nostalgia, fifty-four.
❛ the sun doesn't talk ❜
After the group decided to use the tents as soccer goals, the only thing left to do was decide teams, which they finalized through a game of rock, paper, scissors. Sunghoon, Haruto, Sunoo, and Jay were on Yebin's team, while Xiaohui, Jungwon, Heeseung, and Niki were on Jake's. Before the match began, they huddled up on their respective sides like they would in a real tournament.
"This isn't fair." Sunoo sighed. "The other team has all the athletes."
Sunghoon grinned. "Calm down, guys. You have me."
"Great, and we have Mr. Conceited."
Yebin laughed along with the others a Sunghoon glared at Sunoo, before shaking her head and swinging her arms around Jay and Haruto. "Okay guys, let's have fun. It's just a game."
"Just a game?" Sunghoon asked incredulously. "Yebin, no."
Yebin listened with wide eyes as Sunghoon explained their supposed strategy, sounding like her coach. She whispered over to Jay, "When did he get this good at soccer?"
"Probably since Xiaohui became the competition."
Yebin nodded. "Ah, that sounds about right."
"I'm glad I'm on your team, though!"
"Of course." Yebin beamed at Jay's words. "You're my favorite, remember?"
Jay blinked, and Sunghoon burst out in laughter after overhearing. Jay elbowed him in the ribs. "Quiet. It's character development."
On the other side of the "field," more or less the same scene was taking place. Jake patted his teammates backs with a wide smile. "Alright, take it easy, guys! It's just a game."
"Just a game?" Xiaohui asked incredulously. "God, what kind of team captain are you?"
Jake could do nothing as Xiaohui ran her mouth off, presenting their action plan with terms he'd never heard her use before. They'd been classmates for years but he was pretty sure she knew nothing about soccer. After a convincing and slightly frightening pep talk, she clapped her hands together.
The game started after that, a messy fixture that looked more like a traveling circus than a soccer match. At least, they were enjoying. Their laughter could be heard for miles, but luckily, the beach was empty and the sun didn't talk. It simply sank to meet the ocean's horizon, until the sky blended into warm hues of pretty colors.
At some point in the match, while Yebin struggled to run with her arm still cradled in a cast, she bumped head first into Jungwon, who was dribbling the ball towards the makeshift goal.
"Why are your shoulders so broad?" She clutched her head with a wince. Jungwon simply laughed, pulling her in to kiss her forehead.
"And how did you get so good at soccer? Do you play?" Yebin asked.
Jungwon sighed. "My coach would throw a fit if I did anything other than Taekwondo."
"Really? You do Taekwondo?"
Jungwon tilted his head at her, but chuckled anyway. "I don't think I've ever heard you use sarcasm before."
Niki imitated blowing a whistle, and the last minutes of the game resumed. Ultimately, no one won. Not a single point was scored.
The night was young when they went back to fixing their tents, a task they'd collectively procrastinated. It seemed that some of them weren't over the soccer match, though.
"I would have won if it weren't for the tents being so damn small," Sunghoon spoke, earning glances from his teammates. "I mean we."
Xiaohui scoffed. "Why you little-"
"I wish we'd thought of playing soccer here sooner," Heeseung remarked, steering the conversation away.
"We weren't enough people the last time we came." Jay shrugged, before looking up. "Hey, you still haven't sent those pictures you took of us, Yebin."
"Ah, I can send them right now." Yebin pulled out her phone. "What date was that again?"
"Didn't you take those on your camera?"
"Ah, right." Yebin lowered the device with a sheepish smile. "My bad."
The group shared a laugh at that, but Xiaohui was too busy staring at her best friend. Eventually, she cleared her throat, focusing back on her tent. "Hey, Yebin? Can you help me with this?"
The girl happily obliged, going over to hear what she needed before deciding to set it up herself. When it was finished, the two crawled inside and fell onto their backs.
Xiaohui smiled. "This really brings back memories from my birthday last year. Remember when we camped out with my dad and brother?"
"Yeah! That was so fun."
"Yebin- that never happened." Xiaohui's face fell. "We went skating on my birthday."
Fear flashed in Yebin's eyes, and she froze before shakily getting up.
"Hey, you can talk to me, okay? What's wrong?" Xiaohui stood to her feet as well, reaching over to hold her hand but Yebin pulled it away. She swallowed hard, taking a few steps back before running out of the tent.
Xiaohui breathed out, dumbfounded. "Yebin, wait!"
She rushed out of the tent, looking around their campsite where the boys had all gone in to sleep. But the girl was nowhere to be found.
Xiaohui tried to keep calm as she barged into Jungwon's tent, waking him abruptly. "Yebin- she ran off."
"What?" Jungwon rubbed his tired eyes. "What happened?"
"I just wanted to know why- ah, that's not important. I can't find her anywhere!"
He ran a hand through his hair, standing up and grabbing his jacket as he left the tent. "Call everyone else. She's around here somewhere."
Yang Jungwon had always wanted to know what it was like to walk around the beach at night, but not like this. Stress was all that ran through his mind, and it hadn't even been long since he started looking.
The perks of being soulmates, though? The universe does want you together. The direction he was going in led him to spot a small figure by the shore.
Jungwon let out a breath of relief, and he ran towards the girl who was looking out to the ocean with her arms around herself, shivering slightly.
"Yebin, are you crazy? It's freezing out here." Immediately, he shrugged his jacket off, wrapping it around her shoulders. Little did he know, she wasn't shaking from the cold.
When the waves crashed by their feet, it drew back quietly, and in that silence Jungwon heard her. "Are you crying?"
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He turned her head to face her, pushing her hair away from her face. "Stop crying! Stop!"
His incessant concern only seemed to worsen her cries, and Yebin couldn't help but laugh in disbelief as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. "Ah, Jungwon. I really don't deserve you."
"What do you mean? I'm pretty sure it's the other way around-"
"No it's not."
There was a short pause, before Yebin spoke up again. "R-remember, when- when I first woke up, and you asked if I remembered you?"
Jungwon nodded but furrowed his eyebrows, not knowing where this was going as Yebin inhaled sharply.
"Well, I-I lied."