Chapter 38: The Unfazed Dawn

Time, relentless in its march, flows on no matter how much one suffers. As if to cruelly prove this point, the sun had risen once more. Watching it, I felt a familiar ache. Double line breaks between paragraphs are crucial for readability.

Cruelly.

Shaking off the sleep that had stubbornly eluded me, I rose at once and pulled back the curtains. Though it was still close to dawn, the world outside was already bathed in light. The sky, devoid of even a single cloud, stretched serenely above.

*Ring, ring.*

The alarm I had set earlier began to chime. I picked up my phone and silenced all the subsequent alarms I had prepared. I had set many, just in case, but today such precautions were unnecessary. I had barely slept a wink.

I showered and dressed more quickly than usual. When I finished preparing and checked the clock, it was only eight in the morning. Though it was an early hour, I knew I had to leave.

After all, some madman had once again declared our meeting time for 8 AM.

[Han Jung-woo: Tomorrow 8 AM]

‘Just how far could human audacity stretch?’ This notification from Han Jung-woo, arriving well past midnight, ignited a rather serious internal debate.

Given that our last exchange had been fraught with tension, each of us baring our fangs, intent on inflicting some wound, I had assumed we would maintain a distance for a while. At least for a single day. Yet, he had splendidly shattered my expectations.

‘Was he truly unfazed by it all?’

I certainly was not. Every time my gaze fell upon those two characters, ‘tomorrow,’ so deeply etched into the message, a profound sigh involuntarily escaped my lips.

“Who is this ‘Jung’ person?”

Would he ever understand that a seemingly innocent query could, at times, inflict a profound wound on someone? No, he wouldn’t. Han Jung-woo was precisely that sort of man.

I wondered if, upon our meeting tomorrow, he would relentlessly press me about Seon Woo-jung once more. Despite my cold demarcation, Han Jung-woo was not one to retreat at a mere boundary.

He was unpredictably fickle, yet, conversely, his obsession could be unsettlingly strong. Thus, hoping that the curiosity he had displayed yesterday would prove transient, I sent him the expected reply.

[Yes, see you tomorrow.]

The only items I needed to take with me were my wallet and phone. Truthfully, carrying my wallet felt unnecessary, but I slipped it into my pocket as a precaution.

As I pushed open the substantial door, my gaze immediately locked with Han Jung-woo’s, who had been waiting for me just beyond the threshold. He straightened his body, which had been casually propped against the wall, then glanced at his wristwatch and offered a faint, knowing smile.

“You’re not late today.”

The moment I beheld his usual relaxed and unbearably smug expression, yesterday’s demeanor having vanished without a trace, I knew with certainty. Han Jung-woo was utterly unconcerned with the events of the previous day.

‘So, it seems I was the only one who cared.’

A bitter, self-deprecating laugh escaped me. Up until the very instant I opened the door, I had been agonizing over what sort of countenance to present to Han Jung-woo, and even that now seemed utterly foolish.

Still, if he was indeed brushing aside yesterday’s events so casually, it likely meant he wouldn’t inquire about Seon Woo-jung either. That, at least, was a small mercy.

“Let’s go.”

Forgoing any morning pleasantries, we headed directly for the lobby. The front desk staff offered us breezy greetings, but Han Jung-woo, as was his custom, simply ignored them. I, in turn, offered a curt nod.

‘Another new car, then.’

The car awaiting us was a different vehicle from any I had seen him drive before. A sudden thought struck me: how many cars had Han Jung-woo brought to this place, considering his stay here was meant to be so fleeting?

His initial stay for the conference had been a mere week. That was followed by another week, extended ostensibly for vacation, but more likely to vex me.

In a span of just two weeks, I had already observed three different cars belonging to Han Jung-woo. I was the one who had left, determined to live a life of ostentatious wealth, yet it seemed I would struggle to outdo him.

“Get in.”

Han Jung-woo accepted the key from the attendant and made a curt gesture with his chin. As I followed him into the driver’s seat, opening the door to the cramped interior, a predictably cloying fragrance immediately enveloped me.

It was entirely Han Jung-woo’s pheromones.

‘It’s suffocatingly potent.’

Holding my breath, I immediately cranked down the window as soon as I was seated. With the car stationary, very little fresh air permeated the interior, but I knew it would improve once we started moving.

“Where are we going today?”

“Hmm, somewhere nice, perhaps?”

It was an utterly meaningless, evasive reply. Stifling the surge of irritation within me, I posed my next question.

“Around what time do you plan to return?”

“Probably around 8 PM?”

With only ambiguous responses until the very end, our conversation ground to a halt. Meanwhile, the car, which had initially departed slowly, accelerated swiftly as soon as we left the resort.

As we sped along the tranquil coastal road, a refreshing breeze streamed in through the fully opened window. My meticulously styled hair was undoubtedly ruined, but it mattered not.

