanding one within the group and Hyukjae is beyond glad that he has brought someone who got brains along during the trip. They might have ended up blowing the house in the first night if he hadn’t. Who knows.
The TV only catches a few channels from Seoul and they’re all about fashion and politics and golf…Hyukjae ended up slouching down on the coach next to Minhyuk, eating chips from the same bag as they watch a talk show.
The host stomps on the stage, the audience laughing ecstatically while the speaker continues. Totally a Mokpo version of Strong Heart in which none of them understand what they are talking about with those heavy accents.
“I’m going to kill myself if I watch another episode of this.” The other mutters lowly enough for Hyukjae to catch his voice.
And then he suddenly remembered Donghae. Reminding himself of the short meeting they had few days ago, he offers going to the library in the community center. Minhyuk snorts, scrunching up his nose in disgust and slumps deeper, then I’d rather watch another episode of this, munching on the last piece of chip in the bag,
“It’s not that bad.” His friend quirks up his brow giving an intrigued look at Hyukjae, and the latter bites his inner lips. “There’s free air-con, internet access…”
It was when he heard the word ‘internet’ did Minhyuk bounces up happily, eyes flickering with great interest and even takes Hyukjae’s hand.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
With the constant hushing of the raven boy, the half-an-hour journey turns into a 10-minute running. Hyukjae was pretty sure there’s a bus to the community center but Minhyuk practically pulled him out of the house before he could get his map. It didn’t take long for them to search for the exact location since the board sign couldn’t be any bigger, pointing at the entrance of it and Hyukjae wonders what’s the reason of making the sign so big when there’s only one large architecture around.
The library is not too big, fairly spacious enough to hide a collection of books and magazines for a small local community. Rows and rows of books are lined up neatly in the room, while computers are placed behind the information desk. There are less people than Hyukjae has expected, perhaps it’s a Wednesday and people are either going back to school or having work.
Right. Work.
Hyukjae steps in carefully, smiling when he notices the floor is carpeted that could block out any unnecessary noise of footsteps, for example, Minhyuk running towards the information desk to check on the access of computers before dashing to one of the counters. He is so sure the first thing the raven boy would do is check his twitter.
He follows behind more slowly, walking through the stacks of bookshelves. Dragging his fingers along the spine of the books, his eyes aren’t really quite studying the titles, but peeking through gaps and shelves to spy on something else.
A cart came rolling before him and he quickly turns around, taking a book and flips to a random page, pretending to read.
“Oh.” a voice exclaimed from immediately beside him. Hyukjae jumps a bit in surprise, knocking his head on the shelf next to him when he leans slightly towards it while reading the book. Slightly muttering a curse, he holds his head, watching the person who just shocked him pick up the book for him and before he knows, it’s all brown eyes and tan skin, Donghae standing there, mouth pulling into a thin line trying hard to hold back his laughter.
“Are you okay?” he asks, and Hyukjae is sure he’s fighting back not to laugh so hard at his agony.
“I’m fine,” he pouts, smoothing back his red bangs and takes back the book, randomly putting it in a space on the upper shelf. Donghae chuckles, holds the other’s wrist to halt him just in time.
“Wrong place.” He smiles, taking the book from Hyukjae and slips it back to the original place. “You’re here alone?” Donghae asks, reaching around Hyukjae to return a book from the cart. The boy stutters a bit at the sudden motion, eyes wandering to the end of the counter.
“Minhyuk dragged me here.”
“Minhyuk…your friend?” Donghae follows the boy’s fingers and throws a gaze at the row of computer, a raven boy busily scrolling down the tons of mentions in twitter. “He’s a pretty boy I must say. An ulzzang?”
“Yep.” Hyukjae’s lips curl into a grin, the other finds himself smiling back, “He’s quite the Prince Charming at school.” Donghae’s lips pull into a grim line, a vague V between his brows and Hyukjae’s quite sure he’s frowning. “It’s just he still hasn’t found his Snow White yet.” The frown loosens, and they laugh lightly when Minhyuk takes a selca not-so-discreetly in the corner.
