a season for everything, HAECHAN (❂)

prologue

south beach park, florida. 2016, june.

it was a vibrant and bustling place. the sun beamed down on mischievous waves playfully racing one another toward the shore. as the gentle afternoon breeze carried the saltiness of the ocean, soleil was drawn to the sandy coast, where she spotted patrick floating her way. she could only dub this star-shaped creature 'patrick' because she barely knew english.

"patrick! patrick!", soleil shouted while pointing to the pinkish starfish, capturing the attention of the american kids nearby who were deeply absorbed in building sandcastles. the ill-mannered kids merely tossed a handful of sand at her, causing the girl to mumble a few korean curses in response. how rude, where are their parents? she thought.

her family had recently arrived in the united states for a month-long trip, and although she was excited about it, she couldn't help feeling a little homesick. she felt totally alien.

the massive wave swept both the starfish and her right flip-flop back into the ocean. darn it.

while walking along the beach with a missing flip-flop, soleil noticed a boy around her age sitting alone under a colorful beach umbrella. something about him caught her attention, was it the purple streaks on his hair? she doesn't quite know but as she got closer, she noticed that he looked korean like herself.

"excuse me, are you korean as well?" soleil spoke in her native language, hoping to find a familiar face in this foreign country.

said boy looked up, surprised by the sudden interaction but smiled warmly. "yes, yes i am. are you?" he replied in fluent korean.

soleil's face lit up with delight. it was nice to have someone who shared her background in this new place. "i'm kim soleil", she introduced herself, brushing off the sand from her hair.

"i'm haechan, lee haechan", the boy said, extending his hand towards her.

haechan offered her his popsicle. it was a friendly gesture, but soleil hesitated, remembering her parents' advice about accepting food from strangers. "it's okay, i can't really accept food from strangers", she politely declined, not wanting to take any risks.

haechan laughed at her response and opened the popsicle. he took a big bite of it, wincing slightly as the cold sensation graced his teeth. "ohh, your loss", he teased playfully.

soleil widened her eyes at the boy, finding herself cringe at the idea of having something as cold as a popsicle hit the sensitive nerves of her teeth. "you're psycho!" she exclaimed, half-jokingly, watching him continue to bite on the minion popsicle.

haechan chuckled. "nah, you just have weak teeth", he shrugged, clearly unbothered by the accusation, and continued enjoying his popsicle.

"let's go for a stroll? i'll be your tour guide", haechan stood up from his seat, deftly smoothing out the creases on his shorts.

soleil nodded excitedly.

the grains of sand lightly burned her bare feet; what a nice day to loose your flip-flops.

"so", haechan started, "soleil isn't exactly a traditional korean name.."

but she explained that she was born in france and lived there until she was five. haechan, on the other hand, had a different story to share. he was born in seoul but moved indefinitely to the united states when he was just ten. as they conversed, haechan mentioned that he volunteered here, and that he was also a lifeguard, like his dad.

"ahh, so that explains why you're gorgeously tanned!" soleil commented.

he likes her already. people back in korea always picked on him for having a slightly darker skin.

"clockwise", haechan replied in broken korean.

soleil giggled at the small mistake, "you meant likewise?" she corrected.

they talked for hours and hours and hours, their laughter melded harmoniously with the rhythmic lapping of waves, and beneath the ever-watchful gaze of the setting sun, rose an unassuming summer's love.

a season for everything, written by doremifasuh.