Summer Night's Dream
Episode 17 - Sokcho

Mr. Kyung's Ji-Ho-car was more precisely - finally pulled over in the parking lot of their first destination in Sokcho. Nara still doesn't know exactly where they are. When he looked out the window, there was nothing he could see but the other cars around them. He lifted his body slightly, hoping that by doing so he could see what was behind the rows of cars, but still his efforts failed.

"Where are we?" nara asked as she opened her seatbelt.

"Later you will know too" replied Ji-Ho. Then a baseball cap lands on Nara's head, making her look up and see Ji-Ho smiling briefly then coming back busy shutting down the machine and collecting the items she was about to carry out. "Come on," he said, opening the car door and stepping outside

Nara and Park Kyung immediately followed out of the car and the three of them walked down the parking lot to whatever place they were headed. Gradually, the cars they saw became less and less and changed into rows of tents selling souvenirs, various hats, sunglasses, and even fruits. There is also a shop building that displays several beach umbrellas and mattresses in front of its store. Just then, Nara immediately had a picture of where they were going.

"We're going to the beach?" Nara stopped walking and took a few steps back slowly. He could not even hide his voice that was trembling in fear. I don't know if the 2 men who accompanied him realized it.

But the question no longer needs an answer. He could see a stretch of sparkling white sand not far from them with people running around, sitting, relaxing, talking, even playing beach volleyball on it. Not to forget, the expanse of blue-emerald water and waves that are not so hard hit the stretch of sand earlier. Nara felt nauseous seeing the large number of people there. His feet were like they were stuck to the ground where he stood, he could not move in the slightest. His hand also began to lift and he placed it on his chest, in some way it could make his heartbeat slow down.

"Nara? What's up?" Ji-Ho realizes that Nara is no longer following behind her. He turned around and walked closer to Nara who was sculpting. "You okay?" ask again because now he can see clearly the face of Nara who paled.

"Can we not go to the beach?" bargain Nara carefully as she looks down, avoiding eye-to-eye with Ji-Ho. He fears Ji-Ho can read the panic from his eyes.

"Why?"

"I'm..." Nara tried to think of an excuse to immediately shy away from the beach, dodging the crowd. His eyes move alternately staring at Ji-Ho and the ground below him. "I don't like the beach" he continued, shrugging trying to look as relaxed as possible with his reasons. But it still sounds awkward because he was stammered.

Ji-Ho bends her body so that her eyes are aligned with those of Nara who is shorter than her. He looked at the two eyes that avoided his gaze. But Ji-Ho can still see it, those two eyes do emit discomfort and one thing Ji-Ho doesn't want today is to ruin her date. So, if Nara does not like it, why they go to the beach.

Ji-Ho re-enforces her body and looks at the distance with a frown while blotting her waist. He had to take Nara somewhere else in Sokcho, but where? Maybe going straight to a fresh seafood store is better.

"Sorry, I didn't know you didn't like the beach. I think we can enjoy the beach in Sokcho first before going out to eat. But it's okay if you want to go straight to eat right now without going to the beach" Ji-Ho stroked her nape. His expression showed guilt.

"No, it's not your fault, please don't apologize. You don't even know I don't like the beach, so it's okay. And I actually really want to go to Sokcho before we eat, but can we go somewhere else that's not that crowded?" Nara pointed her index finger at the crowd on the beach.

Then he adds another reason before Ji-Ho can respond. "I'm not in the mood to be in a crowded place today. Besides, there's you and Park Kyung, so it seems like we'd better get to a place that's not so crowded and avoid the commotion,"

"Ah, right too. People will easily recognize this famous face of mine" said Park Kyung, who suddenly stood beside them. The words suddenly made Nara laugh and slightly forget her panic about the beach crowd.

Ji-Ho turns her face slightly towards Park Kyung and gives her best friend a sharp look not to interrupt her approach with Nara. But Park Kyung just shrugged, behaving indifferently.

"I know a place we can go. How about Yeongnangho lake? It is also one of the natural scenery attractions in Sokcho, and I think there will be less people there this season. They'd prefer the beach,"

Ji-Ho nods at Park Kyung's proposal. Good idea too. "I agree that Nara also agrees," Ji-Ho's gaze turns to Nara with a gaze wondering if she agrees. And Nara nodded.

