Kiss the Ground

Yoon Chahyun woke from a short nap after a long night. Looking up at the dark sky, Chahyun picked up the phone next to him to check the time. It was exactly 5 a.m. As he got up from the sunbed, the shirt draped over his body fell to the ground.In the early dawn, Yoon Chahyun was alone.He lay alone in the middle of the vast white sand but wasn’t cold. The morning temperature wasn’t very low, and the light from the nearby lamp still warmed his body. However, there was no one around to cover him with his shirt. When Chahyun touched the empty space next to him, he felt a faint warmth at his fingertips before it vanished like an illusion.He had been asleep for too long.Chahyun put on the shirt that was lying on top of him and stumbled to his feet, stepping toward one side of the white sand. There was nothing in the white sand where his feet sank softly. Blinking at the serene horizon with no one standing, he wondered where Misha was.Misha, where are you?His footsteps quickened as he walked along the shoreline.After running along the white sand for a while, Chahyun suddenly turned around. But the only thing remaining on the vast beach were the footprints he had left behind. Only the two holes in the sand, marking where his feet had tread, remained before him like the stitches of a seam.“……”A strange solitude consumed his heart.Misha must be somewhere on this island. He might be making breakfast in the kitchen or perhaps went up to the bedroom first. Since the island was circular, if he kept walking forward, he would eventually meet him somewhere. The feeling of walking alone was strangely unfamiliar and lonely because Yoon Chahyun had been with him all day.But he didn’t want to run along a path where he couldn’t see anything. Chahyun turned back and began retracing his footsteps. His heart pounded in the cool and eerie sensation.After a few minutes of walking briskly, he saw the parasol from the beach where he had started. But no one had returned there either.“Misha.”Chahyun looked up at the mansion. The dining room, the bedroom, every floor was dark. The stairs and the pool were the same. His dry lips parted slightly. Forcing his stiffened feet to move, Chahyun took a few steps to the opposite side and then turned his head sharply toward the shoreline.It was only moments later that a shadow appeared at the edge of his vision.“Mi……”A hundred steps away, on the vast expanse surrounding Chahyun, beneath the starry sky, there he was.So close. Misha, with his pants rolled up to his calves, was playing in the shallow sea with the dog. The dog, soaked in water, ran along the beach following its owner. A blue beach ball was bouncing between them.Misha lightly kicked the ball, and the dog nudged it with its nose. The ball bounced back into the air, and Misha caught it again. He playfully rolled the ball, and whenever the dog got anxious, he would push the ball towards the dog’s four paws. The falling starlight struck the fluttering ears, scattering greenish light around them. They were so absorbed in their joyful game, they seemed unaware of anyone watching.Chahyun approached them, his slow walk gradually turning into a run.Hearing the splash of the sea, Misha looked up. As he instinctively opened his arms, Chahyun leaped into his embrace. They fell together into the shallow water, barely covering their ankles, and Misha held Chahyun tightly.“Yuan, when did you wake up?”Misha looked quite surprised to be plunged into the sea. The hand gripping his back was tense.“I thought you were sleeping deeply, so I came out for a bit. Hong-sam wanted to play.”“……”“You suddenly got up and surprised me. I’ve been here all along…”“I didn’t know.”At the muttered words that interrupted him, the hand on his back stopped. Chahyun opened his eyes wide within Misha’s embrace. His crushed voice leaked through his dry lips.“Misha, I didn’t realize you were this close…”Why hadn’t he realized it sooner? It felt like Misha was right next to him. There was no need to search. He had been waiting quietly in the same place where Chahyun had never looked. Even when Chahyun was running elsewhere, even when he was standing in the vast space, Misha had been here alone…“I was going the other way. I was searching elsewhere. I didn’t know you were here…”“……”“I didn’t know you were here, and I kept searching other places alone…”His chest felt like it was going to burst. Running on the beach at night felt like running around an endless circle. The loneliness of spinning around a place that was unreachable. But what Chahyun had experienced was only a few minutes of solitude. Words with no destination seeped out of his mouth.