Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt

(L)

"Ahh~" You lied down on the hot, golden sand of a beach on Jeju Island. It stuck onto your wet back. "I'm tired..." Kim Myungsoo, plopped down beside you and rested his hands on the back of his head. "Yeah, that might be because you kept picking me up and throwing me in the water." You bit sarcastically, joking. "Ugh, yeah, remind me not to do that ever again. So heavy..."

"Yah!" You shot up into sitting position and slapped his chest with the back of your hand. He just smiled and laughed, it sounded really nice.

"Why are you laughing?! It's not funny! And I'm definitely not heavy! Hmph." You frowned with your arms crossed and lied back down.

"Come on you big baby, you know I was just kidding." L poked your side causing you to jump. "Don't!" You tried not to laugh. He smiled and poked your sides and ribs repeatedly. "S-stop i-it!" You burst into a fit of giggles and tried to slap away his fingers.

"Call me Myungsoo oppa first." He attacked your neck. "W-why? Y-you're not o-older than m-me!" Your stomach started hurting from laughing so much. "Just do it." He playfully demanded. "Andwae!" You shrieked, trying to dodge his attacks. "Okay fine, I'll be sad to tell your parents that you died from laughing. What a sad way to go..." He pretended to look pitiful for you then returned to his sunny expression.

"Fine, Fine! MYUNGSOO OPPA, STOP IT RIGHT NOW." You yelled. The poking stopped immediately and he ruffled your damp hair. "Good girl."

You frowned again and shook his hand off. "Aish..." You hated it when he did these kinds of things and unfortunately, he happened to do it all the time. "I hate you." You pouted.

"Araso, I understand, I'm sorry, Mermaid. You know I was just playing." He cooed, calling you by your nickname and mimicked your pout. Myungsoo gave you that nickname when you were little because you loved swimming and at one point he actually thought that you might've been a real mermaid.

You stared at the surf, pretending to still be upset with him. "Forgive me? Hmm? Hmm?" He shook your arm. A smile grew on your face as you gave in. "I forgive you." "Okay good! Best friends shouldn't be mad at each other anyway." L grinned, most of the sea water already evaporated from his body.

You both lied back down and listened to the ocean and the laughing and chatter of the other guests at the resort.

The sun shined, hot and bright over the two of you and a breeze kept from being too hot. It was perfect.

"I can't believe it's our last day here." You said. "I know...I wish we could spend forever here. Why does summer have to end so quickly? School already starts in two weeks." L sighed.

It was silent again.

"You remember when I asked you if you were a mermaid?" L suddenly asked. You smiled as the memory replayed in your head. "Yep. I couldn't believe you actually asked me that." You chuckled.

"I was a kid. And you practically went swimming everyday and when I saw you swim...it just looked like a mermaid was swimming." Myungsoo also recalled that day. "I was a kid too, but I still laughed in your face." You grinned happily. You didn't stop laughing for a while when he asked you.

"I remember exactly what you said," You said, repeating the words in your head before saying them out loud. "Yah...you swim all of the time...and like a mermaid...are you a mermaid?" You laughed remembering his innocent, but serious face.

L scrunched up his nose with a frown. "I remember what you said too. PUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA." He said it in a monotone voice. You giggled some more. "Then after that you always called me Mermaid, your Mermaid."

"That's right and don't you forget it." Myungsoo tapped your nose with an affectionate smile.

You softly smiled back.

"Kids! Come in for dinner!" Your moms waved in the distance. "Coming!" You both called back and got onto your feet.

"I wonder what we're having." You rubbed your lean tummy. "Well, whatever it is, we better enjoy it. Last time we'll have it." You and L walked toward your rented beach house that your two families were sharing, ready to fill up after a tiring swim.

-----------------

The two of you washed off all of the sand on your bodies after eating and changed into new swim suits. You wore a loose, cropped shirt and jean short shorts over it so that you could still go out and take it off if you wanted to swim again. Myungsoo just wore his swimming trunks and a v-neck tee in his favourite colour: black.