After getting back in the car and driving for about a few dozen minutes, they finally reached Yeongnangho lake. And sure enough, as Park Kyung predicts, the tourist attractions are not at all crowded. Only a few people were there. Two lovers had a picnic by the lake, and about 3 people were seen cycling around the lake. Nara exhaled seeing all that. Now he does not need to worry anymore his panic disorder relapses.

They got out of the car and Nara could feel a warm wind sweeping across her face. He took a deep breath, enjoying the very fresh air without the pollution. In front of them was a view of the blue lake that looked calm, surrounded by rows of trees with bright green leaves that shady. Very beautiful and reassuring.

"Bagainana? You likey?" ji-ho asks, already standing next to Nara. The girl simply replies with a big smile on her face, which makes Ji-Ho unable to take her eyes off and continues to look at her while smiling.

Feeling stared at, Nara turns to Ji-Ho, making her idol misbehave. "How about we ride around the lake?" ji-ho asks spontaneously due to embarrassment of being caught off guard.

"I can't ride a bike" replied Nara slowly as she bit her lower lip in embarrassment.

"really? Then good, we get on one bike, I'll piggyback on you" Ji-Ho grinned widely, trying to look calm and nervous.

Nara taps her legs while thinking about Ji-Ho's offer, while Ji-Ho anxiously waits for Nara's answer. Ji-Ho is not expressing her feelings and asks Nara to be her lover. But why is he so nervous? And why should Nara think for so long?

"Alright," Nara finally answered. And that makes Ji-Ho's grin wider than ever.

"Then you have to go borrow a bike," again Park Kyung interrupted. More precisely rule Ji-Ho.

"Then you have to help me carry that bike," Ji-Ho replies while embracing Park Kyung's shorter shoulder, then pulls the body to follow her to the place of borrowing.

But quickly Park Kyung breaks away and leans back on the car door. "don't want. I'm lazy. I'll wait here with Nara,"

"All right!" Ji-Ho sighs, gives up, knows she won't win. He moved his body closer to Park Kyung. "But please remember, you don't talk like that" she pleaded. Park Kyung just nods and flicks her hand driving Ji-Ho away.

"What if I help you?" Nara who had been silent spoke up. He looks at Park Kyung and Ji-Ho alternately. The two responded similarly, shaking their heads and swinging their hands quickly.

"No, I'm the only one who left. You wait here yeah," Ji-Ho said, patting Nara on the shoulder slowly. Then he walked backwards while waving then turned around and accelerated his pace towards the lending place.

"So, Nara-ssi," Park Kyung starts the conversation after Ji-Ho looks away.

"Yes?"

"May I ask you something?"

"Can. Oh, and before you continue, can't you call me 'Nara' instead of 'Nara-ssi'? I think it's more comfortable that way,"

"Okay, okay. So, what I want to ask is that..." Park Kyung looks hesitant for a while. But finally he steadied his heart and said what had stuck in his mind since then. "What are your feelings for Ji-Ho? When I heard your conversation with her this morning, I felt like you were always trying or maybe you really wanted to make Ji-Ho realize her feelings for you were wrong and unreal. Why?"

Nara is stunned to hear Park Kyung's question. But after waking up, instead of answering the question, he twirled the lower end of his shirt while looking down. He hopes Ji-Ho is here and he doesn't have to answer Park Kyung's questions. Indeed, for the answer to the question, he could not answer, he only doubted whether to say it or not.

"Nara?" call Park Kyung to make sure the girl does not fall asleep and immediately answer her question.

"I don't know exactly how I feel about Ji-Ho," Nara begins her explanation while looking blankly forward. "I mean, I do love it, but as an artist, as an idol. It's just that as a 'someone' I don't really know him that well. All this time I knew what he was like from interviews, television shows, but could I believe that? I do like the character Ji-Ho always shows in all the shows I see, but is it really Ji-Ho? Can I conclude that I love her even from all that? I'll never know, will I? Unless I meet and know him in person. And that's what I'm doing now" Nara paused for a moment to catch her breath.

Meanwhile beside him Park Kyung just nodded her head without opening her mouth in the slightest and did not try to cut off Nara's confession, just being a good listener.

