waves crashing on shore, a yellow half moon reflected on the pitch-black water while the warm sea scent filled the beach. a gust hit wonwoo's exposed skin which surprisingly scent a shiver down his spine, making goosebumps appear over his entire body. though the temperature was still cozily warm and enough for him to walk around in just a short sleeved casual top and a pair of shorts.
what time even was it? ten? at most eleven. he tend to lose track of time once he was seated in the snug sand, his eyes fixated on the steady yet reassuring waves. he left the lodge without anyone's knowledge on purpose. somehow, he still had a hard time comprehending the words seokmin's father had spoken to him.
especially about mingyu. the one specific boy who had been clouding his mind and took up all his thoughts ever since the first day on the beach.
so here he was, emptying his mind by listening to the emptiness of the beach, the wind howling through the trees far behind him combined with gusts of wind playing with the granular substance called sand. a faraway lighthouse drew a stroke of yellow light over the water and the sea every other minute, lighting up the surroundings for wonwoo to see. although after the long amount of time he'd been there, his eyes were used to the pitch-black night sky enough.
a long drawn-out sigh escaped his lips when he came to a conclusion that it was hopeless. everything. this whole situation. but especially the unexplainable sudden feelings he had for the specific boy called kim mingyu. it seemed to be frustrating, or rather confusing an wonwoo had no clue how to deal with it anymore.
he'd knew all along that there were more feelings involved than what he preferred to be. which, unfortunately, was hard to change or to forget about. how easy it might appear to some, wonwoo couldn't help but to feel so complicated about the entire situation.
"i thought i'd find you here." a sudden presence announced itself, creeping up to wonwoo from behind and dropping himself in the sand on the spot right next to the called boy. surprisingly, wonwoo didn't flinch nor got scared by the boy appearing out of nothing.
unconsciously, he knew kim mingyu would find him eventually. perhaps he already expected his arrival.
"what makes you sit here at this time. it's nearing midnight, you know? a dark place like this isn't a place for someone like you to be around this late, what if something gets dangerous." wonwoo feels mingyu's eyes burn in the side of his face but didn't budge to tear away his gaze from the serene sea.
"mingyu, weren't you the one secretly smoking cigarettes at this exact time a few days ago?" wonwoo calmly defended himself, fidgeting his fingers around a shell he found at the beach earlier.
"well, i guess we're even then." an apologetic laugh was heard from the puppy-like boy beside him "then what is it you're thinking of?"
"no specific thing actually." wonwoo lied, the lighthouse filling the beach with a quick stroke of light which disappeared in just a blink "i just felt like getting some fresh air after spending the entire noon inside."
mingyu chuckled, secretly shuffling a tad bit closer to wonwoo, which got noticed by the older on an instant. "you're the worst liar, jeon wonwoo." he laughed, finally managing to get wonwoo's attention.
and when wonwoo finally allowed himself to look at mingyu, his interest in the dark water of the sea seemed to disappear entirely. even though there was barely any light available, mingyu's facial features seemed to be outstanding no matter what. from the bridge of his nose to his dark eyebrows all the way up to his brown untamed hair and back to his pink lips, that seemed so soft and kissable-
did i really just think of that? wonwoo thought to himself, nervously biting his bottom lip, which he didn't even notice got stared at by mingyu really attentively.
"is it about earlier on the beach?" mingyu confronted him about it for the second time that day, which this time fortunately didn't bring discomfort to wonwoo.
"i honestly don't know." wonwoo answered, heaving a short sigh, throwing away the shell to avert his attention at least the slightest "i thought the beach would bring me some comfort and peace, but there's so much on my mind."
if he could only realize how proud mingyu was that wonwoo was able to use his words to express the way he was feeling. he wasn't even conscious that he did, for some reason speaking felt natural out of a sudden.
as if it wasn't the beach that was supposed to bring comfort in his system, but the appearance of kim mingyu.
"is there anything i can do to put your mind off it?" wonwoo allowed his eyes up to mingyu once again, seeing guilt rise up to the taller's face, making him resemble a puppy even more "perhaps an apology is enough?"
wonwoo cocked his brow, which was clearly visible in a flash of a second by the stroke of light from the lighthouse. "i don't see why you should apologize?"
"i do." mingyu admitted, averting his gaze to the serene sea "i know my sudden change of behavior upset you wonwoo. you know how easy it is to see past your lies, right? you told me you were fine when we walked back to seokmin's house, but your expression told me otherwise."
wonwoo knew he couldn't deny it, mingyu indeed seemed to be a pro in reading expressions. "i'm sorry."
"you know what." mingyu looked up again, a small yet genuine smile displaying on his lips as a sparkle ran through his eyes "let's stop apologizing, how about we run over the beach for a bit?"
it was wonwoo's turn to wear a confused expression. "a run?" he repeated mingyu's ridiculous words, finding it even more strange when mingyu jumped up from his position and took both wonwoo's hands in his.
"yes a run! let's run away from all our sorrows and feel like free teenagers! please run with me wonwon!"
"for the last time, don't call me wonwon." although wonwoo couldn't help but to feel butterflies roam through his tummy on the nickname "and i'm practically already an adult, i'm eighteen!"
"i don't care." mingyu gently pulled wonwoo up along with him, wiping sand off his pants when they stood straight "let's forget all our responsibilities for now and run with me! we're not grown up yet! come on run with me!"
