[84. Sunset]
Aroon grins after an excited Dae who races ahead, his uniform shirt flapping in the wind behind him.
" Aru...it's so beautiful.", the younger squeals looking at the vast sea in front of him. He doesn’t wait for Aroon as he dashes towards the blue sea that sparkles under the sun's weakening rays, enjoining the way the grains of soft sand slip past his toes. Having been only once before in his life to the beach in his almost 18 years of life, Dae revels in the view that surrounds him. The last time and the one and only time he has been to beach was on a 5th grade school tour and that was to Hua hin beach. And now he squeals and jumps in excitement as the endless amount of saltwater meet his widened brown eyes.He intakes the scenery into his memory, holding his breathe. His feet comes to a stop as wet sand touches his feet, where perhaps a comparatively bigger wave tickles the sand. He is afraid to go further ahead. He turns and looks to see[85. Colourful Champagnes]The sounds of music becomes louder as they nears the spot. It was somewhat like a sundown party like Aroon's guess. But there were not much people. Everyone has already gone to the infinite number of clubs and bars surrounding the city to enjoy partying and night life.Here on a raised platform, someone was standing, rapping along with the heavy music flowing out from somewhere. Probably the speakers and other settings are under the raised platform. A few people were around him clapping and whistling, few barely dressed women moving their hips along with the beat, calling out to people walking around. Drinks were being sold on the sides.The boys stood listening to the rap for a while and soon they started feeling bored. And then the younger was feeling thirsty and he wanted to drink the colourful drinks being sold. He tugged on the older's shirt and pointed at the drinks.
[86. Jogging]Aroon stirs awake to his phone ringing loudly in the early morning. As he tries to sit up, a heavy weight locks him back into place. Soon arms curl tightly around him with a small groan. Aroon smiles at the realization and turns off his phone alarm. Both he and Dae were pretty much half asleep when they had stumbled into the house last night at 11 Pm, trying to find the couch in the darkness. And when he finally succeeded in finding the couch, he fell on it with Dae on top of him and dozed off immediately." Dae..get up, I need to go for
[87. My bottle.]" Hey Senior, there's no use of running this slow.", Phet chuckled turning his head slightly, still running forward, as he passed Oak with high speed . Oak didn't replay and continued running with his previous pace with a calm expression on his face. Phet wondered why the older didn't say anything. Anyway he continued running fast to catch up with Aroon who was running in front of him.Soon Phet passed Aroon also." You are also slow.", he said and Aroon furrowed his eyebrows. Phet continued to run with his high speed. He again passed Oak, who had only completed half a round. For some reason, Phet wanted to tease Oak again. "P'Paitoon, you really lack energy.", he said and laughed slightly. He was disappointed when the older still didn't reply.Phet ran with the same high speed for two more rounds. But after that he slowly began to slow down. He was already panting hard. It was then Oak passed him silently with his same previou
[88. Having fun watching rain]" Aroon....what are you smiling at ?", Oak questioned Aroon. As the latter didn't reply or stop smiling, Oak followed Aroon's gaze and saw Dae and Phet sitting at a table with books in front of them. Dae probably trying to explain something to Phet and he laughing at the latter as Phet scratches his head in annoyance looking at his textbook.“ Hey Aroon ! ”, Oak now shook Aroon by his shoulder. “ what’s happening?”, he queried."Nah..nothing.", Aroon coughed averting his gaze back to the book in his hands. Oak frowned and then dedicated his attention back to the book he was reading."Aroon..you know, it's quite boring to sit quietly in a library and study like this, especially during lunch break. We could have better sat in the cafeteria or in our study hall.", Atid whined tapping his book on the table."You better learn something if you want to pass in the exam.", Aroon said running his eyes throug
[89. Captivating Lips]Dae was sitting on his desk chair, reading his English text when the door suddenly slung open. Aroon walked inside with a smile. He had a big spiral bound book in his hands." Are you studying ?", the older asked." Not really. I was just reading my English text book. What is this?", Dae asked reaching for the book in the older's hands. And Aroon handed it to him. The younger folded open the first page and his mouth became an 'O' " wow..you drew this?", Dae asked looking at the colourful portrait of a girl. "Yeah..", Aroon smiled.Dae turned the pages and there were drawings of Flowers, trees, river, sunset, animals, facial features and a lot more."Aru..you drew this all ?", wonder was evident in the younger's words."Hmm yes...", Aroon said. He was now standing behind the younger's chair, his both hands on table, caging the younger in between, looking at his own drawi
[90. Acid]Phet's Thursday was destined to be horrible. He woke up late and thus got late to mess. By the time he reached the mess hall, the food had finished.Phet never missed his breakfast, so he went to one of the college canteens to have breakfast. The first bell rang as soon as he entered the canteen. He got a sandwich and quickly chewed it down in just 3 minutes. Then he rushed to his classroom holding his breathe in his chest. On the way he collided with a senior chemistry student in the corridor. The chemistry guy was walking to his class back from the lab with a tray containing test tubes filled with different solutions. Three of the test tubes fell out of the tray, down the floor from the impact of collision. An orange- yellow liquid along with two other colourless liquids smeared the floor. Phet, who was utterly shocked looked with wide eyes at the guy and then at floor. The test tubes lied on the floor, broken." I am..sor
[91. Ointment]When Aroon came back to class from the library, Oak was simply sitting in his chair, leaning backward with his eyes closed." Hey..are you sleeping?", Aroon asked sitting down on his seat." No..", Oak said and opened his eyes, sitting up straight." I heard you bought Phet lunch. That's nice.", Aroon laughed slightly." Oh..Dae already told you ?"." Hmm..", Aroon nodded with a smile. Then suddenly his face became serious. " Oak, did you try to collect details of Mr Kim after that ?"" It's not possible Aroon. Leave it. He might have already went back to Korea. Don't need to worry about him.", Oak said " What if he has not ?", Aroon asked with a worried face." I think, he just came to make sure Dae is happy and okay here. He definitely went back to Korea by now. He has a family there, right ? He is not going to take Dae away. Stop worrying about that.", Oak assured.
