As I have nothing to give you, I give you my heart (IU Verse Book#1)

Chapter 29

     By the time Jihyuk and Jieun returned to the house, it was 7:30 AM. They spotted Hyori and Sangsoon setting the table and bid the couple good morning. Hyori eyed them and seeing that the atmosphere between the two was lighter than the previous evening, she let out a grin. "It seemed that you too had made up." Jieun lowered her gaze and hid a shy smile, while Jihyuk smiled politely at the older woman. 

     "About time," Hyori heard her husband murmuring beside her. Hyori bit back a laugh and told the other two to wash up for breakfast. As the four settled down on the dining table, Hyori asked where the two went off early in the morning. "Well, you told me that walking along the beach in the early morning is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so I thought I'd try it. I found Jihyuk ssi on the beach so we decided to enjoy the view together." Jieun told Hyori. Jihyuk nodded beside her.

     "Well, it seemed that you two enjoyed it too much," Hyori said innocently. Jieun and Jihyuk, however, didn't think the statement was anywhere near innocent as they both knew what they did on the beach. The former choked on her rice while the latter's face grew bright red. Hyori raised an eyebrow at the two and grinned cheekily. "I meant to say that you enjoyed the view too much because you both seemed to be in a good mood. I guessed something happened then." 

     "What did you two do?" Again, Sangsoon asked innocently. Jieun glanced at Jihyuk to see that he was already staring at her, and looked down again, her face growing red. Jihyuk bit his lip and looked away from Hyori, who was staring both of them down. Hyori narrowed her eyes on them before it clicked her. "Oh my god! You guys confessed to each other, didn't you?" When neither Jieun nor Jihyuk said anything, Hyori clasped a hand to her mouth. "Omo, this is so unexpected. I mean, I knew that you guys were going to eventually do it, but I didn't think it was this soon."

     "Yeah, see Honey? I had more faith in them than you did." Sangsoon said cheekily. He stretched out his open palm. "Pay up." Hyori grudgingly passed a 10,000 won bill to Sangsoon while Jieun gaped at the two. "You-you bet on us?"

      Hyori shrugged at her. "Yeah well, I thought that your stubborn heart wouldn't budge for a long time." She then turned to Jihyuk, "How did you manage to capture her cold heart, Jihyuk ahh?" "Unnie!" Jieun exclaimed immediately. Jihyuk just let out a smile and glanced at Jieun whose face was bright red. "But anyway, congratulations to you two, now Jieun won't feel like a third wheel around us anymore." Jieun made an inhuman noise at Hyori's statement, all the while her face growing redder and redder. She looked like a tomato to Jihyuk, to be honest. A cute tomato, he added.

     "Anyways, in all seriousness, did you enjoy your stay here?" Hyori addressed Jihyuk. Jihyuk smiled and nodded. "This is my first time here, and I feel like I have fallen in love with this place. I wished that someday I could have a place here and settle down." Jieun gazed up at Jihyuk and seeing that he was genuine with his statement, she couldn't help but let out a smile, before looking away again when she felt Hyori's eyes on her. The older woman bit back a laugh at her actions. Teasing the young woman was way too fun. "That's funny, cause I remembered Jieun saying that she fell in love with Jeju too during the time she stayed with us for the first time, what was it, 4 years ago, was it Jieun-nah?"

     Jieun nodded. 'Yeah, and I still stand by my statement, Unnie. Someday I'm going to build a house next to you and grow old here. So be prepared to get sick of me." She said. Hyori laughed at her and couldn't help but asked, "Is Jihyuk going to be here too?" Jieun made another inhuman noise and Jihyuk couldn't help but think that she is too adorable, and for what? "That's up for him to decide, I mean." She murmured under her breath.

     Hyori grinned at her. She has never seen Jieun so flustered and shy like this. Usually, she has a calm aura around her and it was rare to see her like this. "Ah, this reminds me of the first time you came here, Jieun-nah. You looked so lonely and I couldn't help but feel sad for you at times. Now that you are here with Jihyuk, you look so much brighter to me. I really think so." She said sincerely. Sangsoon nodded agreeing with her wife. Jieun lowered her head but smiled nevertheless, and cast a glance at Jihyuk who was looking at her like she was the only person in the world to him.