"Summer dawned on me that day very unexpectedly. It had with it a coolness of some sort. I remember my father holding an ice cream at me that melted in my hand as I tried to grasp it. Now that is how right now I am holding my reality and my life."
Before the summer holidays arrived more merrily than ever, weeks passed like a thought of the midnight. In those weeks, Misao worked harder than ever on her courses, for she had a backlog of assignments that had to be done. Youra and Joon-Woo, too, were busy doing their studies. Yet amidst all the chaos of screaming books and written notes, Youra kept asking Misao about the lunch she had with Ibuki and Uno. Still, for some unknown reason, Misao kept refusing to say anything about it.
After that eventful lunch, Ibuki had remained away from Misao and was looking for a job. His luck had seemingly turned against him as he failed to get any meagre wager. Eun Yun had done her best to find him a job but kept failing. So, finally, after seeing that nothing else could be done, Eun Yun gave Ibuki a proposal to work at her family's house.
"My mom could get some help, and we will pay you enough," she said.
Ibuki agreed with no other option and began working with Eun Yun's family. She had a father, a mother, a younger sister and an older sister in her house. Her older brother was married and living in Busan. Her house, to Ibuki's surprise, was huge. And contrary to what Ibuki thought, Eun Yun was far better off than he was. She lived on the same street as Misao, a few houses away from hers. Since he began working, Ibuki would pass by Misao's house and pause but then move on.
One fine day, not very fine by weather, as Ibuki was cleaning the porch of Eun Yun's house, she approached him and said, "Ibuki, so my family and I are planning to go somewhere for summer. Would you like to join?"
Ibuki was surprised by the proposal. He remained silent for a minute and replied, "I don't know. I will have to ask my mother."
"Sure, go ahead," Eun Yun responded merrily.
"Where are you going, by the way?" asked Ibuki.
"Heuksando!"
Ibuki departed late at night that day. The street was silent, but some houses still had lights on. He looked at the lights coming from the houses. They were probably students studying late at night for exams, he thought. As he walked, he came by Misao's house. All the rooms were dark. Everyone had gone to sleep.
As he was about to turn from there, Ibuki heard someone humming. It was a soft song that he knew. He recalled humming it to Misao when she was sad. He knew it was her. She hadn't gone to sleep. She was in the yard of her house, having a late-night walk. Ibuki placed his ear slowly on the house gate, which had the night's coldness. He held his breath and heard it more passionately. Misao was still humming the tune. Then it stopped. Ibuki retreated from the gate and was about to leave when it opened.
"Ibuki?" Misao looked in awe at him as she had not expected him to be there so late at night.
"Hi. I actually worked at a house nearby and left only moments ago. I just passed by here," Ibuki replied.
"Oh. Ok." Misao was about to close the gate again when she stopped and said, "Um, Youra, Joon-Woo and I are going somewhere with Uno and his family for the summer. Do you want to join?"
Ibuki replied, "Cannot. I am already going with someone else. See you, I will leave."
Ibuki left quickly, and Misao closed the gate. Early morning the next day, the two met again as Ibuki was heading to work and Misao was leaving for school. The two exchanged a silent greeting and passed by each other without speaking at all.
In his response to Eun Yun, Ibuki agreed to accompany her and her family on the summer trip. Eun Yun's father, out of a gesture of affection, gave Ibuki extra money to buy himself new clothes. Ibuki happily took it and bought himself a set of new dresses for the trip. With any money left, he bought one dress each for his mother and sister.
The eagerness for the trip did not fit well with Ibuki. He was anxious rather than curious or excited. The weeks, few of them leading to the trip were bland and rather dull for Ibuki. He remained in the thoughts of how the place would be. He had never been away from his home or, at least, never remembered being away from his home. If at least he had been away from his home, it would be just outside the district he lived in but never into a far-off island.
While Ibuki wanted his mother and sister to accompany him, they refused, and Mrs Cho decided to send Maki over to her maternal grandparents for the summer while she stayed back to run the bakery. Ibuki dropped his sister off at the grandparents' house two days before the trip.
