SELA - 62

Ji-hyuk opened his eyes. The memory of his final moments was vividly clear, so much so that his fingertips and toes felt chillingly cold.

Sa-hee never answered his calls. Frustrated, Ji-hyuk called Joo-ri, someone close to her. After a long ringing, she answered with a slightly curt tone, telling Ji-hyuk that Sa-hee had left.

Left? With that one word, Ji-hyuk felt as if his world had collapsed.

“Tell me where she went.”

- I don’t know either. She just said she was taking the airport bus, but not her destination...

“Airport bus?”

- There’s a stop near her house. The airport bus stop.

“Give me her address.”

- Huh?

“I said, give me her address.”

- Honestly! Why would I?

Frustrated, Ji-hyuk, having taken the wheel himself, eventually got the address from Joo-ri. Using that address as a clue, he searched the neighborhood thoroughly and finally found the bus stop. And...

“Yoon Sa-hee!”

He had finally found the person he had been searching for so desperately. Sa-hee, hearing her name called, turned around without thinking. Then, realizing it was Ji-hyuk, she stood up in surprise.

“Yoon Sa-hee! Sa-hee-yah...!”

Ji-hyuk, who had suddenly run up to her and called her name with a choked voice, hugged her tightly and wouldn’t let go. Enveloped in his arms, Sa-hee was too surprised to push him away. She could only blink her large eyes, trying to understand the situation.

“D-Director? What’s suddenly...”

Ji-hyuk, having pulled away from her, cupped Sa-hee’s cheeks and met her gaze. His eyes were red-rimmed, and an unmistakable happiness and sorrow were etched on his face. Sa-hee was taken aback by his expression.

“Director, what’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

No matter what she said, would he even hear her? Ji-hyuk simply smiled at Sa-hee without a word, as if he was about to burst into tears any moment. There was something about that heartbreaking smile that made Sa-hee grab his hand and ask,

“What’s wrong? Please tell me. Is there anything I can help you with? No, more importantly, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at the engagement ceremony by now...?”

It was sudden. Sa-hee couldn’t finish her sentence as Ji-hyuk abruptly kissed her.

Surprised, Sa-hee froze, then struggled to push Ji-hyuk away, but she couldn’t move because he had wrapped his arm around her waist and held her captive in his embrace.

The kiss grew more intense. He pressed his thumb against her chin, forcing her mouth open, and then thrust his wet tongue inside, stirring the depths of her mouth. Ji-hyuk eagerly drank the saliva that was involuntarily produced by the constant stimulation.

“Um, uh-uh!” Even as Sa-hee signaled him to stop, Ji-hyuk remained unyielding, lost in a daze. People standing nearby and passersby glanced at them. Sa-hee, her cheeks burning with embarrassment, tapped Ji-hyuk’s shoulder, a gesture that clearly meant to stop. Only then did Ji-hyuk slowly pull his lips away.

Their lips swollen, the two of them caught their breath, foreheads touching. Ji-hyuk caressed Sa-hee’s chin and met her eyes. Before him was the woman he had searched for so desperately. The woman he wanted to follow even if it meant giving up his own life.

Ji-hyuk couldn’t hide the corners of his lips that were naturally lifting, and he whispered to Sa-hee,

“Found you.”

* * *

A little while later, Sa-hee, having regained her senses, took a step or two back. Ji-hyuk understood her feelings.

“Actually, I’m a little, no, very flustered. Why are you suddenly here, Director, and why did you do that...?”

“I came to stop you.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t go.”

A wind heavy with the scent of rain swept between them. After a brief silence, Sa-hee spoke with difficulty.

“Director, our relationship is already over. Please don’t do this and go back...”

“Don’t go.”

“Director.”

“Sa-hee-yah.”

In that instant, Sa-hee’s heart skipped a beat. It was fleeting, but it truly felt as if ‘Ji-hyuk from her past life’ had come back to life and was calling her name. He always used to call her “Sa-hee-yah” in that voice and tone...

Sa-hee, unable to hide her confused expression, looked at Ji-hyuk.

“Don’t go. Don’t go, Sa-hee-yah.”

“Director.”

“Without you, everything I have is meaningless. Even myself. I need you. I only need you, Sa-hee-yah.”

Her heart pounded. At his confession, which showed his sincerity without any flowery words, Sa-hee’s face flushed.

Just then, she saw a bus approaching far beyond his shoulder. Ji-hyuk stood before Sa-hee, waiting for her answer.

