Later that evening Ji Won posted a note on my door
telling me to meet him. It was 8 p.m. and I knocked
the door to his room.
“Come in,” said Ji Won. I entered his
room, not knowing what he was going to say. “Follow
me,” he ordered. He left the room and I followed
him.
He took me to the beach that was near our hotel.
Then he walked over to a spot where there were two
rocks side by side. I caught my breath. This looks
exactly like our spot in Hawaii, I thought.
“Come here and sit next to me, Min Sung,”
said Ji Won to me, patting the rock next to him.
I sat down near him and closed my eyes as I breathed
in the salty sea air.
Ji Won began to study Min Sung. ‘He looks
like Mina in a way,’ he thought. ‘Could
he be Mina in another form?’ Ji Won didn’t
believe in reincarnation but Min Sung was too much
like Mina for him. He wanted to see if somehow Min
Sung was Mina so he had to test him.
“Min Sung, you want to hear a story?”
“Sure,” said Min Sung eagerly.
Ji Won smiled as he told his story. “There
once was this rich boy who came from a messed up
family. He had no friends at all. Then one day he
met this little girl who became his friend. She
was really nice to him, unlike his family, so he
began to adopt her as his dongsang.” Ji Won
paused right there to see Min Sung’s reaction.
My smile faded when Ji Won began his story. He was
talking about our life in Hawaii. Then I figured
out he was testing me. ‘The respirator’,
I thought. ‘I must have drained it when I
was using it so now he suspects me’. I steadied
myself and tried my best to give no reaction.
Ji Won stared at Min Sung, who appeared to have
no reaction to the story. “Well what do you
think?” Ji Won asked him.
“That’s a cute story, hyung,”
he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Ji Won continued. “Do you know why he took
extra care of his dongsang?” Min Sung shook
his head no. “It’s because she has this
heart problem and needed this respirator to breathe.”
He took out the respirator from his pocket and showed
it to Min Sung. Again, no reaction.
“Poor girl,” said Min Sung.
“Yes, poor girl,” said Ji Won sadly.
“She died a few years later.”
I looked at Ji Won sadly. I knew Ji Won felt bad
because of my death but since I’m no one special
to him, it wouldn’t matter if he knew the
truth that Mina was still alive and with him right
now. Then Ji Won took out a stone and handed me
one. I rubbed the white marble stone for a while.
“Throw it,” he told me. I shook my head
no. To me it was like a present so I didn’t
throw it but just kept it in my pocket. Ji Won threw
his into the ocean. It skipped 3 times.
“Perfect,” he said.
“Why is it perfect?” I asked him.
This time I wished he would tell me the significance
of the 3-skip. “When the stone skips 3 times,
it means 3 words. I love you.” I looked at
Ji Won in an overwhelming joy. Did Ji Won love me?
He had thrown the rock and it skipped 3 times many
times before.
“So did the rich boy ever really loved his
dongsang?” I asked Ji Won.
Ji Won looked at me. “Of course he does. He
has a lot of brotherly love for her.”
“Oh,” I whispered softly. My heart began
to ache.
As Ji Won continued staring at the ocean, I began
to walk home with a heavy heart. Ji Won began to
shake his head. ‘Mina’s dead already
so why am I denying that I love her?’ he thought
to himself as he stared out to the ocean.
“Actually, Min Sung, the rich boy loved his
dongsang the first day he met her but he’s
such a weak person. He never could admit his feelings
for her and just waited for her to say that she
loves him first.”
Ji Won turned around and saw that Min Sung had left.
‘Oh well,’ he thought as he headed back
to the hotel.
Part 30
*Since some of you wanted to hear more about Sung
Hoon and Kyung Hee, this chapter is a little side
story.
Sung Hoon woke up aching. He realized he was back
at the Nam Hotel and in his room. “How did
I make it back here?” he asked himself. Then
he realized he was wearing nothing but his boxers.
His bathroom door suddenly opened and out came Kyung
Hee. “Hey!” he shouted as he pulled
a blanket over to cover himself.
Kyung Hee rolled her eyes. “It’s too
late for that. I’ve seen it all already,”
she told him as she yanked the blanket away.
Sung Hoon crossed his arms over his chest. “So
you took advantage of me in my weak state?”
“So what if I did?” she snapped at him.
“That means you have to marry me and support
me while I give birth to your child.” Kyung
Hee couldn’t help but laugh.
Sung Hoon smiled at her. ‘I guess he isn’t
so bad,’ she thought. “You know,”
said Sung Hoon quietly. “You didn’t
have to diss me like that when you said you’ll
go out with me.” Kyung Hee looked at him.
“I had to! You were such an arrogant jerk
and you wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“Maybe it’s because I like you too much
to leave you alone,” he replied back.
Kyung Hee blushed a little and decided to change
the subject. “Give me your arm,” she
said to him. Sung Hoon’s right arm was bleeding
and Kyung Hee began to wash the cut.
“Ow!” he yelled in pain, pulling his
arm back. “That hurts.”
“Does it?” Kyung Hee asked him, concerned.
“I’m sorry.”
She leaned over to blow on his cut. Sung Hoon stared
at her the entire time. He felt warm and shy being
around her. He never felt this way for a girl before.
She was nice to him and not dissing him like she
usually does. He really liked that feeling. Kyung
Hee gently placed his arm into a cast.
“There,” she said. “All better.”
“You know,” said Sung Hoon softly. “Everyone
says kisses make boo-boos feel better and go away.”
When Kyung Hee was nursing Sung Hoon, she developed
a liking for him and his nice body was a good addition.
“Really?” she asked skeptically. “I
don’t believe you.”
“Why don’t you test it out then?”
he challenged her smiling.
“Maybe I will,” she said, flirting back.
“Where does it hurt?”
Sung Hoon pointed to his knee. Kyung Hee kissed
it. Then he pointed to his hand. She kissed it too.
Slowly he pointed to his forehead, which she also
kissed. He worked his way down to his nose. Kyung
Hee couldn’t help but laugh as she kissed
his nose lightly. Sung Hoon’s nose was broken.
Then he pointed to his lips. Kyung Hee was about
to kiss it lightly but then Sung Hoon held onto
her tightly to deepen the kiss. Kyung Hee felt drawn
to him so she didn’t push him away. He turned
her over so she lie down on his bed, with him on
top of her.
His hand went under the back of her shirt and he
stopped there. Kyung Hee continued kissing him and
ran her fingers through his hair. Since she wasn’t
stopping him, he was about to continue when…
*knock knock*
‘I’m going to kill that person,’
thought Sung Hoon as he broke off the kiss. “Yeah?
What is it?” he yelled.
“Matthew wants all of us to go down to the
dining room for a meeting,” said Ji Yong.
“Okay, I’ll be there in 5 minutes!”
Sung Hoon yelled back. When he heard footsteps of
Ji Yong leaving, he kissed Kyung Hee once more.
“Sorry honey, I have to go but I’ll
be right back.” Kyung Hee nodded and helped
him into his clothes.
