HYYH 1 Notes (ENG)

Everything Started From Here (PT 2)

JungKook
12 June Year 19

The sun was still beating down when we arrived at the train station by the sea. Our shadows were almost invisible, hovering around our feet. There was nowhere to hide from the sun. I thought I heard the roar of waves, and soon a stretch of beautiful sandy beach unfolded before our eyes. It was the beginning of the summer. Early vacationers were already perched under parasols. There is something about the sea that makes me well up with emotions. TaeHyung and HoSeok yelled out in excitement and dashed ahead. As they beckoned, JiMin and SeokJin joined them.

They called out to me. "JungKook!" I waved at them and smiled joyfully. Or,
I smiled to pretend that I was joyful. I was still clumsy at revealing my feelings and adapting to strange environments. Someone once told me that I acted like a timid, intimidated, child. It was the same that day. I felt a bit ill at ease in the presence of the others, like I didn't belong there.

There wasn't much to do on the beach, our impulsive destination. "Let's race." HoSeok suggested suddenly and ran ahead. Everyone else gave chase but soon gave up. It was too hot. Namjoon brought a torn parasol he found somewhere. All seven of us lay
down under the parasol. Round spots
of sunlight continued to move bit by
bit, and we wriggled to dodge them.

"Do you want to go see this rock?" HoSeok help up his phone. There
was a photo of a large rock on a beach. "They say, if you yell out your dreams towards the sea while standing on this rock, it will come true." JiMin took the phone and looked at the photo. "Isn't it a bit far? It's at least 3.5km from here." YoonGi rolled over. "I'm not going. I don't have any dream in the first place. Even if I did, I wouldn't walk 3.5km in this heat•••. No way." TaeHyung sprang to his feet. "I'm going."

We began to walk under the torn parasol. The sandy beach was burning under the scorching sun, and the air was so hot we could barely breathe.
We marched on the beach like stragglers, with our feet burning into the sinking sand. HoSeok attempted to make jokes, but no one responded. TaeHyung dropped down to the
ground and declared he was giving
up. NamJoon picked him up to his feet again and gave him a push on the
back. All our faces were bright red and dripping from sweat. We tried fanning ourselves with the hem of our T-shirts, but it only blasted us with more hot air. Nevertheless, we kept moving forward.

Sometime before, I'd asked the others what their dreams were. SeokJin said he dreamed of becoming a good person. YoonGi said it was OK to have no dream. HoSeok just wished to be happy. And Namjoon. What did he tell us? I can't recall, but it was nothing special. Basically, none of us had a dream to pursue. So why were we walking along this hot beach under the scorching sun to get to some rock 3.5km away, which supposedly makes dreams come true?

Along the way, we threw off the parasol that NamJoon, HoSeok, and SeokJin had taken turns holding. It did block the sun a little, but it was just too heavy with its steel handle. "Stop doing that." That's what YoonGi said to me while we were taking a short break after ditching the parasol. At first, I was puzzled. In fact,
I rarely talked with YoonGi and didn't even realize he was talking to me. YoonGi showed me his fingers.
"They'll become like mine." He also
had raw cuticles from biting his nails.
I hesitantly put my hands into my pockets. I didn't respond because
I didn't know what to say.

"What's your dream?" YoonGi asked. "You didn't tell us yours." He didn't seem genuinely interested in my answer. He just seemed to be asking
to keep the conversation going. "I
don't kmow. I've never thought about it." "Well, there's nothing wrong with
that."

"By the way, what is a dream?" I asked after some hesitation. YoonGi answered in his drawling voice. "I told you I don't have one." "No, I mean•••." I hesitated and continued. "I was wondering what a dream is. What do people mean by
a dream?" He looked at me and then turned his gaze towards the sky, frowning. "Something you want to achieve, I guess."