The First Button

"Alright, smile."

Click. The flash went off. Kang-hyun's face twisted into a scowl.

Whether he liked it or not, the staff finished their duty as if that settled everything, handed the developed photograph to Baek Yeo-eun, then swarmed toward the next arriving car at the bellboy's signal. The whole sequence unfolded in the blink of an eye.

Foreseeing a rough journey from the very first button, Kang-hyun roughly raked his bangs back. If he had known it would be like this, he should have at least chosen the hotel himself. Too late for that now.

"Hello, valued guest."

Another staff member approached then with a polite greeting. Thankfully he wore a proper uniform instead of some garish Hawaiian shirt.

"We hope the warmth of our resort's welcome has reached you. If you'll come this way, I'll assist with check-in."

They followed the calm employee's lead.

Aside from the chaotic greeting, the resort itself was quite luxurious. The lobby in particular opened wide in every direction, offering views of the emerald sea and exotic landscaping from any angle. It was a display of confidence—the ability to overwhelm visitors with nature alone, without relying on the cheap tricks of paintings or art pieces.

Between columns lined up like those of an ancient temple, a sweet, exotic floral scent drifted on the breeze. The marble floor, dyed by the sunset, sparkled dazzlingly as if a golden carpet had been laid down.

Walking that path of light made him feel almost like a Roman emperor, yet it stirred nothing in him, so he simply quickened his pace.

After a brief check-in at the front desk, Kang-hyun cut straight to the point.

"Where's the restaurant?"

Even in business class, a flight nearing ten hours could not help but leave him exhausted. Right now he only wanted to grab a quick meal and put the day behind him.

"I'll show you the way. Shall we have your luggage brought up to the room?"

"Yes, please."

Having settled the matter simply, Kang-hyun prepared to follow the employee leading the way—if not for the sudden, faint, cool force that seized his arm.

"……."

Kang-hyun slowly lowered his gaze along the captured arm. Opposite him, the woman had tipped her head far back to look up, her eyes trembling faintly.

"Where are you going?"

Anxiety threaded her voice, as if the moment he let go he might abandon her and leave. She had every talent for making him out to be a bastard.

Then, abruptly, the thought struck him. Those eyes had always been the problem.

Even when her willful tantrums left him thoroughly irritated, the instant she turned those eyes on him his heart weakened by reflex. Perhaps it was because coaxing and soothing a woman like her had always been entirely his responsibility. Back then she had sought him out with the blind instinct of a newly hatched duckling.

The days of being dragged around at Baek Yeo-eun's whim had stretched long. So the fact that he could not simply shake off this hand clinging like a leech was a kind of inertia left over from that time. Or a wretched habit.

"To eat dinner. Follow me."

Leaving that unkind explanation, he pulled free of the arm she held. Her meager grip fell away with almost pitiful ease.

Kang-hyun strode on without looking back, brushing off with indifference the chill her fingertips—cold even in this weather—had left behind.

The restaurant staff guided them to an outdoor terrace seat with courteous hospitality.

Kang-hyun, skimming the menu, lifted his gaze slightly. The woman quietly glancing around her surroundings kept drifting into his field of vision.

"Anything you want to eat?"

At the ordinary question she finally turned her busy eyes to the menu. Yet it seemed nothing particularly tempted her; she only blinked a few times before shaking her head.

"I'm fine with anything."

Fine with what, exactly.

He clicked his tongue inwardly but did not press further. The day had already been tiring enough for that.

Baek Yeo-eun's condition was probably not much different. Unlike the times she had doggedly contacted him no matter how thoroughly he ignored her, she had kept her mouth quietly shut the whole way. At times she even looked as if her mind had gone blank, whether from the long flight or the jet lag.

In any case it was better than her being a nuisance, so Kang-hyun simply continued with what he needed to say.

"Drinks?"

"Water's fine for me."

Kang-hyun gave a light nod and turned to the waiting staff. After ordering the recommended dishes plus a beer, once the two of them were left alone he made no attempt at conversation and instead silently surveyed their surroundings.

Unlike Korea, where the heat had eased somewhat, Hawaii's air still held a muggy warmth even after the sun had set.

A sea breeze passed, trembling the candle flames set on every table. In his ears the sound of waves mingled with a cheerful ukulele melody, while between the rows of palm trees a sky of red dusk and a gently rolling sea stretched without end.

Fitting the romantic scenery, the surrounding guests were all couples steeped in happiness, endlessly whispering and bursting into laughter over whatever pleased them so much.

And those sounds of laughter kept spilling over onto their table, where not a single word of conversation passed.

"Excuse me."

In the end it was the restaurant staff, appearing with their ordered dishes, who broke the drawn-out silence.

The tuna tartare appetizer, pasta filled with lobster meat, and steak accompanied by grilled vegetables and pumpkin purée were set out on the table in turn.

"Have a pleasant evening."

Once the staff withdrew, Kang-hyun first downed the cold beer. He had considered wine, but his throat was so dry that beer was what he craved. The lively carbonation slid coolly down his esophagus.

After quenching his thirst enough, he reached for the cutlery—only for the woman seated opposite to catch his eye once more.

"……."

She was staring fixedly at the tuna tartare, fork in one hand, like a child faced with a difficult puzzle.

The tartare formed a flat cylinder, thinly sliced avocado arranged around the top like petals and crowned at the peak with black caviar; she seemed to hesitate, as if reluctant to ruin that perfect circle.

Then as now, a woman who took an absurd amount of looking after.

Swallowing a sigh, Kang-hyun stopped watching and instead drove his own fork without hesitation straight into the center of the tartare. Between the tines of the silver fork the red tuna flesh and green avocado mashed and mixed together.

Next he scooped a suitable amount of tartare onto one of the thin crackers that had come with it and set it down carelessly on her plate.

"Eat."

Baek Yeo-eun looked back and forth between the cracker sitting alone on the plate and him, then carefully moved her hand. The expression with which she nipped only at the very edge was so cautious that anyone watching might have mistaken it for something poisoned.

But that lasted only a moment; her eyes rounded wide at the same time her mouth softened. Watching those constantly blinking eyes curve gently, it seemed the flavor suited her quite well.

"This is really delicious."

The admiring woman bit deeply into the cracker, as if meaning to savor the taste properly. From her industriously chewing mouth and serious eyes came the clear will to commit this flavor to memory.

Watching her, for some reason thirst rose in him again. Kang-hyun set down his fork and reached once more for the beer glass.

Looking back, throughout the journey the woman had mostly seemed worn out, yet every so often she would turn those eager eyes just like that. For instance when she had simply stared down out the window as if it were the first time in her life she had ever boarded a plane.

In this day and age it could hardly be her first overseas trip, so only one conclusion remained. Baek Yeo-eun was quite sincere about this honeymoon.

The exact opposite of him, who was approaching it with the mindset of a business trip.

The empty-headed, purely sunny woman left him at a loss, yet he decided it was still better than both of them being in foul moods. Having such soft thoughts, he must have been infected without realizing it by Hawaii's characteristic gentle air.

"About tomorrow,"

Then Baek Yeo-eun opened the subject in a voice a little higher than usual. Kang-hyun only tipped his chin slightly, as if telling her to go on.

"Let's go snorkeling."

"Snorkeling?"

Kang-hyun's brow furrowed hard as he echoed her. It was not particularly because the one-sided proposal that never asked his opinion felt new.

"Yeah, there's something I've really wanted to see if I came to Hawaii."

Baek Yeo-eun failed to notice his reaction and simply chattered on, excited.

"I already looked up a company. It's a tour where you take a boat out from the pier in front of the resort…"

"I'm good."