Part One: The sea has cursed my name.

Chapter 1:

Sehun was jogging pass a neighbourhood of quiet houses. The window curtains were still drawn, the door locked shut, the well trimmed grass sways softly in the still cold morning air. Everything was blue; the dimly lit sky, the trees, the side walk, the asphalt road, him. He liked running in the early morning, when most people were still in bed. It was quiet, peaceful, and soothing.

He went along his usual jogging route -- pass the tranquil neighbourhood to the bridge that overlooked the calm sea, and then a quick stop at the little shop down on the foot of the bridge where Ms. Woo, the old woman who tends to the shop, would water her flowers. The sign hanging on her door spelled out CLOSED, but she was an early riser like Sehun.

Back when Sehun was just starting to run, she would greet at him as he went pass but now that he’s made a habit of stopping at the bridge to drink in the scenery of the beach before the town comes to life, she’d offer him a glass of water and in return, Sehun offers her his company for a few minutes before taking off running again.

Sehun liked the simple routine he has managed to fit into his life. It was comfortable and safe. Today, it felt like any other day but he knew he would have to come up with a new plan on how to spend his free time. It was the last day of the school term, summer was here. Sehun had been too busy with school work lately to think about what to do for summer break. His parents are definitely staying in town, and he doesn’t want to to leave either, even though whispers of cram schools, summer jobs and foreign countries has been circulating since the start of May.

Maybe he’ll spend the holiday in the shop. His father would need the help, but he hasn’t say anything about it, so it must not be dire.

Doing nothing was sounding more and more alluring, but he know he can’t. He’s got the entrance exam looming over him next term, and he has got to work hard to maintain his grades if he wanted to get into the K University that was two hours worth of commute away. It’s not like he has got big ambition or that he’s super smart, he just wanted to get out of this town.

Don’t get him wrong, he loved this place. It was beautiful, peaceful and very communal, but Sehun craved for something different. It doesn’t matter what it is, he just wanted something new.

After a quick chat with Ms. Woo, he made a turn to go back home. When he arrived, it was almost exactly six thirty. His mother was in the kitchen preparing breakfast and he can hear his father stomping around upstairs looking for his keys and jacket. He made his way through showering and getting ready for school in a flash, and by the time he came down to have breakfast, the table was set for two, his mother reading the newspaper on one side of the table and his father was on the sink, cleaning up his plates.

They talked without looking at each other, each preoccupied in their own world.

That’s how it was in his family. His father worked in the early morning, his mother worked later in the day, and he had school. Sometimes, he can admit that it was lonely. Sehun and his parents were only ever together when it’s so early in the morning, even the birds were still asleep or when there’s a holiday. They tried to make it work, though.

The breakfast was simple today, just eggs on toast with a side dish of some sort of herbal soup and a steaming glass of tea ready for consumption. Sehun’s father was already putting his shoes on when Sehun had his first bite. “See ya’ later, dear!” his father said from the door. Sehun’s mother made a sound of confirmation and waved her hand without looking away from the newspaper. When the front door closed with a bang, his mother looked up to him.

“What time are you going to be home later?” she asked. Sehun recalled his schedule for the day and replied, with his mouth still chewing, “around two, why?”

Sehun’s mother folded her newspaper. “I need you to do me a favour, honey. The packet I ordered has arrived but it’s in the post office and I can’t get off of work later.”

Sehun shrugged, “okay.”

“The post office closes at three thirty, so make sure you go right after you leave school, alright?”

“Okay.”

His mother smiled, and went back to her newspaper.

Sehun’s experience with the last days of school had always been fun. Usually, the teacher would be too busy, or too lazy based on how you look at it, to care about what their students were up to, so they’d issue a cleaning campaign or some sort of academia-free activity and let the day roll by. But it wasn’t just the last day of school for him this year, it was the last day of freedom, as Kyungsoo called it.

Do Kyungsoo was a neighbourhood friend who was a year older than him. He was the closest thing to a brother for Sehun. He moved out last year when he got into his first choice college that was across the country from their little town. They chat often through Skype or text messages.

“You better be prepare and relish it this year,” Kyungsoo said through their video call back when the semester was just starting. He was writing something down vigorously through the pixelated video on his laptop screen. There was a quiet pair of voices from somewhere outside his small room that were laughing. Kyungsoo doesn’t seem bothered by it.

Sehun was on his bed, doing the first batch of homework for the semester. Kyungsoo suggested that they study together through video call like this to ‘bond in a time crunch’ as he put it, but Sehun had a suspicion that it was just a front for forcing himself to study at all. Because Kyungsoo was a smart kid, but he was extremely lazy when he’s not driven to do something. And he’s not a driven guy.

“You’re going to complain about it a lot but when it’s over and when you’re under so much exam stress, you’re gonna miss it. And on the last day of your junior year, you’re gonna look back to all the things you’ve done and regret all the things you didn’t do because after that, you’re going to find yourself in a constant state of not having enough time.”

And he was right, of course. It was the last day of school and Sehun has a list of things he could have done but didn’t and it was starting to crawl under his skin. Regret, maybe. But it wasn’t that strong. It was like being stung by a fire ant-- it hurts but only when you pay attention to it.

