Chapter Text
Hanbin takes a deep breath slowly, then released it even more slowly, relishing the vague smell of the sea and nature from the large rock he was currently perched on.
This is it , he thought. This is exactly what I need.
Today is a Saturday. His friends decided to go to the beach since the coming Monday is a public holiday, so they don’t have classes at uni. He is not always willing to go out, but something told him he should go out this weekend, and now he knows it was a a great idea. Nothing better than clearing your mind surrounded by the calm nature.
“Hanbin-ah, come down here and swim,” he heard his girlfriend say. He just shook his head and smiled at her, then raised the camera on his neck to his eyes and took a photo of her instead.
She laughed, quickly striking poses as he took a couple more photos. After he let the camera fall onto his neck again, she proceeded to the ocean again, laughing along with the others.
She knows not to push him when he wants to be left alone.
He took a hold of his camera again and scrolled through the photos he took of her. She’s really beautiful; I don't know what she ever saw in me, he thought.
The serenity was broken by a child’s loud cry, and he looked around, finding a shirtless man holding a struggling baby boy in his arms, crying and wanting to go to the ocean.
“Raon-ah, you can’t go down, your mom told me not to let you in the ocean without her, please stop crying, baby,” the man said, a hint of frustration and perhaps desperation, in his voice.
The child continued crying in his arms.
After a few more minutes of non-stop crying in the background, Hanbin stood up and decided to go back to their rented cottage nearby.
He knows he cannot fault the child for crying, and perhaps not his father too, but the fact remains.
His peace was broken.
--
“Ah, why did hyung even leave you alone with me to buy food for dinner? He knows I panic the moment you start crying. Why am I even here at your family’s long weekend vacation? Ah, Raon-ah, please stop crying,” Jiwon pleads, swaying his nephew to try to calm him.
He knew taking Raon near the ocean was a wrong idea when he started trying to wiggle out of his hold when they were close enough to the shore. Then he started crying. And Jiwon started panicking.
They have now gone back near their cottage, Jiwon pacing back and forth trying to calm a still crying Raon in his arms.
What is taking them so damn long to buy some food to cook?!
Suddenly, the door to the cottage next to them opened, showing a man in a sleeveless shirt and bucket hat. Their eyes met, and the man’s eyes showed evident frustration.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry, you were disturbed by his cries?”
The man took a deep breath, meanwhile Raon thought it was the best time to start whining again.
“Can’t you calm him down? Give him a toy or food or something,” the man said.
Jiwon snorted and swayed the child with a tad more force, “You think I haven’t tried that? He just throws anything I give him.”
Raon cried louder.
The man huffed, “Can I try carrying him?”
Jiwon looked at him, trying to figure out if the guy was serious with the offer and if he himself was seriously even thinking about taking the offer up. The man just looked back at him, only his nephew’s cries, the gust of wind and the far sound of waves in the background.
Well, he doesn’t look like a kidnapper, just… a pissed neighbor , he thought. And even if he is, I’m pretty sure I can outrun and overpower him.
“At this point, whatever makes him stop crying,” he muttered, carefully putting Raon on the man’s arms.
Raon proceeded to stare at the man, ceasing to cry. Until he realized he doesn’t recognize the face of the one holding him. Then Raon started crying. Again. Even louder, if that was possible.
Jiwon started laughing, and the man looked at him, panic slightly tinting his eyes.
“You’re no better than me,” Jiwon told the man, still chuckling softly as he took his nephew back from the stranger, who at least stopped crying being his uncle’s arms once more.
“At least I’m not his dad and can’t stop him from crying,” the man retorted.
Jiwon did a double take. Literally stepped a few steps back, because of surprise and disbelief. What did he say?
Then he laughed again.
“Wow, man, you’re something. You think he’s my son ? I love this lil precious like my own son, sure, I think I am too young to have one,” Jiwon mused in between laughs.
He saw the wheels turning in the man’s head. And Jiwon knew the exact moment he realized his mistake, because the man blushed .
“You- you’re not- he’s not- yours, oh my goodness, I- I’m so sorry,” the man sputtered.
Cute.
“I don’t think I’m much older than you, how old are you?”
“Twenty-one,” he said weakly.
“I’m only a year older than you,” Jiwon said, laughing anew. And the man blushed anew.
“Well, I’m just gonna go back to our cottage now.”
“Who you with, by the way? Don’t tell me you’re alone out here.”
“Oh, I’m with my friends for the long weekend,” the man said, almost shyly.
“Cool, same. Well, same as in we’re here for the long weekend as well, but with my family. Thus, the nephew,” Jiwon said, smiling widely, and chuckling a little again.
As if on cue, he heard footsteps nearing, followed by his brother’s voice, “Raon-ah, my son, dad’s here, where are you? Jiwon-ah!”
“Finally,” Jiwon muttered. “That’s my hyung, this loud one’s dad. Catch you later, cutie.”
--
Cutie, he called me a fucking cutie and winked, Hanbin thought, hand clutched at his chest while laying down on his bed. What the fuck.
The rest of the group went out to grab dinner, but he pretended to be asleep when they came back from their swim. All of them knew better than to disturb Hanbin’s sleep, so they left him alone. Now he’s alone once again in the cottage.
Hanbin shifted on the bed.
Jiwon-ah , he remembered. Jiwon. That’s his name. Suits him.
Hanbin shifted again.
And again.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Hanbin? Get your shit together,” Hanbin grumbled to himself, and shifted once more on the bed, trying to finally sleep.
His grumbling stomach woke Hanbin up the next day. After looking out the window and seeing the bright rays of sunshine, he realized that he skipped dinner.
He stood up, touching his hungry stomach as he did so. He went straight to the kitchen and he found all 4 of his friends on the sofa on the way, fully clothed already.
His girlfriend blushed a bit, looking a little guilty, then said, “Hanbin-ah, you're up. We're going snorkeling, wanna come?”
“Yeah, you didn't even swim yesterday, it'll be fun!”
“Yes, come on, Hanbin!”
He just shook his head, and continued going to the kitchen, but the table was empty.
“You guys go ahead, I'm not in the mood. I'm just gonna go to the local diner and grab something to eat.”
“What the hell, Hanbin,” one of his friends said, exasperated. “Why even come if you're not going out anyway? Why invite your girlfriend if you're not even gonna spend time with her?”
His girlfriend blushed even more, and started shaking her head as Hanbin turned to look at her.
“N-no…. I'll just stay, Hanbin-ah. Let's go eat together,” she said, grabbing his arms.
“No need. I'll make do myself.”
Then he left the cottage.