.jpg)
Hunter frowned, his voice sounding like a warning.
[I don't want to take a photo.]
[Put your hand down.]
Jiyu stubbornly kept her face covered and shook her head.
[I have to send a photo to my mother.]
She fell into thought, her face still hidden. She knew that if she sent a photo of herself with Hunter, Ae-jeong would surely jump for joy.
Slowly removing her hand, Jiyu cautiously peeked at the screen. Hunter didn't miss the timing and quickly pressed the shutter.
The screen captured a fleeting image: her, with a comical expression—lips pouted and eyes wide—and him, with a mischievous smile.
[Hunter!]
Jiyu looked up and glared at him. Hunter laughed loudly and lowered himself to her eye level. Tilting his head slightly toward her, he spoke to the screen.
[Jiyu Parker, Wistity.]
He wore a refreshing smile, revealing his straight, white teeth, as if something were incredibly amusing.
With a small sigh, she gave in and let the corners of her mouth curl up.
[Wistity...]
The moment a dimple appeared, Hunter pressed the shutter repeatedly. Just then, a young man who looked like a tourist stopped in front of them.
[Would you two like me to take a photo for you? And after that, could you take one of me here?]
[Sure.]
Hunter accepted the offer and handed Jiyu's phone to the man. Then, he pulled her back, who was standing there with a bewildered expression. He rested his chin on the crown of her head as she fell into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her upper body.
[Hunter, wait, just for a second...]
The moment she placed her hands on his firmly locked forearms to push them away, the man holding the phone at eye level shouted.
[Smile!]
Startled, Jiyu flashed a bright smile. After taking a few photos, the man returned the phone, and this time, Hunter took a photo of the man. Meanwhile, she checked the photos they had just taken.
A shot of her smiling softly with a flushed face, and Hunter laughing brightly.
A shot of Hunter embracing her from behind, and her holding onto his arms with both hands.
They were photos that anyone would mistake for a couple.
[They came out well.]
Hunter, who had returned to her side before she knew it, peeked at the photos and then took her hand, pulling her along.
[Let's go. It's going to rain soon.]
He gestured toward the sky with his eyes.
And so, the two walked hand in hand like an ordinary couple until they reached where the car was parked. They returned to Cap d'Ail in the red Testarossa Spider, their hair fluttering in the wind that carried the scent of rain and a faint saltiness.
✾ ✾ ✾
As soon as they passed the gate of Cap d'Ail, thin raindrops began to fall. The gray rain clouds thickened, and the surroundings quickly grew dark. Rain splashed into the open convertible.
[Go inside first. I'll head in after I park.]
Hunter dropped her off at the entrance of the villa and drove back out of the driveway surrounding the massive circular fountain.
Upon arriving at the Elizabeth Suite, Jiyu lightly shook off the raindrops and flopped down onto the living room sofa. So much had happened during the day that her mind was a jumble. She felt that for as long as she lived, she would never forget this day in Monaco.
Unconsciously, she touched her lips.
In broad daylight, in the middle of a tourist attraction, Hunter had kissed her as if he couldn't contain himself.
'Why did he do that? We aren't even dating anymore...'
Jiyu let out a silent scream and stomped her feet. Her cheeks burned. Even though it wasn't her first kiss, her heart trembled violently as if an earthquake had struck.
[I must be crazy... Calm down, Jiyu Parker.]
Though she knew she shouldn't assign great meaning to a trivial action like a teenage girl, she couldn't soothe her racing heart.
She hugged her knees and rested her forehead on them. Taking deep breaths to settle her mind, she fanned her burning ears with her hand.
Then, she suddenly stood up, opened the large living room window, and stepped out onto the terrace.
The rain, now heavier than before, pattered down onto the white floor tiles. Jiyu walked barefoot to the railing, tilted her head back, and closed her eyes. The cold raindrops seemed to cool her hot face.
Monaco was beautiful, and the dinner on the ship had been romantic.
'That's why Hunter must have been swept away by the atmosphere. Get a grip, Jiyu Parker.'
