Date 20: Hawaii Day 2

Jiyong grumbled as he turned in his sleep, his arm automatically searching for the one thing that could settle him back to a peaceful slumber. He passed his arm over the bed in vain and opened his eyes, realizing that his goddess was once again missing. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, sat up in bed, and took in the grandeur of the room.



It wasn't that he couldn't appreciate the wonderful accommodations or the breathtaking view. He felt blessed to experience this paradise. It was just so difficult to grasp a gift of this magnitude being offered to him with that amazing unconditional generosity only Dara could give.



It was silly, really. Here he was with the woman of his dreams, a woman who he never would have imagined could love him. And not only did she love him, she had the means and wanted to dote on him emotionally, physically, and materially. It only just dawned on him that a rejection of any one of these would be a rejection of her as a person. To think that he had hurt her with the ramblings of his wounded pride....he had failed her in the one area that she desired most, his acceptance. He would not make the same mistake again.



He decided to make a conscious choice to go with the flow. No more hesitation or discomfort. Just as he had always accepted any reality with her as long as it was the two of them together, so could he accept that they were given this rare and extraordinary gift. To be able to spend every moment together for three full months, traveling to luxurious locations at their whim, with no monetary limits to thwart their hearts' desires. It was a dream come true, and he decided he wasn't going to sulk about it any longer.



He got out of bed, feeling much more at peace, looking casually out the window at the view when he spotted Dara standing at the shoreline, her back to him. Framed by the light of the sunrise against the ocean waves, she was truly his Venus. He padded softly across the short walkway to the their personal part of the beach, wrapping his arms around her waist and taking her in a loving embrace.



“Good morning, Jagi,” she whispered.



“Never as good a morning as it can be unless you're in my arms, Dara.”



She sighed happily, nuzzling against him, taking in the morning light, breathing in the crisp sea air.



“I really love this place.”



“Thank you for sharing it with me, D.”



“No other person I can imagine sharing it with, Ji.”



“Wanna take a walk with me?”



“Would love to.”



They walked hand in hand along the soft white sand in silence, taking in the morning calm, sharing this peaceful memory together. When they'd gone a ways down the shore, their room lost to their line of sight, Jiyong stopped, pulling her into his arms.



“Dara,” he murmured.



“Yes, Jagi?”



“I love you.”



She smiled. “I love you, too.”



His heart fluttered. “I'm sorry.”



“For what?”



“For being an as$ about the money.”



“Water under the bridge, my love.”



“Maybe for you, but I need to apologize. It finally hit me how my words must have hurt you.”



“Jagi, I get it. I already told you that at the mall.”



“Yeah, but I need you to know that it was never about me not getting you....or how you show your love and affection for other people. I get you, and I love you for it. It was just me having a pissing contest with your money. And I'm sorry for it, okay?”



“So, what's you're saying is that you're now okay with me being your sugar mama?” she teased.



He laughed, holding her tight.



“I'm saying that I'm ready to fully enjoy being part of your world, Miss Park....perks and all.”



“Well, that's too bad. I was planning on taking it down a notch.”



“Whatever floats your boat, babe. I'm as you like to say, 'all in',” he smiled.



“Glad to hear it, Dr. Kwon. How do you feel about flying?”



“Huh?”



She laughed. “Let's grab some breakfast at the buffet, first!”



She grabbed him by the hands, pulling him back towards their hotel.





* * *



Tummies full with the plethora of breakfasty items offered at the hotel buffet, they headed to their first destination in a red convertible.



“You just HAD to get the convertible!” Dara shouted in the wind.



“Come on, D! It's every man's dream to drive a red convertible sports car top down!” he shouted back.



“You're lucky my 'do is in a ponytail today, Kwon!” she growled into the wind, the stray strands of her mane whipping her face mercilessly.



“Just keep your eyes on the map, Miss Park. Where do I go now?”



“Turn here! They're at dock #17!”



They got out of the car, Dara trying in vain to get her hair back in a presentable form.



Waiting at the dock was a boat with two burly suntanned gentlemen.



“Convertible?” asked the first man.



Dara blushed and gave Jiyong a sharp jab to the ribs.



“Every man's dream, supposedly,” Dara quipped in her perfect English.



The men laughed, and Jiyong just smiled broadly.



“So we have you here for the full hour just the two of you, then?”



“That's correct.”



“Okay, let's get you two trained and harnessed up.”



Jiyong had no idea what the man was explaining and strained to catch the bits and pieces that Dara translated for him. Apparently, they were being harnessed to the parachute laying idly on the boat. After that, the details were a bit foggy. Training completed, they climbed onto the boat, harnesses and all.



About 15 minutes out into the water, the gentlemen came and attached their harnesses to a large metal bar that was apparently connected to the parachute. They mumbled some instructions to which Dara grabbed onto the harness straps closest to her chest and crouched onto the floor of the boat in a kimchi squat. Puzzled, Jiyong copied her every move.



Suddenly, the parachute ballooned out, released from its confines and catching the man-made wind from the speeding boat. There was a tug and they were being pulled back to the edge of the boat.



“Dara!” he yelled out in surprise.



Dara just laughed with a mischievous expression on her face as she pointed up to the sky.



FLYING!



Another tug and they were off the safety of the boat, suspended in mid-air by the flight of the balloon, which was climbing higher and higher, powered by the boat's speed and the surrounding breeze.



