It's the next day now and I wake up before Ryujin. I get out of bed and take a quick shower.
I decide I want to go for a walk this morning so I leave Ryujin a note before taking off.
I get outside and it's a beautiful weather today. I walk along the beach as I enjoy the morning breeze. There's not a lot of people out. Some are doing their morning run, some are probably been out to watch the sun rise.
I stop at an area where there's even less people. I squat down to draw on the sand. It's been a while since I've been to a beach. I wanted to take Eva before but Dana said that she's too young to even remember it so what's the point of going.
I look out to the water and it's pretty calm at the moment. I sit on the sand to just enjoy the view. The world is more beautiful than I thought. I always saw it as gloomy and dull but now everything seems brighter so I appreciate my surroundings better.
I remember last night's events and I can't help but smile. I'm in my honeymoon with the person I love. I may sound like a broken record but I just feel like this is all a dream.
"You look very happy" Someone says and I look up to see an older woman in front of me. She looks like she's in her mid to late 60's.
"Oh hi" I politely say.
"Mind if I join you? I could use some company" she smiles at me.
"Sure but we can go somewhere more comfortable so you don't have to sit on the sand" I say, getting ready to stand up.
"It's okay. I'd like to enjoy the view as well" she carefully sit down next to me.
I look ahead, feeling shy about the situation.
"I'm Dorothy" she offers her hand for a handshake.
"I'm Yeji" I accept her hand.
"What a beautiful name" she compliments me.
"Thank you" I shyly say.
"What brings you here to this beach?" She ask another question.
I always find it interesting how older people can just start a conversation with you like it's the easiest thing to do.
"I'm in my honeymoon, actually."
"Oh yea? Where's your husband?"
I tense up with the mention of husband. I contemplate whether to tell her that I have a wife and not a husband but I'm scared of how she would react.
"I—" I hesitate to say.
"What's wrong?" She looks at me, waiting for an answer.
"I don't have one. I actually have a wife" I finally say.
"Ohh. You're a lesbian?"
"I actually don't label myself as anything. I guess I'd label myself as Ryujin's wife and that's it."
"Oh" she simply says and tension between us becomes awkward.
"Congratulations on your wedding then" she tries to lighten the mood.
"Thank you" I say as I start to fidget with my fingers.
"Can I ask why you're alone?" I change the subject.
"I visit this resort every year on my wedding anniversary" she smiles, remembering her memories, "This is where my husband took me for our honeymoon. We didn't have a big wedding or have a lot of money but he saved up just to give me a honeymoon."
"That's so sweet" I say, "Where is he?"
"He passed away last year so this is the first year I'm here without him. We were married for almost 50 years. He was my high school sweetheart. We got married as soon as I turned 18" she shares.
"I'm so sorry for your loss."
"It's okay. He's in a better place now. I do miss him a lot."
"Do you have any advice for newlyweds such as myself?" I ask.
"I've actually never met anyone married to another woman. So I apologize if things got awkward earlier. I have nothing against it. It was just new to me. I didn't grow up with things like that" she softly explains.
"But for marriage advice? Just be patient and understanding. You and your wife will change. You will grow and at times it may feel like you're growing apart. You can't hold on to how they were in the past. Continue to love who they're becoming unless they become a shitty person" she laughs.
"That's actually a really great advice. That didn't cross my mind."
"Just remember, nothing stays the same. Even our taste changes over time but we accept those changes and appreciate that we're able to eat certain things we never could before. There's gonna be a lot of challenges in your lives together so understand each other and be there. Love and appreciate one another. You never know when the universe will take them away."
"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind" I smile at her.
"Well I think I've bugged you long enough. If you could help me stand up then I'll be on my way. It's nice meeting you Yeji. I wish you and your wife a successful marriage."
"Thank you. Nice to meet you as well" I stand up so I can help her.
"Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon" she winks at me before walking away.
