“And then he gives me a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through me.” 

― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

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The pitter-patter of the raindrops on the windows soon followed after a long night of the dreadful storm; and yet, constant rain of cats and dogs outside couldn’t drown the sound of glass shattering and angry shouts from downstairs, since it could still be heard clearly by Donghae. He pulled the covers up until his shoulders to indulge himself in the warmth it provides.

Clang!

There it is again. Donghae buried his head under the pillow and sighed. “They’re fighting again,” he said softly; annoyed.

The next morning, he went downstairs to find no breakfast prepared on the table. He sighed once more and walked towards the cabinet to take out his cereal. He didn’t complain, after all, half a loaf is better than none.

            “Good morning, darling,” his mother greeted him as she entered the kitchen.

Donghae greeted his mother back as he chewed on the cereal, before asking, “Where’s dad?”

The smile plastered across his mother’s face faded, and Donghae had sort of expected that. “He’s off to work, dear,” she said softly. “And could you go and sweep the front once you’re done with your breakfast? I’m getting the feeling that we’ll be having a customer today,” Donghae knew that his mother was trying to keep him out of the subject, and he had no other choice but to keep his mouth shut.

Once he had finished with his breakfast, he went to the front of their family inn to grab a broom from their shed, and began sweeping. He looked around the deserted area ten minutes later, after he had finished sweeping and couldn’t help but wonder whether they would be having customers that day.

Donghae's parents owned the inn by this deserted highway, though it wasn’t so deserted back then. Travellers would be seen passing by everyday; and they would always stop by at their inn, either for something to eat or a place to sleep in for the night.

            But business went bad when a new highway was build two years ago, and the travellers just stopped coming. Donghae was told that the new highway happens to shorten the distance to the traveller’s destination even more, and that there are much bigger and advanced highway stops there, unlike the ones in this old highway.

Obviously things had been hard on Donghae's parents, and that’s when they began quarrelling for just about everything.

Donghae chuckled to himself for even allowing himself to be bothered to wait for a customer, just to see whether his mother’s intuition could actually be trusted. He was about to leave when he heard a loud vroom in the parking lot and swore to himself to always trust his mother word when she says it, because it really was a customer.

He watched their first customer in two years parking the large motorcycle in the parking lot, trying to distinguish whether the biker was a man or a woman as the biker had a helmet on. Donghae could feel the biker was looking at his direction and was a bit taken aback when the biker gave him a slight nod.

He couldn’t help but gawk at the biker in awe once the helmet was taken off, which revealed a man with such flawless, yet pale milky white skin- almost porcelain-like underneath it. His gaze fell upon the man’s perfect jaw line, and his short auburn hair covering his forehead, complementing his almost-perfect features. His body seemed to be well-built, even though he was wearing that leather jacket; but Donghae could still tell just by observing the way he walked. Donghae just couldn’t stop himself from wondering whether this man was actually the reincarnation of a Greek god.

The man was walking towards him, or rather, towards the entrance of the inn and Donghae still couldn’t stop himself from staring. Once the man had checked in, his mother called him to show the man where his room is.

            Donghae didn’t complain as he quietly lead the man to his room, though he had to fight the urge to turn around look at the man behind him, since he felt that he was being stared at. He gave the man the key to his room once they had reached the particular room, and found himself to be a bit surprised to find that his instincts didn’t lie since the man really was staring at him.

            “Do you live here?” the man asked once he had his key. Instead of answering, Donghae found himself thinking that his voice didn’t really suit his tough appearance at all, but then it hit him that his voice emits some sort of a charismatic aura.

It was too bad Donghae didn’t really have the mood to talk, he simply just nodded and left before the man could ask any more question.

**************

That night, Donghae's father returned drunk again, like the few nights before; and eventually his parents quarrelled again, only this time the sound of glass shattering was a lot more frequent, and the swearing was even louder.

Donghae ruffled his hair, and made up his mind since he just couldn’t stand the fighting anymore and made his way through the front door. He never did plan to run away, he knew his parents still needs him, even though they tend to ignore him most of the time for being so busy with trying to keep the food on their table. But that night Donghae contemplated whether he should really leave for good.

