Gary sat down in the very cab that Jong Kook had stepped out of. He told the driver the address, and for a minute, the driver had a feeling of déjà vu and wondered if this was the same Korean man he had just dropped off. But he shrugged it off and began driving to the house that he had just driven from.

During the cab ride, Gary, now sober, imagined what would happen when he arrived. Different variations played out in his head. Maybe he would step out of the cab and Ji Hyo would come running to him, hugging him and apologizing to him and so grateful that he had returned to her. Or maybe he would find her inside, holding and comforting Jong Kook with her soft voice, a sweet moment that Gary would then interrupt, much to their chagrin. Or maybe Gary would have to venture further in the house to find them, into the bedroom where the scene that he had envisioned so many times when he was drunk, of Jong Kook and Ji Hyo together in bed, would turn out to be reality.

He didn’t want to think about that. There was no point in theorizing on what will happen. He would just have to wait and see.

Jong Kook threw his bag into the overhead bin and sat down in his seat. He was dreading this long flight. Nine hours with nothing but the thoughts in his head.

It had been a long time since he had been back in Korea. After his mother passed away, he hadn’t seen a reason for returning. If he had planned to stay longer, he might’ve called his brother or perhaps some old friends like Cha Tae Hyun or Jang Hyuk. But he only wanted to see the ahjumma. That was all he cared about. He just wanted to hear what she had to say and then get back to Hawaii to take care of his daughter.

What truth did the ahjumma supposedly know? And how? He wrestled with these thoughts for the first hour or two of the flight until he felt like he was losing his mind. He reached for his phone, plugged in the headphones, and set the music on random. A song began playing that he had never heard before. The sounds of a ukulele. A haunting voice. He looked down at the screen. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole’s “White Sandy Beach.” He didn’t remember downloading it. His small eyes widened as he listened to the words now.

Kaimana opened the door for Gary.

He bowed to her. “Is… is Ji Hyo here?”

“I haven’t seen her, Mr. Kang,” Kaimana said. “She’s probably still in bed.”

Her words lingered in Gary’s head for a moment. In bed… with Jong Kook? “Do you mind if I check on her?” Gary asked.

Kaimana smiled and gestured him inside.

He took off his sunglasses and hat and walked down the hall, bracing himself for whatever he might see as he walked to the room that Kaimana had pointed out. He pushed the door open slightly and peeked in, seeing a half-made bed… empty. Gary glanced back out into the hall toward Kaimana. “This is the guestroom?” he asked.

Kaimana nodded.

“She’s not here,” he said. And then his worst fears felt as though they were coming true. “Where is Jong Kook’s bedroom?” he asked.

She pointed to the door at the end of the hall.

He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, and pushed open Jong Kook’s door. Another half-made bed… empty. Now he didn’t know what to think. Where was she? And where was Jong Kook?

Kaimana joined him at the end of the hall. “Mr. Kim left a short while ago,” she said. “He won’t be back today.”

Gary was confused. “Is Ji Hyo with him?”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe so. She did not leave with him.”

He rubbed his eyes and dragged his hands down the sides of his face. “I need to find her,” Gary said, his eyes pleading. “Please,” he said. “Help me find her.”

They looked throughout the spacious home, checking every room and calling out to Ji Hyo. Gary was growing increasingly worried, imagining the worst. Maybe she sleepwalked and drowned in the ocean, he thought. He frantically ran outside to the property out back, seeing Sun Marie sitting by the willow tree, seemingly talking to herself. He ran up to the little girl. Sun Marie stopped mid-sentence when she saw him.

“Who were you talking to?” Gary asked. He looked around, expecting to see Ji Hyo somewhere.

“Auntie Ji Hyo’s not here,” Sun Marie said.

Gary kneeled down next to her now. “Do you know where she is?”

Sun Marie slowly nodded.

“You saw her?” Gary asked.

Sun Marie pointed down to the beach.

Gary’s hands were shaking. He stood and began yelling Ji Hyo’s name then, much like he had done in his drunken ventures the night before in Seoul. “Ji Hyo! Ji Hyo-yah!”

He wandered down to the beach, his yells masked by the roar of the ocean. He looked down the sandy shore in each direction. The shoreline to the right seemed to continue into the distance with nothing else in sight. To the left, he could see a tiny pier in the distance. And so he walked in the direction of the pier, calling out Ji Hyo’s name until his throat was dry and his voice was hoarse.

He thought he saw something in the sand, just beyond the pier. A white blanket. He walked toward it, anxious as to what he might find. Please, he thought. Please, Ji Hyo, let that be you, safe. As he got nearer, he saw that the white blanket was pulled up over a body, and he saw hair, long black hair. “Ji Hyo-yah!” he yelled.

The body moved and he saw Ji Hyo’s face then, turning to look up at him. Her eyes were squinty, her face puffy. How he had missed that face! He loved her no matter the time of day, no matter how she looked, and this face – her beautiful swollen morning mong face – made his heart leap inside his chest.

“Gary-ah?” She tried to force open her eyes. “Gary-ah? Is that really you? Am I dreaming?” She looked at the blanket around her and recalled seeing Sun Marie walking toward her in the middle of the night. She had thought that Sun Marie was a ghost at first with that white blanket draped around her small body, the length of it dragging behind her along the beach as she walked toward Ji Hyo. She remembered now how Sun Mari