Chapter Text
Going to the beach was something Yeosang rarely did. He wasn’t a big fan of the sand, the smell, or even really the water for that matter. At this moment, he didn’t mind. The ocean, as much as he hated it, was familiar to him. He stared out at it, the deep blue ocean with so much left to be discovered. Kind of like himself. He barely knew anything about himself. He didn’t know anything about life. He sure as hell knew nothing about love. He knows he loves his family, his parents, his sister. But he has never felt love the way he wants to.
He was twenty-one years old and hadn’t even kissed anyone. Not that it matters, he reminds himself.
It was funny. All his friends from high school were in relationships. Superficial, he thinks. Maybe he’s jealous. He likes to think he just has their best interests in mind. He knows they deserve better. Is their judgement clouded? Is the idea of a relationship all they’re really in love with?
He wouldn’t know. He just sees what they put out on social media.
He sighs, his toes digging into the sand. It was three days before school started up again. He longed for his life to have some sort of meaning again. These days it was just work and sit at home doing nothing. Work, sit at home, sleep, repeat. He liked his job, but he was ready to go back to normal.
“Yeosang!” his sister called from the top of the path. “Are you ready to go?”
Graciously, Eunjoo had opened up her Seoul apartment to her younger brother while he completes his degree. With the two basically on opposite schedules, weekends were the only time they had together. Eunjoo had a job with a weird schedule, but Yeosang didn’t question it.
He got up from the milk crate he was sitting on and made his way up to the top of the path. Lost in his thoughts and the crashing of the waves, he had forgotten that he was minutes away from heading back to his second home.
After saying goodbye to their parents, the Kang siblings were on their way to Seoul. The drive to Seoul was not bad at all. Yeosang enjoyed spending time with his sister. They would listen to music and talk about everything under the sun.
This time, Eunjoo was a little more quiet than usual. “Yeosang-ah.”
His head snapped and looked at her in the driver’s seat. She rarely was a worried, nervous person. “Noona, what’s wrong?”
She sighed. “Are you going to get friends this year?”
Now it was Yeosang’s turn to sigh. Living with his sister definitely lessened his chances of getting some friends. He went to school, he came home. Despite their contradicting schedules, even Eunjoo knew that he didn’t do much. She would go out on Saturdays and come back to him still playing games or working at this computer. He never expressed loneliness, but as his big sister, she knew.
“Eunjoo, I already said I was fine,” he said, frustrated. Making friends wasn’t easy, she knows this.
“I know, I know. It’s just, you’ve been here for three years and you’ve brought one friend over.” Eunjoo replied, taking her eyes off the road to glance at her younger brother.
The one friend in question was a kid named Yunho. And he was a project partner freshman year. Yeosang wouldn’t consider him more than an Instagram mutual.
Yeosang decided not to answer. He knows that Eunjoo means well, but really, he’s content. He doesn’t mind it. People will come into and exit his life when it’s time. He’s really okay.
He doesn’t want friends anyway. He just wants someone to love.
Maybe he’s crazy. Maybe he’s jealous. Maybe he’s really not okay.
He knows he’s not. But he can take care of himself. He doesn’t need his big sister to find him some friends. He’s fine.
The drive to Seoul continues in silence for the first time ever. The two don’t interact until Eunjoo texts asking if Yeosang wants to order out instead of cooking. He replies and later sends her a screenshot of the delivery app confirmation. He takes the time to order her, with her credit card, a dessert. Like him, she had a big sweet tooth. And they could both use some cheering up.
An all too familiar ring filled the empty living room as Yeosang got a notification saying the delivery driver was at the door. He barely opened the door, something he always did as a safety measure, and tipped the driver.
Separating his food from his sister’s, Yeosang narrowed his eyes. He ran to their junk drawer and found a permanent marker. With ease, he drew his little signature character that Eunjoo especially loved on the box with the chocolate cake. “Thank you for everything” the Hehetmon doodle said, a heart on a stick in its left hand.
Yeosang wasn’t one to easily spill his feelings. Eunjoo was a “let’s talk it out, let me hear your feelings” type of person. Sometimes it drove Yeosang up the wall, but again, he knows she means well. “It’s because I’m a Scorpio with a psychology degree,” she always jokes. Yeosang doesn’t know what that means. All he knows is that he’s a Gemini working towards an education degree, whatever that says about him.
He grabbed her food and walked towards her closed door. He could hear the faint sound of IU just a little bit louder than the shower. Closing his eyes shut, he entered the room and placed her food on the desk immediately to the left of the door.
