Notes From The Sea ✓

P R O L O G U E

Standing on the beach under the blissful night sky with his toes buried deep within the moist sand, Jeongguk stared ahead of him.

The calming sounds of the waves hitting the rocks, the feeling of the water washing upwards, tickling him, as it slowly encircled around his feet and wetted him, caused the utter edge of his lips to tug up in a smile.

Closing his eyes and tilting his face up towards the stars, he inhaled deeply, air so fresh and cold he felt anew.

This was true, inner peace.

It was always like this. Every day, he came to the beach to relax. He felt all his worries and negative thoughts drain out of him as he stood there. As if the waves of the water dragged his problems into the deep back along with them, taking them away from him.

Whether it be during the day or in the silent hours of night, it was always something that calmed him.

If someone were to ask, he definitely preferred those silent hours. The stars shining in the dark, like they lit up his world.

His own, rather dark world, was far from perfect. After he came out to his parents, he got kicked out of the house without a single word, like his childhood never mattered to them at all.

"You disgust us! You are a disgrace to our family, how dare you to do this to us!?"

That, would forever be imprinted on his mind. The door had been slammed shut on his face right after.

All of their contact had been cut off immediately. The money they helped him with, for example, his studies or even the food they bought for him, gone.

From then on, he had to do it on his own.  It didn't matter he was just an eighteen year old boy.

With a small job as a rooky photographer, he could barely afford the cheapest apartment in the street that was the closest to the beach.

That was the only, absolute must for him. No matter how crappy the apartment looked, or how he ignores the way he sometimes has to skip meals in order to afford his monthly rent, it had to be near the water. The sound of the waves had to be audible. Otherwise, he couldn't get sleep at all.

Whenever Jeongguk strolled along the shoreline he felt free. It was like every time an enormous weight got lifted off his shoulders.

Sadly, the weight came crashing back down and returned to him the moment he stepped foot in his apartment.

He felt an undescribable connection to the sea. Oddly, the feeling of not being alone was always with him whenever he stared at the unknown dark depths.

To some people, that feeling was labelled as 'Thalassophobia.'

To him, it was utterly comforting. He didn't need four walls and a roof above of his head in order to feel at home.

No, standing right there in the open, with a soft, refreshing breeze brushing past him─ he felt better than high, claustrophobia-causing brickwalls could ever make him feel.

In a way, it felt like something was hidden deep down, in the unknown waters. Considering the utmost peace it brought him, he liked to think it was something that understood his worries. Something that would always be there for him.

Those were all just feelings; after all, he was highly aware that there was nothing more to be found in the sea other than fishes and innocent creatures from various of sizes. Perhaps, sadly, a piece of plastic here and there. But, there wasn't actually something out there that took over his doubts and erased them for him.