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## Chapter 3: A Man’s Desire
“Kind...?”
At my question, Haruna seemed embarrassed by something and quietly looked away. I smiled gently and said,
“Ah... like I said, it's just payment for the meal. The vegetable fritters and rolled omelet were delicious.”
Haruna's eyes widened, and then she gave me a shy smile.
“I'm glad... I'm glad you liked them.”
Her smile sparkled like sunlight shimmering on the sea at sunset.
I brushed the dust from my hands and looked around.
“I'd like to take a walk to help with digestion. Is there somewhere around here that's good for walking?”
When I asked in Japanese, Haruna brightened and nodded.
“Of course! The coastal road is right in front. I'll show you around. But... could we speak in Korean? It might be difficult for you to listen to, but... I want to study.”
“Oh! Haha, of course. Do whatever you're comfortable with.”
“Thank you.”
We started walking side by side.
The moment we stepped outside, the open sea of Itoshima filled my field of vision.
It felt quite different from the sea in Korea.
Beneath a sky painted in a mixture of purple and orange, there were no high-rise buildings blocking the view, no flashy signs from sashimi restaurants, and no tourists setting off fireworks.
Only low, single-story buildings, trees that looked like palm trees,
and the sandy beach with the gentle sound of the waves.
As we walked along the beach, Haruna suddenly stopped.
She bent down and picked up something half-buried in the sand.
“I found one.”
She opened her palm with a bright, childlike smile.
It was a rounded, weathered piece of transparent glass with an emerald tint.
I asked curiously,
“A piece of glass...?”
“Yes. It's called sea glass.”
“Sea glass?”
“Sea glass.”
She carefully slipped the piece into her pocket.
“これを、なぜ？ (Huh...? Why this?)”
Even as I said it, I suddenly realized that I knew absolutely nothing about her.
A woman who had willingly given a strange man a room to stay in and prepared him thoughtful meals.
A woman who had taught herself Korean and picked up pieces of glass lying along the road as though they were jewels.
It might have been rude, but since I was already curious, I figured I might as well ask.
“If you don't mind me asking, may I ask what you do for a living?”
At my question, she clasped her hands behind her back and spun around.
A playful look appeared in her eyes.
“Hmm... would you like to guess?”
“I'm not particularly good at reading people.”
“Oh, come on. You seem very observant, Mr. Gi-jun. Just look at how you fixed the door.”
Her eyes sparkled as though urging me to guess.
I looked her over for a moment.
A calm yet cheerful way of speaking, loose but tasteful clothes, and delicate fingertips that seemed to treat everything with care...
“Hmm... Are you perhaps a bookstore owner?”
At my answer, Haruna pursed her lips with a startled “Hup!”
Her eyes grew as round as a rabbit's.
“Uh, how did you know?”
“Really?”
I was even more surprised and asked again.
She burst into laughter and waved her hands.
“Half right and half wrong. I'm not the owner, but I do work as a librarian at the village library. I like books.”
“Ah, I knew it. The atmosphere suits you.”
“And the other half...”
Haruna took the piece of glass she'd just found out of her pocket again.
Then she held it up to the setting sun.
Perhaps because it was absorbing the light of the sunset, the rough piece of glass glowed like a brilliant jewel.
“I make things with these. Lamps, wind chimes, necklaces.”
“A craftswoman...?”
“Yes. I'm a sea-glass artisan.”
She gazed at the horizon and quietly continued.
“This was originally garbage that people threw away. Pieces of broken bottles and things like that. They're sharp and dangerous.”
“Right.”
“But when the sea rolls them around, smooths them down, and caresses them for a long time, they become round and beautiful jewels like this. I really like that. Things that were hurt and discarded shining again.”
Her words blended with the sound of the waves and washed over my heart.
‘Things that were discarded shine again...’
It sounded almost as though she were saying it for me to hear.
I stared silently at the piece of glass in her hand for a while.
Then I carefully opened my mouth.
“It really is quiet here...”
“Yes. It's very different from downtown Fukuoka, isn't it? This is a place where time moves slowly. It might not suit people who are always racing against time...”
Haruna let her voice trail off as she tucked her hair behind her ear, which was being blown around by the sea breeze.
We continued walking along the coastal road before eventually making our way down toward the beach.
Far out in the middle of the sea, I could see a white torii gate.
A torii was a gate-like structure at the entrance to a Shinto shrine.
Behind it, two rocks were connected by a sacred rope.
“Do you know what that is?”
“Ah... vaguely... I think I've seen it somewhere before.”
“Meotoiwa. The husband-and-wife rocks. They're something of a symbol of Itoshima.”
Haruna pointed toward them as she explained.
“When the sun sets, it falls between those rocks. It's really beautiful.”
“I see.”
I quietly gazed at the scenery.
The two rocks connected by a rope as though relying on each other.
Until yesterday, merely hearing the word “marriage” had made me feel sick.
Yet standing before this scenery, strangely enough, I felt no revulsion.
It was natural.
It didn't feel forced, as though it had simply been there since the beginning of time.
‘This feels peaceful...’
When I thought about it, life in Seoul had always been a fierce struggle.
