"Jihyo?"
She shield her eyes from the sun and looked up to see Gary on the bike with a bewildered look on his face. He got off the bicycle and put down the stopper.
"Are you alright?" He asked as he extended his hand to help her up.
"I.. I think so," Jihyo replied, still in a dazed. She took his hand and he pulled her up from the grass patch.
He noticed the pain expression on her face when she stood up.
"Are you sure you're fine?" He asked again.
She tried to flex her right wrist but stopped halfway when she felt a sharp, shooting pain. "I may have injured my wrist." She confessed.
"This wrist?" He asked while gently holding her right wrist. Jihyo nodded.
He stared at it as though he has a built-in x-ray machine in him and then lightly pressed down on her wrist a few times. Her brows furrowed with pain.
"Follow me," he suddenly said and grabbed her by her uninjured arm and brought her to a pavilion. He told her to wait in there before getting back on his bicycle and cycled off.
She craned her neck to see where he was heading to but in just a minute, he was already way far ahead to be seen. She walked towards the stone bench and sat down.
She rested her injured wrist on her thighs and placed her left hand over her injured wrist. Even flexing her fingers would send dull pain through her wrist.
She wasn't sure how long she had been waiting for Gary to return. She took out her phone and looked at the time. It was already half past six.
She waited and waited and looked at every single bicycle that whizzed past but Gary was still nowhere to be seen. Feeling like she got pranked, she stood up and was planning to leave when she heard the sound of the bicycle bell ringing twice. She turned and saw Gary cycling towards the pavilion.
"I told you to stay put, didn't I?" He said the moment he got off the bicycle and walked towards her.
"You didn't tell me where you were going and you didn't reply any of my messages. I thought you were playing a prank on me." She argued.
"I can't reply while cycling," he said, "and I went to the pharmacy."
He pull her to the bench to sit down and then pour out the items that he bought onto the bench.
"I may not look like it but I'm trained in first aid." He took her right hand and applied the ointment before massaging her wrist.
"Can't you be more gentle?" Her face screwed up in pain.
"You sprained your wrist." He replied and continued to massage with the same strength.
Jihyo bit her lips, trying her hardest to not scream. He grabbed the roll of bandage and wrapped it around her wrist, and then back up between her thumb and forefinger, making sure it was firmly wrapped before securing the end of the bandage with a bandage clip.
"Don't let it come into contact with water. You have to keep it bandage for at least two days." He instructed.
She nodded her head and then mumbled, "thank you."
"Why are you here? You don't look like you came to exercise." He said, looking at her outfit.
"I came to find you," she looked at him and said. "I wanted to apologize. It's my fault that your work got destroyed and you got scolded by Mr Ryu. Sorry."
"It's not your fault. They will still do it even if I choose not to hangout with you. They hate me to guts so, don't blame yourself." He explained. "And, I'm sorry about just now. I chose not to tell Mr Ryu the real reason because I don't want to create any more trouble. It's already hard enough. Do you get what I mean?"
"Mm.." She mumbled in response and nodded.
"Great! Let's go then,"
"Where to? "
"You'll find out," he said, "hop on!" He patted the empty backseat and looked at her.
She cast a puzzled look at him and walked towards the bicycle.
"You ready?"
"Yea," Jihyo replied after she got on the back seat.
Gary looked over his shoulders and saw that her fingers were gripping the rear-end of the bicycle saddle. "You're going to fall off the bicycle if you do that," he said and grabbed her arms and wrap them around his waist.
She stared at him, with her mouth slightly agape. He let out an amused huff at her expression and then turned towards the front. "Hold on tight," he said.
Jihyo stared longingly at his back view. The sudden movement of the bicycle jolted her and she tightened her grip around his waist.
Gary cycled along the cycling path to under the bridge and stopped there. Jihyo got down from the bicycle first and then Gary. He led her to a spot facing the Han river and both of them sat down. He leaned backwards with both hands lying flat on the ground behind him.
"Why are we here?" Jihyo asked.
"To enjoy the breeze," he smiled with his eyes looking ahead, "whenever I'm feeling upset, this is my go-to place. The scenery is pretty, especially at night." He said and then point towards the front.
Jihyo looked to where he pointed to. Myriad colours of lights sprang from the buildings opposite them and reflected on the surface of the river.
"It's really pretty," she mumbled.
"But not as pretty as you," he said in a serious voice and turned to look at her. He grabbed her hand and held it tight. "I like you," he confessed.
The abrupt confession startled her. She stared at him, not sure she heard him correctly. Her heart was racing so fast and beating so loudly that she thought he could hear it. In that moment, she couldn't figure out what to say or rather, she wasn't able to say anything. She thought he wasn't interested in her.
Is this some kind of joke? She asks herself.
"Isn't this what you're hoping for? Accept him!" Her inner voice said.
"Be my girlfriend, will you?" Gary asked again.
She stared into his eyes that were full of sincerity, and nodded her head.
"I like you too," she admitted.
Colour rose in her cheeks and she could feel herself blushing. "It's late. I need to go." She said and wriggled her hand out of his grip.
She looked away and then quickly stood up, biting the bottom of her lips in embarrassment as she turn to walk away.
"I'll send you back," he went to her and grabbed her hand. Jihyo didn't reject his offer. They both got on the bicycle.
Her arms naturally wrapped around his waist and the awkwardness seems to have disappeared. A smile spread across his face.
"Hold on tight," he said to her and cycled off.
***
Author's note:
Sorry for the slow update. Was planning to post this chapter much earlier but didn't had the time to complete it.
I've recently just started a new job hence update won't be as frequent as before. New chapters will be published every Monday from now onwards (I'll try my best!).
Hope you guys will understand and I'm really really sorry for the long wait. 미안해!