Taking his food, he fled the living room and shut off the light. He sighed as he sat back down at his desk. He hated eating on his bed. The idea of crumbs where you sleep? No thank you. He opened up Netflix and clicked on some drama he’s seen five times before. He really didn’t have the energy to watch a show right now, but he needed noise before he drove himself crazy.
He ate his meal and half heartedly paid attention to the show. Something about some guy who started his own restaurant to honor his dad. He had friends, he also had two girls basically fighting over him. Yeosang shook his head and laughed. Park Saeyori was an ex-convict. Wrong idea of a role model. One, Yeosang could not cook. Two, he was not going to commit any crimes soon. Three, teachers can’t get jobs if that’s on their background check.
He exited out of the tab. He already knows how the show ends anyway. He was just ready for school to start.
And it did. The two days between that Friday and the Monday school started were normal, boring days. Until the conversation in the car, having no friends never bothered him. But it bothered him that it bothered other people. Those two days, having no friends was the only thing that consumed his mind. Though, he was glad that he and Eunjoo had made up so quickly. She was so grateful for the cake, she came into Yeosang’s room crying.
As Yeosang stood at the entrance of the building he needed to go into, he stared at the sign on the door. “C Building closed for Maintenance. Please check student emails for classroom reassignments.”
“Well this fucking blows,” a voice said.
Yeosang looked at the boy who he had no idea was standing right next to him. “Uh, mhm.”
The other boy looked at his phone, probably checking his email. He read something off his phone in a mocking tone. “‘Choi San, your class PHI-350 has been relocated to A Building, Floor 2, Room 12.’ Damn it.”
Yeosang’s ears perked up. Well, now he doesn’t need to check his email. He turned away from the door and briskly headed east towards the A Building.
“Hey!” the other kid called out after him. “Aren’t you going to check your email?”
Yeosang really didn’t want to or know how to reply. “Uh, we must be in the same class.”
The boy had caught up to Yeosang. He was dressed in camouflage pants with a white T-shirt tucked in and big stompy boots. The lower half of his face being covered by a snug fitting, black disposable mask.
Yeosang, on the other hand, had chosen his everyday jeans and hoodie combo. He was not aware that today was a fashion show, or he might have put on a beanie as well. He makes a mental note to wear it on Wednesday.
Thankfully, due to Yeosang’s constant fear of being late, he had made it to the correct classroom with time to spare, the random stranger kid still in tow. Making his way to the last row of seats, Yeosang pulled his phone out of his pocket. Right there on the screen was an email notification, letting him know that the class had been moved.
“God, who sends a relocation email fifteen minutes before the class starts?” the boy said, annoyed.
By now, the kid had taken the spot next to Yeosang and declared it his. Yeosang didn’t mind. Someone was going to end up sitting there eventually, and he’s just glad that this kid didn’t smell bad. The lingering summer heat and people rushing from class to class was never a good combination.
“Yeah, it wasn’t very convenient,” Yeosang simply said.
He was shooting himself in the foot right now. This boy was cool, he could tell just by the way he acted. He was obviously trying to make conversation. Why couldn’t Yeosang just... talk back?
He gulped. By now, the boy had since turned his attention to his phone.
“Uh,” he choked out, extending his hand out. “I’m Yeosang.”
The boy smiled with all his teeth. “I’m Choi San!”
San shook Yeosang’s hand back with a firm grip.
Before Yeosang could attempt to make any more conversation, the professor walked in and immediately began talking. It was a typical first day of class. Thankfully, the professor seemed to be pretty chill. Yeosang was going to pass this course with flying colors. The professor had been able to wrap everything up pretty quickly, letting the class go about thirty minutes early. Man, he was still cashing a pretty decent check. Maybe Yeosang should become a professor instead.
Before he could even begin to pack up his stuff, San had already started talking again. “What’s your next class? Mine is COM-310. I’m a Communications major.”
Oh wow. This kid was a talker. He also didn’t have a backpack, Yeosang noticed.
“Uh, I’m an education major. My next class is like, some sort of lesson planning class. But it’s not until the afternoon.” Yeosang replied, his backpack snug on his shoulders.
San’s eyes lit up. “Oh for real? Mine either! Come get lunch with me and my friends!”
Yeosang, who had already started walking down the steps, stopped dead in his tracks. Eunjoo’s question rang fresh in his mind. “ Yeosang-ah, are you going to get friends this year?” His brain mocked. That dumb brain.
If it weren’t for that dumb brain of his, he would have checked his email before class and came straight to the A Building and Choi San would have sat in a completely different spot.
“Sure,” Yeosang said. “I’ll go.”