“I don’t need the hospital,” Jihoon said, standing and brushing off his pajama pants so casually, you’d never have thought he’d just had a seizure in the middle of the forest.
“Something is wrong with you,” Miyoung said, reaching for him. But when she touched him, a spark raced across her palm. She jerked her hand back. It had felt like pure energy sizzling under her skin.
Jihoon chuckled, but it sounded jarring while Miyoung’s heart was still racing with fear for him.
“I was just disoriented. I think I was sleepwalking last night and I had no idea how I got out here.”
Call it instinct, but Miyoung wasn’t sure if she fully believed this sudden story. But what reason did Jihoon have to lie? “You’ve never mentioned sleepwalking before.”
“Well, that’s because this is the first time it’s happened. It’s why I was so freaked out.” Jihoon gave a quick smile.
“Then shouldn’t you get checked out? I know you hate the hospital, but I think we should see your old neurologist, just in case,” Miyoung said, trying to wrap her arm around him for support.
“Fine, if it will get you off my case, I’ll go,” Jihoon said, rolling his eyes, like she was overreacting.
“Why are you acting like this?” Miyoung asked. This wasn’t like him. He wasn’t mean or callous.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were filled with tears. “I’m just . . . I think I’m just stressed. I’m scared every day that I might lose you.”
Miyoung let out a deep breath, which eased a bit of the tension that still sat in her chest. “You won’t lose me,” she assured him.
“Of course I won’t,” Jihoon said, his eyes suddenly dry again. “We love each other. Love can conquer anything.” He gave a sly smile that looked like he was making a clever joke, but what he was joking about, Miyoung couldn’t tell.
She remembered her conversation with Somin. How those words were hard to push out, but how Jihoon needed to hear them. And it seemed he needed them now more than ever. So she took a deep breath, held it, and then dove in. “Jihoon-ah.”
“Yeah?”
“I do love you. You know that, right?”
He gave her a crooked grin. “Of course I do. Now let’s get going, the faster we see the doctor, the faster we can eat breakfast, and I’m starving!”
“Okay,” Miyoung said with a frown. That wasn’t the reaction she’d been expecting to her first true declaration of love. But she supposed after everything they’d been through, words could pale in comparison. She tried to push away the worry that still poked at her. She wasn’t so insecure that she’d assume her boyfriend was sick just because he didn’t react the way she’d wanted to her confession.
So she let Jihoon guide her out of the forest. But as they left, she heard Yena’s voice echo behind her, Be careful, Daughter.
33
“I DON’T KNOW about this,” Junu said warily.
“You said you’d take me anywhere,” Somin reminded him, pulling him through the lobby. His shoes squeaked against the gleaming floor as they dragged. Then, finally, with a sigh, he let her drag him to the entrance of the indoor amusement park.
“I can already hear the creatures screeching.”
“You mean the happy laughter of children?” Somin asked, rolling her eyes. “I never knew you were afraid of kids.”
“I’m not afraid,” Junu insisted. “I just keep a safe distance. They have sticky hands and sharp teeth. They’re like trolls.”
“Are trolls real?” Somin asked, eyes wide with curiosity.
Junu laughed. Throwing an arm over her shoulder, he said, “Let’s get this over with.”
With a whoop of joy, she raced forward to give her ticket to the boy standing at the entrance, Junu trailing slowly after. As they rode the escalator up, she felt butterflies in her stomach as she remembered staring at pictures of this place as a child. It’s where her father had promised to take her. A promise he’d never been able to keep.
It felt like one of those clichéd slow-motion reveals as she started to see the park above the escalator platform. The rides rising up, the lights, the colors. She saw the famous air balloon ride that hung in the sky, showing people the aerial view of the park. She could make out the tracks that wound through the air and led to the outside portion of the park, like a trail to more adventures. As she entered the park, she closed her eyes and breathed in the smell, mostly