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renadosia · 9 months

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Cafe Beside The Sea - Chapter 1

— pairing: (Seokjin x reader)

— genre: Selkie AU, strangers to lovers, fluff, romance.

— summary; You return a coat to the strange customer that he accidentally left behind. Seokjin receives a marriage proposal from the pretty waitress that took his order. Both are oblivious.

— content warnings: none

— word count: 7.4k

Masterlist / Next chapter

The summer of your eleventh birthday was the first time you saw them. And the summer of your eleventh birthday, you wept into the sea.

Drip, drip, drip, went your tears into the ocean as it pushes weakly against your ankles. Drip, drip.

You kick at the water, sniffling into your wrist as you wipe at your eyes. Drip, drip.

(Seven tears to summon a selkie, they say, go and cry into the ocean. Shapeshifters, both human and seal- they shed their coats.)

There was a lot that happened that summer- for starters, your parents packed up theirs and your entire life and moved to a small seaside town, and among other things, you would enroll into the local school and quickly be swept up into a friend group of rambunctious boys, you would discover your love for the ocean and become intimately familiar with it over the coming months, (namely thanks to your new beachside home), and find that actually- you really loved living in this small town.

But something has to give first, and before it did, in those first few weeks during and after- it felt like hell. And your little eleven-year-old self was sure that your life was ending.

Well that might be an exaggeration- but point is; you didn’t take it very well.

It only took you about two or three days before you had gone off down the beach, crying. Your parents had repeatedly been telling you to go explore while they finished unpacking, and bitterly, you had done so. Trudging through sand in the opposite direction of town, mostly out of spite. It was windy and the sand bit at your skin, feeding woes as you went.

Back then when you had yet to spend hours upon hours walking trails through the grass over the banks and pulling sea glass treasures from the sand, wading through rock pools to reach the edge where the spray of saltwater would spring up and spit against your legs from the waves, you knew nothing about the area. And so a cave carved into an alcove only sparked the calling of curiosity and adventure as you had easily stepped down the dip of sand and into the cove.

There was only one thing even half as interesting along the beach that late afternoon, and it was a large pod of seals dotting the beach.

What little you knew of them was from your parents brief mentions of their encounters while working as marine biologists (the reason you had moved to the coast in the first place), and while intrigued, you gave them a wide berth out of caution.

Your tears hadn’t quite dried by this point, not fully anyway, and although a few heads with big dark eyes perked up at you moving past them, none of the seals gave you heed as you went right past them and into the cave.

One thing you didn’t notice that day, was a particular seal that watched you go and tumble straight into the alcove. It gave a yip at you, but you didn’t even glance back.

Another thing you didn’t know was that your parents were already looking for you. Having checked weather reports an hour or so after you had left. But you had been out along the beach for hours at this point, and you had gone pretty far out- not to mention, it was getting late.

There was something you did notice though, and had foolishly ignored, which was the tide pushing into the mouth of the cave. All but a thin sheen of water. Your feet get wet, but you don’t give it any thought.

The sun was setting over the blue waves as you savored the sunlight, you hadn’t long until it would get fully dark, and with the clouds swirling in the sky, you would need to head back soon. Even though you wanted to stay out if only just to make your parents worry for you. Maybe then, you had thought, they’ll regret moving to this damn place.

Pushing up and down rocky ledges, you went in. The cave was dark and damp, and you pulled out your phone for the flash as you looked around wide eyed and amazed, at the end of the cavern you could see light and you pushed onwards. Eventually, the tunnel opened into a wide open space, holed up straight upwards so that you could see the sky. You wondered if it was some sinkhole from the ledge above that overhung, and mentally made plans for the next day to go and check it out from above, where you could already see the tree's canopies peeking over the edges. You’d never get to though, because it had started to rain. Little droplets of water tapped against your phone’s screen, and you huffed, wiping it over on your shirt. No reception. But even despite the rain, you weren’t yet worried. You had brought a jacket. The next hour was mostly just photographing and plucking little colorful shells from the sandy earth. In the time it took you, the rain picked up. Now pelting down and bringing a harsh chill to your bone.

A good point to head home, you had thought. But it simply wasn’t that easy. As you climbed your way back through the cave, you noticed the water runoff that ran trails through the rocks. You thought it must’ve come from the open sinkhole space from behind you until you made it to an deadend.

