sea-kissed 🌊 || j.jk+k.th

{6} first day 🌊

The next day, Jungkook woke up a few hours before his first shift at the beach : he wanted to comfortably set up his equipment when the sun was still low and the beach probably empty.

On his way to eat breakfast, he grabbed the lifeguarding manual he had spent a few hours reading through the night before ; the weird dream that didn't feel like a dream, on top of the two lengthy naps he had taken throughout the day, wouldn't have let him fall asleep anyway. He made his way down the stairs, the hall, and to the dining room, still empty this early in the morning. The hotel, despite its premium class view on the private beach and its well-thought-out interior design, seemed to have few clients. After all it was pretty much lost in the middle of nowhere, Jungkook thought, but he preferred it that way : no screaming children, no parties in the pool on the rooftop, no queue to get waffles in the morning...

In fact, no queue to get anything on the buffet, and he could just wander freely from the cereals to the jjigae. It didn't take long for him to soak them in maple syrup and gulp down one or two -or maybe three-, along with an omelet and a bowl of rice. As he had breakfast, he quickly went over the first chapters of his manual to make sure he'd know what to do once he got to the beach.

Soon enough all his plates were empty, and it was time for him to depart ; the day before, in the car, Namjoon had shown him the shed where the equipment he'd need was stored. Shoving the manual in his coat pocket and his keys in his jeans, he left the hotel and walked there.

It took a while to get to the beach, and then find the shed he had only caught a glimpse of the day before. But the morning air was fresh and reinvigorating, and the sun, still low on the horizon, made the sea sparkle and glisten.

Finally, he opened the doors of the old and run-down shed. The outside walls had once been painted white and blue, but now appeared a fainted yellow and a murky green ; the inside was dusty, and a smell of rust and mold hang heavily in the air. Scrunching up his nose at the repulsive smell, Jungkook fumbled around until he found what he was looking for. First, he took the highchair stored just behind the door and dragged it on the sand to an elevated spot, where he could get a clear view of the beach. Then, he made several trips back and forth for the rest of the equipment ; the flag pole, the flag, the life-vest, the umbrella, the ring buoy... Finally, he picked up the bag left in the center of the shed, the only object not covered in dust ; though it had already picked up the smell of mold. The bag, as Namjoon had told him, had been left for him and contained a lifeguard uniform : the swimming shorts, the t-shirt, the hat, the sunglasses, and the whistle.

When he finally had everything settled, including himself, he climbed up the highchair, and sat there. Although he was only a meter higher than he always was, it somehow felt completely different ; to see the waves from above, even if ever so slightly, made the sea look clearer, the sky look broader, the wind blow stronger.

There was still some time before his shift officially began, but Jungkook didn't mind. As the sun slowly and peacefully made his way higher in the sky, he made himself busy ; he took a second look at the sections of the manual he had skipped over, he began trying to clean up the chair and flag pole, he started to memorize the different flag colors and what they meant...

In the first hours, a few people had came to the beach, and each of them came up to him to talk. As Namjoon said, Gimyong seemed to have very little visitors, and even less new-comers. They were all surprised to learn he would live and work here from now on, but welcomed him nonetheless ; the little children's excited stare and the warm smiles of their grandparents, probably taking care of them while the rest of the family was either at school or at work, made him feel at home -a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.

And like that, the first part of his shift ended.