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Was this what it felt like to fall in love at first sight?
Jiyu realized she would never forget this sight for the rest of her life. Knowing she might never be able to return made it even more precious. She found herself suddenly envious of Hunter, who could spend every summer here.
To think she had been so stubborn about not coming to a place like this, completely unaware of how lucky she was.
Jiyu cast a secret, resentful glance toward the irritating Hunter.
[I told you, I don't want the third floor. There are plenty of rooms, so why do we have to cram together in that narrow space? I'll be in the Alexander Suite on the second floor, so just let me be.]
Hunter had firmly rejected Jerard, who had been coaxing him to stay on the third floor together just for this year.
Jiyu craned her neck to look up at the third floor.
It was a space large enough for three families, let alone one. Then again, this was Hunter Hamilton—a man who found it suffocating and insisted on using three adjacent rooms.
Though Jerard grumbled that he was acting too independent or that he had grown up too quickly, he couldn't break his son's stubbornness.
Lauren, holding the hand of Daisy, who urgently needed the restroom, gave Hunter an instruction as she passed the two of them.
[Then, Hunter, you guide Jiyu to the Elizabeth Suite. Dinner is at exactly 7 o'clock on the third floor, so neither of you be late.]
He simply nodded without a word.
Without even telling her to follow, Hunter shoved his hands into his jogger pants and strode toward the entrance. While Jiyu hesitated, glancing around uncertainly, he reached the entrance, stopped, and turned back with a furrowed brow.
[What are you doing? Why aren't you following me?]
[Huh? Oh, uh. I'm coming.]
Jiyu followed him, almost hiding behind his back, and took her first step into the lobby of Cap Ash.
The Elizabeth Suite, which occupied a third of the second floor, featured a spacious living room, a master bedroom, and a bathroom with a classic tub featuring golden lion-paw feet, along with a dressing room.
It wasn't hard to imagine a noblewoman in a snowy white bustle dress from a Renoir painting, surrounded by the elegant and sophisticated cream-toned interior, sipping tea while gazing out the window.
The open view through the large floor-to-ceiling windows facing the sea cleared the tightness in her chest. She felt almost guilty enjoying this feeling alone while Ae-jeong was in a windowless basement room in Brooklyn.
Whether she had arrived safely, whether the villa was as wonderful as the rumors said.
Ae-jeong would be anxiously waiting for news.
'I should take a lot of photos and send them.'
After connecting her phone to the Wi-Fi, she took photos of everything in the room. Then, she stepped out onto the terrace, leaned against the railing, and looked down.
The infinity pool, built right on the edge of the cliff, was the color of the sky, and bubbles flickered inside a round jacuzzi tucked in one corner.
Following the steep stairs along the cliff led down to a small, crescent-shaped beach. Instead of white sand, the beach was covered in the dark pebbles characteristic of the Mediterranean, looking like a scene jumped straight out of one of the classic European films Alan used to love.
The distant sea and the near sea wore different shades of blue. The blue waves, sparkling like sapphires in the afternoon sun, shattered into white foam as they crashed against the cliff.
[Haa...]
A sweet sigh escaped her lips involuntarily.
Jiyu held her phone and pressed the video button. Then, she slowly panned the lens from left to right, capturing the view like a panorama.
Just as she reached the right edge, she froze. Hunter, leaning on the railing of the adjacent room, was staring at her through the screen.
He must have thrown off his top as soon as he entered the room, as he was half-naked. Squinting against the dazzling sunlight, he brushed back the hair messed up by the cool sea breeze with an annoyed look. Then, as if amused, he arched an eyebrow on the screen.
Only then did Jiyu snap back to her senses and immediately lower her phone.
What a surprise. Where on earth did he pop out from?
[Sorry, I didn't know you were standing there. I was taking a video to send to my mom. Don't worry, I'll delete it right away.]
Jiyu rambled out her excuses. At that, Hunter curled his finger like a hook and beckoned her. With a defeated expression, Jiyu pouted and reluctantly handed him the phone.
Just then, Hunter leaped over the waist-high fence that marked the boundary between the Alexander Suite and the Elizabeth Suite.