What had been the entrance of the cave was now blocked with a flood of still pushing and pulling water, flooded from the outside in. A complete dead-end, and you felt your heart drop.

After this, there truthfully wasn’t too much you remembered aside from the panic and the seal.

You had panicked, you had tried to get out, you had failed to get out, and had eventually found yourself curled into a ball on the cold hard ground sobbing your eyes out.

Not the most dignified reaction, but you were eleven, so there wasn’t any other reaction that you really could’ve given. And so for the second instance, your eleven-year-old self felt once more like your world was crashing down on itself. (Only you had a bit more of a valid reason for it this time around.)

You were alone in that damp dark space, crying and crying and crying, and then there was a splash, and you had startled, and then suddenly you weren’t alone. The water’s surface broke and the first thing you noticed was a sleek furry body. A seal had popped up and out of the water and the next moment was still. It watched you with deep black eyes, and you had probably cried more, (that day, there was a lot of crying), and only then it started to shuffle over towards you.

The seal nosed at your arm, but you shuffled back a bit warily, your face wrecked with sobs and wet with tears and rain. It yipped at you, and then at that same quick moment, turned back towards the water, yipped again, and dived away. Under the blocked entrance of the cave and back into the ocean. And you were alone again. The whole interaction only took a moment, but it was one moment enough for it to bring simultaneously comfort and despair, and ever since then you had always had a bit of a soft spot for seals- all since childhood, through it, and into adulthood.

But still you cried, and cried, and cried a bit more, until the search and rescue teams found you. You were hauled up with climbing rope through the open sinkhole, and then in your parents arms you had cried more.

Later, you would come to be slightly embarrassed by the whole ordeal. Especially when school had started up and peers and teachers would bring it up. Even on the rare occasion complete strangers had recognised you, usually elderly sharing their relief of your safety while you stood next to your parents, cringing.

Later, you had asked your parents how they had found you.

And they had said that after they had gone into town and search parties of people had been sent out, a young boy had shown up. He knew where you were, and had taken them to the cave. Just older than you were, with long limbs and broad shoulders, and a wet mop of hair on top of his head. He had slipped away after the rescue team jumped into action, and no one knew who he was, nor did he ever come forward after that. He was dressed oddly, apparently. With sandals and shorts and a plain shirt. Odd because his hair was wet as if he had just gone swimming, but his clothes were completely dry. He said he was on the beach when he saw you, and no one had questioned it out of gratitude to be able to find you. The main thing that stood out to them as odd though, was the grey furry coat he wore. Too fancy and blatantly out of place to bring with you to the beach.

But as all things do, time moved on and you forgot much about the incident and earlier years from when you had first moved to the coastal town. The only real memory remaining that you were dumb to go into a cave when the tide was rising and it was storming. It was then a bit of a funny story for you to tell, and that was all it became. But you had always remembered the seal that had comforted you, and similarly, the story of the boy who had saved you.

You might have never met him, but if you got to, you had decided that you wanted to thank him for what he did that day. (Although you knew full well that the likelihood was against you.) But you knew you wouldn’t be able to find the boy with the strange coat, and so you decided that you would leave it up to fate.

Time ticked by as if stuck in honey, slowly and slowly and slower.

Today wasn’t a particularly busy workday, but in the same breath, it wasn’t particularly slow either. Because of this, it felt as if there wasn’t quite enough work to do aside from waiting for more customers to come in, gaps of time in between filled with slow cleaning and patience. It was only the start of summer, so this pacing was bound to change with an influx of imminent tourists wanting to visit beaches and see the oceanside offered by coastal towns and cities, but all the same, you were just waiting for your shift to end in hopes to head home.

Home- or a quick detour to wherever your friends would decide to hangout today, ever changing locations between the seven of you in the indecisive way you all could be. (A few in particular, say Jungkook, Hoseok and Taehyung- but that’s not to name names. They just get a bit cooped up in the same spot.)

Scrubbing the kitchen counter for what must’ve been the fifth time in the past hour, you sighed. The last thing you wanted to do was slack off with the owner sitting just a few feet away at one of the booths tapping away at her phone. Yongsun was a lovely woman, and you might be one of the co-managers, but you still rather not chance it with a job that kept you stable for years. This little job paid well, and alongside the allowance your parents would send you from wherever on the planet they were at the moment you were decent. Not to mention, you enjoyed the environment, Yongsun was one of the nicest women you had ever met, warm and friendly, and you didn't want to get in her bad books.

