One Saturday afternoon, Haeri's phone buzzes. Putting down her pencil and homework, Haeri frowns and picks up the phone. It's a message from Sehun.

Come outside~

Shaking her head quizzically, Haeri does what he asks. When she throws open the front door, the sunlight blinds her for a second, but once her vision clears she sees Sehun leaning on his car, grinning at her.

"Sehun, what in the world...?" Haeri asks as she walks up to him. He's wearing shorts and a tank top and suddenly conscious of how messy she must look compared to him, she runs a hand through her hair and smoothes down her shirt.

"How are you on this fine afternoon?" Sehun asks, a mischievous look on his face.

"I'm... fine? Thanks for asking. But seriously, why are you here?"

"All these questions," Sehun tsks. "You were probably doing homework, weren't you? You need to relax, girl. Come on." He beckons to the car, and Haeri raises an eyebrow.

"Now? I'm not done with homewo-"

"Oh, come on. I promise I'll help you later if you need me to. Let's just have fun today."

"Oh, alright," Haeri says reluctantly. "Let me just run in and get my bag really quickly."

Truthfully, Haeri's pretty relieved that Sehun's come to relieve her of her stress. She really does need a day off.

Once Haeri's seated in the car, Sehun starts the car up, and they head out of the neighborhood.

"Where are we going?" Haeri hazards another question, though she doubts she's going to get an answer. True to this guess, Sehun keeps his mouth shut and brings up a different subject instead.

Whatever, Haeri thinks to herself. I'll find out soon enough.

Soon enough, Haeri recognizes the route they're taking: it's the way to the beach. When the smell of salt begins to suffuse the air, Haeri knows her guess is correct.

Traffic begins to increase as they near the parking lots, and it's only after five minutes of driving around slowly that they're able to get a spot fairly close to the beach. Still, as Haeri steps out of the car and feels the wind whip through her hair, she thinks it's all worth it. She hasn't been to the beach for a while, simply because she's been much too busy.

Sehun seems pleased when he sees her expression. "Like it?"

"Of course," Haeri replies. "How could I not?"

Smiling, he puts an arm around her shoulder, and they make their way slowly down the big rocks to the soft sand. The sunlight by the shore today is perfect: not too strong, but not nonexistent, either. It's a fairly comfortable temperature. As expected, there are plenty of people at the beach: families, walkers, and other couples. But the background noise is all drowned out by the whooshing of the sea, and Haeri finds it quite relaxing. Her stress slowly disappears, and for the next hour or so she and Sehun wander along the shore, dipping their feet occasionally in the shallow, refreshing water and picking up interesting rocks and seashells. They even find a kelp so large that Haeri just has to take a picture next to it. At one point, Sehun hands his phone to a bystander and asks the girl to take a photo of them, which she does happily.

"I'll send it to you," Sehun promises Haeri.

Throughout the walk, the two of them don't talk much, but it's enough for Haeri just to share in the peacefulness and realize that it's just as nice as having a conversation. Later, they have a water fight, splashing each other with water and trying to see who can get the other wetter. There isn't a clear winner, though Sehun insists that he obviously won.

"I'll give it you this time," Haeri vows, "though it's the only time I'll let you win."

Sehun just splashes her in response, and Haeri gets a mouthful of salt water instead. She just laughs, delighted at everything.

The sky begins to darken later and Sehun returns to the car briefly, coming back with a couple towels and blankets. The crowds start to clear out slightly as people head home, but many, like Haeri and Sehun, remain to experience the beautiful beach sunset. Haeri helps Sehun lay out the towels and then they sit down, draping blankets over themselves.

"So." Sehun says.

"So." Haeri answers.

There's a moment of quiet, and then-

"Today is special," Sehun begins. "Do you know why?"

Haeri pretends to think for a few seconds.

"Well... is it because it's been two months since our first date?"

"I was afraid you'd forget," Sehun admits.

