Serving 5: Chapter 9 - "Da Beach" p.2
Part 1
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Seungri snatched the chopsticks from Sarah, who was giving them out.
“You’re welcome,” Sarah said, waiting for Seungri to respond.
The Maknae broke off his chopsticks. “Ah, splinter!” He sent his finger into his mouth to sooth the smarting. Daesung poked him, trying to remind him that he was still owed someone thanks.
“Oh, thank you, Noona.” He mumbled around his finger as he bowed politely from his seat.
Sarah and Youngbae had gone to buy food at the picnic area that was situated three minutes away, while the others were swimming. Other than the Kimbap they would have something else to fill their stomachs.
Seunghyun start gnawing at the cob of corn, sliding it side to side like a typewriter. Youngbae nipped on some French fries they had bought from the vendor after waiting forever in line under the beating sun. He wondered how weird it would taste if he ate it with the Kimbap. Seungri ignored all the bought food and dived straight for the Kimbap. He sighed from the satisfying and filling bites he took. Daesung, who had attempted to eat the corn, was having a difficult time, since the pieces kept sticking in between his teeth. Seunghyun, however, had beaver-ed through the first and cob and was going for seconds. Sarah took a little Kimbap, assuring them that she wasn’t hungry.
“Where’s Jiyong-hyung?” Youngbae asked when he realized that it was too quiet.
“Over there.” Seunghyun pointed to the expanse of water behind them with his cob. “He’s still busy terrorizing the beach.”
“Someone has to get him,” Youngbae said, implying that that ‘someone’ wasn’t him.
Daesung felt somewhat successful when he finished half of his cob. He looked at his hyungs to see what they were talking about. “Oh, Jiyong-hyung will come when he gets hungry.”
Daesung searched the spread on the picnic blanket they had laid out on the sand. “Guys, where’s the water?”
“Are you blind, Dae?” Seunghyun remarked in between mouthfuls. “Look around you.”
“Drinking water.”
“You guys used up all of it when we were walking here,” Youngbae answered like it wasn’t a big deal. “I bought Coke, though.”
“Goody!” Seungri sprang from his seat and nearly molested Youngbae for the can of Coke that he took out from the cooler. He gave it to him before any Maknae vs. Hyung fights broke out.
“Want one, Dae?” Youngbae offered him another iced can.
All that sugar. Daesung hesitated as he took the can slowly. “It’s better than nothing.”
“Is there really no more water left?” Sarah asked, as she watched Daesung drink the beverage down. She wasn’t the biggest fan of soft drinks.
“It’s not that bad, Noona,” Seungri said. He popped open another can that had magically appeared from behind him. Youngbae’s eyes grew wide and he looked back into the small cooler to see exactly how many Seungri had taken. The Maknae let the bubbles sizzle before handing it to her. “Just try it.”
The can looked so intimidating it seemed illegal. But Seungri was waiting for her and wouldn’t stop until she took it and Daesung could do it, so why couldn’t she?
One sip. It wasn’t too bad. The bubbles tickled her throat as she swallowed.
Seungri clapped loudly and hooted, causing Seunghyun and Youngbae to be wary, hoping they weren’t attracting attention. “Yay, Noona! Bravissimo!”
Sarah took another try. This time a gulp. She sighed in relief when she felt the parching feeling in her mouth leave. It was refreshing.
She set the can beside Seungri’s and started to feel some appetite, as she reached for more Kimbap. Just then Jiyong came dripping wet and extremely hungry.
“Why didn’t you call me?” He demanded, trying to find someone to confront.
“Well,” Seunghyun began.
“I’m thirsty.” Jiyong put his hand on his hip as he snatched Sarah’s Coke, which had been the first thing in his reach.
“No, Hyung!” Seungri tried to grab the can from Jiyong, who held it out of his reach. “Don’t drink that!”
Jiyong used his free hand to push the maknae away, blocking him from getting any closer. “Why? Is this yours?”
“No, it isn’t!” Only the better for Seungri to struggle.
Liar. “I believe you, Maknae.” He took all the contents in one swallow, crushing the can then tossing it away.
Before Seungri could throw a tantrum at Jiyong for finishing his Noona’s drink, Seunghyun snickered at the back, obviously entertained with an idea.
“Ji, you just drank Sarah’s Coke.”
Youngbae caught on. “And your spit mixed.”
“Which means,” Daesung continued.
“You guys were KISSING!!!” The three said together, bursting out at their own joke.
Sarah, who hadn’t bothered to say anything, choked on her Kimbap. She was going to be sick.
