“Young love really makes me envy…”
The older man dreamingly said… Jiyong could only watch him in wonder until he shifted his gaze across the beach… his eyes wandered around as if looking for the figure of his wife… he then suddenly heard a light chuckle coming from the older man beside him, which made him turn his gaze back to him…
“Don’t worry son… no one will take her away from you in here… she’ll be back to you later…”
Jiyong was taken aback… eyes immediately left the beach as he face the old man again… couldn’t able to react with what the other told him… he then opened his mouth… about to deny the old man’s assumptions… but only to be cut by him.
“Looking at you two earlier… made me miss my wife more…”
The old man’s lips curved into a genuine smile… had his gaze still set across the sea… leaving Jiyong putting away his thoughts for a while and be curious about the old man’s wife…
“Why Mr. Jang…? Where’s your wife…?”
Just then, the old man turned to him… with still that warm smile on his wrinkled yet gentle face…
“She already passed away three years ago…”
Jiyong gulped down and immediately apologized as he bowed to the old man… earning a light tap on his shoulder…
“It’s fine son… those last few years with her were nothing but pure bliss for both of us… she too liked beaches… here in this beach I could still remember that fine afternoon… after a long day of my work… where we first had our real date… I really wanted to bring her in at least a fine restaurant downtown… or at least accompany her in strolling down the park or probably buy her a beautiful dress… but I was just a mere errand boy back then… only able to bring her here… to the cheapest place I could think of… luckily she likes the sea and so… with only a piece of baguette my boss gave me that day which was also my first time to taste it… we had our first date…”
The old man momentarily stopped as he bowed down and chuckled… Jiyong could see the happiness in him… despite the forming tears in the old man’s eyes…
“But we were happy… rather, she’s the happiest that day while I, on the other side felt so insecure of the things I could only give her… but then she told me that she doesn’t need anything… and she doesn’t want to be anywhere else other than being by my side… that being with me was enough to make her the happiest person… I didn’t know she had that side of her… that day… I promised myself to do my hardest just to make her always happy… and I’m grateful that even on the last day we shared together I was still able to give her that happiness…and that was probably one of the greatest achievements in my life…”
The old man heaved out a deep sigh after blinking his eyes a couple of times… Jiyong could only bow down for he couldn’t even decipher the forming pain inside him… even though all he was hearing right now was nothing but a story of happiness… he couldn’t feel a tinge of bliss rather, all he could feel was sadness…
Imagining his wife’s face… the pain in it… the suffering she went through with him… could he ever give her that same happiness that the old man told him just now…? His thoughts were suddenly got interrupted when the old man continued speaking…
“That’s why I decided to build this place in here… I want to share to everyone the same happiness that me and my wife shared that day…and I want people to feel the same contentment we felt that day that is, sharing this place with someone special to them…”
The old man looked around the still unfinished building and smiled again to himself before turning back to the younger guy and noticed its silence… his brow raised a bit in curiosity before he reached out again to him and tapped the side of its shoulder…
“I know she feels the same happiness that my wife felt that day…”
Jiyong looked up and looked at the old man in confusion…
“Your wife… she looked so happy and in-love earlier with you…”
Jiyong’s eyes widen in surprise… wondering what the old man was talking about… only to earn another smile from the other…
“That’s why I said I envy you… she must really love you that much eh Jiyong-ah…?”
Love…? He though as he felt stiffened on his spot… while his thoughts revolve around the word that the old man just spoke of… Mr. Jang tilted his head to the side a bit…
“Why do you look so surprise about it Jiyong…? Something wrong son…?”
Definitely, there’s something wrong with that… he added in his thoughts… for he would probably be the last man she would love… no… someone like him doesn’t even deserve that last piece of opportunity for her love… the old man was probably too engrossed in his own happiness that he mistook their little charade a while ago… for he knew that all she wants was to get away from him… as much as he wants her to be locked with him… in the end she would go away… to escape him and that is definitely far from the love that the old man just said awhile ago…
Mr. Jang suddenly got bothered by the silence of the younger man… remembering what Jiyong’s father told him about his son’s marriage with Sandara… the old man then closed his eyes for a bit and heaved out a sigh… it must be really hard to have an arranged marriage…
“Is Jiyong having a trouble with his feelings towards his wife…?”
The old man asked him with enthusiasm like a father asking his little son…
“Eh..?”
A faint sound finally came out in from his throat… the old man suppressed his laughter upon seeing the confused expression from the younger man’s face… he didn’t expect young people to be this oblivious in their own feelings… he looked away but kept his gaze on the side, watching Jiyong’s stuttered expression…
“The way you hold hands together earlier… seemed like you don’t want to let go of each other … the way she looked at you seemed like you’re the only person she could see… the way you smiled at her seemed like she’s your only happiness…and the way your eyes kept on looking for her seemed like you don’t want her to be away from you even just for a while… tell me Jiyong-ah… do you still feel troubled with your feelings…? Was that all just an act to please me…?”
