"Where are you going, Jong Kook-ah? Don't forget to bring your jacket. It's cold today."

He immediately wore his white padded jacket upon hearing what his mother-in-law told him, then smiled warmly. "I'm going to the beach, eomeoni."

"Aish, I never understand why you and my daughter like going to the beach in winter. Okay, make sure to be back before dinner."

To be frank, he did not even have any idea why she loved going to the beach in winter really much in the first place. Out of everyone he knew throughout his life, it was just her who seemed to prefer going to the beach in winter rather than summer, which was basically contradicting his preference as he was a summer person. Nonetheless, he still followed her steps and enjoyed his winter watching the calm, white ocean. 

With light steps as his in-law's house was not that far from the beach, he took his usual route while humming some random song that came up to his mind. The air was unquestionably cold today—not that he really cared about it since he would still go anyway, even if it was snowing hard. He remembered he usually put her hands inside his jacket's pocket, making sure to keep her warm even though he was freezing himself.

Although some things along the route became slightly different from the last time he walked here the previous year, the beach was always the same.

It calmed his heart just the way it did 15 years ago when it was the first time he came here during his family's winter holiday. It got him reminiscing the time he first discovered the beach for the first time as he looked long to the calm wave greeting him once again today.

Also, reminiscing about her.

He was just 21 years old back then and had a big internal conflict inside his mind about whether he should just become a lawyer as his father wanted him to or pursue his dream to be a singer. He could not even enjoy the holiday to the fullest with the much pressure he got from not only his family but also the extended family joining the holiday.

At that time, the only place that was suitable to have some time alone was just the beach since what kind of person comes to the beach during winter? Early in the morning, after breakfast, he sneaked outside to the beach and just stayed there for some minutes. Everything was going according to what he had expected—no one was there; it was just like he rented the beach for himself. Until then, he was startled by the sound near a gazebo.

No matter how big someone's body is, how can he not be afraid of something that is not supposed to be there? Hence, the beach was empty, so he was in such a vulnerable state if that happened to be a robber or if someone was going to do something terrible to him. However, he then decided to check it, and gladly, all of his worries then became shattered.

"What are you doing here?" That was the first time he talked to her. She looked very young back then—well, she was still in her last teenage year anyway at that time. The 19 years old she looked so lovely, with long wavy black hair and such a small face she had.

"Enjoying the beach." Although he found her answer extremely weird at that time, because—what kind of person went to the beach in winter?—he still then just nodded his head.

Little did he know, even her first words to him were part of the reasons why he fell for her.

"Isn't it more enjoyable in summer?" He asked her.

Her long gaze at the beach got him to stare at it, too, wondering why she liked looking at it so much that it seemed like she got her eyes glued and did not even bother to look at him even for once. "Actually, I'm accompanying it. It always looks sad during winter because no one goes here."

Her answer then triggered his laughter to come out but seeing how serious her facial expression was, he decided to suppress it, managing his emotion.

"That's... really thoughtful of you." 

He bravely took a seat beside her without asking for her permission back then, just like what he was currently doing now, taking a seat in the same gazebo that had been there for probably 15 years or more ago. He turned his head to the left since she always sat on that side for years long whenever they came here.

"What's your name?" He daringly asked and finally got her attention as she turned her head to him.

"Song Ji Hyo."

He extended his hand, asking for her hand to be shaken, and then she agreed to shake it. "Kim Jong Kook."

Since that time, they then became close quickly. He discovered she was a local here, which made him slightly envious since she could easily come to this beach whenever she wanted. He met her at the beach almost every day throughout his one-month winter holiday. And the feeling then started to grow within those days. He began to like her.

Unless that one moment when she did not come to the beach or even meet him for a week long.

He forgot what day it was, but he knew he only had about less than two weeks before he went back to his house in Anyang. They were, as usual, sitting at the gazebo, but one thing was different at that time. He noticed that her face was all paler than usual, and she was not as energetic as usual. He did ask her if she was okay, but her answer remained the same no matter how many times he asked her.

