green - main characters
faded green - already set couples
blue - friendship
dotted blue - aqcuaintance
* Please note: This chart describes the situation at the end of their story.
 

The stacks of paper made a rustling noise as I flopped them unceremoniously onto my desk.
Yeah, surely I was a very tidy person; but getting up too early to be true just to travel hours in a stuffed train wasn't exactly refreshing. I plopped down on my new bed, slightly bouncing on the soft mattress. With a sigh I turned to look out of the window. Gone were the skyscrapers I used to see when looking out of my room's window.
Instead, I could see a neighbouring building and even the street, being on the first floor. Actually most buildings around here didn't surpass the two, very rarely three, floors.
As I lazily watched the streets where people walked by occasionally, I sighed in contempt.
This would be my home for the next 7 and a half months.
I heard my grandmothers' voice echo to my room.
"Darling, let's eat your welcoming dinner!"
"Yes, Grandma. I'm coming.", I called back as I shuffled to my feet, rightening my clothing. My grandmother was a lovable person, but also strict, raised with traditional values and mannerism. Still, we loved each other. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was more well-mannered than most people my age. Well, at least when I knew I had to be.
Dutifully I took my paper work with me so my grandmother could sign the last bits.
In about six weeks I would be starting my internship at the local orphanage. I was pretty lucky for my school to be offering things like that and I've studied really hard to achieve the grades neccessary. Since I still had to keep track with the school stuff, it would all come down to even more work. But I figured having some real working experience before my graduation would be more than valuable.
The local orphanage was surprisingly big, serving as the main house for all the surrounding villages and small cities.
It would be a 40 minutes bus ride, but I'd be a fool not to take the opportunity to live with my grandmother for the time being.
When I stepped into the homey kitchen, there was already an elderly man sitting by the table, who jumped to his feet upon my entrance.
"Hello and nice to meet you.", he said in a raspy voice. Immediately I bowed deeply, showing my respect to the elder.
"Oh what a polite young fellow, I expected nothing less from your grandson, Minjung.", he stated with a side glance at my grandmother.
"I'm the villages' mayor, Kim Joongun. I hope you had a nice trip."
"Do Kyungsoo, and yes, Sunbaenim, thank you."
As we sat down at the dinner table I was silently wondering. Yes, this was a pretty small and conservative village, but was it really neccessary to be formally greeted by the mayor?
The man seemed friendly enough, though kind of nervous. My grandmother on the other side, had her polite 'guest'face on, not giving away anything.
After a few minutes of awkward smalltalk he seemed to finally get to the point.
"So, there is something I would like to propose to you. A small part-time job, so to say."
"Oh, if I can help you with anything-"
"-It's not for me.", he almost hastily fell in, "It's more like... Yes, let's call it community service."
I had no idea what he was talking about so I figured I should keep silent until enlightened.
"You know we live close to the sea, right? Down to the east side there is... There is a certain blue deposit box, kind of like a locker."
I could clearly see my gradmothers' eyes narrow at her guest, a form of impoliteness and displeasure I rarely saw on her face. Still, she remained silent.
"On top of this box is some sort of mailbox. Inside you will find a list of stuff. If you could buy those things and place them into the blue deposit box beyond... That would be of great help."
Okay. So he stopped talking and looked at me with hopeful eyes... And still I was as clueless as from the start.
"Uhm... Right now you mean?"
"Oh. No. No, once a week, every sunday. You don't need to hurry too much, though. When exactly you bring the items, be it wednesday or the next sunday... It's not all that important."
Letting aside the oddity, I considered it. My internship wouldn't start for the time being. Still, I didn't know whether I would have time for things like that later on.
The mayor quickly catched on to my doubts and hurriedly reassured me.
"As I said, there's no need to hurry. Of course you will get compensated accordingly."
Then everyone got quiet as I thought about it. It was really weird. But I've also always been a curious person. Before I could open my mouth, though, my grandmother spoke up.
"If my boy doesn't want to do it, he won't.", she said in a surprisingly cold manner.
Little did she know that her reluctance only fuelled my curiosity the more.
"You cannot force him into-"
"I'll do it."
It was almost comical to see the mayor's face light up as my grandma's darkened.
"Fantastic. I can only repeat myself - you're being of great help. Let me give you this.", he said, putting a black credit card onto the table.
"Whatever you buy, you can pay with this credit card. I'm sure Minjung here will be able to give you the directions. Well then, I don't want to disturb your dinner any longer-", he hurriedly said as he stood up.
He seemed aware of my grandmother's unhappiness and quickly made his exit, assuring me that I could always talk to him whether there should be any questions. Judging after his voice he would prefer never to talk about this again, though. Oh, well?
As soon as he had left my grandma huffed in annoyance.
"This man. Unbelievable! To burden him when he hasn't even unpacked his belongings! And especially forcing him into this."
She shuffled around to place the food onto the table, still fuming.
I was smart enough not to ask anything in that moment. She'd probably try to talk me out of it. And there was no way I'd change my mind, I thought as I absentmindedly played with the shiny black credit card. "Kim Hye Ri", it stated in bold silver letters. Yes, I was definitely curious.