When you hear the chime of the doorbell and the sound of the front door opening, you don't really bother to hide your relief at something to actually do. It’s followed by chatter and laughter as a group of customers enter together, and as the only one working on shift at the moment, you swiftly move to be in front of the register and display-cabinet of baked goods and food. Yongsun stands to greet the group cheerily, and among the group of strangers, each with a coat slung over their shoulders a-piece, you’re surprised to see two of your friends with them. The only thing they're missing is the coats themselves.

Taehyung notices you first, sending a wave to you as he sits down in the booth and Jimin peaks over his head with a similar grin, laughing at your off guard expression. And you roll your eyes back at them.

You knew they were friendly with Yongsun, and the pair of them are very social- Jimin and Taehyung always seem to know some of the people who pass through town, especially in the summertime. While it's a bit odd to see them hanging out with strangers- you're much more used to passing hellos and warm conversations, you suppose it makes sense, they have to meet all those people somehow. Jimin has always had an extroverted streak in him, even if he never leaves town. And Taehyung is his opposite, an introverted type at first, but out of town in the off-seasons.

There’s a particular stranger that Yongsun greets that catches your eye, with a bashful expression and remarkably attractive face as Yongsun greets him with a big hug and even pinches his cheeks as if he was a child. She was clearly familiar with him, and you don’t even need to imagine the ‘ are you sure you’re eating enough, hun? that you’re sure she’s giving him, much like she does to you and every other person she likes. He looks similarly glad to see her, and you wonder distantly if he’s a son of one of her out of town friends, given you have no clue who he is. Or who any of the other strangers are sitting with them, aside from Jimin and Taehyung, of course. (It’s a small town and countryside in general. So everyone knows everybody here for the most part.)

Yongsun happily wavers you over from the counter, so you aren't left to guess when to approach them. “This is the sweet (Y/n). One of my loveliest workers here.” She smiles as you walk over, already with her menu out and listing the items the table wants. She hums, pausing and looking over towards the man from before. “Seokjinnie, what was it you wanted again?”

“Ah, I’ll just get a muffin or something please, ahjumma.”

“Alright, chocolate chip muffin for that one, please (Y/n).”

“Of course,” you chime agreeably, finishing jotting down the order. When you look up, you accidentally meet the gaze of the ‘seokjinnie’ man that Yongsun was talking to. You’re not sure what it is, but there’s something familiar about him, whether you've seen him before you’re not sure, but his fine features and beautiful black eyes draw your gaze to him and you make yourself pull away. “Is that all for today?”

“Yes, thank you.” The man replies, his voice is polite and melodious, and it’s honestly one of the nicest sounds you’ve heard in a while. ( If that doesn’t seem too creepy, you think to yourself.) You nod with a smile and head back behind the counter, picking out the pre-made items to serve to the table before heading into the kitchen to start on anything that needs to be cooked or baked. It doesn’t take you all that long, preparing the burgers and smoothies and anything else that needs it for the group.

When you gather them all onto trays, you see out of the corner of your eye Jimin and Taehyung talking to the same man from before, and you can tell from the looks on their faces and personal experience that they were teasing the poor man, but when you walk out, their heads all snap up and Jimin and Taehyung break into laughter while the other just ducks and shakes his head. He seems a bit flustered but tells them off, you just can’t make out the words.

“Here you are.” You say chipperly as you set down the trays and they pick off their orders. Then you turn and head back to the kitchen while Jimin nudges the ‘Seokjinnie’ guy with a teasing smirk. You easily tidy up the dishes and mess you made while the group finishes up, and by the time you finish, they’re all already gathering up their things and getting ready to leave. Picking up their expensive looking fur coats and purses and bags. Save for Yongsun, Jimin and Taehyung, each of the strangers each have one of the fanciful coats. All near matching, all flat fur, all gray. Was this some sort of club? You really hope your two idiot friends and boss didn’t get mixed up with some gang. Were there even gangs out here? By the beach? At some random seaside town? You have no idea, but the fur coat gang doesn't seem too threatening, you giggle mentally.

