🌴🌴🌴

     The cool sea breeze wafting into the shore smells of home, of belonging; of a new beginning. At least it does to Kyungsoo, who is standing on the beach with his toes digging into the sand, admiring the sparkle of the cerulean ocean in front of him that stretches out for miles as far as he can see. He sighs wistfully, glad to be back on the island after a rough school year in the city, a long year full of agonizing college work and longing for summer break again where he could be back at the resort island. Though being back also meant being coerced into working at the resort, seeing as his father owned the place, and all. He always insisted he earn his three month food and board by helping around the hotel - either by managing the front desk, working in the kitchen, or doing the odd jobs around the islet all summer. But it’s not like Kyungsoo minded the work since he had plenty of free time to spend relaxing around the island or swimming in the ocean, to admire the breathtaking view from every vantage point of the land, or to just forget the rest of the world existed, if only for a while. 

Kyungsoo is quickly broken out of his reverie when he hears a rustle from the thicket behind him, where the edge of the small woods meets the stretch of beach he’s standing on. He’s not too concerned about who’s disturbing his peace, as there is only one person who knows about Kyungsoo’s favourite secret little hiding spot past the trees.

“Thought I might find you here. Your dad said you came in last night, thanks for letting me know, by the way.” Kyungsoo chuckles good naturally and turns to greet the newcomer.

“It’s good to see you again, Chanyeol.” He smiles up at the newcomer, Chanyeol, who in turn smiles back, all pearly teeth and scrunched up eyes.

“Likewise, dude. It’s been too long.” Chanyeol finally reaches where Kyungsoo is standing, ducking down a bit to pull the latter into a hug due to his towering height. Kyungsoo slowly pats the older’s back in an awkward manner, not very comfortable with the close proximity. Chanyeol inhales sharply and pulls away to look into those big brown eyes he’s missed so much.

“How have you been, Soo?” He whispers softly, looking fondly at the petite red-haired male in his arms. Kyungsoo easily shrugs him off and misses Chanyeol’s disappointed frown as he takes a few steps back, looking up at him again.

“I’ve been fine, how about yourself?” He grins easily, but Chanyeol can tell that there’s something a little broken about that heart-shaped smile.

“Yeah, I’m alright. I’m just glad school’s over for now, you know? It’s great to be back here again,” the gangly male replied with a beam as usual. Like Kyungsoo, Chanyeol returned to the island every summer to work there while he went to school during the year in the city, as well. They had met when they were young; when Kyungsoo was still homeschooled at the resort and Chanyeol was on his annual trip there with his family. Their days of building sandcastles and splashing around in the shallows together had brought them an unlikely friendship, but a close one nonetheless. Since Chanyeol’s parents had moved out of the city and further north for the warmth, he really had no real reason to keep returning to the island, not even for the work money. But he had a feeling that it had something to do with a certain big-hearted, wide-eyed boy that kept making him come back.

“This is gonna be an amazing summer, Soo. I can feel it,” Chanyeol breaks the comfortable silence, trying to put as much emotion into his words if only for them to be true. He side eyes Kyungsoo, hoping he’ll look back and give him that rare breathtaking smile, but Kyungsoo is staring forlornly at the sea, instead - his mind elsewhere (as usual). The older quickly clears his throat and turns back towards the trees behind them,

“We should probably go back to Reception. Your dad wants you behind the desk. That’s what I actually came here for but I kinda forgot, 'till now…heh…” Chanyeol sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, turning towards the path at the same time as Kyungsoo.

“Nice, Yeol. Doing your job well, as usual,” the younger chuckles as they both walk through the underbrush towards the hotel. But as they walk, Kyungsoo suddenly freezes when he hears a twig snap somewhere in the opposite direction they’re walking to. He turns around quickly and thinks he sees a shadow passing through the deep thicket of the trees, but when he blinks again, it’s gone. 

“What’s wrong? Did you see something?” Chanyeol turns around as well, but Kyungsoo quickly shakes his head.

“Nothing. It was nothing.” 

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     Walking back to the resort takes a good ten minutes. Kyungsoo spends this time admiring the incredible view along the way, taking in the scenery he’s seen a thousand times over but can never really get enough of. They walk past the pier that leads to the separate overwater bungalos for the resort guests who are assumedly still sleeping since it was quite early in the morning. The dense trees give way to the back end of the resort building, which is where the duo quickly slip inside. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo go their own ways in the lobby, the former to help out in the kitchen and the latter heading straight for the front desk. 

Kyungsoo meets his father at the desk, who is impatiently waiting for him to arrive and take over reception duties so he can manage the setup for the huge wave of guests coming in today.

“So nice of you to finally show up! Did you get distracted again, staring at the ocean?” Kyungsoo smiles wryly at his dad’s condescension but decides to humor him anyway;

“Of course not, father, I was so excited to begin working that I lost track of time because I was too busy thinking about all the fun jobs I’ll have to do this summer,” and Kyungsoo feels pretty satisfied with himself when his father laughs humorlessly.

