"There are two more rooms up here! This place is bigger than I thought!" Rye Il exclaimed while walking down the stairs from the second floor.
Thanks to Hye Won, they managed to book a one week stay at 'X' Resort for half the usual price. The floor of the living room was fully carpeted. There's a TV mounted in the wall and below it, on the TV console, was a Xbox. There were also two tall, slim speakers standing by the sides of the console.
"Four rooms here, each of us will take one. First floor for the guys and second floor for the girls. Any objection?" Hye Won asked, sounding like a camp instructor talking to a bunch of students.
They shook their head, then proceeded to move their belongings to their own rooms and about five minutes later, they gathered around the table in the kitchen to prepare the things needed for the dinner.
Hye Won searched through the the cupboard for an indoor grill and set it up in the center of the table. The weather was too cold for them to be barbecuing outside. Gary rummaged through the black plastic bags and took out the five servings of beef that they bought from a nearby supermarket and transferred them onto a plate.
Jihyo sliced the onions into thin slices and put them on the plate filled with a few cloves of garlic and lettuces. Rye Il took out four glasses from the cupboard and brought it to the table. With four of them, each taking charge of one thing, the dinner set up was soon ready. Jihyo sat beside Gary while Rye Il and Hye Won sat opposite them.
Gary laid a few slices of beef onto the grill and instantly, they began to sizzle. He carefully cooked each slices until they were slightly charred before cutting them up into smaller pieces.
"We're still missing something," Rye Il said. He stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth before getting up and walked towards the kitchen counter where the foodstuff-filled plastic bags were at.
He removed the contents from the plastic bag and there was the sound of glass clinking.
"How can we not have these?" Rye Il turned around with two bottles of beer in one hand and another two bottles of soju in the other hand. The neck of the glass bottles were wedged in between his fingers. He quickly brought them over and settle them down on the table.
"I knew it," Gary smirked, "Rye Il wouldn't be Rye Il if he didn't bring any alcohol."
Rye Il rolled his eyes at him. He gathered all the four glasses and poured equal amount of beer and soju into each glasses.
"Rye Il's golden ratio is ready to be served!" Rye Il announced proudly as he served them one glass each.
***
They cleaned up the kitchen and the dining area once they were done eating. They sat down on the couch in the living room and chatted for quite a bit before Rye Il and Hye Won decided to call it a night and retreat into their room.
"Are you going up as well?" Gary looked at Jihyo and asked.
She shook her head, "I want to stay here for a little while."
He looked at the time on his phone. 10:43pm. "Grab your coat." He suddenly said to her.
"What for?"
"Just go," he pulled her up off the couch, then placed his hands on her shoulders and ushered her to the staircase. She took a step up the stairs then turned around to face him.
He gestured to her to go up. Her eyebrows drew together with a look of confusion registered on her face but still, she followed his instruction and went to get her coat.
Gary went to his room to get his coat and then waited for her at the bottom of the staircase.
"Where are we going?" Jihyo buttoned up her coat as she walked down.
"You will know it soon." He winked and held her hand.
They headed out from the house into the darkness and walked through the resort towards the hill located behind cluster of houses. It certainly felt colder as they made their way up the to the top of the hill.
Gary checked the time on his phone again and turned to Jihyo, "it's almost time, " he said and sat down on the bench.
She stared at him blankly. "What are you talking about?"
He placed his hand on the top of her head and turned her head so that she was now looking at the front and pointed towards the night sky.
"I don't see any- OH!" Jihyo stopped short of her sentence and let out a surprised gasp as a shooting star flew across the sky, disappearing over the horizon in a mere few seconds.
"We would have missed it if we were late for a few seconds." Gary said and turned to face her. He noticed her eyes were shut and her head was slightly bowed down. Her hands were clasped together in front of her chest.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Making a wish. They say wishes come true when you make one upon shooting star." She replied before lifting up her head and opened her eyes, and watched the starry night sky.
"And I guess you won't be able to tell me what wish you made, right?" Gary let out a chuckle.
Jihyo turned her head to face him and grinned.
"Should we go back?" He asked.
Jihyo looked away from him. "I don't want to. Right now, everything is perfect." She replied and rested her head on his shoulder. He glanced at her and a smile spread across his face. He slid his hand over hers and interlocked his fingers with her small fingers.
The chilling night breeze was getting to her and the warmth of his hand was just what she needed. Warm and secure. She like that feeling.
"I love you, Jihyo."
Her heart fluttered. She lift her head off his shoulder and gazed at him intently. It was the first time that he said those three words to her and it certainly took her by surprise.
He gazed back into her eyes. He slowly let go of her hand, brought his hands up and cupped her head with both hands. His eyes zeroed in on her lips and he gradually leaned forward. Their lips touched lightly at first - he wanted to make sure she was comfortable. She felt a tingling sensation waving through her body.
Her shoulders became less tense and slowly, she closed her eyes. Her arms find their way around his neck, wrapping it tightly. This time, she pressed her lips against his. A soft yet firm touch that lingers on even after they pulled away to catch their breath.
"I love you, Kang Gary."
