“How have you never been to the beach before?”

Woohyun shrugs in response to his roommate, Sungyeol. He’s lying in bed and tapping at a soccer game on his phone.

“You should seriously stop playing games so much and actually go out!” Sungyeol says. “We’re lucky to go to school right next to the beach and you’re telling me you’ve never been there?”

“It’s not like I have anyone to go with. Like someone to hold hands with while walking along the shoreline, or to watch the sunset with,” Woohyun replies.

“You don’t need a lover to go to the beach!” Sungyeol exclaims.

“Well, it’s not like I want to go there for a swim!” Woohyun retorts.

Sungyeol huffs in annoyance. “You are going to regret not going there more often when we graduate. I’m about to go with Myungsoo, wanna come? Maybe you’ll find someone there to do couple things with.”

“No thanks, I don’t want to be a third wheel on your date.”

Sungyeol rolls his eyes. “Suit yourself. See you later then.”

Woohyun says bye to his roommate, who exits their shared dorm room. He turns back to his game and notices that he lost. “Damn…” he mutters before flipping around on his bed, deciding to take a nap.  

The next day is a Saturday, and Woohyun realizes that he really has nothing better to do than study. He doesn’t feel like studying though, so he decides that a walk to the beach won’t hurt him. It’s only a ten minute walk from the dorm anyway. Thankfully, Sungyeol had already left the room, so Woohyun wouldn’t have to put up with his roommate bothering him.

Woohyun dresses comfortably for the beach, and heads out. Even though it’s February, it’s sunny outside (bless the great weather where his school is) and he’s happy that he picked a great day to finally go to the beach. He doesn’t expect much, but he’s kinda curious because Sungyeol always talks about how great the beach is. When Woohyun walks down the stairs and steps onto the sand, he notices that there are many other people scattered around. It isn’t crowded, but there are enough people to make it seem lively. He walks around for a bit, taking in the new surroundings. It’s warm, but the ocean brings along a nice breeze and it feels relaxing. As Woohyun looks around, he spots a red-haired guy walking along the shoreline. Woohyun thinks the guy’s red hair looks pretty, even though he can’t see his face. He observes him from a distance. Unlike the other people by the water having fun, this person is simply walking alone barefoot at the edge of the water.  

As Woohyun is occupied with staring at the stranger, he suddenly feels something hit the back of his head. He rubs the spot and turns around to see a guy running over to him to retrieve the volleyball at his feet. “I am so sorry, Dongwoo is a bit hyper today and he keeps hitting the ball too far,” the guy apologizes. “Are you okay?”

Woohyun looks in the direction of the volleyball net and sees two other guys looking at him. The shorter of the two (who Woohyun guesses is Dongwoo) smiles sheepishly and bows his head in apology. “Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Woohyun answers.

“Sorry again… my name is Hoya, by the way. Would you like to join us for volleyball? There’s only three of us and it’d be nice to have another person to play with.” Hoya chuckles.

“Sure,” Woohyun agrees. “I’m Woohyun.”

Hoya smiles. “Nice to meet you, even though this is a strange way of meeting.”

Forgetting about the mysterious red-haired guy, Woohyun joins Hoya and his friends -- who he learns are Dongwoo and Sungjong -- for a game of beach volleyball. It turns out that Hoya is the best at sports, so he was originally playing against both Sungjong and Dongwoo. Woohyun joins Hoya’s team, and because Woohyun is quite athletic too, they win against Sungjong and Dongwoo by a lot of points. Nevertheless, they all have a good time. Afterwards, they go for dinner together to hang out and talk, and Woohyun is happy to have made three new friends. He decides that it was a good idea to go to the beach after all.  

