While Jong Kook rested in bed, Gary and Song Ji Hyo sat on the sofa in the living room.

“There’s nothing about the earthquake on TV,” Gary said, flipping through the channels.

Ji Hyo hadn’t been paying attention. There was something different about the air, she thought. It was like a fog had been lifted. She felt the same now as she had when she had run past the pier and crossed over the property line. Whatever it was that had had a hold over this house was gone. It had awoken the feelings she had for Jong Kook and had now left her with those torn feelings to sort through alone. She tried to do that now, to think about both Gary and Jong Kook, but she couldn’t think with Gary in the room. “I’m going to go out for a while, Gary-ah,” she said.

He put down the remote and looked at her. “Where are you going?” he asked. “Do you want me to come with you?”

She shook her head. “I just need some time away,” she said.

Gary watched her leave the room and then grabbed the remote again and sank back into the couch. He needed to give her that time, he thought. If he pushed himself on her, she would only run the opposite way. He knew Ji Hyo. She could be stubborn sometimes. And so he continued to mindlessly flip through the channels, trying not to think about the fight he’d had with Jong Kook. It had been a long time since he had let his anger get the better of him. While his anger had since died down, he was still hurt. He didn’t know what Ji Hyo was thinking. He only hoped that she would soon realize that her feelings for him were greater than whatever she felt for Jong Kook. He would have to be patient. 

Ji Hyo rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up as she walked to the bathroom. She wanted to take a nice hot shower and then go outside, maybe take a walk through Honolulu, just anywhere so long as she was alone and could clear her head. But after she showered and returned to the guestroom, she realized that the only outfit she had not yet worn was the other black dress she had brought for the funeral. She hadn’t expected to stay as long as she had.

If she had to wear this dress, she thought, she might as well fix up her hair and makeup, too. She hadn’t done much to feel pretty these last few days. She had worn her hair in a bun most days because of the Hawaiian sun, and hadn’t even thought about makeup with everything that had been happening. She tried not to think about that now. Things were quiet in the house at the moment. She hoped it would stay that way.

She brushed and blow-dried her wet hair and then pulled up the majority of it, affixing it with a barrette in the back and letting the rest hang loose upon her shoulders. She applied primer and foundation to her face, blush to her cheeks, and looked at herself in the mirror then, her even-toned skin shining brightly. She then carefully swept black liner down the length of her eyelids and curled her lashes afterward until they were long and thick.

It was more of an evening look, but she didn’t care. She called a cab and asked the driver as to where she might walk around. He suggested Waikiki Beach Walk, a stretch of outdoor shopping and dining that led from the city streets down to the ocean, and dropped Ji Hyo off at the corner of Kalia Road and Lewers Street. She walked down the sidewalk in her black high heels, breathing in the salty air and taking in the sights. There were only a few people around at that early hour and so she was able to walk and think with little distraction.

She window-shopped, not interested really in buying anything, but enjoying the walk past the stores, just looking around. Hawaii really was a paradise, she thought. Even this outdoor mall was surrounded by plants and palm trees, the sun brightly beaming down on the clean gray walkway. She stayed in the shade, having forgotten to wear sunscreen, and continued her walk. After a moment, she spotted a shirt in a storefront window and thought immediately of Gary. It was just his style, she thought. He had told her how he had come to Hawaii with nothing, with just the clothes on his back, and so she decided to shop for him now, to buy him some attire and toiletries, some things for him to get by while he was here.

As she walked around now with the bags full of things she bought for Gary, she realized how she had thought about him without trying to think about him. When she first decided to go out, she had done so with that purpose – to think about both Gary and Jong Kook and come to terms with her feelings for each man. But she hadn’t thought about either since she arrived, not until she was reminded of Gary. Did that mean something, she thought? Did it mean that her thoughts go to Gary first, naturally? Or perhaps it wasn’t natural at all. After all, that shirt could have easily been Jong Kook’s style and then her thoughts would have focused on him first instead.

Aish, she thought. This was crazy. She knew that she needed to just sit down and consider her feelings for each man without wondering about signs and hidden meanings. She needed to deal with reality. And she needed to make up her mind soon. Even though their anger had seemed to simmer after the fight, with Gary even bringing over that pillow for Jong Kook when he passed out, she knew that there would still be uncomfortable feelings between them. She didn’t want Gary and Jong Kook to be at odds with each other.

She realized then that she was thinking in the present, not the future. Why worry about them feeling uncomfortable around each other now when, after she made her choice, there would certainly be more anger? She couldn’t think about that. Things were calm now. When she had left the house, Jong Kook was sleeping and Gary was on the sofa watching TV. For now, things were okay. She couldn’t worry about what would happen later, when she revealed which man she wanted to be with.

Ji Hyo sat down at a small table in the shade and placed her bags on the floor by her feet. She chose to focus on Gary first, as he was her fiancé and the man she would be marrying. Or was he? This is what she needed to fi