He sat down on the rocks by the beach and listened to sound of the harsh waves hitting the sandy beach with his eyes closed. He found the sound to be rather soothing and hummed his favourite tune as he try to doze himself to sleep.

            “It’s cold out here,” a somewhat familiar voice said, and Donghae opened his eyes to see their inn’s one and only customer sitting beside him, staring at the moon above them. “I guess the rumours are true, it’s really beautiful here at night,”

Donghae got up to his sitting position, he wasn’t even sure when did his back had hit the surface of the rock or the fact that he might have dozed off for a few seconds before a particular reincarnated Greek god disturbed his moment of serenity.

            “What are you doing here?” Donghae asked, not even trying to hide the irritation in his voice as he uttered those words.

            “I saw you walking out when I was star gazing from my room. I figured you might be heading to somewhere nice and serene like this,” he replied, his eyes still fixed on the scene before him. He looked at Donghae and smiled a smile that Donghae never imagined to be able to look so lovely on man’s face before. His smile seemed very earnest and friendly, and you can even see his gums showing as he smiled. “I’m Hyukjae by the way,”

Donghae realized that he had been staring too long that he didn’t quite catch the man’s name when he said it. “I’m Donghae,” he replied. “Hyukjae; am I right?” he asked, and the said man nodded in return.

            “I’d like it if you would leave,” he said coolly.

Hyukjae chuckled. “I would, but I can't leave a school kid out here alone in the middle of the night can I?

            “I’ll be fine. I'm used to this place anyway. Just leave,” he said again, putting a little bit of emphasis on his last word.

            “If you say so,” the older male stated as he stood up and made a swift jump before landing softly on another rock. He gave Donghae a small hand salute before heading further down the huge rocks, and running across the beach towards the shore.

Donghae watched the strange man stretch himself and walked alongside the shore, bending down a few times for what Donghae assumed to pick up seashells hidden in the cold sand. “The inn is the other way,” he suddenly yelled, suddenly under the impression that the older one had forgotten the way back to the inn.

            It appears that Hyukjae didn’t hear him, since he carried on with his seashell collecting. Donghae furrowed his eyebrow when he realized he had been staring at the man instead of clearing his mind, (which was the purpose to why he was there in the first place) and yet he kept his gaze on the unusual sight, as if the strange man’s actions were somewhat entertaining to watch; or rather, to be laughed at.

Suddenly Hyukjae stopped his track; and lifted his head to look at the sky.

Donghae squinted his eyes a little to see what Hyukjae was doing since it was dark. The horror he felt when Hyukjae suddenly swayed his body from right to left as if he was losing his balance, before falling flat onto his back by the shore, unmoving.  

            “God, please don’t be dead,” Donghae thought as he quickly sprung up to his feet and ran after the fallen Greek god, ignoring the cuts on his skin as he slide down the rocks until he finally reached the spot where the older one had fallen.

            “Sir, are you alright?” he asked as soon as he landed on his knees next to Hyukjae. He shook the older man’s shoulder vigorously in an attempt to wake him up but nothing happened. No respond. Donghae was on the verge of tears, he watched as the body lay there, completely motionless.

It was rather absurd for him to be thinking that Hyukjae died, the man was running around just fine two minutes ago, but Donghae isn’t the person who thinks things from the positive side, things were never positive for him anyway.

            “Please wake up,” he whispered, “I…was thinking of showing you a really nice view. You like pretty views don’t you? So please wake up,”

Donghae thought he was being rather stupid for saying such things since he knew well enough that it won't reach the figure in front of him. He used his arm to wipe the tears in his eyes, and hugged his knees as he buried his face between them to calm himself down.

            “Then take me there,” he heard a voice.

            “I will, but you won't wake up,” Donghae replied, his voice cracking. When reality finally had struck him he lifted his head in as instant, only to find the older man lying on his side, grinning at him.

            “Gotcha didn’t I?” he said cheekily, laughing at loud at the stunned teenager’s face ogling at him as if he just risen from the dead; well, in Donghae's eyes, he just did.

           Donghae scowled at him before standing up, kicking the sand as he cursed out loud. “That was not funny!” he snapped. “What are you, seven? I ing seriously thought you were dead!”

