Stranger

After getting some fresh air, we headed back to the car. We decided to have lunch, and the restaurant we had looked up in advance was nearby. The first floor of the restaurant had seating on the terrace, which offered a view of the ocean.

The restaurant looked the same with the pictures. The whole white and blue facade gave it a cool feel. We took our seats on the terrace. The sun wasn’t scorching and there was a nice breeze.

The staff brought us the menu, and we ordered noodle soup with octopus, abalone guts fried rice, and black pork tonkatsu. The drinks were served beforehand, and I drank mine when something touched my foot. I immediately looked down and froze. A small cat rubbed its cheek against my leg. Yeon Woojeong followed me to look down and giggled.

“You’ve been chosen.”

It was a yellow-striped cat. I moved my foot away, hoping it would leave quickly, and it looked up at me and mewed.

“Why did you do that? You’re making it upset.”

“It’s underfoot and dangerous.”

Yeon Woojeong smirked, reached down, and whistled. The cat turned its head at the sound and reached for his hand. He tickled its chin with his fingertips. The cat yawned, accepting his touch, and then scurried away.

“Mr. Yeon, have you raised a pet?”

“No.”

“But you’re good at handling them.”

“Well, it’s all the same.”

He nudged my foot under the table. I looked down to see what he was doing and saw that he was grazing my shoe with his. I trapped his foot with both feet.

Before long, the food was served. I thought one of the dishes would be bad, but they were all delicious. I stuffed my mouth full of tonkatsu, chewed, then looked at Yeon Woojeong and asked.

“Is it good?”

Yeon Woojeong spooned some fried rice and raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

I asked because I was wondering if all the dishes were just for me, but I was glad to hear he enjoyed them. I nodded and he smiled.

Yeon Woojeong ate moderately, put his cutlery down, propped his chin up, and watched me eat.

“Can I take your pictures?”

“But I’m eating?”

“It’s cute.”

“… Do whatever you want.”

He picked up his phone and took a picture of me eating, then he chuckled to himself. Sometimes I could never understand what made him laugh like that. He was someone who liked it when I ate something spicy and felt spicy, or when I woke up with the hem of my pants folded in on itself.

When I had almost emptied my plate, Yeon Woojeong’s phone rang. He got up and went outside to the terrace to answer it. I watched him, then went to the restroom. When I came back after washing my hands thoroughly, I saw a woman standing in front of Yeon Woojeong outside the terrace.

I hesitated to walk ahead. The woman in the light apricot suit, apparently on a business trip or something, held out a business card toward Yeon Woojeong. He looked at it, smiled softly, and said something. I felt a sudden rush of anger. Just as I clenched my fists and started to move forward, the woman laughed as she held out her business card again. Yeon Woojeong frowned, smiled, and said something again. The woman then just shrugged and pulled the business card away. He spoke softly and nodded, and she finally walked away.

Yeon Woojeong turned his head, and it wasn’t until our eyes met that I was able to walk on. When I sat down, he returned. Although some food was still on my plate, I didn’t feel like eating.

“Are you not eating more?”

“Hm.”

“Let’s go then.”

I glanced at Yeon Woojeong. His expression was still soft. My head turned into a mess while he paid the bills. Annoyance. It was clear what I was feeling right now.

This is Jeju Island, and he and I are on a trip, and I want to leave with only pleasant memories. Yeon Woojeong is here to relax, so there’s no point in getting into a fight. It’s not like he accepted her business card, it was just a one-sided conversation from her side, so…

“This place is good. I can recommend it to Ms. Kim. She said your taste is similar to her, so she wants me to recommend all your favorite places.”

But why did he smile?

No. Let’s not get annoyed. I always regret it. So, this time, let’s just…

“You like older women, don’t you?”

Shit. I swept my hand through my hair. Having been suddenly interrogated, Yeon Woojeong blinked slowly and looked back at me.

I could tolerate it if Yeon Woojeong was naturally kind. However, during our time together, I noticed that most of the kindness he showed to strangers was directed at women, and he was particularly attracted to older women. In fact, all the women he had dated seemed to be older than him.

“What… should I say if you ask me that out of the blue?”

“You like them.”

“I don’t think you’ll like whatever my answer is.”

Just say no, can’t you? However, Yeon Woojeong’s logic was not wrong. If he said yes, I’d be annoyed, and if he said no, I’d get mad because it was such a blatant lie.

“You could have simply rejected and left. Why did you smile?”

“I didn’t smile… I rejected her politely.”

“Why be polite? You’re not even that friendly.”

“I consider myself quite friendly, though.”

“Imagine it was a man. Would you have smiled like that?”

Yeon Woojeong frowned and smiled. He halted, and we faced each other on the sidewalk. He studied my face, then opened his mouth.

“How many times have you been given a phone number at your part-time job?”

“I never give out my number.”

“So do I. It’s just the way you and I rejecting—”

A large man bumped into Yeon Woojeong from behind and his body tilted slightly toward me. I hurriedly tugged on Yeon Woojeong’s wrist.

Asshole. How could he bump into someone carelessly?

I brushed Yeon Woojeong’s back where the man had bumped into it, then changed his position on the sidewalk with mine on the wall. I took my eyes off the man and turned my attention back to Yeon Woojeong. He was about to say something more. I furrowed my brow as he gave me an oddly grinning look. He spoke before I could open my mouth.

“Do one thing only, be angry or be sweet.”

Yeon Woojeong bumped his shoulder against mine.

“Just be sweet, if you could.”

His voice whispered affectionately. I was annoyed, but my smile broke out. I unconsciously relaxed my frown and bit down hard on the flesh in my mouth.

He held my elbow and started walking. I had no choice but to walk after him. When I grabbed his hand on my elbow, Yeon Woojeong looked at me and smiled. I know. He only smiles like this when he sees me. Those people will spend the rest of their lives never knowing this side of Yeon Woojeong. Thinking about it, it didn’t feel so unfair.

The moment we got in the car, I pulled Yeon Woojeong by the nape and kissed him. He laughed as our lips made contact. I swallowed his laugh as well.

.

.

.

The lodging was nice. I could see right away what they meant by exotic.

There was a fireplace in the spacious living room. It wasn’t a real wood fireplace, it just looked like one. There were several rooms, but the one we would use was the one with the biggest bed. The pool was on the second floor, with the ocean view right in front of it.

After putting away the groceries, I decided to head straight to the pool. The water was pre-filled and clean. After washing myself in the bathroom, I took out my swimwear and shirt from my bag. Yeon Woojeong bought me a short-sleeve pink shirt with flamingos and palm trees, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to wear it over my swimwear.

After changing, I walked out the second floor. Yeon Woojeong was already dipping his feet into the pool, wearing only swimwear. He looked at me and slowly scanned me from head to toe. His expressionless gaze was intense, and it made me slow down on my steps.

“Do you realize that you evoke a lot of thoughts when you dress like that?”

I ignored him and walked closer, and he smirked and dove into the water. I dipped my toes in. The water wasn’t too cold. Outside the pool, I could see the sun setting over the ocean. No buildings of the same height were around, so no one could see us.