The message was still displayed on Woo Hyun’s phone screen as she unconsciously kept reading the words again and again. Her mind wondered what to do with the message now. Should she hand the phone back to him in its current state? But then he’d know she had just invaded his privacy by accident. Maybe she should delete the message and somehow get the ex-girlfriend to resend the exact same message again. Yes, that seemed like a good idea.   “Oh, you’re not asleep yet?” Woo Hyun asked as he entered the room.   Hyun Mi let out a loud gasp in panic as her finger pressed the delete button. She flinched once more and looked at his phone screen, horrified. Woo Hyun appeared earlier than her predictions. She couldn’t get the ex-girlfriend to resend the same message now.   “What’s wrong?” Woo Hyun eyed her suspiciously, knowing something was up. He knew by now that it was quite easy to read her whenever she felt flustered, mischievous, or guilty of something. This was the latter.   “N-nothing,” she stuttered in response, contemplating what to do now. Maybe, Woo Hyun never had to know about the message at all. That actually seemed like the best plan, as selfish as it sounded.   “Do you think I’d believe that?” Woo Hyun asked as he approached her who was still leaning against the wall. Knowing she had nowhere else to go, he quickly held her wrist and took a glance at his phone screen.   “Told you there’s nothing,” Hyun Mi said as she handed the phone back to him. She escaped back to her own mattress on the floor and got ready for another attempt to go to sleep.   “Fine, I’ll trust you,” Woo Hyun said as he followed her once again and knelt down besides her.   Hyun Mi gave him a confused look, feeling her heart react to his presence alone. There wasn’t even any skinship or the exchange of sweet words, but it had come to a point where being around him made her feel ecstatic. This wasn’t good since he might get back together with his ex-girlfriend soon.   “What are you doing?” she asked, seeing him take one of the blankets off of himself and gently placed it around her. She felt her face reddening just at the small touch and had to swallow her feelings away.   “Making sure you won’t get cold. You just said it was cold,” he said, properly making sure every inch of her was covered by the blanket now.   “But I’m fine. You were the one shivering before.” Hyun Mi tried to get up to pull the blanket away, but felt Woo Hyun lightly holding her shoulders back so she wouldn’t move from the position.   “Knowing you worried about me is enough to keep me warm,” he grinned, knowing it would stop her from any further protest.   “I-if you say so.” Just as expected, she slightly covered her face with the blanket to hide her blush. A part of her wondered when he had gradually regained his cheesiness back. Was her power finally affecting him?   “Goodnight,” Woo Hyun patted her head once before he returned to his own side of the room.   The nicer he was, the guiltier she felt about not telling him about the message. Was it wrong to wish this moment could last just a little longer? At least before he had to go back to the ex-girlfriend.  

 

