Heartbreak Journey

Before Sunrise

Yoon Se Ri

In the past, I travel abroad only when it's necessary. It's limited to book signings, business trips, and guest invitation at some book fairs. While I admit that's probably because I seldom take any time off, I am not one to enjoy myself in a different setting that I'm not familiar. Also, most of these trips, I am travelling alone. Min Ah sets up everything for me from back home.

When I travel for pleasure which is pretty rare, almost always, I go with my ex and my family. The furthest is to our family vacation home in Yangyang, an area near Mount Seorak.  I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand how often my ex and I travelling together outside of that. We spent our quality time mostly with dinner, movies night or just chilling out together at our home. In short, I never find travelling to be... fun. Travel always means business, never pleasure.

However, apparently, travelling with a good person could change your outlook on that. There's no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them, as Mark Twain said. The verdict on Ri Jeong Hyeok? Twice already we travel together and he's currently one of my favorite person. Trust me when I say that list doesn't have many people in it.

Thinking about the stunt he pulled in the night before our departure still left me stunned. I remembered staring blankly at him as he waved me goodbye smiling his satisfaction at making me speechless. I also remembered how I kept touching my cheek and felt his lips touching me. It was gentle and full of affection. Strangely, that little kiss didn't affect our interaction the next day. It was as if it was a habit and the most natural thing to do, when it was most definitely not.

I like that he gives me time to keep our distance while at the same time giving me enough push to accept that there is something happening here. To let me figure out what I want to do with this mutual attraction between us. Now that I know he's as brokenhearted as I am, I need to be very careful with both our feelings. I guess, not today is applied for both of us. Whatever happens during the remaining duration we're together probably will only stay here. But let's just focus on this trip and so far only good things happen.

We're currently on Day 2 of our trip and on our way to Tongariro after spending this morning in Hobbiton. I'm a big fan of Lord of the Rings. The Shire always have a special spot in my heart despite how annoyed I am with Frodo near the end of the movies. I think I was squealing so much while in Hobbiton. Ri Jeong Hyeok spent most of his time amused by my antics and acted as my photographer. And truly, his photos are remarkable.

Two days in, Ri Jeong Hyeok truly shows himself as the perfect companion and I can't find the suitable words that describe my exhilaration. Our camper van hire is spacious, it's very thoughtful of him to hire a 3 berth one while there is only two of us. Sleeping in the camper van is surprisingly pretty comfortable. I sleep in the single bed on the lower level while Ri Jeong Hyeok sleep at the double bed on the upper part. We're talking most of the time getting to know each other. I'm still surprised though that he hasn't connected the fact that I am Yoon Se Ri the author.

He continues to impress me with his cooking skill and his coffee making ability. He cooked us his version of janchi guksu - of course with the available ingredients we found during grocery shopping - and it was otherworldly. Then he served me my black coffee this morning after his morning run. He even brought his own coffee maker set. Man and their toys.

"Of all the things you can pack to your luggage and backpack, you choose to pack your coffee maker." I commented trying not to ogle him while he's being all sexy making the coffee. He shrugged.

"I take my coffee very seriously. Here, you should try it." He handed me my cup of coffee. It smelled really good, I sipped a little and immediately moaned because it tasted really amazing. Even better than my usual fix near my apartment in Seoul.