“I’m sorry, Misha.”Chahyun pushed his wet arm behind Misha’s back. Misha, by now, was gently stroking Chahyun’s head with soft hands. It seemed he understood what Chahyun’s ramblings meant.“What are you sorry for?”“You must have been scared too. Being here alone…”“……”“I’m sorry I couldn’t find you sooner, that I didn’t realize it faster…”Sorry, sorry. Chahyun apologized without even knowing what he was apologizing for. He regretted leaving him here and running alone elsewhere without knowing anything.In the dark night, with the sand between them, their wet bodies clung more tightly. The warmth enveloped them, and Misha’s cheerful voice brushed against Chahyun’s wet face and cheeks.“Yuan, you’re such a fool.”When he lifted his head at the tender words, Misha sat up, holding Chahyun close. His warm, silver eyes were gazing at Chahyun’s face up close.“In the end, you figured it out. That I was waiting here.”“……”“So you came to find me. You ran over and embraced me like this.”“…Yeah.”“And you’re never going to let go now.”Right, he had no intention of letting go. Yoon Chahyun never let go once he had something in his grasp. The very reason he came to this island was to completely hold onto Misha, wasn’t it?“If that’s the case, then it’s okay.”It’s okay. Whispering this, Misha gently pressed his lips to Chahyun’s forehead. The familiar warmth finally thawed Yoon Chahyun’s cold body. His heart, which had been racing, gradually calmed down, and he could feel the blood returning to his cold hands and feet. Misha’s large hand caressed Chahyun’s sand-covered feet.“And in fact, you weren’t alone. Hong-sam was with you.”A damp nose suddenly appeared between their clinging bodies. The dog looked at them with a disappointed expression as if it had been forgotten. Chahyun managed a faint smile as the dog alternately licked his cheek with its long tongue. Misha, who had been focusing on licking his lips, shrugged his shoulders.“The dribbling skills were quite good. Now, tricks won’t work.”“…You should have woken me up.”“You were tired all day. Because of me.”It was a subtle nuance. Compared to Chahyun, who was wearing only a shirt and sitting on Misha’s lap, Misha was neatly dressed from top to bottom. In the brief silence, Misha picked up the beach ball that had been rolling beside them.“And you’ve been thinking a lot lately. You had some worries, didn’t you?”When Misha threw the ball to the opposite shore, the dog, which had been closely attached to them, immediately chased after it and ran off to the distance. Misha, watching the shrinking figure, turned his head back to Chahyun.“Is it a secret from me?”Chahyun’s wet body was as still as a statue.“I waited until you told me what was wrong… but you hardly spoke to me. I thought preparing the island might help you feel better, but you’re still anxious about something.”“…Did you know? I kept…”“I know everything about you.”Misha picked up Chahyun and stood up. The water, which barely covered their ankles, made a gentle splashing sound.“I know that you, who think a lot, are struggling alone, suffering.”“……”“And I also know that I can’t solve all your problems.”The eyes of the two people standing on the night beach met.“But I wish you’d tell me if you’re having a hard time. It would be good if we could think about your worries together. I want to hear and understand your feelings. Because we…”Misha straightened Chahyun’s wet shirt. As he adjusted the fit with slow hands, he suddenly looked down. Following his softening gaze, Yoon Chahyun also lowered his head.Bioluminescence.The sea around the beach they stood on sparkled with a blue light so bright it was blinding, like a galaxy-filled universe. The blue fluorescence, so strange and brilliant, didn’t seem to belong to the dark night sea.They stared at the swirling blue light in the black water like pearls. Everything was blue—the night sky, the night sea, and even their bare feet in it. Misha, looking down, slowly lifted his head. Then he looked at Chahyun with a bright blue smile.“You’re lucky.”Thump, Yoon Chahyun realized his heart was beating loudly. Thump. Thump. His chest continued to flutter.But this beat wasn’t the loneliness or anguish from before. It was exhilaration. The awareness of having a prime opportunity right before him, known only to those who stand at the front as attackers. His pounding heart felt like it would burst. Such a beautiful time and space would never come again in this life.Now is the time. It has to be now.