"Hana... Hana!" I looked up from my pretty assortment of sea shells I had collected on the shore to see mom waving at me from the open kitchen window. Our homemade yellow curtains were fluttering due to the breeze and the sand from the docks were whirling through the whole town, making every single visible area dusty and foggy.

"Come inside!" she called with a wave of her hand. I looked down at my new, shiny collection of sea shells and groaned with irritation, stuffing them into my pocket and slipping my worn out forest green Converse back onto my sand stained feet. I climbed up the hill to our small white house. That hill of sand was the only thing that was in between the beach and docks and my house.

I heard the dirty, old city bus creaking down the dirt path and stop in front of the only bus stop we had in town. I frowned and stopped climbing up the hill to watch who got off. No one really came into town. 

"Hana!" I heard my mom call again, making me turn away from the bus.

"Yeah?" I called.

"Come in here!"

Her voice was so irritating. I loved my mom, I truly did, but her nagging voice was annoying. I went into the living room where mom was sitting on the couch sipping tea with Miss Kwon, the nice lady down the street.

"Hello," I smiled at Miss Kwon. She nodded, grinning back. I turned to mom, "What is it?"

"Sit down," she ordered. I sat down on the closest piece of furniture there was and looked at her, waiting for her to go on. 

"You know how Miss Kwon has relatives in Seoul?"

I nodded.

"Well Miss Kwon's nephew is coming in to town from Seoul to visit. He's the same age as you and I want you to be nice to him," Mom told me like I was a little kid. 

I stared at her, getting ready to spit out sarcastic remarks about why she was treating me like a five year old, telling me to be nice to some new guy in town. But I held my tongue as the image of the bus pulling into the bus stop popped up in my head, "Oh, is that why the bus is her-"

"-The bus is here?!" Miss Kwon exclaimed, leaping up from the couch and practically spilling her tea in the process. I glanced over at my mom to give her a questioning look but my mom had already rose from the couch in the same state of panic, wiping her hands on her apron like she did every time she was nervous, and following Miss Kwon out the door hurriedly. I frowned and followed the two crazed women. What was so special about this nephew?

I found my place next to Miss Kwon and my mother as the bus doors opened. I put a smile on my face. Not that it was forced. To tell the truth, I was excited to have someone that was my age finally in town. There were only two other girls that were my age and although we were all "friends", being with them was awkward and they were closer to each other than I was. I didn't need friends anyway. I had myself and the beach.

"Jongin!" Miss Kwon rushed forward at the sight of a lean, tall, bronzed male walking out of the bus with an irritated expression.

I did a double take. I wasn't really expecting anyone amazingly great to walk out of that bus.

But no.

I had never really payed attention to boys particularly but this boy. He was a walking piece of art. A masterpiece. Everything from his perfectly messy hair to his long legs and rebellious fashion sense made me want to faint in his mere presence.

He was gorgeous. And I wasn't even over-reacting. He was just that captivating.

"God dammit," he muttered, half pushing away and half tolerating Miss Kwon's signs of affection. "Get off of me," Jongin rolled his eyes and pushed Miss Kwon off of his shoulders like she was an annoying bug. My mom and I stood there awkwardly, observing the scene. 

I raised an eyebrow and snapped out of my admiration. Jongin kicked the dirt, irritation practically radiating from his whole self, as he took the handle of his leather suitcase to walk off nowhere, expecting Miss Kwon to catch up with him sometime and show him the way. And she did so.

I frowned at Miss Kwon's determined figure walking down the road excitedly with bored Jongin. Maybe he was naturally this.. cocky.

I shook my head in disappointment. Of course. If he's hot, he's going to be a jerk.

My mom followed after them and motioned for me to do the same. I gave her a look but she furrowed her eyebrows, quickly mouthing me a silent threat before hurrying off.

What was the big deal with him anyway?

Either way, I followed the couple of steps to Miss Kwon's house. As soon I closed the screen door behind me, Miss Kwon grabbed my wrist. I was turned around abruptly to be face to face with Jongin, who's wrist was in Miss Kwon's grip also.

Jerk or not... he was definitely gorgeous.

"Jongin this is Hana," Miss Kwon introduced desperately. I gave him a smile.

"So?" he replied, scoffing. My smile fell from my face and turned into a bitter scowl. He turned to Miss Kwon, "And I told you not to call me that. It's Kai."  With a scoff, he shook his hand out and left the house with a loud slam of the door.

"Well then," Miss Kwon said, clapping her hands, "He definitely hasn't changed."

"You were  right," my mom mumbled, "he is indeed... rebellious."

