“Dojiya. As your boyfriend, I absolutely cannot allow that swimsuit.”
I shook my head firmly and spoke with complete resolve.
“…Yuriya. I’m just wearing a T-shirt and shorts.”
Do Jihoon let out a deflating sigh. He answered as if he found the situation ridiculous.
“That’s exactly the problem. You look too good. Hey, just wear a mask when you go out.”
“I told you not to say nonsense.”
Seriously, why does he have to be so damn handsome? His shoulders are broad and his face looks like it was carved from stone.
“……”
But the more I kept looking at him, the more my earlier dissatisfaction slowly melted away. Whether other people looked or not didn’t matter. What struck me instead was the simple fact that this tall, striking alpha standing in front of me was my boyfriend.
In the end, with my face scrunched up, I wrapped both arms tightly around Do Jihoon. It was the perfect example of my actions contradicting my words.
“…What’s gotten into you all of a sudden, Yuriya?”
“Ah, damn. I don’t know. My mood’s all over the place.”
“I seriously can’t keep up with your mood swings.”
Even while grumbling, Do Jihoon gently stroked my back. His warmth wrapped around my whole body.
It felt… really nice. Having someone I could completely lean on, someone I could wholeheartedly like—it became vividly clear.
“You’re like a puppy.”
“…That’s a compliment, right?”
“Probably.”
“What kind of uncertain answer is that supposed to be?”
I lifted my head and looked up at him. Do Jihoon was looking down at me.
Our eyes met. The corners of his lips lifted into a smile, and he closed his eyes. Whenever I ended up in Do Jihoon’s arms, I usually gave him a kiss. So what he was expecting right now was pretty obvious.
But because he was acting so transparently about it, it made me not want to give it to him. A petty, mischievous impulse.
I wriggled out of his arms. Do Jihoon stared at me with a bewildered expression. It looked so funny and cute that a laugh slipped out.
“Alright then, let’s go out and have fun now!”
“Yeah. That’s a great idea.”
Do Jihoon smiled crookedly. His sulky expression was adorable.
A sigh escaped me. When he looked that cute, how could I not kiss him? At this point, it was torture not only for Do Jihoon but for me too.
In the end, I really had no choice but to walk back over to him. Then I lightly pressed my lips against his.
The sulky stiffness on Do Jihoon’s face melted away. His lips curved softly against mine.
“…Dojiya. We actually have to head out to the beach now, you know?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
“Then loosen your arms a bit.”
Do Jihoon had me locked tightly in his embrace. I wriggled slightly.
He didn’t budge at all.
“….”
Do Jihoon looked down at me for a moment. Then he pressed his lips firmly against my forehead. His lips slowly trailed downward. They left a path across my face.
Forehead. Eyelids. Both cheeks. And then my lips again.
Needless to say, I didn’t dislike it. Actually, I liked it. Everywhere his lips touched, it felt like a ticklish current was spreading through me.
But at this rate, a question slowly started forming in my mind.
Would we even make it to the ocean today…?
“Doji. I want to see the ocean. Let’s go out now.”
“I want to stay like this a little longer.”
“I’m starting to seriously doubt whether we’ll even see the ocean today.”
“……”
Eventually, Do Jihoon loosened the arms that had been holding me tight. I slipped out of his embrace and grabbed his hand, pulling him along. He followed obediently.
The beach was right in front of the hotel. With an inflatable tube rented from the hotel tucked under one arm and Do Jihoon’s hand held in the other, I ran toward the sea.
We rented a parasol and settled down. There were quite a lot of people at the beach.
“There’s definitely room for at least one more person like me.”
“I’ll stay here.”
“Really? Let’s go in together.”
I said it with a hint of disappointment.
“…Actually, never mind. It’s probably better if I just go in alone.”
Do Jihoon looked at me strangely when I suddenly changed my mind. Still, he nodded, saying he understood.
I imagined Do Jihoon soaked in seawater. Even when we first stepped onto the beach, I’d already noticed several suspicious gazes directed at him.
And in this situation, if Do Jihoon went into the water wearing just that thin T-shirt…
Just thinking about it made irritation surge through me.
“Ah, Doji. Put some sunscreen on the back of my neck.”
I was about to run into the sea when I realized I hadn’t put on sunscreen. I handed the bottle to Do Jihoon and asked him to apply it. He readily agreed.
But there was a problem.
Do Jihoon’s hand brushing the back of my neck was incredibly gentle.
