Chapter Ten
Jeju, Korea
‘Can’t sleep?’ Haneul’s baritone is oozing warmth, and oodles of it at that.
‘Ah, you! Um, yeah. I always find it tough to sleep in a new place. What about you? It’s been a long day and we have an early start tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be asleep, Daepyonim?’
Hanee has been enjoying a little time alone. Sitting on a white wicker chair close to the private beach of the resort they are staying at, she has been listening to the sound of waves and breathing in copious amounts of the salty fragrance of the sea.
‘Of late, I find myself doing the exact opposite of all that I should be doing. Some would even say that lately I haven’t at all been myself. What do you reckon? Do I seem different?’
Haneul is half-serious, half-flirtatious.
Timira looks up from her glass of green-apple-flavoured sparkling water with incredulous eyes.
‘Me? What do I reckon? I barely even know you!’ she exclaims in a tone that Haneul can’t quite decide is incredulous or scoffing.
Haneul, having realized how silly his question must’ve seemed to Timira, feels a little shy and laughs nervously, all the while staring at his feet and twisting his toes around the sandal post.
They sit in silence, Timira biting the straw inside her now-empty glass and Haneul sighing every few seconds, leaning a little further back against the lounge chair with each sigh.
The air smells of the sea, a fragrance Timira is familiar with, having spent decades living in a coastal city, but the breeze blowing over is cold and unfamiliar.
Timira shivers under her cotton sweatshirt.
SO FRICKKINNNN COLD! Aaaah, I want to head in.
Why is this man sitting here looking like a gorgeous, ethereal creature in this gorgeous, ethereal moonlight?
Isey thand nahin lagti kya? Kaise baitha hai aise chaddi pehenkar nangi taange nikaalkar!
Look at those calves … uff! Pucca bachpan mein athlete raha hoga.
Lagta bhi hai. Full player. Kahan yeh khiladi, aur kahan main anari …
She starts to hum the title track of Main Khiladi Tu Anari and giggles as she recalls the dance steps that were wildly popular in her childhood.
‘What is that you are singing?’
Haneul interrupts her performance with an amused smile and curious eyes.
‘What? Uh, did you say something?’
‘I asked about the tune you were humming …’
‘Oh, that. Um, nothing much, it’s a song everybody back home sings all the time. A motivational song that’s taught in every school. It talks of brotherhood, respect and sportsman spirit.’
‘Really?’ Haneul doesn’t believe a word she has just said.
She had been enjoying it far too much for it to have been a motivational anthem.
But he decides to play along, chuffed that Timira is in a playful mood and teasing him.
Such feelings are new to him and he’s eager to learn more about himself and what he’s capable of feeling.
‘Geureomyo! I’d teach you but it requires in-depth knowledge of ancient Indian arts.’
‘Of course. Knowledge that you possess, obviously.’
‘You bet!’
‘How might one acquire such knowledge?’
‘I’d tell you, but it takes years. And as you know, I’m only here for another couple of months …’
Timira had intended for it to be cheeky, but it comes out sounding rather sad. Haneul’s crestfallen face is proof of it. Not sure how she is going to salvage the situation, Timira gets up and stretches her arms wide.
‘Wow, look at the time, will you! Daepyonim, I must call it a night and take your leave now.’
Without waiting for Haneul’s response, Timira turns away, ready to exit the stage, when Haneul grabs her wrist.
‘Stay.’
Timira’s eyes grow wide.
‘Eh? I’m not sure I follow …’
‘I’m asking you to stay.’
Stay, Timira. Jaebalyo. Can’t you see it in my eyes, how much I want you to? Stay, so I can open up my heart to you and show you that there is you and only you in it.
‘Is that an order?’
He is clearly exasperated at Timira’s seemingly dense demeanour, yet Haneul holds back.
‘No, Timira. It isn’t an order. Nothing I request of you can ever be an order.
You probably think I’m some sort of a privileged, misogynistic, selfish prick.
Well, I can assure you I am anything but.
I’d show you, but like you just said, you are here only for another couple of months.
Is that long enough to change your opinion of me? ’
Haneul’s sudden honesty and vulnerability has taken Timira by surprise and she takes time to recover. When she does, her thoughts are haywire and her speech garbled.
‘Why were you scolding me earlier? You could’ve just been with me instead of calling and pretending to be worried!
You said you went to Namhae, okay. But for an entire week?
Couldn’t you call? Did you think of me while you were away?
Why do you make me sway every time I resolve to keep steady?
What is it with you and these mixed signals?
Why are you asking me to stay when you have a fiancée?
