Day 15

Today I discovered an ethereal fact about the island boy.

All morning he had been out at sea on his surfboard, leaving me on my own to ponder and scavenge for my own meals.

Who knows why he was behaving this way, but I gradually came to a conclusion later on in the day.

Smoothening out my clothes after napping in an awkward position, I crossed the fallen tree towards the cove.

He wasn’t there cooking up a fish or plucking around near the mango trees, so I decided to head back towards the beach and watch him from a distance as he rode the waves.

Sandy had been lacking some attention, so instead I filled in for Daehyun and fed her some shrimps I found near the rock pools. The female and I played around by ourselves for a while, waiting for the main islander to return.

However, the burning ball in the sky had long since set behind the horizon before the tanned male decided to return.

He remained at the beach, gawking at the luminous pearl as it reflected her beauty upon the calm ripples of the night sea.

He was leaning forward with both arms dangling loosely around his legs; one hand holding the other wrist as he silently endured the cool night breeze.

He curled his toes into the sand and sighed, bowing his head towards his knees. I watched from afar, cradling the sleeping dog within my arms, engrossed on what could have possibly been wrong.

Was he homesick?

Was he wondering what it’d be like back home? Back in Busan?

Was he missing someone? His parents? A possible lover who he once spoke sincerities and promises to?

Had I, by chance, offended him or done something he didn’t like?

Reflecting on the previous days, I’ve done nothing but frolic around as usual, sneaking sly dips into the waterfall when he wasn’t watching or feeding on the delicious mangos near by the cove.

We spoke more than usual each evening by the fire... had that been the reason to his sudden need to distance himself from me? Was I becoming too much?

Overgrowing with impatience, I placed Sandy down carefully onto the sand and began to trudge over towards his hunched form.

The tide was coming in, but Daehyun seemed the least bit concerned as he sat by the shoreline, tickling his feet within the chaste grasps of water.

Although, I stopped a few metres behind and began to question my behaviour. Of course, it would be very rude of me to just cascade on his alone time.

It wouldn’t be a sensible thing to do since I’m probably the reason why he is out here instead of in his shelter, sleeping under the blinking night stars.

I turned and headed back towards the bushes, where I promised to simply keep a look out for him until he returned to his shelter. Just as I took my first step, the silence had been interrupted by a hypnotic, melodious voice ripping through the salty air.

Freezing in my tracks, I listened closely as the island boy suddenly began singing possibly a poem or a rhyme he was familiar with.

High amidst the mellow breeze,
The ocean sings her song for me.

Her love as pure as the searing sun,
Her clutch as deathly as a glistering gun.

Lead me to your tender lips,
And send me to sleep with a drowning kiss.

Almost immediately I was in a trance, listening to the honeyed voice twirling along with the wind. Each note was steady and faultless, leaving me there to dive into a daze.

This had just proven how perfect he was. From his stunning looks to his mesmerising singing voice…I had become completely captivated within his charms.

After an hour of singing me to sub consciousness, Daehyun gathered himself onto his feet and trekked towards the bushes. When he was completely out of sight, I lumbered out towards the space he had been sitting.

I thought I’d saw him drawing something in the sand through my blurry vision, which might give me a clue to his strange behaviour.

Desperate, and in a hurry to get some sleep, I peeped down to his spot and found a neatly drawn heart, pierced by an arrow and surrounded in a couple of shells. Bewildered, I let out a shallow breath and furrowed my brows.

He must’ve definitely been missing someone from back home. 

~*~