Youngbae pulls at Seunghyun’s arm again, trying to get him to move away. Unfortunately for him, Seunghyun had snapped out of his stupor and was now curious as to what it was exactly that was causing Youngbae such distress. He pulls back on his arm, forcing Youngbae to come to a halt directly next to him, and looks up.

Seunghyun’s eyes go wide as he sees the bottom of a little boat floating above them. They go even wider, if at all possible, when he sees someone in the water next to it. He grabs onto Youngbae’s arm and pulls him away, both of them swimming as fast as possible to get away from the scene undetected.

“You were seen?” Seunghyun asks, incredulity dripping from every syllable. “There was no one out there! You were hiding by a rock! How did you...?” He can’t finish his rant; the look on Youngbae’s face, pure and total sadness, was enough to calm Seunghyun’s frying nerves. “I’m sorry, I know you didn’t mean to....What did it look like up there?”

Youngbae smiles softly and looks down at the ground. He silently thanks Seunghyun for being so understanding, and looks around himself briefly. They were in a cave just a little ways off from the kelp fields where they normally go to rest and talk. Youngbae was feeling calmer mentally, but his heart was still beating at an irregularly fast pace and the mental calm that he was experiencing wasn’t complete; he couldn’t get the colorful man out of his thoughts. It had only been twenty minutes, but Youngbae knew that he would probably never get the man’s face out of his head.

“It was different. Clear, blue...everything was sharp and the sun glittered off the top of the ocean.” He says, and Seunghyun nods, tilting his head to the side and urging Youngbae to continue. “Everything felt different; my hair, the rocks. I can’t explain it, but it was different.”

Seunghyun looks at him, arms folded across his chest, “and the human?” Youngbae sighs and looks away for a minute.

“There were two.” He says, and Seunghyun’s eyes widen. “One dressed plainly and the other wore many colors. They also had a little animal with them, it noticed me.” Seunghyun nods, encouraging him to continue. “The animal was weird, it had...hair? It’s head was soft under my hand where it was still dry...” He drifts off, falling into thoughts of the man in the colorful clothes and the fact that he couldn’t tear his eyes away after they met.

“Yo, Youngbae!” Seunghyun says, moving closer and waving his hand in front of his friend’s face. “What else? Come on!” He was whining, but he really wanted to know what happened.

“Ah, yeah, right, sorry.” Youngbae says, shaking his head. He pauses again to note that his braids don’t clatter against the back of his neck like they did when he was above water. He had never really noticed that before. “Ah, yes. Well the two men were trying to find the animal, and so they were getting closer and I couldn’t help but to keep watching it as it swam toward them...”

“And so they saw you?” Seunghyun presses, impatient with the pace of the story.

Youngbae shakes his head again, “No, just one of them; the man in the colorful clothes. I looked him in the eyes, and I couldn’t look away. Then I remembered where I was and came to get you.”

Seunghyun nods, “So, which one was it that was swimming above us as we were leaving?”

Youngbae’s eyes go wide and he grabs Seunghyun by the arm, “You didn’t tell me! I didn’t see them in the water!” He looks slightly panicked and Seunghyun almost regrets bringing it up.

“No? I thought you saw. Only one was in the water.” Seunghyun waves his hand in front of his face, trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. “But that doesn’t matter, we got away, and humans can’t swim this deep.” The sudden pang in Youngbae’s heart at that thought leaves him confused and unsettled. “What I want to know is what it was about this human that had you so struck.” A smirk makes its way onto Seunghyun’s face. “You barely look at anyone down here, no matter how often they stare or try to get your attention...” Youngbae’s face goes red and he turns around, trying to keep his face hidden.

“I don’t know what you are talking about Seunghyun. We should head back to the city...” He was mumbling, and he wonders if Seunghyun can even hear him.

“And do what? Nothing? No, you’re not getting out of this.” Seunghyun says, spinning Youngbae around so that they are facing each other again. There was a bright smile on Seunghyun’s face, and Youngbae knew that no matter what he said, he was never going to live this moment down.

“Aish, I dunno, his hair was brown, it looked soft and like it would have fallen forward to cover his face but he was using something to hold it back.” Youngbae realizes a second too late that this is far more information than he should have been able to give after only staring for a short while --and from such a long distance-- Seunghyun’s smile turns into a smirk, and Youngbae blushes.

“Oh?” Seunghyun says, gesturing with his hand for Youngbae to continue.

“Ahh, yeah. His voice was, um... Just, I don’t know, Seunghyun!” He says, frustration and embarrassment getting the better of him.

“Yah, yah! Calm down, I’m only teasing.” Seunghyun says, laughing and pushing at Youngbae’s shoulder. “Looks like you got a crush on a human! I’m telling your brother!” He says, laughing loudly and starting to swim away.

Youngbae is frozen for just a second before the words sink in, “Yah! No! Don’t do that!” He shouts as he races after Seunghyun, trying to catch up so that he can stop him.

Youngbae eventually catches up, but by then they are both laughing and Seunghyun assures him that he won’t tell his brother anything. Youngbae rolls his eyes. “ I don’t have a crush on a human.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever you say!” Seunghyun replies, a smile working its way into his voice. Youngbae is about to retort, his face falling into a pout, but he’s cut off by Seunghyun. “We should go and see if there is anything we need to do for the festival.”

Youngbae nods and leads the way to find something to do. He’s secretly glad for the distraction as his mind can’t stop replaying the look on the colorful man’s face when they locked eyes. He wishes that he knew the man’s name, and maybe could even speak to him...Just once. That’s all that he wants. He shakes his head and continues to lead Seunghyun to the celebration grounds.
~~

“Nothing?” Jiyong shouts, leaning back in the boat and picking at his nails. “Are you certain? Gaho wouldn’t just dive into the water for nothing, you know!” Gaho’s leash was wrapped tightly around his hand, even though the dog hadn’t tried to jump in again.

“No, there is nothing here, Sire.” Seungri says, his voice sounding tired, “No holes in the rock, no animals nearby.” Jiyong just nods, his face blank.

“Alright then, what are you still doing in the water, you’ll get eaten by a shark or something and then how am I supposed to get back to the castle?” Jiyong says, tilting his head back and closing his eyes, letting the sun wash over his face.

Seungri grumbles a little in annoyance and moves toward the boat, pulling himself up and in while Jiyong soaks up the sun. He hadn’t expected Seungri to be able to find anything after the first couple of minutes; the rest of the time that Seungri was in the water was basically just for Jiyong’s amusement.

“Where now, Sire?” Seungri asks, Jiyong heaves a weary sigh and waves his hand at him.

“Back to the castle. I’ve decided that the ocean is not the best place for Gaho to be right now.” Jiyong allows his eyes to take in the way that Seungri looks, “And you’re wet.” He says. Seungri just nods and turns the boat around.

After docking they walk back to the castle in silence. Jiyong knows that he saw a man in the water and even though he knew straight away that Seungri wouldn’t find anything when they got to the rock, he was still terribly disappointed. He hadn’t been able to make out many of the man’s features because of the distance, but the things that he could see were burned into his brain. The rows of braided black hair, the well-defined face...Jiyong wouldn’t soon forget the man in the water.