The next day I had gotten ready quietly and on my way out, I casually asked my grandma for the exact location. Still not too happy, she told me the way and asked whether she should accompany me. Since I wasn't in for the nagging and wanted to explore everything myself, I politely declined. Besides that she seemed a little reluctant to go there in the first place.

I had been to this village occasionally as a kid, back when my grandfather had still been around. Therefore I dare say I knew my way around. Yet I didn't know every corner and I had definitely never been here before.  It was a lonely road, leading into some kind of forest. Didn't they all say it was close to the sea?
As I followed the way, I suddenly stepped on wooden planks. Unlike everything about this village, the planks looked rather new and were at least a foot higher than the ground below. There seemed to be something else grounding them, as well. Along the way, the trees lessened and soon the floor besides the planks turned from soil to sand. Since his grandma had been adamant about not straying from this special path, I decided to listen to her. For now.
It hadn't been a long walk, maybe about 5 minutes long, when I saw this infamous deposit box. It was placed to the right side, exactly two steps before the wooden path suddenly ended.
It looked a little worn out, the painted blue metal already flaking off around the area where it was opened. On top of it stood a small, quaint-looking mailbox. For a few seconds I looked around, basking in the feeling of excitement just a little longer. There were only very few trees and the combination with the sand and the blue sky above

was beautiful.
Then I took a deep breath and opened the mailbox. Inside was indeed a folded piece of paper.
Tilting my head, I unfolded it. Neat handwriting announced a list of things.

Shampoo(fruity)
Ballpens (2xblack)
Sprouts
Mushrooms(Shiitake)
Eggs(6)
Milk(1L)
Soy Sauce
Glass noodles
Jelly(Cherry)
Tea(Green)
Coffee(3xVanilla)
A funny Comicbook

Yes, definitely neat handwriting. Still, especially the top seemed as if done throughout the week. As if someone had written something as soon as it was being missed. Puzzled, I took a look around, but I was still the only living being in sight.
All the way back I kept thinking about the person that might have written this list.
Against all the more pressing questions, I also thought about what would be regarded as a 'funny Comicbook'.

I took the fulfilling of the list as an opportunity to get familiar with the city I would be working in. Looking for the convenience stores, for supermarkets... And for a book store.
As I was pacing the shelves up and down, I tried to think about a proper book to buy.
Sure, I knew quite some Comics. But how would I know whether he or she shared my humor? It could be a girl, for all I knew, and I wouldn't even start on the possible age.
It took me about an hour to finally decide on one book to buy before I made my way home, not forgetting to buy some fruits for my grandma as a present.

The next day I was dutifully carrying the bags over to the blue box. When I had placed everything in the box, I hesitated a little at the Comicbook. It was a boldly colored Manga with the title "School Rumble" plastered across it. I had put a yellow sticky note above it, though.

It might be a little girly, but I think it's funny.
I hope you like it.

I didn't know what kind of polite form to use, and writing 'Yours Sincerely' seemed so awkward, which is why I had settled with this.
Again, everything seemed peaceful and vacant.
As I was walking home, I couldn't help but further think about this mystery person. Why was I buying this stuff? Was he or she maybe disabled in any way? Still, something seemed off about this.

When I returned to the mailbox the following sunday, I couldn't help but feel anticipation. I was 90% sure that nothing was going to happen, but the other 10% bugged me into feeling excitement.
Again, I found a list of groceries. At the bottom of the list it read:

School Rumble Vol. 2
An interesting Movie

I liked the book. Thanks.
P.S.: You're new, aren't you?
Nice to meet you.

It wasn't anything spectacular, but I still felt giddy at receiving a response.
And I just had the feeling that an interesting time lay ahead of me.

