In the morning, both of them sit next to each other quietly in the car as the driver drove them to the airport, without any word they journey together to Jeju Island. The silent between them is suffocating themselves.

As they were walking out from the airport, Chunji held Eunhye hand in his. Startle by his action, she try to pull her hand away. “Let me go, people might notice us Chunji”

                “They won’t, we are just a normal couple spending time in Jeju” they come near the parking lot, Chunji unlock the car and open the passenger door for Eunhye, “I’m driving today” he smile happily.

Chunji drive carefully following the GPS direction while Eunhye rest her head at the window looking outside, summer is at it end soon fall will come.

                “Is it really the way?” Chunji glance at her.

Eunhye peek at the GPS once, “Yeah, I guess so. I haven’t been back for a long time” then both of them fall back into the silent.

Chunji yawn, “Are you tired, I can drive”

                “No, it’s okay” he answer.

Eunhye turn on the radio, Chunji must be bored to drive in the silent.

                “Sorry” she let out a sigh.

Chunji nod, but he doesn’t actually know what the apologetic words are for. But for whatever he’ll forgave her anyway.

After almost two hours of drive they finally arrive at Seongsan, Chunji stop the car by the road, waking Eunhye from her sleep.

                “Eunhye, we arrive, where should I drive too”

Eunhye brush her eye and yawn a little bit while looking around, “Mmmm, okay…”

                “Can I drive” she asks. They change seat and silently they headed somewhere. Eunhye drive easily thru the countryside, its feel like home.

They enter the smaller road, she smile as she drives to the familiar place. “Eh!” she is surprise to see the building that uses to be her house is not there anymore.

                “Why? Why Eunhye” Chunji look at her confuse face.

                “Its not there” she quickly park the car and run out from the car. Eunhye run to the empty wide space, a place facing the ocean, she look around, the old big tree is still there.

                “Where, where is it” she look shock and nervous, she ask Chunji with pleading eye.

Chunji hold her shoulder, “Calm down Eunhye” he pat her back to comfort her, “Breath Eunhye”

Eunhye take a deep breath, “did we take the wrong road?” Chunji ask her. She quickly shake her head, she remember the road clearly.

                “Where is it?” tear form in her eye.

A place where she grows, where she laugh and cry. The place where she feels the warmness of family, the memory is real right, Eunhye question herself. Standing at the vast space, with the warm breeze hitting her face she feel empty.

                “Hello” a voice coming from their side, greeting Chunji and Eunhye.

They turn facing the voice.

                “I know you look familiar, Eunhye” she smile towards them.

Chunji look at Eunhye, she rubs her tearing eyed, and “Do you know me” she asks the woman standing near them.

                “Of course, don’t you remember me? I’m Song Ari and we know each other since you came here”

Eunhye look at her closely, somehow she feel close to the person, a person that she grow up with, “I remember your face, but I might have forget your name”

                “Its okay, you’ve been like that since I know you, I don’t take heart anymore”

Eunhye is agitated by her words, “Ah! What am I doing, let’s go to my house, its freaking hot here” she chuckle as she grab Eunhye hand. Chunji follow them quietly.

                “Sorry to bother you” Eunhye say as Ari come out with some refreshment.

                “Anyway, what brought you back here and it’s been ages since I last saw you…” Ari check Eunhye reaction.

                “Since mother pass away, yes… I never thought that I come back again too” Eunhye smile, “Don’t worry, I’m okay”

Chunji look at her, so she had never lied about anything to his family. She really doesn’t have anyone.

                “What happen to the house? It’s not there” Eunhye quickly ask.

                “The house burn down two years ago, I’ve try to find you. But we cannot get any contact from you”

Eunhye look outside towards the empty space where its use to be her house, “At least the tree are still there, and the ocean too” she try to hold her tears.

Ari smile to her, she understand her feeling, having nothing to prove that she’s been growing up there is painful. “I’m here, you can comeback anytime”

Eunhye look at the woman sitting beside her, “Yeah, that’s right” she smile back lovingly. They end up talking about their childhood there, Eunhye memory is kind of foggy but Ari help her remember everything. They smile, laugh and even cry together.

Eunhye glance to see how Chunji doing, but he has fallen asleep.

                “Ah! Your boyfriend must ‘be tired”

Eunhye giggle, “His really not my…”

                “Come on, wake him up, bring him to this room, it cooler here.” Ari stand up and show her the room.

After Eunhye take Chunji safely to the room, both of the girl moves to the kitchen to prepare some dinner.

                “Eomma will be back soon, will you help me prepare dinner?” Ari ask her.

                “Sure, I’ll be glad to and sorry to be bothering you”

                “Come on Eunhye, we are friend okay”

They prepare abalone porridge and some other side dish and they continue to talk about their childhood as they slowly making the preparation for tonight dinner.

                “We finish making everything” they smile proudly to each other.

                “Its smell good and its remind me of old times…I’m so hungry can’t wait to eat it” Eunhye smile.

Ari chuckle, yes… she still remember her grieving face when her mother die and to see Eunhye smiling again, she feel relieve.

                “Hey, go and wake your boyfriend. Eomma will be back soon then later we can eat dinner together” Ari push her out the kitchen.

                “But, he is…”

                “Hurry up Eunhye” Ari laugh.

Eunhye come into the room where Chunji still lay peacefully, Eunhye don’t want to quickly wake him up and end up sitting and staring him.

