---

Whenever Kyungsoo wants to get away from things, he thinks of the beach.

And whenever he needs to get away for a bit, like say after having a horrible nightmare that's kept him awake while it's only four in the morning--then he actively goes to said beach. Thankfully, the nearest beach is only two blocks away from his rented apartment, so he quickly puts on some slippers, a shirt, and some blue board shorts before he writes a quick note to his best friend/roommate Baekhyun that he's gone to the beach for a bit.

Then, after making sure that no appliances are still left on (after he made himself some tea in an effort to calm down a bit), he heads out. Since it's only four in the morning right now, things outside are fairly quiet and at most he just hears the slight buzz of the streetlamps as he passes them by.

And not even five minutes later, he's already jogging down the boardwalk and onto the sand, his hair and plain pajama shirt blowing back a bit from the slight wind. While fixing his bangs a bit and adjusting his round, black glasses, Kyungsoo moves to his usual spot in the sand and sits down after making sure that there's no sharp debris hidden underneath it.

And as he sits there, staring out at the ocean, he finally, finally feels at peace. A smile quickly overtakes his face at this and he takes in a deep breath before he happily sighs.

Ever since he was little, he's always loved the beach. There's just something so calming yet exciting about going to one; getting to play in the sand, or swim in the ocean, even attempt to surf when the waves are more mellow, or just chill on a beach towel with some friends while eating some shaved ice and sharing stories.

Unfortunately, he has a job that preoccupies a lot of his time, but fortunately the job's also at a beach shack that's right on the boardwalk. And on his breaks, he always loves to sit in one of those brightly colored plastic chairs and look out at the ocean like he is right now.

Suddenly, a small gentle wave breaks towards the shore and his eyes crinkle behind his glasses as the entire ocean glows a beautiful and bright, light blue thanks to bioluminescent algae. From his close enough vantage point, it always looks absolutely magical and almost otherwordly as each wave comes in, and it causes him to look up at the still dark sky and smile.

And at moments like this, all of the stressors from life or work or random aches and pains seem just a bit more manageable. Then, with another deep breath, he brings his knees to his chest and wraps his arms around his legs before closing his eyes.

---

His head slumping repeatedly jolts him awake from his nap, and he groggily looks around to see if anything's changed. Thankfully, everything seems to be the same, there's just him, the sand, the glowing blue ocean and nothing else--

Suddenly, his eyes spot something closer down at the shore, and with furrowed eyebrows, he squints to see better before deciding to get up and move closer. (He really should schedule an eye exam checkup.)

And as he walks closer, his glasses help him make more sense of what he first saw which ends up causing him to gasp and run towards the thing, or well, person.

They're in a slight fetal position, their deeply tan skin outlined by the glow of the ocean behind them, and with a closer perspective, Kyungsoo realizes that the person's also , save for a light-blue conch-shell shaped necklace that they have on. Well defined muscles are on display here and there, while the person has some of the most enticing plump lips and pecs that Kyungsoo's ever seen--

Shaking his head to stop thinking anymore thirsty thoughts over this stranger, Kyungsoo instead begins getting very anxious again--wondering who this person is and if they're even alive and breathing. So, he quickly bends down and looks at the person again before relaxing when he notices that their well-defined chest is indeed moving up and down.

His eyes then move back to the person's face, mentally cursing in awe over how beautiful said face is. The person's eyes are closed but their eyelids are accentuated with a blue eyeshadow that's just as blue and bright as the ocean right now with an eyeliner that's as yellow as the sun.

Kyungsoo's gaze then drifts down to the person's straight-looking nose then to their slightly parted plump lips again before he quickly shakes his head again. The person's black hair is up in a top ponytail too, and as Kyungsoo keeps looking them over, he finds himself stuck on what to do now.

The person's breathing so they're obviously alive, but they're and wet from the ocean while also randomly on the beach this early- morning.

Where's their home? he thinks. Do they even have one?

So, with many questions popping up in his mind, Kyungsoo finally decides to try and nudge the person awake, just gently pushing at one of their broad shoulders. Nothing happens though and the person just continues sleeping (Kyungsoo realizes that they're sleeping after he sees the person's lips moving a bit like they're mumbling something). So, with the skill of someone who's had to wake up their best friend for work hundreds of times, Kyungsoo taps the person's shoulders while saying Hey, hey wake up!

The person just groans and brings their knees closer to their chest, and now Kyungsoo is definitely reminded of Baekhyun. So, with determination, he gets up and moves towards the ocean before bending down to grab some glowing seawater with cupped palms and returning to dump it on the person's buff body.

Still nothing happens though, so Kyungsoo, now actually feeling really ing annoyed, ends up just kicking at the person's ankles to which the person finally, finally wakes up to. They gasp and cough for a second before turning over to look up at him, and Kyungsoo swears it's like the entire world just stopped for a moment.

Because forget the person's hot body, or beautiful face, and probably long, wavy hair. Those eyes.

They're a rich, dark brown with current hints of blue because of the glowing ocean right now. And coupled with that pretty eye makeup, and the slight slit in their left eyebrow, and the small, thick golden hoop earrings they're wearing and the--

Basically, Kyungsoo's already feeling hella infatuated.

Neither of them say a word during this moment before the person moves wide eyes from him to the ocean behind him and back. They then open their mouth to speak before closing it again and Kyungsoo suddenly finds his mind roaming, thinking of so many scenarios as to why this person is here on the beach like this.

Then all of a sudden, the person grins at him, their eyes crinkling and a cute dimple showing in their right cheek. And once again, Kyungsoo finds himself at a complete loss for words.

The person then gets up to sit down in the same position that Kyungsoo's in but strangely wiggles their legs together as they do this. As if they've never sat down like this before or something.

Still, neither of them say anything to each other, and Kyungsoo finds himself looking over the person's body again before blushing when he looks up and sees the other person doing the same to him. Finally, he thinks of something to ask the person first while actively trying not to check out their nether regions.

"What's your name?" he asks, pushing up his glasses a bit. "My name's Kyungsoo, uh if you're wondering."

And at that, the other person grins again and replies, "I don't really know how to translate it."

, even their voice is beautiful. Rich and deep but smooth like honey--!

Outwardly, Kyungsoo simply blinks at that and then tilts his head a bit. "Huh?"

And the person begins rubbing behind their right ear. "Um, in my language, my name means benevolence...I-I don't know what that would be in yours though."

Kyungsoo lets out a Hmm at that and purses his lips as he looks at the person again before he asks them where they're from. Surprisingly though, the person's eyes widen at the question and they quickly look down at their lap.

Kyungsoo's eyebrows raise at this and he swiftly decides to change the subject. Their home must be a sore topic for them to talk about.

"Okay um," Kyungsoo starts. "Do you live around here then?"

The person's still looking down as they shake their head no.

"How old are you?" he then asks.

The person finally speaks again though in a mumble. "I've been living for 25 years now."

And that relaxes Kyungsoo a bit. "Ah, one year younger than me, huh? Nice, nice hehe."

The light chuckle at the end doesn't seem to work on this stranger though and they end up closing their eyes for a moment. And though this person's just a year younger than him, Kyungsoo already gets this strong sense of wanting to protect this person. So, he ends up pushing himself up to stand and the person finally looks up at him again with wider eyes.

And maybe he'll regret this decision in the future but for now Kyungsoo just thinks of the present as he extends a hand for the stranger to get up too. They look from his hand to his eyes again before their cheeks raise just ever so slightly and they lift their right hand to clasp onto his hand.

And Kyungsoo reminds himself not to swoon as he helps lift the stranger onto their feet and finds