Jieun woke up early in the morning. Last night Peniel told her to meet up at 8 a.m. at the restaurant. Jieun took a shower and get dressed before going to have a breakfast. She felt sorry for her parents because they were worried about her but she went off with her friend. So, she decided to call her mom.

“Hello, mom?”

“Yes, my dear?”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m in my room. How about you? How’s your feet?”

“I’m going to have my breakfast and go somewhere with my friend. It was good,”

“Okay, then. Have fun,” her mom said and hung up the phone. Jieun was confused why did her mom hung up the phone really early. She never did that before. Jieun shook away her thought and walked towards the restaurant.

Jieun saw a guy who was wearing a white shirt, enjoying eating his sandwiches. Jieun can’t see his face well but she knew who was him. It was Peniel, for sure.

“Good morning,” Jieun patted his shoulder and sat across to him.

“Good morning, too,” he said and took another bite of his sandwich.

“Give me some,” she said and opened widely. Peniel placed his sandwich on and she quickly bit it and chewed it. “Where are we going today?” she asked.

“Jeju Soingook theme park,” he answered and took a sip of his hot tea.

“Jeju what?” Jieun asked, really confused. She had never heard that place before.

“Soingook theme park. You’ll know it later,” he said. Jieun nodded softly and stood up to take a glass of coffee.

--

“We’ll take bus,” Peniel said and walked towards the bus station near their hotel. Jieun can’t help but nodded in agreement and followed him. Her feet was not as hurt as the day before, but she still couldn’t walk fast. They both took a bus and went off in front of Soingook theme park.

“What is this place?” Jieun said and walked towards the entry. She looked at a poster about Soingook theme park and read it. “ ‘Jeju Soingook Theme Park is Jejudo’s major tourist attraction, covering about 20,000 square meters of land, holding various miniature models of famous architecture from all over the world including Korea’s Bulguksa Temple, Jeju International Airport, Jageumseong Castle, Tower Bridge, Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, Leaning Tower of Pisa, and much more from 30 countries, totaling 100 miniature models. The theme park also provides a traditional cultural experience with Jejudo’s rock culture, folk religion, hands-on programs, an outdoor concert stage, a mini RC car stadium, and dinosaur fossils.’ Cool,” she said. Peniel stood next to her and gave a ticket he bought earlier. Both went in the theme park and walked around. There were so many miniatures of famous places around the world. Jieun was amazed because she felt like she was travelling many countries such as Italy, France, USA, and many more. She took some photos in front of (the miniatures of) Eiffel Tower, Tower of Pisa, Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal, Christ the Redeemer, Sydney Opera House, White House, Pyramids, and others. There were Doraemon, Nobita, Ultraman, Snow White (with seven dwarfs)’s statues, too.

“It’s amazing,” Jieun said and walked towards The Eiffel Tower’s miniature.

“I know, right,” Peniel replied. They took some selfies in front of it and walked again around the theme park. Jieun felt tired alrealy. So she sat down on a stair next to the small lake and looked around, enjoying the scenery. She was eating her yogurt when Peniel sat next to her. “Tired, huh?” he asked. His eyes were still locked on the scenery. Jieun hummed and nodded. Even though Peniel couldn’t see her clearly, he knew that she was nodding. He rested his head on Jieun’s shoulder and said, “I’m tired too.”

Jieun was shocked because Peniel suddenly leaned his head on her shoulder. She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his body. They really looked like couples and they knew it. But they ignored it and kept having good times together. Jieun placed her chin on Peniel’s head and said, “I’m sorry,” she his hair. Her arms were still wrapping his body tight.

“What for?” he asked and shut his eyes.

“Everything. I’m such a troublemake who ruined your precious summer,” she answered and Peniel chuckled a little.

“It’s okay. I’m the one who ruined your family holiday, right,” Jieun didn’t say anything and smiled. Her heart was racing when she realized what happened these two days.

“I think I like you, Donggeun,” she wishpered to herself, making sure that Peniel can’t hear her words.