They all migrate over to the front door, and you pick up the cutlery left behind at the table. Your shift is almost over before some other employees take over for the afternoon, and you don’t think it’s too bad to end off with some dishes. You drop them off in the sink, taking a last peek out of the kitchen at the sound of the door’s chime and catching the customers filter out. The ‘Seokjinnie’ guy is the last one left, the others having left or already walking away from the front of the store, and just as he slips through the store, you watch as his fur coat slips from being slung over his bag and lands right in the doorway, glass door catching on it as he walks off taking no notice.

You blink, and then thoughtlessly follow after and pluck the coat up from between the door, not quite impulsive but more on instinct of manners. On any normal day you would be annoyed, but there’s been something a bit off all day- a feeling as though you’re waiting for something important to happen wedged deep in your chest- but it’s not a feeling that you realize until after.

After when the sun rises in streaked rays and it seeps through the curtains, you press into the warmth of blankets and share soft whispers of words, lazing in bed and reminiscing on the moment with arms wrapped around you.

The door clicks shut behind you as you train your gaze after where he turned, searching for the soft head of hair and broad shoulders amongst the streets. Your eyes catch him easily, a standout amongst others and you take off after him in a jog. It’s your lucky day, dude. You think, You’re not gonna lose your probably expensive fur coat just yet.

“Wait!” You call out, running after him as you tuck the soft fur of his coat safely into your arms. He doesn’t turn around, neither does he even realize that you’re addressing him. “Your coat!”

Finally, you catch up to him. In a slight flurry of panic you reach out and grasp his arm, tugging him around- it’s a little harsher than you intend, but it gets the job done. He spins around to face you with a confused expression.

Normally you’re not the type to ever touch a stranger, mostly out of respect for personal space, (both your own and the other person), so you’re quick to yank your hand back and step away. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for grabbing you like that!” You say, giving an apologetic look and shuffling his coat on your arm to be held out to him. “Sorry again, I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just that you dropped your coat.”

His eyes flicker between you and the fur coat, and his expression drops. Stunned as he wordlessly reaches his hand out and brushes it over the furry article. He looks half shocked-half mortified and you panic a little, looking over the coat yourself almost praying it isn’t damaged. You really doubt you have the money to reimburse a whole other coat for the guy if it was, and the fact that he seems close with your boss only makes it even worse. The logical side of your brain reasons that you weren’t the one who dropped it- so it’s not really your fault- but god knows that you’ve had your fair share of haughty customers over the years, so you’d rather not take your chances.

“I am so so sorry, it slipped off your bag when you left and I picked it up for you once I saw.” You ramble, dusting it off as gently as you can manage before pressing it into the man’s hands. “Is this alright? You’re not upset?”

“I- um.” His face flushes red, all the way to the tips of his ears. Cute, really you would swoon if the situation was any different. “I think. This is fine, I think.”

“Oh thank goodness, It’s not damaged or anything, but I was worried you’d run off before I could even give it back!” You chuckle softly and maybe slightly awkwardly. Finding the stare that he’s giving you a little confusing as your gaze flits up to meet his. “You walk very fast.” You say lightly, trying to dispel any tension.

“I do- did.” He says a little dumbly, face still red as he clears his throat and straightens up. “I just wasn’t expecting this.” You raise your brows at his words, unsure what they mean.

“Well, no worries.” You smile as nicely as you can, and it seems to work, him reciprocating it as he nods. “At least you can go home with your coat safe!”

There’s a moment where neither of you say anything, him looking at you intently as he seems to swallow down any previous shyness that lingered. He speaks thoughtfully, as if contemplating; “Yes, much better this than losing it. Or someone else keeping it to themselves.” He smiles, and despite his very very odd words (in your opinion), you're not that creeped out- only the awkwardness that licks at the back of your neck any indication of discomfort. “I’ve been waiting for something like this for a while, and you actually seem quite sweet.” You shift on your feet, not knowing what else to do except smile and nod your head awkwardly. He watches you, observant to your every word and reaction, but his expression is tender and you don’t know where that came from. Your mind recalls with relief that you had left the cafe completely unattended .

