“Jiyong,” Dara whines as I guide her from behind, my hands holding her soft small ones, and our fingers naturally fitting into each other like a pair of opposite magnets: immediately and in a solid grip. “You don’t have to blindfold me, I can smell and taste the salt in the air from miles away.”

      I smirk. “Really?”

      “I’m not dumb,” she tries to wiggle her hands out of my grip, a struggle to get the blindfolds off since barely even three seconds had passed after putting them on. “Jiyong, seriously. The beach? It’s only been two weeks since we started this, but I know you can do so much better than this.”

      “Baby girl,” I chuckle, helping her step up onto one of the stairs. “I may have been cheesy enough and took you to a beach before, but it’s not what you think it is.” Leaving a light peck on the top of her head, I rub the back of her hand with my thumb playfully. “I think your detection skills are waning.”

      “I still don’t appreciate you degrading me from one of my God-given senses.” She huffs, and I chuckle against the soft locks of her silky hair, the faint smell of vanilla on her body and her shampoo and just her in total being in my arms lightening my existence to that which could rival a feather’s.

      Slowly, I glide my hand away from hers and take out the keys from my pocket. Her head turns to the side where the giggling noise comes from, and I try to speak over it: “If you take it off, the surprise will be gone,” I nuzzle my chin on the top of her head as I slowly put the keys in the door, “and I’d be sad our second first date is ruined. This is a moment you can never recreate.”

      “Stop being so dramatic.” She shakes her head, “Are you unlocking something?”

      “No, I’m not,” I bite down my lower lip in concentration, but the door makes a loud click as I turn the key, and I curse myself internally when she stifles in a laugh.

      “You are a horrible liar,” I can hear the smile in her voice and I grin, laughing softly. “Were you always this bad?”

      “Only after I met you.”

      “Good.” I guide her into the front yard of the house and move to stand in front of her, her rosy cheeks and plump lips increased in their beauty with her smile. “That means you’ve never lied to me, right?”

      My smile falters a little, but I pick it up immediately. Instead of answering her, I bend down and give her a peck on the cheeks, slowly unwrapping her eyes. “We’re here.”

      “We are where exactly-” I move aside and she stops midsentence, her eyes widening as she takes in the view. I grin, and stand behind her like I did before, and wrap my arms around her waist, this time resting my chin on her shoulder.

      The house in our line of sight stood high and majestic in front of us, the white of the walls contrasting beautifully with the green mountains and hills, bringing out the beauty of the cotton clouds floating around, the deep brown forest soil framing the construction at the bottom while the skies are blue and the sun shines as bright as it should on a calm summer afternoon.

      In my arms, Dara’s hand finds mine and holds it in an iron grip. “This is not a beach.”

      I laugh. “Such observation skills,” I hold her in closer, “I’m mind blown.”

      “Don’t make fun of me,” she whines once more and rest back into my embrace. “But, what is this place?”

      “Do you like it?”

      “Yes.” She chuckles. “Yes, I do.”

      I smile. “Good. Because it’s mine.”

      She whips around to face me, and instead of a shocked or surprised face, I’m greeted with a smile. “When you said it’s going to be an over-night trip, I didn’t think you’d take me to your house on a first date.” She raises her eyebrows, a fiery glint of playfulness stirring my stomach around. “Smooth move, Kwon Jiyong.”

      “Sorry to break it down to you, but it’s not exactly our first date.” I smirk. “That was too five years ago.”

      “Well, pardon me for not remembering. I may or may not have a medical condition regarding that.”

      “It’s okay.” I let go of our embrace and lead her inside the house, the modernistic space as mesmerizing as when I first saw it. “That’s why I brought you here.”

      She frowns. “What do you mean?”

      “It’s where we had our actual first date.”

      “This pension dates to back then?” I can hear the shock in her voice, and I laugh.

      “No, I had little to no money at that time.” I interlock our fingers, and drag her to the great balcony right across the main living room – the elevated space the house is on serves us a beautiful scenery of the huge lake.

      “We had our first date on a beach that looks very much like this one. You liked it so much that we had so many dates by the beach. I couldn’t buy the actual spot, it was government property, so when I found this place, I bought it immediately.”

