Jung Soojung. Long brown hair falling over her shoulders, bright lips and sparkly eyes. She was wearing a pretty blue dress and a straw hat, emphasizing her beautiful complexion and feminine physique, when she suddenly appeared on Chara-san’s porch with a basket full of food in one hand.

Chara-san had woken Jongin that morning with a light tuck on his shoulder, telling him to get dressed up and to come down fast because there was a special guest. And there she was, in her halo of energy and splendor, the girl whose parents loved and cherished.

-This is from my mother- she said, handing the basket to the old Japanese woman –She says she will also need some of your herbs for massages. She’s been having back ache quite frequently-

Jongin was looking at her with sleepy eyes through his ruffled hair. It was too early for him to be awake, let alone to engage a conversation with the pretty girl, but Soojung saw none of that and smiled at him.

-Are you Chara’s nephew? I’ve been hearing a lot about you-

The dancer flinched a little. Why was she saying his aunt’s name without the honorific? Were they in friendlier terms than he had thought? With a sigh he decided it didn’t really matter and focused on her question.

-I’m not her real nephew, but we are like family. My name’s Kim Jongin- he said, his voice still groggy from sleeping.

-Nice to meet you Jongin, I’m Soojung- she replied, taking one of his hands and shaking it hard, leaving him in shock.

She was bolder than he had expected, but, on the other hand, he hadn’t expected anything.

It was one of those rare foggy days when the mist covers the surface of the sea concealing the shore for the mariners on the ships and the lighthouse had been switched on to prevent any accident. He could see the faint beam of its light cutting through the clouds faraway in the distance, leaving a yellow trail behind it.

He wondered if Kyungsoo would like to go explore the lighthouse with him one of those days, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the bubbly girl in front of him, asking if he had already had a tour of the town. He wanted to reply saying that yes, he knew the town like the palm of his hands, but instead a yawn escaped his lips, swallowing his answer.

-I’ll take it as a no then. Let’s go, I’ll be your guide-

And so he was up and running behind that weird and sunny girl. He quickly learned how she loved to talk, explaining everything as fast as possible between her rapid steps, pointing at everything she liked with glistening eyes and often getting lost in her own misplaced thoughts.

His thoughts and reactions she saturated the atmosphere with her overwhelming personality, making Jongin take a step back and just let himself be dragged around without having to say anything. He had always hated people like that, who just didn’t think about consequences or kickbacks but that girl had the extraordinary ability to not be presumptuous or irritating while bursting out laughing for every little thing.

When he was alone, his thoughts were almost too heavy to bear, weighting on his shoulder and making him crinkle and crack on the floor, but with Soojung he felt light. He didn’t have to think, he didn’t have to listen, he just took the ride as it was, seatbelts tightly strapped.

-I was thinking about eating in a really cute café, the only one they have here really, so do you wanna come? We could have coffee and sandwiches, or maybe some salad with sauce, but they also have some pasta and side dishes…-

Jongin couldn’t help but smile. He was sure if he had let her talk, she would have never stopped, leaving the both of them foodless until night, so he softly interrupted her.

-Okay-

She looked at him, grinning widely.

-Perfect, I’ll think about the menu while I take you so we don’t have to wait for the waiter to come twice to take our order. Can you believe there is only one cute café here? Isn’t it such a waste? I mean, how can they…-

And there she went again.

In her defense, the food was really as good as she had said. They ate slowly while Soojung was telling him funny stories about her childhood, making his almost choke on his water because he was laughing too much.

When she finally finished her tale, he took the chance to ask what he had been wondering all that time.

-Soojung-ssi, do you know the Do family? The ones who live up the hill in the big mansion?-

For the first time since he had met her, the young girl’s expression clouded and she dropped her gaze on the floor, slowly chewing on her salad.

-I… I can’t say that I really know them. They have only recently moved here so I didn’t have the chance to talk to them. My mother has gone to give them a welcome basket and she said they are a really traditional family, but she didn’t want to talk about them. I’ve seen their son at the market last week and I wanted to go greet him, but he just bowed, not even looking at me in the eyes.- she shifted on her chair, uncomfortable –I guess they are just a weird family-

Jongin felt his nape itching. Something was off, something was terribly off: she was lying.

It was not about the words she had used, but her voice, shaky and unsteady, that had given him the hint. She was omitting something she knew to him and Jongin hated when people did that. He remembered listening through the closed door his mother and father talking to the doctor in whispers, not wanting him to hear anything about this true diagnosis. They would always say “You’re fine Jongin, nothing got worse. You’ll get better as you grow up” but he knew those words were fake.

