『JenSoo Short Stories』

To The Sea

Jennie watches the sky bleed from orange to purple. She could taste the salty air as the calm waves lazily crawl onto the shore to lick her toes. The sand is damp and cold beneath her sun-kissed skin, but her eyes are burning. Her hazel pools chase the gulls flying haphazardly between the sea and sky as if dancing to the rhythm of the ocean's music.

Without breaking her gaze on the horizon, she brings a small spiral conch shell to her left ear. Jisoo said she could hear the ocean with it.

Jisoo was right. She could hear the waves, the gulls, the wind, surfers' laughter and the fishermen's call near the harbour. She could hear every sound that would remind her of the good old memories of this beach.

If only the conch shell would allow Jennie to turn the time back or send a message to someone so far away.

Four days ago just before the sunset, Jisoo almost shattered Jennie's windowpane after throwing her third pebble stronger than normal.

"Pssst! Jendeukie!" Jisoo called, which was supposed to be a whisper.
Jennie tripped on her own foot while rushing to wear her jean shorts before Jisoo could even throw her fourth stone.

"Jisoo, you could knock on the front door!" Jennie scolded as soon as she opened her window. "You'll break my window!"

"That's not my style, Jendeukie. Very unromantic," Jisoo replied, "come down here, quick! I have a surprise!"

The usual ten-minute walk from Jennie's house to the wharf became two minutes after Jisoo dragged the younger girl on her feet to the infamous dock.

After several steps on the wooden structure, Jisoo enthusiastically extended both of her arms to a number of sailboats docked on the wharf.

"Tada!" She chimed with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Okay," Jennie's hands were on her knees while catching her breath, "where am I supposed to be looking at?" She squinted at the several identical sailboats.

"You are supposed to be looking at this!" Jisoo pointed at an old yacht in front of them.

"Oh, that looks great," Jennie said, "and unsafe."

The sailboat looked ancient compared to the others; it seemed like it had gone through both world wars. Its sail was faded yellow, and the paint was already chipping off the hull. She might not be an expert on sailboats, unlike Jisoo, but this yacht looked humongous and heavier than the newer models.

"It looks like it's gonna sink any time," Jennie added.

"It's totally safe," Jisoo opposed as she jumped off the dock to her sailboat, "come here, I'll give you a tour." She extended her arm to help Jennie.

"What? No! I have motion sickness."

"That's very unfortunate, Jendeukie. I was planning to ask you to be part of my crew," Jisoo chuckled.

Jennie surrendered to Jisoo's pleading; she sat on the edge of the dock before jumping off to the sailboat with the help of Jisoo. The tour around the boat took only a couple of minutes since there was really nothing to see. The Baltic 37 yacht was Jisoo's graduation gift she received from his father. The 36-year-old boat was his grandfather's and passed down to Jisoo.

"It needs a lot of repairs and upgrades. A new paint job, engine change, replacement of old parts with lighter and modern ones," Jisoo explained; both girls were seated on the side deck while watching the sunset.

"Sounds expensive."

The sky was orange, and the breeze was warm. The ocean was peaceful and quiet, glistening against the sun, which was already half-hidden on the horizon.