93

"So, did you enjoy your vacation?" Tom seems oblivious to the impending newcomer glaring his way and my obvious discomfort and need to escape. My heart is doing the rhumba because Jyeon looks exactly like a guy who will not be polite and idly walk by.

"It wasn't really that kind of vacation…. I need to get the shack opened and changed. It's nice to see you again, have a good day." I make to hightail it away from him, aware Jyeon is less than ten feet from us and rapidly closing, when Tom catches him out of the corner of his eye, and his entire expression stiffens. He inclines his head, recognition spreading across his face, and adopts a similar unfriendly frown to my idiot man.

"We meet again." Jyeon slides up with a cocky smirk, catching me mid escape by the upper arm, and tugs me into his side so he can lasso an arm around my shoulders. It's such an obvious move to show off who's woman I am. He leans into me and casually cocks his head to the side, sizing up his opponent, and I can almost taste the testosterone multiplying between them. The static sizzle of aggression growing.

Tom tries hard to hide the snarling response and pastes on a strained and cheery face. Hiding his dislike and he attempts at cool and calm.

"Right,… the guy from a month back. The supposed friend who was causing problems in the shack?" Tom raises a brow, oozing sarcasm and his whole body seems to grow larger with his posturing. I always knew him as the gentle and kind fisher guy, and I don't think I ever saw him behave like this. Jyeon isn't phased in the slightest, given he's easily the same height and build and packs just as much muscle.

"Husband, actually! As in current… rekindled marriage." It's a declaration, and he thrusts his hand out, making a show of staking his claim. It has me inwardly cursing him and eye-rolling at the macho pissing contest. Not in the slightest bit impressed with this. "Jyeon Park, and you are?" Jyeon holds his hand out stiffly, his own body coiled and ready to rumble, and I hate the tension between them. Hostility is oozing by the second, and it fouls my already fragile mood.

I cast an eye on Jyeon's side profile, riling some dormant inner demon in my belly and being more than a little irritated at this.

"I'm a friend of Anna's. A good friend, a great…friend. Tom! I live here, where she's been happy the last two years."

Tom's holding no punches either, and I suddenly urge to knee him in the groin. Who gave him the right to behave this way?

"It's Sohla, actually. And had she not been suffering from amnesia and loss of identity, she would have been back with me long ago. To her rightful life where I would have made her happier than being here without me."

I narrow my eyes on him and then Tom and back again. I cannot believe what I am witnessing and wonder how two adult men can become so immature just from meeting one another again.

I have no idea why this is so hostile between them or why it's so juvenile, but I can't bear to listen to this. Men are pathetic at times. All this testosterone-induced possessiveness is not amusing. It makes me angry as hell, and I squirm to get unlatched from Jyeon while throwing both of them hostile glares.

"Sohla? Is that…" Tom's furrowed brow of confusion gives me a moment to cut in. Seeing an opportunity to bring attention back to me and I might break this up.

"Yes, Sohla Park. I forgot my own name and identity. Crazy, huh? …. Silly me. Anyway, we have to go… Enjoy your day. I have to get busy." It's a brisk and very me of old, snappy way of saying go away, and I shove off Jyeon's arm so I can tug at him instead. Grabbing his wrist and hauling him in the uphill direction towards the shack. Venting my inner fury at their behavior with a show of aggression, but he's much stronger, and it takes everything I have to get him to follow me.

"So, he's really your husband? Are you going to leave the island with him?" Tom's sulky voice follows me, and I have a fraction of guilt over his hurt feelings and heavy verbal disappointment, but it's not like I have ever encouraged him, and I find this irritating. I am in no mood for any of this shit today, not when I'm late, grumpy, and Jyeon's acting like a two-year-old who is having his sandbox threatened by another kid.

"Yep….. six years. Planning on another seventy or so more." Jyeon snaps back, and I exhale to calm my growing temper, nudging him in the abdomen to shut him up and make him move. Marching us away without looking back.

Tom is considered one of the most beloved in this place, and the last thing I need is everyone hating Jyeon for starting a war with him. His green-eyed show has me close to tearing my hair out. This is my village and my life, and I don't want him causing waves with the locals, given I may choose to stay here forever.

"Yes, Tom. Married for six years. Now I remember every tiny little second of life with Jyeon and what that was like…." I give jyeon a loaded glare and see him facially falter. "And I don't know. We shall see where we stay, given he owns a boat and I can live practically anywhere I choose. With whoever I choose." I accentuate the last words, throwing Jyeon a scowling eyebrow raise to enforce the message that might not include him if he keeps this up. So not happy with him at this moment.

Jyeon has the sense to simmer down, seeing the rise of the VP. Park and takes my massive hint because bitch on show is never a good thing for him. I can sense his apprehension because of my change of mood. He slides his hand into mine to interlace our fingers and pastes on a bright smile that is meant to look genuine but isn't.

