Chapter Text
Some people look up at the stars because they are pretty, and some people look up at the stars to hold back tears.
Minho was neither of those people. He did not look up at the stars at all. He had never tried to capture them on his phone’s camera. It was frivolous, in his mind, to look at something simply because it was pretty. And he couldn’t remember the last time he cried.
Seoul had jaded him at the ripe age of nineteen. While he was younger, he lived in Gimpo and smiled when he saw butterflies chasing each other around in the air, but now he rarely ever lifted his head to notice the patterns of the clouds or glimpse the colored wings fluttering in the wind. Seoul didn’t offer him the opportunity anyway, with its grey buildings and the blue sky smothered by pollution.
There was no reason to look up and try to see the stars, then.
Minho’s mother had every bit of Gimpo left in her. She was still lively and spent all of her free time outside or flipping through magazines, looking up designs for gardens she would never get to have. Where would they fit more life in their little flat barely big enough for their family of three?
Nevertheless, her spirit was full of the whimsy that Minho lacked. Every summer, she made the family go on a trip to some place or the other. Last year it was Tokyo, three years ago she had the whim to go to Chicago. Minho hated Chicago. People kept speaking to him in English, and then once when he couldn’t respond, a kid he didn’t even know pulled back his eyes and spoke some kind of gibberish at him. He didn’t know what it meant, but it was certainly mocking and sounded faintly like Chinese.
Summer started on Friday, so Minho laid around all weekend waiting for his mother to reveal their destination this year. He noticed her looking at a lot of beach-related photos on her phone lately so he guessed Jeju Island. Busan, maybe, if he was lucky. At least there was more to do there.
“Minho, come out for dinner,” his mother called – speak of the devil. He sighed and forced himself to sit up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and placing his feet on the cold floor. He grimaced and slipped on a pair of socks before padding out of his room and over to the kitchen.
“Hey,” his mother smiled at him. “Finally decided to come out of that room, huh? You shouldn’t spend your summer all cooped up. You’re an adult now, go out with your friends.”
Minho fought the urge to roll his eyes. “It’s been summer for two days. I have plenty of time.” He replied as he took the plates out of the cabinet and set them out on the table.
His mother giggled. “Well, go enjoy the city while you have time. Our vacation destination this year has no trendy malls. None of that stuff you kids do.”
The groan slipped out of his lips before he could think. “Really?”
“Yes, really!” She hit the back of his head. Not enough to hurt, but enough to try and smack sense into him. “Don’t complain. Some kids never get to go on vacation with their parents.”
Minho huffed. “I know, but… whatever.”
He helped her scoop food onto their plates and greeted his father when he emerged to join them at the table. The three of them sat around and Minho pretended to pray along with his parents. No matter what they did to try and impress religious beliefs onto him, he never bought it. The notion of an omnipotent, all-powerful man living in the clouds and watching his every move seemed ridiculous to him, and he couldn’t understand why anyone would believe it. There was no evidence or logic, so what was the point of believing it?
Once they started to eat, Minho’s mother clasped her hands together with a smile and Minho stifled a sigh. Here it goes.
“So, as I was saying to Minho earlier, I’ve chosen our destination for this year,” she said excitedly. “I did a lot of research.”
Minho’s father nodded. “That’s nice, honey. Where is it?”
“Well…” she drawled, as if it were some grand destination. Minho briefly wondered if she was going to tell them they were going on a spaceship to visit the moon. “I found this charming little island village! It’s so beautiful there. Full of nature!”
Minho wanted to bang his head on the table. Of course it was somewhere obscure. Island village? He couldn’t imagine how that was exciting to her. He just wanted to stay inside and only go out once a week. Summer was for resting.
“Great,” his father said. “Where? Somewhere in Jeju?”
“No! We’ve been to Jeju a million times! It’s a little island called Ulleungdo…”
Minho tuned the rest of the conversation out. He didn’t want to hear about this island, and he didn’t want to think about going. After quickly finishing his dinner, he stood up and hurried off to his room.
“We’re leaving on Wednesday, honey!” His mother called after him. Minho really was going to bang his head into a wall.
Once safely locked in his room, he flopped down on his bed and sighed. His hands sought out his phone and he squinted at the bright light glaring at him in the darkness.