“I missed Jessica already,” he said. Jieun suddenly felt like her heart ache. It was just four words, but it felt like something huge crashed her heart and a big, fat monster tore her heart into pieces. Jieun let go her arms and Peniel sat up straight. “Let’s go,” he said and placed a hand on her knee, offered to walk hand to hand. She rejected it and pushed his hand roughly. She stood up and walked away from him.

“Jieun! Wait!” Peniel stood up and grabbed her wrist. “Seriously, what happened?!” his eyes widened and he shook her shoulders for a couple of times. Jieun pushed his hands away from her shoulders and walked away. Peniel was really confused. He didn’t know what he had done but it seemed like Jieun was angry with him. Well, yeah, of course, Jieun is broken-hearted.

They walked to the bus station in silence. Jieun didn’t want to talk to Peniel because she was too hurt, while Peniel was blanked because he didn’t know what happened to her. At the bus, Peniel stared at Jieun, waiting for her to talk to him. She felt uncomfortable because he stared at her like she did something really, really wrong.

“What?” she finally said and gave Peniel a glare. In a sec, Peniel looked really reliefed and leaned on the bus chair. He looked very happy like he just won a door prize or something.

“Thanks, God, my Jieun is talking,” he said.

‘My Jieun’? she tought.

“Seriously, what happened?! Did I do something wrong? Tell me!” he said rushly.

“Nothing,” Jieun answered coldly and looked out the window.

“Look. I don’t know what happened but I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. Please forgive me,” he took Jieun’s hand and hold it tight.

“Okay,” she said. Peniel suddenly hugged her and smiled happily. He thanked her thousands times before letting her go. Jieun can’t do anything but hugged him back and smiled. As soon as they arrived in front of their hotel, they seperated because Jieun went to the restaurant to meet her parents, while Peniel went back to his room.

She was angry with me at that time we sat down next to a lake. That time, she said sorry because she felt like she had ruined my summer. Then I said that I was the one who ruined her summer. And then, she whispered something that I couldn’t hear. After that, I said that I missed Jessica... so what’s wrong? Peniel thought. He decided to text Jieun before he went to sleep.

“I am sorry,” Jieun read the message from Peniel that she recieved a couple of seconds ago. She smiled and replied his message with a smile as well. He didn’t reply her message and she thought he was asleep. She looked up to see her mom and dad. They talked for a while and then Jieun decided to go back to her room and sleep.

She locked her room and lay down on her bed. She took the teddy bear Peniel bought the day before, stare at it and hugged it tight.

I don’t know what happened to me. Something’s wrong with my heart. It was beating loud and fast everytime I saw him. She thought and overslept, still hugging her lovely teddy bear.

The next morning, Jieun’s parents invited her to go to the beach with them. She agreed because the day before she was going with Peniel and left her parents. Now she wanted to have a real family vacation. Jieun took her pink swimwear and get dressed. After she was done, she put her iPod, her phone and her wallet inside her purse and went to her parents’ room. Her foot was still bandaged, though. She could take it off the next day.

Jieun knocked on the room’s door. Three seconds later, someone opened it and let Jieun to come in. Her mom hugged her and she hugged her back as well. The three of them went to the beach and have fun together. Although she missed Peniel very much, she tried to enjoy the day with her parents. They did so many things at the beach. Sure they were having so much fun at that day. That kind of day was hard to find. Her parents were busy with their own stuffs, and left her daughter behind. They didn’t mean to do that, but they had to do that for their own goods.

“Jieun,” her dad called. Jieun hummed without seeing his father.

“Your mom and I will be back to Seoul tomorrow. There’s something important we have to do,” he explained and looked sorry.

“Okay, then. I’ll stay here for a day and be back the next day. I’m fine, I’m fine,” she said, making sure her parents won’t feel worry about her.

“You sure?” her mom asked. Jieun nodded and smiled.

“It’s okay, mom,” she hugged her mom and laughed together.

A day felt like an hour for Jieun. The sun sets and Jieun walked back to the hotel with her mom and dad. She checked her phone and saw 2 missed calls and 3 messages from Peniel.

