The sweltering heat, clear skies and cicadas’ cries; summer is really upon the South Korea. It’s been a while since Yesung visited Jeju-do and he would still marvel at how beautiful the small island is. Sure he spent most of his time in Seoul, doing recitals and concerts, but getting away from the fast-paced city calms and resets him; in fact, he thinks everyone has their own space to escape to once life gets too much. Kim Jongwoon was a prodigy in his art; he is a successful saxophonist that has made a name for himself in Jazz.

Though he’s slowly rising into fame, Yesung likes to keep a low profile. He’s currently wearing a printed white cotton shirt and simple dark green cargo shorts with too many pockets; a beige-colored beret, simple black sunglasses and a black backpack for his 3 day vacation. He also brought his sax with him; he rarely goes out without it. With the small luggage he has, he made a quick stop to an ATM machine to take some cash and hauled himself to the nearest taxi bay.

“Good morning, where would like to go?” Yesung just showed the old cab driver the address for the rented cottage he got a week back instead of explaining; he was bad at it. He was lucky it was on a discounted price since one of his close friends referred it to him: “I’m helping a friend.” Yesung was informed there’ll be a caretaker with him during his stay. Though he was kind of awkward with strangers, he wouldn’t mind the company; and it’s a guy, maybe they’ll become friends…who knows right?

Once the cab driver entered the location in his car’s GPS, they went off towards the east coast–Gwangchigi beach. “Young sir, if you don’t mind me asking, why would you choose to rent near Gwangchigi? It’s the least visited place here in Jeju since there’s not much to see.” The man glanced at his rear view mirror to ask his customer. “Ahjussi, I think it’s the perfect place…not a lot of people and tourists by that coast and I can play my music without getting distracted.” Yesung replied kindly. From what the cab driver said, it really IS a perfect place for seclusion.

“Ah~ you’re one of those artists huh? What do you do sonny?”

“Mhmm, I’m just a small freelance ahjussi…not much from me.” He shrugged sheepishly to the man. “Arasso. We’re still a few minutes away from your destination; you can take a nap if you’d like.” Unlike the city cab drivers, people here in Jeju-do are really welcoming, he almost took up the man’s offer but it’s such a waste to sleep out on the stunning view.

“It’s okay ahjussi, I’ll just watch the trees.” Yesung leaned his head near the window; he felt the stinging heat from the glass and wondered if the heat could cook an egg if he cracked it on sidewalk. Random thoughts floated in his mind, dull and languid and relaxed; the long drive settled his mindset that he was REALLY on vacation. Nothing but the sea, the wind and his music for the next 2 days. His eyes fluttered shut as fatigue took over him.

Yesung woke up when his cab driver called him out. “Excuse me sonny, we’re here!” he slowly opened his eyes towards the offending daylight and wiped a bit of drool from his lips. He collected himself and his things and arranged to pay the driver. “Mianhe ahjussi, I fell asleep. Thank you and here you go…please keep the change.” A warm smile made its’ way on the man’s face and he nodded his thanks towards his customer. With a little difficulty, Yesung managed to get out from the cab and carefully bring his things on his side.

“Woah~ it’s bigger than what I expected.” Wide eyes and mouth agape, he never expected a house as beautiful as this one to be rented out and at such a cheap price too. It was a house bigger than what a rest house would look like but one you’d normally built for a family of three or four. It’s a wide, two storey house situated a few meters away from the rocky beach. There was a green mailbox in front of the house and a pebbled pathway leading to a low picket fence also painted with another shade of green.  The house itself was colored with a darker shade of teal blue while the roof was painted with coral white and was outlined with dark copper gold. A light yellow hammock was hanging outside of the port while a comfy-looking cushioned couch was placed beside it. Small hedges of bushes were supporting the fence and small blossoms of bluebells peeked out from the gaps of the picket. A small chute of a chimney sticks out from the left side of the fence. Yesung walked on the pebbled path with curiosity; everything was really well-maintained, it’s as if it was newly-painted. The fence was bolted shut and the next property was around 4 blocks away, so he called out: “Excuse me! Is anybody home?! I’m Yesung! The one who rented this place!”

He waited and waited… and waited but no one came. Yesung is tired and the heat is spoiling his mood; he quickly dialed on his phone: Shindong. “Dong-ah! The fence is locked and no one’s answering to my call and I AM SWEATING AND HUNGRY!” “Huh? Weird?  The caretaker already texted me that he arrived last night; must’ve went somewhere. Mianhe hyung I’ll call him.” Sigh. He feels bad for taking it out on Shin but the heat is making him crankier. “Okay Dong-ah, lemme know soon.”

And as if on cue, the sound of a bicycle crushing the unpaved road was growing louder and a high pitched ring of its’ bell alerted the anxious saxophonist. Even with his sunglasses on, the man heading towards him was dazzling to say the least.

CRASH!

Not until his front wheel bumped into a huge rock and his bike toppled over. “Ow frick! DAMNIT WHO PUT THAT THERE?!” The man, who was around half a foot taller than him, was voicing his obvious pain and awful landing. His received all the impact while both his hands were planted on the ground; luckily for him, a thick patch of grass cushioned his fall or else his hands and tailbone would probably be very bruised by now.

Yesung immediately, albeit carefully, dropped his belongings to help the poor guy out. He righted the bike and picked up the fallen pack of potatoes from his plastic bag. Good thing there were no eggs in his grocery but the milk carton exp