Play

Dara felt her heart skip a beat and all thought of Seuki and her dismal work a while ago fled her mind. Ji had picked up another pebble and tossed it into the water as though what he had just announced was not a big deal.

“I guess you have to say that that means I still had some decency in me despite what a lot of the locals say” he continued, as though taking to himself more than to her – but for the life of her she couldn’t understand why “You weren’t exactly the kind of girl to indulge in adolescent groping. You didn’t do late night beach . I guess you were studying.”

“Yes… I probably was” she agreed, uncomfortable of the memories of high school that this conversation was evoking.

“You were a good granddaughter. You never once slipped the rails… not even for one moment. I bet Principal Park was really proud of you.”

“Well… I guess I still had a very easy childhood” she erased her drawings of the sun and now began with stars “I had a lot of love from everyone around me… I think yours must have been tougher.”

“Actually, I think mine was a lot easier. Everybody expected you to behave, get good grades, not do anything stupid or reckless and if you failed in any of those, you were considered a disappointment. In my case, no one expected anything from me but trouble. I could do whatever I wanted and I didn’t disappoint any of them.”

“You must have been very upset with everyone…”

“Not really” he answered truthfully “I knew I was a pain in the @ss. I made sure of it every day. I don’t blame them for thinking or saying whatever they wanted about me.”

“But you’re really not that bad… you didn’t bully me back then.”

Ji let out a bitter laugh “I didn’t bully you because I was scared of your Grandfather. He was the only one who I feared back in the day”. He lay back onto the sand and stared into the darkness “I wasn’t scared even of my own father. In a fit of anger – one time – I stabbed his leg with a pen after he beat up my mother of her defense of my chemistry set. From then on, we have never talked.”

Dara initially hesitated but she eventually reached out for his shoulder to comfort him “I can’t imagine how difficult that was for you.”

“It was good not to talk to him because if we did, we’d just end up exchanging blows” He showed no emotion but she wasn’t fooled.

“If it was really that easy and you didn’t care about it all… why did you leave so suddenly and haven’t come home until now?”

“Good Question!” Ji smiled at her sardonically. “Perceptive aren’t you Head Nurse Park? Hmmmm… I guess I wanted to know what it felt like to come home.”

“And how does it feel?”

“It feels every bit as bad as I imagined it would be” he answered calmly and turned to look at her “So… now, that I’ve spilled all my guts out, do I cry into your soft bossom and come to term with my feelings?”

Dara pulled her hand away from him and cocked an eyebrow “Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m pretty flat-chested. And I wouldn’t dare offer my shoulders for you to cry on coz I bet you would just crush them.”

Ji laughed wholeheartedly at her come back and was shaking his head in amusement. “You should have gone to the army with a tongue as quick and sharp as yours.”

“Being the Head Nurse is enough… working with your family of Doctors is like working in the army already.”

“Tell me Nurse Park, where’d you learn to have such wit?”

“I was able to practice a lot with Seungri, Daesung, and Teayang.”

“Is that what you do when you’re bored in the clinic?”

“I don’t really have time to get bored in the clinic” she told him “but just to release the tension after a hard day’s work or to prep myself for what’s to come, I either sail, jog, or swim.”

“You swim?”

“In the sea… I love doing it in the mornings because it really relaxes me.”

“You take your clothes off?”

“No, I swim in my uniform” Dara glanced at him in amusement “Of course, I take my clothes off. What did you think?”

“I’ve no idea” Ji answered “I’ve made a point of never picturing you without clothes on.”

“Thanks.”

His eyes narrowed. “If you’re taking that as an insult then you’re as naïve as all those heroines you read in your novels.”

“I’m not naïve!”

Ji laughed. “Yes you are. The reason I don’t think of you without clothes on is because Seunghyun would probably punch me if he’s able to do telepathy and see where my thoughts are going to.”

She colored at his frankness “Seunghyun is not my keeper.”

“That’s good then” he answered and suddenly stood up “I’m going to go into the water and swim. Want to come with me?”

Dara’s eyes widened, how had they both suddenly shifted to actual swimming? “It’s almost 11:00 PM! The water’s freezing!”

“That’s the point! It’s going to be so cold that our bodies will eventually relax to it.”

“I don’t have a bathing suit on!”

He gave an impious smile and pulled off his shirt. “The whole point of skinny dipping is that you don’t need clothes.” His hands dropped to the fastening at the waistband of his trousers and her cheeks warmed as she caught a glimpse of taut, muscular stomach and dark male body hair.

“For goodness’ sake Ji…”

“What? You just said… Of course, I take my clothes off. So, that’s what I’m doing.”

“Obviously, I wear a swim suit.”

“Obviously” he grinned “Because you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t. But me being me, I’m not going to bother.”

Completely unselfconscious, he stepped out of his boxers and trouser shorts and Dara gave a nervous laugh, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the horizon.“You’re going to get yourself arrested Kwon Ji Yong.”

“It’s dark. No one knows we’re here.” His hands were on the sleeves of her running jacket. “Come on Dara. Take a risk. Live a little. Get with me.”