When the next morning arrived, Hyun Mi managed to get some sleep for a few hours. She spent the entire night wondering whether she should tell him the truth to the point her eyelid became heavy and her brain shut down on its own. Once she woke up, she decided it was better to tell him about it.   “Woo Hyun,” she called out, seeing his unresponsiveness. She crept out of her own space and knelt down next to the sleeping guy. Her initial plan was to wake him up and tell him everything, but the moment she saw him in his peaceful sleeping state, she did not have the heart to wake him up.   His eyes were closed so serenely, as if whatever he was dreaming of placed him in a state of bliss. Even in his sleep, his lips were slightly curved to that teasing grin he usually flashed at her. Woo Hyun had the features of a guy who would grace the cover of a magazine; a visual that would make her go weak by the knees just at one glance. He was unquestionably handsome.   “Woo Hyun, are you awake?” she asked to stop herself from admiring him too much in his sleep. She slightly poked his arm, only to feel his firm muscles instead since he was wearing a sleeveless shirt to sleep. Again, she cleared to stop her mind from wandering astray.   “Hmmm…” he responded a little, pushing her hands away from himself.   “I need to tell you something,” she said, continuing to tap his shoulders.   “Hm hmm, I’m listening,” he mumbled sleepily and tried to stop her movements.   “It’s really important though.”   “Just stop poking me,” Woo Hyun muttered with his eyes still closed. He was just blindly grabbing her wrist and held it in his grip to stop her from disturbing him. “What is it?”   “Uhm, well…” Hyun Mi had to recollect her thoughts, trying not to waver from the skinship. “Last night, a girl called Hyo Min actually messaged you. She said she still loves you and wanted to get back together. But when you walked in, I panicked and accidentally deleted the message. I thought I should tell you.”   “Hmm…. Thanks…” he responded lazily.   She waited for any other response, but he stayed quiet the entire time. Did he fall back to sleep?   “Woo Hyun?” she tried again.   “Hm?”   “Do you still like her?”   At that, Woo Hyun finally turned to her, slightly opening his eyes to stare at her. “No,” he said with a slight smile, holding unto her hand even tighter. “I like you.”   Hyun Mi widened her eyes at the confession, hand still entwined in his grip, heart nearly jumping out, and frozen in her position. Blushing was no longer a problem since Woo Hyun had seemingly gone back to sleep and was unable to see the way her entire cheeks radiated at the moment. She wasn’t sure, however, he wouldn't hear her heart beat thundering with elation.   “I- I’ll be back,” she said and slowly retracted her hands from him. A part of her wondered whether those words were authentic considering he suttered them in a half unconscious state. With that, she got up to grab her own stuff and got ready to take a shower.   Since the inn was quite small, there was a shared bathroom located outside of the guest’s room. Perhaps being outside of their room was better for now, since her heart wasn’t able to handle his presence even during his sleep.   “Oh wow! You are like my ideal type!” a guy blurted an early morning greeting.   Hyun Mi looked surprised, momentarily forgetting she still had those powers. She looked up to a guy who looked awfully similar to Hong Ki from the car rental place, staring at her in bewilderment. “Your ideal type?”    “I actually have about 13 ideal types, but you will be number one,” the guy said.   “That’s an honor, thank you.” Hyun Mi flashed him a smile and tried to walk away. The guy did not give up as he jumped in front of her.   “My name is Mir, and my dad owns the entire area here. We also have 9 mountains! Three of them are included in national parks,” he boasted with a bright smile.   Hyun Mi blinked her eyes, wondering what kind of reaction he was expecting from her by showing off his property.   “I would sell my cow to date you. I’m willing to give up one of the mountains to be your boyfriend. Can I?” Mir asked hopefully.   Hyun Mi simply laughed at the statement, knowing it was time to bring back her usual lie again. “Sorry, I already have a boyfriend,” she made up and patted his shoulders before she walked by him.  

 