Woohyun doesn’t expect to go back to the beach so soon, but Hoya invites him to play volleyball again a week later. This time to make the game more fair, Woohyun is paired with Dongwoo and they play against Hoya and Sungjong. The game is very even, and they’re playing for the last winning point when Woohyun sees the red-haired guy walking along the shoreline again. There’s something about him that draws Woohyun in, and he can’t help but stare. Unfortunately, he doesn’t notice the volleyball flying towards him or Dongwoo shouting at him to hit the ball. When the ball comes in contact with his head, Woohyun falls to the ground in shock. The other three quickly rush over to him, apologizing and asking him if he’s okay. Woohyun doesn’t answer and continues to look at the red-haired guy, who is walking further away. Dongwoo waves his hand in front of Woohyun’s face. “Hello? Earth to Woohyun?”

Woohyun turns to face his friends, who are all looking at him with concern. “Oh, sorry…” he apologizes. “I always end up getting distracted when I see him.”

“Who?” Dongwoo asks, while Hoya and Sungjong turn their heads in the direction which Woohyun was looking at.

“That guy with red hair,” Woohyun explains.

“Sunggyu?” Hoya and Sungjong say at the same time.

“You guys know him?” Woohyun asks, possibly sounding too eager to know more.

Hoya laughs. “Well, not really. I invited him to play volleyball with us once, but he declined and told me that he’s not good at sports.”

“He’s always here, walking alone like that,” Dongwoo adds.

“I wonder if he’s ever lonely,” Woohyun comments.

Sungjong’s eyes light up. “Are you interested in him, Woohyun?”

Hoya and Dongwoo laugh and Woohyun’s cheeks turn red. “W-what?! I... I didn’t say that!”

“Yep, sure.” Sungjong grins, amused by Woohyun’s reaction.

“Anyway!” Hoya speaks up and turns to Sungjong. “That means we won! You guys are paying for drinks!”

Sungjong cheers with Hoya while Woohyun pouts. “Sorry, Dongwoo… It’s my fault that we lost.”

Dongwoo pats his back reassuringly. “It’s okay, Woohyun! Don’t be sad over it.”

They head to a coffee shop in the nearby college town for drinks. Even though Woohyun lost and has to pay for an extra drink, he doesn’t feel too sad. At least he knows the red-haired guy’s name now. Sunggyu.

The third time Woohyun goes to the beach, he goes alone. His classes end early on Tuesdays, so he goes in the early afternoon. He wonders if Dongwoo is right about Sunggyu always walking on the beach. It doesn’t take long for Woohyun to spot Sunggyu’s bright red hair.  Instead of staring like he did the past two times, Woohyun first looks around for incoming volleyballs. Seeing no flying objects headed towards him, he smiles and starts walking faster to catch up to Sunggyu. Third time’s a charm, he thinks to himself. As he gets closer, he gets nervous, but he calls out to the other anyway, “Sunggyu!”

Sunggyu stops walking and turns around, looking at Woohyun with a puzzled expression. It’s actually the first time Woohyun has seen Sunggyu’s face, and he’s lost for words because Sunggyu is really attractive. They stare at each other awkwardly, and Sunggyu ends up speaking first. “Um… did you just call my name?”

Woohyun simply nods as he walks closer to Sunggyu. They’re standing face to face now, and Sunggyu is a little bit taller than Woohyun. Woohyun releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and finally talks. “Sorry if I surprised you, my friends told me your name. I’m Woohyun. I’ve seen you a couple of times here and you’re the reason I got caught off guard and got hit by a volleyball two times. I want to walk with you and get to know you better.”

Sunggyu laughs, and Woohyun really likes the way Sunggyu’s small eyes become crescents. “Well, Woohyun, nice to meet you. I don’t mind you walking with me.”

Woohyun beams and the two of them start walking together. They get to know one another while walking along the beach, enjoying the ocean breeze. Woohyun learns that Sunggyu likes being by the ocean, so he comes here often. He likes the quiet ocean setting as opposed to all the crazy parties that go on in the college town. When it isn’t too cloudy, the sunset by the ocean is spectacular, and Sunggyu thinks it’s a blessing to attend school at such a beautiful place. Woohyun admits that he’s never gone to the beach to see the sunset, and Sunggyu promises to bring Woohyun to the best spot to see the view.

“I’m busy this week, though. If you’re free on the weekend, I’ll take you there if you’d like,” Sunggyu says.

