Yoonjo, who had been splashing around enthusiastically, suddenly jumped up from his spot. The long shirt that came down to just below his iliac crest was already soaked through, clinging tightly to his skin. His smooth legs were visible without any filter, making Seonwoo unconsciously look away. Then something cold touched his cheek, causing him to look back. Yoonjo was right in front of him.
“Isn’t it too much to come all the way here and not go into the ocean? You have no respect for nature.”
Yoonjo, grinning mischievously, gathered seawater with both hands and splashed it at Seonwoo as if throwing it. With a refreshing sound of cutting through the water, deep traces of the sea seeped into Seonwoo’s pants and shirt without discrimination.
“There’s no one watching here. So just play.”
“…Yoonjo-ya.”
“So what if your clothes get wet! Just dry them. If you catch a cold from drying them, just take medicine. If the medicine is too bitter and you don’t like it, I’ll even get you some candy to go with it. What’s the big deal about wet clothes and catching a cold?”
Yoonjo, grinning widely, splashed water again. This time, a slightly larger amount of seawater splattered on Seonwoo’s shirt. The water droplets scattered like sparkling, shattering transparent jewels.
“Ha….”
“Ah, hyuuuung!”
At the whining call, Seonwoo bent his head down deeply. As he let out a deep sigh while covering his face with one hand, Yoonjo, who had been a little distance away, approached hesitantly with an anxious expression.
He’s not really mad, is he? What a narrow-minded old man. Or wait, is this something to be mad about?
Muttering to himself internally, Yoonjo gently grabbed Seonwoo’s shirt. That’s when it happened.
“Got you.”
Seonwoo’s face was clear as if he had never sighed. When Seonwoo’s hand firmly gripped his waist, a look of bewilderment rose on Yoonjo’s face. Before the words “uh, uh….” could flow out of his mouth several times, Seonwoo smiled as if painted on.
“The seawater is a bit salty.”
At the same time, Yoonjo’s body tilted forward. It was because Seonwoo had fallen backward while holding onto Yoonjo.
Splash-.
A clear sound rang out as it struck the surface of the water, and water splashed all over Yoonjo’s body and head. Yoonjo looked down at Seonwoo beneath him and flailed in bewilderment. The more he did, the more the water splashed, creating shallow ripples.
“Hyung! What were you going to do if you cracked your head open! Wow, this hyung is really brave.”
“But you can’t get hurt.”
Since they had fallen in a shallow area, even when Seonwoo relaxed his body, at most only his ears got a little wet. Though not his clothes. The white shirt Seonwoo was wearing was soaked through, revealing his skin underneath, and his face was glowing because of the water droplets that had splashed on his cheeks. Yoonjo stupidly scanned Seonwoo before grabbing his collar with both hands and pulling. It inadvertently became a threatening posture, but that wasn’t what was important to Yoonjo.
“What if your head really splits open!”
“Mm…. It’s better than someone else getting hurt.”
“Just throw me into the ocean next time. I’m um…. exactly about five times sturdier than you, hyung!”
At Yoonjo’s brave words, Seonwoo smiled languidly. It was a smile as if finding it ridiculous. When Yoonjo glared with his eyes saying “Grrr,” something cold touched his cheek as if it had been waiting. It was seawater. When Seonwoo curled and opened his fingers, the water droplet that had been caught on his fingertips splashed onto Yoonjo.
“You said to play. We should play.”
The gentle voice tickled his ear. Yoonjo unconsciously let go. Beyond the white shirt that was wet and pulled taut, Seonwoo’s skin could be seen. At that precariousness of seeming visible yet not quite, Yoonjo was startled and pushed Seonwoo away.
“Ugh…!”
It was loud enough to hear a thud-! sound. Yoonjo watched Seonwoo fall backward again and fidgeted restlessly before getting tangled up in the hand that pulled him again.
After that, the two continuously splashed water at each other. It was only natural that they got completely soaked from head to toe without leaving even the slightest gap.
Lying sprawled on the sandy beach, Yoonjo let out ragged breaths. Seonwoo, who was lying next to him, was in a similar situation.
“Huff… huff…. Hyung, really…. I thought you were weak….”
“Who’s weak?”
“That’s the best, huff…. comedy I’ve heard this year.”
Well, you’re not weak. It was just a little while ago that you were panting because you couldn’t do farm work. Yoonjo took in a big breath and puffed it out while soaking up the sunlight to his heart’s content.
“Photosynthesizing, feels good, right? This is why people walk when the sun is out.”
“Now you’re trying to become a plant? You do farm work and now you’re trying to become one with plants. You’re a first-class farmer.”
In an instant, Yoonjo’s eyebrows tilted at a ten-ten angle.
“I think I went too easy on you while playing with you. Right. This time, I really hope ten finger marks are clearly left not on your back but on your belly skin.”
As soon as Yoonjo’s words ended, Seonwoo laughed refreshingly. It was the first time he, who always smiled quietly, laughed out loud.
At that change, Yoonjo turned his head. Seonwoo, who had sat up at some point, was blocking about half of the sunlight that had been beating down on Yoonjo. Because of that, soft sunlight like white foam covered Seonwoo’s hair like backlighting. The ends of his hair were dyed beige.
Even at the gaze staring blankly, Seonwoo paid no mind and lightly poked Yoonjo’s cheek with his finger.
