dive into you | lee jeno

two

first summer

ulsan was a busy province for locals especially once summer season found its place in the schedule of tourists. there were no days from june through september that stores close down early in the evening. all of it closed at midnight.

like the restaurant on the foot of dong-gu, it almost never slept.

and today was a carbon-copy. it was another indication that workers of the small business would operate even if the moon had settled for hours above.

they didn't complain, nevertheless, since it was ran by the family, most of them were relatives.

a family business that stood since the liberation of south korea, it vowed to serve the country by patronizing local food until the last of their kin.

as the sun proudly smiled at lunch, nowhere to be found was the assistant cook in this rush hour—the 4th generation of the family whom they expected to take over five years later, yu nari.

she disliked spending hours inside the kitchen because as soon as she knew how to wash the dishes, her grandma taught her how to cook little by little. yet she wasn't into cooking for it was the least of her priorities.

a wondering head peeked its neck by the door frame of the kitchen and asked, "imo, have you seen nari?"

"aniyo. that kid has been ditching her work for almost a week. i'm tired of looking for her."

"right," haechan, whose dyed hair covered his forehead, went back in his station—the cashier.

he and nari were the eldest among the 4th generation line of the owners. although their personalities usually clash, and disagreements were normal, they still jived like siblings. however, haechan was unaware of nari's sudden absence in the kitchen.

she never talked about herself lately to him.

so while the sizzling wok and frying pan made noise throughout the restaurant, nari was chilling under the summer heat as she walked down the road towards ilsan.

comfortable in her sunnies, summer dress, and slippers, she only thought of her own.

"what a nice day," she breathed the calming air of summer. "i should've brought haechan with me but he'd rather play with money than with water."

nari shrugged off the forming regret. instead, she continued her walk to the beach that was by now crowded of tourists.

various people filled ilsan. some were in groups, while others in pair, and most came as a family.

this was the province she grew up on but every time she was in the beach, she was reborn and felt like a totally new person eager to know what she didn't know yet.

just like that, on this day, she was about to know love.

when she was about to march towards the crowd, a voice called her consciousness behind.

"excuse me?"

nari unwillingly turned around to face the interruption of her agenda. "yes?"

she strolled slowly near the car whose shotgun seat's window was rolled down and crouched to see the owner of the voice.

a chiseled face appeared and nari would lie if she said it didn't flush her. he was striking, her mind thought.

"hi," the man said with a smile but lasted for a few seconds as tension crawled back in him. "i'm honestly lost, trying to search for hotel dasom."

"a tourist?"

"yeah, my gps sucks because it can't locate the hotel. i don't know what's wrong with my device though. perhaps you could help me with the directions?"

his smile would kill her.

"ah, yes. you're actually not far from dasom but you might need to go back. do you remember the street sign you passed by before reaching the entrance of ilsan?"

the driver quickly nodded, "i do. wait, you mean i passed by the hotel?"

"yeah. you should've gone left instead of going straight. anyway, overturn here cause you have to go back to the sign which said 'ilsan beach' then turn right. you won't have a hard time looking for the hotel itself because it has a signboard lit up in white."

"alright, thank you for telling me. honestly, it's my first time travelling alone. some kind of birthday present from my parents."

she wished she received gift like that from her parents.

"that's cool! enjoy your stay in ulsan."

"i definitely will. thank you so much. you are a big help!"

the window that was once rolled down easily covered the privacy of the car again then it rushed briskly.

nari was unable to know his name, but to be fair, neither him got hers. still and all, while stepping back beyond the white line that designated the separation of the road from the beach, nari couldn't help but be attracted to the beautiful face she just saw.

he was like a sticker immediately stuck in her memory.

she cared less anyway. tourists that arrived in this island would always find themselves leaving once their satisfaction was fulfilled. this was a reality nari grew up on and learned to accept: no tourist would love ulsan like any local did.

it was an opinion nari often confused as a fact.

even so, she wouldn't let her inner insecurity eat the small happiness alive in her. nari finally moved on to saunter towards the water.

in her eighteen years of living in the province her family considered an empire of their own, what kept her happy was the touch of bubbling spume arriving the shore. the sea was her home of serenity amidst the suffocating smoke and responsibility awaiting in their family's small business.