Don’t confuse me, Mr Baek. I beg of you. ’
Timira cannot believe the words coming out of her mouth. She knows she will probably regret it at a later point having said all this, but at the moment, she knows she has to let the weeks’ worth of bottled feelings out.
My stupid mouth. I should just go back to my room. But why can’t I? Why do I want to stay here for just a little longer and look at this face?
Haneul knows Timira deserves answers. He knows he has led her on, deceived her even, some might say.
If and when she remembers about Bali …
Waving at his face, Timira tries to bring Haneul back from his thoughts where he seems to be lost.
‘Daepyonim, Mr Baek. Haneul-ssi!’
Snapping out of it, he says, ‘I will answer all your questions, I promise. Everything you wish to know, I will tell you. In exchange, give me two months.’
Haneul is almost begging, leaving Timira bewildered.
He continues. ‘Tell me you’ll give me these two months to sort this, us , out!’
Us ? US ? When did we become ‘us’? Since when? Does he mean he and I ‘us’? Oh, wait. Or is it he and Mina ‘us’? Sounds sus, this ‘us’. Oho, is us-us mein kahan main phusss gayi!
Timira is confused by Haneul’s words, but it’s his puppy eyes that are confusing her the most.
‘I, um, what is even going to change in two months?’ she demands to know.
Years of being played by men and especially after being cheated on by Rodrigo, Timira is understandably doubtful of the species and their intentions, raging hormones and an undeniable crush notwithstanding.
‘I wish I had an answer to this, Timira, but I don’t. Which is why I’m asking you for a little time. To figure this out. You cannot deny we’ve got something going, can you? There is something between us, is there not?’
Wrong, Haneul, you’re wrong. There isn’t something between us, there are many, many things!
You make me feel things I’ve never felt before.
I want to laugh and cry at the same time.
I want to tell you everything—how I like my tea, who I want to be, what sort of life I wish to live, the places I want to see.
I wish you’d hold my hand and never let go. But can you? Will you?
Timira keeps mum and, though still a tad unsure about his true intentions, she is surprised by and quietly marvelling at Haneul’s easy honesty. Used to men being unsure, vague, keeping women hanging in an air of ambiguity, Haneul baring his heart is a refreshing change for Timira.
Timira’s wrist starts to feel a little sweaty. Looking down, she realizes with a slight shock that Haneul has been holding her hand all this while.
* * *
It has taken Hanee only a few seconds to spot Timira and Haneul.
She can see he’s holding her hand, and from the expressions on their faces, she can tell it’s a serious conversation.
She recalls what she had done at the office and feels a little ashamed.
She remembers Haneul’s face when she told him about the shoes from Rodrigo and how it had given her evil pleasure.
The earlier fiasco with her phone only adds to the shame she is feeling.
Geurae, what’s done is done. So what if I did something a little evil?
Not like I was stealing Seonbae away from him.
I couldn’t, even if I tried. But I should not get between them and add to the mess.
I mean, in any case, Seonbae is straight as an arrow.
I never had a chance anyway! I should quit being a d***, quietly do my work, and be a good hoobae!
She goes back to her phone and continues to place the call she had stepped out to make.
She is about to hang up when she notices two shadowy figures making their way towards Timira and Haneul who are completely oblivious and still engrossed in conversation. Haneul is yet to let go of Timira’s hand.
Craning her neck from behind a pillar for a closer look, she notices Mr Choi’s unmistakable hair alongside a striking woman, aka Stephanie. She knows how doomed Timira will be if she and Haneul are ambushed, so without even thinking, she rushes down the stairs and starts to walk in their direction.
‘Junho! Junho! Junho-ssi! Saranghaeyo , Junho-ssi! Mmmmmm, love youuuuuu.’
Isn’t that Hanee’s voice?
Timira turns around instantaneously. Hanee is dressed in nightclothes and mumbling to herself.
‘Junho-ssi, Junho oppa , neomu johayo [I like you a lot]!’
Timira knows who Junho is. Alice has made her listen to 2PM playlists.
‘Honey, Honey, are you okay?’
Timira holds her by her shoulders and gently pats her cheeks. Hanee continues to look like she’s in a trance.
‘Is she sleepwalking?’ Haneul offers.
Timira has never seen anybody sleepwalk in real life. But Hanee does resemble what she has seen in movies and dramas.
Why didn’t I just run up to them like a normal person and warn them? Why did I have to devise this ridiculous plan? Look at me, now I’m stuck trying to improvise. I don’t even like Junho. What am I doing? Am I turning into seonbae?