Jiyong felt his cheeks heat up. “What is wrong with you guys? What the heck, you guys are so perverted!”
Seunghyun raised an eyebrow over the can of Coke he was drinking. “Look who’s talking.”
Jiyong sat behind Daesung and beside Seunghyun. He was so far apart from Sarah that a ravine could fit in between the space.
After every single morsel of food had disappeared Jiyong announced that it was time for them to relax under the sun to tan.
“And get skin cancer?” Daesung asked as he looked doubtfully at the four who where lying on their own individual towels under direct sunlight.
“You don’t have to join us,” Jiyong said, signaling that four minutes was up. They flopped over like pancakes. He waved at the rolling sandy beach that extended far across the lake. “Go wander your little heart out.”
Daesung stood under the sun as he waited for some one to offer to come along with him. But they lay there, backs turned, lying like seashells on the seashore; only fatter. Although, he knew he shouldn’t have, he kicked the sand at their exposed backs before he ran away to escape Jiyong’s wrath.
He wandered far down the beach, away from people, all by himself. At first he felt a growing knot in his stomach and looked back a couple of times, hoping some one had followed him, but there was no one. He toyed with the idea of going back, but it was too late now. The walk would be useless.
His loneliness disappeared as his interest in the washed up objects that lay in the sand grew. He wished that he brought a bucket or some sort of cup with him. There were so many colorful and interesting rocks and shells on the beach. To imagine he had been stepping over the treasures for hours.
He sat down on the slightly damp and smoother sand, avoiding the gritty areas that made his legs itch. He let the water touch his feet as he spread his collection before him.
The smooth pebbles with little clear shards that he thought were crystals were the majority of his collection.
There were a few pale and broken shells.
There was a dark shiny rock that seemed too light to be solid. He examined it and realized that it was a bead someone has probably lost. Tossing it into the lake, he surveyed the other rocks.
Green sponge like rocks that looked porous and had little caves inside.
Another that was crystal clear like melted glass.
A large spotted one with many different shades of purple spotted all over. It looked like a freak’s egg. He would keep this one for Seungri. Surely the maknae would whine if he knew his hyung had gone out collecting shells without him and brought nothing back.
Daesung inspected the last shell, and shifted it through his fingers. The bumps and ridges on it were like fancy wallpaper unlike the plain hilling bumps on normal shells. It was rosy pink on the edges and porcelain white all over. A soft blue hazy shade was inside, almost the same way an artist would paint a lazy summer day. He was going to keep this defiantly. For Sarah.
“That’s a pretty shell.”
Daesung looked up, seeing Sarah beaming down on the shell. She had a large sunhat on, large enough to shade him from the afternoon rays. Her jeans had been folded up to her knees and grits of sand were sticking to her feet, since she had walked barefoot.
“What are you doing here?” Daesung asked, patting a seat into the sand.
She sat on it gladly, trying to keep her jeans dry at the same time. “The others are busy trying to get a tan. I knew you would be here, so I came looking for you.”
“Oh.” Daesung didn’t say anything more. Knowing Sarah, he knew she preferred silence to serve their conversation. He laid the pink shell in the ‘keep’ pile and sat back. Letting his hands sink into the sand, deeper and deeper as he stared far off into the lake. Youngbae told him once that you could tell it was the ocean if you could smell salt in the air.
Daesung took a deep breath. No salt. It still seemed like an ocean to him, anyway. This was his kind of peace and pause to life. Jiyong’s was loud music blasting out of his headphones and a pile of lyrics before him. Seungri’s was a good night sleep or just lying in someone’s arms. Youngbae’s was a long reflection staring out the window with Nohrae on his shoulder. Seunghyun’s was just anytime with peace and quiet.
Daesung reveled in the lake pause and the natural uninterrupted noises that he knew were not in any danger to end.
He looked at the girl beside him, who was starring deep into the horizon. He never realized how her eyes tended to sparkle when they were exposed to sunlight. It twinkled like the edges of the waves. Her pupils were dilated and a subdued blackness surrounded the surface. They were like doll’s eye, but human.
Sarah woke up from her daze when she felt Daesung looking at her. She smiled as she met his attentive gaze, her eyes turned into what Jiyong had told him unconsciously one night ‘like diamonds’.
Daesung grinned back at the jewels and he took the chance to speak to her. “How have you been coping with your stay so far?”
“In Korea?” Sarah looked thoughtful for a while as if this was a life-changing question. “Fine. Better than I thought, actually.”
He should have kept the silence; this was starting to sound like a hollow conversation. “Seungri told me you had quite a family at home.”