“Right.” You say, pulling on your best poker face. “Well, my shift isn’t quite over yet, so I’d best be getting back.” He seems to pull out of a daze at your words, and you try to ignore that it makes you feel a bit bad for him. “Um, good luck! Have a good afternoon!” As you turn and speed walk back towards the cafe, you can feel his gaze on your back. You don’t look around at him, but once you push open the glass doors of the store you can’t help but almost want to peek back out to look for him. Maybe it’s curiosity, maybe you thought he was hot (you did), maybe you’re a bit paranoid- but whichever one it is you stubbornly shove it down and trudge back into the kitchen, sighing deeply as your brain runs over the interaction and the man’s strange words. Well, that was odd . You think, and you really have no idea where the weird words and such came from, but at the very least, you’ve got something funny to tell your friends later on .

But Goddamnit, Jimin and Taehyung were absolutely going to laugh at you.

The first thing you did once your shift ended and a coworker took over for you, was grab your bag and check your phone. It lit up with a text message from Hoseok, his contact followed by random emojis he had put in years ago when he first took your phone to give you his number.

‘Meetup at the studio after work? The others are coming :D’

A huff of amusement left you as you unlocked your phone and typed a message back.

‘Definitely, wouldn’t miss it, Hobi. Also I've got a funny story to tell you guys lol.’

‘Ookk, but just hurry though 'cause Jungkook keeps complaining that he’s hungry and you know how that goes.’

You roll your eyes, typing; ‘That boy is always hungry. But yeah, be there in ten.’

You giggle a little at the string of strange emojis Hoseok sends in response before tucking your phone into your back pocket as you speed walk down the streets. You couldn’t have been more eager to get out of there after working most of the day. It isn’t long until you get down to the studio, and you step and round down the hall past the receptionist, (a friendly girl who had been working there for a few months) as you head right towards the studio room you know Hoseok usually works at. Through the glass doors you can see all the boys sitting around- and Jungkook, who was leaning against the wall next to the door, pulls it open for you before you even manage to grab the handle.

“(Y/n)! How was work? Hobi says you’ve got another one of those funny customer stories to tell us again.” He grins at you, and clicks the door shut behind you before you respond. There’s some takeout containers and burgers sitting around, Jungkook's got one in his hand, and you would take a guess he convinced somebody to make an ‘emergency call’ for him.

Jimin chimes up from one of the benches. “Yeah, and why didn’t you tell us before when we were there?”

“She was working, jimin.” Yoongi says reasonably, shrugging lightly. And my boss was there , you go to say, but jimin beats you to it.

“Yeah, but I would’ve stayed behind if I knew there was drama.” He defends jokingly, turning a teasing smile over towards you. “Yongsun wouldn’t have minded, you know. She knows we’re friends. I mean, after all the times me and Tae have camped out waiting for your shifts to finish in booths, and the fact she asks us how you’re doing everytime we speak, I'd say you're even her favorite employee.”

“It happened after you guys left.” You explain, sitting down next to Hoseok who wavers you over as you set your bag down. “And it’s not drama but I still don’t want to get any grief over this. Tae, Jimin, I’m talking to you two.”

“Huh?” Taehyung echoes, his head flicking up from his phone that was scrolling on distractedly. He gives you a befuddled expression when you look at him pointedly. “What’d I do?”

“One of the people you were with.” You say, sighing dramatically. “Some poor guy dropped his jacket and so I had to run it to him. It was pretty awkward.”

Namjoon shakes his head at you sympathetically, laughing a little bit. “That’s not that bad.” He says, but you huff protest. And no one notices, but Jimin and Taehyung both stiffen up. Their heads snapping over towards you and sitting up alert.

“What?” Taehyung says, unable to help the sharp tone that he uses. Yoongi and Namjoon both raise a brow, aware of the change of mood, and Jungkook glances over at them. Hobi doesn’t notice it.

“Aw man, I was hoping for something like that one time that kid tripped on someone’s foot and spilled a smoothie all over you.” Hoseok complains with a mischievous smile as he lays across the floor, “that was pretty funny. You had a huuge pink stain over your new fancy shirt all day.”

“That was miserable.” You grimace.

“It was funny as shit.”

“ lHold on - you gave who back his jacket ?” Taehyung speaks up again, cutting off Hoseok and your banter with an edge of urgency to his voice that makes you pause. You look over at him frowning, and he looks a mix of disturbed and worried that only makes you confused. You gave his coat back , so why would he need to be worried? It wasn’t like it was damaged or anything.

