Had he really said that? Had he really made that confession?

Ji Chang Wook looks at the woman in front of him and from the shocked look on her face, it seems that he really had. He could blame it on ocean madness; the sea and sun and waves making him lose all sense.

Or, he could blame it on her; too irresistable for her own good with pretty lips and wise eyes that wanted to laugh when she let it.
 

But truly, it was his fault. Maybe from the very first moment he saw her, as her eyes had flashed angrily at him, he had wanted to know more about this girl. So different from every other he had met before. Each effort he made was rewarded with another glimpse of her. The loving niece who her Aunt talked of fondly; the teasing girl who was ready for any adventure; the fierce Jeju islander who took no nonsense. She was a forest creature who seemed not of this world at times; but then she became his firm, practical landlady; taking care of her Aunt, guest and home with almost military precision.
 

She did not care for fashion, or gossip or movies though she took enjoyment in the littlest things that others would have passed over. Other than her initial curiosity, she had not seemed overly awed by what he did for work. In everything she did, she was quintessentially her, and her laughter and smiles were hard-won tokens that he sought eagerly. And he had fallen.

Fallen hard.
 

Her silence however is unnerving. Chang Wook gets up and stares at the ocean, wondering for a wild moment if she was not going to respond at all. 

"It's vacation madness" she says quietly.

"What..?" he turns to look at her, not sure if he heard her right.

"This. What's happening. It's vacation madness. You are here away from your usual life on this great escape from reality. And this is all part of it. You meet an island girl, we're spending time together and in three days you feel you know everything there is to know about me"

"But," she continues brutally, "you forget that in another few days you'll be gone. And you'll wake up and this is all just another memory. And you'll cringe at what you just told me. But thank goodness you're far away and you'll never have to face me again."

Chang Wook looks around stunned. Ready to protest.
 

"You forget," she laughs without any humor, "I live here. I see tourists come and go. I've known people here who fall for the cute mainlander boys with promises to call or text or email only to get disappointed again and again."

Everything she says sounds true, but he knows it's different