"Rise and shine! We leave in half an hour."

Jiyong groaned at the booming voice that was behind his door. He rolled over onto his stomach and cracked open one of his eyes. It wasn't even light outside so why on earth would his grandfather be up?

"Come on boy, I wanna catch my first fish before 8."

Oh right... the fishing trip.

Burring his head in his pillow, he whined to himself that he wanted to sleep more because he kept on tossing and turning all night due to dreams that he couldn’t even remember.

"Don't make me send your grandmother in there after you!" The old man threatened.

Jiyong jumped out of his bed in a flash, throwing on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and grabbing his sneakers as he busted through his door.

He heard a laughter coming from down the hallway. "Thought that'd do the trick. Come on we're almost done loading the truck.

" 'We're?' But Grandma never used to come with us," Jiyong said as he hopped through the house putting on his shoes.

"Who are you kidding, she can barely cook a fish let alone catch one. No my boy," they had made their way to the side door and as his grandfather opened it he finished his sentence, "Seunghyun's coming with us."

Jiyong's jaw physically dropped and he almost stumbled down the brick steps as he saw the older man loading things into the bed of his grandfathers pick-up truck. The same truck that Jiyong saw him working on the previous day.

Before Seunghyun could look in his direction, Jiyong composed himself. "I thought your truck was broken Pops?"

"Well I had the best mechanic in town fix it all up just in time for our fishing trip." the old man replied as he made out of the porch and stood next to Seunghyun, patting the him on the shoulder.

"I'm nowhere close to being the best machine in town sir," Seunghyun replied. Jiyong noticed that he had yet to look up at him.

"Well you fixed it didn't you? As far as I'm concerned, that’s all that counts."

A slight quirk of the lips graced Seunghyun's face.

"But why is he coming with us?" Jiyong blurted out before he could stop himself; later on he would blame it on not having his morning coffee yet.

The expression fell from the older boy's face.

"Because I invited him," his grandfather gave him a strange look before he continued on, "and also because unless you know how to work a boat hitch, we wouldn't get that thing in the water." He finished by pointing at the small boat that Jiyong was just noticing was attached to his grandfather's truck.

"Plus it's gonna be good to spend a day with you boys like I used too you when ya'll were kids."

Jiyong swallowed thickly, his guilt almost catching in his throat. His grandfather must have been waiting for this day for a long time. To spend time with him again even if there was a guest he wasn't expecting. He decided to just ignore elephant in the room and give all his attention to his grandfather today. He didn't want to spoil his grandfather's happy attitude with his now irritated one.

"Almost forgot, let me run back into the house really fast. I left my hat on the table." The old man said as he turned to go back inside.

Jiyong felt eyes on the back on his head and carefully he turned to see that Seunghyun was staring at him with an expression he couldn't read. He didn't have the patience to talk with the man so he just climbed up into the truck and waited for them to leave.

However his silence was soon interrupted when Seunghyun came over to the door and leaned against the open window ledge.

"Jiyong, can we talk?"

The younger man took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, "It's too early in the morning for this Seunghyun."

"But later?"

"Look," Jiyong swiftly turned his head to speak to him directly, "I don't really want to talk... at all. It's been 6 years. We're not kids anymore. We've grown up... we're different people."

"But Jiyo-"

"I just want to spend the day with my grandfather, who I haven't seen in a very long time, and go fishing. That's it."

Again an expression passed over the man's face that he couldn't read.

"I understand..." replied Seunghyun, so softly that Jiyong almost didn't hear it.

"Okay boys, let's get goin'," Jiyong heard his grandfather say while he walked out of the house wearing his old fishing hat with all sorts of bobs and hooks on it. "Seunghyun, is the boat secured good?"

"Yes sir," he called out, but Jiyong could still feel his gaze on him.

"Well then hop on in."

Jiyong wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. He was still trying to think of how he could avoid Seunghyun for the rest of the day, but the man's deep voice broke his train of thoughts.

"Um... Jiyong... Can you scoot over so I can get it?"

Jiyong looked to his right where Seunghyun was standing outside waiting to get in and then quickly looked to his left to see his grandfather climbing into the driver's seat.

Are you freaking kidding me, he thought and rolled his eyes as he scooted over, as close to his grandfather as possible. But still it was a small cab with all three of them in there and no matter how much he didn't want Seunghyun there, the older man was pressed right up against him.

~

As soon as his grandfather to exit 25 from the highway, Jiyong knew exactly where they were going for this all so secretive fishing trip. He knew he should have suspected something was different about this trip when his grandfather kept on dodging his questions about their little excursion for the past two days. He figured that the old man wanted to keep it a surprise for him.

