ʟᴀ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟɪᴀ ⫽ ʏᴏᴏɴ ᴊᴇᴏɴɢʜᴀɴ

16

After putting our things away in our hotel rooms, we had some time to spare so I decided to give in to Taeyang's request, and indeed, hit the beach.

Upon arrival, there seemed to be not a lot of people around, which was perfect. I mean, less chance of getting groped by some middle-aged man that has been actionless for who knows how long.

"Wanna swim?"

Taeyang was already taking his shirt off, not bothering to help Jihyo and I set up camp. And without waiting for a reply, he was off, jumping into the water like the babes were lining up to see him.

They weren't, by the way, as there weren't any, unless he was trying to hook up with someone's mom, which he could if he really wanted to.

"Gosh, his ego's the only big thing about him." The two of us snorted to her statement, before I sighed and continued to lay down the beach mat.

"Why don't you join him?" She gave a disgusted look, but complied anyway. Then she ran the way Taeyang went before her, almost stumbling over the little sand dunes.

"YOO TAEYANG, YOU BETTER WATCH OUT."

And from there, their little water fight, that was becoming not so little, began, whilst I sat cheering them both on from the comfort of the spot I sat on, far, far away from the water, looking on like a proud mother.

Then, something else caught my eye.

Numerous people were out at sea, most on boats, few on boards, riding out the waves.

And one in particular raised alarm bells.

A mop of wet blonde hair, six-pack abs, hawaiian print shorts. Of course he was here. I never seemed to be rid of him.

In a way, he became my shadow, lurking in the corners of every room I entered. And now, on a mostly-spontaneous trip to Japan, he was here as well.

Hoping he was not aware of my presence here at all, I turned away slightly from his direction, giving my attention to the sand I sat upon.

I quickly decided it was boring me, an idea of building a castle out of it coming to mind instead, purely as a means of distraction from other distractions.

Getting the bucket Taeyang brought along with him, I started filling it with wet sand, watching it plonk down into the bucket when I dropped it from above. After compressing the sand in to make sure it was properly full, I quickly flipped it upside down onto the ground. And with two firm pats to the bucket, I lifted it away, revealing an average, amateur sandcastle.

Appreciating the simplicity of it did not last long at all, when a foot came crashing into it, knocking the castle over and sending the sand flying, along with making me lose balance from my crouching position and falling onto the ground with a hard thump.

What a jerk. "Hey, you can't—"

Ding, ding, ding! You guessed it!

Snapping my eyes to the male above, a smug expression on his facial features, one hand running through his wet hair whilst the other carried the surfboard he was riding not too long ago.

"What's wrong, darling? Did I destroy the fairy tale castle of your dreams? Oops."

No, I did not make out with the man in front of me.

I stood up straightaway, ready to throw hands at his gorgeous face when he started laughing.

He grabbed my wrists, pulling me up to him. He looked at me with seriousness, while I looked back, unsure of what to do or feel.