Baekhyun and Chinsun were back at the hidden corner of the beach though this time the whole gang was there, bringing an avalanche of vitality and boisterous laughter to the otherwise desolate and forgotten place. It was Sehun’s last day in Jeju before he had to return to Seoul and thus he demanded to spend as much time all together as possible for he did not look forward to being greeted by his empty penthouse in the capital, with no one to bid goodnight to and no one wake him up in the morning with the smell of freshly cooked breakfast. Despite his snarky remarks targeting Mark, the two of them had reached an understanding and acknowledgment of each other. They were now engaged in a strenuous duel of beach volley, diving for the ball and slamming it towards each other as they vied for victory. Baekhyun and Jongdae had contemplated on joining. However upon seeing how competitive Mark and Sehun were, the two friends swallowed back their request to join in fear of their own limbs being knocked off by the sheer strength with which the ball was being hit.

Jongin had sought shade and closed his eyes, blocking out any outside disturbances. Next to him, Chinsun leaned against a rock and dug her toes into the sand. With her hand she drew random spirals that seemingly grew out of Jongin like tentacles.

“Are you secretly cursing him?” Jongdae mused, dropping down next to Chinsun.

“She wouldn’t dare,” Jongin exhaled with his eyes still closed.

Grabbing a handful of sand, Chinsun blew it towards Jongin. Jongin snapped his eyes open, breathing in deeply and ready to yell at Chinsun only to accidentally inhale some sand, sending him into a coughing fit.  This provided Chinsun with time to hide behind Jongdae as the two exchanged a high-five. Taking a bottle of water from her bag, Chinsun nudged Jongin’s arm with it and the latter took it albeit reluctantly. Holding her hands together in front of her as a sign of apology, Chinsun was then distracted by Baekhyun who had followed a trail of small crabs that led him towards the sea. From the looks of it he was having fun watching a crab dashing back and forth in an attempt to avoid the incoming waves.

“Baek, don’t get too close to the water,” Chinsun called out.

Hearing his name being called out, Baekhyun turned around to see Chinsun giving him a warning stare since the two of them had not had the most pleasant encounters with entities that emerged from the waters. Lifting his shoulders in nonchalance, Baekhyun waved his hands to push away any concerns that Chinsun was projecting.

“It’s fine~” Baekhyun replied in a sing-song voice, diverting his attention back towards the crab that was now travelling further down the beach.

“I’m not saving him if he gets dragged into the sea by a giant crab,” Chinsun deadpanned while massaging her shoulders.

“We all know you’ll be the first one diving in after him and then Jongin will drag the both of you out and be moody for the rest of the day,” Jongdae chortled.

Chinsun scratched her head and locked gazes with Jongin, neither able to deny Jongdae’s predictions. He simply knew them too well, but at the same time it can be said that they were just too predictable.

Meanwhile Baekhyun had followed the crab to a wooden groyne. Climbing onto it, Baekhyun carefully balanced himself so that he was standing where the tide was about to cover the wooden surface he stood on.

“Careful there young one. You don’t want to fall in the water.”

Baekhyun looked downwards towards his feet and stumbled back in surprise, almost slipping off the wooden structure when he saw a head in the water. Patting his chest to calm down his palpitating heart, Baekhyun slowly crouched down to analyse the floating head and realised that she was wearing an all black diving suit commonly worn by a haenyeo. Despite having been in Jeju for a while already, Baekhyun had not actually had the honour of interacting with the famed local female divers first-hand yet.

“How’s the water temperature today?” Baekhyun asked, hugging his knees in a squatting position.

“Chilly,” the haenyeo replied. “And the current is quite strong. With your arms you’ll definitely get pulled away by the waters.”

“I may look skinny but I’m actually quite strong!” Baekhyun exclaimed, flexing his biceps which were unfortunately covered by his hoodie before giving the haenyeo a saccharine grin. “Plus, you’ll catch me if I fall in right?”

The haenyeo laughed loudly, creating rings on the surface of the water around her. The wrinkles that painted her face added layers of history and lost stories that she had experienced. She had gentle eyes despite her sharp features and Baekhyun was certain that in her younger days, she must have been quite a beauty.

Baekhyun’s ears picked up the sound of another pair of footsteps sliding across the wooden groyne behind him, and turning around he caught sight of Jongdae struggling to maintain his balance. Stifling a chuckle, Baekhyun held out his hand for Jongdae to hold onto. Imitating Baekhyun’s position, Jongdae extended his hand to tickle the surface of the sea. It was then that Baekhyun noticed