Jiyong had only been there three times in all the summers that he spent with his grandparents and honestly it kind of excited him to be going there. This place was tucked away on the other side of the small mountain that was on the outskirts of the town, creating a border between his grandparents town and the next. It was a place that his grandfathers old friends had bought and spruced up, a two cabin spot next to a giant lake that they could bring their families and spend weekends together. But by the time Jiyong had started spending summers with them, the his grandfathers group of friends had grown old and had found less and less energy to make it up to the cabins.

Even though Jiyong was excited to see the place again, his body was still in sleep mode and the long car ride was creating the perfect place to fall back asleep. He heard the soft background music from the radio playing and the cool breeze from his grandfathers open window, but it was more like a comforting lullaby than a distraction as his eye soon shut and he was drifting off to sleep.

“Jiyong come on… you know I didn’t mean it like that,” Seunghyun whined as he chased after the smaller boy who was making his way to the woods behind he pasture.

“Of course you did! That’s why you said it!” Jiyong yelled back without turning around. “Just go out with your friends. Like you said on your phone I’m ‘just some kid’ so continue ignoring me like you have all summer and leave me alone.”

He could feel his throat tightening up as the last few words leave his lips.

“I have not been ignoring you all summer.” Seunghyun protested.

“Are you kidding me?” Jiyong said as he turned to face the older boy. “You used to wait in front of your house. You used to practically live at my grandparents house. We would always be doing something together, but it seems like ever since I got here, you’ve made excuse after excuse to not hang out. And now I think I know why.”

Seunghyun was frozen in front of Jiyong as he saw the unshed tears in the boy’s eyes. “Jiyong… I can explain…”

“Just stop! Stop trying to make excuses! I’m just some brat that follows you around now, right? I’m ‘some kid’ that has become a nuisance. All you want to do is hang out with your friends now that you’re in highschool and you’d be soooo uncool to hang out with some snot-nosed middle schooler like me.”  

Seunghyun heard the younger boys voice crack at the end of his rant. He stepped forward and tried to console the boy but he flinched back.

“Just go Seunghyun…” Jiyong mumbled in defeat.

“But Jiyong just listen ok, I’m sorry for saying that and I’m sorry for not hanging out as much this summer… it’s just… I have other friends too….”

“Well congratulations Seunghyun… you go hang out with the people you see year round and forget about me, because obviously you forget about me as soon as I leave town now.”

“Would you stop acting like this?” Seunghyun growled in frustration.

“What? I’m just a kid after all,” snapped back while turning on his heel and running to the woods leaving the older boy alone.

The truck jerked to a stop causing Jiyong to slightly fall forward in his sleep, waking him from his dream. His mind felt like it was playing tricks on him in his sleep because he had the feeling that he should have fallen further than he did. Blinking, he opened his eyes and looked down to see an arm stretched out in front of him. He blinked a couple more times to make sure that he was seeing right and then realized that his vision must be playing trick on his still because not only was there a third arm that he saw but the world seemed to be tilted at an angle as well.

Bringing up one of his hand he rubbed his eye, trying to wake up more and make sense of what was going on.

"We've stopped at a gas station. Your grandfather needed to use the restroom."

Jiyong shot up as he heard the deep voice whisper into his ear.

, he thought and shifted away from Seunghyun. Did I really fall asleep on his shoulder?

"Do you want coffee? If you want to sleep more, I can go get it for you?" the older man offered.

"No," Jiyong said quickly, "I can get it myself," and opened the car door as fast as he could to get away from the man.

Stumbling as he gained his bearings, he heard the tinkling of the bell that was attached to the gas station door as he opened it. He tried to remember the dream he was having but it seemed to have erased itself from his mind. Finding the coffee he grabbed the biggest cup the store had and poured the steaming liquid in. He inhaled the scent, hoping that if he just smelled it, it would help him wake up faster.

A door behind him opened and he turned to see his grandfather walk out of the small restroom.

"Hey kid, have a good nap?"

He didn't want to admit that he actually did, but due to finding out who he used as a pillow he skipped the question. "How long was I out for?"

"About half an hour. You fell asleep almost as soon as we hit the highway. One minute you were sittin straight and the next you were leaning on Seunghyun, just like you when you were kids.”

"And he didn't care that I fell asleep on him?"

"No... why would he?" Again his grandfather gave him a second questioning look that morning.

"Never mind Pops, lets just get to the lake. You said you wanted to catch your first fish by 8, right?" he said as he grabbed a lid, placing it on his cup and going to the counter to pay for the drink.