- - -

"Hey!" I called over to Jongin or Kai or whatever his name was. Mom and Miss Kwon had literally pushed me to befriend him even after the two hours of scolding and judging his disrespectfulness. Maybe they made me befriend him out of pity? But apparently he was going to come down to Busan every summer from now on.  If it wasn't for this fact, I wouldn't have even agreed to talking to the fiery boy.

Jongin's back was toward me as I walked near him. He was sitting on the edge of the boulder overlooking the docks and had his body's weight propped up on his left hand. I could tell that he heard my voice but didn't make any effort to turn around. I grunted as I climbed up the boulder and sat myself next to him. Even if he obviously didn't want to be here, I wanted to befriend him. I knew that it hadn't even been a full three hours of "knowing" Jongin but something about him made me want to get to know him more. Even if he was a contemptuous brat.

"Hi, pretty," Jongin smirked when I sat down next to him on the rock.

"Pre-tty?" I asked as if the word was a new foreign word rolling off of my tongue. I wasn't dumb, I knew what pretty meant. But no one had ever just called me pretty. But I felt a smile growing on my lips. Even his voice was gorgeous. I frowned. Why did those words sound like such a crime?

"Yeah, pretty," he nodded with a smug smile, trying to make eye contact with me.

I buried my face in my curtain of long hair as I organized my thoughts. I finally turned towards him to try to start an intelligent conversation when the foul smell of smoke entered my nose, causing me to erupt into coughing fits. "Do you smell that?" I felt my chest starting to tighten up. Oh no, my asthma attacks were acting up.

"What? This?" Jongin held up his right hand to reveal a nice, lighted white cigarette laying innocently between his pointer and middle finger.

"... You smoke?" I looked at him, trying not to act as surprised as I was. Maybe it was normal to start smoking in Seoul at a young age. Either way, that smell of fresh cigarettes that I had learned to hate was making me dizzy. Not now. I started to clear my throat, hoping my chest wouldn't contract even more. If I fell off this boulder from choking, I would die. And on top of that, I would just look plain stupid if I passed out right here.

"Yeah. Don't you?" He scoffed just as I had predicted and threw the cigarette on the ground, content as he watched it slowly burn out into the already-dead yellow grass. The lingering smell of smoke still filled the air but I felt my lungs starting to relax and my throat start to open up again now that the cigarette was burned out. I wasn't even listening to what Jongin said after that. "Huh?" I asked.

"I asked you if you even knew what smoking was. In a small town like this I wouldn't be surprised if you've never even heard of it," he said in a rude tone.

"Of course I know," I muttered.

"Surprise surprise," he said with sarcasm.

I ignored him yet frowned nonetheless, "Do all people in Seoul start to smoke this young?"

"I started late actually," he replied with irritation.

"Do you know how bad it is for you? The man that used to run the small store around the corner started to smoke at 14 and he got lung cancer and passed away before his son was even born-"

Jongin huffed, flaring an unimpressed eyebrow at me. "I don't give a about the man that runs the corner store... and who are you to care about if I die before my kid is born? Everyone that I know smokes. If everyone does something, it's not considered bad anymore."

I gave him a glare. Not true, I insisted in my brain.

Jongin scoffed and gave me a last glare in return before he cooly hopped off the huge mass of rock, trotting away and cursing at the brown, slimy mud that was beginning to pile up in the soles of his pristine white sneakers.

Maybe I said something wrong or offended him in some way. But how he responded made me want to sock him in the face. Jongin clearly thought he was too good for everything. I watched as he trod down the path, digging deep into his pockets for another cigarette as he clenched a small red portable lighter in his hand.

That night, Miss Kwon was invited over for dinner. And so was Jongin.

"Mom, I don't really like him. He's kinda... weird," I complained as I mixed the salad.

"Honey, you don't dislike someone just because they're weird," she scolded. I kept my mouth shut. In plain context, he was just rude and something about him gave me shivers. But I wasn't about to say that to my mom.

"He's going through a hard time right now," she explained.

"Like what?"

"It's not for me to tell you. Maybe if you befriend him, he'll let you know," she said as she wipe her hands on her apron. There was a quick and light knock on the door as I set the table. I rushed over to the door to see Miss Kwon holding her gardened potatoes in a sac and a very displeased teenage boy behind her, looking around unimpressed and probably damning everything in my house.

"Hello, Hana," she greeted.

"Hello," I smiled back, opening the door wider, "Come in." She nodded with her cheeky grin and walked in, taking off her shoes in the process. Jongin followed in suit.

"Come, sit at the table Jongin," mom greeted. He nodded and sat down where I usually sat for dinner. I scowled but took a seat at the last available chair on our small wooden table next to Jongin. It wasn't like I hated him yet but I was awfully uncomfortable.