Days spent constantly on edge, refusing to tolerate even a 1 mm error.
And at the end of it all, the filthy betrayal I'd faced.
It felt as though all of it were being washed away by the sound of the waves here.
Whooosh!
The white foam rolling in and out felt as though it were giving my contaminated self one final cleansing sweep.
Then it happened.
My phone vibrated inside my pocket.
I frowned and checked the screen.
[Voice Call - Seyeon]
“Ah...”
It felt as though ink had been splashed across the peaceful seaside scenery.
A cold sense of disgust rose all the way to my throat.
Should I ignore it?
No.
I had to cut things off properly.
I pressed the call button.
“......Hello.”
[Oppa! Where are you? The workshop was closed. How long are you going to ignore my texts? Why haven't you been answering my calls?!]
Her high-pitched voice came through the speaker.
I quickly answered, worried that her shrill voice would linger in the peaceful atmosphere of Itoshima and taint it.
“I'm in Japan.”
[What? Japan? Did you go traveling because you were angry? Ha... Seriously, why are you acting so unlike yourself, Oppa?]
Her voice carried irritation, but there was also a slight sense of relief, perhaps simply because I'd finally answered.
She sounded like someone scolding an immature younger sibling who had run away from home.
I let out a deep sigh.
She continued.
[Oppa, just calm down and listen to me. What happened that day was a mistake. I tried to explain myself that day, but you were too worked up, so I just left for the time being. You should at least give me a chance to explain. Are you really going to end things like this?]
“Go ahead. Explain.”
[I was just... lonely because you've been working too much lately. I went crazy for a moment because I was lonely. You know I'm really bad at being alone.]
“A mistake?”
It was absurd.
She was calling what she'd done, rolling around on my workbench and on furniture I'd built myself, a mistake?
[Yes, it was a mistake! And... I've ended things with Siwoo. Ask Siwoo yourself.]
‘Seriously... She really is immature. And she wants me to ask him about it?’
When I remained silent, she continued.
[You're the only one for me, Oppa. We've been together for so long. Are you really going to throw everything away because of one mistake? You said we met by such a coincidence that it became fate... Is this all your fate amounts to, Oppa?]
Her shamelessness had gone so far that it was almost fascinating.
Haruna, who was standing beside me, seemed to notice that something was wrong with my expression.
She looked at me with worried eyes.
My reflection in her clear eyes was terribly distorted.
I quietly took a deep breath.
I didn't want to ruin my expression because of something filthy in this clean place.
[And Oppa... there'll be a cancellation fee for the wedding venue. You know that, right? If we cancel now, we'll lose all of it. It's not just a small amount of money, and... if my parents find out, they'll collapse. I'll do better. Okay? We can't end things like this. Come back quickly. I'll wait for you.]
Money.
Saving face.
Excuses involving her parents.
Just as I thought.
What mattered to her wasn't me as a person.
It was her own reputation, and the background, stability, and future that I could provide her.
“Whew...”
I forcibly swallowed down the urge to vomit.
The contrast between the refreshing sea spread before my eyes and that sticky, disgusting voice in my ear was unbearable.
I slowly spoke as though reciting a line.
“A house that's out of level is better off collapsing. As for the cancellation fee? I'll think of it as paying off the balance on a house that collapsed. Don't waste time regretting it.”
[Oppa!]
I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at Haruna.
“Haruna.”
“Yes, yes?”
“Just a moment.”
I opened the camera app.
I framed Haruna on the screen.
Her innocent face as she looked up at me with concern.
And behind her, the red sunset and blue sea.
Click.
A perfectly harmless scene was saved.
Then I opened the chat room and sent the photo I'd just taken to my fiancée—no, to the woman who was now a stranger to me.
Then I typed.
[The air is so nice here because there isn't any garbage.]
[Don't contact me. I'm blocking this too.]
The moment I pressed send, the number 1 disappeared.
Block.
Delete from friends.
Delete contact.
With a few taps, the cancer that had been eating away at my life was cut out.
Whether she cursed at me, went crazy, cried, sobbed, or begged me to come back.
‘It's none of my business anymore.’
In my world, she had been permanently discarded.
“Hoo!”
I let out a deep breath.
I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my chest.
I put my phone back into my pocket and looked at Haruna again.
She had no idea what had happened and was still watching me anxiously.
“M-Mr. Gi-jun... are you okay? Did... something bad happen?”
Her awkward Korean sounded a hundred times warmer than the fluent sophistry I'd just heard.
I walked toward her and smiled brightly.
“No. Something very good happened. I finally got things sorted out.”
“Huh...?”
“Haruna.”
With my back to the sea, I looked straight into her eyes.
“About that annex... the place where I'm staying.”
“Ah, yes... Is it uncomfortable?”
“No. I like it so much. That's why...”
I paused for a moment before making a proposal, both as a carpenter and as a man.
“Would you mind if I properly fixed it up?”
Haruna's eyes widened.
“I'll rebuild it into a proper, beautiful home. I'm actually really good at that.”
The sound of the waves filled the space between us.
The desire to rebuild my broken life once again, right here in this clean and beautiful place.
As Haruna listened, her cheeks turned even redder than the glow of the sunset.