Woohyun agrees. “Okay.”

They exchange numbers and Woohyun has never felt so happy to get another person’s phone number.

Woohyun and Sunggyu text every day, and Woohyun finds that he can’t wait until the weekend to go to the beach with Sunggyu again. He’s surprised at himself, since he was never so interested in going to the beach before. But deep inside, he knows it’s because he wants to be with Sunggyu. It’s Friday when Woohyun gets to talk to Sunggyu again.

“Your phone was ringing when you were gone,” Sungyeol informs his roommate. “It’s from someone named ‘GyuGyu.’”

Woohyun tries to hide his embarrassment, but Sungyeol looks like he’s trying to stifle his laughter. Woohyun grabs his phone and heads outside so he can call Sunggyu back without being disturbed.

Sunggyu picks up after three rings. “Hello?”

“Sorry I didn’t pick up the phone earlier, I was showering. What’s up?” Woohyun asks.

“Oh, I just wanted to tell you that the sun sets at 5:30 on Sunday. Do you want to meet at the beach at 5? And afterwards we could go get dinner or something.”

Woohyun breaks out into a huge smile, even though Sunggyu can’t see it. “Is this a date?”

There’s a brief silence on the other side, before Sunggyu answers hesitantly, “If you want it to be.”

“Yes, a date. I like the sound of that,” Woohyun says, grinning.

“Okay.” Woohyun can hear the happiness in the other’s voice as well. “I’ll see you on Sunday then?”

“Yep, see you!” Woohyun says.

He heads back to his room in a cheery mood, and although Sungyeol looks skeptical, he doesn’t say anything to Woohyun. Woohyun thinks it’s better that way -- he never wants to admit to Sungyeol that he went to the beach and indeed found someone he likes.  

On Sunday, Woohyun gets to the beach at 5 like he agreed with Sunggyu. He’s already there, and he waves to Woohyun excitedly. “Glad to see you.” Sunggyu greets Woohyun when he approaches.

“Glad to see you too,” Woohyun says happily.

Even though they texted each other all week, Woohyun suddenly feels embarrassed and doesn’t know what to say now that he’s with Sunggyu again. Thankfully, Sunggyu speaks first. “Shall we go? The best spot to see the sunset is a 12-minute walk from here.”   

“Okay,” Woohyun says, and they start walking, with Sunggyu leading the way.

Woohyun loosens up while he’s walking, and he’s able to talk with Sunggyu comfortably again. They talk to each other about how their week has been. Sunggyu has been busy with a project the past week, so he’s really happy to come outside to see the sunset. Woohyun admits he was really excited to come out to see the sunset as well, since he’s never seen it by the oceanside. They soon arrive at the spot, which is located on a small plateau by the ocean. Sunggyu sits down on a large flat rock that serves as a makeshift bench, and he beckons Woohyun to come sit next to him. Woohyun sits down next to Sunggyu so that their shoulders and legs are touching. Sunggyu doesn’t seem to be fazed by this though. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

Woohyun looks out to the ocean to take in the sunset view, and he hums in response. There are no clouds so he can clearly see the sun hovering above the horizon. The sun’s orange and yellow hues contrast with the darkening blue skies, and it’s truly an amazing sight. It’s even better because they’re right next to the ocean, and there’s a romantic feeling to the setting. Woohyun suddenly feels another hand holding his, and he looks over to Sunggyu. Sunggyu smiles at him and Woohyun can only smile back in response. There’s a moment of understanding shared between them as they enjoy the view, and Woohyun knows that this wouldn’t be the last time.

(Secretly Woohyun is glad that Sungyeol kept bugging him to go to the beach.)

a/n: what did i even write? i apologize for the ending... (i'm not sure if it's just me but endings are the hardest for me to write!) to justify it, here's a quote from woohyun: "Our relationship isn't a happy ending, it's never ending." (because we all know that woogyu is never ending, right? ㅋㅋㅋ)

basically i just wanted to post this for woohyun's birthday, since he's my ultimate bias. :)

생일축하해, 우현아 ♥