21. The Island Beggar, Jin Se-ah
"Let's get some rest, shall we?"
"Then why are you trembling like that?"
"Trembling? Who said I was trembling?"
"Who else could it be?"
Junhyuk chuckled softly at Se-ah's visibly tense expression.
"Why not just sleep on the beach?"
Despite suggesting it, Se-ah quickly reconsidered, thinking she could endure another night on the sand.
"That's not an option. Even if those dark clouds seem far away, rain can pour down at any moment. And we have to think about bugs too. Last night, there were none because of the storm, but we can't count on that kind of luck again tonight."
Looking at the horizon painted by the sunset, his furrowed brows revealed a sense of urgency.
"Oh, bugs… right, there would be bugs,"
On an isolated island, the thought of swarming insects sapped the strength from her voice. This wasn't just about finding a place to sleep anymore.
"Don't worry. I'll do my best to block them out."
"No, it's fine. We don’t know when help will arrive, so I should learn to adapt too,"
She replied firmly, resolving not to appear weak in front of someone who was trying so hard.
"Are you always this quick to adapt? Most people would’ve broken down at least once in this situation. Are you genuinely strong, or just pretending to be?"
He tilted his head as if trying to gauge her sincerity.
"The scariest thing in the world is people, isn't it? I've been through enough to handle most things,"
Having experienced betrayal from people she trusted, Se-ah understood human cruelty better than most.
This time, she'd been backstabbed trying to help Moon Sohee.
"You're tougher than I thought."
"I’ve been like this even before I met you, Do Junhyuk."
Her quick retort made him laugh, his eyes crinkling with amusement.
"Sure, let’s go with that."
"It's not just an excuse, it’s the truth! Hey!"
As she tried to step closer to confront him, her foot slipped on something buried in the sand, causing her to fall forward—straight into Junhyuk’s arms.
Her face landed directly against his firm chest.
"S-Sorry. There was something in the sand…"
Quickly stepping back, she bent down and pulled out the object, holding it up triumphantly to show him it wasn’t intentional.
"Look! A mirror."
At that moment, the reflection in the tilted mirror revealed not Junhyuk but someone who resembled a beggar—a disheveled figure as if a typhoon had swept through.
Wait. Who is that? Could it possibly… be me?
It was certainly not Junhyuk standing before her, so the beggar reflected in the mirror was undoubtedly herself.
Have I been looking like this in front of Do Junhyuk the entire time? Have I gone mad? Jin Se-ah!
Her face turned as red as the setting sun hanging over the sea’s horizon.
Even when she widened her eyes and looked again, the shabby appearance remained unchanged.
Her reflection resembled that of an island beggar who had been stranded not for a day but seemingly for a month. Se-ah’s lips trembled, and her eyes rolled, capturing the image of Junhyuk, who stood before her with the clean composure of a city dweller.
Compared to her, Junhyuk looked so neat that he appeared nearly the same as he had on the boat. Only upon closer inspection could one notice the slightly wrinkled shirt.
Feeling a twinge of unfairness, she thought, I assumed I looked somewhat similar to him since we’ve been in the same situation.
This isn’t some fairy tale about a prince and a pauper.
Why am I the only one who looks like this?
How could such a stark contrast exist between the two of us?
Even though she hadn’t had a chance to check her appearance after regaining consciousness, she could have at least run her fingers through her hair or wiped off the sand from her face.
This is just unacceptable!
If she looked this bad even at sunset, she dreaded imagining how much worse she must have appeared in broad daylight.
Even if there was nothing between her and Junhyuk, showing herself in such a state to anyone was mortifying.
Se-ah looked around frantically, her face filled with alarm.
Although surrounded by blue waters, washing her face in seawater was out of the question.
“D-Do-D-Do-Do Junhyuk! I’m so sorry, but is there any water I can use? Just for washing my face?”
Stammering in embarrassment, she quickly covered her face with her palms, waiting for Junhyuk’s response. Through the tiny gaps between her fingers, she could see him suppressing a smile.