‘Jieun let’s go somewhere. –Peniel’

‘Where are you? –Peniel’

‘Jieun-aaaah! –teddy bear’

Jieun forgot to tell him that she went to the beach with her parents, so Peniel was worried. He thought something terrible happened to Jieun, because she didn’t answer his call nor replied his messages. Jieun decided to call him and said that she was okay.

“He-,”

“JIEUN! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Peniel shouted and made Jieun’s ear hurts.

“Chill, man. I went to the beach with my parents,”

“Oh, okay. I thought something happened because you didn’t answer my calls. Where are you going tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. My parents will be back to Seoul tomorrow. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. How about you?”

“Let’s go to Hanhwa Aqua Planet,”

Jieun agreed and hung up the phone. Hanhwa Aqua Planet is Asia’s largest aquarium. It showcases about 48,000 aquatic animals in 500 different species within a state of the art facility that has a hip and modern feel and plenty of space for pedestrian traffic.

“Mom, Dad, I’m going back to my room first. See you in Seoul, okay. Have a nice flight,” Jieun hugged her parents tightly, waved her hands to them and walked to her room. She took a long shower and slept earlier. She really wanted to skip the night and meet Peniel as soon as possible. But unfortunately, she can’t do that.

--

Jieun and Peniel were standing in front of Hanhwa Aqua Planet’s lobby and ready to get in. Once they got in, they meet tanks featuring marine life from the five oceans of the world: the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Antarctic Ocean. They stopped a sec to see penguins swimming, playing, eating and others. Jieun was amazed because it was the first time she saw real penguins. She was about to tell Peniel that those penguins were cute, when suddenly she felt something warm on her lips. She closed her eyes and felt her lips dancing with Peniel’s lips. He hugged her tight and pull back his lips to say three beautiful words to her: I love you. She smiled and kissed him again in front of many people. They really enjoyed that moment when suddenly something bothered her.

“JIEUN WAKE UP JIEUN WAKE UP JIEUN WAKE UP JIEUN WAKE UP...” Jieun’s phone started to rang. Her alarm was her mom’s voice. It always made her woke up in the morning. She took his phone and started to hit it to make it stop ringing. It was early in the morning and her alarm crashed her beautiful dream. Right, it was a dream. Peniel didn’t kiss her. They were still sleeping in their rooms, anyway.

“! Damnit! It was a dream,” Jieun hit her head with a pillow and stood up to get ready. She set her alarm early in the morning so she can get dressed well. She really wanted to be pretty in Peniel’s eyes, so she decided to use a blue, short dress with pink ribbons on it. It makes Jieun looked pretty and cute at the same time. Actually, she didn’t know why she really obsesed to be pretty in front of Peniel. She couldn’t admit that she liked him, because she had never liked anybody before. Yes, she had never felt that moment when thousands of butterflies flying from your stomach and it started to flip-flopped.

Jieun went out from the bathroom and took her makeup bag. She took out her BB cream, eyeliner and body lotion. As you can see, she was really obsesed to be perfect on that day. She put on her body lotion on her legs for the last touch and took her black purse. She went to the restaurant and had a breakfast. It was still 7, so Peniel was not there yet. He was usually there at 7.30. Jieun pour hot, black coffee to her glass and took a sit. Unexpectedly, fifteen minutes later, Peniel was standing in front of her, wearing a soft pink shirt and black jeans. Jieun stared at him for a while and cracked up.

“Good morning, pinky boy,” she said and laughed again.

“Shh. I’m not a pinky boy. My sister bought it for me yesterday,” Peniel took her coffee and drank it until it was over. They both stood up and walked towards the lobby. Peniel didn’t call a cab nor took a bus to the aquarium. He rented a luxury car for Jieun and him, because he was planning to go to a picnic with Jieun.

“Cool,” Jieun said while Peniel opened the car’s door for her. She went in and put on her sitbelt. Peniel jogged across and went in as well. The car started to move on as Peniel stepped over the gas pedal. Jieun opened the window to let the fresh air came in and brushed her face. She shut her eyes and enjoyed the peaceful moment.

