Whether it was it was from all the sugar they had consumed or the movie they had just watched, whatever was bothering Jenny earlier seemed to have been forgotten as she was all smiles as they exited the theatre.  They both had to get up early tomorrow morning, but they both were dragging their feet as they made their way back to Hoya’s car.  Jenny kept hoping that Hoya would suggest something that would prolong this night, but when they were beside Hoya’s car and still he hadn’t said anything, she decided that it was up to her to say something.

“How about we go take a walk along the water to burn off some of the calories we consumed?” she suggested.

Hoya, who was opening the passenger door for her, looked up and smiled.  “Sure.  That’s a good idea.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Despite the late hour, Hoya and Jenny found that there were still quite a few people out enjoying the summer weather.  There was a slight chill in the air, uncharacteristic for this time of the year, but they found that it wasn’t a deterrent for people at all.  They made their way over to the edge of the boardwalk, where all that separated them from the water was a railing.  Jenny closed her eyes, took a good breath of the summer air, and then stretched her limbs.  Hoya, who was leaning on the railing, took this opportunity to steal a glance at Jenny.  When she suddenly opened her eyes, he was unprepared and she caught him staring at her.

“You always look at me so intensely.” she said, unable to contain her thoughts any longer.

“I’m sorry.  Does it make you uncomfortable?”

She shrugged as she didn’t know what to tell him.

“I’m just trying to take in everything before I have to go back on the road.”

“Take a picture.   That might make things easier.” she suggested.

“Good idea.”  Hoya took his phone out of his back pocket and looked for the camera function on his phone.  “Ok.  Pose.”

Jenny didn’t know what to do with herself.  She didn’t know what pose to take, how to smile.  While she was contemplating all of this, she heard the distinct click of Hoya’s phone.

“Hey!  I wasn’t ready.”

He looked at the picture he took of her, she wasn’t looking at the camera at all, she was seemingly lost in her own thoughts.  “It’s fine.”

“A sneak attack picture rarely turns out fine.  I was waiting for a flash or something.”

“There was enough light from the lamppost to take a decent picture.”

As Jenny was sure that her picture didn’t turn out as well as Hoya described, she asked him to take another one and delete the one he already had.  She was straightening her shirt out when she heard another camera click. This click was followed by another, then another. 

“Hey!” she protested.

Hoya ignored her complaints and just continued taking pictures.  She eventually just went along with it, ridiculous poses, made faces at the camera.  When she ran out of ideas of things to do, she just started laughing at his silliness.  The camera clicks soon stopped.

“I think that’s enough.” Hoya declared.
 

“I didn’t think you’d take my idea seriously.  I was just joking.” said Jenny.

“Why wouldn’t I?  It was a good idea.”

Jenny just shook her head at him then turned towards the water, leaning on the railing.  He leaned on the railing as well, but faced her.  He looked at their surroundings, saw a couple sitting on a bench leaning on against the other.  Further away, he spotted another couple, taking a leisurely late night stroll, holding each other’s hands.   He envied the closeness exhibited by the other couples.  He imagined what his teammate Woohyun would say about this situation and Hoya was sure that he would get teased.  He could already hear him.  “Just hold her hand.  What’s the big deal?”  He chuckled and was amazed that he would think of Woohyun when Jenny was right beside him.  When she heard Hoya chuckling beside her, Jenny turned around and took a quick glance at what was behind her and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, confused.

“Nothing big.  I was just thinking about what my teammate would say if he saw me right now.”

Jenny’s face scrunched up as she tried to understand what Hoya was alluding to, only to fail.

Hoya explained.  “I have this pretty woman standing beside me and I want to hold her hand, hold her close, but I can’t bring myself to do it...He’d think I’m pathetic.”

Though Jenny wasn’t surprised at what he was saying, the fact that he didn’t act upon his impulse was what surprised her.  She decided to make it easier for him.  She turned around so that they were now facing the same way.  She then grabbed Hoya’s left hand with her right, interlocking her fingers with his.  Hoya, surprised, looked down at their hands, now interlocked, before looking at Jenny.

She smiled.  “There, now you can walk with your head held high.”

“You’re so considerate.”

“I do what I can.” she said, laughter evident in her voice.

“Anything else I can help with?”

Hoya gulped, as images ran fast and furious in his mind.  “No.” he struggled to say.  This is enough.  For now anyways...

“Ok then.” she said before letting out a yawn.

As much as he didn’t want this night to end, Hoya took the yawning as his signal to drive Jenny home.  “We should probably get going.”

As Jenny was about to protest, she let out another yawn.  She reluctantly agreed.  “Yeah, I guess that’s a good idea.”

As they made their way back to the car, Hoya grasped Jenny’s hands tighter.  Midway there, he lets go of her hand.  She was puzzled, but quickly understood why he had let go as she felt his arms on her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.  She reciprocated the gesture, encircling his waist with both her arms, leaned in to get closer to him.  With her body this close to his, he could the smell body spray or perfume that she had applied earlier on that day.  This was it, her scent, the scent that drove him crazy during the first road trip after they met.  He was relishing every single moment of this walk, knowing that they wouldn’t see each other for a week after he dropped her off at her place.

“I like this.” she said simply.

He smiled to himself, as she echoed exactly what he was feeling.  He looked down at the woman in his arms and smiled even more, then he gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head.  “Me too.  Me too.”