“Yeah.” Sarah smiled as she remembered them. Her voice trailed into the waves, as Daesung waited patiently to continue. “I have five brothers. The oldest one is already married with children. All boys as expected. The second oldest treats he like dirt and doesn’t really care.” Sarah drew circles in the sand as she spoke. “But I know he loves me as much as the others. He gave me the largest bunch of roses for my eighteenth birthday. The third oldest treats me well on good days. When we were young there was this convenience store beside his school and everyday he would buy candy and give it to me. When he was in a bad mood he kept it for himself, but the next day he bought me double to make up for the other day. There’s the youngest. He followed me around like a shadow. I was about more than a year older than him, but it seemed like he was decades younger. He was so immature.” Sarah laughed gently as if she would scare away the memories if she was too loud. “But he was my little mascot, asking questions, overly curious, and always rooting for his older sister.”
She quieted down and lifted her finger from the sand, looking at the perfect circle she drew. Daesung added two dots and a crescent to her circle, turning it into a smiley face.
“You said you had five brothers,” Daesung said in a soft but implying tone.
Sarah traced fondly at the smiley face in the sand and spoke. “Yes. I had a twin brother. We didn’t look alike enough to be twins but close enough to be related. We were ‘bestest’ friends. He couldn’t leave me and I refused to be away from him. We walked together, sat in class together, fought each other’s fights together, fought against the teacher together, ate together, smiled together, nearly drowned in the shallow end together, got in trouble together even if one of us was innocent, learned how to ride a bike together, broke Dad’s hose together, ran away from the neighbors together, set the kitchen on fire together, got grounded together, and graduated together. I told him once that if I ever married I’d find someone exactly like him. He told me not to because then he’d get jealous. He wasn’t just a sweet brother, but one of my only friends.”
Sarah faced the sandy ground away from Daesung. “Then,” she heaved a quiet sigh that Daesung almost missed. “He ran away with some girl, who was pretty and everything else his twin sister wasn’t. After being with her for a few months she brought him into a bar. The next day he died in a car accident from drunken driving…My whole world broke apart,” she said, her voice breaking, but she managed to bring herself together.
A tear dropped off the tip of her diamond that was sparkling from emotion and the threat of more tears ready to verge. The salty drop landed on the sand, darkening the damp spot. She sniffed and held her head up and looked back bravely at the water and at the waves that rolled gently as if they were sympathizing with her.
Daesung felt a surge of pity for her and somewhat humbled as he witnessed their usually strong housekeeper tearing up. He caught another stray tear rolling down her cheek and whipped it off gently with her fingertips.
“Don’t cry anymore, Sarang-noona,” he said using Seungri’s reserved nickname. He placed a tender arm around her and squeezed her shoulder soothingly. “It’s hard, I know. But your world won’t break apart. I’ll make sure of that.”
Sarah’s eyes clouded again but for an entirely different reason. She just nodded, her throat too raspy to speak and lay back beside Daesung. His support was more than encouraging. It was something else.
Her eyelids dropped at their own accord and her head fell back, titled and leaning on Daesung. All her worries were gone for now. She could finally give into the weariness that had sat on her shoulders ever since she left home. Finally, time to rest.
Daesung sat there motionless supporting Sarah’s still, but breathing form. The sun started to set. The hues glowing and reflecting on their faces. He felt for Sarah’s hand on the sand and found it beside the smiling face. He pressed his gritty palm against it, the sand in between their fingers as he grasped it. She responded with a squeeze, probably the last bit of energy she had left.
A few moments later, a pair of unwelcome feet pattered down the beach towards them.
“You Noona stealer!” Seungri confronted them loudly crushing the stillness. “Hyung, what are you doing here?”
Daesung turned his head quietly and held a finger to his lips, motioning to the girl that had fallen fast asleep. “Shh.”
Stilling fuming somewhat from having his Sarang-noona stolen from him, Seungri quieted down.
“By the way, Seungri,” Daesung said in a low voice, as he fished for something in his pocket trying not to fidget too much for fear that Sarah would wake up. “I got this for you.”
Seungri took the colorful rock from Daesung trying his best to suppress his excitement. “Thank you! Thank you, Hyung!” He whispered loudly, eyeballing the rock.
“You’re welcome,” Daesung answered. This is part of the reason why he existed. To make other people happy. Whether it maybe through his singing, performance, kind deeds - He held Sarah closer as a gust of wind blew past them. - or him just being there.
Youngbae had already rolled up the beach towels and packed the over-sized umbrella when Daesung, Seungri, and Sarah came back.