“The guy you were teasing. I gave him back his furry coat when he dropped it.”

Taehyung’s jaw drops and Jimin shoots a glare at him, kicking him in the leg. He clears his throat, “Did you give it to him or like, point it out and tell him he dropped it?” He seems less concerned then taehyung does, but still so- from his more good natured smile compared to Taehyung's tense demeanor, it relaxes you slightly, but you can still see the uncertainty behind his eyes that makes your stomach churn uneasily. You flicker your gaze between the two incredulously. The others all watch.

“I gave it to him. It slipped from his bag and he didn’t notice. I had to stop him in the street to give it back.” You say, furrowing your brows. Jimin and Taehyung share a look.

Namjoon breaks in, apparently having enough of the random tension in the conversation. “Okay, why are you two being so cryptic?” he waves his hands gently, looking between you and the other two. “What else was she supposed to do? Let the dude lose his coat?”

“Well- no?” Taehyung splutters slightly, choking on his words. “just- was it Seokjin?”

“Seokjin?” You echo, confused.

Yoongi passes an eye over the three of you calmly. “Jimin, not all of us are extroverts and know all the random people who pass through town.” He says, the small joke eases some of the rising confusion from the group. He sends a small grin at him, and Jungkook makes an affronted noise at his words.

“We know taehyung! And you!”

“That’s different.” Yoongi rebutts immediately.

“Yeah, they both grew up here.” Namjoon adds, leaning back and glad to jump on an opportunity to change the subject.

“Yoongi goes to the city for work for like a week every month! I don’t see how that’s so different!” Jungkook says, shaking his head with a determined expression. “And Taehyung sticks around for summer, sure, but he only visits otherwise.”

Hoseok gives a hearty laugh, and Jungkook grins at him. “Yoongi literally lives here.” He snorts, and Yoongi nods his head along.

“Yep. So don’t know what you’re on about, kid.”

“Sure you don’t, old man.” Jungkook says with accusation, pointing a finger towards Yoongi, who just rolls his eyes with a smug look.

“Whatever you say, kiddo.”

Jungkook scrunches up his face, cringing. “Ugh, I’ve always hated that word-“ He’s cut off the crack of a phone clattering to the floor and everyone glances over again, Taehyung giving a little mutter of shit as he hastily stuffs it into his bag.

“Tae? You good?” Hoseok asks. But Taehyung just shuffles awkwardly under the scrutiny of everyone, his gaze flickers from Hoseok, to Jimin, and then to you. You’re a little worried you upset him, but you have no idea how.

“Uhh, something came up so- i’ve gotta go.” Taehyung’s words sound a little forced and his demeanor is stiff, and after all of you having known each other for years at this point, some longer then others, you all raise a brow. It’s pretty obvious he’s making an excuse to go. Which is odd. “Sorry guys.” He says for good measure.

Taehyung would normally be the last to go, always eager to spend as much time with his close friends whenever possible. He didn’t live full time in town, mainly staying for the summer and then occasionally a little bit after, but never too long. There were occasional visits, but other than that, you all didn’t get to see him much. So his behavior is particularly striking as weird.

Guilt stirs in your chest, an uncomfortable pressure. Was it the coat thing? You sure hope not. You wonder distantly why it would, but struggle to come up with a realistic answer. You wouldn’t have thought that something so minuscule like that would upset him, or really anyone for that matter. The idea of giving a coat back to someone after they dropped it doesn’t strike you as anything negative, heck, you’d be glad if someone chased your own coat out to you if you had dropped it. Was there something earlier that happened that you missed? Did you say anything else that could’ve been rude? You didn’t think you did, but now you weren’t so sure. Really you were expecting to be teased about it somewhat- but something about Jimin and Taehyung’s reaction has you thinking that there’s more to it then they’re saying out loud, and the thought that you might have upset one of them makes you frown.

“No worries, Tae. It’s fine.” Jungkook is the first to break the few second silence that came over the group, smiling supportively at Taehyung.

Hoseok chimes in, “Yeah, don’t stress.”

Namjoon speaks up next, “We all get busy. So no worries if you gotta leave on short notice.” he says sagely, “Happens to all of us.”