Sa-hee was confused. The sincerity he had shown a moment ago kept causing a flicker of emotion to rise within her. A small lingering attachment, a ‘what if,’ made Sa-hee hesitate. But she quickly came to her senses. She mustn’t forget the accident that had happened because of such complacent thinking. Even if she wanted to touch him, to hold him, she had to resist. She had to.

Sa-hee shook her head to clear her complicated thoughts and grabbed the handle of her suitcase.

“Director, I really have to go now...”

“You know I have no intention of letting you go.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I told you. I need you.”

“It’s a story that’s already over. I have nothing more to say.”

“If it’s me, it’s a story you need to hear.”

“No, thank you. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Sa-hee-yah.”

“Please don’t do this. If you keep doing this...”

“You’ll give up sooner.”

Ji-hyuk’s eyes, standing right in front of her, were resolute. In that instant, Sa-hee realized. He would never let her go. Sa-hee, quietly looking into those eyes, moistened her dry lips. Her mind became more tangled than a ball of yarn.

The bus arrived. People boarded in order. Sa-hee stood before Ji-hyuk, unable to decide what to do, hesitating.

“......”

“......”

Soon, the bus departed. Sa-hee let out a deep sigh. Perhaps she had already known. From the moment she hesitated in front of the bus, she couldn’t leave him behind.

Rumble, thunder echoed from afar. A flash of light pierced through the dark clouds, and large raindrops began to fall, one or two at a time.

Ji-hyuk took Sa-hee’s hand, and with his other hand, he pulled her suitcase as they headed towards his car.

Should she shake off this hand? While being led by Ji-hyuk’s hand, Sa-hee pondered this question countless times in her mind. But as she stole glances at his back, a sight she had longed for so much, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

As the raindrops gradually grew thicker, Ji-hyuk hurriedly helped Sa-hee into the car first. Then, after putting her luggage in the trunk, he got into the driver’s seat himself. In that short time, the raindrops had turned into a downpour, streaking the world with lines of rain. It was pouring so fiercely that a hazy mist was forming near the ground.

Sa-hee, her heart in turmoil, blankly stared at the scene. She continued to do so until Ji-hyuk reached out and touched her cheek. Startled by the warmth of his touch, Sa-hee turned to Ji-hyuk.

“I must be crazy.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing right now.”

Sa-hee certainly looked confused. She knew which direction her heart wanted to go, but she didn’t seem sure if it was okay to actually go in that direction. In short, she lacked courage and decisiveness.

“I was going to go far away, leave everything behind, and come back... but when I came to my senses, I was sitting next to you again, Director.”

“Do you know why that is?”

“......”

“Because it was meant to be this way from the beginning. What is natural will eventually find its way back, no matter how you try to divert it. Just like you being by my side.”

At Ji-hyuk’s words, Sa-hee lowered her head. She seemed to be fiddling with her fingers, lost in thought.

“What about the engagement ceremony?”

“What about it?”

Sa-hee gave a weak, self-deprecating laugh.

“What do you mean, ‘what about it’? It was your engagement ceremony, Director. What happened to it?”

“Who knows.”

Ji-hyuk, who had given a short answer as if he really didn’t care, seemed frustrated and unbuttoned a few buttons on his shirt. Then he let out a long breath.

“What’s important is that I’m here with you now. Isn’t that answer enough?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”

Sa-hee rubbed her dry face and sighed. She seemed to be in pain, unable to get a grasp on her own feelings.

“Sa-hee-yah.”

“......”

“Look at me.”

When Sa-hee took her hand away from her face and looked to the side, she saw Ji-hyuk looking at her as well. His gaze was very gentle and warm. Even though Sa-hee had spent a long time facing Ji-hyuk, she felt strangely more nervous and fluttered, as if she was meeting him for the first time in a long while.

The heavy rain striking the car body made a pleasant sound, like being hidden inside a cozy and sturdy shield. It was probably the feeling the two of them had because they were together.

“I used to think it was ridiculous to say you miss someone even when you’re looking at them.”

“......”

“But it’s not. This is real.”

“......”

“I’m scared you’ll disappear even when you’re right in front of me, Sa-hee-yah.”

Looking at his lips, which were trembling ever so slightly, Sa-hee could also guess how nervous Ji-hyuk was and how sincere he was about this situation.

Sa-hee mustered her courage and turned to face Ji-hyuk. Ji-hyuk, meeting her gaze, smiled tenderly.

“Director. No, Ji-hyuk-ssi.”

“Yeah.”

Sa-hee reached out and placed her hand on the back of Ji-hyuk’s hand. Ji-hyuk quietly looked down at it and then intertwined their fingers.

“Go back.”