"Come on, Eun, let's go back to mom and dad, alright?" Yeosang says, keeping his hand on his younger brother, Eunsang's, back.

"They're playing again," Eunsang says excitedly, pointing at the group of boys playing beach volleyball by their blanket where their parents are.

Yeosang glances over at the game that's going on and nods, "They always play so seriously, huh?"

Eunsang pouts and sits down on the blanket with their mother, nuzzling into her side, "I wanna play with them!" He whines.

Their mother hugs onto Eunsang, "Come on my little Eunnie, do you want to take a nap with dad?" She smiles down at her son, rubbing his head and motioning towards the little beach tent they set up so they're able to get out of the sun. The last thing they want is for anyone to get sunburned, especially Eunsang.

Eunsang hums and stands back up all wobbly, walking towards the tent, "Daddy~" He giggles and jumps onto him.

Yeosang digs through the beach bag he brought with him for the day, pulling out the book he's been reading the past few days at the beach. He lays back in one of the sunning chairs they set up when they first arrived, pushing his sunglasses up to shield his eyes from the bright light beaming down on him.

Every few minutes or so, Yeosang can't help himself from stealing glances towards the boys playing volleyball. Since they first arrived, these boys have always set up in the same spot to play their little game and Yeosang and his family have always set up beside them. He's always wanted to ask to play, but he didn't want to intrude since they seem like they're all friends with each other. Yeosang wouldn't want to be the one stranger to ask to join in on their match.

Yeosang is so happy that his family agreed with his choice of spending his last summer before college at the beach. This beach holds fond memories for Yeosang since he's been coming here ever since he was little, and it makes him happy to see his little brother Eunsang enjoying it as much as he did, and still is.

Yeosang's family has grown so used to coming to the beach ever since his father's father gave them access to their beach house that's down here every summer.

Yeosang sighs, his mind becoming distracted from his book as he catches himself zoning out while looking at the volleyball game and thinking about his future ahead of himself with college. He can't hide that he's nervous about the whole situation, which is another reason why he chose the beach. It's always been so relaxing to him.

He begins to pay more attention to the volleyball game, putting his bookmark in his book before setting it down. There's this one boy that Yeosang's eyes have been drawn to ever since their arrival. He really wishes to talk to him since he seems like such a fun person. Yeosang really needs more people like that in his life. He could probably help Yeosang play volleyball better, too. The boy seemed to be quite skilled in that department, and even when he wasn't the one playing, he always cheers everyone else on.

It's admirable and Yeosang wishes he had the courage to go up and talk to him.

Yeosang continues to watch the game for a little while before his parents take Eunsang back down to the water to play with him, leaving Yeosang alone on the beach blanket.

Ring

Ring

Ring

Yeosang instantly perks up when he hears the ringing of the ice cream truck music start playing up by the boardwalk. Yeosang stands up, deciding to surprise Eunsang when he comes back up to the blanket with an ice cream. He turns to walk up to the boardwalk, being one of the first in line to buy.

Yeosang decides to get him one of those strawberry shortcake ones, remembering how he's always pointing them out when they're at the grocery store back home.

He's almost back to the beach blanket when he hears a yell and someone yell back, "Got it!" when he gets knocked into, falling into the sand knees first, the ice cream taking a plunge straight into the sand and getting ruined. Whoever bumped into him falls over his back, landing in front of Yeosang on the sand.

"Hey!" Yeosang yells angrily, upset that the ice cream he just purchased for Eunsang is now all dirty and completely inedible. He looks up to the boy who bumped him getting up, wiping his knees free of sand before immediately starting to apologize once he sees the ice cream.

"I'm so sorry, oh my gosh," The boy says in a heartfelt way, pressing his palms together in a begging way, "I am really so sorry, I wasn't looking when I was backing up. Please let me buy you a new ice cream."

Yeosang's eyes instantly soften when he sees it's the boy he's been admiring for the last week. The volleyball player. He gets a bit distracted with the situation but is brought back when the boy mentions the ice cream, "No, no. It's okay, I'll just go buy another," He says, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Please, it'll be my treat. My name is Jung Wooyoung, let me fix this, yeah?" He looks at Yeosang with pleading eyes, rubbing the back of his head since the whole circumstances are quite embarrassing, to say the least. He's sure a few of the beach-goers' eyes are on them wondering what happened.

Yeosang chuckles, brushing the sand from his knees before he bends down to pick up the ruined ice cream, "Well, Jung Wooyoung, I guess I can't say no to free ice cream, right?" He smiles, wiggling the ruined one in his hand to throw it away when they get back up to the boardwalk.

"I think you would be crazy not to," Wooyoung states, smiling playfully with the boy he just met, "Come on, let's go..." He trails off as if to ask for Yeosang's name.

"Yeosang. Kang Yeosang," He hums as they both walk up towards the boardwalk, seeing the ice cream truck still parked in the same spot.

