Chapter 6: The Date?

“Yun Jong-oppa, what do you want for your birthday today?” Asked Seungyeon with her beautiful eye smile while sitting down beside him. She had greeted him a sweet happy birthday song, as soon as Yun Jong had just opened his eyes in that morning. It was not a new thing anymore for him that she showed up in his room like this since it had been the second year they had been dating and she knew his family quite well that they let her woke him up almost every morning. When two seconds had passed with her boyfriend narrowing his eyes exaggeratedly, pretending to think so hard for the answer of such a trivial question, she was, instead, being pulled on the hand and fell on top of him.

“You.” He said that with a pretty solemn face. His face was so damn handsome when he was serious. Blushes were now completely visible on her already-colored cheeks which made her even cuter than ever. Two seconds later, Yun Jong bursted into big laughter while holding his stomach, not noticing the embarrassed pout on Seungyeon’s face. She thought that more romantic action would come, but she was apparently  wrong.

“Ya! I am serious.” She punched Yun Jong’s arm a little bit to show that she was serious asking him what he wanted for his birthday and at the same time, her embarrassment of being easily pranked. Well, it was undeniable that she was a gullible person, indeed.

“Ok. Ok. I’m sorry.” While trying to sit down, he stabled himself from bursting into another laughter.

“I want… Wait, should it have been you who prepare my present?”

“Every year I do that, and this year I want to make it different.” She answered immediately. With such answer, he could not help but smile from ear to ear.

“So?” She asked again when she thought that he had totally forgot the actual question was, since he was smiling happily the whole time. She was greeted by a warm hug, but this time she knew it was not a prank. It was a lavishness of his love to her.

“Just be free today. Accompany me all day long.” For most people, taking a day off for a very special day was probably not a difficult request, but not for Seungyeon. She was a person who did not mind leaving work when something more urgent needed to be managed, but she just did not like to. Even last year on her birthday which fell on one of the weekdays, she decided to celebrate it on Sunday. Yun Jong had asked her to just skip the work for the day, but the good offer was gently refused.

A reluctant face was plastered on her face, while looking at him, not saying anything.

“Yesterday, I had told my secretary that today I would be off. Please. Just this day.” She was starting to melt down bit by bit. It was far too much if she still said no this time. So, she decided to be lost to his request this time. It was not a bad deed, after all.

“Ok.” She answered with a bright smile on her face.

They both laughed heartily, then, expecting how fun their to-be-one-day date would be.

#####

She smiled at the memories. Two years had passed since their one-day-long date, yet she still remembered every sweet moment of that time. The warm hug in the morning, the things they bought during the date, playing like kids who had just ditched the school, and other crazy stuffs. Since that time, they had finally decided that at both of their birthdays, they would free themselves from their own daily business.

Today was his birthday and the same routine still happened. She crouched down in front of his grave and sang a sweet happy-birthday song. But, one thing had to be changed whether she wanted it or not. She had to start looking for other activities to replace the one-long-date they had been doing yearly. It would be absolutely hard at first, but she had to move on.

“I miss you.” She whispered the words with a bitter smile on her face. Drops of tear slid down through her eyes. She could only release her feeling like this, so she decided it was alright to cry a little bit, while singing once again the annual song with closed eyes, intending to imagine her husband smiling at her. With that, she regained strength and as a result of that, she smiled, but with a contended feeling this time. Wiping off the tears, she stood up slowly, feeling the light breeze one more time and said goodbye to Yun Jong.

#####

Although she was not able to date Yun Jong anymore, she still decided that today would have to be her forever sacred day to banish her workaholic ego. After a half and an hour walking around the quite street, while thinking what she could be doing on her first solo date, she eventually remembered someone. Go Seungyeon. Yes, she could visit her. Then, she looked for the nearest florist’s and made her way to the cemetery with a taxi.

Apparently, she was not only person who intended to visit Go Seungyeon. He saw a familiar tall man figure standing in front of her grave. When she was walking closer to the man, she finally realized that who it was.

“Jin Ki-shi?” She asked hesitantly. Turning her head a little bit to get a better view of the man, making sure she did not get the wrong person. When he turned around to her, she was finally sure that he was Lee Jin Ki. From his hollower cheeks, she could tell that although he was strong, still, this lost made him become quite weak.

It had been two weeks that they did not get any contact and she had no idea how he was doing as she did not visit the hospital at all so she could just give Jin Ki time to recover himself. His hospitable smile was still the same as he replied her greeting, except the dark circle totally visible below his eyes. She was clueless why those flaws on his face appeared. Whether he had difficulty sleeping because of the late Go Seungyeon or he had just drowned himself at work to just forget his pain in his heart or any other reason she did not know at all. One thing she was sure, he still had not been fully healed.

“How are you?” He asked her.

“Fine. How about you?” She asked him back.

“Well, here I am.” He looked back at the grave, as if inferring something too severely hurt for him to say in literal words. She still gazed at him, not knowing what to respond. The answer was not clear enough for her, but surely it was not a fully positive ‘fine’. She did not inquire more regarding to the question, or in fact, too reluctant to say more as she was afraid that she would utter words which were not appropriate to his condition right now.

At last, she returned her gaze to Go Seungyeon’s grave, putting the flowers she had bought earlier on it and finally the silence wrapped up the already-cold atmosphere, although the breeze was lightly accompanying them.

“Are you going to work after this or have an important meeting or something like that?” Jin Ki broke the silence.

“Well, I am not-“

“Let’s have fun today.” She was taken aback by his request. He smiled at her with a playful grin, completely contrary to his solemn face back then. This was the first time for her to see him like this, being so child-like as if begging to get free from everyday school time. Before she could say or ask further for his sudden request, he took her wrist, taking both of them to the parking lot not far from the cemetery.

“Jin Ki-shi, why for the sudden request? How about your work?” She was getting panic a little bit when she saw him riding on his black motorcycle, pushed his key into the keyhole and started the engine. She was still not sure for what was going on and it was still confusing her if he was serious or not. But, from this action, it was not possible if he was not serious. 

“I have told my nurses to just call me when it is very emergency.” He had not answered for her first question which made her even more nervous. His motivation was still unknown and because of that she was still hesitant to accept his request.

“But, Jin Ki-shi, why-“

“Just be free today. Accompany me all day long.” The words he just said were familiar. Or should she say that it was actually the same with what Yun Jong had said to her that day.

“Just be free today. Accompany me all day long.”

A familiar feeling suddenly wrapped her heart up as she finally rode up on the motorcycle with less hesitancy showed up on her face. He plastered on his victory smile before finally gave Seungyeon a black helmet with a sticker of ‘Go Seungyeon’ name stamped up on the back of it. When he put on his helmet, too, she noticed the ‘Lee Jin Ki’ sticker with the same style with the one she had saw on her helmet. Suddenly, she felt guilty for wearing this helmet and moreover, sitting on a position whose seat actually belong to someone very dear to him.

The guiltiness mixed up with hesitancy inside her was still lingering. Not much as before, though. But, it was too late to say no. She had agreed to go with him, after all,even though not in a full 'yes'. When the motorcycle started going, she just decided that perhaps God had helped her to find a replacement activity for his annual date with Yun Jong on this personal sacred day of her. She would have to enjoy, then, would she?

TO BE CONTINUED

(Author’s note: Please comment and subscribe guys. Your comments totally help me regain strength to continue this fic. Thx. GBU)