“Be cool, Jieun. Be. Cool.” Jieun repeated until the words started feeling true. 

She was thrilled when Si Eon and Inna gave her the details of her vacation, especially when she saw that she was going to stay in a quaint hostel near the beach. Huge 5 star hotels, which she’d gotten accustomed to throughout the years, are so boring. 

Sunrock Corfu seemed so bright and welcoming, aside from the fact that she’s probably going to meet people who have no idea who she is. Besides, who’s going to think that a decorated singer and actress is having a vacation there?

 No one. 

And that made it even more appealing.

Well, until today. 

What are the odds? For some reason she and Jihoon are in the same country, staying in the same place, like the universe was playing a trick on her. And here she is riding at the back of his bike, reluctantly holding on to his waist - well, she was more like gripping the fabric of his shirt, hard. She doesn’t trust herself enough to even touch him. 

She kept thinking about how coincidental everything is - but then she thought: there is one person that links her, Jihoon and Corfu: Si Eon.

She winced at the thought. Si Eon will have to do a lot of explaining when she calls him later. 

When the familiar arch leading to Sunrock was within her view, she geared herself. She had no intention of looking flustered around Jihoon. 

Yes, she ran like an idiot earlier, but she’s going to have to forget about that. It’s time to redeem herself.

Jihoon didn’t even talk to her after he stopped the bike, so she initiated the conversation. 

She’s going to take charge, goddammit!

“Thank you for giving me a ride, oppa. Let me get the number of that guy who’s getting my bike refueled , so I can take that matter out of your hands.”

“Sure.” He said casually, then started dictating the number.

“Thanks again.” She gave him a polite bow and walked towards the hostel entrance, fighting the urge to run up the stairs away from her ex. 

Shutting the door behind her, she stood frozen, still in unbelief. 

Since she arrived in Corfu, she wanted the days to pass slowly. Each day was precious - almost like a gift. But today, the thought of staying for ten more days with Jihoon around sounds like an unexpected pain in the .

Evening came and she was too exhausted to even grab dinner, let alone go on her usual reading haunt at the hostel’s top floor. At night, the place is usually deserted and it gives her a beautiful view of the beach.  

So Jieun decided to call it a day, promising herself to wake up early tomorrow. She’s gonna go for a jog and a swim and then probably have breakfast on the beach. 

“Tomorrow’s gonna be better.” She told herself as she tucked herself in. Repeating those words made her start to believe that it’s true. Besides, even if Jihoon was around, it doesn’t mean she has to hang out with him. Corfu is pretty big; she’s positive that she can avoid Jihoon if she wants to. 

In a few hours, the same party noises can be heard a few doors down their floor, but Jieun was too exhausted to even notice, as she slept soundly in her bed. 

**

The next day..

Jieun rose at exactly 5 am, energized. The breeze from her window beckoned, and when she got there, she saw that the sun had not yet risen . Wasting no time, she changed into her exercise clothes, put on her trainers and grabbed her tote bag. 

“Good morning!” Phoebe, the receptionist, greeted her enthusiastically. 

“Hey Phoebe, good morning!”  She smiled and greeted back. 

Then, it occurred to her that this is her chance - she can ask Phoebe about Jihoon’s whereabouts. This will help minimize the chances of them bumping into each other again. 

She pretended to have forgotten something, checking her tote bag carefully, while chatting with Phoebe.

“Uhm, by any chance, have you noticed another Korean guest here…he's more than 6 feet tall, kinda bulky..” 

She saw the pretty receptionist’s eyes narrow, nodding as Jieun made gestures, describing Jihoon in detail.

“Oh..THAT guy.” Phoebe replied, her cheeks turning a little pink. “Yes..I see him mostly riding a huge bike. He usually goes with an American couple who’s also vacationing here.”

Jieun nodded thoughtfully. Phoebe was probably referring to the people she saw him with at the beach. 

“Any idea what time he usually goes out? Like maybe in the morning, for exercise?”

Phoebe looked confused. 

“Uhhhh…it’s a long story but I don’t like bumping into him here, hehe.” She felt a little embarrassed admitting it, but she felt that Phoebe needed a little convincing.

Phoebe gave her a weird look. Nevertheless, she mentioned that Jihoon usually goes out early either for what seems like a run or a ride on his bike.  Hearing that, Jieun looked at her watch. She would have to leave soon if she didn’t want another encounter with him.

“Thank you, you’re a lifesaver, Phoebe!”

“Don’t mention it…” She smiled warmly. “Oh, and I forgot to mention, he usually takes a jog at night too, mostly with -”

Jieun raised her eyebrows at Phoebe when she suddenly looked like she was choking on air. Her entire face went red, eyes bugging out. 

“Phoebe??”

It suddenly made sense when she heard someone from behind her.

“Morning, Phoebe. Please tell her I usually take naps at the beach in the afternoon, right after a swim. Just in case she needed to know that too. Oh, and please let someone check my door knob, it’s wonky.”

When she turned around, she saw Jihoon smiling at Phoebe. When he saw her turn to look at him, she received the coldest glare, it almost gave her shivers.

He heard everything, and Jieun wanted to die on the spot.

Embarrassed but wanting to save face, Jieun gave Phoebe a hasty goodbye and hurriedly ran towards Sunrock’s archway.

“Ugh. Everything seems to go wrong when Jihoon oppa is around.” She muttered under her breath.

But it’s fine. At least she knows when to be careful. As predicted, he still wakes up early and still has freakish discipline for exercise. Some things never change, huh?

Jieun then absent-mindedly walked towards the familiar path that led to the beach, her brain half convincing itself that her encounter with Jihoon wasn’t embarrassing at all.

The empty spot underneath the familiar tree was empty so she chose to leave her tumbler there. 

“Hah!” She shouted, psyching herself up for her morning cardio. 

Jieun did 32 counts each of her stretches, preparing her body for her run. It’s not like she loves the activity; it usually takes her a good ten minutes before the happy hormones start kicking in, but religiously sticking to her cardio makes her feel good. 

She fished for her airpods out of her shorts pocket and put them inside her ears. Clicking play on her apple watch, the intro to Bobby’s U MAD started playing and it made her smile. This particular song shakes off either sleep or laziness off of her and gets her into a workout mood.

It’s still early and the air was still cool as it hit her face. Just right for a morning run.

Then, the U MAD’s second verse hit, and when her favorite part came on, she couldn’t help but groove to the rapper’s flow as she continued jogging. The music continued to power her through her morning jog, not even noticing time pass.

She was so in the zone that the woman who was walking towards went unnoticed.

“Sorry!” She said, momentarily taki