Collision || Lee Know

expose

"He's continuously picking you up after school. Does your boyfriend know about it?" Akari confronted. "What would the information give him beside jealousy, huh?" I questioned. "You see, Seo-ha is growing on me. He's calming and nice and seems to be a good friend. The gender thing is stupid. Who said you can't be friends with a boy without having romantic intentions. You know I had a whole friend group of males," I told her. "Right, you had. When was the last time you guys talked again? Also, you might not have romantic intentions.. What about him?" I waved her off. "He knows I'm dating Minho, he's supportive as well."

_

"Wait, this isn't my way home, though." I faced Seo-ha. "I know. Don't be mad, though." I tilted my head. "Why?", "You said school was stressing, and it's a Friday." I shook my head, leaning into the seat. "Actually," he started. "Since I moved here those past months, I haven't visited my hometown at all. I miss the beach, really." I pressed my lips together, nodding. "Right, understandable. You could also go tomorrow though?" He weakly smiled. "Slick way to escape, but no. I wanna go today, and I also want you to come along." He was always so straightforward with his words.
"Because you're such a fun person to be around with," he explained further, obviously irony in his tone. "Sure I am. I can totally understand why you want me to come along." After five minutes, I yawned before sliding slightly down. "Wait," he spoke, pulling the seat backwards. His arm reached towards the backseat before he pulled a blanket to the front.

"May you also turn on the seat heater along with some calm music for me to completely doze off." I was saying it as a joke, but without hesitation, he did it anyway.

_

"We arrived." My eyes hardly opened, but when they did, the sun made me shut them close again. It was shining directly into my face. A shadow appeared over me, making me able to adjust. I spotted his hand covering the sun. Does he have to be that way? I had no idea if it was intentional or simply how he was, but there was a double meaning behind every act.
I cleared my throat.
"Right."

The wind greeted me instantly. I tucked my curtain bangs behind my ears, but they kept flying into the front.
But it smelled good, refreshing. At the sea it was always colder than in the city. Luckily, I accidentally left my hoodie in his car the last time. I took off my uniform jacket and pulled the pullover over instead.
I scanned my surroundings, spotting him heading away. "Hey, wait up," I jogged after him.
The sky was cloudy, and the wind felt like it hit me harder the closer we got to the beach. I spotted small street food stands at the side. "I wanna get something to eat. I'm starving," I told him, approaching the food.
I bought myself fishcake skewers, getting hungry simply by the steam hitting my nose.
"Look Seo-ha. Do you want some too?" I stopped my steps in front of him. "Huh? Uhhh." His eyes scanned the cakes before he shook his head. "I'm good, thanks. Watch out though, it's hot."

"What's he doing down there?" I questioned myself. I had taken a seat on a bench, while he casually sat onto the sand, staring forward into the sea.
I was still eating my food, but alone up here it was boring. "Hey, Seo-ha!" I shouted. He turned around at the mention, so I waved him up. For a second he didn't react, but when he did, he only returned my action, signaling me to come down instead. I huffed, "this guy's really something else."

I sat down right beside him, following to where his eyes landed on. "Today the sea looks hectic," he commented "hm, a bit". "My dad always said that now was the perfect timing to fish." I squinted my eyes before facing him. "Now? But, isn't that dangerous?" The corner of his mouth lifted, as his vision lowered. "Right, it is. Still he was stupid enough to still go. Our family didn't own too much. He was determined to pay for mistakes he did in the past and take good care of us. He earned his money with fishing. You could say it was his life." A frown spread across my forehead. "By any chance..did he" Seo-ha finally met eyes, giving me a small nod. "He died on the sea..today four years ago." It felt like my lungs tightened, unable to get any reaction out.
I only kept looking at him with guilt, which I actually don't enjoy giving, since I hate receiving it myself. He reached out to take my last fish cake, before eating it. "It's maybe stupid, but I feel like he's somehow there when I talk to him here. Like he listens or some..I guess it's hard to understand." Suddenly I got the courage to say something.