[Gasp...!]
Startled, Jiyu instinctively stepped back, but he pointed toward the railing.
[Go stand over there.]
As she stood still, her eyes darting around, Hunter looked at the screen, then glanced up and gestured for her to hurry over.
[Go stand there before I change my mind. I'll take a photo for you.]
After a moment of hesitation, Jiyu went and stood by the terrace railing without a word. She had been planning to take a selfie with the sea in the background to send to Ae-jeong anyway.
However, the thought of Hunter looking at her through the phone screen made her feel unbearably awkward. Stiffening up, she pressed her lips together and looked down.
It was still overwhelming for her to have someone's gaze focused on her. Especially a deep blue gaze that looked as if it wanted to carve out her heart while it was still beating and swallow it whole.
Hunter looked up from the screen and, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, uttered the word French people use when taking photos.
[Wistity.]
If anyone else had said it, it wouldn't have mattered, but saying that ridiculous word in front of Hunter felt embarrassing.
Biting her lip and hesitating for a long time, she finally murmured, barely audible.
[What? I can't hear you, Jiyu Parker. Say it again. Wistity.]
Hunter demanded in a voice full of amusement. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his blue eyes surged like the Mediterranean waves. Just as she looked at him with resentment and reluctantly opened her mouth—
[Wis...]
[Yes, like that. Wis, ti... pfft!]
Jiyu, who had been glaring at Hunter as he clenched his teeth to hold back a laugh, ended up bursting into laughter herself. In that moment, Hunter laughed out loud and pressed the shutter frantically.
With an embarrassed face, she composed herself and tidied the hair blowing in the sea breeze, glancing at him. He made the request again.
[One more time. Wistity.]
Shaking her head, she gave up resisting. Hunter clearly had no intention of giving up until she said the word.
Anyway, feeling more relaxed than before, Jiyu pronounced it syllable by syllable in a small voice.
[Wistity.]
Then, she gave a shy smile, revealing her neat teeth.
The laughter vanished from Hunter's face as he continued to snap photos. Then, he slowly lifted his gaze from the screen and stared at her.
Swallowing hard, Jiyu also stopped smiling and stepped forward hesitantly, reaching out her hand.
[...Did the photo come out well?]
[......]
He handed her the phone without a word. Taking the phone, she looked at the screen.
With the cool blue sea as the background, her hair fluttering naturally and her bright smile, she somehow reminded herself of how she looked before her father passed away. She looked bright and happy, without any dark shadows. She loved it.
[My mom will love it if I send her this photo. Thanks, Hunter.]
Jiyu smiled faintly and looked up. Then, Hunter, who had been looking down at her, abruptly turned his head away, covered his mouth with his fist, and cleared his throat a couple of times. Then, he suddenly asked.
[So, where do you want to go?]
[Huh?]
[You were looking at the guidebook the whole way here on the plane. I'm asking if there's anywhere in there you want to visit.]
[Ah...]
She thought he hadn't looked at her once, but it seemed he had noticed her reading the guidebook.
Lauren had told Jiyu that she could either travel with them or, if there were places she wanted to go alone, they would provide a guide, so she should just say the word. However, it felt awkward to tag along when she wasn't family, and hiring a person just for her felt even more burdensome.
So, she had planned to pick a few nearby tourist spots that could be visited in a day and explore them on her own.
[Um... Cannes, Nice, Antibes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Oh, and I want to go to Monaco too.]
She murmured to herself, counting them off on her fingers.
[Are you on a group tour?]
Hunter scoffed mockingly.
[Is it too many? But I'll be here for two weeks. Even if I only visit one place a day, it'll only take five days. Since I'm going alone anyway, the time—]
He suddenly scowled.
[Alone? Are you crazy?]
[What?]
[Do you think this is Manhattan, where there's a subway station two blocks away? Didn't you see on the way here that you have to go far along an unpaved road after leaving the gate before you even hit a car road?]
[I-I did see that... but this is still a place where people live, so surely there's at least one bus stop...?]
Jiyu's voice trailed off.
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