"We have a diner to go open." Jyeon wiggles his fingers at Tom in the weirdest cutesy wave, obviously trying to break the tension, then strolls past me and tugs me with an alarming force that almost snaps my neck; it has me spin upwards so fast. Now he's decided we're leaving, and my futile attempts are turned into him pulling me behind him instead.

"Bye." I yelp Tom's way, hauled at speed, and slap Jyeon in the back of his shoulder for acting like a brute. It's one thing to act like a jealous dickhead, but another entirely to manually drag my ass away like this. I can feel Tom's eyes on us as we depart, and I lower my voice to hiss at my so-called husband. Angry as hell at him. My inner demon is well and truly riled, and she's spitting flames right now.

"What are you doing? What the fuck was that?" I prod him in the rib with my pointer finger and meet his pace, so I keep in step rather than being dragged along. Yanking my hand out of his and failing as he closes his fingers around mine to lock them in place.

"Making sure lover boy backs the fuck off. I don't want him anywhere near my wife, given his serious crush on you that anyone can see." Jyeon furrows his brows and gives me the best impression of a sulky child I have ever seen, and it has me grinding my teeth, anger spiking from deep down, building up like a volcano, and I snap at him.

"He has never been my lover boy and never will be. He was barely even a friend, not that it matters because you are the last person in the world who has a right to get jealous over someone butting into our marriage with a fucking crush. I'm not the one who cannot be trusted when someone else shows an interest." It's a nasty ass and awful thing to say, and I don't know where it comes from other than a place of hurt. Blind sighting even me, and I'm the one who blurted it out.

Sohla of old is still in me somewhere, and what I thought I put behind me is apparently simmering below the surface. Bringing up with it a sea of old and almost forgotten emotions as it slices into my own heart, and that stupid bitch's face appears in my mind's eye to smirk at me.

I yank my hand out of his with success this time; given his shocked moment of silent pause, I speed up my walk and march ahead. Strangely sensitive about this.

To me, it's a little hypocritical for Jyeon to be this way, given what he did two years ago and that I have chosen to let it go. He has no right to be behaving like my keeper and warning men away as though I have no ability or desire to do it myself. Like he can't trust me not to be swayed by some handsome man with the hots for me. If anyone needed a keeper when it comes to keeping it in his pants, it's not me.

"Babe?" Jyeon trails after me, his tone completely U turning as he clicks on what I said and has the sense to recoil his attitude at a hundred miles an hour. Trying to catch up with me, and yet I keep my pace fast and ignore him. Brimming with so many conflicting thoughts and emotions colliding on a grand scale.

"Hey… I'm sorry. Stop running away and talk to me." Jyeon sounds desperate, yet I get even more stupidly emotional as my temper breaks and fizzles out, and I don't know why. Maybe it's the hangover making me unable to deal with anything and the past month catching up with me now I am on home turf, but it feels like all I want to do right now is cry, and I don't understand it. From rage to now wounded pain as though the affair was only last month. It's so fucking weird.

"Leave me alone." I sulk, fighting the way I'm choking up, and a ball is forming in my chest. My eyes misted over against my efforts to stop it.

"Hey, baby... Sohlly… look at me." Jyeon catches me from behind, sliding his arms around my arms and chest to capture me, and stops me from taking a step further. Anchoring my body to his and I can't do anything except obey.

A few eyes cast our way from locals milling around the storefronts, and I turn my face away from them to hide the building waterfall of tears that are threatening to come.

"You can trust me. I swear that I'll never be so dumb again on everything I have. Sohlly… Sohla.What is this, huh? Baby, I'm sorry." Jyeon nuzzles the side of my face with his cheek and nose, trying to get me to turn his way, but I can't. I feel so stupid for this wave of despair winding up inside and coming out now, of all times, over something so nothing and stupid. He was jealous and acted like an asshole, yet I threw the affair at him like a freaking grenade.

It has to be a lack of sleep or maybe just a meltdown because last night was chaos, and today my best friend is shacked up with my childhood friend, and my husband is arguing and making issues with the local good guy. I'm too tired for bullshit today when all I wanted was to get the shack open and have one typical day back on my island to feel like I have some control again. This month has completely turned everything on its head, and I am so not ready for the fallout. My entire two years' worth of pent-up suspicion, pain, and all sorts has changed in under four weeks, and I thought I was handling it well, but I obviously was not.

It's been a lot, and I held it all in and together without taking a breath to process it correctly or give myself time to adjust. I jumped straight back into a full-on relationship with Jyeon even though we never had one like this before, and I guess I have a lot brewing inside of me that I wasn't aware needed a release. Maybe that's what last night was and my nymphomaniac explosion. The lid is coming off my jar and showing face in weird ways. There's a lot inside of me that I haven't begun to start scratching at.