Ulleungdo, he put into the search bar. Immediately after pressing search, he was greeted with water. Sandy dunes, trees, mountains. A few houses. A dock. More water.
“That’s it?” He groaned to himself. What could he possibly do on this small island for the whole summer? Maybe if he got bored enough he would jump in the water and drown himself.
Nevertheless, he started packing his bag. If they left on Wednesday, he just had tomorrow to prepare. Another sigh slipped from between his lips. It was such short notice, and once they went to this tiny-ass island, he wouldn’t have anything to do. The last summer of his teenage years would be boring. He wasn’t one for sentiments about dumb things like that – he hadn’t celebrated his sweet sixteen and he knew he wouldn’t care when his ‘golden birthday’ rolled around in six years – but he couldn’t help but wish he could have a little fun in his free time before he turned twenty.
Whatever, he thought, there were still a few months until he had to worry about his age starting with a 2. That’s when it would start to get serious and he would have to get a job at some office and work his way up the ranks. A functioning adult that contributed to society. Stupid, he thought, society hadn’t done anything for him, so why should he give back? It’s not like Seoul could be considered much of a community either; he hardly knew his neighbors and he only nodded in acknowledgement of the barista he saw every morning except for Thursdays.
Forcefully, he shoved clothes in his suitcase. Enough outfits for a week, plus a hoodie in case he ever got cold. Socks and underwear and an extra pair of shoes. He packed it meticulously so it would all fit just perfectly. As he was checking he had everything for his hygiene bag, he noticed that the bottle of sunblock he kept was almost out. He sighed. It’s not like he could go to an island without it, so he wrote down on his phone “Tuesday – go to store for sunblock.”
Satisfied with the layout of his suitcase, Minho laid down in bed and let the noise from pointless short videos lull him to sleep.
In the morning, Minho was woken disagreeably by his phone buzzing right by his head. He jolted awake and blinked blearily, a blurry name coming into his vision on his screen. Kim Seungmin. He groaned and swiped to answer. Seungmin never called, so it must be somewhat important. Especially at eight in the morning.
“Minho,” Seungmin’s voice carried through the phone and floated in the air. “Didn’t think you were going to pick up. I hope I didn’t wake you. Anyway, wanna get lunch today?”
Minho’s brain took a second to process all the words that had just been spoken at him, blinking “Uh… lunch. Yeah, sure. What time?”
“I was thinking twelve,” Seungmin replied. Perfectly reasonable, Minho thought.
“Sure.” He agreed. “Where do you wanna meet?”
“That cafe near your house. I’ve been craving their cheese danish.”
“Alright. Weirdo. See you at twelve.”
“See you then.”
And then the line went dead. Minho liked talking to Seungmin, he was just as quick to get to the point as Minho was. They had their times where they poked fun at each other, but mostly their conversations were intellectual and leveled out the chaos brought on by their other friends. Felix and Changbin were loud and obnoxious, so Minho appreciated Seungmin’s quiet presence when they hung out as a group.
He dawdled about his house for a few hours before he got dressed and left promptly at eleven-thirty. It was a twenty minute walk to the cafe, but he liked to arrive early. He’d always been taught that arriving late was the ultimate sign of disrespect, and his father made it a rule that he was never allowed to be late to anything, even casual events like getting lunch with his friends.
At eleven-fifty-two, he arrived at the cafe and stood around waiting. Thankfully, Seungmin shared his sentiment of punctuality, because he found Minho three minutes later and they headed inside together.
They didn’t do small talk. Minho preferred it that way, he hated the fake way people raised the pitch of their voices and dragged out their words to seem friendlier. It just grated on his nerves. Felix did it sometimes, and Minho entertained it because it was Felix, but he would never be able to hide his disdain for it and his preference for substantial conversation.
Once they sat down, Seungmin talked about how he was going to try writing a novel now that he had more free time. High school had really limited his creative hours, but now he had the whole summer to himself.
“What about you?” He asked around a bite of danish. “Your mom picked out her summer vacation spot yet?”
Minho rolled his eyes. “Of course she has. It’s the beach, but she couldn’t be normal and pick Jeju or Busan. She picked some island called Ulleungdo. Their population is like, nine-thousand.”
“Damn,” Seungmin whistled. “Well, maybe you’ll get some nice rest at least. Senior year really burnt you out.”