She misses him and they are somewhat on bad term since last night. Eunhye look at his hand it’s lean and slim. Like a girl hand she thought. Eunhye giggle quietly. Her hand move to touch Chunji fingers. She stops but Chunji hand grabs her finger. They stare at each other.

Chunji sit but still not letting go of her finger. “Eunhye, is it okay for me to be here, do you want me to go?”

                “It’s okay, I guess” she avoid looking at Chunji, she wonder if her cheek redden because her face feel hot.

                “Okay, I’ll be here then. No matter what I’ll be there for you” Chunji smile. Eunhye is heartstruck. She froze looking at his expression.

                “Thank you” she looks down at the floor.

Chunji let go of her fingers and stand up, “I’ll go clean up and you guys are so loud I can’t even fall asleep”

                “Sorry” she mumbles but Chunji doesn’t hear her.

Chunji stop at look at her backside, she was still facing the floor, “Eunhye” he call for her.

                “Yes” Eunhye still doesn’t look at Chunji. He cannot show him her red face.

                “I’m sorry too”

                “Okay”

Chunji went out, she can hear he ask where the bathroom at Ari. Eunhye put her hand at her heart, ‘seriously why is it beating so hard’ she close her face with her hand, ‘Yah! It’s so hot, my face is burning’

“What with the sorry actually?” she mumble to herself

                “Eunhye, are you sleeping in there?” Ari come looking for her. She knocks on the door.

                “No, No… I’m coming” she pats her face a few times to calm herself.

Eunhye sit on the table outside the house, she look to the sky. She breathes slowly while trying to digest every word that she heard earlier. Ari Eomma is really close to mother. But she doesn’t really know anything about Eunhye.

                “I’m really old and maybe I don’t remember anything correctly… I’ve know Nayoung when she and her husband decide to stay here opening an orphanage that work as a clinic too. You know Nayoung can’t get baby of her own, that what she told me earlier when she first come visit the progress of their orphanage. But a year after the orphanage is open they brought a young girl with them, but I never ask them anything”

Chunji are looking at her closely behind the curtains, he wonders if he should get her.

                “You are very close to them, so I think it won’t be polite to ask who are you because Nayoung never said anything herself, so you grow older with them and the children of the orphanage, some children got adopted but you stay with them, when you go away to study in Seoul, Nayoung was really proud of you, she will always told me that her girl has made it where she can’t be. You has fulfil her ambition”

Eunhye hug her leg closer, mother and father have really loved her with their heart, so did she… Eunhye love them very much.

                “Ari-shi” Chunji look at Ari whose sitting at the table, correcting her student books.

                “Yes”

                “Have Eunhye change a lot since you know her”

Ari stop from looking at the book, “Well, she was really quiet at first, I was 10 years old when I first met her, and she doesn’t talk to anyone at times I’ll notice that she’d be crying at night and fall asleep. But as times goes on, she’s change… she become the playful and cheerful Eunhye”

Chunji nod his head listening to her word.

                “Hey, I’m telling you all this because you’re her boyfriend, she’s the one that should told you all this, but I don’t know if she will ever remember all that, her childhood”

                “As her Noona and friend, I’d fail to help her, I’m really afraid if she shut close her heart again, facing reality must be really hard for her, I’m not burdening you, but you’re the person that she really close too now”

Chunji nod again. The person whose work hard as their manager, the person who loved by his family and the person who has her own past, and the person that might have a special place in his heart, Chunji wanted to protect that person, he wanted to be by her side. Yes… he might have fall for all that, for her different charm.

Chunji touch her shoulder lightly, Eunhye turn to see him, “Let’s get inside, it’s getting really late you know”

                “Okay” Eunhye smile.

Eunhye help to make Chunji bed, he finally settle for tonight, he yawn a few times.

                “Ari said that we should climb Seongsan Ilchulbong”

She really wanted to go there and Ari told her that they use to climb it when they were little.

                “Its tiresome Eunhye, can’t I have a proper holiday, I don’t want to do any physical activity”

He turns to his side. Avoiding the look on her face, she might have a pleading face now.

                “Well, okay then” but she think it might be troublesome for Chunji too, so she doesn’t persuade him more.

Eunhye make her way to the door, “Eunhye, wake me up later then let’s go and watch the sunrise okay” without looking at Eunhye he make a request.

Eunhye lips bend upward “Okay” she yells with excitement.

                “Don’t be too loud, we are guest here” he scolded her.

Eunhye giggle, “Yeah, I forget… goodnight Chanhee”

                “Goodnight Eunhye” he replies.

Fact :

WIKIPEDIA

Jeju Province (officially the Jeju Special Autonomous Province) is one of the nine provinces of South Korea. The province is situated on and coterminous with the nation's largest island of Jeju (also Jejudo), formerly transliterated as Cheju, Cheju Do, etc., or known as Quelpart to Europeans. The island lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of South Jeolla Province, of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946. Its capital is Jeju City.

The island contains the natural World Heritage Site Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes.^[2] Jeju Island has a temperate climate and even in winter, the temperature rarely falls below freezing point.

Seongsan Ilchulbong, also called ‘Sunrise Peak’, is an archetypal tuff cone formed by hydrovolcanic eruptions upon a shallow seabed about 5 thousand years ago. Situated on the eastern seaboard of Jeju Island and said to resemble a gigantic ancient castle, this tuff cone is 182 meters high, has a preserved bowl-like crater and also displays diverse inner structures resulting from the sea cliff. These features are considered to be of geologic worth, providing information on eruptive and depositional processes of hydromagmatic volcanoes worldwide as well as past volcanic activity of Seongsan Ilchulbong itself.