Honjarado ((Open))

[Im Yong-soo]

Yong-soo stepped up to the receding water and waited until another wave came in, lapping up to his ankles. He sighed at the feeling of sand slipping away from beneath his bare feet as the water receded again. It really has been a while since been to the beach like this. It wasn’t as if he didn’t like the beach; he just preferred more rocky places. Places where sea life could be seen in various tidal pools before everything is swept away again at high tide.

It took a lot of pushing before he finally agreed to come here. His manager had to pry the guitar case out of his vice-like grip and drag him out from under the rock he was figuratively living beneath. “I swear, your lack of a social life is going to be the death of me one day,” he had said when Yong-soo walked into the studio that morning. “It’s a nice day out; go have fun. I’m commanding you to take this day off to go to the beach—or do I personally have to drag you there myself?” he asked once he saw the look on the young musician’s face. So, that was the end of the slightly one-sided argument, and Yong-soo was dragged off to the beach faster than he could say “ajusshi.”

Yong-soo waded into the cool water and was almost knocked over by an incoming wave. Laughing it off, he went further until the water was deep enough for him to swim. He took a deep breath and plunged under the surface. The pattern of the watery sunlight that shimmered onto the sandy ocean floor had an almost soothing effect on Yong-soo’s nerves. His head broke the surface once more and he was smiling, now glad that his manager forced him to the beach.

((The title was taken from the song “혼자라도 (Though I’m Alone)” by Epik High featuring Clazziquai. |DD I really thought that the little phone conversation at the beginning of the song sort of matched what Yong-soo might have felt about his manager taking him to the beach.
Song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLXcNAeVZTY
Lyrics: www.jazzholic.com/2008/09/06/epik-highs-%ED%98%BC%EC%9E%90%EB%9D%BC%EB%8F%84-though-alone-feat-clazziquai/

I’m studying for my driver’s license test so my next few replies might be a little delayed. xP))

[Roderich Edelstein]

Im-Yong-Soo, I hope you don't mind that I've adjusted my thread to become a reply to yours. Sorry, I had to write in a bit of your part at the end to make it work. It's just I've had my original event thread open for almost a month now and no reply, and you've had yours for almost two weeks and no reply, so I thought it'd be better for me to adjust mine to make it like a reply to yours, because two open reply-less event threads are just silly.
[Anyone wanting to jump in with us still can.]


Roderich was fuming in annoyance. He should be at his shop. He was currently missing a golden opportunity to be selling beach reads to all the people traveling to the beach, but instead he’d had to close down the shop (again), to take his grandparents to the beach. The shop had been closed more in the last 30 days than it had been open. He hoped he would be able to make it up in the next month to pay the bills.

He sighed and looked for a decent place to park himself for the next couple of hours. He gave a satisfied smirk though when he looked over to where his workaholic doctor father was helping his grandmother set up the umbrella they had rented. Well, he thought, at least I succeeded in getting him roped into coming too; which had been his mother’s whole goal when she called him and stated that he would be taking her Lowlander parent’s to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When he asked why she didn’t do it herself, she told him it was because his step-father was still recuperating and she needed to be home to look after him. Besides, she’d argued, it would also be good for his workaholic father to take a day off and rest and he was probably the only one that could convince him, especially if his father thought he was doing it for Roderich and her parents, whom he adored. Of course it worked since his mother’s plans usually succeeded.

Thus he was now here trying to find a small semi-quiet place on the beach away from the surf and out of the sun where he could read his book and try to pretend he wasn’t somewhere he despised. That’s not to say he hated the seaside, he actually loved the ocean, he just preferred being on a rocky coast or on a boat to enjoy it and not this overpopulated ‘recreational’ beach filled with swimmers, sunbathers and children running by screaming.

He finally spotted a slightly less populated corner of beach still within earshot of his family. It was closer to the sea than he would have liked, but he hoped his family would want to leave before the tide started to come in. He quickly laid out a blanket to claim his spot. Then he set up the beach umbrella that his father had in storage. He envied the people nearby in their beach chairs. He and his father had given their grandparents the little beach chairs they’d gotten one time for a rare family outing when Roderich had visited him as a child. Since then they’d been in storage, but now they were being put to good use so that his grandparents would be able to enjoy the beach comfortably without straining their backs. Ah well, he didn’t mind leaning on one arm to read. It just got tiring after awhile.

He sat down and applied sunblock to his nose, cheeks, forehead, ears, and back of the neck. He didn’t bother with anywhere else as he was wearing a light, long-sleeved, loose, white canvas shirt and pants and a wide brim straw farmer-style hat. He had canvas boat shoes that he soon slid off with his feet and then reached over and picked them up and carefully set them off to the side. That done, he pulled out the last two things from his bag, a metal water bottle and his book. He set the water bottle on top of the bag within arms-length and then propped himself up on one arm and started to read.

He quickly got so absorbed in his book that the time just flew by. He didn't even notice that the day had grown later or that the tide was now starting to come in until one of the swimmers came up near his spot dripping wet. Roderich thought he recognized him from earlier when he had walked by and set his stuff farther on down the beach in front of where Roderich had settled. At the time, Roderich simply made a brief note of it and then returned to his book.

This time however he had gotten Roderich's full attention, because he kept wandering past and around Roderich's area as if lost. Finally, he gave a little yelp and then made a dash out towards the little rocky outcropping a ways off to the right where a towel and bottle were currently being thrust against it with every tidal push.

