DH ✦ Ch 41

✦ Chapter 41 ✦

The entire drive to Eulwang-ri on the west coast, one of the beaches closest to Seoul, Ga-young was visibly excited. A bright smile never left her face as she gazed out the window.

They arrived at the beach in less than an hour. Hyun-jae parked the car close enough to the shore that he could reach the sand with a single step.

The beach had only recently opened for the season, and because it was already late at night, the sandy shore was quiet and nearly deserted. Beyond it, the sea at high tide rippled gently, while a vast expanse of deep-blue sky stretched across the surface of the water.

Ga-young leaned her head out the car window and exclaimed,

“Wow! This is my first time at the West Sea.”

When she turned back, her face was as clear and bright as a young girl’s.

“Shall we go out?”

Hyun-jae responded indifferently.

He didn’t mind looking at the sea, but he had no particular interest in playing on a beach. It was only July, thankfully. He had never gone anywhere near the crowded beaches of August.

“I’ll go later.”

Ga-young interpreted his refusal however she pleased.

“You’ve been driving for a long time, so you probably need to rest. Just stay here and rest for a little while.”

She stepped out of the car and looked around before walking toward the sea.

Hyun-jae closed the window to keep out the humid air and leaned his head against the seatback.

What he saw was her back.

Her thin dress and half-tied hair swayed gently against the yellow sand. Her steps were slow and leisurely, as though she were enjoying the mild sea breeze and salty scent. She eventually stopped in the middle of the beach.

Ga-young crouched down and took off her shoes. Apparently, the sand inside them had been making it difficult to walk.

Once she was barefoot, she hooked the shoes over her fingers and suddenly began to run.

It was a run that seemed to carry an audible cry of delight.

She didn’t stop until the water reached the tips of her feet.

“She really is still a kid.”

Hyun-jae shook his head, thinking how childish she was.

But gradually, he found himself absorbed in the little movie playing within the frame of the car window.

Tiny footprints were scattered all over the wet sand.

Then Ga-young stretched both arms wide and began walking along the boundary between the sea and the beach. She carefully placed one foot in front of the other as though walking on a tightrope, but suddenly tilted toward the water.

She flapped her arms like a bird’s wings and managed to straighten herself, but apparently her ankles had already been submerged.

She lifted one foot and brushed the sand off it with her hand, then began stomping on the seawater as though taking out her frustration.

There must have been even more sand covering her feet than before, but instead of brushing it away, she took another step into the sea.

Soon, as though she had made up her mind, she ran into the water.

She went in until the water reached halfway up her calves, then quickly turned around and fled from the waves.

Then she did it again.

And again.

“She knows how to entertain herself.”

Hyun-jae rested his chin on the steering wheel and smiled.

Ga-young, who had been running around like a puppy let loose on the beach, suddenly changed direction.

She ran all the way back to the car. Breathing heavily, she waved both hands toward him.

Come out! Come on!

Her gestures seemed to be urging him on. It was impossible not to respond.

Hyun-jae reluctantly stepped out of the car.

The air that ruffled his hair was warm and humid, yet refreshing. The breeze brushing his lips tasted salty.

As he approached her, Ga-young smiled brightly.

“We came all this way. You can’t just stay in the car.”

“Just watching isn’t so bad.”

“No, it is.”

She gently tugged at his shirt sleeve.

She could have simply taken his hand. Why was she being so timid?

Hyun-jae pulled her small hand down and enveloped it in his larger one. Ga-young flinched, then her expression immediately brightened.

“Let’s go.”

Their footsteps fell side by side across the damp sand.

Before long, Hyun-jae transferred the shoes in Ga-young’s other hand into his own. The little crooked smile that appeared on her lips made his chest feel strangely ticklish.

This was nice enough.

Just walking together in the breeze.

But Ga-young kept leaning toward the sea.

After a while, her bare feet were walking through the water while Hyun-jae’s shoes remained on the sand.

He glanced at her little feet covered in sand and clicked his tongue with a laugh. Perhaps encouraged by his laughter, Ga-young mischievously kicked the water, splashing him.

“Don’t. It’ll be a hassle if you get your clothes dirty.”

Ga-young shrank her neck after being scolded, but only for that moment.

Again, she kicked the salty water and sand, splattering his slacks.

Ah.

Hyun-jae frowned and gave her a stern look.

Ga-young’s cheerful expression immediately stiffened.

“I’m sorry.”

Hyun-jae wondered if he had been too harsh and gently rubbed the back of their clasped hands with his thumb.

“I just like walking.”

“Yeah.”

Their leisurely walk resumed.

They occasionally avoided other people, paused briefly to watch children building sandcastles, and enjoyed the soft sound of the waves.

Ga-young had been quiet for a while, but there was nothing unpleasant about her expression.

As she gazed at the distant sea with a peaceful smile, Hyun-jae casually asked,

“This is your first time in the West Sea. Have you been to the East Sea often?”