“Ha ha. Very funny. Now man the desk for me. There’s a whole bunch of guests coming in this morning and I’d rather prepare everything than greet them when they do. We all know you’re better with the people and the computer than me anyway. Also, break’s in two hours, and then Chanyeol will take over. Enjoy.” With that, his father scurries off to meet with the other employees and inform them on their tasks for the day. Kyungsoo sighs and sits down on the stool he discreetly hid under the desk earlier. With his cursed lack of height, it looks like he’s standing up anyway, even whilst sitting down.

The morning passes by slowly, with the many guests who were flown into the resort late last night and early that morning checking in. There are two designated helicopters for the resort that flies guests back and forth from the city, since the island is not big enough to require a ferry to carry them. The actual island itself is not very massive; only large enough for the sizable resort and the small woods behind it that led to the large, spread out mountains at the very end. The guests mainly consisted of extremely high-class men and women who probably owned their own companies and celebrities that needed a break from their hectic lives of fame and fortune. The island was a perfect little paradise for the too rich and the too famous to hide away for a while and not be found as they enjoyed some freedom from their eccentric lives where people were always following them around and demanding things from them. 

As each of the many CEOs and celebrities come up to the desk, it is Kyungsoo’s job to check them in and catalogue everything onto the computer (which he has to later handwrite into the log-book since his dad is old-fashioned and weird like that), all with a tight, but polite smile on his face since the guests pay a lot to come here. The resort fills up no more than 250 guests, who all usually arrive in the first week of summer (with the exception of the few that live there year-round since they have the money and means to do so), thirteen of which arrive in the two hours that Kyungsoo’s working. He greets some of the regulars who come annually, pretending he doesn’t see their tired, washed-out billion dollar smiles and almost dead eyes. There are a few younger, fresher looking people who seem excited at the prospect of a little bit of paradise, away from the millions of fans or subordinates who rely on them so much. Kyungsoo sardonically thinks that those happy, gleaming eyes aren’t going to stay that way for long, and soon they’ll end up like all the other tired, bored socialites who escape here all the time.

He is easily the youngest person on the island at the age of twenty-one, whereas all the guests range from about thirty to seventy years old, so Kyungsoo is a little more than surprised when a young man who looks about his age steps through the double French doors. Upon first glance, he can tell that the stranger is strikingly handsome, but can’t dwell on it much since he’s busy talking to an American guest and trying very patiently to keep calm as the presumable CEO goes off on him about something or other. God, it’s not even ten in the morning yet and he’s already being shouted at. The middle aged, portly man seems to be complaining about the view from his room and demanding a new one as Kyungsoo tries very hard not to scream at him because of it. He almost forgets about the handsome stranger until he makes exasperated eye-contact with him behind the complaining American and gets a sympathetic smile in return. He quickly switches the room to a new one with a better view (which just means more ocean, basically) and watches as the angry guest stomps off, even though he got what he wanted. Kyungsoo sighs and writes down the information in the log-book, looking up quickly when the young, mysterious stranger speaks up.

“Do they always talk to you like that?” Kyungsoo quite likes the sound of his low, rich voice, but doesn’t show it as he’s always extremely professional.

“Eh, you get used to it after a while. And if you think about it, they’re all kinda sad, lonely people who need to yell at others below them to feel good. And if they feel good, we get more money, so it’s the little things you gotta put up with,” he replies with a shrug. The other male seems amused by his bluntness, chuckling in response.

“That’s a good way to look at it, I suppose. Can’t imagine it makes your job fun, though,” the man grins widely at him and seems genuinely concerned.

The man stands tall, much taller than Kyungsoo, with curly brown locks and nicely tanned skin. The receptionist automatically assumes he’s a celebrity, what with his blindingly bright smile and way above-average looks. Kyungsoo doesn’t really keep up with celebrities and the likes, even in the city, because it’s something he just doesn’t care for. After having to deal with snobby, pretentious rich people all the time, seeing them in the media acting as fake personas of their true selves just reminds him of how horribly manipulative and fraudulent people are.

“Like I said, the little things,” Kyungsoo is definitely taken-aback that the visitor seems to be trying to empathize with him, but hides his surprise well, since getting attached to guests is a big no-no in his book.

“Anyway, do you have a reservation?” Kyungsoo pastes on his fake only-for-guests smile, hand already on the computer mouse to search the man’s name in the database.

Before the man can reply, however, his dad suddenly rushes over, seemingly out of nowhere. Kyungsoo watches with great curiosity as his father whispers in the stranger's ear and the latter nods in response. After a short, whispered conversation, his dad turns to Kyungsoo and says,

"This is a special guest, Soo, so I'll take over from here. You can start your break early." Kyungsoo opens his mouth to protest but the look on his father's face tells him that he shouldn't argue with him.

"Um, alright. I guess I'll go then." He quickly nods to the unfamiliar guest and slips from behind the desk, rushing out of the entrance with complete bewilderment at what just happened. Who is that strange man? And why is he so important?

There are so many questions racking his brain, but as he leaves, Kyungsoo can’t help but think that he wouldn’t mind seeing more of the mysterious stranger around.

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So, yeah. Kinda just a filler-thingy/short introduction. Sorry if it was kinda boring. Will explain everything later on. Thanks for reading!!! ^ ^