The third years were given the cleaning campaign, like the first and second years but since they were separated by floor level, it doesn’t feel as fun for them. There were some people still playing around with the broom and the cleaning products but most were just caught up in discussions. Discussions of summer plans which consist of mostly job-seeking and cram school than any actual leisure activity. Sehun didn’t have plan for any of those, but he knew he wasn’t going to be allowed to just enjoy the holiday either.

It just didn’t feel right, what with his youthful days being numbered and adulthood right at the corner. A lot of people would want to be seen as adults but Sehun personally wanted to stay a child as long as possible. He just wasn’t about that.

His friends were inviting him to go out with them after class. Sehun had to decline with a polite look of sorry, but for some reason he doesn’t feel that bad for being missing in action. His reasoning was pretty legit too, so they let him go.

The post office wasn’t that far from the school. Actually, nothing was far in his small town. Most of the commercial spots were centralised in one area, with the exception of his father’s sushi shop, which was located by the beach. It was more efficient that way, it kept the fish fresh and the customers happy.

Even though the closeness was nice for travel purposes, it had it downsides as well.

Everyone knew everyone.

The man manning the small’s post office counter was a middle aged man who always looked like he was a second away from falling asleep. He doesn’t talk too much, but he was a friendly man. When Sehun was a kid, he was convinced the man had been Santa Clause, with his graying beard and his chubby stature. Even when he realised Santa wasn’t a real person, he couldn’t get the image off of his mind.

When Mr. Santa came out of the back room with his mother’s packet, he sauntered with a small ream of papers in one hand. His smile when he gave Sehun the packet was one Sehun was used to seeing. It’s the sort that people would use when they have something they need from you. Love thy neighbour be damned.

“See son, would you mind running an errant for me? I’ll tip you, of course.”

Yes, actually. He does mind. But Sehun didn’t say that because he was raised better than that and a few extra cash in his bag doesn’t sound too bad right now. So he just nodded.

Mr. Santa’s smile turned into a genuine one this time.

“I’m really sorry, son but we were in a rush this morning and the people who were in charge forgot about it. I just need you to deliver these leaflets to the family that just moved in. It’s almost closing time and it’s the weekend tomorrow, so we really need to get this delivered soon.” He explained, “you know which one right?”

“The house near the harbour?”

“That’s it!”

And that was how Sehun found himself taking a long detour around the sparsely spaced residential area up on the hill to reach the big house near the harbour. The house in question had been left vacant since forever. It wasn’t like it was that far away from the town centre, in fact it was one in a collection of four other big houses of the same style that was near the sea. But the three other houses belonged to the senior citizens that had enough money to live the rest of their life in peace and tranquility, and the rest of the town was mostly detached from them, giving them all the space they need.

The last time that house was lived in, Sehun had only been a baby. Apparently, the previous owner was a pair of old actors who wanted to spend the rest of their healthy life away from the spotlight. Sehun has heard about a new family moving in, but he didn’t know anything about it. He just assumed it was another old couple.

So when a boy around his age, albeit slightly taller than him, answered the door, Sehun was caught by surprise.

“Um,” Sehun started. “I’m here to deliver these.”

He showed the boy the pile of leaflets.

“It’s for the local accommodations.”

The boy, who was only slightly taller than him, took the papers with cautiousness. It took Sehun a few seconds before realising that it was aimed at the papers instead of him, judging by the way the boy glowered at the paper with disdain.

Sehun thought it was weird. Most people wouldn’t give them a second thought and just toss it to the table mindlessly but this boy was reading through the front cover like it had offended him personally.

Sehun just put on the default smile he always use when the boy looked up at him with questioning eyes.

“Is there a swimming pool in town?”

That was a weird question. Sehun automatically glanced at the open sea that was right beside the house. The boy didn’t look like he followed. Sehun was beginning to feel agitated.

“Um, yeah but it’s mostly used for swimming lessons and the after school clubs… Because, you know,” Sehun looked at the boy in disbelief when he noticed that the boy hadn’t moved a single facial muscle, “there’s a beach.”

The boy paused for a split second, like he was judging the answer Sehun has given him and then smiled and nodded, like he was satisfied.

“Okay, thanks.”

And with a curt raised of a hand and a very slight bow, that looked more like a nod, the boy closed the door and left Sehun more bewildered than when he had initially opened his mouth.

Okay, totally normal.

He thought that maybe he should’ve felt mad, because that boy had just closed the door in his face without a proper goodbye. He didn’t even introduced himself, that would’ve been the nice new person in town thing to do, wasn’t it? But as Sehun was walking through the side walk beside the overgrown grasses on the way home, all he could think was how intriguing the guy had been.

Who in their right mind would ask for a swimming pool when they reside in a sea-side town? That was like asking for an ice cream while in a blizzard. Sehun didn’t think that the boy was entirely sane, but the more he thought about it, the funnier it got.

They boy was good looking too. He can already imagine what a chaos the boy would cause when he enter school next term. Maybe he should be feeling contested by it, since Sehun was the current poster child for the town. But he didn’t. He just wanted to get to know that strange boy.