19. Welcome to the Deserted Island.
To think that the price of saving her life would be something like this.
Faced with such an absurd situation, she couldn’t even make a sound.
Se-ah stood there, dazed, with a blank expression as she let the crashing waves engulf her completely.
Before long, the surroundings were entirely covered in black currents.
Even though she was wearing a life jacket, the rough waters still allowed seawater to flow into her nose and mouth. The icy water quickly stole away what little warmth remained.
Her strength drained from her body as if she could lose consciousness at any moment. It was getting harder to hold on. Just as Se-ah was about to give in, she heard a loud splash in her ears.
At first, she thought maybe some cargo had fallen into the water, but as the splashing sounds grew closer, she realized it was a person.
Wh-Who is it?
Turning on the flashlight attached to her life jacket, Se-ah spotted a familiar figure ahead.
A strong hand suddenly yanked at her floating life jacket, pulling her closer.
With eyes so fierce they could kill, Se-ah wondered for a moment if this was a grim reaper coming to take her away. Her startled scream burst out.
“Do Junhyuk?!”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Wh-Why are you here?”
“Why do you think? I have to rescue my wife.”
“Are you c-crazy? What do you think you’re doing here, Do Junhyuk?!”
Biting down on her trembling lips to hold back her anxiety, Se-ah looked up at Junhyuk, who was in the water with her, her eyes filled with shock.
No, seriously. Why on earth would my ex-husband jump into the sea to save me?
Seeing that he had somehow tied a rope securely between their life jackets during that brief moment, Se-ah let out a hollow laugh.
He had tied it so tightly that even when the waves pushed them apart, their bodies, though swaying separately with a slight delay, never drifted too far from each other — always within arm’s reach.
Despite both of them being equally helpless in the water, there was something oddly reassuring about the connection.
With mixed emotions swirling in her gaze, Se-ah glanced at the rope linking them and then at Do Junhyuk's face.
"You too. What on earth were you thinking? You’re not even close with Moon Sohee."
"Ha…"
At his curious question, a deep sigh escaped from between her teeth.
"Seriously. Why did I do that?"
Her head still throbbed as if it had been hit. It was hard to understand why Moon Sohee, instead of being grateful for the escape, had shoved her into danger.
No matter how many times she recalled it, it was clear that Sohee had pulled her hand away on purpose.
For now, surviving this situation was the top priority. But if she did survive, Se-ah vowed to repay the favor several times over. While she was firming up her resolve, Junhyuk’s reproach reached her ears.
"Don’t do that again. When someone reaches out to you, how could you miss grabbing their hand?"
"What? What did you just say? Did she seriously just say that? Moon Sohee?"
Se-ah’s eyebrows shot up.
She’s telling other people that I missed her hand, even though she’s the one who let go?
"Then what do you think happened?"
"Hah... Never mind."
Her lips moved as if to argue further, but she eventually shut her mouth. Even though she had experienced it herself, she had no evidence to prove it, so there was no point in explaining.
She decided it would be better to confront Moon Sohee directly and demand an explanation later. There would be plenty of time to tell others after that.
"Anyway, what about the boat? Do you think it’ll come back to rescue us?"
In the pitch-black sea, aside from the floating debris, it felt like the only things visible were each other’s faces. The warmth she had felt upon spotting Junhyuk earlier was slowly fading.
Her lips, now turning purple, had only a faint trace of warmth left. The rain, which had momentarily let up, began to pour down harder again, leaving little hope of warming up.
Se-ah recalled that, in cases of being adrift at sea, people often died from hypothermia rather than drowning. She curled up her body as tightly as possible to preserve her body heat.
The situation was dire, but there was still hope.
If she had been alone, she might have thought they would abandon her, but she was certain that they wouldn’t leave Junhyuk behind. That belief gave her hope that the boat would eventually come for them.
Of course, her hopes were immediately dashed by his next words.
"No. They can’t come this way because of the waves."
“Th-Then, are we just going to keep floating like this?”
Her pupils shook as she frantically scanned her surroundings. The boat they had been on had already sunk, leaving no trace.
"From now on, we’ll have to find a way. We’re not going to die just like this, are we?"
He flashed a lopsided grin, his expression exuding unwarranted confidence as he looked at Se-ah’s worried face.
It was so different from the calculated, cold Do Junhyuk she knew that her eyes widened in surprise.
"Have you always been this impulsive and reckless?"
"What do you think?"
Even in the darkness, Junhyuk’s gaze flashed mischievously. His face, soaked with water and his hair plastered to his head, felt unfamiliar — almost as if she were looking at a different person entirely.
