I would stand before the ocean and absorb the wind and the salt as they trespassed over every open pore on my skin and intoxicate me into a wishful high until I would hallucinate the gentle inhale and exhale of their breaths, as though I was standing right beside them enjoying the good times. It seemed to work for Youngjae. A flow of relief suddenly washed over me when he sent me a graceful smile with hazy midnight eyes. I returned the smile and headed back with him towards our individual shelters to then surrender ourselves to a night worth of dream. 

          Meeting Youngjae for the first time was quite daunting because I didn’t know how he would react to seeing me. I wasn’t weird or anything, but I would suspect that he wasn’t expecting some strange island boy in a vest and shorts with a pet dog named Sandy would come to his rescue. I met Youngjae with the help of a tiny little reptile I secretly named Squirt. I may or may not have been a little obsessed over Nemo as a kid. The turtle and its baby brothers and sisters hatched under Youngjae’s boat, of all places and managed to make their ways safely to the sea after Youngjae hauled his boat away.

          I held myself together pretty well when it came to the introduction, considering the fact that this was my island after all. Youngjae sputtered with his words but nonetheless, I felt obliged to introduce him to his new temporary home. I could’ve returned Youngjae back home if we had a decent boat. The rescue boat was too small for the two of us and it wouldn't be safe to take out onto the ocean, especially after Youngjae's last experience. Unfortunately my boat drifted out to sea when the storm came so the next morning I went to the beach totally clueless of its whereabouts. It was completely gone leaving me there feeling slightly distressed. I couldn’t go back even if I wanted to.

          A couple days passed by with me and Youngjae going about our own businesses. Even though I really wanted the opposite, I kept my distance from him so that he didn’t feel disturbed by my presence or uneasy- he still knew nothing about me. I was curious about him, I wanted to learn about where he came from and how he found me, but I stuck to myself and filled my time with surfboarding and fishing. We still conversed the odd few times when we weren't so occupied by the wonders of the island, but they were short-lived and withheld. 

           I was aware that eventually, things would evolve within time. Youngjae and I would someday grow an attachment that would pull us two together, like a magnet, and allow us to open up a bit more about ourselves. And that change happened to occur today, when Youngjae blurted out the painful truth of his journey to this anonymous island and give me a short preview of how much it took for him to not have an outburst or some sort of anger parade.

          Even though I wanted to celebrate the achievement of getting him to talk more, I felt agitated and annoyed with myself. I felt as though I was digging too deep on the wrong side of the island too soon, but Youngjae's hazy smile gradually washed my worries away. It had given me the impression that I'd just possibly broke a barrier which had been keeping us apart.

I think I'd just gained some of his trust. 

~*~