To Donghae's bewilderment, the handsome young man before him continued to laugh, even clutching his stomach and rolling on the sand. When he had finally settled down he looked at Donghae, still giggling before lying flat on his back again, trying to inhale as much air as possible.

            Donghae just had the slightest urge to kick some sand into Hyukjae's eyes, hoping to be able to wipe that goofy gummy smile off his face. “Stop laughing,” he said. “I don’t find it funny at all,”

            “You really don’t have much sense of humour in you, don’t you?” Hyukjae said, still giggling, “You really should have seen your face,”

Donghae sat back down and snapped his gum, scowling. He didn’t want to argue, he was pretty sure he looked ridiculous himself. He suddenly felt somebody tugging the back of his shirt and pulled him aback until his back touched the ground.

            “What the hell-”

            “Look at the stars,” Hyukjae interjected, before Donghae could throw one of his annoyed remarks for being forced to lie on the sand.

The teenager scowled and turned his head to the direction that Hyukjae had pointed out and the scowl faded as soon as it came. Donghae was never the one who actually adore the nature around him, other than listening to the sound of the waves, of course. But he realized he should have given Mother Nature the benefit of the doubt. The sky was beautiful.

Donghae could’ve sworn that he had never seen the sky so full of glittering stars for as long as he lived on that highway; it was like Hyukjae had warped him to a whole new place, far from home.

            “A shooting star!” Hyukjae suddenly exclaimed, “Make a wish, kid,” he went on as he nudged Donghae hard in the ribs before closing his eyes.

Donghae chuckled to see that there are still people who believed in such things, being that he already quit wishing upon stars long ago.

            “You didn’t make a wish, didn’t you?” Hyukjae asked. “Man, you’re so boring. And I thought teenagers are supposed to be fun,”

The younger one eyed the strange man lying next to him; a stream of thoughts began sneaking into his head. Hyukjae seemed like a very carefree person, yet Donghae noticed him to be very observant. He enjoyed childish pranks and wishing upon shooting stars and yet, his appearance doesn’t give that impression at all. Donghae thought about how he felt a tint of admiration the moment Hyukjae took off his helmet earlier, slightly curious whether the man he saw earlier was actually abducted by aliens and replaced by this weird creature before him.

            “Why are you here?” he suddenly blurted.

            “To watch the stars, of course; you brought me here, remember?” Hyukjae said; eyes still fixed on the sky. He brought out his palms and framed the view using his fingers, muttering inaudible words.

            “No. I mean, why are you here as a traveller?” Donghae rephrased his question after giving it a thought, trying to get a straight answer from Hyukjae. He noticed that Hyukjae has the tendency to beat around the bush with every single thing he says; and it’s starting to get annoying for Donghae.

            After a few minutes of beating around the bush, (as Donghae had expected) Donghae found out that Hyukjae is actually an artist, travelling all over the country looking for inspiration. He heard from his fellow colleagues how this highway has a nice view, which explains why he’s here now.

            “So why are you here?” Hyukjae took the chance to ask when their previous conversation had ended.

Donghae quirked an eyebrow, “What do you mean why am I here?” he asked as a matter-of-factly, “I live here, remember? You asked me back at the inn?”

            “No, I mean; why are you here now? And alone too,”

Donghae didn’t know how to reply. The tension was all returning back to him now, and he couldn’t force the tears back inside either. Hyukjae kept quiet as he watched the younger one hug his knees and stare at the ground, tears slowly running down his smooth cheek.

            “I'm just…sick of it,” he said quietly. “I'm sick of hearing my parents quarrelling all the time. They just won't stop. I just want the three of us to live with each other happily despite the hardships. I'm having a hard time too,”

Donghae heaved a long sigh. He thought of when was the last time he went out to hang with his friends or rather, when was the last time he actually felt like a real teenager. He stopped seeing his friends outside of school, having to spend his time working at the diner an hour away from the inn till late.

There were times where he wished he could join his friends at the karaoke place, or just hang around at the beach with some girls like all his friends would do, but he just couldn’t. Because of that he normally spends his time stargazing from his room or come out here to the beach at night time to listen to the crashing waves.