The boy wanders around the library while waiting for his friend to finish his self obsession on net. Tapping on the counter impatiently, Hyukjae walks off to the other side of the room when Donghae pulls him back behind the shelves by his wrist, him almost falling onto the ground.
“Sorry.” If it wasn’t Donghae covering his mouth he could have yelled out right at the spot. The boy looks at him apologetically, looking around quickly and whispers lowly. Hyukjae finds the cart already empty. “Don’t want to let others see me slacking off.”
The boy chuckles with a sly grin.
“Slacking off scaring people?”
“Ha! You’re funny Hyukjae,” He pauses for a while tapping his chin, as if pondering something, “My mom wanted to invite you guys over for dinner tomorrow. Um, so…”
“Your mom.” His words came out unamused. Hyukjae is feeling grateful, really, to think about a night without ramen and more ramen, it sounds nice. But the feeling that Donghae’s putting his mom ahead of everything he says-wait- Hyukjae shakes, regretting the words almost as soon as he notices how he sounds much like a little bitch. They’d only had two short conversations so far and he did not need to be acting so flirty before Donghae.
The latter’s eyes flicks up to his face though, fixing his gaze on him to take the blushing boy in completely. The grin on his lips grows a little wider.
“I wouldn’t have told you it if I didn’t want you to come, would I?”
**
“This is…wow.” There is a sharp gasp, the scene too breathtaking that even Kyuhyun had to put down his game and stare at the venue. The boys stand at the edge for a minute taking in the crowd-it was as if half a town appeared tonight.
Hyukjae squeezes himself through the people, not knowing what exactly he has to do in such a time. They were just 4 and know no one except Mr Lee and Donghae (and he was the only one that had really talked to him). They stayed there awkwardly, Junsu scanning around like a cautious cat and Minhyuk found a great place to sit, staring at something more interesting, for example, the swimming pool.
They are in the midst of confusion when a group of boys around their age crashed the place, “So you did come,” someone says from behind them. They turn around to find Donghae holding his phone, white screen flashing blindly before Hyukjae’s eyes.
“Was about to call you.” A smug grin, Hyukjae lifting up his brows in a doubtful look but he finds himself laughing. The boy is surely amusing.
“You have my phone number?” he asks, playfulness etched deeply in his tone.
“No, but I’m pretty sure I’ll have it soon.” Hyukjae rolls his eyes; corner of his gaze catches the glimpse of Donghae stuffing his phone into his hand. He is tugged away immediately by Kyuhyun when two other people slip in; a tall fit guy with a charming smile, another boy (or is it a girl?) who looks extremely like Donghae, instead the features softer and daintier.
“Oh,” exclaims Donghae, pointing at the doppelganger next to him, “This is Amber, my sister.” Junsu gulps, staring at the short haired girl with a yellow cap, eyes scanning excruciatingly slow along her body…Hyukjae can see the reason why. Amber isn’t slim comparing to other girls, and she’s relatively boyish, one would need some time to figure her gender in the first encounter. “Minho. My friend.” He looks pass Hyukjae, pointing over him, “And another one, Yu-”
A loud grunt brought their gazes together and they turn, seeing Minhyuk sitting on the ground with another red headed boys collapsing on him- I see you’ve meet Yukwon- half chuckling, Donghae helps his friend up and Hyukjae gets to have a clearer look on the boy. Cat-like feature, thin eyes, sharp nose. Minhyuk raises to his feet, brushing the invisible dust on his trousers and slants a glance at Yukwon, the corner of his lips unconsciously tugging up.
They had a little round of warm-up, getting to know more about each other and chat a bit, when someone pats on Donghae’s shoulder whispering something. It seems urgent despite the way he waves the man off and the boy notices it. The way he clutches his hand and his eyes traveling between faces without focus.