Dispel Han Jung-woo’s pervasive scent from the car was far more important.

“You know today is the last day, right?”

Just in case he had conveniently forgotten, I made sure to imprint the fact upon him once more. He was momentarily silent, then replied as he smoothly turned the steering wheel.

“As if I wouldn’t know.”

****

The car, which had traveled for an extended period, gradually began to decelerate.

I had lapsed into a brief slumber due to exhaustion, but Han Jung-woo’s announcement of our arrival jolted me awake. Straightening my slightly reclined seat, I gazed out the window to find the sea stretching before us.

While it bore no significant difference from the sea visible from the resort, this spot was virtually deserted, remarkably tranquil. I instantly grasped Han Jung-woo’s reason for bringing us here.

“Aren’t you getting out?”

He had already alighted from the car and was patiently waiting for me. I swiftly unbuckled my seatbelt and stepped outside, whereupon he gave a slight nod of his chin.

A soft click. The car locked.

We ambled along the shoreline. Initially, we walked side by side, but as I imperceptibly reduced my speed, a distance of a few paces soon opened between us.

I had anticipated Han Jung-woo would turn back momentarily, yet he continued to walk ahead without a word. Following behind him, I eventually succumbed to boredom and simply halted in my tracks.

‘All seas are monotonously similar, aren’t they?’

For the past several months, the sea was all I had seen, and I was sick of it. While the quiet was pleasant, a spot like this could easily be found just a short distance from the resort.

Having no particular desire to walk at the moment, I didn’t call out to the receding Han Jung-woo and instead squatted on the sand.

I was intently carving meaningless scribbles into the ground with a stiffly extended index finger when a shadow fell over me. I looked up to see Han Jung-woo, who I thought had gone far ahead, now standing there.

He was observing my idle doodles on the sand with a rather serious gaze. Had I not told him they were just meaningless scribbles, he probably would have continued to stare at them.

He wasn’t an idiot.

“Let’s sit for a bit.”

“Here?”

“Well, the view of the sea is nice from here.”

He surveyed the surroundings with a sweeping glance, then removed the thin shirt he was wearing. He wasn’t entirely shirtless, as he had a T-shirt underneath, but the thin fabric still revealed his well-defined physique.

Without hesitation, he spread his discarded shirt onto the sand. He then sat down on the shockingly expensive shirt and patted the spot next to him. It was an invitation to sit.

Normally, I wouldn’t have gone, but my squatting legs were beginning to ache. Feigning reluctance, I went and sat on the very edge of the shirt.

“Does this place not appeal to you?”

Han Jung-woo asked, his arm stretched behind him to brace his body. I brushed the sand from my hands and replied with a nonchalant expression.

“Well, it’s the sea, isn’t it?”

I refrained from adding, ‘The same sea we can see from the resort.’ After all, Han Jung-woo was the one who had driven all this way, not me.

“I thought you’d like it, being quiet.”

“I don’t necessarily like everything that’s quiet.”

Perhaps my reaction was far from what he expected, for he fell silent. I considered offering a polite, insincere compliment, given the effort he’d made to drive us here, but then decided against it.

We wouldn’t be seeing each other in a few hours anyway, so why bother with such trivialities? Besides, I was never very good at that sort of thing.

‘Sand got in.’

My fingertip had felt irritating, and indeed, sand was lodged beneath my index fingernail. I was pondering how to remove the barely visible grains when another hand suddenly appeared and took mine.

My hand was helplessly pulled, and a warm breath wafted over it. Han Jung-woo was blowing air onto the sand-embedded nail.

The not-so-gentle gust of air quickly dislodged the foreign sensation beneath my nail. However, the warmth of his touch, which had replaced the sand, did not easily fade. Instead, it grew steadily hotter.

“Then, will you tell me? What it is you like, Yoo Seo-jin?”

Han Jung-woo asked, releasing my hand. I knew, rationally, that I should draw a line, that we weren’t the type of people to ask and answer such questions.

But what escaped my trembling lips was an entirely different response, delivered in a voice that was disgracefully shaky.

“Why are you curious about that?”

“I told you. I’m curious about you, Yoo Seo-jin.”

At first glance, it seemed like the same words he had spoken days ago, but their meaning had completely shifted. Back then, a deep suspicion had colored his words, but now… it was different.

“I thought I’d given you ample opportunity.”

‘Or not,’ Han Jung-woo muttered to himself, then leaned in deeply. Startled by the sudden proximity, I tried to pull back, but a firm arm around my waist held me immobile.

His eyes, like the fathomless night sea, were directly before me. In their depths, I saw my own bewildered reflection, shimmering like waves.

“If you dislike it, move away.”

When his words ended, Han Jung-woo slowly began to count. One, two, three. Having given me ample time to escape, he slowly tilted his head and drew closer. Then, our lips met.