Minho shrugged. “I guess. But I can rest for maybe two days before I’ll start to lose my mind.”
A chuckle found its way out of Seungmin’s mouth. “Just don’t go, then. You’re an adult now, you can survive on your own without your parents there.”
Minho chewed on a bite of his bagel as he thought about it. True, he could technically just not go. He was legally his own person now and his parents couldn’t force him to go. But…
He shrugged again. “My mom will throw a fit. Plus, university starts in the fall, so it’ll probably be the last time I go on one of these trips.”
His own words sent a small pang through his chest. As much as he complained and dreaded the trips, it was nice to go places and spend time with his parents. Even if they were a little annoying, they were still his family and he knew he wouldn’t have forever with them.
“Yeah, true,” Seungmin conceded. “Well, you’ll find a way to survive the summer. Who knows, maybe you’ll be surprised and have fun there.”
Minho snorted. “Yeah, right. I’ll just find a way to get by. Fun doesn’t happen on an island with a population that’s not even ten-thousand.”
It was Seungmin’s turn to shrug now. “Who knows? Maybe your soulmate will be there.”
Soulmate. Yeah, right. Minho scoffed. “I didn’t think you were one to believe in pretty fairytales like soulmates, Seungmin.” He knew there were no soulmates. The notion of having someone perfectly made to be with someone else was ridiculous. People change. Desires change. And besides, he couldn’t imagine what someone meant for him would be like. Loud people got on his nerves. He got along well with logical people, but he couldn’t imagine himself marrying someone like Seungmin. It was just out of the question. Fate was simply a pretty word made up by people who didn’t have anything else to believe in.
“I don’t,” Seungmin replied evenly. “I’m just trying to cheer you up. And maybe not a soulmate, but still, maybe you’ll meet someone special. A friend, at least."
“Yeah, maybe,” Minho muttered dismissively. He already knew how the summer was going to go. Nobody who lived on an island would get along with him. He was a boring city guy, he didn’t care for nature and he didn’t love beaches all that much. The islanders would probably hate him. Maybe they’d drive him off the island, maybe conduct some voodoo ritual to curse him. Or whatever island dwellers did.
After finishing lunch with Seungmin, Minho stopped at the convenience store and bought a sizable bottle of sunblock. For his own sanity, he bought some snacks too, since he already knew damn well there would be no modern convenience stores on a random island.
At home, his parents were preparing for their departure, packing up their suitcases and talking about whatever accommodation they’d have out there. Certainly not a hotel, Minho thought. He couldn’t imagine Hilton opening a high-class hotel out there. Would the island even be big enough for that?
He didn’t care enough to ask about it. He knew his mother would go into some long spiel about where they were staying and whatever amenities came with it.
Minho’s last day in Seoul for the next few months was spent lazing around, waiting for the next day to come already so he could get the summer over with.
Eight in the morning was a perfectly reasonable time to wake up. Minho followed that rule every day. He would not get up a minute earlier or later. Eight left him with plenty of time in the day, but the sun was already shining. He had no interest in being up when the sky was dark.
But when he was woken up by a loud and cheerful “good morning!” he could immediately tell that it was before eight. He blinked open his eyes and saw his mother, fully dressed in a ridiculous coastal-themed dress and a bright smile on her face.
A quick glance at his clock told him it was seven-twenty. He scowled. “Why are you waking me up so early?” He asked, his voice raspy.
“We’ve got to catch our boat!” Was his mother’s reply, far too chipper for the early hour.
It took a moment for her words to register in his mind. Boat? Why could they possibly need to be on a boat? The trip was today, but… oh.
Minho cursed. They weren’t taking a plane, but probably some kind of ferry. It sounded awful. Once he had gone on a cruise and it was miserable. There was no particular fondness in his heart for the sea whatsoever.
They caught the bus to a port and Minho begrudgingly followed his parents onto a boat. The conductor was overly cheerful – just the type of person Minho hated – and there were absolutely zero other passengers. Maybe that’s why he was so happy, because the weird Lee family were his first passengers in God knows how long.
“How long will it be?” Minho asked him when he stopped talking everybody’s heads off for a moment. The man just laughed brightly. “Why, it’ll be around three hours, young man, so get comfortable!”