Jiyong couldn’t answer back… he felt like he got tongue-tied… he never expect that the old man would be able to observe all of those things… and surprisingly, he never expected them to look like that in front of the old man… he was just going on with his instincts… probably going on with that ‘something’ he could feel inside him… as if it was the most right thing to do at the moment that he couldn’t even control himself but to just do it… and no… it was never an act just to please someone… or anyone…
“No… it wasn’t Mr. Jang… I was just… I never thought…”
Jiyong was out of words… first time he stuttered in explaining himself… and the old man’s curious stares didn’t helped him at all… after a while the old man chuckled… bringing Jiyong back from his thoughts… he looked back to the older man before him…
“I never thought the heir of Kwon’s corporation would stutter in front of me just because of his wife…”
Jiyong could only look at him in awe… his forehead were all creased… he just doesn’t want to be misunderstood… but he himself couldn’t even distinguish what’s wrong or not anymore…
“Why are you holding back son…? Do you think it would do you good…? You two both looked like shells keeping itself closed… away to see each other… why don’t you first open up for her…? Be a man…!”
He was a bit shaken when the old man tapped both of his sides… squeezing him a bit…
“And that way… maybe she would be able to open up with you… and you would also see the things I saw in her earlier while she was looking at you… I know it will took a lot of courage for one to start something… to open up yourself… to awaken yourself from the lies that you’ve been feeding yourself… but trust me son… there will never be regrets after that… far from keeping yourself behind her all the time… far from just watching her… far from keeping yourself in pain from suppressing what you truly feels…”
And that made him completely speechless… he could only look away, blinked his eyes for a couple of times… while breathing heavily…
He bit his lower lip… how could the older man read him that fast…? Was it really enough for him and his lies..? But what was really the truth…? He couldn’t even understand what he feels right now… torn between his past and his present…
He momentarily closed his eyes as his hand form into a fist… until after a while… he let out a deep sigh… he looked back at the old man beside him and a slight smile formed on his lips…
“Do you really think she’s happy with me..?”
Hesitation could be felt from his voice, as if he was embarrassed to even ask that silly question… never did he expect himself to be curious about how she feels for him… on the other hand, the old man was a bit startled by Jiyong’s question, until his expression went to a gentle one…
“I know she is…”
Jiyong couldn’t help but smile… a sudden feeling hit him again upon hearing others say that…
“But would it be better if you would ask her this yourself…?”
And his smile slowly vanished…the bliss that he once felt suddenly got replaced by fear…he was surprisingly afraid… first time that he had doubt in himself… afraid he wouldn’t get the same answer from her… afraid of being rejected by her… and just then… a thought brushed his mind… was he now having an unrequited feeling towards her…?
The older man dreamingly said… Jiyong could only watch him in wonder until he shifted his gaze across the beach… his eyes wandered around as if looking for the figure of his wife… he then suddenly heard a light chuckle coming from the older man beside him, which made him turn his gaze back to him…
“Don’t worry son… no one will take her away from you in here… she’ll be back to you later…”
Jiyong was taken aback… eyes immediately left the beach as he face the old man again… couldn’t able to react with what the other told him… he then opened his mouth… about to deny the old man’s assumptions… but only to be cut by him.
“Looking at you two earlier… made me miss my wife more…”
The old man’s lips curved into a genuine smile… had his gaze still set across the sea… leaving Jiyong putting away his thoughts for a while and be curious about the old man’s wife…
“Why Mr. Jang…? Where’s your wife…?”
Just then, the old man turned to him… with still that warm smile on his wrinkled yet gentle face…
“She already passed away three years ago…”
Jiyong gulped down and immediately apologized as he bowed to the old man… earning a light tap on his shoulder…
“It’s fine son… those last few years with her were nothing but pure bliss for both of us… she too liked beaches… here in this beach I could still remember that fine afternoon… after a long day of my work… where we first had our real date… I really wanted to bring her in at least a fine restaurant downtown… or at least accompany her in strolling down the park or probably buy her a beautiful dress… but I was just a mere errand boy back then… only able to bring her here… to the cheapest place I could think of… luckily she likes the sea and so… with only a piece of baguette my boss gave me that day which was also my first time to taste it… we had our first date…”
The old man momentarily stopped as he bowed down and chuckled… Jiyong could see the happiness in him… despite the forming tears in the old man’s eyes…
“But we were happy… rather, she’s the happiest that day while I, on the other side felt so insecure of the things I could only give her… but then she told me that she doesn’t need anything… and she doesn’t want to be anywhere else other than being by my side… that being with me was enough to make her the happiest person… I didn’t know she had that side of her… that day… I promised myself to do my hardest just to make her always happy… and I’m grateful that even on the last day we shared together I was still able to give her that happiness…and that was probably one of the greatest achievements in my life…”
The old man heaved out a deep sigh after blinking his eyes a couple of times… Jiyong could only bow down for he couldn’t even decipher the forming pain inside him… even though all he was hearing right now was nothing but a story of happiness… he couldn’t feel a tinge of bliss rather, all he could feel was sadness…
Imagining his wife’s face… the pain in it… the suffering she went through with him… could he ever give her that same happiness that the old man told him just now…? His thoughts were suddenly got interrupted when the old man continued speaking…
“That’s why I decided to build this place in here… I want to share to everyone the same happiness that me and my wife shared that day…and I want people to feel the same contentment we felt that day that is, sharing this place with someone special to them…”
The old man looked around the still unfinished building and smiled again to himself before turning back to the younger guy and noticed its silence… his brow raised a bit in curiosity before he reached out again to him and tapped the side of its shoulder…
“I know she feels the same happiness that my wife felt that day…”
Jiyong looked up and looked at the old man in confusion…
“Your wife… she looked so happy and in-love earlier with you…”
Jiyong’s eyes widen in surprise… wondering what the old man was talking about… only to earn another smile from the other…
“That’s why I said I envy you… she must really love you that much eh Jiyong-ah…?”
