The storm that the typhoon brought along settled down in less than two days and it was declared by local officials to be safe enough to resume outdoor activities again. Although, all activities taking place at sea which included fishing was still halted for a few more days.

The dog they found under their porch was promptly returned to its rightful owner and Kyungsoo also made sure to visit every one of his neighbors to make sure they were doing alright.

The day after the storm had passed and when it was safe to go out again, Kyungsoo picked up his truck from his parent’s warehouse and drove all the way down to the dock with Chanyeol to inspect the condition after the typhoon.

When they arrived at the market center down by the dock, Chanyeol could see people cleaning up the mud and debris from the front of their shops and establishments. There were also people picking up the trash that had been blown and littered around the streets because of the strong wind.

Others were fixing up the damage, putting blown away objects where they belonged and simply just cleaning up after such a natural disaster.

The usual dogs roaming around the area were seen playing, following the humans around.

It had only been a day since the storm passed and sometimes in a single summer, there could be up to several typhoons that would develop and pass over the island. However, despite knowing that, the people of Jindo Island quickly returned back to their normal lives.

The dock had survived the typhoon as it was built to be resistant to such an occurrence. However, not all of the boats docked there had been towed to land before the typhoon. Some of the boat owners and fishermen had decided to try out their luck and tied their boats down, leaving it in the water during the typhoon.

Those who were lucky still found their boats there once the storm passed. The unlucky ones found their boats smashed into others, overturned or blown all the way to land. The unluckier ones weren’t even able to find their boats at all.

Not all fishermen like Kyungsoo could afford to have their boats towed and stored on land. Transporting a boat was hard enough, finding a place to store it in during a typhoon was even harder.

Kyungsoo walked down the dock, approaching a group of his fellow fishermen who were gathered in a circle, huddled around other as they seemed to be discussing something.

After a typhoon, warmer weather was usual and although it was rather cloudy that morning, it was already very warm as predicted.

While Kyungsoo went up to talk to the fishermen, Chanyeol sat on the dock with his feet hanging and swinging above the water level below. Occasionally, Chanyeol looked towards the fishermen to find Kyungsoo shaking and nodding his head along to their conversation.

Chanyeol could not hear their conversation from where he was at but he’d just ask Kyungsoo about it later on anyway. Chanyeol assumed they were just talking about repairs, boats, fishes and whatever fishermen talked about that he knew nothing of.

Chanyeol recognized the two fishermen who had helped pulled him out of the water that day when he fell into the sea. They seemed to remember Chanyeol too and waved to say hi when they noticed him. Chanyeol was actually hoping that they wouldn’t remember him because he was still embarrassed to even recall that incident.

Chanyeol had expected the dock to be cool and windy as per usual, so he could cool off some of the summer heat. However, there was barely even a wind if any at all. Chanyeol was already beginning to sweat and was thankful that at least it wasn’t sunny because that would have made things a lot worse.

Chanyeol thought of waiting in the truck but he didn’t want to seem rude and leave Kyungsoo behind there, especially when he said he’d wait.

To pass the time, Chanyeol played some games on his phone and sometimes looked around the dock, feeling bad for whichever person owned the damaged boats in the water. Chanyeol knew nothing about boats but he was sure they didn’t come cheap.

Out of curiosity, Chanyeol actually looked up fishing boat prices on his phone and gawked in horror to find out that one the size of what Kyungsoo owned could cost up to a billion won. Chanyeol made about the same amount of money in a year as a music producer but he was still shocked to know that fishing boats were actually that expensive.

It really didn’t appear like it because they lived rather simple lives but Kyungsoo and his family were actually very well to do. It was Chanyeol who had been deluded by the stereotypes that farmers and fishermen were all actually poor country bumpkins who struggled to make a living.

Chanyeol continued scrolling through the online fishing vessels price listing, actually gasping out loud when he saw one going for over 60 billion won. Chanyeol would understand if it was a yacht or a luxury boat but it was just a fishing boat and already going for that price.