[92. Pancakes and Lamb skewers]"Aru...why didn't you call me when you wake up ? ", Dae asked sheepishly entering the kitchen. Soon Aroon felt a pair of hands wrap around his waist and a chin below his shoulder. The younger used to hug him like this from behind when they were small. But now it feels different to Aroon. Anyway he admitted, he loved the position they were in. He concentrated on flipping the pan cakes without answering the younger."Wow ! Pancakes ! ", Dae exclaimed on his tip toes, looking at the pancakes through the older's shoulders."Uhmm..I don't know whether this would taste good. I just...yesterday asked Atid, how to make pancakes and he told me how to make it. He cooks well.""Aru..it will be tasty. I can say it from the smell.", Dae said inhaling the nice smell. "Between..you don't have practice today ?""No. It's only two or three days a week until they declare the dates for next match. Then we will have practice o
[167. I will be with you.]The drive to Sky Park is only 20 minutes. The boys sits in the back seat of a cab, peering out of the windows at the bright lit malls and shops on either sides of the highway. It's almost 7 Pm and all the shops has been brightly lit with colourful lights.'Fake Love, BTS' is playing on the radio in the background and Dae tries humming along with the song whilst carefully observing the Seoul city. The driver, who is probably a guy in his late twenties also sings along with the song in a low voice whilst vigorously shaking his head. Aroon just sits and enjoys the cool wind whipping through his cheeks from the taxi's open window." Are you two a couple ?", the driver suddenly asks stopping his singing and glancing at them through the mirror. Both Aroon and Dae is surprised. Not because the driver asked them that question but because he asked in English." Yeah..", Aroon replies. The driver just smiles in response and starts
[166. Ice rink]Dae sits in one of the side seats of a bus to Seoul with the older's phone in his hands, his eyes glued on the phone screen, his lips curved upward and his dimples visible as he reads the rest of the comments under their post. There had been a lot of new comments, the morning and new comments are appearing every minute. Most of them are supportive and Dae can’t help but feel extremely happy. Whenever he comes across a negative comment, he quickly skips it. He doesn’t let his mind get affected by the negative remarks.Aroon sits beside the younger, carefully watching his expression, smiling slightly whenever the younger’s smile widens a bit more. The boys had left Min's apartment only half an hour ago, after having the breakfast Granny min prepared for them. “ Enough Bun.”, Aroon says after sometime. “ You will get a head ache if you read while traveling.”“ Oh..really?”, Dae tilts his head and asks. “ Yeah I think I am s
[ 165. Overcame Fear]It had past midnight. Dae lied awake looking at the dark ceiling above him, his eyebrows scrunched together as he tried to make some important decision regarding his relationship with Aroon. The older was sound asleep beside him, still one of his strong arms caging him protectively from one side." Aru..", he suddenly called shaking the older. He needs to tell the older something urgently. Out of nowhere, he has suddenly got some strange yet strong courage, a courage to do something, something daring. He needs to do it right now or what if he loses the courage tomorrow morning?Aroon groaned in discomfort as Dae called him again. Dae reached his hands to the nearby switch board and soon the lights were turned on. Aroon's eyelashes fluttered in irritation at the sudden lightening that filled the room along with the younger calling his name whilst shaking him. " What bun ?", he asked slowly opening his eyes." Aru, I have took one impo
[164. Baby..patience ]Aroon sat on the bed, staring at the younger, sitting huddled up on the couch watching some cartoon on TV after having the ramen noodles cooked by granny min, his plump lips curved upward at the end and his dimples visible as he peered at the television screen. The younger looked so cute and hot in his new light blue shirt and cream short shorts.Aroon looked at his watch. It was almost 9 Pm. Dae isn't getting bored watching the damn cartoon. At last Aroon sat up from the bed, ruffling his hair and walked to the younger, the sweet smell of strawberries encasing him as he reaches near him.He slumps down beside the younger inhaling his sweet smell deep into his nostrils. But the younger is so immersed in the cartoon he is watching that he doesn't give him the attention he needed.Losing patience, Aroon grabs the younger's chin and turns his face to him, making him look at his eyes. Dae's heart rate suddenly speeds up at the way the o