Even though my grandmother disliked this new-found hobby of mine, I kept spending a lot of thoughts on what to buy for this mysterious person. And the request kept becoming more and more playful, as if this person was testing me. Seeing how far I would go as well as getting to know something about me.
After the movie it read 'Company'. I bought a cute stuffed dog the following week.
So the person was lonely?
Then it read 'Something handmade'. Using my gift of earth, I created a simple stone bracelet, hoping it would fit.

It's stunning! My first piece of accessory.
You're awesome if you can make stuff like that.

The writing style also seemed to change. While it was rather polite and neutral, it got more and more youthful over the time. I couldn't even deny how much I looked forward to reading the next message, eager for information myself. There was only so much I could interpret.
The following sunday, the list included the wish for a "Secret".
This made me think. What was something I had never told anyone?
After hesitating back and forth, I put a scribbled note into the locker a few days later that read:

Sometimes I'm afraid I'm too cold-hearted.

Your turn.

I had no idea why I was being so personal and truthful. Although it had always been easier for me to build relationships through written communication. Actually my number of friends back at school had been close to zero with me favouring the presence of bookshelves over actual company.
In any way, the next sunday I was a little more anxious than before. Revealing things about myself would always make me nervous.
So this time I took the sheet home before I finally dared to look at it in the confines of my room.

I've been skipping my exercises the last two days,
because I was waiting for your answer.

The message brought a smile on my face. What a stupid person. But having someone wait for me, expecting me, was a nice feeling after all.
This time the list read 'Freedom'.
The following week I brought a bottle of soap bubbles, hoping he or she wouldn't think of me being cheesy or clicheé. As always, I added a note.

Don't be silly.
I've always been here on Tuesday.

And as I went home the next sunday, with the new list safely tucked away in my pocket, I couldn't help but to feel watched, in a way.
Now that I had written my exact arriving day, I was wondering whether I would be able to meet this mystery person. I offered the information - it was up to him or her to act on it. Though I had been pretty sure I hadn't been alone the last time.
I hummed in thought as I watched on the list, absentmindedly making my way back across the wooden path.

Your favourite song.

Hm. That wasn't too easy.

The next Tuesday I placed the grocery bag in the locker and closed it. I didn't leave, though. Instead I took a look around, analysing my surroundings. It would be a long way until I had the skills to fully use all aspects of my gift, but sensing life around me was kind of possible.
I cleared my throat.
"Uhm... Hello!", I called out hesitantly. No reply.
"Ah... I'm pretty sure you're here!" Silence. I felt a little stupid, but went on, anyway.
"I'm coming to bring my favourite song. It's a song a colleague wrote for the band I was once part of. But it hasn't ever been officially recorded, so..."
I sank to the floor, making myself comfortable.
"...I'm only doing this once, so you better listen."
I could swear I heard some leafs rustling suspiciously, but overall it remained silent. So I nervously cleared my throat one more time, before I began to sing.
There was no reason to be ashamed of my voice, I was confident enough about that. But singing without any background sounds was kind of awkward.
It had been quite some time, but the words in the foreign language rolled off my tongue rather well. And as I sang, the familiar feeling of happiness began to take over.

I'll remember where the sun set
I'll remember every word you said
Tell me how to get back to Summer Paradise with you
And I'll be there in a heartbeat~

I had my eyes closed, concentrating on all the fond memories I had about this song. Performing it during summer at the far too-hot deserted practice rooms. Buying ice cream with my bandmates afterwards. Singing it on stage in front of an enthusiastic audience. All the smiles and laughs that summer I would forever treasure.
Even though I hadn't actually planned it I sang the full song, even ending with a short improvised harmony.
As the last note echoed through the forest, I opened my eyes.
And looked into a pair of bright, shining eyes that grew wide at the realization of being caught. For a second, we both looked like deers caught in the headlight, neither of us moving due to shock. It must have been a comical sight.
Uncounsciously, I took the person's appearance before me in. About 2 metres away stood a boy about my age, maybe even my height, with a normal to well-build body, slightly tousled brown hair(was that a leaf sticking out?) and expressive facial features with a striking jawline, cat-like lips... And those eyes that were still trained on me. Somehow, no one dared to make a move, as if the spell would be broken by then.
Very slowly I stood up, and the boy took a step away from me.
Then, whithout further warning, he whirled around to run away. I didn't even think before leaping after him. Who knows which one of us would have outrun the other on normal circumstances. Now, however, it was only a very short distance, and even though I might not have looked like it, I was a gifted one after all, with excellent reflexes. Before I knew it, I had jumped down from the wooden path into the sand and grabbed the boy's shoulder. A loud cracking sound was heard and I was sure I had seen a flash, just for a moment.
Almost violently, the boy shook me off and looked at me, as he took some steps backwards, lifting his hands as if unsure whether to approach me or run even faster.
"Oh God. Are you - Are you alright? , I... I'm sorry!", he uttered, an expression of pure horror on his face.
I blinked at him, temporary confused about what had happened in the first place.
"What are you talking about?", I asked, looking at my tingling fingers.
"Just... Don't come close! G-Go back. And don't leave the wooden path-", with this he ran away, and this time I let him.
That evening I made my way home, even more confused than before.