Ga-young’s gaze briefly shifted toward him before returning to the front. Her answer came in a gentle voice.

“Not that often. I’ve been to Sokcho Beach a couple of times.”

“When was the last time you went to the sea?”

“I think it was five years ago.”

He couldn’t understand.

New York was an island.

“You’ve never been to any of the beaches in New York?”

“I passed by the ocean fairly often, but I never had time to go to a beach.”

“Why?”

“Um…”

The atmosphere seemed to have loosened the guard she normally kept firmly in place.

“I was working part-time. During semesters, I had two jobs. During breaks, I had four. Sometimes even more.”

“What kind of jobs?”

“I washed dishes in the student cafeteria. I did that for all three years. I was an assistant on the school’s event technical team, an ambassador for the international student office, a library monitor, a tutor at the Education Resource Center, a counselor at a summer camp for high school students… things like that.”

Ga-young spoke while keeping her eyes on the distant scenery.

She had done almost every kind of job permitted to an international student on an F-1 visa.

In other words, she had worked wherever she could.

Hyun-jae felt sorry for her.

With such a delicate body, she had taken on so many jobs and still maintained grades near the top of her department.

She had really worked hard to live her life.

Yoon Ga-young.

“I’m still nowhere near you, who joined GB Group when you were a third-year university student.”

The words slipped out without much thought.

Clever.

Hyun-jae immediately understood that she was trying to steer the conversation away from herself.

He considered ignoring it and asking more questions, but before he could, her small hand slipped out of his.

Ga-young suddenly dashed forward.

She ran through the shallow water, scattering droplets in every direction, and quickly moved several yards away.

Then she stopped abruptly, turned around, and smiled.

“Come on!”

Hyun-jae let out an incredulous little laugh and walked slowly toward her.

When he came within a meter of her, she turned around and ran again.

Part of him didn’t want to indulge this childish game. Another part found it unexpectedly enjoyable.

With both feelings existing simultaneously, Hyun-jae followed her path.

“Shin Hyun-jae, come on!”

Ga-young called him by a name she normally never used and scampered away.

After repeating the game several times, Hyun-jae suddenly felt a strange ache in his chest.

Had Yoon Ga-young always been this cheerful?

The woman before him tonight wasn’t the Ga-young who habitually shrank into herself as though she were constantly trying to make herself smaller.

She was an intellectually curious student.

A sociable and confident woman.

A pure and vibrant young woman.

That seemed to be the essence of twenty-three-year-old Yoon Ga-young.

“It’s summer.”

The word lingered at the end of his smile because she seemed to overlap with the season itself.

Yoon Ga-young was summer.

She was living through the most passionate period of her life. She might have the appearance of a clear spring, a composed autumn, or a bitter winter, but more than anything, she resembled a woman who was alive with the vitality of summer.

Hyun-jae stood still and took in the woman before him.

Ga-young stood some distance away, directly in front of him. Her long hair and the hem of her dress fluttered in the sea breeze.

She smiled at him, revealing her neat teeth.

It was the prettiest smile he had ever seen from her.

Then she began walking backward at an angle.

One step.

Then another.

Her slow retreat was leading her toward deeper water.

“I’m going in until you come catch me.”

She was determined to drag Hyun-jae into the water, even if it meant throwing herself into it.

Their eyes were connected by an invisible thread.

The light in Ga-young’s irises shimmered brightly as she looked at him. Her gaze never wavered.

Even as the seawater continued to rise, her beautiful smile did not fade.

Her sand-covered ankles disappeared beneath the surface.

Then her calves.

Then her knees.

The hem of her dress became soaked and clung to her legs.

The seawater swallowing her was dark.

The jewel-like vitality of summer was immersed in black water beneath the dim sky.

Watching the woman retreat while smiling so innocently, Hyun-jae thought:

I want to become the sun reflected in your summer.

I want to drive away your darkness, dye your sea blue, and warm your earth with my heat.

So whatever obstacle is holding back your passion, I will knock it down.

So that you can always smile like this.

So that your abundant vitality can fully bloom.

“I’m really not stopping!”

Ga-young, now submerged up to her thighs, threw him one last challenge.

Hyun-jae willingly stepped into the sea.

Having stubbornly achieved what she wanted, Ga-young stopped instead of going any farther.

Just then, a fairly large wave rolled in from the distance.

Whoosh—crash!

Unable to see the wave approaching from behind, Ga-young was caught completely off guard and staggered.

Hyun-jae quickly grabbed both her arms and steadied her.

Unlike Hyun-jae, whose pants were merely wet, Ga-young had taken the full force of the wave and was a complete mess.

“Aah…”

Ga-young wiped her stinging eyes with her palm, clearing away the saltwater, and looked up.

“I did it.”

She looked like a drenched puppy, yet she grinned happily.

Hyun-jae gazed affectionately at her innocent smile.

“Let’s go now.”

“Where?”

Even in response to such a foolish question, he remained gentle.

“Let’s go home.”