Sarah, who was not even half-awake, bowed graciously to Jiyong thanking him unconsciously for the meal that had been devoured an hour ago.
Jiyong had no idea what she was talking about (and neither did anyone else), and he jumped to conclusions immediately. “What on earth did you guys do?” He said confronting the two maknaes. “Did you make her drunk? You know alcohol is illegal in the beach areas!”
They ignored him and Daesung whispered to Youngbae, explaining that she had fallen asleep. He understood and walked to the girl who was now sitting on the sand with her legs hugged and her head resting on her knees.
He shook her lightly, trying to wake her. “Sarah, c’mon. We have to start going now.”
She snapped out of her spell and stretched her legs trying to remember where she was. Seeing Jiyong, who was standing a few feet away and frowning like a troll, she remembered immediately.
Youngbae helped her scrambled to her feet, as Seungri ran to her, knowing his Noona was awake and his again.
It took a while to get Seunghyun, who wanted to stay longer, to follow them. But eventually they succeeded when Jiyong pinky swore that he would stop teasing him (for that day, at least).
They ambled into the forest guided by Jiyong, who was too lazy to go to the information center for an official map, and his sketched map. They fared well until they started to notice that they were passing the same tree they had seen minutes ago.
Youngbae, who was in a bad mood again because no one offered to help carry the supplies, wanted to pound Jiyong when the leader realized that he had been holding the map upside-down all the time.
Instead of turning Jiyong into a pile of mush, which he could have done easily, Youngbae matched towards the information center and got a real map. The nearest lot was only six minutes away and most likely Driver was already there. Going forward with their new leader, and Jiyong pushed behind, they started again.
Seunghyun attempted another ghost story, since it was getting dark and it would be the perfect ambiance for something bone-chilling. This time it was about a person who drowned in the lake and his ghost wandered around aimlessly in the forest at night.
Seungri grabbed Daesung to his left and Sarah to his right, so he would be secure.
After being reprimanded by the grouchy Youngbae to keep his mouth shut, Seunghyun was pushed to the back along with Jiyong. The parking lot came into contrasting with the green surrounding them. Driver was there, waiting for them.
They piled into the van in a mixture of excitement, weariness, and resistance.
Seunghyun and Jiyong fought over the front seat that was beside Driver. Out of nowhere Youngbae won dominance and sent them both to the middle row. The two maknaes and Sarah slipped obediently into the back seat.
After a few minutes of silence, as Driver, who never said anything, drove them home, Jiyong started to complain about the work they had to do the next day. He whined about having to practice under malnourishment and argue with the stylist noonas again. His neighbor wasn’t listening until Jiyong felt like he was sitting on something hard. He sat up a bit and removed the object,
True hell broke loose when Seunghyun saw it. “Ji, you just freaking broke my ipod!”
Jiyong protested that it wasn’t broken at all, but Seunghyun was already on him, seatbelt still buckled, trying to strangle his head off.
“Shh, guys!” Youngbae smacked them from the front seat with his hat. Before Seunghyun went into another rage, Youngbae pointed to the backseat. Jiyong and Seunghyun looked behind them and at the three.
Daesung’s cheek was pressed up against the window, snoring lightly. Sarah’s head was pillowed on his chest, her large sun hat tipped slightly to shade both their faces. Seungri was hugging his Noona tightly as if someone would steal her from him while he was in a dreamland.
The two settled down and made amenities with each other. Seunghyun could use Jiyong’s ipod until he got him a new one.
Only a few minutes later the rest fell asleep. Jiyong and Seunghyun looked like a pair of wedding doves with their heads tipped against each other. Youngbae leaned onto his arm before nodding away. And Driver stayed awake, of course. He would have to inform Manager the next day that mission ‘Get Big Bang Out of the Way for an Excuse to Take the Day Off’ was a success.
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After Story Author Side Notes:
- Sorry, for the overly pervert teasing! I tried to keep it as realistic as possible. Boys will be boys 8D
- My first attempt at drama. I dunno if it was a fail or something else O_O 'cause it actually fit the cracky storyline for some reason. You know, flowingly?
- But SaSung is sweet ^_^
- T_T I'm so scared of swimming lessons. Why did my parents have to enroll me so late?! I seriously can't get over my fear of jumping into deep water. Someone...help?
- There will be no Serving 5 next week. Say wh-hat?! Yep. There's a project that I HAVE to finish by Mother's Day and the only way I can do that is by sacrificing 'fic writing' time. But because it's going on a short hiatus doesn't mean I am. XD Oh ho! I'll be around. What will I do without my daily dose of crack?...