Ibuki arrived late and, without having dinner, went to his room. He felt tired and lay down to relax. He remained motionless for some time, staring thoughtlessly at the ceiling. Then he slowly grabbed a white pack with little branding from his pocket. He sat upright and opened the pack. How long had it been since he began taking drugs? He felt as if it was forever. Nowadays, he could fall asleep heedlessly and enjoy whatever he wanted whenever he wanted without the demons haunting him. When his ex-classmates found him having drugs, they did not make fun of him; the only time they did not look down upon him was when they included him in their chain of boys who ran a small but influential drug business for high schoolers. Ibuki's late-night activities included hanging out with them. Once he felt included in their group. He did not want to be left out again, so he scolded himself even if he questioned what he did. He had done a great job not letting anyone find out that he was a drug addict. Not even his own family.
"They will take it from me, but it gives me all that I want," he thought.
Ibuki fell asleep late into midnight. His sleep was sound and silent. It was not so early but not late when he woke up. He dressed to leave for his last day of work before the vacation.
As Ibuki rushed downstairs to leave, there was a knock on the door. He slowed his pace and went to open it. He wasn't sure why, but he felt scared and nervous from opening the door. He opened it hesitantly, and on the floor was a letter. The one who had dropped the letter had left.
Ibuki opened the letter and found it was from Misao's school, thanking Ibuki for his costume designs in the school's annual festival with some amount of money as a token with the letter. He was happy looking at it and took it to his room, leaving it on the table before leaving for work.
The day thereafter was typical, and Ibuki returned early. He relaxed for some time before finalising his packing for the trip. Morning tomorrow he was to leave with Eun Yun. Coincidentally, Misao was also leaving for her trip tomorrow.
The Sun woke up to be brighter than ever. The birds sang a song ever more melodious. There was joy that rushed with the breeze of the early light. Ibuki stretched his arms out of the quilt and got out of the bed. He bathed, wore fresh clothes and brushed his hair to let it shine. He looked happy inside out. Then, he had breakfast with his mother. Through the breakfast, his mother remained silent, and so did he. Once he was done, all he did was bid her goodbye and leave, saying no more. Her family and Eun Yun were already standing outside their house near a booked cab, waiting for Ibuki to arrive. The cab would drive them to Mokpo form, where they would take a ferry to the island. The ferry was a personal one owned by Eun Yun's maternal uncle. So the family and Ibuki sat for a long drive to Mokpo and finally Heuksando.
Ibuki had never been in a long drive, anything beyond an hour. He was scared of getting motion sickness, but luckily, he did not. They stopped by on the way at an eatery and had a filling feast before resuming their journey. They arrived at Mokpo around midday, and a small drive to the coast took them into late afternoon.
When they arrived at the coast, Eun Yun's uncle had already prepared the ferry for their ride. They stayed at a restaurant for about an hour before they took off on the ferry for their destination.
Ibuki was tired of the journey and went into a cabin while on the ferry. He sat on the couch and put his hand in his pocket, drawing from it a packet. He came out of the cabin after about thirty minutes. Eun Yun called him to her and said, "Look, isn't the sunset marvellous."
Ibuki smiled, but he felt that smile hurt his cheeks. It was painful for him to feel happy. He wanted to cry and scream, and then a thought came to him. Misao wasn't there. No one to stop him. He could jump into the sea, and his body would never be found. He would be erased from existence and remain in peace. He inched closer to the railing and bent down to look in the sea. It was deep. If he did jump, he would die of drowning, but he would have to make sure that no one would save him before death would hug him. But then, Eun Yun was still around. He would have to ensure that Eun Yun wasn't around. Or anyone at all, for that matter. What if he tied a rope around his neck and strangled himself, then jumped into the water so that the rope would speed the process of his death. He looked around, and he spotted a rope. He could also tie a bag filled with water around his head to make it even more difficult to breathe.
By the time his thoughts grew darker and darker, he realised they had arrived at the island. He gave a gasp and shrugged his thoughts away. He hadn't realised that his thoughts spanned the two or more hours journey.
They came down from the ferry, and a car drove them to their hotel. The hotel was not so far from the beach. Situated on a sloppy terrain, the hotel had a vast landscape. It had small huts on its forepart and patches of small gardens. The main building was five-storeyed. Upon entry on the ground floor was a lounge and an eatery. Two stairs led to the first floor, which had a hall for gatherings. Beyond that, the floors had rooms. Eun Yun shared her room with her younger sister on the second floor, while Ibuki's room was on the third floor.
It was late evening, and only a thin red line of light remained in the sky. The breeze from the ocean blew across the land. Ibuki had changed, freshened up and eaten. He came from his room and went to the hotel's garden.
As fate had it, in front of him, dressed in grey trousers and a half-black t-shirt, stood Misao.