“You can go if it’s urgent. I’ll be-we’ll be okay.” The thin boy reassures, giving back the other’s phone and flashes a deep smile, fingers lingering a bit too long on the gadget as Donghae takes it back, smiling back equally deep.
“I’ll be back in a jiffy.” He leans in, muttering lowly before disappearing in the crowd, leaving Hyukjae behind trying to push back the blush that is floating up his cheeks.
“He seems good.” Hyukjae looks to his side, watching Minhyuk crossing his arms with dimples showing on his cheeks.
“You mean Donghae?”
“No. Him.” Raising his chin, the raven boy points at the red headed boy that he has just bumped into, watching him taking the cat and holds it in his arm. “He’s kinda cute, don’t you think?” And he scoffs.
This vacation sure is promising.
**
It was late afternoon the next time Donghae showed up. They were all lying on the porch since it’s the only place that seems to be the coolest after a day of scorching heat in the beach. Fanning himself, Hyukjae is taken aback when a dark shadow hops over the fence and steadies on top of it.
“Getting bored of the beach already?” The same playful tone, the boy finds himself looking up grinning. Watching the last rays of sun bouncing off his tan skin, hairs tossed in a messy way shining different shades of brown. Part of Hyukjae wishes to bring this shimmering goldness back home. It was ironic, really. When city people use all kinds of beauty product and technology to look pretty, someone out of the norm just has to be gorgeous without doing anything.
Donghae brushes his fallen bangs, lifting his right legs and rests his arm on his knee and Hyukjae wonders could it be any easier for him to look so god damn perfect.
“We hadn’t been on the beach truthfully,” Donghae stares right back at Kyuhyun, almost disbelieved, “All we did was fishing, TV, ramen and fishing.” The younger throws a sarcastic look at Junsu, who was rolling on the wooden floor with his tummy down.
Hyukjae was in gaze, and the other must have seen it, hopping down and nudges him with something cold against his bare arm. A bottle of coke.
The other boys erupted into different noises, groans, shouts, cheers-taking Donghae’s bag and rummage through it, digging few packs of chips and cans of drinks. He turns, pop the lid on the wall and gives it to the boy. He isn’t some wimpy guy who can only use straws to drink from a bottle, and so Hyukjae takes the coke, tilting his chin and takes a long swig, breathing out waiting for his burp.
Everything’s raw and simple, but Hyukjae thinks it’s better this way.
“-Although I’m quite curious, how old are you Donghae?” Obviously Junsu just had to cut in the brief peacefulness between the two and everyone turns at the said boy. Donghae blinks, a quizzical look etched on his face before breaking into a smile.
“Nineteen. You guys?” He asks nonchalantly, eyes wandering between the four city boys.
“Same here.” Junsu chirps, points at Minhyuk, “Eighteen”, and to Kyuhyun, “Kyu’s sixteen, but he’s in the same class with Hyukjae.”
The red headed boy stares back, the feeling of Donghae’s warm arm against his skin gone when the boy leans back a little as if to take in a better view, gaze scanning him all over having the weirdest look on his face.
“What?” He isn’t used to it but hey, it’s not every day someone stares at him like he’s some kind of specimen. “You don’t look…sixteen to me.” It was barely a low mutter, but Hyukjae manages to catch it, lips curling into a little smirk. Donghae takes that as a reply, face suddenly falling, body going stiff and rubs his nape.
“Afraid I’m jailbait or something?” Laughing lightly, Hyukjae leans in, catching Donghae’s wrist when the latter seems to be shifting further away from him. The brunette gaps, raising a questioned eye, “I’m nineteen you stupid. Kyuhyun jumped several years back then.”
“That’s…good to know,” followed by that, Donghae splutters something incoherent, breathes out lightly and thin boy wonders if the other’s relieved or just merely amused.
And he silently hopes it’s the first one.
**
The first tree appeared. Then another, followed by a dozens of thick trunks and leafy shades. The road seems to get rougher, the neighbourhood thinned out the further they rode.