Love…? He though as he felt stiffened on his spot… while his thoughts revolve around the word that the old man just spoke of… Mr. Jang tilted his head to the side a bit…
“Why do you look so surprise about it Jiyong…? Something wrong son…?”
Definitely, there’s something wrong with that… he added in his thoughts… for he would probably be the last man she would love… no… someone like him doesn’t even deserve that last piece of opportunity for her love… the old man was probably too engrossed in his own happiness that he mistook their little charade a while ago… for he knew that all she wants was to get away from him… as much as he wants her to be locked with him… in the end she would go away… to escape him and that is definitely far from the love that the old man just said awhile ago…
Mr. Jang suddenly got bothered by the silence of the younger man… remembering what Jiyong’s father told him about his son’s marriage with Sandara… the old man then closed his eyes for a bit and heaved out a sigh… it must be really hard to have an arranged marriage…
“Is Jiyong having a trouble with his feelings towards his wife…?”
The old man asked him with enthusiasm like a father asking his little son…
“Eh..?”
A faint sound finally came out in from his throat… the old man suppressed his laughter upon seeing the confused expression from the younger man’s face… he didn’t expect young people to be this oblivious in their own feelings… he looked away but kept his gaze on the side, watching Jiyong’s stuttered expression…
“The way you hold hands together earlier… seemed like you don’t want to let go of each other … the way she looked at you seemed like you’re the only person she could see… the way you smiled at her seemed like she’s your only happiness…and the way your eyes kept on looking for her seemed like you don’t want her to be away from you even just for a while… tell me Jiyong-ah… do you still feel troubled with your feelings…? Was that all just an act to please me…?”
Jiyong couldn’t answer back… he felt like he got tongue-tied… he never expect that the old man would be able to observe all of those things… and surprisingly, he never expected them to look like that in front of the old man… he was just going on with his instincts… probably going on with that ‘something’ he could feel inside him… as if it was the most right thing to do at the moment that he couldn’t even control himself but to just do it… and no… it was never an act just to please someone… or anyone…
“No… it wasn’t Mr. Jang… I was just… I never thought…”
Jiyong was out of words… first time he stuttered in explaining himself… and the old man’s curious stares didn’t helped him at all… after a while the old man chuckled… bringing Jiyong back from his thoughts… he looked back to the older man before him…
“I never thought the heir of Kwon’s corporation would stutter in front of me just because of his wife…”
Jiyong could only look at him in awe… his forehead were all creased… he just doesn’t want to be misunderstood… but he himself couldn’t even distinguish what’s wrong or not anymore…
“Why are you holding back son…? Do you think it would do you good…? You two both looked like shells keeping itself closed… away to see each other… why don’t you first open up for her…? Be a man…!”
He was a bit shaken when the old man tapped both of his sides… squeezing him a bit…
“And that way… maybe she would be able to open up with you… and you would also see the things I saw in her earlier while she was looking at you… I know it will took a lot of courage for one to start something… to open up yourself… to awaken yourself from the lies that you’ve been feeding yourself… but trust me son… there will never be regrets after that… far from keeping yourself behind her all the time… far from just watching her… far from keeping yourself in pain from suppressing what you truly feels…”
And that made him completely speechless… he could only look away, blinked his eyes for a couple of times… while breathing heavily…
He bit his lower lip… how could the older man read him that fast…? Was it really enough for him and his lies..? But what was really the truth…? He couldn’t even understand what he feels right now… torn between his past and his present…
He momentarily closed his eyes as his hand form into a fist… until after a while… he let out a deep sigh… he looked back at the old man beside him and a slight smile formed on his lips…
“Do you really think she’s happy with me..?”
Hesitation could be felt from his voice, as if he was embarrassed to even ask that silly question… never did he expect himself to be curious about how she feels for him… on the other hand, the old man was a bit startled by Jiyong’s question, until his expression went to a gentle one…
“I know she is…”
Jiyong couldn’t help but smile… a sudden feeling hit him again upon hearing others say that…
“But would it be better if you would ask her this yourself…?”
And his smile slowly vanished…the bliss that he once felt suddenly got replaced by fear…he was surprisingly afraid… first time that he had doubt in himself… afraid he wouldn’t get the same answer from her… afraid of being rejected by her… and just then… a thought brushed his mind… was he now having an unrequited feeling towards her…?
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