The rest of the day went by incredibly fast. They returned to the main part of the island, returned the car, and went out of the hotel. Ki Kwang seemed particularly disappointed he did not have the chance to check her out since they quickly set out towards the airport.   It was amazing they had a flight at the same time, which Woo Hyun still claimed was a coincidence. If they had just met, Hyun Mi would’ve taught him ‘fate’ was the right word instead of ‘coincidence.’ If they had gotten closer without any feelings attached on her part, she would’ve joked it was ‘meant to be.’ But she could do none of that with all the feelings stirred in her system, and just kept smiling.   “Ah, I forgot to bring some water!” Woo Hyun suddenly snapped as soon as they got out of the car.   “I don’t think we can bring it on the airplane though,” Hyun Mi said. Seeing him pout so adorably at his own forgetfulness, her reasoning skills were defeated at once. “Should I buy one for you?”   “Sure,” Woo Hyun said all too eagerly as he nudged her shoulders. “I’ll go check in for us.”   “Okay.” She was too trusting and immediately handed him her passport. Without questioning him, she headed out to look for the nearest vending machine or café.   Once she was out of sight, Woo Hyun immediately rushed to one of the check in counter with their luggage cart. Luckily, the line wasn’t all that long and it was immediately his turn next.   “I have a bit of a situation here,” Woo Hyun began as he placed the two passports on the counter. He grinned at the man behind the counter, hoping to gain some sympathy. “My flight is actually at a later time, but I have to be on the 3 PM flight.”   “Why is that?” the guy asked with a cheshire grin.   Woo Hyun scrunched his eyebrows. Was it a new airport policy to question travellers about their personal business? “I need to board the same plane as her,” he said and pointed at Hyun Mi’s passport.   “Ah, girlfriend?”    “Seriously, do you have to ask that?”    “Just trying to be friendly,” the guy answered, not offended at all. “You can call me Kwang Hee. Oh, since you’re younger, you should probably call me hyung. Hyung will see what he can do for you.”   “Thank you, hyung!” Woo Hyun went along with it in order to gain his favor. “If possible, can you make sure we get the seats next to each other too?”   “Of course,” Kwang Hee said and gave him an obnoxious wink. “It should be doable. But you’ll both have to sit at the very back, is that okay?”   “No problem! You’re the best, hyung!” Woo Hyun gave him thumbs up, making the guy giggle in happiness. He was a little odd. He quickly dismissed his impression when he heard light footsteps approaching from behind.   “Woo Hyun!” Hyun Mi appeared just in time as she nudged him using the water bottle. “Here you go.”   “Oh, thanks,” he replied and took the item from her hand. As he opened the cap, he realized Kwang Hee's constant staring to Hyun Mi with a wide open mouth. He knew he should’ve asked Hyun Mi to buy tea or coffee instead since it would take longer to make.   “So I assume you two aren’t dating, which allows me to hit on her, right?” Kwang Hee asked bluntly as he prepared himself.   Hyun Mi gave him a confused look, seeing him turn on what she presumed was his best charms. Let’s see how her powers would come in effect this time.   “Seeing you makes me feel like I’m in Hawaii, which is much better than America, even though America is my favorite country,” Kwang Hee spoke with a very poor attempt at being cheesy.   Woo Hyun began to laugh at this new hyung’s super lame line and stupidity as he stopped drinking. “Hyung, Hawaii is part of America,” he said.   “Oh is it?” Kwang Hee asked. “How about LA?”   “Also America,” Hyun Mi added.   “Really?” Kwang Hee widened his eyes at the newfound revelation. “Wow! My favorite place and country were the same thing all along.”   “How do you even work at the airport when you don’t know your geography?” Woo Hyun continued laughing while shaking his head. He then took back the passports and boarding pass from the counter and thanked Kwang Hee.   “Here are your stuff,” he handed Hyun Mi her passport and boarding pass.   “Oh!” Hyun Mi yelled in excitement when she saw the seat numbers. “We’re actually seated next to each other again?”   “It must be destiny,” Woo Hyun told her.   Hyun Mi blinked her eyes in shock. He was being cheesy. She was certain he was being cheesy this time. Again, she felt the dilemma creeping in. As they returned to Seoul, she knew it wouldn’t be easy to let him go even if it seemed she had completed her initial mission.  

 

Everything inside the plane felt so nostalgic: from meeting him for the very first time, sharing a cab, ending up at the same hotel, to helping him regain his cheesiness in the end. She remembered it so clearly in her head as if it happened three days ago, which it did.   “Could you sleep at all last night?” Woo Hyun asked after the plane took off.   “Not really.” She yawned and tried to adjust her position in the small plane seat.   “I guess I am guilty of that,” Woo Hyun sighed.   “Why?”   “You must’ve been thinking about me again, right?” he asked as if it was a first world problem.   Hyun Mi was so surprised at his correct guess. Either he was being too overconfident, or he was quoting what she had told him back then when he woke her up. Either way, she let out a laugh. “Thinking about you drains a lot of energy, you know,” she openly stated.   Woo Hyun laughed and pulled up the armrest in between them. “Let me recharge it,” he said hinting at his shoulders. “As long as you don’t cry from your mouth, you can fall asleep against me.”   “Please erase that image from your memory,” Hyun Mi whined in defeat as she lightly hit his arms. Hearing Woo Hyun laugh at that statement probably meant he was never going to forget about it. Well, at least he’ll have something to remember her by.   “Just go to sleep,” he insisted on a more serious note as he slightly shifted her head to fall perfectly in place against his shoulders.   The feelings were once again too overwhelming to handle since he was the one who initiated the skinship. But since he had so kindly made the offer, she couldn’t refuse and felt her eyelids becoming heavier at the comfort he provided. Secretly, when she thought he wouldn’t be able to see, her face beamed with sheer delight.   The flight from Jeju Island to Seoul wasn’t that long. By the time the plane landed, Hyun Mi realized she did actually fall asleep again. What a waste; these were the final moments she could spend with him before they returned to reality, and she was in dreamland instead.   “So where are you heading after this?” Woo Hyun asked as they walked through the baggage claim area to head towards the exit.   “Home,” Hyun Mi answered as vague as possible. If she had to cut all ties with him it might as well be now. It was fun while it lasted, but it was time for a reality check-up. It wouldn’t work out. Maybe he was just playing around as well since he never actually asked for her number or any means to keep in touch. She should stop