That was it until she then fell to the soft sand as they strolled around the beach.

He remembered how shocked he was and immediately ran her to her house with her helpless body in his arms. Her mother thanked him thoroughly, but he did not get any explanation of why she was fainting or what actually happened to her.

Those one week without her around him felt empty. The beach even looked sadder as she was not there. His heart began to be shallow. The only reason he checked the beach every time was just that he hoped that she was there.

Three days before his departure back home, he found that she was there—again, sitting patiently at the gazebo. His smile immediately arose but then disappeared when he saw how sick she looked.

"What's going on with you?" He asked her, trying to fish some answers directly from her.

She sighed, then leaned her back to his back. "Leukemia."

He bet all his fortune that upon hearing her answer, she might sense the heaviness in his breath and the fast of his heart rate. It was the same with her; as he felt her body was shaking, he eventually knew that she was crying. He managed to hold both of her hands in an attempt to calm and support her, as well as to calm himself.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

Again, he could feel her sigh and shake her head before replying to him with such a shallow voice, as if she was whispering, and he did not suppose to hear that. "I wish we could stay together forever."

Unable to hold it furthermore, he turned his body to her and hugged her tightly. It then became raining hard, and as if the ocean knew how wrecked his heart was then, its wave became more aggressive than before.

And the thing that he was suggesting then surprised not only her but also himself as he did not quite sure why he would think it out loud. "Marry me, Ji Hyo."

How those words completely changed him now; he just realized it as he now touched the shining thing that had been circled his ring finger for more than a decade already.

He smiled sadly when the cold ocean water greeted his feet. "I know. I'm sorry. She's not here also this year."

Anyone could probably say that he had lost his mind because he was talking to the damn water below, but for him, it was his long-time friend, as well as her good friend too who always looked for her, seeking her presence every time he came here. And there was no single moment when he did not shed a tear whenever the wave touched his skin.

Everything on this beach reminded him of her. Everything on this beach missed her, just as he did.

Not minding that the lower part of his pants was now wet and the sand was a little bit damp, he sat on the sand and stared at the ocean. Just right when he found the comfiest position, he finally did his annual routine.

"How are you, Ji Hyo?" Yup, he talked to her—no, actually, he spoke to the wind as he believed it could deliver all the things he said now to her—but, still, he did it as if she was there sitting in front of him.

"Eomeoni is always spoiling me whenever I come here. We're going to eat your favorite snow crab dish tonight for dinner. Don't you feel jealous of me?" He laughed heartily, still, all by himself. "I wish we could enjoy it together. I miss you. The ocean misses you. Well, we are all missing you."

Unconsciously, his tears were then streaming down his cheeks swiftly, though he was unbothered to wipe them out since he knew she was used to seeing him crying. "Yah, why did you do this to me? Why did you have to go that soon? I only knew you for three months and married you for a month. How could you be so cruel to me? You didn't even let me celebrate my first birthday as a married man together with you or even celebrate our first anniversary. All you let me do is just reminisce about our very little time together."

Soon when he felt like he was done sobbing, he took a deep breath and stood. "Please come here once in a while, alright? Please also visit me in my dream sooner or later. Don't you miss your dear husband here?"

And that was it. He retook the usual route for the second time today, but this time it led to his in-law's house. The sky was getting darker with each step he took, and suddenly, snow fell into him, covering his bare hair.

He stopped for a while when he had just arrived in front of the house.

"Oh, Jong Kook-ah, you've arrived already? Come, dinner is ready just in time." This time, his father-in-law greeted him. He just smiled at the man and nodded.

And before he finally went back inside to where she spent most of her life and was surrounded by the people that she loved the most—which now also became the place where he spent his winter holiday every year and the people that he also loved the most, he looked above the sky and smiled. "That's quite a lot of kisses you plant here on my face. Thank you for coming here, Song Ji Hyo."