He came back with an expression bordering between relief and frustration as he flopped down on the sand to the side of Roderich and looked dismally at his soggy towel. Roderich having seen the other's near misfortune had already started to pack up his things, readying for his move to higher ground. Currently in the process of folding up the beach towel he'd been laying on, he paused mid-fold and held it with his right hand in front of the swimmer's chin.

"Here, use this. Looks like you could use one at the moment."

[Im Yong-soo]

((Of course I don’t mind! I’ve become insanely bored from waiting. I even read an entire manga series just to help pass the time, so I’m happy with anything~))

Yong-soo had spent all his time floating in the ocean’s waters without caring about any worries that plagued him over the past few weeks. Here, his body felt weightless as if the waves had carried away his burdens one by one. However, he was jerked back to reality when a wave almost submerged his head underwater. He spluttered and flailed a bit until his body recovered from the slightly unexpected surprise. Taking that as a signal to head back to land, Yong-soo swam back in the direction of the beach, realizing that he was further out than he remembered.

Glad that he was finally able to step on land, Yong-soo immediately went to search for where he left his belongings. Yong-soo walked around and felt confused when he recognized the reading man from earlier. He was sure he’d left them around here somewhere… His eyes finally wandered to the rocks off to the side and recognized the towel as his own.

Yong-soo made a small noise and quickly went to retrieve it along with his bottle and sandals (thank God that they weren’t actual shoes, or he would’ve had to walk around barefoot for the rest of the day), but the damage had already been done. He went back to where the man was and sat, not caring about the sand that clung to his skin.

When the dry towel was offered to him, Yong soo looked up in surprise before he grinned and took it. “Thank you.”

[Roderich Edelstein]

Roderich looked dismayed as he finished packing and everything stuck haphazardly out of his small satchel. Honestly, why don't things fit back the same way you pack them on the second go around? He sighed inwardly as he pulled everything back at and attempted the task again.

He struck up a conversation with the young swimmer next to him as he worked and waited for the young man to finish with his towel.

"Busy day to come for a swim. What prompted you to come to the beach today or do you come here often in the summer to swim? I've only been here a couple of times as a child myself. But it's my grandparents first time coming to The Beach. I sincerely hope that they are enjoying it. Either way, I'll find out when I meet up with them and my father later."

He paused as he finished adding the last item to the little satchel. He nodded satisfied to see that everything fit in place now. He glanced over and nodded a few times as he listened to the other man's response. Setting the satchel aside, he moved from kneeling to sitting down with his chin resting on his hand and his elbow on his knee.

"So did you end up coming alone or did you come with someone else?" Roderich asked

[Im Yong-soo]

Yong-soo cracked a smile. “I don’t spend much time at the beach. I was actually forced here by my manager. He cares a bit too much about how I choose to spend my life. To me he’s like a second father; he’s always telling me that music isn’t all I should live for.” He handed the towel back to the man.

Yong-soo watched as he placed it back in his satchel and sat back when he asked another question. “My manager came here with me but left when he made sure I wasn’t going to run back to the studio. I guess he had some work to do…” He shrugged and stood. “We should get to higher ground. The tide’s coming in pretty quickly, isn’t it?”

((Sorry, I'm sick. :( I should be better soon... *consumed a bag of 50 cough drops in just 12 days* |DD))

[Roderich Edelstein]

Roderich looked at the incoming waves and decided that would be a very good suggestion. "Yes, it is. Shall we go? I'm Roderich by the way." He held out his hand in greeting to the other young man.

He then picked up his bag and turned to get the umbrella, but the young swimmer had already folded in the umbrella and tucked it under his arm.

Roderich gave him an appreciative smile. “Oh! Thank you.” They started walking farther up the beach away from the waves.

“I understand, it was either music or books for me. I was never really an outdoorsy sort of child. My stepfather was the one who used to chide me to get outside now and again. But now I own a bookstore and play the piano on Saturday nights to pay my bills. I think I came out just fine and didn’t suffer any calamity for the lack of extra sunshine.” Roderich paused and laughed before continuing, “Then again his advice must have finally sunk in, because I usually like to get out and take a walk around the city when I close down for lunch.”

He glanced at the time and figured that he ought to get something to eat before it got much later. He started heading up toward the rental stand to turn the umbrella back in.

“I think I’ll just turn the umbrella in now and grab a bite to eat at the boardwalk, since it’s getting late. Would you care to join me since it doesn't look like you'll be able to do much more swimming now? I would like to know more about what styles of music you are into. I do like to talk shop with other musicians having grown up around them."


[Sorry, the month got away from me. I didn't realize I still hadn't replied to this until I was on checking the other day. Please forgive me!]

[Im Yong-soo]

Yong-soo smiled and shook Roderich’s hand. “I’m Yong-soo,” he said and then went to fold up the umbrella and tuck it under his arm. “Oh, it’s no problem.” ((omg, I had to fight the urge to put a smiley face there… This is what RPing on Tumblr does to you…))

As they walked up the beach, Yong-soo nodded every once in a while to show that he was listening. He liked hearing about people’s stories when they were willingly shared; he sincerely wanted to learn more about everyone he meets. It gives people more of a personality versus the way you would initially see them without the knowledge. He isn’t the type of person who likes to judge people according to appearances.

“Sure! I don’t have anything else to do, so I’ll be happy to join,” Yong-soo answered. “Types of music? I listen to almost anything, really. I know, it’s probably one of the most vague answers to give someone but it’s true.”

((It's okay! I had to work on summer homework then xDD))