i'm lowkey pulling a lil nas x stint on y'all with the numerous versions of beach.
it's just that it fits even when they're both adults and kids. 😭
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"chaeyoung, don't get into the water until i come down, okay?" mrs. park yelled at the top of her lungs to her youngling.
the raven-haired girl nodded her head ecstatically before she hopped down the steps of their summer vacation house and relishing the australian sun.
when her small feet came in contact with the white sand, she pushed her floaties further up her arms and carefully snapped on her goggles onto her eyes; her vision turned pinkish in an instant due to the colored lenses.
she skidded to the crystalline beach, wanting to wet her feet for the meantime as she waited for her mother. the water felt cool against her toes, so much in contrast with the warm sun casting down it's heat onto her swimming attire-clad body.
she continued to admire her feet amidst the waters until she took notice of a tall boy crouching down with his palms formed into hollow caves.
"hey! what are you doing?" she yelled in english, catching the young boy's attention.
the startled boy yelled and almost fell back into the water. chaeyoung panicked and grabbed his arm, saving him from suffering with sticky skin from diving back first into the saltwater.
"what was that for?" he said in korean.
"sorry," she replied in korean, her mother tongue, this time, "i didn't mean to startle you."
"it's alright." he grinned. "thank you for helping me up."
"you're welcome. try not to be clumsy next time."
"i'm not clumsy-- you scared me." he defended himself with a frown.
"ah, but you wouldn't have fallen down if your feet were planted onto the ground properly."
"i would still fall down because you yelled out of nowhere."
"you're older," chaeyoung stated matter-of-factly, "you're supposed to be manure."
"yah! it's mature not manure. i'm not cow poop." he counter-attacked, saying mature and manure in english to display the obvious difference. "you should be respectful because i'm older."
"and how do you know that?" she crossed her arms against her chest.
"you said so-- i'm 10, by the way."
"i'm 7," she said, shoving seven little fingers up in the air.
"you see? i'm older."
"yeah, yeah," chaeyoung replied dismissively before hopping over to his spot, peaking into his little fingers, "are those... crabs?"
"yah!" he shoved the miniature creatures away from her line of vision, "you're a stranger; who knows what you'll do to my precious friends."
"i'm chaeyoung." she enclosed her eye in between two fingers forming a peace sign. she grinned widely before making grabby hands at his arms to see the crustaceans again.
"i'm namjoon, but you're still a stranger." he reasoned without hesitance.
"my name is park chaeyoung. i'm seven years old. i live in south korea and i have a pet gold fish at home." chaeyoung crossed her arms over her chest. "there-- happy?"
"cool! you have a pet goldfish?"
"his name's joohwangie."
namjoon coo-ed. suddenly, he found himself recalling all the times he came in contact with sea creatures. they were very unique in his eyes-- it always made him wonder how they survived and breathed underwater when mere humans were incapable of it, plus fish scales always looked beautiful amidst the blue hues of water and seashells always found themselves on the seashores with the most wonderful structures.
"i used to have a goldfish too," namjoon said with vibrancy.
this made chaeyoung curious so she asked, "really? is he at your house?"
"no. i accidentally knocked over his fish bowl and he ended up on the floor."
"so you're a fish murderer!" chaeyoung yelled accusingly, squinting her eyes at the older, be-dimpled boy.
"no, i'm not. it was an accident." his eyes widened at the proclamation.
true to his word, it was just an unfortunate occurence. when he was trying to study the fish's movements, he pushed one finger into the bowl, seeing if his little pet would notice it. when it did, he started to panic and frantically pulled his finger out, knocking the bowl off the stand.
it was just a wet, fish-filled nightmare he didn't want to think about any further.
she shrugged her shoulders. "can i see the crabs now?"
"after you called me a fish murderer? no." he picked up his pace and ran away from the younger girl; anything to save his small companions.
"hey!" chaeyoung jogged after namjoon's retreating figure. "you're a traitor."
"no, i'm not! i didn't promise to show you my crab friends!" he yelled, a good distance away from her small figure.