Being sharp-witted, he must have pieced together the situation from her expression and the mirror she was holding.
“Just call me Junhyuk, not that stuttering mess. There’s some rainwater collected in a washed-up tube over there. Use that, but don’t drink it.”
“Thank you!”
Se-ah followed the direction he pointed to and grabbed one of the cleaner-looking empty PET bottles she had picked up earlier. Without hesitation, she sprinted over, her feet barely touching the ground.
Knowing that water was scarce, she used it sparingly, filling the bottle just enough for washing her face.
This should be enough.
She finished her face-washing session, careful to save the last drop of water, and checked her reflection again in the mirror. Her body trembled with shame.
In truth, when Junhyuk caught her earlier, she had entertained the fleeting idea that perhaps he might be interested in her.
He had jumped into the water to save her, and since then, his actions seemed unusually kind.
Considering herself someone with a keen sense of observation, her suspicions were about to turn into certainty—until she saw herself in the mirror.
Thank goodness for that mirror.
Had it not been for that mirror, she might have misunderstood the situation and embarrassed herself by harboring unrealistic notions about him.
Looking at her salty, brittle hair and a face that seemed unwashed for a month rather than a day, she found the idea of someone developing feelings for her laughable. The mere thought of her earlier misunderstanding made her cringe in embarrassment.
Even after washing her face, the reflection in the mirror still revealed a disheveled appearance. Unless Junhyuk had eyes on his feet, there was no way he could harbor such feelings after seeing her in this state.
Shaking her head at her own foolishness, Se-ah sighed.
***
Junhyuk wasted no time putting his plan to build a shelter into action.
His forearm, veins bulging, gripped a log several times thicker than his arm and pressed it down.
Snap!
The trunk of a tree, roughly Se-ah’s size, split in half with a loud crack. Even the still-thick halves were further chopped into smaller pieces, which piled up neatly on one side.
“What exactly can’t you do, Junhyuk? I mean, is there anything you can’t do?”
Se-ah, who had been busy gathering large leaves, stared in awe at the rapidly growing stack of wood.
“Well… there was a time I had to live alone for a while.”
“Living alone doesn’t mean everyone becomes this skilled, you know?”
After all, she had been living alone for three years but couldn’t even dream of doing anything like this.
“Survival comes first…”
His answer, unusually vague and mumbled, piqued her curiosity. But before she could ask further, Junhyuk swiftly started weaving the thicker pieces of wood together, and she missed her chance.
It seemed like there was something important he wasn’t saying.
Her momentary suspicion quickly turned into admiration. Watching him, she felt like she was witnessing someone who had spent years at a survival camp.
From the way he arranged uncut logs to create a raft-like floor, to setting up pillars using the chopped wood, the entire process felt magical.
Even earlier, when he turned a plank from the wrecked boat into a makeshift cutter by sharpening a metal shard to use as a blade, her jaw had dropped.
Thanks to that makeshift cutter, the time needed for the construction was significantly reduced.
Despite the sweat dripping steadily from Jin-hyuk’s forehead as the woodpile grew, he didn’t stop working.
Thanks to his skilled craftsmanship, a small rectangular hut quickly took shape. Se-ah used the large leaves she had collected to fill the gaps between the wooden pillars, ensuring there were no open spaces.
Although the night’s cooler temperatures were less of a concern than the bugs, the urgency to seal off the hut kept her busy placing leaves alongside Junhyuk. They left a small gap near the roof for ventilation, which Junhyuk covered with a net he had found, creating a makeshift screen to keep insects out.
“Is it already done?”
Peering through the net, Se-ah saw a small space just tall enough for an adult to crouch inside but wide enough for two people to lie down. Her eyes lit up with excitement.
She had been prepared to settle for something as basic as a fenced-off area, so seeing a proper structure gave her an unexpected sense of security.
The man who had once seemed so difficult to deal with, her ex-husband Do Junhyuk, now appeared almost princely in her eyes.
“Yeah, once we lay down some flooring and make the door functional, it’ll be finished.”
Even the sweat trickling down his well-defined forehead seemed regal to her.
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