Wiping the moisture from her face as if washing it, she looked down over the railing.
The lights were on in the infinity pool, which glowed with a clear sky-blue hue. Heavy raindrops drew tens of thousands of concentric circles on the water's surface. The sound of the waves and the rain hitting the stone railing of the terrace competed to increase their volume.
Then, a way to calm her mind came to her.
Jiyu ran back into the room. She pulled a bikini out of her suitcase.
After a quick shower and changing into the swimwear, she threw on a white robe and glanced at the clock beside the bed.
Nine o'clock.
The resident staff at Cap d'Ail finished their shift by eight and returned to the staff quarters near the gate. Thus, even if she did something as crazy as swimming on a day with pouring rain, there would be no one to see.
Jiyu left the Elizabeth Suite and quickly crossed the lobby. It was dark, but streetlights were lit throughout the garden, so the path wasn't scary.
Upon arriving at the infinity pool, she left her robe on a sheltered chair to keep it from getting wet and carefully walked to the edge of the pool. Step by step, she descended the stairs.
She had braced herself, expecting the water to be cold, but it was a heated pool, and the temperature was much warmer than expected.
Submerged up to just below her chest, she looked around. Rain fell with vigor, creating gentle ripples across the entire pool.
Patter, patter. A kind of white noise that somehow made her feel at peace enveloped her.
A dark sky where no moon was visible, a black sea shrouded in sea fog.
The sound of the rain falling, as if washing the world clean, was sweet.
She felt as if she might cry, or perhaps burst into laughter.
'Will I be able to hide the fact that I love him from Hunter?'
Jiyu's gaze turned toward the second floor of the villa. Perhaps he had returned after parking; the lights were on in the Alexander Suite as well. In the large villa, the only places where light leaked out were her room and Hunter's room.
She wasn't so foolish as to not know what might happen tonight. Jiyu recalled her own image in the photos she had taken with him.
The flushed face, the excited eyes, the shy smile.
They had only kissed once, yet her feelings for Hunter were captured vividly in the photos. She worried about what kind of face she would have while looking at him after spending the night together.
Jiyu pushed off the bottom and dove deep into the water. Cutting through the current, she prayed with all her heart.
'Don't let it show. Don't get caught. Don't greedily desire something beyond my reach...'
Jiyu swam underwater until she was breathless, surfacing only after a long while. Tears and rain flowed down along with the faint salt water of the pool.
As she wiped the water from her face and swept back her hair, there was a loud sound of splashing water.
'Hunter.'
She knew without even looking.
Her heart leaped into her throat, and her pulse spiked rapidly. She blinked through her blurred vision. In the soft lighting of the pool, she caught sight of a large figure diving deep beneath the surface.
The figure circled around her, gliding through the water like a shark hunting prey. An irrational fear gripped her—the thought that he might actually grab her leg and drag her down into the deep abyss. It was an instinctive intuition that something overwhelming was about to happen.
[Stop joking around, Hunter...]
Jiyu slowly backed away.
The rhythmic sound of rain falling into the pool, the crashing of the waves, and the scream-like thumping of her heart tangled together like a chaotic orchestra. Her breathing became labored.
The moment she felt Hunter draw near, he suddenly surged up from the water. Startled to the point that her heart nearly stopped, Jiyu screamed.
[Kyaak!]
She raised her arms as if to defend herself, shrinking her shoulders, but she ended up drenched in the spray he created. Wiping the stream of water from her face and brushing away the hair clinging to her cheeks, Jiyu looked up.
Hunter was staring at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, the corners of his mouth curled up lazily. Water dripped from his hair, and droplets clung to his eyelashes.
Just like that rainy day when he had suddenly stepped under her umbrella.
Jiyu swallowed hard. She wanted to look away, but those deep blue eyes held her fast and wouldn't let go.
[W-what are you doing, Hunter...]
Her small murmur was buried by the sound of the rain.
Without a word, Hunter reached out and wrapped his arm around the nape of her neck. Then, he tilted his head down.
.jpg)