Jihyo had been attending the weekly psychotherapy sessions for two months and Gary would accompany her to every session.
Slowly but surely, she was progressing well. She was starting to be more receptive towards taking gastric pills whenever her gastric strikes though she still requires some coaxing from Gary before she would finally take it.
***
Jihyo stepped out to the balcony and leaned over the railing, taking in the beauty of the sparkling seawater. They took a few days off and we're at Jeju Island for a short getaway.
"Should we go surfing? The weather is perfect." She asked, turning around to look at Gary who was sitting in the lounge chair behind her.
"Should we have a competition?" He put down the magazine and looked at her. His eyes already filled with the eager to compete.
"The winner gets to bury the loser in the sand." she said.
"And receive a kiss on the lips," he continued her sentence then puckered his lips, expecting a kiss from her.
Jihyo walked up to him and playfully ruffled his hair. "Let's go." she said in an excited voice.
They buckled up their life vests and rented two surfboards. Lying on their belly on the surfboards, they paddled out to the open water. It took them awhile before they managed to catch the waves. Without waiting for Gary, Ji hyo slowly stood up on her surfboard and maneuver through the waves.
"Come after me if you can!" She shouted over the wind rushing in her ears.
Gary wasn't planning to go easy on her. He lowered his body and began to pick up speed, gradually pulling close the distance between them. "See you at the shore!"He smirked and ride on the waves all the way in, tilting his board once he reached the sandy shore. Jihyo arrived after him seconds later.
"My prize?" Gary reminded her with a smug look on his face. She jumped off her board, picked it up and tucked it under her arm.
"Let's return the boards first, " she gave him a cheeky grin and ran off to the rental shed.
Gary picked up his board and followed her to return the boards. He grabbed her hand, led her along the boardwalk back to the soft gritty sand and pulled her down to sit beside him.
She stretched her legs out and he started shoving sand after sand over her legs, burying them up till her knees.
"Kang gary, are you done?" Jihyo asked with a slight frown. He was busy patting the mountain of sand that her legs were buried under.
"Kiss me and I'll stop," he said.
She cupped his face in her hands and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
"That's all?" He asked the moment she pulled away, "should I just leave you here then?" He rubbed his chin, pretending to be serious about it.
"Kang Gary.." She mumbled softly then pouted.
He grinned and got up on his feet and dusted the sand off his hands. 'I'll be back in fifteen minutes!" He said, immediately earning a frown from her.
As he begin to take a few steps back away from her, she shouted at him, "yah! Kang Gary!"
He took another step backwards using the opportunity to tease her as much as he could. Since she couldn't move, she grabbed a fistful of sand and flung it towards where he was standing and it landed on the ground barely touching the front of his slippers.
He looked at her amused then slowly made his way back to her. "You're a woman who needs a lot of care," he teasingly said while scooping away handful of sand.
When she finally regained her freedom, she tried to get up, only to lose her footing and fall back down onto the sand. Her legs were numbed from sitting.
"Wait," Gary said and stood up. He held out one arm to her as she tried to get up on her feet and when she did, he quickly wrapped his other arm around her waist to steady her, and she held on to his shoulders for support.
"You okay?" He asked in a deep voice, and brushed away the strands of hair stuck to her face.
"Yes," she responded in a breathy tone.
His gaze dropped to her lips and the desire to kiss her was insanely strong. Her lips remain parted and she gradually closed her eyes as she felt his face inching forward. Their lips touched and remained deeply locked until they had to pull away for a moment to breathe.
***
After a day spent at the beach, they were both equally exhausted. They returned to their hotel room and had an early night.
Jihyo stirred in the bed as images flashed through her mind
"Where are you going?"
"I'm here. Come back." She extended her arms outward and gestured for the little boy to return to her side. There was a cheeky grin over his face as he shook his head and headed towards a bridge.
She followed him, trying to coax him to get down from there. "Why are you crossing the bridge?" She asked but the boy continued walking straight without responding to her question. As he reached the end of the bridge, he turned around and gave her a small wave.
"No! D.. Don't go!" She shouted as she ran after him but he was already long gone.
"No!" She shouted again.
Gary snapped his eyes open and threw off his blanket and hurriedly switch on the bedside light. "Jihyo," he tried to shake her awake. Her eyes were squeezed shut with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Jihyo, wake up!" He said in a louder voice.
She slowly peeled her eyes opened, her vision blurred by the tears. "Why..He left.. Again.." She said softly.
He placed one arm under her back, propped her up and held her close to him. "Everything is fine," he said in a hushed, gentle tone while stroking her back.
She pressed her forehead against his chest and cried, "our child. He.. He waved at me."
"I know," he said softly. It was the same dream that Jihyo used to have almost every single night but ever since she started attending the therapy sessions, she had less frequent occurrence of that dream.
"I went after him and.." She raised her tear-streaked face to his, "he was gone. I couldn't see him, I couldn't find him." She said, choking back on her tears.
"We will see him again one day." He said as he wiped away the tears trickling down her face with his thumb. "You're having that dream again. Everything is alright."
"It isn't working," she mumbled, referring to the therapy. "I'll never be able to forget it."
"Hey," he whispered, "we agreed to take it slow. Don't give yourself too much pressure." He gently cupped her face and said.
She closed her eyes and swallowed hard as the emotions rushed through her.
"Take it easy, okay?"
She nodded silently and laid in his embrace.
