[CONTENTID1] 002 [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2] Come Down [/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

The following day was designated for the beach, the place where one can be sun-kissed by the sun or enjoy the glistening waters just up ahead. Or at least, that was how it was supposed to be. Instead, it was spent looking for Baekhyun who happened to have disappeared from their spot after Eunseo went to the bathroom.

There was no reason to call his name out loud as the place was nearly vacant of beachgoers. Frantically, Eunseo looked in every direction around her for any familiar figure. Her heart was beating wildly against her chest as she whipped her head around while quickening her steps.

“Why didn’t I get his number,” Eunseo muttered to herself. “Where could he possibly be?”

She wasn’t gone for so long, a good few minutes. Yet somehow, Baekhyun managed to slip away far from where they were before she left. What was his reasoning? Did he hate her? It wouldn’t be surprising after what happened yesterday. Was there an emergency during those minutes and he had to leave abruptly?

“Baekhyun?”

His name slipped out of her tongue effortlessly even though it felt useless. But yet she continued, louder each time his name was called. 

And there was still no sign of Baekhyun.

For a few minutes, Eunseo ventured somewhat far from where they once stood and searched from a farther distance. Then finally, she heard screaming and water splashing near the rocks.

Following the screaming while panicking, she eventually found the source or rather the sources. To her relief, there was Baekhyun and beside him, a local fisherman. Baekhyun was hopping on the rocks, bending down to pick up something she could assume were fish. The whole spectacle looked chaotic from several feet away, Eunseo decided to watch it all and hesitantly made her way closer to the pair after dropping her bag and shoes besides Baekhyun’s on the sands.

“The fish are getting away, help me pick them up,” she faintly heard the fisherman exclaim as he watched Baekhyun scramble on the rocks, struggling to pick up the fish, almost hilariously.

Baekhyun moved his hair from his eyes as he bent down. “I’m trying sir, but they keep on jumping out of my hands!”

“Grip them tighter! How are you living here and don’t know how to handle fish,” the fisherman impatiently asked as he picked up fish that were near him.

“I just moved here almost a week ago, sir.”

Knowing that it would lead to a quarrel between the two men, Eunseo hurriedly began making her way towards Baekhyun and the fisherman. Unlike Baekhyun, she was used to walking on rocks on the beach and by a few minutes, she was already by him. 

“Hello, sir, what seems to be the problem,” Eunseo asked the fisherman.

“My bucket of fish got knocked over by the tides and this young man here can’t catch them after I asked him for assistance,” the older man answered, now completely ignoring Baekhyun’s presence.

“I’m sorry about that sir. He’s a friend of mine and he’s quite new to the area so he’s not used to these kinds of situations. I’ll help get your fish.” 

Eunseo bent down and reached over toward the small fish only a mere feet away from her and grabbed it. Making her way towards the bucket by the fisherman, she dropped it off effortlessly.

“Thank you, young lady,” the old man praised. “Your friend can learn a thing or two from you,” he pointed towards Baekhyun, who attempted following Eunseo’s method in catching the fish but failed as it slipped away from his hands.

As Baekhyun yelped with surprise with the fish flopping over the rocks, she bit down on her bottom lip to stifle her laughter before turning back to the elder.

“No problem, sir,” Eunseo responded while trying to hold back her laughter as she continued picking up the fish on the rocks and returning them to the bucket.

Eunseo turned her attention to a fish that laid on the smaller rocks closer to the tides by Baekhyun who didn’t seem to notice. Making her way towards it, her attention shifted between the animal and him. Unaware of where her feet were placed, she found herself slipping with a scream. Baekhyun turned to her and reached out with a hand placed on her back and the other firmly holding onto her arm. Unfortunately, that led to the pair falling into the salty water, ultimately losing the fish she hoped to capture.

Luckily the tides weren’t as strong and it took nearly a few moments for Eunseo and Baekhyun to poke their heads out of the water. As her eyes now adjusted to the sunlight while it partially burned from the salt, she glanced at Baekhyun who was busy wiping the water from his face with his hands. After he was done, he glanced at Eunseo.

“Are you okay,” he asked, a subtle hint of concern in his voice.

Eunseo nodded hesitantly as she moved the hair that stuck to her face behind her ears. “Yeah, I’m okay. Are you?”

“Yeah.”

As Eunseo looked up to the rocks, the fisherman looked down at them with an amused expression, adding on to the embarrassment that she could now feel on her cheeks. Climbing up the rocks, she was thankful she chose to wear clothing that could easily dry up in the sun and was dark enough to not be translucent when wet.

Turning back toward Baekhyun, she asked, “Do you need help getting up? I think the tides are starting to pick up again.”

Just before Baekhyun could answer, a wave came in and crashed into him, she shrieked as the cold water splashed onto her again. After the water calmed, she glanced back at Baekhyun who wiped his face downward of any salt water and gave an open-mouthed smile.

“Sure.”

That smile, it was the biggest one she had seen from him yet and it was utterly adorable. Returning a smile back, Eunseo stretched her hand out to his, allowing him to grab it and be pulled back onto the rocks before they continued to get more fish.

After most of the fish had been returned as some had been lost to the sea, the fisherman walked away, thanking her and Baekhyun - while also giving him a lesson - before leaving. As they got off the rocks, they walked through the sands back to their route.

“Thank you for helping me,” Baekhyun said, breaking the silence between them - surprisingly.

“You’re welcome,” Eunseo responded.

Somehow that sentence made her feel validated as if a critic had praised her. It was so typical but yet it was different from Baekhyun.

“And I uh… apologize for running off. I was curious about this place and started wandering around. Then that fisherman saw me and asked for help,” Baekhyun said as he dusted off the sand from his shoes. “I couldn’t really pass it up or else I would’ve made a bad impression.”

Eunseo raised her brows in disbelief. Was this the longest he had said to her? How surprising. Besides that, she nodded in understanding, knowing his stance. She would’ve done the same if she were in his shoes, only she wouldn’t struggle as much.

“Understandable, at least now you know not to run off in an unfamiliar place or else you would’ve been in a difficult situation,” Eunseo sighed. “At least you’ve learned something today; catching fish on land.”

A low chuckle came from Baekhyun, prompting a satisfied smile from Eunseo. Maybe he was starting to warm up to her, it would’ve been quite fast if that was the case.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Now,” Eunseo exhaled, feeling the sand sticking to her feet and her clothes heavy and damp on her skin began to annoy her. “We should get cleaned up and dried or else we’ll get a scolding from your grandmother.”

-

As they were near the bus stop, Eunseo noticed a familiar figure in front of them from a distance. With a grin, she screamed his name, causing Baekhyun to visibly jump from the sudden volume from her.

“Jongin!”

The young man instantly no