It felt like his hand was clinging to my skin. I suddenly felt like an idiot for casually handing him the sunscreen earlier.
“…Ah.”
A small moan slipped out of my mouth.
The hand that had been moving softly suddenly stopped.
My face heated up. And it was insanely embarrassing. I felt like some pervert who’d gotten turned on alone in a public place.
“Hey. That’s enough. It tickles like crazy.”
I pushed Do Jihoon away, pretending to stay calm. I deliberately avoided looking at his face. With how expressive he was, if I met his eyes, it would be obvious how embarrassed I was.
Holding the round yellow tube, I ran into the water alone. The sun was blazing, and the waves were crashing energetically.
When I slipped my butt into the hollow center of the tube, it felt stable and comfortable. The earlier embarrassment had long disappeared.
Every time a wave hit, the tube rocked wildly as if it might flip over. Laughter bubbled out of me without thinking.
“Ah!”
I had been laughing when it happened.
A massive wave suddenly swallowed my tube whole. The tube flipped completely over, and I plunged straight into the sea. When I stood up, brushing my hair back, the water had already risen to chest level.
I grabbed the tube and moved toward the shore. After riding a few more waves, I went back to Do Jihoon.
He was sitting there wearing sunglasses, reading a book like a tourist on vacation.
“……”
When the hell did he bring a book out here? I wondered briefly, but then just shrugged it off.
“Knock knock. Is Doji home?”
I tapped the table a couple of times with my hand. Only then did Do Jihoon lift his head to look at me. He removed his sunglasses.
Then his face crumpled up like wrinkled paper.
“I—I didn’t do anything.”
“I know.”
“Our Doji looks really annoyed.”
“That’s right. I’m extremely displeased right now.”
“Why?”
“Want to turn around and look behind you?”
Just like he said, I turned around.
There was absolutely nothing there.
For a moment I wondered if Do Jihoon’s hysterics had suddenly started again. Ever since we started dating, he hadn’t gotten angry without reason.
Maybe the disappointment showed on my face, because Do Jihoon relaxed his stiff expression and spoke gently.
“Yuriya. I’m not angry at you. It’s just that I…”
He fell silent for a moment, as if choosing his words. A faint flush appeared on his face.
“…I’m narrow-minded. I don’t like other people looking at you.”
For some reason, the way Do Jihoon said that made him look almost pitiful.
It was cute.
And touching.
It was also fascinating that Do Jihoon had been thinking the exact same thing as me.
I sat down next to him and leaned against the table. Then I said to him,
“Doji. I really like it when you say things honestly like that.”
“…You like it?”
“Yeah. Don’t suffer by yourself, decide things by yourself, and then feel upset by yourself. I hope you tell me like this from now on. Even if it’s something small.”
“If that’s what you want, I’ll try.”
“And I get insanely jealous too, you know? Hey, look around here. Are there more people looking at me, or more people looking at you?”
“That’s nice to hear. Good thing I’m not the only petty one.”
“Yeah. We’re both ridiculously petty people.”
As I said it, I started laughing. Do Jihoon laughed along with me.
“But Doji. I’m hungry. Should we order some chicken?”
“…It hasn’t even been four hours since we ate. Think about everything you ate at the rest stop.”
“I only had one bowl of udon.”
“The meal, maybe.”
“That emphasis sounded weird.”
“Tteokbokki, baby potatoes, a hot dog, fish cakes. Sotteok-sotteok. I can’t even count it all.”
“…You remembered all that?”
Even while saying that, he picked up his phone and ordered chicken for us.
They say couples start to resemble each other. Do Jihoon was the absolute king of contradicting his words with his actions too.
“Ugh… it’s kind of cold.”
Maybe because of the chilly sea breeze, my body began to shiver. I hunched over, holding my shoulders.
“Should I go get you a cardigan from the hotel?”
Do Jihoon wrapped an arm around my shoulders. His clothes slowly became damp from the seawater on mine.
I sniffed lightly and told him,
“It’s fine. It’s a hassle to go all the way back, and it’s not that bad. At times like this, if you just go back into the water, you won’t feel cold!”
The moment I finished speaking, I jumped up from my seat.
Do Jihoon looked up at me.
I ruffled his hair once before running straight back into the sea.
At first it was freezing, but as my body got wetter, it definitely felt less cold.
And once again, I got to experience the thrilling joy of riding the waves.