I had bugged my grandmother as much as I dared the next day. But she wouldn't want to tell me anything about this mysterious boy. I kept asking however.
"Why can't he buy the stuff himself?"
"What's his name?"
"Is he maybe a gifted one, then?"
Finally she snapped.
"Do Kyungsoo.", she began in that quiet-before-a-storm kind of voice, "This kid is not like you. You have a free will about those... 'Powers' of yours. You can humbly use it for the greater good, and I am very proud of you. This kid, however, harbours a power only able to destroy, to break, to kill. I do not want you near him. Do you understand?"
Slightly taken aback by her harsh voice, I nodded and looked to the floor.
"Yes, grandmother."

Yes, I understood.
...But I disagreed.
What? I might be well-behaved, giving off the typical 'subdued obedience'-kind of feeling, but I never said I had a thing for rules. At least not as long as I saw no sense behind them.
And this boy didn't seem particularly dangerous.

So I found myself the following day in the early morning, with a bag of groceries at the locker again. As expected, he wasn't there. It was still early enough for there to be a thin layer of mist in the air and dew on the few blades of grass I saw on my way.
That was fine with me. I sat down, leaning against the locker and enjoyed the silence. After a while, I reached for the book I had wisely brought along. When I got bored and the sun was already soaring above me, I took the chance for a small nap.
And the hours passed. Still, another thing to know about me would be my incredible amount of stubbornness. And I was determined not to leave before I had met him again, even if I had to stay until the next day. Okay, maybe I'd go home around midnight to avoid being grounded by my grandma. But I'd be back at six.
Somewhere along the way, I had fallen asleep again. Truthfully, I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, having spent the better time of the night with (mostly fruitless) research.
When I woke up the next time, the sun was already hanging low, casting huge shadows with it's golden light. I blinked sleepily. Then I noticed the neatly folded hoodie that lay a few feet away at the edge of the wooden planks. Now that I thought about it, it had gotten rather cold.  Maybe I shouldn't have ventured out in a T-Shirt. My arms felt a little chilly now that I was mostly sitting in the shadows.
Slowly, I took two steps to sit at the edge of the wood, letting my feet dangle above the ground(Yeah, I was short like that).
I turned the garment in my hand, feeling the warm fabric, before I called out a clear: "Thank you!", and pulled it over my head. It was rather loose and therefore comfortable. Not to mention it had a foreign, but nice smell to it.

