April was already summer for an island that was warm all year round. The sun sought through the palm trees overhead onto the golden sand. It was still cool to rest under the green shades, but the rays of light were enough to blind your eyes. Sea waves struck the golden sand with a regular rhythm, then retreated back into the immense, boundless blue.
Yixing sprinted along the beach on the soft sand. He purposely avoided the coast, keeping a few meters away from the tide line; it was doused with seawater, and he liked the dryness and warmth of sand better. It was the start of harvesting season for mangos and pineapples. All the adults had gone to the farms after the hottest part of the day. That meant that Yixing was free to do whatever he wanted the entire afternoon. Without a second thought, he headed towards Baekhyun's house.
He knew the route by heart. Yixing had been to Baekhyun's house countless of times, he was familiar with it like his own. It was basically his second home, and Baekhyun was basically his younger brother. You could always find Yixing and Baekhyun together, they were inseparable. Yixing felt a bit apologetic towards Baekhyun these days, though. They had not played together as frequently as before ever since Yixing started first grade. Stupid teacher, stupid homework, stupid school... He couldn't wait until next year when Baekhyun also would start elementary school; they would see each other every day!
It took Yixing a few minutes of looking everywhere before he spotted Baekhyun. Wearing all camouflaged clothing, Baekhyun was lying on his stomach with his head in the rich green foliage. He was concentrating on something inside of it while mumbling to himself, occasionally poking his hand in but then instantly out again. As Yixing walked closer, he could make out parts of Baekhyun's incoherent talk.
"...out...don't go..."
What is he doing? Curiosity drove Yixing to get even closer, stopping only until he was hovering over Baekhyun.
"...come here, yes!"
Without a warning, Baekhyun suddenly stood up. Their heads collided, knocking Yixing sharply in the jaw, and Baekhyun made contact with the ground once again. Something slipped out of Baekhyun's hand and disappeared into the greenery.
"Wait! Come back!" Baekhyun scrambled up and proceeded to chase after it. Knowing that it is long gone, he appeared again from the curtain of leaves seconds later with a pout on his face. "You scared Sehunnie away." He accused.
"What Sehunnie?" Yixing was still foggy after the hit in the jaw.
"My lizard! I spent one hour trying to become friends with him and you scared him away!"
"Oh come on," Yixing rolled his eyes, "I'll find you another lizard."
Baekhyun considered for a while and approvingly nodded his head.
They walked back towards the ocean on the request of Baekhyun. He did not want lizards anymore. He wanted to find crabs instead, to do the crab race. They trotted slowly along the coast. Yixing was reluctant to step into the cold and soggy sand, but Baekhyun insisted; plus, he owed Baekhyun a lizard. They searched the shallows carefully for traces of crabs, but the clear water contained nothing but creamy-colored seashells. Skin that was not covered by Baekhyun's clothing were scorched by the harsh sun. Yixing moved next to him and blocked the light from the already red arm.
"But of course," Yixing smacked his thigh for not thinking of it sooner, "there are the coral reefs!"
Simultaneously, they dashed across half of the island towards the section of corals that was closest to land. Magenta, emerald, golden, shades of all colors reflected on the aqua-tainted lagoon and quivered whenever a wave came through. They strode over the lagoon and reached the corals. It was vibrantly alive and inhabited myriads of sea lives; like an aquarium, it was brimming with fishes. Baekhyun dove in straight for the crabs, fishes did not interest him. Yixing followed shortly; his hands rummaged through the hooded layers of corals and felt for the hard shells of crabs. Yixing was less experienced than Baekhyun so he mimicked Baekhyun's actions. Soon enough, two tiny scarlet crabs were captured. Yixing was still unsatisfied, he was hoping for something bigger to do the crab race with, but Baekhyun's contented face stopped him from searching further.
They carried the crabs leisurely back to Baekhyun's house. They took a piece of A3 paper from Baekhyun's dad's office and drew a line in the middle. Yixing wanted to get a ruler, but Baekhyun was quick to put the marker down on the paper.
"There!" Baekhyun exclaimed. "That is your lane and this is mine."
It was a shaky line, but it does not matter. Yixing set down the two crabs on the different sides of the line. The two lowered their heads on opposite ends of the table and their eyes became at level with the crabs. Yixing found himself staring right into Baekhyun's eyes. They concentrated on the crabs in front while glistening with playfulness and excitement; he had never seen such dark eyes have so much light in them. It was rare for Baekhyun to be this quiet, it was his talent to find the fun in about everything. Yixing would rather stay at home and watch the television, but every time Baekhyun was able to intrigue Yixing with some new tricks.
They cheered and shouted for the crabs to move towards the finish line, but the crabs did not even twitch a claw. Shoving them did not help much either; they moved idly, went into wrong lanes, and one even crawled back to the starting line.
Baekhyun yelled in frustration, "Stupid crabs, let's do something else."
Baekhyun's dad came back from the farm and they immediately swarmed around the basket full of mangos.
"Yixing is here." Baekhyun's dad smiled gently at Yixing, "Is your dad home? I was planning to go fishing with him."
"He should be now."
Baekhyun held the huge bowl of mangos that his dad had cut for him with both hands and they walked out into the backyard. They sat on the stone steps of the stairs. The sun was half way down, but the warmth remained. It already vanished out of their view, though, as the mountain behind the backyard buried the horizon from their sight.
"Life is pretty hard," Baekhyun let out a dramatic sigh, "you won't ever get everything you want."
Yixing snorted in response. Still upset because of the crabs. It was perhaps the atmosphere created by the faded array of violet that hung above that made Baekhyun speak like a grown-up.
"Did you know that you can make a wish if you catch a firefly?" A tiny glow disappeared into the darkness of the bushes. "What would you wish for?"
It was very uncharacteristic of Baekhyun to ask a question like this. Yixing had never considered anything like that, so instead, he just shrugged.
"Your arm is red again."
"Is it?" Baekhyun absent-mindedly scratched the burned skin.
"My mom can give you aloe vera."
"Can we also have the pudding your mom makes?"
"Yeah, sure."
Baekhyun took his arm and jokingly bit down.