            Seeing how depressed Donghae looked Hyukjae took out a sketch book from his bag that he’s been carrying along with a pencil and handed it to the younger one. “You like to draw don’t you?” he asked, smiling.

           Donghae stared at the empty piece of paper before taking it into his hands. “I'm no good at drawing stuff,” he muttered.

            “Don’t lie. I saw your sketches that you left this evening and I thought it was really nice. Try drawing something out for me, I wanna see more,” Hyukjae said.

The younger one thought about how drawing things would always make him feel better, other than singing that is. He thought about it at first and began his sketch, with Hyukjae watching him at his side.

After what it seems like a half an hour, Donghae had finally finished his sketch. He then looked at it, looking rather satisfied at first; but then his expression changed. “What’s the use,” he sadly said. Hyukjae took a peek of what that troubled teen had drawn on his sketch book and was delighted to see such fine drawing of his parents and him, smiling happily together.

            “Hey, that looked great,” Hyukjae stated but Donghae scoffed.

            “How the hell can it look great? It’s not like drawing the three of us looking so happy would bring my family back together,” he said, tearing the paper off the rims and continues to tear it into smaller pieces before throwing it away.

            “This is just…stupid,” he added, and immediately left Hyukjae when he felt the tears streaming down his face.

Hyukjae was ready to make his leave the next day, but before that he told Donghae that he’ll draw another family portrait for him, and that he’ll send it over in three days. Donghae simply nodded at the promise, completely uninterested in it and bid the Greek god goodbye.

            As he watched the biker disappear from his sight, he couldn’t help but feel rather regretful for being so cold to the traveller. Today might as well be the last time he saw Hyukjae…

****************

Three days went by, and on the fourth day a familiar stranger appeared at the inn with the same motorbike, saying that he has a letter for the Lee couple.

            Donghae's parents were a little bit surprised at their visitor being that he arrived there so early in the morning but they took the white envelope nonetheless, and was surprised to see such a fine portrait of their family in it, only that it was taped back together from tiny little pieces.

            “Your son drew this,” Hyukjae told them before they could ask him anything. “Pretty amazing skills I must say. But he tore it into pieces. It’s not that surprising, being that he himself was torn on the inside seeing his family falling apart,”

Donghae's parents looked up to face him, probably wanting to yell at him for being so nosey or telling him that their family is doing fine. But Hyukjae beat them to it. “He really loves the both of you, and he’s having a hard time just as the two of you. So maybe you should stop quarrelling for a change?”

“It’s not very pleasant for your guests here either,” Hyukjae added, shrugging his shoulders trying to be nonchalant with his last comment.

That afternoon, Donghae was welcomed by a genuine smile on his mother’s face when he arrived home for lunch. What’s even more surprising, his father was there at the dining table, with his mother sitting down next to him.

Donghae felt the need to ask whether somebody they knew had died or something (since he’s never seen his parents in the same room before and not fighting) but then his gaze fell upon a picture that was neatly framed on the kitchen wall, his lips curled up into a small smile.

            “Hyukjae dear, if you’re done come and join us for lunch,” his mother called. Donghae looked up hearing that name and then he saw the Greek god walking into their little kitchen looking almost…human.

Hyukjae looked a bit more tanned than before, and Donghae has a pretty good idea on what he had been up to the past three days. His hair was rather dishevelled, and he had a plain white T-shirt with a pair of jeans to match that boy next door look. Donghae chuckled to see how stupid of him to consider Hyukjae as a Greek god before, because the man standing before him now is just a plain ordinary human.

            “Can you believe he’s just a year older than you, Donghae? And he has such a nice build I thought he was a lot older,” his mother said.

            “You’re that young?” Donghae asked when Hyukjae took the seat next to him.

Hyukjae let out a soft chuckle. “Do I look that old to you?”

            “No…not really,” Donghae said softly as he watched Hyukjae ate his lunch, before he remembered something that he was supposed to say to Hyukjae.

“By the way, nice portrait; I really like the way you used tape as part of the art,”

And they both looked at each other and smiled meaningfully.