THE LOUD throbbing of Minjoo’s heart has finally somewhat subsided. She’s trying to get herself busy on her phone, monitoring where they are going. This new phone is far superior than her old Note phone.

She could still remember the time Yujin told her that she would buy her a new phone but she declined politely. She thought that she would be deeply buried in debt if she accepts the offer but her phone lags so much when she plays games at night and Yujin could hear all her whining.  

Yujin barged into her room, grabbed her phone from her and threw it straight to the wall. The screen of her phone got huge cracks and the touch sensor has died completely. All that was heard from Minjoo was a loud gasp.

“Now, I have a reason to buy you a phone!” the grumpy Yujin said before marching out of Minjoo’s room. The next day, she got Minjoo the newest phone with the most impressive specs and the other girl had no other choice but to accept. She was glad that her data were successfully transferred from her old, cracked phone.

Again, Minjoo remembered the moment Yujin patted her head and held her hand. Then there goes her heart once more.

“She got ahead of me once again!” She whispered to herself and went back to the plan that she made. She made preparations if ever they would go the cinemas and yes, they managed to reserve seats for a horror movie but here is Ahn Yujin ditching the reservation without feeling sorry for the gift vouchers she wasted.

“What are you doing?”

Minjoo jerked when Yujin suddenly spoke. The girl was anxiously taking glances of her. She hasn’t been talking since they got into the car. Did that make the great Ahn Yujin worried?

“I was just looking where we are going. Who knows you might be on your way to throw me off a cliff because I am too useless just like my old pho—“

She wasn’t able to finish her guilt attack combo when Yujin opened the windows and the wind swept all Minjoo’s face to her way. She heard Yujin chuckled which made her a bit more irritated. She quickly tamed her hair by collecting all of them.

“What’s that for Mas—“

Minjoo was suddenly silenced when a familiar scent tickled her nose. She looked outside and marveled at the sight of the sea reflecting the cloudless sky of that one summer day. Minjoo almost stood from her seat just to take a good look of the sea.

“It’s the sea!” she exclaimed, her voice full of excitement.

Yujin was happy to see that Minjoo liked her surprise. After almost two hours of driving, they reached the Eurwangni Beach located in Incheon. It isn’t the best beach in the country but it is the nearest beach that there is. After parking the car, Minjoo went down running to the shore like a cute, little kid.

(credits to the owner~)

Minjoo started taking pictures of the sea but she soon noticed that Yujin still hasn’t come down to the shore. She waved at the girl who was just watching her.

“Master! Come down! It isn’t that hot, don’t worry about getting burned!” She happily invited her and then went back to taking pictures and selcas.

The other girl was taken aback. Now that she has brought Minjoo to this place, a debate has started inside of her head—to go down or not to go down? She’s not worried about getting sunburned but still her feet suddenly became all heavy.

At the end, seeing how happy Minjoo is and at the same time getting annoyed of the girl’s persistent invitation, Yujin went down to the shore; her body shaking in every step.

“The air feels great, right, Master?” Minjoo closed her eyes and spread her arms as if inviting the wind to give her a hug.

“Y-Yeah.” Yujin stiffly answered as her movements started to be more robotic.

“Should we go and play at the shallow areas? I guess they won’t be reaching my skirt!” That suggestion suddenly made Yujin pale. "You are also wearing shorts so it would be fine. Let’s go!”

This time, Minjoo finally took the initiative to hold Yujin’s hand. She was so happy for seeing the sea after a long time that the butterflies in her stomach forgot to rampage the moment she took a hold of Yujin.

But, unexpectedly, Yujin shook her off and looked to her as if she’s disgusted. That completely shook Minjoo.

“I-I’m sorry…” She doesn’t know why but she feels there is a need to apologize. “I’m sorry for touching you without your permission.”

“I-It’s not like that, Minjoo… It’s not like that…”

Minjoo’s interest suddenly got piqued after seeing another expression that Yujin hasn’t shown before—Fright.

