It’s the largest island in South Korea, yet it still isn’t large enough to escape the wrath of a certain species.

He sighed, dejected by the inevitable notion. They were everywhere. That disgusting, pathetic excuse for men to drop to their knees, beg relentlessly for affection, and eat away at their bank accounts like a devious kitten lapping up warm milk.

“So, does that mean you prefer the male anatomy?”

Before Sunggyu could make a snappy, alcohol-laden retort, his companion decided to cut in. “What’s the difference, being straight or otherwise? A person should like a person for them, not their gender.” leave it to his lame excuse for a best friend, to answer with a sappy confession filled with bliss and mismatched contentment. “But to be clear, Sunggyu’s straight, absolutely.” it seemed like he was telling Sunggyu rather than the questioner, for some type of self-assurance.

“They’re just,” Sunggyu smacked his lips together in thought, knowing this was a touchy subject to men, considering they didn’t understand as well as he did, “difficult.”

Dongwoo guaffed, his honey caramel bangs bobbing against his forehead. “All girls are difficult!”

A group of girls in silky, multi-patterned skirts crossed their table and giggled towards their table. Dongwoo nodded to them, tipping the rim of his azure blue snapback. Woohyun couldn’t resist (he was always a bit of a tease) and raised his eyebrows slightly, almost mocking them with his alluring stare. Meanwhile, Sunggyu was left blushing ravenously, his eyes zeroing in on the rim of his glass. For some reason, as much as he resented females, they seemed daft enough to still swoon over him.

Sunggyu quickly avoided their gazes, and busied himself by sliding the drink away from him, revealing a numbered coaster. His was fourteen. Number thirteen was currently ending.

“Hey,” Woohyun gestured to the open mic. The music slowly dissolved into a low hum, beckoning the next one on stage. “Your turn.”

Trust the fact that, Sunggyu was more than delighted to leave the zoo of awaiting women. If it only was so easy to avoid them permanently without moving to a remote island sans electricity or a working shower. Roughly downing the rest of his drink he slammed it on the wooden table, walking over to the stage with his coaster. He brushed past the crowd as if they were the wind, fluidly and eagerly. He couldn’t help it, singing was the only way to tolerate it.

The karaoke machine automatically detected number fourteen’s song, and the intro started to resonate through the vacation-styled tavern. Cheers immediately erupted, including Dongwoo’s completely unnecessary cheer of “Go get ‘em, y!” the best way is to tune them out, as Sunggyu does naturally, is to immerse oneself in the music. He’s known for fully engrossing himself in what ever he does, especially through music. His eyes closed to the tune, and his heart opened to the beat. Everything was so second-nature to him, even if it wasn’t a formal concert or anything, he knows that in the back of his mind he could’ve been a great singer in another world.

And heartbreak was his specialty. So when he sang. it was as if he were singing against the world, vocalizing what he yearned to live without.

Yet in the split second he looked out into the audience, a certain someone was hellbent on playing staring contest in the middle of his bridge.

Regretfully, this certain someone was female.

Admittedly, she was somewhat decent looking. Her hair was scrunched and tousled by the salty air, and framed her soft, round featured face. Yet there seemed to be nothing remotely soft about her, as her firm, unwavering expression challenged him. Her arms were crossed, yet her eyes fiery as if a tiger waiting to pounce, worse enough, she had this weird, half-smile thing that only a minx could equally mimick.

All at once the song ended, and while the erratic cheers and calls of his name seemed to never reach his ears, for some reason he could pinpoint the faint ‘hm’ of the young woman, and her dull, slow clap. She smiled that wry smile again, and turned away, sashaying into the crowd and out the building.

“Dude, that was great!” Sunggyu felt his body being pulled off the stage like a ragdoll, chased away into Woohyun’s shoulder. Snapping back to reality, he willingly weaved an arm over his friend. “And out there, you looked so, so intense. Not intense in the song like you usually do, but on someone, an actual person. Was it a girl?”

“Something like that.” Sunggyu muttered.

Woohyun winked, and led him away from the makeshift stage to the bar. “I guess all those years trying to prove to our friends you’re straight finally paid off. Let’s buy a drink to celebrate!”

Conceding, Sunggyu allowed himself another shot, when the bartender handed him a glass of diamond-clear liquid. The fizzy, indistinguishable liquid melted into his lips, the burning sensation welcoming him with acquired flavor. He was tempted to ask for another one but decided to be somewhat responsible tonight, but when he turned around the bartender quickly stopped him.