Three hours on this boat. Minho glanced at the water they were passing through and briefly contemplated jumping into it.
Instead of traumatizing his parents and a stranger just trying to do his job, Minho walked around and found a small bench to sit on. He placed himself down and fumbled in his bag for a book. He’d brought one he hadn’t read yet, one that had been collecting dust on his bookshelf for months. Five hundred pages. It should cover him for the ride if he read slow enough.
At some point where he had his eyes glued on the paper, his weariness from being woken up before his usual time caught up with him and he dozed off, head tipped back against the wall.
An undetermined amount of time after he fell asleep, someone was calling his name, piercing through his haze of blissful rest. Blinking his eyes open, his vision was immediately assaulted by sunlight. It made his head spin and he grumbled, rubbing his eyes to try and get them to adjust.
“Minho, come on!” His mother was calling. “We’re almost there!”
With a weary sigh, Minho stood up. He stretched on his way to the deck, letting the sun drape over his shoulders and warm his hair. The scent of the sea hit him dizzyingly, the waves filling his ears.
Turning around, he took a breath in. In front of their ferry, green mountains stretched into the air. They were surrounded by golden sand that looked straight out of a movie and translucent blue water that seemed almost fake in how perfect it was. Half-hidden behind one of the mountains, Minho could sort of see a small settlement of buildings.
Google’s photo library didn’t do it justice. It was a picture-perfect view of what an island should look like. Maybe Minho was just hallucinating it.
Well, nevertheless, after a few moments of being stunned, reality returned to Minho’s brain. He knew that no matter how gorgeous the island was, it was still just an island. Nothing much to do, a small population, blistering sun. He wondered if they even had wifi out here.
Despite being such an indoors person, Minho did like hiking. If he was allowed to scale those green mountains, he would, but he didn’t know how many times he could do that before he got bored. And they would be on this island for the entire summer. He stifled a groan at the thought. Already, Minho missed his comfortable bed and the coffee shop down the street.
“Alright, folks!” The ferryman sang out. His voice was pissing Minho off again. “Ulleungdo it is!”
Their ship jolted as it hit the bank, and then maneuvered so they could exit. Minho was the first one to walk down the steps, breathing out in relief when his feet hit the ground. The wood beneath his feet was sandy like the air. It smelled different here, fresher and saltier. Seoul’s air didn’t smell like this. It wasn’t this strong in Jeju either.
“Wow,” his mother sighed dreamily. “It’s so pretty. Come on, boys, I rented a little cottage for us.”
Minho wasn’t surprised. Of course they had no hotels here. But a cottage? Probably more like a shed…
The family trekked through the outskirts of a small town, ignoring the stares from locals. To Minho's surprise, they were not dressed in straw and leaves, but actual clothes. Not as trendy or fashionable as those worn in Seoul, and undeniably village-like, but still normal clothes. They found their way up a hill, up the sandy path. Soon, a building came into view towards the top.
…his prediction was mostly right. It was a small house with plants growing on it. A small patio rested in front and the kitchen was just the size he imagined it would be when he saw the exterior. Surprisingly, there were two bedrooms. A living room with a couch. A bathroom. That’s it. Every room was small.
It’s not like Minho wasn’t used to it. Their apartment in Seoul was about this size, too. It’s just that when they went on vacation, his mother usually liked to be fancy. She loved nature, but she also preferred to be comfortable when their family turned in for the night. So this … unusual choice of lodging was a bit of a surprise.
Whatever. He couldn’t change his mother’s mind about anything, and she’d already booked it, so he decided to just say fuck it and deal with it. He walked into the second room and put down his suitcase and backpack, sighing. The room was minimal, which he appreciated, and there was a window. He approached and drew back the curtains.
Back home in Seoul, his window only allowed him to look at another building’s wall. He usually kept his curtains closed. But this… he would keep the curtains open. A full view of the ocean and the small village they’d passed by on their way up to the cottage. The mountains on both sides.
Seungmin’s pretty words would be empty, he knew, as much as it would be nice to meet somebody interesting or make a friend, realistically he knew it wouldn’t happen. He would be alone for the summer, kept company only by his parents and whatever creatures lurked in those two mountains.
Well, at least he had a good view, even if he was going to be bored out of his mind.