I head back to the room to see if Ryujin is up. She should be since I've been gone for a while.
I enter our room and Ryujin is nowhere to be found. The bed is already made and the note I left is gone. I take out my phone to see if she's called or texted but nothing.
I try to call her and I hear her phone ringing on the bedside table.
"Ryujin?" I call out for her name but nothing.
I go to the bathroom, thinking maybe she's just pooping or something but she's not there either.
Finally, I hear someone open the door and they immediately stand in front of me.
"Holy toastees. What are you doing standing by the door?" She ask while holding her chest, "You scared me."
"Where were you? Why did you leave your phone?" I say, unhappy.
"I went to get us food" she holds up the bags. She walks past me and places the bags on the table.
"I forgot my phone but I left in a rush, wanting to make sure I get back before you but clearly that didn't work" she chuckles.
"You should have left me a note like I did" I cross my arms.
"I did. It's on that dresser" she points towards the note and I look at it, wondering how I missed that.
"Did you have a good walk?" She calmly speaks as she approaches me.
"Yes. I met an old lady and we talked for a bit" she kisses my lips then takes my hand to pull me towards the table.
"I'm guessing you haven't eaten anything" she says.
"Your guess would be correct."
"I'm sorry I missed your note and got upset" I sigh as she pulls out the chair for me.
"It's all good" she continues to prep the food on the table. I help her a bit but she's so fast that she ends up doing majority of it.
She finally sits down across from me and we start eating.
"What do you wanna do today?" She ask.
"I kind of want to have an easy day today. I just want to spend time with you. I want to savor us being alone as much as I can."
"Wanna stay in today and just watch movies? Then tomorrow we can do other activities they have in the resort?" She suggest.
"Sounds good to me but we have to get all the right snacks for the movies" I say.
"Of course" she agrees right away.
"Ryujin, do you think we will grow apart?" I ask remembering what the older woman said.
"I can't say yes or no because I don't know what the future will be like. Do I think that we're gonna get comfortable with each other that it may seem like that? Probably but actually growing apart to the point where we don't recognize one another, I don't think so" she says.
"How come?" I ask.
"Why do you ask?" She ask instead so I tell her about the details of my conversation with the woman earlier.
"I will continue to love you no matter how you change as a person. You're not the same Yeji that I met or first loved but I still love you now and I don't see that changing but we also shouldn't worry about that. A person doesn't always go through a big change. Look at my dad, my mom says he's the same as he was when they first met" she finally gives me an answer for my question.
"What if we start to have different interest?" I ask.
"Then I will support you. We don't have to participate in whatever the other likes to do. If you're into something that I don't particularly understand then I'll respect it and support you because I know it's what you like or want. As long as you choose me at the end of the day then I'll be happy" she says.
"I'm happy" I say to her, "I worry about stuff like that but your answers always brings me comfort. I really don't see myself growing apart from you. You and the kids are practically my life now and I love it. You are my first true love. I thought I knew what love was but turns out I was just trying to cure my loneliness but with you, it's really love" I point at my heart.
"My heart feels like it's literally beating for you. Honeymoon phase or not, I belong to you. My heart is yours."
"And you have mine" Ryujin reaches across the table to take my hand.
"I know I normally don't say stuff like this. It's usually your area of expertise" I joke.
"You're gonna take my job then what am I gonna contribute in this relationship now?" She plays along.
I laugh as I lovingly stare at her.
"Shall we get snacks for our movie day?" She ask and I simply nod.
We clean up our food then head out to go to a nearby store because no one wants to pay the overpriced snacks they have in the resort.
Once we got the snacks, we changed into comfortable pajamas. We cuddled in bed as we watched a bunch of movies. We saw comedies, horror, documentaries, action and even low budget horror movies that made us laugh.
The fact that a simple day like this with Ryujin is so much fun made me worry less about us growing apart in the future. As long as we stand by each other in the end, then we will be okay.