Tired smiles and swollen eyes always scream lie if you are pleading happiness.

He wanted to know more, he craved everything there was to know about the mysterious guy called Kyungsoo but nobody seemed to want to help him. And yet he stayed quiet, changing the subject as if nothing happened.

He had studied people for years, looking at them with the tiny eyes of an innocent kid and then with the tired eyes of a new adult, but they were still the same: little and scared, trapped in their own fears and not wanting to go outside of what they knew because they lacked courage. It was nothing to be angry about, it was just how they were built, but then why did he felt so different?

Jongin and Soojung parted ways that afternoon, right before dinner, the girl having to do some commissions, but not before making him promise to go out with her another time.

The young man walked home with a slow pace, breathing in the fresh air of the soon to be night and enjoying the quiet peace around him. Only cicadas were singing, filling the air with their sound that reminded him of summer nights.

It was when he was walking up the path, looking back at the beach with a distracted gaze, that he saw him: A dark figure was sitting in the sand, ruffled hair and hands digging in the sand. Do Kyungsoo was building a sand castle with trembling fingers, his chest rising up too quickly to be normal. As Jongin closed the distance between them, unnoticed, he heard the faint sound of sighs and gulps.

When Jongin finally walked up to him, his body froze: he had never seen anyone cry so quietly. Kyungsoo was looking at the sand’s mountain he had created near his feet, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks and neck. When he noticed Jongin’s presence next to him, he shut his watery eyes and tried to dry them with his palms.

-Hey- he croaked, his voice cracked between the sobs.

-Hey- replied, Jongin taking of his shoes and sitting down next to him. –Are you okay?-

Kyungsoo flicked his gaze up to him; his eyes were red and puffy, trapped in his lashes were tiny droplets.

-I don’t know, you tell me. Do I look like I am okay?-

Jongin didn’t know how to reply. He had seen plenty of hurt people in his hospital days: the scarred, the broken, the scorched… but none had struck him quite like Kyungsoo in that moment. The sadness in his eyes was something completely different, heartbreakingly so.

 -You look like you’re hurt- he whispered, almost too low to be heard.

Kyungsoo just sighed, shedding his last tears and scooping closer to him.

-Please don’t ask- he said, forestalling the question on Jongin’s lips –I’m not ready to talk today. Just… can you stay here?-

Like everything with Kyungsoo, he was sure there was something hidden beneath his words, something he couldn’t quite comprehend and yet he was yearning to know. But that wasn’t the right night for answers so he just offered his shoulder, allowing him to bury his face in the crook of his neck and hugging him softly.

-I’m sorry- muttered the raven boy.

A shiver ran down Jongin’s spine as his voice reverberated through his skin. He was at loss for words, so he just kept silent, placing a hand over his cloud of hair them gently.

It was only when the distant sound of the town’s bell filled the air that they parted, Kyungsoo thanking him over and over, running away with his eyes finally dry.

Still barefoot.

The next morning Chara-san found Jongin in tank top and shorts, sprawled on the living room’s floor, one leg over the couch and his head on the carpet.

The old woman placed some cookies in his hand, sniggering behind her hand.

-Nini, what are you doing?-

Jongin looked at her with a thankful smile, munching a cookie still laying on the floor.

-I fell from the couch. It’s too hot today to move so I’m just staying like this until I find the motivation to get up-

As expected, he didn’t find it. The heat of the morning lulled him to sleep and he curled up on the carpet, deep in the realms of dreams.

Chara-san just let him stay there, a warm smile on her lips. Jongin had always been a sleepyhead and she was glad that hadn’t changed. She opened the door to let some more cool air get inside, let something caught her attention: on the doorway was a little tin box and a letter.

To Jongin

From Kyungsoo

The box was on his bed, shiny and alluring, right next to the letter. Jongin decided to open that first.

Dear Jongin,

I’m not very good with words, they never seem to be the right ones, so I’ll just say thank you.

The rest is in the box.

Kyungsoo

Placing the paper on the side, making sure not to crinkle it, he finally opened the box. Inside there as a shell, tiny and nacreous, beautifully crafted to be part of a long silver necklace.

Jongin felt his lips tremble searching for words, but he only felt and incredibly hard tug at his heart. He clutched the necklace as close to his chest as he could and prayed for more days like that to come.

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Am I fluffing this out too much? I have a sweet spot for caring couples and Kaisoo are the epitome of that so... you know, little cute things.

I promise I'll try to make it coherent once I explain it out the mystery, but writing in English is so hard ARGH!! I made a two page list of ways to explain how ones smiles, God.

And thank y'all subscribers and commenters, you're so sweet ^__^