Taehyung stands there for a moment, like he didn’t quite expect everyone to jump in and dispel the unease lingering in the air. “Yeah, sorry.” He finally says, once more looking over to you in a quick glance. It just makes you feel worse. “um, see you guys.”

There’s a small chorus of byes as Taehyung takes his bag and leaves, waving as he slips out the door. All the boys and you watch silently as he goes, slight degrees of concern or confusion on your faces. It only takes a second before everyone breaks back into conversation, but whatever they’re talking about, you don’t listen, attention fixed on the door where Taehyung had left through as a mixture of confusion and guilt churns in your stomach. Weird, this is all quite weird . But you have a distinct feeling that you might’ve done something to set Taehyung off- you’ve never really seen him run off like that.

There’s a tap on your shoulder and you turn to Jimin who’s leaned forward towards you and smiles with sympathy.

“Sorry for the fuss, don’t worry too much- you haven’t done anything wrong, so try to ignore us, okay?” He says reassuringly, his voice low enough to not gather the others attention. You guess that he probably doesn’t want to embarrass you. “I’ll talk to you more about it later, and I’ll explain some things.” Jimin promises, and there’s an odd tinge of determination to his tone.

You don’t really know what to think of it.

“Okay.” You say, it’s a little dejected and Jimin almost winces at the look on your face. Taehyung will feel bad later, for running off and leaving you to stew. But you guys have been friends for years, so Jimin isn’t particularly worried this will drive a wedge between you two or something.

If anything, he’s hopeful that this will mean new beginnings, once the tide clears up. Not between you and Taehyung, nor you and him, but something new entirely.

He has a feeling it could work out, and he’s always had a bit of a sense for those things.

“Seriously, you haven’t done anything. I’m sorry for interrogating you, neither of us are mad at you- we just gotta make some calls and sort things out.” You snort a little at his phrasing, feeling a bit better about the whole thing.

“Okay then, I trust you.” You concede, “but geez, the way you say it makes it sound like you’re in some mafia group or something. Top secret business.”

Jimin grins, leaning back as lightly as he winks. “Yep, gotta make sure that it’s not classified information.”

Though, it’s not far from the truth.

He gives you a small pat on the shoulder and grabs his things, “I’m going to go too guys, so don’t have too much fun without me.” Jimin announces, stretching quickly as he steps around those who are sat on the floor. “I’ll see you later.” He throws a smile over his shoulder towards you, and you smile back. Then the next moment he’s gone, and you wonder if you really don’t need to worry about him and Taehyung, or if his words are just that, words.

Hoseok nudges his shoulder against yours, reeling you back in. “You good?”

You nod your head, but it feels disingenuous. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Namjoon eyes you, ever observant as he is. “Don’t worry about Taehyung, I don’t think he’s mad or anything.” He says heartedly, and you hum in response. It’s an undecided action, but you bite your lip and pull your bag into your lap.

You’re a bit tired from the long shift at work, and you don’t feel quite as chatty as you did before, so you decide that maybe it’s time for you to call it a day and head home.

With quick goodbyes and more than one watchful glance in your direction, you slip through the door and out onto the streets.

With the day reaching late afternoon, after your exceedingly long shift at the café, a strange customer service interaction with the coat guy, and two of your best friends near freaking out when you recount it to them, you finally head home in hopes to finally catch a break.

Your brain runs loops in your head, juggling between convincing you that you’re the only one making all these things seem weird, and then convincing you that no, all the shit that’s happened today is quite in fact weird, and you’re justified in your opinion of it. Admittedly, you even ponder on whether you could’ve possibly broken some unspoken rule that you’ve never heard off- although you write that off pretty quickly.

Sure, you weren’t born here, but if something was that important, you realistically would have learnt it by now. It wasn’t like your upbringing was that different to anybody else after you moved here. You went to the same old school that every other kid in town did, chasing circles around each other in the schoolyard and pulling fistfuls of grass from the ground when not, reaching over and scribbling smiley faces onto worksheets and crowding around in clusters whenever anything even remotely interesting had happened. You all spent summers visiting the big orchard above town, helping out the old woman who lives up there with her granddaughter by plucking fruits from the trees and berries from the bushes, each of you bringing a big bag full of spoils home, smiling excitedly as you would ramble to your parents about your day and whichever kid inevitably decided to try some kind of stunt to impress all the others (which usually ended up with some bruises and an icepack, the worst you had seen was when some boy broke a pinkie.) You all spent afternoons kicking up sand on the beach and splashing in the waves, only in the colder months did you recede away from it, playing in the town’s streets instead of grainy sand.