“Thank you for playing with me.”
“…Ah.”
“Play with me often.”
“If I play with you… do I get something good? Hyung, I’m a busy person. I have to farm… and later I have to go dig for whelks and cockles. Um…. seasoned cockles, that… is delicious….”
Yoonjo rambled incoherently without even knowing what he was saying. At that sight, Seonwoo tapped Yoonjo’s nose bridge lightly before standing up.
“Then we can go dig together. Dig for whelks and go dig for cockles. As for something good….”
Seonwoo, trailing off his words, smiled brightly.
“Let’s think about it gradually. I’m good at more things than you think, so there might be something helpful to Yoonjo.”
At that sound, Yoonjo was barely able to straighten out his mind that had been about to go blank for a moment.
“…You had things you were good at too, hyung?”
“There must be at least one thing.”
What help could that stamina provide? Yoonjo’s eyes narrowed, filled with a light of suspicion. If a grandma or grandpa had seen it, it was an expression that would have earned a comment that he looked just like a baby flounder. Seonwoo looked at Yoonjo carefully and smiled faintly.
“There should be a towel in the car. I’ll go get it.”
“Aw, what towel? Just dry completely under the sunlight.”
And so Yoonjo moved his body a little to a spot where the sunlight hit well. Fortunately, it was a spot where he could cast shade on his face. Occasionally when the wind moved the leaves and sunlight struck, his eyes were dazzled and Yoonjo’s brow wrinkled deeply. Seonwoo plopped down next to him and reached out his hand. Then a thin shadow formed and covered Yoonjo’s eyes.
“You’ll be cold.”
“I may look like this but I’m a native. My specialty was being stark naked in the ocean.”
Having said that much, Yoonjo rolled his eyes thoughtfully before speaking slyly. It was because he remembered the nonsense he had spouted earlier about whelks and cockles.
“Later when you have time, let’s go dig for whelks and cockles. I don’t know about other things but I’m good at making seasoned cockles. When you season them with red pepper powder, sesame oil, and sesame seeds and mix them up thoroughly, wow…. I’m already salivating. Have you ever had cockle bibimbap? That’s really freaking delicious.”
The more he thought about it, the happier he became. Yoonjo smacked his lips while adding to his imagination. It seemed he should visit the tidal flat in the back tomorrow if he had time. He grinned, thinking the grandmas and grandpas would like it too.
“Or I’ll dig some up next time and give them to you. You’ll like them too, hyung.”
Yoonjo, who had raised his arm to cover his eyes, rolled his eyes to look at Seonwoo. He was still looking at that distant sea. It felt like he would shake everything off and leave at any moment.
The sight of Seonwoo silently looking at the horizon as if he had no lingering attachment to anything looked precarious somehow. Other than such a novelistic sentiment, there was no way to describe Seonwoo right now.
Yoonjo unconsciously reached out his hand and gently grasped and rolled up Seonwoo’s hem.
Only then did Seonwoo look at Yoonjo. Just then the wind blew and his slightly long hair swayed. Whether what he had tied up had come loose, his fine-textured hair fluttered gently.
Yoonjo, who had been quietly looking at Seonwoo, opened and closed his mouth thinking he should say something, then cautiously opened his mouth.
“Do you… dislike seasoned cockles?”
“I’ve never eaten them, so it’s hard to say whether I dislike or like them.”
“What. How did you live without eating seasoned cockles, hyung! I’ll definitely make them for you.”
Seonwoo smiled faintly. The precarious atmosphere from just moments ago disappeared as if it had never existed. Yoonjo grinned foolishly, following his painted smile. Really handsome. So handsome it’s too much.
Then, toward Yoonjo who was smiling blankly, Seonwoo suddenly asked.
“Earlier in the field, the elders said I was ‘gweon-itda,’ what does that even mean?”
“Ah, that….”
He thought who uses the word ‘gweon-itda’ these days, but the village elders would say such things once in a while when watching celebrities on TV. Rather than singers, they would say it while watching actors in daily dramas, and recently they would say it once in a while when watching trot singers. So ‘gweon-itda’ means,
“You’re pretty, hyung. It means you have a face that catches the eye because you’re pretty, so people keep looking and looking again. It’s a compliment.”
Surprisingly obedient answer. Seonwoo glanced at how Yoonjo’s ears had turned slightly red and asked quietly.
“So Yoonjo knows I’m an actor after all.”
“Ah! Of course. If you don’t know hyung is an actor, you’re an idiot, shit.”
Having blurted that out, Yoonjo quickly closed his mouth as if he felt something was wrong. Jumping up from his spot and backing away with the will to get as far from Seonwoo as possible, Yoonjo said as if making an excuse.
“Uh, it’s not like I meant it that way. I just thought you might not like people recognizing you, so I stayed quiet. You know how it is. Like those celebrities who deliberately spend their vacation in the countryside and come to recuperate because there are so many people who recognize them. Not that I’m saying you’re sick anywhere, hyung. You’re juuust a little weak, but that’s something you can fix by exercising hard. Uh, and, also, uhhh-!”
Yoonjo, who had been walking backward while pouring out words without pause, tripped over a rock and fell. To be precise, almost fell.
My head’s gonna crack open! All my brain cells are gonna die! Yoonjo had squeezed his eyes shut, but when no pain came even after time passed, he slyly lifted his eyelids.
