starter for | @dalsoojung
jaejoong inhales deep, the salt from the sea reclaiming his lungs, reattaching to his ribs, his heart, his lips, the grains from an imagined beach latching onto his atmosphere and even though he’d known just how much he missed the ocean, missed the blue, missed the waves and the constant crashing, the constant roaring, he hadn’t realized just how bad his bones ached, how devastated his equilibrium had been. until this exact moment, until he stands here on the surf, tilts his head against the breeze, his ears pinned to the shifting, the calling, the luring music of the water he loves so well. his only true devotion.
he adores the water, adores it in a way he doesn’t know if he ever can with this breath of a girl, this slip of human in fine, gaudy dressings, her presence on the small boat a few feet away from him something of a comfort, something of an annoyance. he isn’t sure how to react to her yet, isn’t sure how to conceive her entirely, not since the moment his father had brought her to him, declared them for each other in a way that broach no argument, no hackling, no options. she is to be his wife and that’s final, that’s the end of it, nevermind that jaejoong’s heart only beats at the bottom of the ocean, nevermind that he doesn’t know how to look at a girl and not think of the devastations and atrocities he’s witnessed in the past year, under the tutelage and carnage of piracy out in the open blue.
he swallows his thoughts down and rearranges the sails for the fourth time, working them into just the right position, the bustling sounds of the port junction just beyond them, still in view but out of reach. he can see them all behind, men and women, boats and fishing cots, tiny shops and animals milling about. it’s not a beach, not his beach, not his horizon, but for the moment, it’ll have to do. “thank you,” he intones rather quietly, hoping their first outing together without chaperones won’t be too terribly awkward. “for coming out with me like this. i hope you don’t get seasick or anything.” he lets a small shine gleam in the corner of his face, almost amusement, almost playfulness.