The rest of the drive Jiyong was on edge. He let the liquid caffeine work its way through his veins as he told himself not to freak out about what had happened earlier. Looking out the corner of his eyes he saw Seunghyun looking out the open window, the light of the rising sun casting shadows through the trees and onto his face. For a moment he let himself watch the lights dance over the man’s features, thinking how there was no trace of adolescence like the last time he had seem him 6 years ago.

He watched as Seunghyun lifted his hat up and brush back his black hair, tucking it under the baseball cap more. "It's getting long," Jiyong heard the echo of his voice from years past. A memory of his fingers brushing the same black hair out of a boys eyes flashed through his head. His heart started racing at the memory. He sighed and tried to shake the thoughts from his head as he took another sip of his coffee. Today is going to be a very long day.

And it was. As soon as they made it to the lake his grandfather and Seunghyun got the boat in the water and were moving things from the bed of the truck and into boat.

“Jiyong, don’t just stand there, help us out.”

And Jiyong did. He could feel Seunghyun watching him as he picked carried things here and there. It was kind of pissing him off that the older man wasn’t making an effort to talk to him, but then again he did tell him that he didn’t want to talk.

But if he wants to talk so badly why doesn’t he try harder?  He thought, and then realized how much he was flip flopping between his feelings. I just don’t know what I want…

They got into the boat and made their way across the lake to the spot that his grandfather pointed out and just like he wanted, his grandfather caught his first fish at 7:55.

The lake was as beautiful as ever. Still and serene. The only disturbance in the water was from the wake of the boat. The Sun had finally peaked over the tops of the trees making the color of the lake change from a dark brown to a murky blue color. It took him a while to get used to fishing again. He forgot how patient you had to be, which made him wonder why he loved fishing as a kid if all you had to do was just sit here with a pole in your hands. But nevertheless this place just had a special spot in his heart and he just let the matter be, thinking that sometimes things don’t need and explanation.

HIs grandfather tried to fill in the quietness with conversation, telling Seunghyun about Jiyong and what the other man has been doing for the past couple years. Honestly Jiyong tried to ignore everything, but his grandfather would as him to fill in the gaps of things he forgot, forcing him to talk to Seunghyun.

A couple time Jiyong thinks he might have caught a fish but every time he reels in his line, the worm on his hook is missing. He reaches over and grabs another worm the bucket and tries to put it on the hook but for some reason his hands are really shaky all of a sudden.

“Here let me help you.”

Jiyong turned to see Seunghyun leaning close to him. Their hands brushed against each other as the older man took the hook worm out Jiyong’s hands.

“I can do it myself,” he muttered underneath his breath.

Seunghyun looked up at him with an exhausted look. “Would you just let me help you,” he whispered so only Jiyong could hear.

Jiyoung was about to snap back, but Seunghyun lifted his chin, pointing in the direction of his grandfather.

“Jiyong, I know earlier you said you didn’t want to talk… but I do.”

“Seunghyun…” Jiyong whispered, a warning in his voice.

“I know you probably hate me-”

“Probably?” Jiyong scoffed.

Seunghyun sighed. “Ok… but we should at least talk.” Jiyong tried to say something but he cut him off. “Obviously we can’t talk now. But when we get back?”

“I don’t-”

“Don’t run away from this Jiyong.”

“Why? You did.”

“That was six years ago. Things are different. I’m different.” Seunghyun had baited the hook and handed it back to Jiyong, catching the younger man’s gaze.

It felt like a challenge to Jiyong. Seunghyun had just baited the hook, physically and now metaphorically. They stared at each other for a minute. Jiyong felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest as he looked at the older man’s intense stare, the older man pleading with his eyes. He had just confessed… something, but Jiyong wasn’t sure what. And that’s probably just what Seunghyun wanted. He wanted Jiyong to be curious and take the “bait” so they finally could talk.

“Fine…” Jiyong relented as he quickly averted his eyes and casted his line out into the water.

“Thank you.”

“Whatever…” Jiyong said, he could feel Seunghyun still looking at him so he rested his chin in his hand and elbow on his knee.

Seunghyun lowered his gaze but not before he saw a pink tint wash over the younger boys face. He smiled to himself as he thought how much Jiyong looked like the boy he used to know. But now he thought about how much he wanted to know the man that he had become. Just be patient…

I hope this wasn't too confusing. I feel like it might have been because I tried to throw in some flash backs and random memories. Obviously it makes sense to me but hopefully it will make sense to you all as the story progresses. :)