sea-kissed 🌊 || j.jk+k.th

{9} welcome 🌊

Deciding that the painting had nothing to do with last night's events, he left the bathroom, and took the stairs down back to the café. He intended on simply leaving, but was stopped by Jimin on his way out.

"Wait a second !"

Jungkook stopped at the door, and waited until Jimin jogged up to the entrance to meet him.

"Yes ?" He asked.

"Well, I was just thinking, maybe we should exchange numbers. I'm guessing you don't know too many people around here, and since we're around the same age, I thought we could be friends. What do you say ?"

Jimin's smile was bright, and hopeful ; Jungkook couldn't have refused even if he wanted to.

"Sure. Wait a second."

Jungkook fumbled around his coat pocket to find his phone, which had been turned off since he left Seoul. But at the very moment he turned it on, it blew up with missed notifications : '22 missed calls from Mom', '13 missed calls from Dad', '14 missed calls from Tiny Cononut Head', and many unread messages.

Jimin was a little taken aback by the phone's constant vibration, but soon shrugged and scribbled his own number on a piece of paper.

"There, it'll be easier. Text me when you can ! And, once again, welcome to Gimyong."

One last time, he smiled at Jungkook, and walked away.

• • •

His afternoon shift was as slow and uneventful as in the morning. It was slightly less chilly, but also less windy ; which meant the waves were a little quieter, and his thoughts a little louder. After hours of sitting on that highchair, his thoughts began to drift away. Eyes lost on the horizon, he thought back to the voice he had heard the night before.

Maybe the double oceans and glowing jellyfish were nothing more than a dream, but he was pretty sure that that voice was real. What was up with that, then ?

No matter how hard he tried to remember, he was unable to recall the melody. The song was slow, melancholic, and every note carried with it a different emotion. When the voice had gone higher, Jungkook could remember his chest swelling up. When it had gone deeper, he remembered his heart sinking low with it. He had never, ever heard singing anything like that before.

Singing... It had been a long time since he had heard someone singing in real life. It had also been a long time since he had stopped singing at all, even to himself. But he could still remember closing his eyes and letting his voice, and himself, get carried away by music. Hearing the room fill up with his own voice, expressing feelings he could never articulate in words.

He used to love singing.

As the sun started to glide down its trajectory towards the sea, Jungkook's memories also made their way down, deep in his chest, to an old song, one he hadn't dared to think back to in years ; an he closed his eyes. He heard clapping. He saw smiles. He felt a blinding light shining down on him.

Lost in remembrance, he began to sing.

Only the first few words, first. Then, a few more lines.

The lyrics he thought he had forgotten, came rushing to his lips. The melody he thought he'd never have the courage to sing again, escaped his throat and rose up to the sky.

And soon, before he even realized what he was doing, the song came to an end. It's only when he felt the knot in his stomach when there were no more words left to sing, that he realized what he had done.

"Not only do you swim like a pro, you sing like one too."

If not for his accurate reflexes, Jungkook would have jumped out of his highchair and fell face down into the sand.

"Namjoon... hyung ?"

"Yeah, hi. I just came to see how you were doing on your first day. No one drowned yet, so I guess you're doing fine."

Jungkook slowly nodded, still adjusting to his presence. He really thought there was no one on the beach. But then again, he was lost pretty deep in his thoughts.

Namjoon beside him, in a professional-looking white shirt, was looking straight ahead at the sea. A calm breeze made his hair sway softly on his forehead, making him look straight out of a movie.

The two of them stayed silent for a long time ; Namjoon simply watching the view, Jungkook simply not knowing what to say.

"You know," the older finally said, quietly, still looking ahead of him, "it's probably still too early for me to ask why you came here, to Gimyong. But whether you plan on actually staying here all your life, or if it's just a transition for you to gather the strength to move on, either way, you'll always be welcome here."

He finally turned away from the sea, and looked up to Jungkook with a small smile.

The young boy, frozen still, felt his eyes water up. He shook his head violently to force the tears out of his eyes. He took a deep breath ; was it because he had just sung for the first time in a long time, that he was so emotional ? He nodded, avoiding meeting Namjoon's eyes with an unexpected shyness.

"Thank you," he said in a weak but sincere whisper.