The tears come for absolutely no reason, and I sniff to try and catch them, but it's futile. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe it's Jyeon acting like that and some delayed response to everything about his affair. I don't get it. If I were a psychologist, I would perhaps have a clue. All I know is that my heart is heavy and hurts right now, and I want to bawl like a baby and not adult for five minutes.

"Don't cry. I'm an asshole. Come on, sol…. baby. You're making me feel like an utter shithead." Jyeon turns me in his arms, and I immediately bury my face against his chest to hide what I'm embarrassed about him seeing. Remorse swamping me for overreacting, yet I still don't understand why it's hitting me like this. Everything was going so well, and now, it feels all wrong.

Jyeon wraps me up, sliding a palm over the back of my head to pull me in tight, and he hugs me in the bear hug way he does when I need to feel secure. My face cradles under his chin, and he reverts to that calm and stable force who knows how to deal with Sohla Kim's meltdowns.

"Why are you crying? Do you think I would ever do anything to hurt you again? … I wouldn't. I lost you once, and it's all I needed never to make the same mistakes twice. You have to believe me. I can't live without you. I tried... I don't ever want to live through that again." Jyeon strokes my hair, using his gentle voice on me, while I curl my fingers into his shirt and sob down his chest like a blubbering idiot. I don't get it.. maybe my period is due, and this isn't even about claire and what he did. Maybe it's purely hormonal and hangover combined.

"I'll apologize to your friend and make good. I'll play nice. Is that what you want? Will that make you stop crying?" Jyeon's voice lowers as he whispers into my ear and starts gently swaying me, patting my back with one hand and still stroking my head to soothe me. Being soft and caring, I can't formulate words when I don't even know why I'm crying.

"Maybe you need more sleep….food? Are you mad at me?" Jyeon sounds like a kid who got into trouble, and he's backtracking so hard because he doesn't like the outcome. I shake my head, not wanting to fight or be mad anymore. I just want cuddles and to lie down and not feel so shitty.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." I blub into his t-shirt and slightly raise my head to stare up at him, feeling pathetic. Jyeon locks his eyes on mine and frowns, his face scrunching somewhat as he takes in my tear-sodden face and blotchiness, looking so wretched. Guilt written all over him.

"Wanna go back to the boat and have me deal with big bad Greta for you? Take a day off while hungover. We can chill out at the boat for once." He leans down and kisses my forehead, letting go of my hair so he can run a thumb over my cheek in a useless attempt to dry my tears. They at least stop falling, and I take a steadying breath, even more mortified about this breakdown. Especially now with him being this way and not all Mr hostile and sarcastic. I wonder if it was that. Seeing the Jyeon of old and how he can be, I am too fragile to have reminders of the past when sleep was lacking.

"Maybe what I need is one day of normal. Get the shack open, do everyday things, and try to adjust while not dying from this hangover." I exhale heavily and rest my chin against him, so I can sag while gazing up at him. I feel like a little lost and broken kid.

"It's weird to see you like this so easily. You never used to be such a cry baby, but I sort of like it. I hate that this little face makes me want to cry too, though." Jyeon breaks into a smile and bops me on the nose, tugging a tiny one from the corners of my mouth at his cuteness, seeing the funny in this.

"I dislike you right now." I pout my bottom lip, give him sad eyes, and get a deeper frown in response.

"I love you enough for the both of us, so it's okay." He winks and then leans in and kisses me on the eyebrow because he can't get any lower while I am this close. "I'm sorry I was mean to your….. friend." He catches himself before he says, lover boy, and I shake my head at him. I am no longer incensed over it.

"I don't care. I don't even know what this was… I'm sorry I said what I said about trusting you." My voice gets quieter and feeble, and I look away from him as heat trickles up my face in shame. I never want to revert to me of old and use weapons to throw at him when I'm mad. Not like that. It's how we used to behave towards one another, and it caused us so much heartache. I chose to let what happened with Claire go, and I shouldn't use it like bullets.

"I know I have a lot to prove and a long way to go before the scars I gave you heal. I understand that, and if it comes out like this, it means it's still hurting you even if you forgave me. I have to try harder and be more considerate."

His words do a great job of making me feel a hundred times guiltier. Him being this way, I sigh and slide my arms around him to hug him tightly. Realizing how exhausted I am and the sun bearing down on us isn't helping as my head gets hotter by the second.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's just go get some breakfast and find out if Greta is dead…or if Bryant is. I think the latter is more probable because Greta is a bit crazy, and she hasn't had any for a long time." I giggle through my watery mess and lean back to catch his eye again, glad to see him smiling at me.

"Come on, sexy. Let's get you fed and cleaned up and find out if our best friends have arisen."