HYYH 1 Notes (ENG)

The Most Beautiful Day of Our Lives

JungKook
22 May Year 22

Someone shook my shoulder to wake me up. When I opened my eyes, the
car window was filled entirely with
the seascape. The sea breeze felt
chilly, probably because I was only
half awake. I wrapped myself with
both arms and got out of the car. The others, already far out on the beach where the waves broke against the shore, waved at me. Beyond them
was the sea, and above the sea was
the sun. The entire scene looked like
a still frame.

The wind picked up and filled this
still frame with raging sand just as I raised my hand to wave back. The
gritty dust rose from the ground and swirled about. The others turned around all at once, covering their
faces to ward off grainy wind. I did
the same, shutting my eyes tightly, bending my head, and covering my
face with my arm. We stood in this position amidst the sound of lapping waves and whistling wind for a long time.

I tried to open my eyes, but they stung from the sand. "Don't rub them. It'll just make it worse." Upon hearing HoSeok, I slowly blinked. The sea, the sky, and the others kept appearing and disappearing through the tears welling up in my eyes. After I blinked several times,
tears streamed down, and the stinging subsided. The tears must've flushed the grains of sand out. I heard the others laughing. They were laughing at me standing in the middle of the empty beach shedding tears.

It was unclear who began to run
first. It started out as a silly game.
I pretended to chase the others who kept making fun of me. HoSeok darted off as if he was fleeing from me. Then, the rest joined in, running towards and away from one another and laughing joyfully. At some point, we were all running along the coastal road. I ran behind the others. I was out of breath, sweaty, and had a splitting headache. But I didn't stop because they continued on.

We'd all met again, sprung JiMin from the hospital, and returned to this same beach. It was all unplanned. All I'd done was tag along, but it felt exhilerating. Maybe running around blankly was
the only way for me to deal with that fearfully thrilling sensation. I'd done the same when we all ditched school and came to this beach the first time.

"That's right. We were like this back then, too." NamJoon said when we dropped down on the beach to catch our breath. "I think it was just as hot then. When was it?" It was JiMin. "It was June 12." My good memory took everyone by surprise. I remembered
it exactly because the photo we had taken on this beach was marked with the date. I sometimes took it out and stared at it. I didn't tell anyone, but I
felt on that long-ago day that I had finally found a real family. Real brothers.

"Guys." I began to express my gratitude but found myself at a loss for words. "What?" The others rushed me one by one and then flung themselves at me. We rolled around on the beach tangled up together, playing like children.

"Why are you here alone?" I sank down next to TaeHyung who was sitting in one corner of the sandy beach away from the others. He looked at me briefly and asked a question instead. "Was that there the last time we came here?" He was talking about the observatory. "If it was, we would've climbed it, but I don't remember it." He nodded in agreement. He kept staring at the observatory.

"Let's go." Someone tapped my shoulder. It was SeokJin. His face unrecognizable as he was standing against the light. It might've been because I was looking up at him
from a sitting position, but he looked
so tall. I stood up, dusting off the sand. My feet sank deep into the burning sand. I sneaked into SeokJin's shadow and walked on, kicking sand with the tip of my sneakers. The sand I kicked
up splattered onto SeokJin's pants, but he didn't look back.

TaeHyung
22 May Year 22

I had seen this all before. In a dream that felt too vivid and real, I saw this sea, the seven of us, and the towering observatory. I stood on the observatory at the end of the dream. Everyone looked up at me. They were far away,
so their faces were hard to see. Still, I smiled at them. As if I was bidding them farewell. And then I jumped.