Even as you got older, you never gravitated away from the friendships you formed back then. You’re still friends with plenty of the girls you used to go to school with, and you’re naturally still close with most of the boys too. Hoseok, Namjoon, Yoongi, Jungkook, and of course Jimin and Taehyung.

Unfortunately, you have plenty of time to think on the way, considering that your house lays just a touch out of town.

It's only about an eight minute walk down the road to get there, so you never bother driving. Not to mention, there are plenty of people who live further out so you’re not going to complain either. Your home, which you have affectionately called it so for almost fifteen years now, is a modest place that sits by the beach. Three bedrooms, one bathroom, living-room, laundry room and kitchen. Technically, one of the bedrooms is a converted home office turned storage room in your lack of necessity for it. Since both your parents moved out shortly after your twentieth birthday for their job, it left you with an office you honestly didn’t really need. Then again, considering that both your parents had only moved to this town because of their job, it makes sense that they’d move away because of it too. Being marine biologists isn’t very stationary- you learned that pretty young when they would have to travel for a week or two almost every month.

It’s lucky you love the beach. Otherwise you might’ve gone a bit insane after a few years.

It’s easy for you to admire the waves push and pull along the sand, the crashing of it and the constant trull. You particularly love the summers, as it is now- because that’s when the seals show up.

Seals are your favorite marine mammals, and probably just your favorite animal overall. It always brings a smile to your face when you come across photos online of their thick whiskers and big black eyes. Even better when you get to see the pods of seals littering the beaches or peeking up from the waters, which much to your delight, you happen to see today.

There’s not that many this time, but there’s about ten or so lazing on the beach, taking in the afternoon sun. There are a few more between the waves, and you’d assume more further out in the ocean. It’s a happy distraction, and your lips tug into an involuntary smile as trudge down the path past them. There’s one particular seal however, that grabs your attention among all of them. It’s the farthest up the beach and the closest to you, (which is a little odd- they usually stay pretty close to their pods) but it’s staring right at you and you stare right back. Your house is literally only a minute ahead, you can see it just in front of you and while that should probably be the most interesting thing that you pay attention to, you find you have no interest in it.

Maybe it’s a seal you’ve seen before, but you doubt that it would capture your attention so much. There’s just something about the deep black eyes and the dried sleek coat that strikes you as familiar and pulls at the seams of your brain. The mammal stares at you with wide eyes and it looks almost puppyish, which makes you smile wide with a huffed laugh. If possible, the animal seems surprised at your reaction and pulls its head back a bit. You can’t help but giggle a bit, awww chorusing in your mind as you refocus your attention on the path that veers away from the beach and up to your front yard.

You jostle your bag on your arm as you produce a key from it and throw a glance over your shoulder back down to the beach. You can see sat on top of the backshore dune the seal from before watching you just as you push open your front door. It’s completely on a whim that you do it, but you randomly decide to give a parting wave to the seal. You weren’t expecting any reaction, but it turns tail and waddle-runs it’s way back toward the ocean. Oh, I scared it off. You’re not sure why, but it leaves you with a slight sense of disappointment as you drop your bag to the ground and pad off towards your bedroom.

With sluggish movements, you barely shrug off your day clothes and take a shower, before pulling on pajamas. You slide under your bedsheets with hopes to drown under the pull of sleep. Today’s strangeness will be gone tomorrow is the only distant thought you let linger as you drift off, comforting and convincing, leaving you fully intent on waking up tomorrow and forgetting most of todays events and letting normalcy take over. Once you wake up the next day, it seems to be near true. You go through the motions of your average morning routine, brain blurry and slow with sleep and yesterday pushed to the back of your brain for the most part. It’s mind numbing enough and really, you’re glad for it.

Then you push open your front door, and you’re greeted with the sight of little ocean gifts settled at your feet on your front porch.

And you think that maybe the strangeness that you experienced yesterday was only the start.