[ 163. The old couple. ]Dae walks holding Aroon's hands, a smile sits on his face as he amusedly watches the infinite number of shops and stalls on either side of the road. A heavy plastic bag hangs on Aroon's free hand and it swings back and forth as they walks quickly through the street market of Cheonan. Inside it are the little stuff they bought from that market." Aru, walk slow.", Dae whines." Dae, it's going to rain soon. I think we need to walk 15 more minutes to reach the bus stop."" It's going to rain? How do you know ?", Dae asks confused." Look up at the sky."Dae looks up and sees the greying clouds above him rumbling with warning. Out of nowhere an ice cool wind blows and whips through their hair. A drop of water falls on Dae's nose tip." Aru..yeah..it's raining."Soon fat droplets of rain hits both of their forehead and Aroon runs holding Dae's hands to a nearby tiny restaurant. Standing there under the leak
[162. Baby goats]After almost an hour, Dae wakes up feeling hungry. He blinks his eyes thrice before slowly lifting his heavy eyelids, adjusting his dreary eyes to the morning sun rays rushing in through the open window. He slowly sits up straight, lifting his head from the older's shoulders." Why you woke up quickly ?", Aroon asks, his gaze on his phone, his fingers dancing rapidly over the screen. "There's one more hour to reach there. Sleep a little more.", he says slightly turning his head. Dae just hums in replay but looks out of the window deciding to watch the sights outside for sometime. The bus is now going through a city and tall buildings array on both sides of the road. Soon Dae notices the board of a restaurant and instantly his mouth waters seeing the variety food items on the banner. He feels extremely hungry after seeing the photo of the food items. He hadn't eaten dinner last night. But he feels reluctant to tell Aroon that
[ 161. Bus ride ]Dae squirmed on the bed, left and right trying to meet the familiar warmth. But he didn’t hit Aroon's body even after rolling about a lot. So he finally opened his eyes to figure out where the older actually was. He turned his face to his right and he was shocked. Abruptly he turned around to the left and there too was no one. Dae sat up on the bed in panic with a fast thudding heart. " Aru..", He called out frightened gazing around in the room. He looked over at the window and it's still dark outside. Dae started getting more nervous by the instant. "A..Aru..", He again called and this time it came out muffled because of fear. He was about to cry as no reply came.He only remember both of them running into a hotel, actually a motel at midnight after walking through the empty roads for almost an hour. He was really sleepy then and as soon he saw a bed, he fell on it and drifted into sleep, hugging the older. But now where is the olde
[ 160. Eloped ]It was really dark when Aroon landed at Seoul airport. He had changed the time in his phone from 5: 52 Pm to 7:52 Pm. And it had past 8:20 when he finally got out of the airport and got a taxi. Somehow he was able to tell the driver that we wanted to go to Daegu and fortunately the man understood him.Aroon took his phone and called Oak as soon as he hopped into the taxi.“ Aroon..be really careful. We will call you if there’s anything. And if your Dad calls you, pick the call. Or he will get suspicions. Bye then, take care.”, Oak said before ending the call.Aroon then placed the phone in his pocket and leaned back in his seat.The taxi driver, who was an young man, not looking anything more than 25 tried to converse with him in a English mixed Korean. And Aroon was able to comprehend something. His one week stay with Kim family had taught him a little bit Korean. He also tried to converse a little with the driver in an attempt to
[159. Let’s bring back Dae.]Aroon didn't have dinner. He sat on his desk chair thinking what to do next. An hour ago, he had texted Dae ' Are you okay ?' just to see whether he has his phone with him. The message was marked ‘seen’ after sometime but no reply came. So he understood the phone was either in Mr Kim’s custody or with his own Dad.' Dae isn't alright. Right now, he might be crying, lying in that room where we stayed. Or they might be questioning him. He is definitely not okay. He needs me.', Aroon suddenly took his phone in his hands and started searching for the next flight to Korea.There was a flight at 5 Am. The booking was about to close and he hastily went to book ticket. But soon he found that there was not enough money in his card. It was strange as the ticket doesn't coast that much. He checked the balance and found the whole money in his account has been withdrawn a few hours ago. Aroon felt totally helpless. He called O