Just close your eyes

Dara couldn’t stay at home after what happened in the beach.

Her ineptness about the whole situation continued to haunt her and she couldn’t believe how she could not have moved deftly when someone she knew that closely had their life on the line.

She’d seen it happen to others on her staff but she’d always envisioned herself to be in control should it happen to her. Maybe it really gets even to the best of us… and no one despite their preparedness is immune to it.

“Are you going out?” her aunt asked.

She nodded as she strapped on her running shoes. “I’m going to go for a jog. Do you want me to buy anything for you on my way back?”

Mrs. Lee shook her head, understanding her niece’s need to release the tension that had built itself since the incident at the quay.

“I’ll go ahead then” Dara told her and walked out.

As soon as she hit the road, she immediately went on a sprint despite knowing that she needed to stretch first. “I have to break out of this” she told herself “Seuki’s alive and breathing… I need to stop thinking about this at all…”

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In the arms of the devil

Ji had hitched a ride with one of the tourists who had recognized him when he arrived via the ferry boat from Busan. The beach was full of cheers and he waved them off saying he was just doing his job. He saw soldiers die in battle almost every day that he was in Iraq and despite thinking that he had already gotten used to the adrenaline rush, there was no denying that saving a life still made him feel better about himself.

Thankfully, the young Seuki was out of harm’s way now.

A vision of Dara jogging towards the beach caught him and he immediately asked the driver to stop and drop him off here.

“Are you sure Doc?”

He nodded. “I just saw someone I know. Thank you for giving me a lift.”

The tourist smiled “Anytime Doc.”

He went down the rover and saw that Dara had stopped just short of the water. He didn’t know what she was doing but she was so still and silent.

She reached up towards the skies and let out a loud sigh.

“You should have screamed” he told her, unable to stop himself.

Dara turned so rapidly she almost lost her balance. Ji was immediately by her side but she was able to get a hold of herself.

“Ji Yong?!?” she uttered when he came up close.

He nodded. “What’s a nice girl like you doing out of the house and in the beach this late at night?” 

“How is Seuki?” she immediately asked.

“She’s much better and sleeping like a log when I left. It’ll take some time for all those injuries to heal but she’ll be back to normal soon enough.”

Dara felt a wave of relief and smiled. “Thank God. That’s wonderful.”

She sat down the sand and took off her rubber shoes, wanting to feel the cold water.

“If it’s that wonderful… why the long face?” Ji asked, following suit and sitting right next to her.

He’d bought fresh clothes before going back from Busan as Seuki’s blood was all over him and he didn’t want to scare anyone with how he’d look. Being on the sand would ruin his white shirt but right now… he really didn’t care that much.

“It would have been a very different outcome for Seuki if you had not been there.”

“Someone else would have done it.”

“No. No one would have done what you did” Dara answered weakly “And I was no use to you at all. I’m sorry. I’ve been in far worse situations but I stood there like a statue.” Even now, the thought of the young Seuki’s limp and lifeless body stirred up images in her she wished to erase.

“You were fine.” Ji reached out for a pebble and threw it far into the water, making a faint splash that crashed against the gentle waves.

“I wasn’t fine Ji” she told him and from the tone of her voice. He knew she’d been thinking about it since the last they saw one another and she’d become more and more upset by it “You always think you know what we to do in an emergency… that nothing can faze you anymore… that you’ll be able to work efficiently  -“

“That happens to the best of us” He cut her off before she can further dwell on it.

She didn’t say anything more and he was willing to bet that deep inside, she would be thinking that it must have never happened to him yet… she was sometimes so transparent without meaning to. “Of course it’s happened to me” he told her and was satisfied when she flinched in surprise – he was right.

“Are you a mind reader now too?” Dara asked him.

“No… but you are very obvious with what you’re thinking.”

She dismissed his statement and began to draw circles in the sand. “I remember Yun Mi from high school.”

“I remember her too” he answered mischievously “I think I might have kissed her once too.”

“You kissed a lot of girls” she told him.

He looked at her and remembered the statement she had said before everything went haywire. He smiled wickedly and shook his head in disbelief… how could a prospect he had told everyone he absolutely abhorred seem so tempting? Trying to sound nonchalant but miserably failing “You said that a while ago too… and you even said you were the only girl I didn’t kiss.”