Jaebum never really liked the sea. He didn't hate it either, he just didn't understand the need people had to swim in it, or just go to the shore and watch it. It was a big mass of water, that's it.

Oh, and it had horrible giant creatures hiding at the bottom of it.

There was nothing charming about it.

He had heard many things about the ocean, people liked to made up stories about it. They would say that the sea was such a misterious and romantic thing. Jaebum would just snort at those comments. There was nothing misterious about it, just water and hideous creatures, and if anyone thought that those things were romantic, they obviously needed some psychological help.

However, he spent everyday at the beach since last week, since he arrived at L.A. And he kept watching the waves coming and going, doing nothing but looking at that thing everyone in that place seemed to adore.

He was there for different reasons, anyway. He wasn't just looking at the sea, he couldn't care less about it, he was trying to find his home, looking far into the horizon.

At the beach he felt closer to his house, his family and friends. Sitting there, the almost 6,000 miles that kept him apart from the people he loved didn't feel as such a long distance.

The korean boy was never really good at making new friends. He was quiet, and had a bad temper, so people usually feared him a little. But somehow he always managed to have someone beside him, someone who would take care of him the same way he did for everyone.

Now he was at a completely new place, not a single familiar face to be seen, and he didn't speak the language that well, so making friends was almost impossible. So he didn't have anyone. The beach was the only place he didn't feel lonely, and everyone was too busy admiring the sea to even notice the lonely asian boy sitting there by himself.

It was going to be a year. The longest year of his life. But then he would come back to his family, to everyone.

The dark haired boy looked at his watch, and thinking about all the catch up he had to do in his studies, he decided to head back to his tiny dorm.

Just as he was about to get up, a man about his age sat down beside him, without looking at him, as if he didn't even notice his presence.

He recognized that guy, he had been seeing him everyday of the week. He was an asian looking guy, with weird red curly hair, and a really slim body. He was always there, at the same time, sometimes with friends and sometimes on his own.

It was difficult not to noticed that man with the weird hair, Jaebum really didn't have any interest in him whatsoever, but he always noticed him than.

This was the first time the boy was so close to him, so he could see for the first time that he had a gorgeous smile. The boy was just sitting there smiling like a fool, watching the birds fly by and the movement of the tides.

Assuming the boy was just as out of his mind as the rest of the sea worshipers, , Jaebum finally got up.

“It's just weird, right?”

The korean boy stood there startled. Was he talking to him? The worst part was that he barely understood what he said.

“S-sorry?”

The weird boy turned his head to look at him with a big smile on his face.

“So you can speak!”

The boy's bright smile, almost made his heart skip a beat.

Almost.

“I-I don't speak v-very well”

He hated how his hesitation and anxiety flew out of his mouth when he talked. He didn't feel comfortable talking in english, even if he knew what people were saying.

“It's okay, I don't talk much anyway”

Not really sure of what he was doing, Jaebum sat back again beside the boy. They kept quiet for a little while, bedore the red haired boy broke the silence again.

“Mark. That's my name, just Mark”

“Nice to meet you. My name is Jaebum.”

“So what brought you here? Sorry, I don't mean to pry...It's just that you don't seem to be from around here”

The smile never abandoned the boy's face, and Jaebum was hypnotized by it.

“I'm studying”

He felt incredibly ashamed. He really wanted to communicate with Mark, befriend him, but he just couldn't express himself, and he was never good with words not matter which language he used.

“Oh that's great! But I didn't mean that...I just wanted to know why you come to this beach everyday, you just sit here and don't even go swimming or anything.”

He wanted to tell him so many things. Explain him that he was completely alone in that country, that he didn't have any friends or family, that all of them were waiting for him in korea, expecting him to come back as a succesful man. Tell him how difficult it was to wake up everyday and not talk to anyone until it was late at night and he could come back to his dorm and call his mom. Tell him he felt miserable. That he couldn't stand being so far away from the people he loved. That the beach made him feel closer to them. But he couldn't.

“I'm lonely”

He sounded even more pathetic than he thought he would sound.

But Mark just smiled at him, and this time he knew what he liked so much about his smile. It was the way it reached his eyes, which got little but brighter the more he smiled. It made him feel something he really needed. It made him feel at home.

“I see...”

The american boy had his hands buried in the sand, but he quickly cleaned them and handed his phone to Jaebum.

“Save your number in my phone. Tomorrow I'll just call you so I can show you other places. This beach is not the best LA has.”

Jaebum did as he was commaned, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the boy's actions. When he gave the phone back to Mark he noticed how the boy's face got a little bit red.

“I'm not usually like this you know....You just seem....nice”

Both of them kept quiet, not really knowing what else to say.

“Okay, I gotta go now....See you tomorrow Jaebum.”

“Goodbye Mark”

He watched as the american boy walked away, and just before dissapearing in the distance, Mark turned around and wave goodbye.

He didn't react soon enough, and before he could wave back the boy was gone.

Jaebum took a deep breath and got up, it was time for him to go back to his room and study.

This time he didn't feel like crying. This time he thought that maybe he could get through this year.

This time he had hope.

Hey guys! Hope you like my first markbum fic. Maybe they are a little out of character, but it's because I just used an experience I had a long time ago to write this one, and I thought that this pairing was the one that fitted the best (and I really wanted to write a Markbum fic hahah)