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Seungri snatched the chopsticks from Sarah, who was giving them out.
“You’re welcome,” Sarah said, waiting for Seungri to respond.
The Maknae broke off his chopsticks. “Ah, splinter!” He sent his finger into his mouth to sooth the smarting. Daesung poked him, trying to remind him that he was still owed someone thanks.
“Oh, thank you, Noona.” He mumbled around his finger as he bowed politely from his seat.
Sarah and Youngbae had gone to buy food at the picnic area that was situated three minutes away, while the others were swimming. Other than the Kimbap they would have something else to fill their stomachs.
Seunghyun start gnawing at the cob of corn, sliding it side to side like a typewriter. Youngbae nipped on some French fries they had bought from the vendor after waiting forever in line under the beating sun. He wondered how weird it would taste if he ate it with the Kimbap. Seungri ignored all the bought food and dived straight for the Kimbap. He sighed from the satisfying and filling bites he took. Daesung, who had attempted to eat the corn, was having a difficult time, since the pieces kept sticking in between his teeth. Seunghyun, however, had beaver-ed through the first and cob and was going for seconds. Sarah took a little Kimbap, assuring them that she wasn’t hungry.
“Where’s Jiyong-hyung?” Youngbae asked when he realized that it was too quiet.
“Over there.” Seunghyun pointed to the expanse of water behind them with his cob. “He’s still busy terrorizing the beach.”
“Someone has to get him,” Youngbae said, implying that that ‘someone’ wasn’t him.
Daesung felt somewhat successful when he finished half of his cob. He looked at his hyungs to see what they were talking about. “Oh, Jiyong-hyung will come when he gets hungry.”
Daesung searched the spread on the picnic blanket they had laid out on the sand. “Guys, where’s the water?”
“Are you blind, Dae?” Seunghyun remarked in between mouthfuls. “Look around you.”
“Drinking water.”
“You guys used up all of it when we were walking here,” Youngbae answered like it wasn’t a big deal. “I bought Coke, though.”
“Goody!” Seungri sprang from his seat and nearly molested Youngbae for the can of Coke that he took out from the cooler. He gave it to him before any Maknae vs. Hyung fights broke out.
“Want one, Dae?” Youngbae offered him another iced can.
All that sugar. Daesung hesitated as he took the can slowly. “It’s better than nothing.”
“Is there really no more water left?” Sarah asked, as she watched Daesung drink the beverage down. She wasn’t the biggest fan of soft drinks.
“It’s not that bad, Noona,” Seungri said. He popped open another can that had magically appeared from behind him. Youngbae’s eyes grew wide and he looked back into the small cooler to see exactly how many Seungri had taken. The Maknae let the bubbles sizzle before handing it to her. “Just try it.”
The can looked so intimidating it seemed illegal. But Seungri was waiting for her and wouldn’t stop until she took it and Daesung could do it, so why couldn’t she?
One sip. It wasn’t too bad. The bubbles tickled her throat as she swallowed.
Seungri clapped loudly and hooted, causing Seunghyun and Youngbae to be wary, hoping they weren’t attracting attention. “Yay, Noona! Bravissimo!”
Sarah took another try. This time a gulp. She sighed in relief when she felt the parching feeling in her mouth leave. It was refreshing.
She set the can beside Seungri’s and started to feel some appetite, as she reached for more Kimbap. Just then Jiyong came dripping wet and extremely hungry.
“Why didn’t you call me?” He demanded, trying to find someone to confront.
“Well,” Seunghyun began.
“I’m thirsty.” Jiyong put his hand on his hip as he snatched Sarah’s Coke, which had been the first thing in his reach.
“No, Hyung!” Seungri tried to grab the can from Jiyong, who held it out of his reach. “Don’t drink that!”
Jiyong used his free hand to push the maknae away, blocking him from getting any closer. “Why? Is this yours?”
“No, it isn’t!” Only the better for Seungri to struggle.
Liar. “I believe you, Maknae.” He took all the contents in one swallow, crushing the can then tossing it away.
Before Seungri could throw a tantrum at Jiyong for finishing his Noona’s drink, Seunghyun snickered at the back, obviously entertained with an idea.
“Ji, you just drank Sarah’s Coke.”
Youngbae caught on. “And your spit mixed.”
“Which means,” Daesung continued.
“You guys were KISSING!!!” The three said together, bursting out at their own joke.
Sarah, who hadn’t bothered to say anything, choked on her Kimbap. She was going to be sick.