“Master?” Minjoo called and reached for Yujin again. This time, she didn’t let Yujin shake her off. She held her hand tightly. And there she confirmed it. “Are you afraid of the sea?”

Yujin held Minjoo’s hand back and took a deep breath. The latter could clearly feel her quivering. “Tell me the right term if you are really studying hard.”

Minjoo wanted to laugh. Yujin is still concerned about her studies even if she’s in front of one of her fears. The other girl looks really frightened so she chose to hide her laugher. Who knew that Ahn Yujin has this side of her?

“Thalassophobia.” Minjoo answered with a bit of confidence. A faint smile was then formed on Yujin’s face before giving Minjoo a nod. “Then why did you even bring me here? When did you get that phobia?”

“W-Well...” Yujin took a deep breath. “Do you remember that you mentioned you want to go to see the ocean when we were studying English? I just thought that it would be nice to bring you somewhere you really like to go to.”

Minjoo blushed a bit. Yujin remembers even the things she said during the English free talking time. With her broken English, Yujin still remembers that she likes to go to the beach. She is deeply moved.

“I have this phobia since I was in third grade. My father brought me to fish with him but I fell off of the yacht without him knowing it. I was about to drown when he heard my calls. He managed to save me but we got stung by jellyfishes. We ended up in the hospital after that. My father really got mad at me but he was relieved I am safe.”

Minjoo nodded at the explanation of the other girl. She almost drowned, got stung by jellyfishes and even got her father furious; no wonder Yujin got a fear of the ocean.

“Do you remember when I asked you if you can swim?” Yujin turned to the ocean and gave out another heavy breath.

“Mhm…” Minjoo also tried to look at the ocean but she just can’t take her eyes off of Yujin. She never know when will she see this face again. It still marvels her, the superior Yujin of the compelling Ahn family to make a face such as this.

“Minjoo, I can see that you really look down on yourself. I want you to have more trust in yourself. You are capable of a lot of things…” Yujin turned to Minjoo to meet her stare. “In this place, if something bad ever happens to me you can save me. If ever I get carried and get engulfed by the waves, you can rescue me. In this place I am fully dependent on you.”

“Master…” Minjoo called out to the other girl with her voice rattling a bit.

Yujin is afraid. She could clearly see it. She could clearly sense it. But she brought her to the place where she is most vulnerable to tell that she, the great Ahn Yujin who has it all, can depend on Minjoo; that there are places where she could beat the best.

“I don’t want to hear you looking down on yourself. Don’t just apologize when there’s no need to. Don’t always look on the ground. So what if you don’t excel in many things? You can still try to make yourself better but never let criticisms bring you down.”

For that very moment, Minjoo could feel the sincerity there is at those words of Yujin. Is this her way of saying sorry for every unpleasant word that she told her? She’s well-aware that someone with superiority complex finds it hard to apologize but empowering another person is also almost impossible. But here is Yujin, looking at her with eyes of genuineness, telling her that she should trust to herself even more.

“Should we take a seat?” Minjoo asked breaking the look they were sharing. “Would you like to go somewhere you are more comfortable?”

Minjoo was about to let go of her hand but Yujin didn’t let her leave her side. “It’s fine, Minjoo. We can sit by the shore.”

“Are you su—“

Yujin has already taken her seat before Minjoo even finishes her question. The latter smiled and sat beside the scared Yujin. She’s a bit relieved that her shaking has lessened a bit. Yujin is indirectly telling her that it will be fine since she’s with her.

“I think it is the first time that we are talking like this.” Minjoo stated, she could still feel the heat on her cheeks. “You suddenly took me with you without any background knowledge of each other. I really wanted to ask this to you since the beginning but I just couldn't find the right timing…”

Minjoo looked at their clasped hands then back at Yujin’s face. Her heart is really out of control.

“Why me?”

The hush of the wind filled the reign of