48 hours, a short story | chan & seungmin

seungmin ⚘ new flesh- current joys

- Chapter 6 , emotion

i open the car door as fast as i can. i get out of the car, beginning to walk to the stairs. i hear his car door open, but i don't look back. i stop and take my shoes and socks off, placing them down at the steps before i go down them.

when i reach the bottom of them, i look back up at him. i give him an innocent smile. "don't look. and try to catch up."

i turn away, and begin to take off my clothes. i throw them off one by one, and by the time i reach the water i'm only in my shorts. i run in the water, the warm feeling of it making me smile. i dive completely in, going underwater.

i love the ocean more than anything. if i could, i would spend the rest of my life in the ocean. which is why i'm going to college to become a marine biologist. i think when my brother bought this home, he didn't think it would be the cause of my obsession with the beach.

i come out of the water, wiping my face shaking my hair off. water splashes around me, and i can't help but smile. i look over to him, and he's standing there watching me.

i chuckle. "why don't you come in?"

he looks to the water, then to me. he seems to be debating on it. is he scared of the water? my question is answered, when he just sighs and begins to unbutton his shirt.

"fine." he says, and pulls it off. he throws it next to my clothes, as he begins to take off everything until he is just in jeans.

i can't help but stare. his physique is nicer than anybody else's i know, and it's making me feel things i shouldn't be feeling about this guy. i feel weird when he looks back at me, and i feel like he knows what's going on.

he just looks down and begins to walk into the water, and i watch him with a smile. i don't even know why i'm smiling, he just makes me smile. i don't even know him.

he lowers himself into the water, and closes his eyes as he just floats there for a second. i watch as he starts to go under, and then i watch as he comes back up. he stands up, and wipes his hair back with his hands.

he opens his eyes and looks at me, and i just smile at him. "it's amazing right?" i ask.

he closes his eyes again, and starts to float. i lay back as well, looking up to the sky. "i love the ocean more than anything." i say. "whenever i want peace, i can go to the ocean."

he lets out a hum, and it makes me chuckle. "you're not very expressive, you know that?" i ask, and sit up so i can see his face.

he does the same, and opens his eyes to see me. we float across from each other, our eyes locked the whole time. our position makes my stomach whirl, and all the thoughts i had vanish away. he's now my only thought.

i shake my head, and go back to ur questions i had before. "why aren't you filled to the brim with emotion like everybody else?" i ask, in a quieter voice now.

his mouth is underwater, so he just stays silent for a little bit. he comes back up though, standing a bit taller now. he titles his head. "want me to actually tell you why or just tell you the same thing i tell everybody else?" he asks.

it kind of makes me think. he's willing to tell me something different than everybody else? i know it's just a subtle thing, but it makes my heart feel different.

"that depends." i say. "am i suddenly different than everybody else to you?" i get nervous, because i know all i'm going to get back from him is silence. that's what he seems to do when the conversion gets to an emotional point.

"you are different." he says, but doesn't elaborate.

i start to smile. that was not the answer i expected, and i like it. "i guess you should tell me the truth then." i say, my small smile turning to a bigger one as it spreads on my face.

he sighs. "i guess if i tell somebody, it should be you." he says, and looks away from me. "but, i don't want to ruin everything."

i tilt my head. "ruin everything?" i ask.

"just forget about it." he says. "it's way to much to tell you, and i don't want you to treat me differently."

"oh." i say. "that's.. it's uh- it's fine if you don't want to tell me. but just know, i won't treat you differently. i mean, i don't even know you- but i still will never treat you differently. you haven't shoved me away yet, so i guess you are okay."

i kinda feel bad now. i was hoping he would actually tell me, so i could learn something about him. i know i have to go, and i know he's going to go soon as well- but i really want to know him. i like him.

he chuckles. he laughs. he laughed at me. for the first time, i'm okay with being laughed at. i'm okay with it, because it sounds so good. i can't help but smile. i made him laugh, and i feel like gold.

he doesn't say anything back, instead he just floats away from me. the sun has gone down, and it's dark right now. i look up to the sky, staring at the stars. i love this part of the night.

i turn my head to chan. he is floating there peacefully, like a log in water. it's like he is just letting the ocean take him, and it's starting to make me question some things. i think back to how we met.. and i get a worried feeling in my stomach.

"hey..." i say, and float over to him. he doesn't open his eyes. "what were you doing out the on the doc earlier?"

he still doesn't open his eyes, but his body stiffens. he doesn't answer, and i'm about to ask something again- but a ringing sounds from my pants that lay over on the sand.

i tilt my head. who could be calling at this time? and then it hits me. i begin to run to the phone, and i reach it when it is just about to stop ringing.

jeongin. fuck.

"hello?" i ask, picking up the phone.

"hey, why didn't you call?" his voice says into my ear.

"oh i umm-" i say, picking up my clothes as i make my way to my house. "i was busy doing.. homework."

"you still have homework? didn't you graduate?" he asks, with a chuckle. "i didn't know they'd do that to you guys."

"yeah, haha." i chuckle. "but.. we better make this quick. i have to go.. and i can't talk right now." i step up on the deck, and look out to chan in the water. he still is floating there, and it is making me feel a bit wary.

"why? what do you have to do?" he asks. "i thought we agree-"

"hyung, please do not lecture me right now." i say.

"i'm not!-" he takes in a breath. "fine."

"okay, bye." i say quickly, before he can debate. i hang up the phone, and open the door to throw it inside. i close the door again, and begin to run back out to the beach.

"chan!" i yell, and he opens his eyes and looks to me. "i'm getting tired, and it's late." i say.

i'm not really tired, but i feel like i said something wrong with how he reacted. i don't want to go back out there and ruin things even more, so i just decided to make an excuse to call it a night.

however, i still worry for him.

"where are you going to go?" i ask.