You were sitting on the couch doing nothing. Both sets of parents were at the spa since they were leaving the next day.

"I'm bored." You groaned, swinging your leg on the arm rest. You were sitting in an unusual, but comfortable position.

"Go swim again, Mermaid." Myungsoo flipped through random channels on the TV clearly bored as well.

"I don't feel like it right now." You pouted staring at the plain white ceiling. "What?! You? You. You don't feel like swimming. I think the world is ending..."

"Haha, very funny. I can't not want to swim?"

"No, you have to want to swim all the time. You are a mermaid after all." He nodded with no expression. You took a pillow and threw it at him.

"Think of something to do~ I don't want to spend my last day here doing nothing~" You whined. "Okay fine, I have an idea. Go get the thing most precious to you and bring it here. I'm going to do the same."

You raised a curious and slightly suspicious eyebrow. "Why?" "Just go and get it and I'll tell you after." L turned off the TV and went to his room. You questioned his intentions but also darted into your room.

You opened your jewellery box and opened a compartment then opened the secret compartment inside of it. Pulling out a seashell necklace, you gazed at it with a tender expression.

You had gotten it on a birthday on a beach in Busan. You insisted that your party be there so that your guests could enjoy the sun and salty, cool waters that you loved so much.

It was Myungsoo's present to you and it was your favourite. You just loved it to death, almost as much as you loved swimming.

Clasping your fingers over it, you went back out to the main room to find L already waiting for you.

"Okay, I got it." You was about to show him the necklace, but he stopped you. "Don't show me. Okay, now write a riddle on this about what it is. We're going on a treasure hunt." He handed you a piece of paper and smiled.

"Okay..." You took it and got a pen.

"After, think of where you are going to hide your thing and make a riddle about it too." You were instructed. You nodded without taking your eyes off of the paper.

Finished with the riddle for your necklace, you tapped your bottom lip with the top of the pen in thought. 'Where should I hide it...?' A good idea popped into your head and you quickly scribbled down a riddle.

"Done!" You held up the folded paper. "One second, I'm almost done." L said then folded his paper in the same way. "Now we exchange papers and go hide our things and only then we can look at the paper okay?" This whole treasure hunt thing suddenly started to sound exciting.

You grabbed his piece of paper and pulled on it but he wouldn't let go. You gave him a questioning look. "Whoever finds the other's item first has to grant the other a wish, araso?"

"Okay." He let go and told you to leave first. You started out detouring at first just in case he was cheating and watching where you was going.

You walked along the beach until you found the place you wanted to hide your necklace.

You dusted off your hands after hiding it and excitedly opened up L's paper. First you had to figure out what it was that he hid.

Stronger then a thousand men,

The closest thing to my heart,

It goes on forever,

And is completely irreplaceable.

Your eyebrows scrunched together not getting what it is. You thought about it while wondering around. 'What is stronger then a thousand men, close to his heart, goes on forever and is irreplaceable?'

'It has to be made out of really tough and durable material if it's that strong and is something extremely important to him. If it goes on forever, maybe that means it's long? Irreplaceable...it must be something priceless and expensive...hmm...'

You thought hard about it and even stopped at a large rock to sit on and brainstorm. A lot of time passed, but you still weren't able to think of anything.

"Aish! I don't know what it is!" You exclaimed out loud and pouted cutely.

Eventually, you gave up on trying to figure out what it was and just read the other riddle thinking that if you could find the place, you could find his most precious thing.

Unseen by many's eyes,

Calm and peaceful, this place is,

Only the water lapping up on the sand you can hear,

And is the perfect place to watch the sunset.

It also took you a while to think of the place, but you decided that the place he had hidden it was somewhere less travelled. You went around to the less popular spots around the beach.

You looked around the rocky area, on a hill, on a cliff, the place were seaweed covered the sand and in tidal pools, but you still came up with nothing. You were discouraged, but still had a little bit of determination left in you.