“Sir? Don’t forget your wallet.” and before Sunggyu had a chance to argue the bartender forced a berry wine wallet into his free hand, swinging his body to the other side of the drinks to tend to other customers.

“This isn’t mine.” he mumbled to himself, flipping the top open. It wasn’t Woohyun’s wallet either, or anyone he knew for that matter. His eyes squinted at the driver’s license ID, because fate definitely wasn’t on his side today. It had to be, it definitely was the same girl from earlier. He knew because her picture reflected the same, accusing smirk she expressed moments before his song ended.

His eyes wandered across the room, looking for his alleged best friend. Maybe he could give him the wallet, because he was definitely better at interacting with girls. Unsurprisingly, Woohyun was on the dancefloor, grinding ferociously upon his leggy partner.

Sunggyu sighed, shaking his head. “Damn you, Jung Eunji.” he tested the name on his lips, and for whatever reason it tasted undeniably acidic, much like his last shot.

Outside was unnaturally bright, with the full, glaring moon reflecting white across the water. Sunggyu sighed, his hand brushing the soft leather in his pocket. Was it really worth looking for her? She would probably come back for it anyway. Why was he even outside in the first place, he should be inside mulling over the bane of his existence instead of outside, tiring himself more than normal.

Kicking off his sandals and sliding them under the cabana steps, he stepped on the beach, the cool sand enveloping his feet. She was standing on the edge of where the waves broke into foam, her head turned to the torrent of water. To his mortification, her previously white (ironically a heavenly shade of white) shift dress was no longer tied around her neck, but loosely woven around her waist, revealing her dainty lavender bikini top. He growled in distaste, because the closer he got to her the more he noticed her expectant posture, and the composure in her gaze. It was as if she were staring right through his tainted, black soul, waiting for him.

Instead of doing the normal interactions a mannerly human being would do, he stepped forward with an accusing finger, breathless (because damn, speed walking through sand is tough!)

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

She quirked her head in surprise, as if his rude mannerisms were impossible to register in her pea-sized brain. “Excuse me?”

“You, you lured me!” he spat out, “You wanted me to come here, alone.” he referred to the empty beach, because it was near one in the morning and anybody who was somebody was in the private cabana.

“Yes.” she said without missing a beat, holding out her palm. “My wallet, please.”

Immediately, he roughly ripped the cursed item out of his pocket and smacked it into her palm, forcing her arm to drop like deadweight. Normally, he wouldn’t waste any time with petty things like this, but tonight he felt particularly violated by this Eunji girl.

“God, women like you don’t know when to quit, do they? They think they can seduce men like this,” he gestured offensively at her outfit. “when we clearly don’t want them? You’re asking to get hurt, aren’t you? I’m not some childish game you can go about and tamper with like some hide-and-go-seek game. If you’re going to stand here and wait around for some prince charming, you should get up and find him.” that poor idiot would probably be stuck in a tree or something, Sunggyu hoped.

“Learn your place.”

He thought he had won her over when a breathless “wow” escaped her lips.

“What kind of sick are you?”

“What?” Sunggyu was evidently deaf to the female tongue.

“I am not trying to seduce anyone, just because I’m wearing this,” for further measure, she shamelessly stuck her chest out, her hands firmly on her hips. Sunggyu reflexively stepped back, as if they were out to kill him. “Does not mean I’m asking for anything. In fact, I’m very proud of my body and I can show it off by wearing whatever the hell I want. And I’m on a beach, so I think I’m appropriate enough.”

Sunggyu grit his teeth together, his fists balling into white dough. “Jung Eunji, trying to justify yourself is making you seem very abrasive—”

“Abrasive!” she belted out incredulously, laughing heartily and almost at borderline crazy. “I”m merely stating the truth. No one complains when a man gets frustrated,” she held out her hands to prime example number one, “yet here you are trying to say when I get frustrated, it’s unladylike. And you shouldn’t blame me if you’re telling me I’ll get hurt by other men.” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You should blame men for forcing themselves on us, but that would make you a hypocrite because all you’ve been trying to do is glorify yourself as an innocent victim. Pretentious, misogynistic bastard.” she huffed, turning her head up as if looking at him directly would scar her for life.

A similar, feather like “wow” came from Sunggyu. Beaten, raw.

