He took a small box out of his pocket.
The box he’d placed on his palm
he held out to me.
"Is this that necklace?
that kept you so distracted you couldn’t even answer my calls?"
"Aww~
if you say it like that, I’d feel too sorry
to give it to you."
"I see.
Let me forget that and open the box first."
I opened the lid of the small box.
A heart-shaped necklace
was sparkling.
"It’s so cute and pretty.
How did you pick out something this lovely?"
"There’s something special about this necklace."
"Something special?
What is it?"
"Look at the back of the heart."
"The back? What does it say?
Looks like Spanish...
What does it mean?"
On the back of the heart, in tiny
letters, it said this.
"The clerk told me
that it means 'I will love you forever'
."
I stared at Hunji
with my eyes wide open.
"This special a necklace...
how did you find it?"
He took the necklace in my hand
and put it around my neck.
"It really stood out to me.
Good pick, right?"
"It’s so pretty!! Thank you.
I’ll never take it off for the rest of my life."
"For the rest of your life?"
"Was that a bit of an overstatement?"
"No. Say that again exactly.
You said you’d never take it off for the rest of your life, right?"
"Ah... I’m hungry...
Should we just eat out for dinner tonight?
I’m so exhausted
I can’t make dinner tonight."
"No... why aren’t you answering my question?"
"What should I eat for dinner...?"
He chased after me all evening, demanding an answer,
and I pretended not to hear him and changed the subject.
That evening,
we were on our way back after eating out.
A quiet alleyway,
the sound of crickets could be heard.
Hunji spoke up.
"Earlier... when Jeong-a looked my way
and then collapsed, starting to bawl her eyes out..."
"..."
"The fact that someone would worry about me that much...
it really moved me."
"I’ve never really...
worried about someone like that before, either."
"Even so...
you still can’t answer my question?"
"I understand how I feel...
but in reality, I’m not sure I can handle it well
on my own."
"Even with me by your side, you’re not sure?"
"There are parts I’ll have to handle
all by myself, too."
"I see... I’ll wait."
After I got home,
I checked the email from the publisher.
It was about a project
I’d be working on with several translators.
From the moment this project was mentioned,
it was something I’d been wanting badly.
And to take part in the project,
I’d have to go back to Korea.
"So the time has really come
for me to go back to Korea..."
That night,
I couldn’t sleep because of all sorts of thoughts.
Then I drifted off for a moment.
"No!!!! Not this!!!!"
I screamed and woke up.
Hunji woke up, startled.
"What’s wrong? Did you have a dream?"
"I will never accept that!!"