After going to places that were hard to get to and falling on your for the millionth time, you gave up on the steep climb and dusted off the sand on your body.

No one was around and the sun was already going down. It was really late.

"I give up..." You leaned on the huge rock that towered over you a few times over. It was what you were trying to climb.

It had dried out barnacles dotted all over it and vines basically covered the whole thing.

You turned to face the rock and glared at it.

"Stupid...stupid...stupid rock..." With every word you weakly punched it. "I knew this treasure hunt was a bad idea!" You kicked the rock on a heavily vined area on 'idea'.

Shock crossed your face and you froze.

When you kicked the rock your foot went right though. Cautiously, you pulled your foot out and looked at it as if it was going to explode.

Slowly placing your foot back down on the ground you crouched down to the spot you kicked and examined it. You rocketed your hand towards the rock expecting to feel pain and hit just that, but...it didn't. You grasped at nothing and turned your arm around a few times.

Standing up, you carefully put your hands back to back sliding them between the vines and pulling it apart.

It revealed a cave entrance. You could see the dying sunlight streaming through the other side.

Mesmerised, you entered and walked toward the orange light.

The scene on the other side was absolutely breath-taking. The sun was already half way down and the water here was calm, the sound of it washing up on the shores soothing.

You had discovered a cove.

To your right was more rock, but to the left was a small patch of beach leading to a bigger patch of beach.

You walked over it, the sand wet from the last tide and squelched beneath your flip flops.

Eventually, it opened up to a large cave with a wide opening so it was shaped like a quarter circle.

"Myungsoo?"

The one and only looked up and smiled at you. "You found me."

He was sitting on a flat, wide rock and doing nothing, but that. You joined him, tired from looking.

"I couldn't find it." You pouted. "I couldn't even figure out what it was or where it was."

"Is that so?" He smiled wider and sat back leisurely. "Did you find my thing?" You asked hoping that he didn't find it along with you.

"Please, it was too easy. A comforting weight on my neck, special given by someone special, while friends ran happily, splashing in the blue so long ago." He held up the necklace, the seashell pendant swinging softly in the air. "So now you have to grant my wish."

"What was your thing anyway? Where is it?"

"Aigoo, you silly girl. It's here. My riddle describes this place doesn't it?"

You took out the paper and reread it and just realising it then that this place was the place he wrote about. You flushed with colour.

"T-then where is it? I really want to see what it is. You have no idea how hard I was looking for it and trying to figure out what it is..." You muttered the last sentence.

L's finger met your chin and made you turn your head so that you looked him in the eyes.

"You really don't know what it is?" He asked.

You lightly shook your head.

His smile became soft, tender and his eyes shone in the light of the sun reflecting off of the water.

"I tell you then...stronger then a thousand men...the closest thing to my heart...it goes on forever...and it is completely irreplaceable..." He trailed off.

"It's love, my Mermaid. My love for...you."

Your eyes widened at the sudden confession. "M-me...?" You pointed to yourself.

"You, Mermaid. And my wish..." He said softly, almost inaudibly. "I wish that you will be mine."

Your heart stopped from hammering against your chest too hard.

You held your breath as his eyes turned tender and he started leaning in slowly, afraid of being rejected.

But you didn't stop him, so he didn't stop until your lips met.

Your eyes fell closed and softly, you started kissing him back.

It was soft and sweet and you were reluctant when he pulled away. "My Mermaid...will you be mine?" He asked.

Love was radiating from every part of his body and you thought that...you thought that maybe you loved him too.

Instead of using words, you leaned in for another kiss, feeling like you were on fire, especially where you two touched. You could feel yourself becoming weaker by the second.

You found yourself saying it without knowing it. "I love you too." You whispered against his lips.

You felt him smile and he kissed you again with full confidence as the last of the sun sunk out of sight.

That summer was embedded into both of your heads, making it the most memorable one you have and will ever have.