“Why are you looking up boats? Interested to become a fisherman too?” Kyungsoo chuckled, folding his arms below his chest as he stood behind Chanyeol, looking at the phone screen from over Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“Oh! Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol exclaimed upon hearing Kyungsoo behind him. Chanyeol stood up quickly and turned around to face Kyungsoo, “I was just curious to know how much fishing boats cost so I looked it up.”

“Well, you can get a small boat for the price of a car if you’re that interested,” Kyungsoo informed.

“I wouldn’t have the space to put one. I live in an apartment in Seoul,” Chanyeol pointed out.

Kyungsoo snickered, “You can leave it here then but that means you would have to come and visit here regularly.”

Seeing Kyungsoo smile, Chanyeol was reminded of something else; of his attempt to kiss Kyungsoo while they were basically grounded at home because of the typhoon. Neither any of them brought it up since then nor Kyungsoo still wondered if Chanyeol was really going to kiss him at the time.

They had been busy since then too and had not managed to properly talk about it either. Seeing that they were free now, Chanyeol thought that it would maybe be a good idea to talk about it now.

Chanyeol was wrong about his timing though. Just as he was about to say something, Kyungsoo stopped him with the sentence that quickly halted his intentions.

“Someone died during the typhoon actually,” Kyungsoo mentioned solemnly, his cheerful tone from earlier dropping, “He was a fisherman like us too. We were just talking about it and planning to go to his wake and funeral.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Chanyeol expressed, “Was he a friend of yours?”

“I knew the guy,” Kyungsoo answered, “-we weren’t close but we all know each other around here. So yeah, you can say he was a friend.”

“How did he die?” Chanyeol asked.

“He went outside during the typhoon and was swept away by the storm surge. They found his body down by the rocks near the shore a few hours ago,” Kyungsoo replied, adding, “He shouldn’t have done that but what’s done is done.”

“Ouch, that must have been a painful way to go,” Chanyeol commented.

“Yeah, I couldn’t imagine,” Kyungsoo agreed.

“So what should we do now?” Chanyeol cautiously asked, being sensitive to the situation.

Kyungsoo informed, “The deceased had no family so the town council will be responsible for overseeing the arrangements. We only have one funeral home on the island so the ceremony will be held there tomorrow followed by the cremation. For now, we’ll do what we can do to fix up the dock.”

“Okay, sure, is there anything I can help you with then?” Chanyeol offered his assistance.

“Well, can you fix a boat?” Kyungsoo questioned despite knowing the answer to it, not wanting Chanyeol to feel excluded nonetheless.

“Not at all,” Chanyeol shook his head, admitting defeat already.

“That’s alright then,” Kyungsoo assured, then suggesting, “You can move stuff around if that’s alright with you?”

“Sure, I can do that. Just let me know what to do,” Chanyeol complied.

Chanyeol followed Kyungsoo down to the dock where one of the larger fishing boats was floating at, one which Chanyeol saw online to have a price up to ten billion won.

Kyungsoo brought Chanyeol onto the boat and introduced him to the man who owned the boat. On the large boat, there was a supply of tools and equipment to fix up the boats and boathouses damaged during the typhoon.

Chanyeol’s task was to help carry the tools off the boat and to where the repairs were taking place on the dock. From there on, he was further instructed by the fishermen to do other things such as help them hold up nails while they hammered away. Chanyeol was even told by one fisherman to help paint some wooden planks with a special paint that was said to make it waterproof.

In the midst of painting or helping move a box onto another boat, Chanyeol started to wonder how he had been roped into what he was currently doing.

He could have been at home alone without the distraction, writing and recording a new song. But instead, he was doing something that wasn’t actually contributing to the reason he came onto Jindo Island, which was to find inspiration to produce an original hit song.

Chanyeol continued on with the chores he was told do because he wasn’t one to quit halfway. Furthermore, he still had a month-and-a-half left on the island anyway, which he thought was enough time to pump out one more song at least.

While Chanyeol was squatting somewhere on the dock with a paintbrush in his hand, trying to make sure the coat of paint on the wooden planks were even, he often looked to see what Kyungsoo was up to.

Whenever Chanyeol laid his eyes on Kyungsoo he would smile to himself before resuming at what he was doing. The time would come for him to finally address how he was starting to feel for Kyungsoo. Now just wasn’t the right time yet.

