Paradise (18+ Hyunjin SKZ)

Moon Rise

"What?!" He hears her words and it's the first moment he might feel she's opened herself up to be vulnerable. He runs his hand into her hair, cradling her in his arms and rocking her gently. "You don't have to, Sa-rang, this doesn't have to end just because you said it would. We can make a different choice," he tells her as she sobs quietly against him. He looks around them and realizes it's almost completely dark now, with just the light from the stars just coming into view above them. He isn't sure where he is apart from on this beach, next to a strange fence, with her.

She reaches up to wipe tears away from her eyes and she sits up next to him, looking around. She seems to straighten herself, to push down her skirt, and to regain her composure. He sits up on his knees, lifting his pants back up to cover himself and he sits next to her as she stares out at the dark water beyond.

"Tell me what you're thinking, you can share with me," he says softly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose control," she explains. He reaches for her, wishing she would just lose control already and just feel everything he's feeling, all of the mixed up, confused, lust and angst mixed into excitement and the adrenaline rush.

"Sa-rang, it's ok. I want this. I want you." He smiles at her, reaching out to touch her. She smiles over at him as though she's forgotten her quiet outburst of moments ago.

"We have tonight, and if you want, we can stay right here." She looks around as if she is waiting for something.

"Where is here? Aren't we just at the edge of some private beach?" he asks looking around him.

"Sort of. But this is the darkest area of the island. You will be able to see the Milky Way soon, it should rise right over there." She points to a direction off in the distance." He looks over at her a little confused and a little intrigued.

"Did you bring me out here to stargaze?" He laughs as he asks the question.

"Oh not just that of course. We can see the stars really well until moonrise, and then it's so bright you won't notice all of the brilliance in the sky. Then it almost a looks like daylight," she tells him and he wonders at her. She seems to have switched off her emotions completely. He frowns a little at the change. He was really interested in her vulnerable side but now she's drawn the curtain on it again and he feels her distance.

"What happens at moonrise?" he asks.

"That's a surprise, but it won't take long," she explains.

"What will we do until then?" he asks. She smiles and lays back into the sand, reaching her hand over to pat the sand next to her.

"I should have brought a blanket but really the sand will stay warm for several more hours. It's only when it starts to cool that we can see them," she says excitedly as he lays down next to her staring up at the sky.

"See what? The stars?" he asks. She realizes she's said to much and she turns towards him and leans over to kiss his cheek.

"All in good time," she says, settling in to look at the stars above them. The night sky is beginning to glisten with a million tiny points of light. He stares up at the shimmering array and wonders if he can recognize any of he same stars he can see from his bedroom at the dorm back in Seoul. It might be the first time he's thought about his room, his roommates, his brothers, in days and it makes him feel a little wistful to picture them and to wonder what they are doing right now. He laughs to himself as he wonders if any of them have any idea that he's laying beside a beautiful girl on a dark, secluded beach under the stars, as they listen to the ocean waves lapping at the shoreline.

She reaches her hand over and takes hold of his, clasping it to her. He turns his head to glance over at her and he can see her smiling as she looks up at the sky. She raises her other hand up, to point at something.

"There is the first glimpse of the Milky Way." She indicates where in the sky he should look and he strains to make out the area she's talking about. "Just keep your head turned this way and it will become more clear," she tells him as she moves his head to rest on her shoulder. He smiles at the feeling of laying next to her, holding her hand, head on her shoulder. The soft breeze washes over his skin and he closes his eyes to rest for just a moment, drinking in the scent of some distant flower in the trees behind them.

He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he feels her lightly tapping at his shoulder.

"Hyunjin, wake up, it's time." He hears her voice strong and clear coming out of the fog of a recent dream. He stretches his limbs a little and opens his eyes to smile over at her, realizing how bright it is. He looks around surprised.

"Is it moon rise?" He asks, suddenly feeling the chill of the sand under him. He sits up beside her noticing how bright it is and how excited she looks."I didn't realize I fell asleep. How long was I-"

"Shhh!" She interrupts him to get him to be quiet. She crawls across the sand toward the fence on her hands and knees and he watches her, curiously but he's also now very aware that she has nothing on under that dress that's clinging to her and she crawls away from him and it makes him more determined to crawl after her. He reaches up to touch her back just as she sits up at the fence line staring beyond it. He looks around wondering what's going on.

"What is it?" he whispers, instinctively being quiet. She leans closer to him, not taking her eyes off the sand on the other side of the fence. "But what is it? What are you looking at?" he whispers, brushing her hair aside as he scoots closer to her. She leans her head back into his shoulder and she points.

"There, in the sand, do you see?" He looks around, unsure.

"See what?"

"Right there, Hyunjin. Do you see movement?" He looks again and strains his eyes a little. Just as he focuses on a small mound of sand he notices something, some movement in the sand, under the sand. "Get your camera," she says and he quickly moves behind him reaching to grab the camera left in the sand near them. He aims the camera, adjusting the exposure to capture the low light and he zooms in enough to focus on the mound where he saw the movement.