“What,” Eunji pouted, resembling a kicked puppy. “Did I hurt your man pride?”

It was true that he was hurt, but it was definitely more than his “man pride.” He felt destroyed, and tossed worthlessly. The ignorant beast in himself was killed by 163 centimeters of raw, female power. He never talked to women long enough to listen, the easy exception was his mother (because if there was any exception to his golden rule, it was Mama Kim.) His friends were kind enough to not bring up the topic of women, and whenever he’d meet their girlfriends it would be a few brief moments until she was whisked away by her partner, and he was left naturally alone.

“And I pity you,” she sighed, the high crescendo of her voice picking up against the waves. “because you’re missing out. Women are some pretty amazing people.”

For the first time, he found something in common with a woman.

He pitied himself, too.

“And to think, the only reason I lured you here,” she used the term ‘lured’ loosely, her toes digging between the wet, soppy sand. “Was because I wanted to tell you how beautiful you sounded tonight.”

“What?” because only one-worded answers were in Sunggyu’s vocabulary since her tirade.

As if her previous frustration and defenses were blown away into oblivion, she broke into an easy, lopsided smile. “Out there, and I’ve heard some amazing singers live, but nothing like the depth and prowess you had.” she allowed to spoil herself as she finally looked at him, really looked at him. “And I thought, god, thank god that voice. It was like I was struck by lightning and gone to heaven.”

The way she said it so easily, and so willingly to someone as defective as him, bothered him so much. But it made him seem even more brain dead and incoherent than he was before. “Uh,” even if Eunji did say she wasn’t out to seduce him, she was certainly working some type of magic.

“What’s wrong?” she smirked, and it was that expression that he all too grew accustomed to in a matter of an hour. “Never been complimented before?”

“N-no, not like that.”

“Awh, you’re blushing. That’s cute.” she giggled goodnaturedly, and for some reason her own cheeks reflected a similar shade of rose. “As I talk to you more, I think your whole ‘I hate women and anything related’ is a defense mech for fear of rejection, or maybe it’s approval.”

“You think you know everything.” he said bitterly.

She shrugged, “I examine what I like.” she looked at her wallet in her palm, realizing it was still in her possession, and calmly threw it in a dry patch of white glitter. “Well, you must know who I am. You had my wallet, which has my license, social security, univeristy ID, and some bulgogi gift cards.” she nodded, “tell me about you.”

“Like what?” as if he were offended that for once, someone would be asking about his life story. “My name is Sunggyu.”

Eunji plopped on the sand, not caring if her tunic would be stained and damp. “Nah, tell me how you became like this.”

“This?”

“Tell me why you hate me.”

Did he hate her? He hated people of her liking and embodiment, in technical terms. The more and more he thought about it, he was truly an awful, tainted person. He didn’t exactly feel safe in her presence, but it certainly was more progress done in over ten years.

“Well,” he plopped on the sand next to her, a safe two metres away, and placed his palms flat behind him. “It started in the fifth grade. When I confessed to, what I thought was a y girl at ten years of age, was my classmate Hyuna.”

She laughed. “Really, talk about a traumatic adolescence.”

He frowned. “I was brutally rejected.” but as much as he didn’t want to beat himself into a stupor, it didn’t outweigh the compassion he wanted to hear from her.

“You should’ve just serenaded her.” she said brightly, kicking her heels. “Could’ve saved us a whole lot of fighting to get where we are now.”

“And if I did, where would we be now?” he asked curiously.

“You’d be on the floor, begging to have me.” she drawled, a dainty hand on her chest. “With flowers, pink flowers, asking me on a date.”

“Date?” he shook his head, as if it were the worst thing to have ever come to mind. “As if.”

“Then I’ll ask you on a date, and that’s not all.” she wagged a finger, “And after our intriguing conversation about gender equality on the beach, much like this, I’d take you to my room.” her grin spoke volumes as Sunggyu scooted a few centimeters away from her.

“Please, shut up.” he forced his hands to his ears, feeling his piercings stab into his skin.

“Then I’ll complain that it’s too hot and find a way to take off my clothes, like every excuse a melodrama pulls,” she leaned in, obviously having fun, “and have my way with you.”

“God, how did I end up here.” he asked more to himself than his companion. He knew that by morning, Woohyun would be more than proud to know of his whereabouts.

“Your fault.” Eunji answered lightly. “Your voice, it was seducing me.”