Chapter 37: Chapter 37

●Daniel's P.O.V.●

"I didn't need a bitter-melon in my sweet as a honey love story," I murmured under my breath while glaring at Ray.

"Good…" Finishing my words, I pulled the curtains back, closing the balcony again.

Nuri was still standing there, staring at me.

"What ?" I asked.

"I am hungry…" Nuri said, hesitatingly.

I almost forgot we didn't have time to eat anything before the flight. I sighed.

"Let's have breakfast first. Then we can start exploring, okay ?" I asked to cheer her up.

Her eyes become cheerful again, hearing breakfast. I chuckled. Making her happy was easy.

We wore track shoes and also added some clothing layers. And carried jackets in case we needed.

**************

We went to the nearby restaurant to have our breakfast. After ordering our food, we started chit-chatting.

Jeju didn't serve western foods everywhere. So we ordered Korean food.

"Nuri ?" I heard a familiar voice again.

Nuri glanced over my head and waved her hands. Being curious, I looked back. And the same boy was there again. Ray !! And this time, he had some friends with him.

"Ray..!" Nuri said, smiling widely.

He walked close to us and said, "Woah! We met again, huh? Isn't it fate that wants us to meet again?"

"Really?

It seems more like 'stalking' to me." I answered, putting a smile on my lips.

Nuri and Ray both glanced at me with a weird expression. I nodded while blinking.

"Don't mind him.

He likes to joke." Nuri said while smiling awkwardly, and then she glanced at me, asking, "Right Daniel ?"

"I don't think so!" I said as I shifted my gaze towards Ray.

Ray's smile was gone.

Soon a girl came to us. She placed a hand on Ray's shoulder and asked, "여기서 뭐 하세요? 가죠!"

【What are you doing here? Let's go.】"

Then she noticed me. Our eyes met. And soon, she averted her gaze to Ray again, blushing.

"왜 여기서 친구를 만났다고 말하지 않았어요?"

【Why didn't you tell me that you met a friend here?】 Her face was red.

I concentrated on the glass of water we had on the table. But I still could hear Nuri saying several things to Ray.

"당신의 잘생긴 친구를 소개시켜 주지 않겠어요?" -

【Won't you introduce your handsome friend to me ?】

"내가 당신의 가장 친한 친구가 아닙니까?"

【 Am I not your best friend ?】"

She said again. This time her tone came out with mixing aegyo which I hated the most. I shook my head annoyingly. I glared up at Ray.

He almost froze, watching me giving him glares.

" 그는 다니엘 형입니다"

【He is Daniel Hyung.】 Ray said with his shaking voice.

"안녕하세요 다니엘 오빠."

【Oh...Hello Daniel oppa】

"저는 성일입니다."

【I am sung-il】 That girl bowed.

I bowed too, "안녕"【Hello..】

Then Ray turned his head to Nuri and introduced, " 그녀는 누리 입니다."

【She is Nuri.】

Nuri bowed - "안녕"

【Hello】

That girl bowed to her and said, "안녕하세요 누리언니"【Hello, Nuri Eonni..】

Finally, Ray said the sentence I wanted to hear from long so they both could leave us alone.

"그녀는 다니엘 형의 여자친구입니다."

【She is Daniel Hyung's girlfriend.】

Hearing the sentence, Sung-il's face looked like someone had slapped her hard. She shook her head and asked Ray again,

"그들은 사귀고 있나요?"

【They are dating ??】"

Ray nodded his head. She finally looked at me with embarrassment. Then she smiled awkwardly and glanced back at Ray.

"가죠…

다른 사람들이 기다리고 있습니다."

【Let's go...

others are waiting..!】" Sung-il said.

"네"

"Okay," Ray replied, and the girl left, smiling at us.

"Where are you going after having breakfast ?" Ray asked Nuri.

"Yongduam Rock," Nuri answered.

"Aw...Chinja?

We are going there too." Ray said excitedly.

"Wow really?" Nuri asked.

"Should we go together there ?" Ray asked, expecting a positive answer.

"I guess not." I cut them off.

Ray glanced at me, smiling awkwardly. Then he looked back at Nuri.

"Ah…Guess we can go next time together." Ray smiled, scratching the nape of his neck.

"Yeah.." Nuri replied while flashing a sheepish smile.

He left, finally bowing again. I sighed in relief. Nuri cleared her throat. And I glanced at her, "What ?"

"That was rude.." Nuri scolded me.

"I don't think so," I replied, waiting for the food.

"I don't understand, why do you treat Ray like that ?" Nuri rubbed her chin as she stared at a distance.

Soon, food appeared. And we started eating.

