THE NIGHT WAS cool, the silence it brought seeming to swallow this side of the world whole. the sort that flaunted the millions of stars in the sky like diamonds floating in a sea of deep blue. mark lee shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts as he stepped out of the beach house into the night.

"i'm taking a walk." he mumbled out, not bothering to find out of anyone had heard before shutting the door behind him. his feet jumped over the short flight of stairs and onto the sand. a small groan left his small lips as grains of sand seeped into his slide sandals and between toes.

slowly he made his way down the beach, head thrown back. the night air tousling honey locks wildly, his eyes shut. he continued to trudge down the beach with no particular direction in mind, letting the cool wind be his guide.

the sound of waves rhythmically crashing against the beach was lulling and mark let his eyelids part only slightly, head turning towards the sound. the moonlight painted the sea in blurred milky . everything was prussian blue and white. it seemed picturesque. the sort of thing he only ever saw in paintings. the one wong yukhei couldn't seem to stop painting.

something moving caught his attention and he lazily moved his head to get a look at it. his brows moved higher on his face at the sight before him.

a boy.

he sat on the beach, feet digging into the wet sand as the waves ran over them. his chin rested on his knees, arms wrapped around his legs, hair raging in the breeze.

his head tilted to the side in curiosity. he stood there watching her for the longest moment, his mind on how he oddly seemed to fit perfectly into the picture that nature painted.

without thinking much on it, his feet began to move, taking him towards the said boy. stopping next to him, mark looked down at him and nearly fell back at the sight of his face.