"So...", I began, swinging my legs back and forth, "You're here again."
I could just tell. Maybe it was my gift, maybe my hearing was better than I thought, maybe it was something completely different.
This time, the rustling of leafs was clearly audible.
"Wait. Don't run away again.", I began, trying not to sound too desperate.
The voice answering from somewhere between the leafage was cautious.
"Only if you promise not to come after me."
I hummed.
"Promise."
Slowly, the boy left his hiding and stepped into my vision with slow and careful steps, stopping in a safe distance.
He gave me an unsure look, as if to say 'What now?', as he stood there, looking fidgety.
I made a calm gesture for him to sit down, and he did.
His eyes were still wary and attentive, as if fearing I might bolt after him again.
"Don't look at me like that.", I began with a hopefully reassuring smile, "If you don't want me to come close, I'll stay right here."
My words seemed to calm him, for he gave a slight nod and relaxed his posture lightly.
"Are you really alright?", he suddenly bursted out, biting on the inside of his cheek with a meek look.
I lifted my hands, presenting my white palms.
"Not even a scratch."
When he exhaled, he seemed genuinely relieved.
"Okay. Again, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have run off. But..."
"It's alright."
I didn't feel very awkward about the following silence, which was kind of strange. However, the handsome boy spoke up again shortly after.
"You know... I'm very thankful for those notes. Seriously, I don't think anyone has ever been so... Thoughful. I was really looking forward to those."
"As I was looking forward to your replies."
A smile flashed over his face and I didn't even have time to process it before it was gone again. But I was pretty positive it was a gorgeous one.
Carefully, I went on to the next topic.
"I haven't actually been living here before..."
Bright eyes gave me their undivided attention.
"-And no one wanted to tell me anything about you."
A slight tension returned.
"So I researched quite a bit. And I thought about what happened the other day. Please correct me if I'm wrong... But do you have a gift linked to electricity?"
Now he looked ready to bolt again. But I didn't move, and so he didn't, either.
"I... Why would you think that?", he cautiously asked.
"Well, there was this short flash. And after staring at those wooden planks the whole day, I'm pretty sure they are hiding a rather thick layer of rubber, which would - if my assumption was correct - work as a rod. Well, and my grandmother gave me a hint."
No need to mention her choice of words.
The boy looked defeated, his shoulders slumping.
"Yeah... Well, you're right. I'm... Dangerous. So, uhm, I don't want to hurt you or drive you away, so-"
"Actually it's a funny thing.", I intervened, as he gave me a puzzled look.
"I don't think you could hurt me, even if you tried."
"Huh? Are you sure you know what you're talking about?", he asked, obviously mentally questioning my sanity.
Casually, I nodded.
"Oh yeah. Pretty sure. I can even remember sticking my finger into a power outlet when I was a kid, just to scare my mom. Boy, did it work. Never did it again."
Now he was probably trying to estimate the risk of me being the dangerous one.
"Let me prove it.", I said, and with a smile I jumped down the planks and towards him.
Hastily, he tried to scramble away, but I was prepared and in the blink of an eye a small wall of stone had risen up behind him. And before anything else could happen, my hand was patting his shoulder. The boy looked like a petrified rabbit, not daring to move a single muscle as he stared up at me.
I gave him a grin.
"You can relax, you know?" Then I held my other hand in a greeting manner.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Do Kyungsoo. Actually I'm a gifted one with the power of earth. Therefore I'm some kind of human lightning rod, I guess."
Again, he didn't react immediately, as if waiting for my words to suddenly prove themselves as a false assumption. When nothing happened, though, he hesitantly shook my hand with his own trembling fingers.
"I'm Chen. Nice to meet you."
I couldn't help smiling.
"Finally I know your name!"
I stepped back and Chen let out the breath he had obviously kept in.
"So... We could be friends, don't you think?", I asked.
My cousin would probably give me a weird look now, considering I didn't appear that straight-forward very often. But I could be very zealous when my interest was sparked.
And this boy was by far the most intriguing person I had ever met.
Said boy stood up to be on my eye-level, but kept his distance.
"Sure. I'd love that!", he said almost eagerly, though obviously still torn about the close proximity between us.
"So... Uh... Wanna hang out or something?", he questioned, looking me straight in the eye.
He seemed careful, but not neccessarily shy.
"I have no idea what you bought there, but we might get some dinner out of it?"
"Ah, I'm sorry. It's pretty late already, I think I should really head back for now. It's getting dark already - My grandma will kill me."
Disappointment flashed over his features, before it turned into a hesitant smile, with hopefully shining eyes.
"I understand. Sure, then... Maybe tomorrow?"
"Definitely tomorrow.", I answered, smiling brightly, "How about 3 P.M?"
"Fine with me. I'm not exactly busy."
"Alright, then see you tomorrow?"
I was already stuffing the things into my bag as he hurriedly came after me, stopping again in a reasonable distance.
"But don't tell people about me, please?"
"Are you crazy? My grandma would raise hell if she found out I disobeyed. I'm not stupid!", I laughed.
As we parted and I threw one last glance over my shoulder, I almost laughed at how ironically starstruck Chen looked as he stared after me.

Phew, finally!
I've been dieing to write this for so long!
Yet, somehow, I wrote a lot of other stuff...
I dearly love "Summer Paradise" from Simple Plan(feat. Taka, Taka!)
It also kinda suits this beach/summer atmosphere I had in mind.

As always, I treasure every form of feedback - You keep me motivated~!

Love,
Sugar-and-Salt ♥

P.S.: This story already has 28 subscribers - That's like one entire class of awesome people only - Thank you ♥