As they arrived at the aquarium, Jieun did a flashback of her dream last night. She quickly throw that thought away and walked towards the entry. Once they got in, they meet tanks featuring marine life from the five oceans of the world: the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Antarctic Ocean. They stopped a sec to see penguins swimming, playing, eating and others. Jieun’s jaws dropped when she saw penguins. It was the first time she met real penguins. She looked at Peniel a couple of times and gulped. That dream last night can’t be thrown away from her mind. She kept thinking about it.

“Jieun? Are you sick? You look so pale,” Peniel put his hands on her cheeks and looked curious. Her cheeks started to burned and changed into two chubby tomatoes.

“I-I am okay. L-let’s go,” Jieun said and pushed his hands away. She walked awkwardly and prentended like she was happy to see those marine creatures. Actually, she was happy. She was really happy. But her scared felling was much bigger. Jieun and Peniel went to a hall of aquarium. Those sea creatures were swimming above them, and make an unforgetable memories for the visitors. There were sea lions, dolphins, and a really huge whale was swimming there as well. Because it was summer, there were so many people visit the aquarium, so when Jieun stopped by to see the dolphins, there was someone who bumped into her body and made her lost her balance. Peniel quickly pulled her hand and hugged her tight. Jieun’s heart skipped a beat and blushed. She bumped into Peniel’s chest, so he could hear his fast heartbeat.

“Be careful,” he whispered and slowly pulled away his arms. Jieun’s eyes were locked at his and so was his. A soft smile slowly appeared on her face and Peniel smiled back. He embraced her and continued walking. At the end of the hall, they stopped to see the dancing sea lions. Sea lions are slow outside of water because of their huge size. Once in the water, however, they’ll surprise you by showing off their excellent swimming skills. Even Jieun and Peniel were amazed too. Jieun stood next to Peniel while Peniel still embraced her. She stared at his face for a quite long time until he looked back at her. She waved her fingers, signed him to move her face closer to hers and Peniel did what she told. Their faces were centimeters away and Jieun moved her face next to his and whispered thank you words on his ear. Now their cheeks were inches away. Jieun pulled her face away slowly and suddenly pecked Peniel’s cheek. She smiled and looked away to the sea lions. Peniel realized what just happened but pretended like nothing happened. They spent the rest of the day awkwardly.

Oh my God... what have I done... She thought. She felt happy and stupid, anyway. While Peniel didn’t say anything until they went home. Felt uncomfortable with the awkwardness, Peniel decided to plant a new conversation with her.

“Are you going to go back to Seoul tomorrow?” he asked but kept driving his (rented) black, luxury car. Jieun nodded and asked back, “How about you?”

“Same,” he answered shortly. “Anyway, it’s not late yet. Let’s go somewhere,”

“Where?”

“It’s a secret,”

“Damn you have so many secrets,” Peniel just laughed and so did Jieun. He decided to go to the beach with Jieun. There were so many stars at that night. The skies were so beautiful, that’s why he wanted to spend that beautiful night with Jieun. And also it was his and her last day in Jeju Island.

Jieun was overslept on their way. When Peniel realized that she was overslept, he stopped the car to take a blanket on the back seat. He covered her body with his warm blanket and continued driving. When they arrived in front of the beach, Jieun was still sleeping. He woke her up slowly and told her that they were arrived. As Jieun fully awake, they went off and walked along the seashore. Jieun’s body was still covered by his blanket because it was quite cold at that night. They both sat on the sand and stared up to the sky.

“It’s beautiful,” Jieun said. Peniel nodded and hummed. They stared at the sky in silence like that for a long, long time, and suddenly Jieun felt like something hit her shoulder. She jumped a bit and looked what was that hitting her shoulder. It was Peniel’s head. He was overslept on her shoulder. She chuckled and shared the blanket with Peniel. At that time, she really wished time could stop ticking, and at that time she realized that she had found her first love, and it was Peniel.