cool, the silence it brought seeming to swallow this side of the world whole. the sort that flaunted the millions of stars in the sky like diamonds floating in a sea of deep blue. jeon jeongguk shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts as he stepped out of the beach house into the night.

"i'm taking a walk." he mumbled out, not bothering to find out if anyone had heard before shutting the door behind him. his feet jumped over the short flight of stairs and onto the sand. a small groan left small lips as grains of sand seeped into slide sandals and between toes.

slowly he made his way down the beach, head thrown back. the night air tousling honey locks wildly, his eyes shut. he continued to trudge down the beach with no particular direction in mind, letting the cool wind be his guide.

the sound of waves rhythmically crashing against the beach was lulling and jeongguk let his eyelids part only slightly, head turning towards the sound. the moonlight painted the sea in blurred milky strokes. everything was prussian blue and white. it seemed picturesque. the sort of thing he only ever saw in paintings. the ones park jimin couldn't seem to stop painting.

something moving caught his attention and he lazily moved his head to get a look at it. his brows moved higher on his face at the sight before him.

a girl.

she sat on the beach, feet digging into the wet sand as the waves ran over them. her chin rested on her knees, arms wrapped around her legs, curls raging in the breeze.

his head tilted to the side in curiosity. he stood there watching her for the longest moment, his mind on how she oddly seemed to fit perfectly into the picture that nature painted.

without thinking much on it, his feet began to move, taking him towards her. stopping next to her, he remained silent and instead stared ahead, trying to find what it was that she couldn't take her eyes off of.

the shortest of seconds passed before her head lifted to look at him. sensing her gaze on him, jeongguk looked down at her and nearly fell back at the sight of her face.

she was beautiful in the most elusive of ways. the sort that drew you in and buried you whole and had you dancing in delight as it snatched the very air you breathed. he could not find the adjectives to describe her appearance. and for the first time in a long time, words failed jeongguk.

what got jeongguk the most had to be her eyes. brown eyes shone an amber gold even in the dull milky glow of the moon. like flames dancing underneath soft brown earth. it was the most intriguing thing. and jeongguk, who prided himself in being able to keep to social cues, found himself practically gawking.

her head tilted to the side, those enthralling eyes regarding him quietly. then she did something jeongguk would not have expected someone who was being shamelessly gaped at to. she smiled.

his heart did three wild leaps. plump lips curved up slowly in an enchanting motion to reveal impossibly white teeth. somewhere in the raging madness of his erratic heartbeat, jeongguk wondered what her teeth care regimen was.

she scooted slightly, patting the sand next to her. an invitation. only thinking about it for a moment, he dropped himself onto the beach next to her. taking his slide sandals off, he imitated her, burying his feet in the wet sand. it felt cool against his skin.

her blue chiffon romper flapped about in the wind and jeongguk pondered on the possibility of her being cold. he glanced down at the hoodie he wore, considering offering it to her.

"i like the air." she remarked softly as though she'd read his mind. jeongguk fixated on her voice. he wasn't sure what he had been expecting but it was even better.

low but soft with a hint of a rasp. it was honestly what he imagined the sirens that caused shipwrecks sounded like.

"oh." he let out, not sure what to say. his eyes stayed on her profile as she continued to stare ahead. "what are you doing out here by this time?" he inquired, letting his curiosity get the best of him.

her gaze shifted once more to him. "just keeping nature company for a while." she smiled again. "hm," he could not help but to smile back at her. "she must feel loved." he commented quietly. "i should hope so." her eyes were on the waves of water that washed over their feet.

jeongguk thought she sounded a bit sad. maybe that was how she was about mother nature. he couldn't know. he didn't know anything about her, but he knew he'd never forget her face and her voice for as long as he lived.

it wasn't love at first sight. jeongguk didn't believe in that. to him, that concept always seemed dreamful and shallow. it was fascination. pure fascination fueled by interest and curiosity.

they continued to stare out at the sea silently, side by side. "i'm jeongguk. jeongguk jeon." he finally muttered after a long silence. she glanced at him and offered him another one of her magical smiles.

"summer isaac."