"You're not that kind of person, are you? Do Junhyuk."
With heightened wariness towards Do Junhyuk, Se-ah pulled herself as far away from him as possible, even though they were tied together by a rope. The rope went taut as she created the maximum distance. Junhyuk's eyes lowered in displeasure as if he was measuring the distance.
Suddenly—
He yanked her back in one swift motion, pulling her so close that their arms were pressed together. He tilted his head, asking a question with a sly smile.
"Exactly. I'm not that kind of person. So why do you think I’m acting this way?"
His arm, now touching hers, was still warm, unlike her cold, rain-soaked skin. Despite the rain pouring down on him too, the water on his arm quickly turned lukewarm, perhaps due to his body heat.
"H-How would I know…?"
"If you don't know, you can just figure it out. Anyway…"
Junhyuk's calm face, which had somehow managed to remain composed even in this dire situation, suddenly grew serious.
"What's wrong with your face?"
"My face?"
"Yeah. You’re as pale as a ghost…"
As he closed the distance to examine her face, Se-ah's vision suddenly blurred.
Why… Why is this happening?
Even Junhyuk, whose face had been clearly illuminated by the flashlight moments ago, began to look like a fading shadow. Her body felt like it was being filled with a strong sedative, leaving her completely drained of strength. Sleepiness washed over her with overwhelming force.
"…Hey. Se-ah? Are you… okay?"
Even Junhyuk’s voice, which had been so clear, now sounded like a distant echo.
Her senses dulled, and her numbed body no longer registered the cold. Her head, which had tilted forward, was caught by Junhyuk’s firm, urgent grip.
"Jin Se-ah!"
"…......…."
She needed to say something to Do Junhyuk, who was desperately calling her name. Moments ago, she had been talking to him just fine, but now it felt like that had only been a dream. The words she wanted to say stayed trapped in her mouth, unable to escape.
It made sense. She had endured hours of rain, unrelenting waves, and freezing temperatures on a stormy sea. The fact that her body had managed to hold out this long was, in itself, a miracle.
Her thoughts flashed back to the symptoms of hypothermia she knew so well. A weak smile flickered on her lips as she forced them to move.
"Do Junhyuk… thank… you…"
She thought, This might be her final farewell, and she tried to finish her words. But, like a thread suddenly cut with scissors, her flickering consciousness abruptly went black.
***
I had a dream where I was walking through a desert filled with nothing but sand.
I didn’t know where I was going or why I was walking.
My consciousness was so faint that even those thoughts were unclear. My mouth grew parched, and my skin felt as if it were burning under an intense heat.
The humid weather I knew from the Philippines wasn’t this suffocating, I thought, as I tried to voice my confusion. But all that came out was a groan from my throat.
“Ugh…”
“…Hey. …Se-ah. Jin Se-ah!”
Someone kept calling my name repeatedly. And it wasn’t just from a distance — it was right by my ear.
Annoyed, Se-ah frowned, scrunching her face, but slowly, she began to wake up.
Her salt-crusted eyelashes parted, and before her eyes fully opened, an unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar scent wafted in. Her nose recognized it first.
When she finally opened her eyes just enough to see her surroundings, she noticed that the blazing sunlight, which could have blinded her, was being blocked by someone’s broad shoulders.
“You’re awake?”
Her foggy, waterlogged consciousness instantly cleared when she recognized the voice of Do Junhyuk.
“Do Junhyuk?”
“Yeah.”
“Did we survive?”
“Take a look and see.”
She had thought for sure she was going to die. The fact that they had both survived felt like a miracle.
“Thank goodness…”
Se-ah let out a deep sigh of relief.
But then…
Behind Junhyuk, she noticed several palm trees swaying with their pointed leaves. The scene looked so surreal that it felt as if she were dreaming. She rolled her eyes around to take in the rest of the surroundings and realized that all she could see was white sand and more palm trees.
“Where… are we?”
Her lips, dry and cracked from dehydration, moved slowly as she tried to lick them with her tongue. But before she could, something pressed gently against her mouth.
“Drink this water first. I have no idea where we are either.”
Junhyuk answered nonchalantly as he brought a large leaf filled with clear water to her lips. The water wasn’t cold, but it was sweet and refreshing as it flowed into her mouth.
His calm attitude was so infectious that Se-ah, without even thinking, nodded as if to agree. Then her eyes widened in shock.
“Wh-what do you mean you don’t know where we are?”
Junhyuk glanced down at her, watching as she turned her head frantically in every direction. He drove the point home with his next words.
“Yeah. Seems like we’re on a deserted island.”
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