The boy from the beach is lazing in the shallows again. Kibum drags his surfboard behind him as he trudges down the sandy hill, and the tanned boy looks up at him when Kibum goes to test the water. They smile shyly at each other - they never talk, but they see each other at the beach every day, so Kibum considers them friends.
It’s always the same, Kibum will always surf and the boy with always lay where the dry sand becomes wet, looking at pretty rocks and shells and wiggling his toes in the sand. Sometimes when Kibum turns around on his board the boy will give him a lazy wave, but that’s the most they’ve ever interacted.
The boy from the beach is really pretty, too. He’s tanned from the sun, hair dark red, and he has a soft, genuine smile. He always brings some exotic frozen fruit with him; sometimes he’ll share his frozen cherries and mangoes and strawberries with Kibum, and Kibum splits his sandwich with him. They don’t really talk while they eat either, just look at the ocean and bury their toes in the hot sand.
Before one of them leaves, the boy from the beach will give a container of frozen fruit to Kibum and Kibum pays him with a dollar. Kibum always wonders, after he leaves, why he never talks to this boy, but he always dismisses it. It’s not a strained or awkward silence, it’s comfortable. And Kibum likes that.
Today is different. The boy from the beach isn’t lazing in the sun, and Kibum frowns, but then a head pops up in the water and a soft smile spreads over his lips. He watches the boy swim around for a few moments: he’s very graceful, movements precise and lazy, and Kibum finds himself wanting to join. So he drops his stuff and plunged into the water, his loud noises making the boy roll over and tread water.
“Hi,” Kibum says when they’re face to face, smiling and breathless.
“Hi,” the boy says back, smiling wide as well, “I’m Hakyeon.”
“Kibum,” Kibum says, then just looks at Hakyeon for a long moment. He’s even more beautiful like this, hair plastered to his face and what looks like small pieces of shell tied in his hair.