In the midst of his thoughts about how Kyungsoo looked cute and attractive at the same time when he was fishing or just talking about it, Chanyeol unconsciously started painting the wooden planks with Kyungsoo’s name on it.

When Chanyeol realized that, he had to quickly paint over it with another coat of paint, which ended up making the final look sloppy, messy and very obviously painted over.

Lucky for Chanyeol, the fisherman who had assigned him the task didn’t seem to notice or mind it, thanking Chanyeol profusely for helping out. They understood that it was not something Chanyeol was good at or used to doing.

Either way, it was better than someone in the future questioning why “Do Kyungsoo” was painted on a wooden boat somewhere.

In the evening, when they were finally home after a long day doing repairs around the dock, Chanyeol was holed up in his room doing work he missed out on that day.

Chanyeol only locked the door to his room when he was asleep but usually left it unlocked it when he was awake, which was why Kyungsoo was able to barge into his room unannounced.

Chanyeol was startled to hear Kyungsoo asking him a question because he didn’t hear the door open. Chanyeol exhaled after being startled, relieved to see that it was just Kyungsoo.

“Chanyeol, the funeral is at ten in the morning tomorrow but we’re leaving by nine,” Kyungsoo informed, “Do you have anything to wear to the funeral? I don’t think my clothes can fit you but if you don’t have anything, I can go borrow something from someone your size.”

“I didn’t bring my suit here but I have a shirt and trousers I can wear. Is that okay?” Chanyeol asked, turning his head over his shoulder from where he was seated on the chair in front of his computer. 

“I’ll go borrow a suit from someone then,” Kyungsoo announced, rubbing a finger on his chin as he was deep in thought, thinking about someone whose clothes might fit Chanyeol.

“Oh, should I go with you?” Chanyeol pondered, “I mean, we need to make sure it fits, right?”

“It’s alright, you can stay at home and continue working on your music,” Kyungsoo then laughed, throwing his head back, “I’ve been borrowing you for the whole day and making you do things you’re not used to. I’m sorry for laughing but I just thought it was hilarious. So I think you can just stay at home while I go find a suit. I won’t be long.”

“-so you’re guilty as charged,” Chanyeol teased, “Here I was thinking that you didn’t realize that you’ve been distracting me from my work.”

“I was aware of it indeed,” Kyungsoo admitted cheekily, giggling in the doorway of Chanyeol’s room, “I’ll bring you somewhere nice to make up for it though.”

“Looks like I’ll have to punish you with tickles then,” Chanyeol continued the banter, rising up from his chair with his fingers stretched out in front and wiggling.

Kyungsoo surrendered, backing away from the door and Chanyeol in fits of laughter, “No, hyung.”

Chanyeol stood in the doorway of his room when he arrived there, with Kyungsoo already in the living room still laughing and trying to avoid being tickled.

Chanyeol snickered, shaking his head and pressing some fingers to his face, “I’m not sure if I’m starting to like it when you slip up and accidentally call me hyung.”

“Well, if you want to feel young, you can call me hyung instead,” Kyungsoo lightly mentioned, feeling in a rather jovial mood.

“Nah, let’s just keep it the way it is,” Chanyeol decided, “I like it this way.”

After Kyungsoo left in his truck to go borrow a suit from someone, Chanyeol thought of waiting up for Kyungsoo to return.

Chanyeol was, however, more tired than usual that evening and fell asleep earlier than when he normally went to bed. 

When Chanyeol woke up the next morning, Kyungsoo handed him the already pressed suit, which Kyungsoo had apparently borrowed from one of the fisherman’s sons who was said to be around the same height and built like Chanyeol.

Chanyeol fixed his hair and wore the best pair of shoes he brought with him to the island. Chanyeol didn’t think he’d need the shoes when he was packing before coming to Jindo Island, but he did so anyway. Chanyeol was thanking his past self for doing that now.

As they were preparing to leave, Chanyeol actually froze in the midst of tying his tie in the living room when Kyungsoo stepped out of his own room fully dressed in his suit.

Chanyeol knew it was meant for