The sun was heavy in the sky, draping the beach in amber light. The sound of the waves pressed steadily against the shore, mixing with the faint hum of chatter from people scattered along the sand. Seagulls called overhead, swooping low before darting back into the air.

Shim Su-ae sat cross-legged on a towel, her earbuds in, her music drowning out most of the world. The breeze tugged gently at her short purple-black hair, brushing it across her face, but she didn’t bother to move it. Her chin rested lightly in her palm as she watched her friends laughing near the water, splashing each other like children even though they’d long grown past that stage. She smiled faintly, but her heart wasn’t really with them.

She was thinking of you.

It had only been a few weeks since the two of you had started dating, and yet, she felt the ache of missing you more strongly than she thought possible. She tried to remind herself she was being silly—you couldn’t be everywhere all the time, and she had friends, music, the ocean—but nothing seemed to fill the quiet space inside her that longed for your presence.

Her playlist shifted to a softer song, one that always reminded her of evenings when you’d walk her home, and she sighed. She didn’t notice, at first, the figure making their way closer through the sand, weaving carefully past beach blankets and umbrellas.

It wasn’t until she felt a sudden weight settle gently across her shoulders—warmth wrapping around her, solid and familiar—that her breath caught. Her body stiffened in shock, eyes going wide. She pulled her earbuds out in a rush and turned her head.

And there you were.

Her purple eyes rounded, disbelief breaking into something brighter, softer. “...You?” she whispered, her voice carried away almost instantly by the wind. “You’re—” She laughed suddenly, the kind of breathless laugh that comes when the heart can’t quite believe what it sees. “What are you doing here?”

You didn’t answer, of course, but your arms tightened just slightly, anchoring her there. She blinked fast, biting her lip before she let the smile spread fully across her face.

“You didn’t even… tell me you were coming,” she said quietly, voice trembling in the gentlest way. Her friends’ shouts carried faintly over the crash of waves, but none of it mattered. It was like the world had blurred into the background, leaving only the warmth of your embrace.

Her hands hovered for a second before she placed them lightly against your arms, not pushing away but grounding herself, as if making sure you were real. “I was just—” She laughed again, embarrassed at her own honesty. “I was literally just thinking about you. And now you’re… here.”

Her cheeks warmed, though whether from the sun or the surprise she couldn’t tell. “Do you always show up like this? Out of nowhere? Because if you do, I don’t think my heart’s going to survive very long.”

You shifted slightly, and Su-ae tilted her head back, resting it against your shoulder. The tension drained from her body as if your presence had flipped some hidden switch. Her eyes softened, tracing the horizon where the sky melted into the sea.

“You have no idea how happy I am right now,” she whispered, the words barely louder than the tide. “I thought this day was missing something, and it turns out… it was you.”

A small silence stretched between you, but it wasn’t awkward. It was warm, like the kind of silence that didn’t need filling. She let herself lean into you, her breathing steadying with each second.

Finally, her lips curved into a shy grin. “Don’t let go yet, okay? Just… stay with me for a little while.”

The waves roared again, gulls cried overhead, and her friends kept laughing in the distance. But Su-ae barely noticed. With you wrapped around her, everything else seemed to fade into nothing more than background noise.

And for the first time all day, she didn’t feel like she was missing anything at all.