"Kang," Wooyoung smirks, "I like it. It would be a nice name to call out in a game," He thinks, looking back at his friends still continuing the game of volleyball without him when they saw him go off with Yeosang. Wooyoung gives them a wave and a giant smile.

Yeosang hums, "Well, just Yeosang is fine..."

"Just Yeosang," Wooyoung teases, "Alright, just Yeosang, what kind of ice cream would you like?" He asks once they reach the truck.

Yeosang looks at the pictures of the ice creams they have. He originally got that ice cream for his little brother, but since Wooyoung is paying, he might as well get this one for himself. He will make sure to get Eunsang one before they head back.

Yeosang groans at the teasing from the new boy, "I'll take one of the ice cream cookies."

Wooyoung fake sighs, "It's like you want me to go broke. Tsk tsk, just Yeosang. Shame on you, sir," He pokes Yeosang's chest and then reveals a smirk to show he's just messing around.

Wooyoung turns back to the ice cream truck server, "I'll take one ice cream cookie and one of those weird Spongebob ones."

The server nods and goes to the back and comes back with both of their ice creams, handing the cookie to Yeosang and the Spongebob one to Wooyoung. The two boys walk over to sit on one of the benches facing the beach together before they unwrap their treats.

Yeosang holds back a snort when he looks at Wooyoung's, "Yours looks like something straight out of one of my nightmares."

Wooyoung smiles proudly, "Well, I like him," he says before taking a large lick up the whole thing, moving the face around even more, "I think it likes me too," He laughs.

Yeosang's cheeks heat up at the actions of the new boy, "Gosh, are you always like this?"

"You'll get used to it," Wooyoung says with a big smile still glued to his face.

Yeosang shakes his head, "You know that ice cream I was holding back there was supposed to be for my little brother, not for me?" Yeosang reveals, sitting there as he happily eats his ice cream cookie. It's been so long since he's had one of these, he's glad he actually asked for it.

Wooyoung's eyes widen mid-bite, looking over at Yeosang, "Why didn't you say anything? I'll get him one too, then. What does he like?" Wooyoung asks.

Does this boy ever stop smiling? Yeosang thinks to himself, still a bit shocked at Wooyoung's wanting to buy his little brother an ice cream as well.

"I originally got him one of those strawberry shortcake ones. He always talks about them," Yeosang says as he finishes up his ice cream cookie.

"Hmm... I'd say the Kang's have pretty good taste then," he winks at Yeosang before getting up and buying the strawberry shortcake ice cream for his little brother. On his way back to the bench where he was sitting with Yeosang, he sees his friends walking up the beach with all of their things packed up.

"Come on, Wooyoung, we're going to go shower and get ready to go on the boardwalk later," One of the taller boys says.

Wooyoung nods and sits down, "I'll be right there, guys."

Yeosang smiles and gives the group of boys a wave before his attention is brought back to Wooyoung.

"Do you want to come with us this evening? On the boardwalk, I mean," Wooyoung asks, his cheerful smile still spread across his face while he hands Yeosang the ice cream for his brother.

Yeosang thinks for a moment, his eyes glancing back to the beach where his family is, "I'll have to ask my parents first," He starts, knowing he sounds kind of lame, "We're supposed to be spending time together before I head off to college and everything," He continues, realizing the more he speaks, the more it sounds like an excuse not to go with the new boy he just met.

"Hey, I'm here with my friends to celebrate us going off to college, too!" Wooyoung says excitedly, "We all split the cost of a beach house and are here for the whole summer!"

"We are too," Yeosang says in a quieter voice.

Wooyoung stands up, not taking his eyes off of Yeosang, "Well, just Yeosang, it seems like we will be seeing a lot of each other anyway. If your parents do say yes, though..." His smile spreads from ear to ear, "We always meet up on Thursdays at 31st Street," Wooyoung explains, pointing further down the boardwalk.

Yeosang nods, his heart pounding at the thought of having new friends to have fun and spend the summer with, "31st Street, got it."

"Even if you're not able to come this time, we'd love it if you came next week or the week after next. We usually meet at around five so we can walk further down and find a place to eat before continuing the rest of the length. Did you know this boardwalk is five miles long?" Wooyoung rambles.

Yeosang chuckles, liking how excited the boy gets when he speaks. He's just like how he thought he'd be, Yeosang thinks. He nods, standing up, "I'll see you later, Wooyoung."

Wooyoung starts walking after his friends, turning around to wave at Yeosang, "I hope so!" He calls out before turning back around and running to catch up with his group.

Yeosang watches longingly at the boy and his friends, seeing Wooyoung playfully jump onto one of their backs. He covers his face to laugh before turning around and heading back onto the beach to go give Eunsang the ice cream Wooyoung had bought him.

Yeosang can't seem to wipe the smile off of his face on his way back to the blanket. He looks down at the ice cream and hums to himself. Yeosang knows that he wants to pay him back someday. He can feel a real friendship brewing between the two of them.

End of Chapter One