      “Jiyong,” she gasps, her hand never leaving mine. “I don’t know what to say.”

      “You don’t need to say anything,” I kiss the back of her smooth hand, and she blushes, and she’s prettier than any artist I’ve met and her cheeks are fresher than any rose I’ve seen.

      “I can’t believe you did this,” she shakes her head. “All these years, you’ve been doing… this, and I didn’t even know about your existence. I just feel so useless and-”

      I shush her and rest her head on my chest, her hair with the delicate touches of the wind. “Dara, it’s okay. You’re here now. That’s all that matters to me.”

      “But-”

      “Didn’t we say we’re going to make this reunion happy?” I turn her to face me, and I smile because this, having her in my arms, is all I have ever wanted since that fateful night. “Besides, if this is how you’re reacting to this, I don’t know how you’ll react to what I’ve prepared for the rest of the day.”

      “There’s more?” She buries her face in my chest, and I laugh. “Jiyong, what are you planning to do to me?”

      Oh, the things I could do to you, Park Sandara.

      “Nothing you wouldn’t like.” I smirk, which earns me a slight punch. “What? Last time I remember, I was more than good.”

      She chuckles into the thin fabric of my chest, and her warm breaths are like prickles to my skin, awakening all my senses. “Narcissistic and over-confident.”

      “I’m not making this up,” I laugh in to her hair, and whisper with a smirk. “You were once very pleased about my skills.”

      She stops laughing and looks up at me in surprise. “What?”

      “What’s wrong?” I frown.

      She furrows her eyebrows, “I’m a .”

      Okay. I try to contain in my laughter, but it all comes out of my mouth, and I find myself bending over, and I can’t breathe and my ribs are hurting and my mind is going high wire with the piece of ‘information’ I may have missed.

      “Jiyong, why are you laughing?” She stomps her feet. “I said, I actually don’t know anymore, but, I think, I am a .”

      And I laugh even more at the mention of her ity, and she stomps her feet more, and I get punched. “Kwon Jiyong!”

      I find myself on the floor, and I gasp for breath, and I can’t help but grin so wide I think I might tear my face in two and she whines. “I’m sorry,” I manage to splutter through my chuckles, and I grab the nearest chair and lift myself up. “But this is hilarious.”

      “There is nothing hilarious about this.” She frowns and folds her arms across her chest, her cheeks as red as a tomato. “My ity-”

      “Is nonexistent,” I cut her off. She looks up at me and shakes her head, but I go on, and I scratch the back of my neck, “Well, it was, existent that is. Before, well, you know.”

      “No, I don’t know.”

      “Before us happened,” I shrug, and her eyes grow twice the size they were before, and she looks so beautiful, but this is not the time. “It was a celebration night, and we were alone and it was charged and one thing led to the other and we-”

      “Had .” She whispers in disbelief, more to herself than to me, but I nod anyways.

      “I’d like to call it ‘made love’ rather than ‘had ’.”

      “Oh.” She tilts her head to the side, and her eyes are not in focus, and I know she’s in deep thought. I take a deep breath and I cover the small space we have between us and I take her hands in mine, and there are so soft, and I can’t help but kiss them both.

      “Are you mad?”

      “No, I don’t think what I’m feeling right now is anger.” She whispers, and I seat her down on one of the chairs, and I bend on my knees so we’re face to face, and my hands are still holding hers.

      “Talk to me.”

      “I’m just,” and she blushes a deep red, and I caress her cheek patiently. “Disappointed that I don’t remember it.”

      I chuckle softly, and it’s as low as a whisper, and I cradle her face in my hands and I look her in the eyes. “Baby girl, one of us does and it’s more than enough for the both of us.” She blushes more, and my heart skips a beat as she her bottom lip and takes it between her teeth. Suddenly, I can smell nothing but her vanilla scent, and I can feel her hot breath prickling at my own lips and it tingles and her skin is smooth, so smooth, just like how I remember it.

      I gulp and she looks up at me with her dewy eyes, and they shine in a way that I don’t care how bad we could be sinning right now, and my breat