“Erm, where are we going again?” Watching the last row of houses disappearing into the trees, Hyukjae shouts over his shoulder, decelerating his bike so Donghae could catch up.
“Didn’t I tell you just now?” Now that the boy has pulled his brake, Donghae’s voice grows louder by every word.
“You only said ‘follow me’ and last time I checked there isn’t a place called-” The brunette zoomed past him, and Hyukjae swears he could see the shit-eating grin on Donghae’s face.
“You talk too much Hyuk, try catching me!” Yelling, Donghae seems to peddle faster than usual and waves his arm. That brat-the boy hisses, jumping over the bike Donghae borrowed from his sister and peddles quick.
After a twenty-minute ride, Hyukjae notices the road turning into little rocks, then pebbles, debris, and finer sand. Donghae halts before him, getting off the bike and looks back, signaling the other to follow. Hoisting both bicycles against an old palm tree, Donghae takes the Hyukjae’s hand, stepping over sandy roads and slippery rocks when they ended up few meters before the wide horizon of water.
The sun has set and the moon hosts high up, casting long shadows over everything in reach. The bikes. Trees. Him. Donghae. Them.
The beach is deserted, he noted in his mind, hands gripping a handful of sand once he find a good place to sit on. The sand is sharp, rough; the coast throwing high waves out of the seemingly calm sea, splashing cliffs and large rocks at the edge. There is a whistle behind Hyukjae and so he looks back, sees Donghae and his deep smile, patting onto the dry log beneath him.
There are light sparkles, flickering in those deep eyes, shadows, Hyukjae believes, the moon is playing games with imaginations. Hallucinations. The way his heart flutters when the brunette seemed to smile even more beautifully when Hyukjae hops onto the log sitting next to him.
They share a brief moment of silence. The soft sea breeze brushing their cheeks, clashing sound of waves against their ears, moonlight casting over eyelashes.
“I’m sorry I left early that night.” Donghae voices out; low, deep, like the sea rumbling in the night. He quirks up his brows, hugging his knees tighter to keep himself in, at least to keep his sanity to block out from the marvelous plays of the moon. High brows and straight nose. Brown eyes and irises. Do people look like this under city lights? In neon boards and crammy rooftops, cars honking below the building-he wouldn’t get a chance to see such things, Hyukjae later on decides, part of him laughing at himself for disagreeing going to Mokpo at the first place when Junsu suggested it.
“A girl fell into the pool and she doesn’t know how to swim.” Donghae’s voice pulls him back.
“Probably she just acts like she doesn’t know.”
“You don’t sound convinced.” His words are muffled between his deep chuckle, clear and loud, and when Hyukjae realized what he sounded just a moment ago and what Donghae was trying to imply, heat creeps up his face and he hopes to hide his face in the shadows.
“I don’t know how uptown girls act like, but here people are pretty simple minded.” Donghae all the while crosses his legs bouncing lightly, it’s annoying, and the red headed boy squeezes his thigh to make him stop. He did, shifting to another comfortable pose on the log just to have a better view at Hyukjae.
“So you’re saying you’re simple minded?” The city boy teases.
“You can say that. Mind a little bit too easy to read. Am I just innocent?” The smug grin on Donghae’s lips made him laugh hard, back arching and almost falling down from his place but Donghae catches himself just in time.
“I like your laugh.” The boy stops, smile fading and eyes growing wide, mind registering what Donghae has just said. “You should smile more. It’s rather cute, I think.” The brunette turns, eyes staring down at his flip flop, corner of his mouth curling slightly and Hyukjae wonders whether the other half under the moonlight smiles equally sweet. Or perhaps it’s another trick of the moon.
But he’s willing to be tricked. Perhaps. Just this night.
“Saying I’m cute with my ugly gums showing,” he pauses, “You must really like me.”
And what he gets is a chuckle from Donghae. Sweet and light.
(Part II)