"And instead of me trying to make Ji-Ho realize and feel her feelings for me are wrong and not real, but I still feel doubtful myself. Why does he like me? Why me? Even around her are many women. Female idols. Beautiful artists. But why suddenly me? The person I had only been able to meet in my dream suddenly said he liked me. Can you believe it? We've only met once and the rest is just from text conversations, is it possible that his feelings came up that fast? Is the feeling sincere?" again Nara took a break. This time he breathed before continuing. "I just don't want to hurt myself. I didn't want to fly too high and when I realized everything was just delusional, it had to crash. I don't want to realize later that the person doesn't really like me, that person doesn't really love me, and it's all just a game of feeling. I don't want my feelings to be played," Nara lifted her face, looking back at Park Kyung's standing position. He blinked his eyes many times, trying to fight his tears formed more, or worse fell.

"Ji-Ho that's..." Park Kyung finally spoke up after glancing at Nara who averted her eyes and spoke no more. "He's a very shy person. Not shy in the sense of not being able to appear in public or anything like that, but he is difficult to express his feelings. Even we members of his group sometimes do not know what his feelings are, we only know when he is angry or upset," now Nara turned back to look at Park Kyung who moved forward a few forwards from where she was standing while both hands were put into her pants pocket.

"When we were in high school, he used to like someone. He's our underclassman. Ji-Ho likes her since the girl accidentally finds Ji-Ho's missing dog. Ah, that girl's name is Hye Jung. Yeah, they never even talked before and only met for the first time at the time, but Ji-Ho really likes it. Every day she just admired Hye Jung from afar until I finally intervened and helped her get close to Hye Jung,"

"Then what happened?" ask Nara here. Strange, somehow hearing that he felt very jealous. And it was clear from the way he spoke, making Park Kyung smile thinly.

"Yes, in the end, they are officially dating. Everyone was so envious of seeing their closeness. They're like match made from heaven. But unfortunately, they have to split up because Ji-Ho has to continue her studies in Japan. But it is Hye Jung who decides Ji-Ho, because she does not want to have a long-distance relationship. Even after he returned from Japan, he was still looking for Hye Jung, who unfortunately also moved to Busan. Long enough until Ji-Ho can stop thinking about her ex-boyfriend. It was about this time when we were so busy debuting that he gradually forgot about Hye Jung."

Nara seems to be quietly listening, but in her heart, her hands are very itching to immediately pick up the phone and find out what the girl from Ji-Ho's past looks like. She is eager to see Hye Jung's face, what she looks like, by looking into social media.

Park Kyung continued. "But the thing I want to say is.Ji-Ho never messes with his feelings. He is not the type of man who chases someone just because he wants to play around for a moment or does not really like it. When he likes someone, although he will look very awkward and do not dare to show his feelings at first, but after his feelings are revealed he will try hard to show his joy and be more honest with his feelings. And I think his feelings for you are serious,"

Park Kyung's last words make Nara claustrophobic. Either because the butterflies flying in his stomach hit his diaphragm, or because his heart did not stop beating fast.

"Thank you, Park Kyung-ssi," Nara said after feeling a little calm. Just then, he sees Ji-Ho walking towards them with 2 bikes each on the left and right sides of her body. Hurriedly Nara steps away from Park Kyung to help Ji-Ho who looks overwhelmed.

"Thank you," Ji-Ho just says the word, but still doesn't let Nara help her. He stopped walking and lowered the standard of the bike on his left side. "Yes! Kyung-ah, come and get your bike!" yell Ji-Ho towards Park Kyung.

Park Kyung lazily walks over to the two lovebirds and picks up the bike on Ji-Ho's right side. "You two please go together, don't follow me," then he jumped on the bike and started paddling to go around alone.

Ji-Ho snorts amusedly at Park Kyung's confident behavior. 'Who wants to follow him?' inner Ji-Ho then jumps up on her bike. Then he turned to look at Nara and patted the back seat.

Nara smiled before finally rising up in a sideways sitting position because she was wearing a skirt. After that he becomes confused himself, holding onto Ji-Ho or not? He is afraid of falling because of his risky position to fall, but he is also embarrassed to touch Ji-Ho.

"Handle . I don't want you to fall because of me," as if I could read Nara's mind, Ji-Ho said that. So Nara slowly pinched Ji-Ho's sweater and made it grip. Sensing that, Ji-Ho again commented. "You'll get us both hooked if it's like that," then Ji-Ho grabs Nara's hand behind her and makes it wrap around her waist.

Ji-Ho's behavior not only makes Nara's face red, but her own face also blushed. He took a slow breath, calmed down and said, "Ready?"

Nara nodded as she moved her other hand to join her around Ji-Ho's waist, hugging her. After that Ji-Ho steps on her pedal, runs her bike around the lake and enjoys the view of Yeongnangho lake.