poems by the shore

o3

the sun rises slowly, trickling in through the curtains that hang at the window left ajar from last night. he sits up in bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes and yawning with his mouth wide.

his phone buzzes underneath his pillow, felix facetiming him. he answers. "hey," he mumbles. his friend asks how yesterday with the honey lipped boy went. "i have a feeling you didn't tell me everything."

he groans and falls back on his pillow, face stuffed in its warmth. "it's like five in the morning. give me a second to wake up," his words muffled. "what?" felix asks.

jisung sits up once more and huffs. "it's like five in the morning. i haven't even brushed my teeth yet, and you want to ask me about the guy." felix waves a hand, telling him to go brush his teeth but that he has to tell him everything when he's finished.

he takes his phone with him in the bathroom, muting himself when he uses the toilet and unmuting as he talks through his toothbrush. "nothing even happened."

he spits.

"bullshit. i bet you saw him up close and you were like 'damn shorty'," felix bites his lower lip. " 'what's your name, can i get your number?' "

jisung's tempted to hang up, but he simply scoffs and tells his freckled friend to shut up. he waves his toothbrush as he talks. "i went up to him, told him he has a nice voice, he had to leave, boom; end of conversation. i didn't tell him to hit me up."

he rinses his mouth and begins washing his face. felix remarks how his day yesterday wasn't very eventful other than his best friend leaving him in incheon. he scoffs as he rubs his facewash onto his skin.

"i'm not leaving you forever, idiot. plus, there's literally facetime and you can always text me."

felix shrugs and says he prefers hugging and annoying his friend in person to which jisung smiles and dries off, slipping his fingers through his hair.

"you need an actual comb or something," his friend laughs. "okay, mom," jisung smiles and goes back to his room, phone tossed on his bed, finding clothes to change.

"you doing anything today?"

he mumbles that he's visiting a library not too far away, the cafe near his father's apartment, and then a walk along the beach. felix nods and squints at his screen, "trying to see if your little crush's going to play his guitar there again, huh?"

jisung sets his face in the camera frame and lets his face fall flat, raising a brow in annoyance jokingly. they continue their mornings in infrequent conversations, felix having a bowl of cereal and jisung a small plate of yogurt and strawberries.

"i'm leaving so i'll text you instead," he tells his friend who nods, cheeks filled with oreo o's. they hang up and text every so often as jisung makes his way to the library he thought was farther but surprisingly is only a few minutes' walk.

he goes in and looks for the science fiction section, if the library holds one. it does, and he hurries over, grazing his fingers over the spines of a dozen novels until he sees a copy of fahrenheit 451.

jisung picks up the red and black covered book, reading the synopsis on the back though he's read it nearly a hundred times, and a shuffle of footsteps breaks the silence. he looks over to his right and sees the guitar player from the beach yesterday. the boy smiles. "hey."

jisung nods lightly, "hey." he stutters. "did you want to check this one out?" he raises the book up a bit and the boy nods sheepishly. jisung offers it to him. "it's okay. i've already read it before."

the boy raises a brow in curiosity. "you were going to read it again even though you've read it before?" jisung nods and answers it's his favorite novel to which the boy smiles.

"i'll make sure to really pay attention when i read it then."

his heart skips a beat. he clears his throat with a shy chuckle and hands the book to the boy. "thanks." they stand in silence for a moment while the boy reads the synopsis jisung knows by heart.

"i was going to go to a cafe after this, if you want to.." he trails off, unsure of how to invite the boy. though, the other smiles happily and nods. "sure. i'll go check this out and, well if you want to check one out too we can walk around, and then go?"

jisung nods a bit too quickly. the boy smiles and walks off to front desk, leaving jisung a blushing mess. he feels the warmth on his cheeks and tries getting his mind clear before the boy comes back.

he looks for a novel until the other returns, then checking it out together. as they make their way to the cafe, the raven haired boy asks, "have you read that before?"

jisung shakes his head. "have you?"

he smiles brightly and answers it's his favorite. jisung takes his chance. "i guess i'll have to pay attention when i read it now." they blush, avoiding each other's eye contact.

once they make it to the cafe, the boy opens the door, holding it for jisung. he thanks him and approaches the counter to order. he slips in front of jisung, asking for an iced americano and, "what do you want?"

jisung's face grows hot, and he looks to the barista. "can i get a sweetened iced tea?" the girl behind the counter nods and rings up their order. "can i get a name?" she asks.

"hyunjin," the boy hums, taking the receipt and finding them a table. jisung follows behind and sits quietly. they wait, the air conditioning and cafe machines filling in as white noise. jisung chirps, "you have a nice name."

hyunjin chuckles, saying it's unfair jisung knows his name but he doesn't know his. "it's jisung."

the boy stops for a moment and smiles carefully. "your name's really pretty." jisung scoffs, a nervous laugh hidden in the breath. the barista calls hyunjin's name for their order, the two drinking and finishing before going to the beach.

side by side, their hands graze once or twice, jisung's heart thumping when they do. his cheeks warm and blushed, they talk and get to know each other. they walk along the shoreline and jisung finds out hyunjin's his age and wants to pursue dance.

sitting on the sand as the sun slowly sets, hyunjin traces jisung's name in the small grains. "i've never seen you around here before. you just visiting for summer break?" jisung nods.

"my parents separated and my dad moved here, so.."

hyunjin hums, looking over at jisung who gazes at the sea. "you should visit next summer too."

jisung glances over and says that he'll be going off to college, so he'll be sure to try and visit but it won't be guaranteed. "right," hyunjin sighs, something obviously weighing on his mind.

"what's wrong?"

he shakes his head and smiles. "i didn't bring my guitar today," he pouts. "but, maybe tomorrow i can play it for you?" jisung agrees.

he can play his guitar for the boy by the shore.