“WHOA!!!!!!!!” Jiyong yelled into the air.



“Oh stop being such a baby, Jagi. We're perfectly safe!” she squealed, pulling hard on the tethers of the harness.



He looked down at the quickly shrinking boat, as they climbed higher and higher, his hands white from gripping the tethers to death.



“Okay, so I confide in you my fear of heights and you decide to take me 1200 feet into the air suspended by a giant seatbelt strap?”



Dara laughed, kicking her legs back and forth as if she were on a playground swing, letting go of the strap to demonstrate their safety.



Jiyong looked at her in horror, mouth gaped open in disbelief. He looked down at the now tiny boat then up at the huge parachute, the letters U F O printed gawdily on alternating patches of green and white fabric. He tried to slow his breathing to a less hyperventilating speed, thinking of the ocean as a crystal blue canvas, not a boundless pool of water waiting to engulf him.



After 5 minutes of uneventful parasailing, Jiyong began to relax and enjoy himself.



“See? Not so bad, right?” Dara said, noticing his grip on the tethers softening.



“Yeah...it's pretty amazing up here.”



“Yes, it is. It's nice to see some color back in those knuckles, Ji,” she snickered.



“Ha ha, very funny, D,” he grumbled, grudgingly taking the hand she offered him.



With the anxiety slowly ebbing away, he took a moment to admire the view. It was spectacular. He could see the neighboring islands from this vantage point. And the water was so clear today, he could actually make out the coral reef beds. The sky, a different shade of blue, but beautiful nonetheless, was littered with the occasional white cloud. Then all too soon, they were descending.



“What already?”



“Next time, try to enjoy the journey a little sooner, chicken!” she teased.



He smiled sheepishly.



Safely on the ground, thanking the two man crew, they admired the photo of them mid-flight and the one of them coming in for a landing, the picture of Jiyong terrified at the beginning being kindly omitted from the selection.



“Where to next?”



“Giovanni's shrimp truck for the best shrimp plate you'll ever taste!”



Forty minutes of hair-whipping complaints later, Dara cursed the convertible and made Jiyong promise to put the top up for their return back to the hotel as they pulled up to the famous white truck with graffiti proudly scrawled over every possible surface.



There was a line that stretched from the truck to the parking spaces, and the scent was sheer bliss. A fusion of lemon, herbs, garlic, and fresh shrimp wafted in the air as people crowded around the six picnic tables set up next to the truck.



It seemed forever until they reached the front of the line, Jiyong's stomach grumbling from the hunger pangs.



“How is your stomach not growling?”



“Maybe you burned more energy with your panic attack,” she teased.



“Or maybe it's cause I didn't go back for a third plate at breakfast,” he countered.



“That is not gluttony, it's wisdom and foresight,” she solemnly remarked just before they burst into laughter.



“Can I help you?” a friendly Hawaiian girl greeted them from the truck opening.



“Yes, I'll take four spicy plates, please!”



They took the four plates to the table, ignoring the looks of the other tourists staring at the sight of this tiny girl ravenously devouring her first plate before she even sat down. Jiyong chuckled. As they sat, he looked at the amazing plate before him. Flowing like spicy lava over two mounds of white rice were these decadent shrimp lightly battered in a mixture of secret spices and doused with a generous scoop of garlic sauce. He picked up a shrimp and following Dara's example, ripped off the head, on the inner cavern before plopping it down on the trash pile. The sauce was divine, and he suddenly understood why the rice was drowning in it. He could easily push the shrimp away and just have a plate of this sauce with the rice alone. He bit into the shrimp and immediately changed his mind. He could eat four plates of this shrimp by himself.



They ate their first plates in silence, minus the occasional appreciative groan from the sheer deliciousness of it all. The second plate was almost a race to see who could finish their shrimp first in order to steal a supplementary shrimp from the other's plate. Naturally, Dara won.



“Thank you, Jagi,” she squealed as he scowled and relented the final shrimp to her.



“No fair, D. I can never win against your puppy eyes.”



“Exactly why God gave that particular power to the girls, Jiyong,” she said before sticking her tongue out cutely.



She prepped her last shrimp for devouring then suddenly ripped it in half, stuffing one half into Jiyong's mouth and the other into her own.



“I'm shocked, Miss Park.”



“I've been known to be generous with my food, …...on occasion.” she smiled.



“Thank you.” he said, savoring the last bite.





* * *



“So, no green bowls for our stay, like in Paris?”



“No, Ji. We're staying here a week, so I prepped a special reveal bowl just for Hawaii. I can't leave it to chance because a lot of these activities require reservations. So, instead, you get to open one envelope a day,” she said, holding out a stack of tiny little stationary envelopes of different colors.



Jiyong opened the envelope that read DAY TWO and looked up at her with a grin.



Jet skiing and a yacht.



“This is you taking it down a notch?”



“Yup.”



He laughed.



“Sounds phenomenal. But what shall we do for the rest of the day?”



“Look outside, Ji. The ocean beckons.”



She suddenly stripped off her clothes to reveal she'd been wearing the one piece bathing suit all morning.



“Catch me and I'll give you a treat!” she called, that delicious dark expression flitting across her eyes, and ran for the water.



“Dara!”



He flung off his clothes and hurried to the closet to change. Bolting out the door in minutes, he ran to catch her, anticipating the delight of the ocean water and the treat that would await him later.

Author's note:

Some visuals for the date :)