the promise of the tea-gods49it felt so good to just go with it. And so he did—for a while. He let goof his remorse for a few minutes, fended off the incessant drum-soundin his head and, for a moment, he pushed away the threat of an emptytomorrow. But as they headed back the way they had come, it all rushedback in.Walking beside her along the water’s edge, he tried his best not tolet it show . . . She laughed. His weeping heart laughed with her whileclinging to the sound of bells. She gracefully picked up a shell. His sadeyes smiled. Desperately praying for an everlasting day of her by hisside, he swung from a fraying rope—knowing the end would surelycome, but not at all prepared for it when it did.Suddenly her feet left the swirling sea-foam and crossed the sand,stopping in front of the old wooden stairs that went up the steepest partof the hill—about a mile from the beach house. Still beside her, Sookang took a deep breath and braced himself for what he knew was coming. Not yet, his heart whispered, closing its eyes. Please, please . . . notyet.K touched his arm. “I have to go now,” she said softly. “If Binnieasks, please tell him I’ve gone to meet a friend.” Giving him a warmsmile and a respectful bow, she started climbing the wooden steps—then paused and turned to him, adding, “Thank you for walking besideme for a while. You made the day more beautiful.” Then she turnedaround and continued climbing.Soo-kang watched her until the stairs disappeared into a cathedral ofswaying branches and leaves . . . Feeling as if he’d just fallen off themoon and crashed onto a barren shore of unanswered prayers, his heartsank into the sand.Temma was waiting for K at the top of the stairs. “Who was down therewith you?” she asked.“The singer, Kim Soo-kang.”“Are you kidding me? The guy who deleted you? That must havebeen one heck of an interesting conversation.”“He’s a good person—incredibly intense, but a really good person.”
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