Jiyong felt his cheeks heat up. “What is wrong with you guys? What the heck, you guys are so perverted!”
Seunghyun raised an eyebrow over the can of Coke he was drinking. “Look who’s talking.”
Jiyong sat behind Daesung and beside Seunghyun. He was so far apart from Sarah that a ravine could fit in between the space.
After every single morsel of food had disappeared Jiyong announced that it was time for them to relax under the sun to tan.
“And get skin cancer?” Daesung asked as he looked doubtfully at the four who where lying on their own individual towels under direct sunlight.
“You don’t have to join us,” Jiyong said, signaling that four minutes was up. They flopped over like pancakes. He waved at the rolling sandy beach that extended far across the lake. “Go wander your little heart out.”
Daesung stood under the sun as he waited for some one to offer to come along with him. But they lay there, backs turned, lying like seashells on the seashore; only fatter. Although, he knew he shouldn’t have, he kicked the sand at their exposed backs before he ran away to escape Jiyong’s wrath.
He wandered far down the beach, away from people, all by himself. At first he felt a growing knot in his stomach and looked back a couple of times, hoping some one had followed him, but there was no one. He toyed with the idea of going back, but it was too late now. The walk would be useless.
His loneliness disappeared as his interest in the washed up objects that lay in the sand grew. He wished that he brought a bucket or some sort of cup with him. There were so many colorful and interesting rocks and shells on the beach. To imagine he had been stepping over the treasures for hours.
He sat down on the slightly damp and smoother sand, avoiding the gritty areas that made his legs itch. He let the water touch his feet as he spread his collection before him.
The smooth pebbles with little clear shards that he thought were crystals were the majority of his collection.
There were a few pale and broken shells.
There was a dark shiny rock that seemed too light to be solid. He examined it and realized that it was a bead someone has probably lost. Tossing it into the lake, he surveyed the other rocks.
Green sponge like rocks that looked porous and had little caves inside.
Another that was crystal clear like melted glass.
A large spotted one with many different shades of purple spotted all over. It looked like a freak’s egg. He would keep this one for Seungri. Surely the maknae would whine if he knew his hyung had gone out collecting shells without him and brought nothing back.
Daesung inspected the last shell, and shifted it through his fingers. The bumps and ridges on it were like fancy wallpaper unlike the plain hilling bumps on normal shells. It was rosy pink on the edges and porcelain white all over. A soft blue hazy shade was inside, almost the same way an artist would paint a lazy summer day. He was going to keep this defiantly. For Sarah.
“That’s a pretty shell.”
Daesung looked up, seeing Sarah beaming down on the shell. She had a large sunhat on, large enough to shade him from the afternoon rays. Her jeans had been folded up to her knees and grits of sand were sticking to her feet, since she had walked barefoot.
“What are you doing here?” Daesung asked, patting a seat into the sand.
She sat on it gladly, trying to keep her jeans dry at the same time. “The others are busy trying to get a tan. I knew you would be here, so I came looking for you.”
“Oh.” Daesung didn’t say anything more. Knowing Sarah, he knew she preferred silence to serve their conversation. He laid the pink shell in the ‘keep’ pile and sat back. Letting his hands sink into the sand, deeper and deeper as he stared far off into the lake. Youngbae told him once that you could tell it was the ocean if you could smell salt in the air.
Daesung took a deep breath. No salt. It still seemed like an ocean to him, anyway. This was his kind of peace and pause to life. Jiyong’s was loud music blasting out of his headphones and a pile of lyrics before him. Seungri’s was a good night sleep or just lying in someone’s arms. Youngbae’s was a long reflection staring out the window with Nohrae on his shoulder. Seunghyun’s was just anytime with peace and quiet.
Daesung reveled in the lake pause and the natural uninterrupted noises that he knew were not in any danger to end.
He looked at the girl beside him, who was starring deep into the horizon. He never realized how her eyes tended to sparkle when they were exposed to sunlight. It twinkled like the edges of the waves. Her pupils were dilated and a subdued blackness surrounded the surface. They were like doll’s eye, but human.
Sarah woke up from her daze when she felt Daesung looking at her. She smiled as she met his attentive gaze, her eyes turned into what Jiyong had told him unconsciously one night ‘like diamonds’.
Daesung grinned back at the jewels and he took the chance to speak to her. “How have you been coping with your stay so far?”
“In Korea?” Sarah looked thoughtful for a while as if this was a life-changing question. “Fine. Better than I thought, actually.”
He should have kept the silence; this was starting to sound like a hollow conversation. “Seungri told me you had quite a family at home.”