"There are some people who can make you irritated only by appearing in the same room," I said before stuffing my mouth with food.

Nuri rolled her eyes and started enjoying her food too.

*************

●Nuri's P.O.V.●

Feeling full, we left the restaurant and headed to Yongduam Rock. We took a bus bound for Jeju si Jungang-ro. And Got off at Yongdam Rotary. Then we took a walk toward the beach for 5-10 minutes.

Yongduam Rock was a dragon head-shaped rock that was created by strong winds and waves over thousands of years. One of the local legends claimed it was a real dragon that stole precious jade from the Hallasan deity and was shot down by an arrow.

The body of the dragon sank into the ocean but the head froze there looking at the sky.

The view here was gorgeous, and we could enjoy a nice walk along the coast. But I couldn't see the shape of a dragon head in the rock until I used my imagination.

After a quick visit to the Yongduam Rock, we hopped on bus 201. Our next destination was Woljeongri Beach.

Woljeongri means “the moon stays”. The beautiful emerald sea unfolds like a picture, and a bright moon shines on it. It had few people and also so many cute cafes around the beach area.

"Woah…I like this beach the most !" I said cheerfully.

And then I started walking faster, enjoying the view. But soon, I stumbled over a stone, but thanks to my savior, who caught me right before an embarrassing fall.

"And here the danger magnet is back again," Daniel said, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Ahhh.." I hid my face in embarrassment.

He chuckled and freed me from his embrace.

"This beach has a lot of stones here and there. Careful, okay ?" He said.

I nodded obediently. Daniel patted my head, and we started taking our walk again.

I almost didn't want to leave the beach because I liked it so much. But we didn't have much time. So we soon exited the Woljeong ri, finished our lunch at a cafe, and took a cab ride to Manjanggul Cave, which took us 5 minutes to reach.

I read the information about Manjanggul Lava Tube on the signboard at the entrance.

◆◆◆◆"Manjanggul Lava Tube is a 7.4km long cave with a multi-level structure. It is one of the largest lava tubes in the world, having a main passage with a width of up to 18m and a height of up to 23m. It has three entrances, and only one is opened to tourists. It has lots of scientific value due to its well-preserved lava cave structures. The 7.6m high lava column is known to be the largest lava column in the world."◆◆◆◆

After buying admission tickets, we entered the entrance which started with two narrow flights of stone stairs down.

The stairs were pretty steep. I held onto the railings to walk down carefully. But soon, an arm held onto my shoulders, guiding me down. I glanced to my right and saw Daniel staring down.

"You're lucky I am your tour guide," Daniel said, without any expression.

I teased, "Sure, Mr. guide.

Please take care of me in the future too."

"Sorry…Not interested," Daniel said.

"Yah! You are not a good guide." I said, pouting.

As soon as we entered the dark column we felt the chilling air around us. Hence, we put on our jackets as soon as possible. Thanks to Daniel, who informed me in the morning.

As we were walking through Manjanggul Long Passage, I felt very fortunate to be wearing track shoes because the rough path of lava stones was quite slippery too including some puddles of water here and there. Even water dropped from the ceiling occasionally.

There were information boards in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, for us to read about certain lava structures along the way.

The first one was about “Stalactites”

Even we found an interesting rock "Turtle rock" which resembled the outline of Jeju Island.

After walking almost a Km, I felt tired and we rested for some time at the provided benches.

After having a little rest, we started our journey again to reach the end of the lava tube. It was a metal path. We walked 1 km through the rocky, slippery path. Though Daniel looked pretty chilled even after all the walk!

I was sure Daniel wasn't a human!

At the end of our visit we saw an incredible lava column, Replica, measuring 7 m in height. I took a picture of a replica of this lava column! It is the largest lava column in the world.

After clicking a lot of photos, we walked back. We started walking back the same way again because it has only one way to enter and exit.

This time the 1 km path didn't seem that hard like earlier.

Finally, when we were close to the exit, I realised the entrance was alluring while walking up. It looked like a hole with trees and their roots.

******************

We were waiting for our cab to appear to go back to our hotel again.

"Daniel, I was wondering one thing," I said.

"What is it?" He replied without looking at me.

"You seem to know about Jeju Island a lot."

"Hmmm..so ?"

"You don't seem to get along with your colleagues at your office, and also, I didn't get to see your close friends these days." I paused.

"I am listening."

"Then with whom you visited these places," I asked hesitatingly.

He shifted his gaze back to a little distance and sighed.

" I came here with Yoonah." He said.

I expected this answer from the first. But still, it made me a little jealous hearing about someone except me who also spent quality time with Daniel. Especially when I knew how caring Daniel was.