"How could I?" Haeri wonders. "It was one of the best days of my life."

A couple next to them breaks into laughter suddenly, and Sehun waits until their giggles have died down before continuing.

"I want to tell you a story."

Haeri glances at the sky, which is beginning to become streaked with colors, and then motions for Sehun to continue. "Go ahead."

"One day," he starts, voice soft, "I was at the park, hanging out with my friends. After we had spent most of the day hanging out, I decided I was done for the day. Some instinct, I don't know what, compelled me to take a different route home, so instead of taking my normal route home, I decided to pass by the library instead."

Haeri stills.

"Well, as it happened, I didn't find out until later that on my way down that road, I had almost run over a girl from my school, who at the time I didn't know personally, though I had heard that she was very intelligent and hardworking and had a good shot at being valedictorian. I decided, on yet another unexplainable whim, that I was going to head over to the local coffee shop. So I parked my motorcycle outside and went in and ordered a coffee, then picked a back corner to sit in. So I sat there drinking coffee by myself, unsure what I was expecting. I felt inexplicably that I was waiting for something profound to happen. After about half an hour, I chastised myself for being dumb and stood up to leave. But as I was leaving, do you know what happened?"

Haeri can barely breathe, and she nods.

"Somebody crashed into me," Sehun continues. "When I looked to see who it was, the person was already apologizing, offering to clean up, but I didn't hear any of that. Because when I saw that person's face, that was all I could focus on in that instant. A face has never stood out to me that much. And after my mind cleared, I remembered to ask, just in time, what that person's name was, because I needed to know."

"I-" Haeri stutters. But she can't seem to get any coherent thoughts out.

"Well, after I had your name," Sehun finishes, "I had to figure out who you were, and why I'd never seen you around before. I found out we went to the same school, and realized we had never met because we belonged to completely different social circles and had different friends... you know. So I figured out you were in math club, and joined that. That's the real reason I joined, of course. Although, I am pretty good at math too."

Haeri can't help but laugh at his last statement, appreciating that Sehun can always make fun out of any situation. "How did you find out I was in math club? I'm not sure if I should be creeped out or what."

"Ah, but I can't give away all my secrets, can I?"

"Oh Sehun," Haeri grumbles, but really in her heart she is on top of the world.

"Look," Sehun says suddenly, pointing at the sky. Haeri looks and gasps, because just then the sky bursts into streaks of the brightest red and orange and gold and just the slightest hints of indigo, and in that exact moment, as if planned perfectly, Sehun leans over and captures her lips with his own.

It's Haeri's first kiss and if anyone were to comment later that it was a typical beach-sunset couple moment, Haeri would beg to differ. Sehun's lips are amazingly soft but also firm and steady, and despite her fears that she has no idea how to kiss anyone, much less a very handsome, charming young man, Haeri's own lips seem to respond naturally and before she knows it she's holding his face between her hands and angling herself to kiss him deeper. Little personal sunsets seem to explode in her mind, even brighter than the real sunset they've just witnessed, and it's more brilliant than Haeri could have ever imagined.

Is this love? she thinks deliriously, unable nor willing to break away from her first taste of heaven.

When they finally break apart, both are out of breath. Haeri blushes, suddenly aware that she's never felt or acted like this before. There are a couple hoots from nearby couples that must have witnessed the whole thing, but Haeri feels so good that she doesn't mind at all. Sehun's grinning down at her with that amazing smile, and she smiles back, unable to put her feelings into words.

"I just," she tries. "Wow. I don't know."

"Don't worry," Sehun assures her. "I feel the same."

She just shakes her head, laughing.

"Hey," Sehun asks, "remember how I had to ask you a very important question at math champs?"

"Yeah," Haeri recalls. "You asked me on our first date."

"Yep. Well, I have another important question to ask you."

"Hmm?"

He takes a breath, almost shyly.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Haeri looks him in the eye.

"Yes. Yes, I will."