“Yeah.” Sarah smiled as she remembered them. Her voice trailed into the waves, as Daesung waited patiently to continue. “I have five brothers. The oldest one is already married with children. All boys as expected. The second oldest treats he like dirt and doesn’t really care.” Sarah drew circles in the sand as she spoke. “But I know he loves me as much as the others. He gave me the largest bunch of roses for my eighteenth birthday. The third oldest treats me well on good days. When we were young there was this convenience store beside his school and everyday he would buy candy and give it to me. When he was in a bad mood he kept it for himself, but the next day he bought me double to make up for the other day. There’s the youngest. He followed me around like a shadow. I was about more than a year older than him, but it seemed like he was decades younger. He was so immature.” Sarah laughed gently as if she would scare away the memories if she was too loud. “But he was my little mascot, asking questions, overly curious, and always rooting for his older sister.”
She quieted down and lifted her finger from the sand, looking at the perfect circle she drew. Daesung added two dots and a crescent to her circle, turning it into a smiley face.
“You said you had five brothers,” Daesung said in a soft but implying tone.
Sarah traced fondly at the smiley face in the sand and spoke. “Yes. I had a twin brother. We didn’t look alike enough to be twins but close enough to be related. We were ‘bestest’ friends. He couldn’t leave me and I refused to be away from him. We walked together, sat in class together, fought each other’s fights together, fought against the teacher together, ate together, smiled together, nearly drowned in the shallow end together, got in trouble together even if one of us was innocent, learned how to ride a bike together, broke Dad’s hose together, ran away from the neighbors together, set the kitchen on fire together, got grounded together, and graduated together. I told him once that if I ever married I’d find someone exactly like him. He told me not to because then he’d get jealous. He wasn’t just a sweet brother, but one of my only friends.”
Sarah faced the sandy ground away from Daesung. “Then,” she heaved a quiet sigh that Daesung almost missed. “He ran away with some girl, who was pretty and everything else his twin sister wasn’t. After being with her for a few months she brought him into a bar. The next day he died in a car accident from drunken driving…My whole world broke apart,” she said, her voice breaking, but she managed to bring herself together.
A tear dropped off the tip of her diamond that was sparkling from emotion and the threat of more tears ready to verge. The salty drop landed on the sand, darkening the damp spot. She sniffed and held her head up and looked back bravely at the water and at the waves that rolled gently as if they were sympathizing with her.
Daesung felt a surge of pity for her and somewhat humbled as he witnessed their usually strong housekeeper tearing up. He caught another stray tear rolling down her cheek and whipped it off gently with her fingertips.
“Don’t cry anymore, Sarang-noona,” he said using Seungri’s reserved nickname. He placed a tender arm around her and squeezed her shoulder soothingly. “It’s hard, I know. But your world won’t break apart. I’ll make sure of that.”
Sarah’s eyes clouded again but for an entirely different reason. She just nodded, her throat too raspy to speak and lay back beside Daesung. His support was more than encouraging. It was something else.
Her eyelids dropped at their own accord and her head fell back, titled and leaning on Daesung. All her worries were gone for now. She could finally give into the weariness that had sat on her shoulders ever since she left home. Finally, time to rest.
Daesung sat there motionless supporting Sarah’s still, but breathing form. The sun started to set. The hues glowing and reflecting on their faces. He felt for Sarah’s hand on the sand and found it beside the smiling face. He pressed his gritty palm against it, the sand in between their fingers as he grasped it. She responded with a squeeze, probably the last bit of energy she had left.
A few moments later, a pair of unwelcome feet pattered down the beach towards them.
“You Noona stealer!” Seungri confronted them loudly crushing the stillness. “Hyung, what are you doing here?”
Daesung turned his head quietly and held a finger to his lips, motioning to the girl that had fallen fast asleep. “Shh.”
Stilling fuming somewhat from having his Sarang-noona stolen from him, Seungri quieted down.
“By the way, Seungri,” Daesung said in a low voice, as he fished for something in his pocket trying not to fidget too much for fear that Sarah would wake up. “I got this for you.”
Seungri took the colorful rock from Daesung trying his best to suppress his excitement. “Thank you! Thank you, Hyung!” He whispered loudly, eyeballing the rock.
“You’re welcome,” Daesung answered. This is part of the reason why he existed. To make other people happy. Whether it maybe through his singing, performance, kind deeds - He held Sarah closer as a gust of wind blew past them. - or him just being there.
Youngbae had already rolled up the beach towels and packed the over-sized umbrella when Daesung, Seungri, and Sarah came back.