"Is the food not good?" Miss Kwon asked with a worried face. Mom shot me a look and I immediately sat up.

"No, I'm just a little tired. The potatoes are amazing," I smiled.

"Oh thank you dear," Miss Kwon replied. I saw Jongin look over with raised eyebrows. It's your fault, I wanted to shout at him.

I was eating my food like I usually did when I heard him mutter under his breath, "She eats like she was starved for days."

I ignored him and kept on eating in silence. Our meal consisted of the tinkling of chopsticks and small talk between the two adults. Occasionally, someone would ask another to pass food or compliment a particular dish but that was it. I stared at the clock from time to time. Today was a Friday. Fridays were when dad and my older brother came home- since they worked out at sea on the weekdays. I wondered why we were having our dinner with Jongin and Miss Kwon today anyway. Usually mom would prepare a feast for just the four of us.

And just as I looked at the clock for the eighth time, I heard the familiar jingle of my dad's keys at the front door and his deep voice, "I'm home." My head darted up and a beam grew at my face. Mom stared at the front door, waiting for her well-built husband to walk into the dining room with an unsatisfied face. Her silence made me think that they got into a fight the day before over the phone or something. I wouldn't be surprised. It had been a while since the two got along.

My dad walked into the dining room, grabbing an apple from the bowl and polishing it on his wrinkled shirt. "Hey princess," he waved at me.

"Hi dad," I waved back, "Where's Youngwoon?"

"-I told you that we'd be having guests," my mom muttered, interrupting our conversation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to sleep with the guys on an empty boat tonight when I have a perfectly fine house on shore," dad shot back. There was a silence and munching of food. They were so childish. I couldn't count how many times they fought and insisted on getting a divorce. And now they were having an argument with mom's precious guests listening.

Jongin looked over at me with a questioning look and I shrugged back, eating the rest of my rice. The fights were something that I got used to.

"I'll wash the dishes," Miss Kwon said, breaking the intense glares between my parents, hurriedly getting up from her seat.

"Oh no its fine," mom quickly interrupted.

"It's the least I could do! Come on Jongin, help me."

Jongin scoffed, appalled, giving Miss Kwon a death glare as if his precious hands couldn't get wet.

I sighed and stood up, "I'll wash."

"Jongin, you go join her," Miss Kwon grabbed him by the wrist and pushed him up, practically shoving him towards the kitchen. Wow. The first time I saw her with such authority. Jongin shot her another look but must've understood the situation since he fixed his shirt and followed me.

"Parents divorced?" was the first thing that left Jongin's lips as soon as we walked in the kitchen out of all hearing ears.

I started to get defensive, "No. Why would you think that?"

But inside, I felt queasy. I didn't want my parents to divorce. Sometimes, I did feel like it was the smartest decision, but in the end, I just wished that my family would be a happy family like in those dramas that are so popular in Seoul.

"I don't know. They're just like my parents. And they're divorced. Well, separated but I like to call them divorced. It's not like they've ever loved each other anyway," he replied, taking his place next to mine in front of the sink. I stared at him. I didn't think that someone like him would have... problems? Well of course, everyone has problems but I didn't know that Jongin would be so open about his.

"What?" he asked, taking note of my look. I shook my head and reached for the dish soap.

"I'll wash. You rinse," I said, my brain full of thoughts.

That summer whizzed by faster than any other summer for two reasons. One, because of Jongin and two, because I fell in love. The closer I got to Jongin, the more of a drug he was to me. Everything about him intoxicated me.  I hadn't even thought about love before. Especially because I was supposedly so young. I didn't want to waste my time in a stupid relationship that meant nothing. But if the feelings I had towards Jongin wasn't love, I didn't know what love was.

On that first day of August, Jongin boarded the bus, carrying his bags and looking more handsome than I had ever seen him. Just to make me swoon one last time.

He bent down to my height and gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek, "See you soon, pretty." I stared up at him with big eyes, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. So I just stood there like a dummy as he said goodbye to his aunt. I reached up and felt my cheek that had turned as red as a tomato and felt my heart racing and stomach churning.

He kissed me. I liked it. And he knew.

While I was dazed and confused, Miss Kwon watched as Jongin climbed onto the bus.

"Wait!" I called. Jongin turned around. I didn't want him to leave. I didn't want him to forget me.

"You'll come next year, right?" I asked in a small voice.

"Of course - promise," Jongin winked. He waved one last time before he slung his backpack on his broad shoulder and left on the bus with clouds of dust trailing behind.

And that's how our first summer ended.