“Misha, I have something to say.”Chahyun took Misha’s hand and turned it towards him. He then straightened his back and stood facing Misha. Misha looked puzzled by the serious tone, which was different from before.“I’m sorry for making you worry. You were right. I’ve been… constantly thinking.”His trembling breath went down his dry throat. Before his clearest vision, he saw the most beautiful opportunity of all. Stepping over the past and fears that had been wandering without direction, moving forward to the next step.“I’ve been thinking about what moment would be perfect, how I could make you happy… I wanted to propose in the most wonderful and beautiful place.”“Yuan…”“It seems like now is that time.”Yoon Chahyun took a deep breath. Then he reached behind to pull out the ring he had been preparing for a long time.Or at least he tried to.“……”Damn it…The pants! The pants were missing. Yoon Chahyun was about 90% naked. He had been so distracted by looking for Misha that he had been wandering around the sea in just his shirt. Truly a disaster…How could this happen? How could something like this occur?His stunned brain retraced the whereabouts of the ring. The pledge he had been preparing for months was probably now lying in the back pocket of his pants on the kitchen floor of the mansion.The horrific blunder left him in shock. It was like having missed the last kick in a penalty shootout after playing through the first half, the second half, extra time, and overtime. It was the worst mistake of his career.“Yuan?”Misha tilted his head. Chahyun, who was standing with his mouth open, looking strange, had stopped speaking. But Chahyun could no longer say anything and stood silently in place.“Mi……”After a few seconds of being dumbstruck, Misha’s lips, which had been shut, curved sharply.“Alright, timeout.”“What?”“Your chance is gone, Yuan.”Misha’s face, illuminated by the blue light below, had a strange expression. He took a step back and murmured.“Now it’s my turn.”***The face of Yoon Chahyun, standing in front of him, was as pale as the shirt he wore. The face, gaping in shock, turned even paler as Misha slowly bent down, deliberately making his move. The moment one knee touched the water, Chahyun extended a hand and shouted loudly.“Hey!”Misha looked up at him without answering. Seeming convinced that things would proceed as planned, Yoon Chahyun shouted again.“Don’t mess around!”“This isn’t messing around.”“Don’t do something you’ll regret…”“I won’t regret it.”“No, let me…”“Hahaha.”Misha couldn’t help but laugh at the urgent tone. The dark eyebrows, once shocked, slowly lowered. The sight of him panting in shock seemed a bit pitiable. Misha rested one arm on his raised knee and supported his chin.“Yuan, don’t be surprised.”But Yoon Chahyun couldn’t hide his astonishment. His wide eyes seemed unlikely to calm down no matter what was said.“I gave you many chances.”“C-chances.”“Even when we bathed together, when we had meals, at Adrian’s wedding, I gave you the chance to do this first. I made quite an effort to create the right atmosphere.”“You… um…”“Even when you received the bouquet.”When he found Chahyun asleep, drunk in someone else’s arms, he almost gave up on holding back. It was also a task to reject the psychopathic claims about wanting to help and having a wedding officiant license. Enduring a little more, one more time, bringing him to this island, was because he knew Yoon Chahyun’s desire. He knew how much Chahyun loved Misha and how much he wanted to express it.“You’re a careful person, so you probably wanted to wait for a truly perfect moment.”“……”“For example, this sea I mentioned.”“Ha…”“You probably thought it would be nice if you proposed here.”He succeeded in bringing Chahyun to this point in time. However, running out with only a scrap of cloth was something Misha hadn’t calculated. He was in a state where he wanted to be embraced right away, rather than waiting for a proposal. Being clung to in that state was also troublesome and difficult.“Did you know I would propose? Since when?”Yoon Chahyun, somewhat regaining his composure, shouted out. Misha frowned and made a thoughtful expression.“Hmm… When you were pretending to measure my finger size in Korea?”“That, just that…”“And when you were mesmerized seeing me in my formal wear.”“Huh.”“When you glanced at me while looking at the invitation, asked if I had been to a wedding, and held my hand under the party table.”