Sarah, who was not even half-awake, bowed graciously to Jiyong thanking him unconsciously for the meal that had been devoured an hour ago.
Jiyong had no idea what she was talking about (and neither did anyone else), and he jumped to conclusions immediately. “What on earth did you guys do?” He said confronting the two maknaes. “Did you make her drunk? You know alcohol is illegal in the beach areas!”
They ignored him and Daesung whispered to Youngbae, explaining that she had fallen asleep. He understood and walked to the girl who was now sitting on the sand with her legs hugged and her head resting on her knees.
He shook her lightly, trying to wake her. “Sarah, c’mon. We have to start going now.”
She snapped out of her spell and stretched her legs trying to remember where she was. Seeing Jiyong, who was standing a few feet away and frowning like a troll, she remembered immediately.
Youngbae helped her scrambled to her feet, as Seungri ran to her, knowing his Noona was awake and his again.
It took a while to get Seunghyun, who wanted to stay longer, to follow them. But eventually they succeeded when Jiyong pinky swore that he would stop teasing him (for that day, at least).
They ambled into the forest guided by Jiyong, who was too lazy to go to the information center for an official map, and his sketched map. They fared well until they started to notice that they were passing the same tree they had seen minutes ago.
Youngbae, who was in a bad mood again because no one offered to help carry the supplies, wanted to pound Jiyong when the leader realized that he had been holding the map upside-down all the time.
Instead of turning Jiyong into a pile of mush, which he could have done easily, Youngbae matched towards the information center and got a real map. The nearest lot was only six minutes away and most likely Driver was already there. Going forward with their new leader, and Jiyong pushed behind, they started again.
Seunghyun attempted another ghost story, since it was getting dark and it would be the perfect ambiance for something bone-chilling. This time it was about a person who drowned in the lake and his ghost wandered around aimlessly in the forest at night.
Seungri grabbed Daesung to his left and Sarah to his right, so he would be secure.
After being reprimanded by the grouchy Youngbae to keep his mouth shut, Seunghyun was pushed to the back along with Jiyong. The parking lot came into contrasting with the green surrounding them. Driver was there, waiting for them.
They piled into the van in a mixture of excitement, weariness, and resistance.
Seunghyun and Jiyong fought over the front seat that was beside Driver. Out of nowhere Youngbae won dominance and sent them both to the middle row. The two maknaes and Sarah slipped obediently into the back seat.
After a few minutes of silence, as Driver, who never said anything, drove them home, Jiyong started to complain about the work they had to do the next day. He whined about having to practice under malnourishment and argue with the stylist noonas again. His neighbor wasn’t listening until Jiyong felt like he was sitting on something hard. He sat up a bit and removed the object,
True hell broke loose when Seunghyun saw it. “Ji, you just freaking broke my ipod!”
Jiyong protested that it wasn’t broken at all, but Seunghyun was already on him, seatbelt still buckled, trying to strangle his head off.
“Shh, guys!” Youngbae smacked them from the front seat with his hat. Before Seunghyun went into another rage, Youngbae pointed to the backseat. Jiyong and Seunghyun looked behind them and at the three.
Daesung’s cheek was pressed up against the window, snoring lightly. Sarah’s head was pillowed on his chest, her large sun hat tipped slightly to shade both their faces. Seungri was hugging his Noona tightly as if someone would steal her from him while he was in a dreamland.
The two settled down and made amenities with each other. Seunghyun could use Jiyong’s ipod until he got him a new one.
Only a few minutes later the rest fell asleep. Jiyong and Seunghyun looked like a pair of wedding doves with their heads tipped against each other. Youngbae leaned onto his arm before nodding away. And Driver stayed awake, of course. He would have to inform Manager the next day that mission ‘Get Big Bang Out of the Way for an Excuse to Take the Day Off’ was a success.
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After Story Author Side Notes:
- Sorry, for the overly pervert teasing! I tried to keep it as realistic as possible. Boys will be boys 8D
- My first attempt at drama. I dunno if it was a fail or something else O_O 'cause it actually fit the cracky storyline for some reason. You know, flowingly?
- But SaSung is sweet ^_^
- T_T I'm so scared of swimming lessons. Why did my parents have to enroll me so late?! I seriously can't get over my fear of jumping into deep water. Someone...help?
- There will be no Serving 5 next week. Say wh-hat?! Yep. There's a project that I HAVE to finish by Mother's Day and the only way I can do that is by sacrificing 'fic writing' time. But because it's going on a short hiatus doesn't mean I am. XD Oh ho! I'll be around. What will I do without my daily dose of crack?...