“……”“But no matter how long I waited, you didn’t do it.”Yoon Chahyun’s expression changed continuously—from shock to horror, from horror to embarrassment…. It was an amusing transformation. However, the fact that watching Yoon Chahyun secretly scheming something was the most enjoyable couldn’t be denied.“But waiting ends here.”Misha swept the water with his hand and shook it off. The luminous blue light, stimulated, created blue waves and spread to Chahyun’s feet. Standing as if nailed in place, he fumbled desperately in his last attempt.“No, no.”“I regret taking your chance.”But now, there’s no choice.Misha slowly moved his hand into his pocket. And he took it out slowly, using the same amount of time. Chahyun watched each movement as if watching a splatter movie. Though he was tempted to laugh at the cute expression, Misha bit his tongue and held back.The object that came out hanging from the tip of his finger was a metal ring, beautifully shining with the blue light.Misha held it in his right hand and extended it towards the person in front of him. Then, he spoke the foreign words he had practiced for a long time.‘Yoon Chahyun.’The gaze fixed on the ring met Misha’s eyes.‘You are my light.’Misha didn’t look away from that gaze.‘Please marry me.’Yoon Chahyun usually gave everything when the word “please” was added. Misha wondered if this rule would apply this time as well. So, he quietly observed Chahyun’s face.However, Yoon Chahyun did not extend his hand even after a long time.Instead, he sat down in front of Misha, who was kneeling. The blue light spread across the water where they sat. Yoon Chahyun, bathed in the blue light, reached out and cupped Misha’s face in his hands. Then, with a furrowed brow, he replied.“Yes.”Ah, this is a word of affirmation.“Alright. Marriage. I will.”The words he had learned sporadically found their place and meaning. Yoon Chahyun had just agreed to marry Misha. With the simplest and clearest words, shedding all the torment. But before fully grasping that fact, he pressed his lips against Misha’s.Their salty and sweet lips lingered together for a while before slowly parting. Misha met Yoon Chahyun’s gaze, searching for his eyes. His eyes, which he had expected to be surprised or flustered, were unexpectedly damp.After looking into Misha’s eyes for a long time, he awkwardly extended his hand. It was an action he had never imagined would involve something being slipped onto his finger.For Misha, this was the first and last proposal. Misha took Yoon Chahyun’s left hand and found the fourth finger, sliding the ring onto it. Deeply, up to the end of the finger. As Chahyun looked at the ring, he whispered weakly, with a hint of a smile.“Misha, this… is a woman’s ring.”“Yes.”“It’s too beautiful…”The large diamond ring, cut with a cushion cut, was indeed a woman’s ring—slim and ornate. And it was something Misha had kept alone for a long time. Truly, to follow the owner’s request to give it when he found someone he loved wholeheartedly.Misha placed his lips on Chahyun’s finger and whispered quietly.“This belonged to our grandmother.”Yoon Chahyun’s face was one of speechless surprise this time. Seeing his dark eyes widen, Misha burst into laughter. Then he lifted Chahyun into his arms and stood up. The urgent embrace around his neck was so endearing that Misha’s laughter didn’t stop.Truly, someone to love with all his life.Embracing the warm body, Misha looked up at the sky. The blue starlight of dawn seemed to envelop the two of them, embracing their heads. It was the gaze that had always looked down on Misha’s life. The gaze that watched over the moment when Misha found someone to recognize his long loneliness, solitude, sorrow, and all of it.Amidst the warm embrace, their souls intertwined. Misha buried his face on Chahyun’s shoulder and took a breath. Amidst the sweet breath, countless words he had practiced echoed quietly in the air.You are my light.And my flame, my wave, my breath.Forever illuminating, heating, breaking, and sustaining my life…To you, who gave me a castle, I offer you my life.It was the distant dawn. It was a moment where it felt alright if his breath ceased right then. Behind the tightly embraced figures, a white light began to rise. The light pushed away the darkness, extinguished the blue light, and eventually illuminated the sea they had stepped upon with brilliance.In the world shining white, on the even more sparkling waves,The dawn broke.