Bring It On! - Chapter 76

Chapter 76.

“Jay!”

He strode ahead with long legs. While I glanced at my phone to check the next schedule, he had already gotten far ahead. I ran quickly and grabbed the edge of his coat.

“You didn’t eat a single bite, did you?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just tell me what’s next.”

“How can I not care? Everything was prepared for you.”

Jay twisted one corner of his mouth into a wry smile, as if finding me ridiculous.

“Not for me, for that Jay, right?”

“Huh?”

“Lead the way.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me to his side. Looking up at him, his face was fierce. His expression wasn’t great normally, but his mood could drastically change his presence, making him look even more intimidating. 

It hadn’t been this bad earlier in the morning. Maybe it was the woodworking studio, or the grilled hairtail. Perhaps both.

The two carefully planned and scouted schedules had failed to trigger any memory in Jay. My initially enthusiastic heart sank a little, but I shook it off and opened the map app. 

Our next stop was a place that sold coconut gelato. Ideally, we would have tasted real coconut, but there was no way to get fresh coconuts nearby, so I had searched for the closest possible flavor in gelato form.

The problem was…

“You’re not going to eat it?”

At the counter, I asked. Jay looked like he had no intention of even tasting it. He was impossibly picky. 

I suddenly remembered how, when he first got stranded on the island, he had spat out drinking water immediately. 

He only ever consumed the finest and most valuable things, so the brackish island water hadn’t suited him. This gelato must have felt just as gross to him.

Jay pulled out his card from his wallet and handed it to the cashier.

“One, please.”

His firm decision made my chest tighten. I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth to stop my lips from drooping.

I carried the heavy white gelato on its cone out of the café and held it out to him. At first, he just glared. His annoyed expression barely concealed his hesitation, but he finally bent down and took a bite, grimacing as though he might spit it out immediately.

“Don’t spit it out.”

He pursed his lips and swallowed. Only when I saw his Adam’s apple move did I pull the gelato back.

“So, how is it?”

“What are you expecting me to say?”

“Anything that comes to mind…”

“Nothing.”

He cut me off sharply. I hadn’t expected some dramatic reaction from ordinary coconut gelato, but surely he could at least try to think of something.

“Right… fair enough.”

I took a big bite of the gelato myself.

“What’s next?” 

Jay asked as if it were homework he had to get through quickly.

“We’re going to see the sea. It’s not the same as the island we stayed on, but close enough.”

The café was a little distance from the beach. Driving was inconvenient, so we decided to walk along the path.

While walking, I recounted stories from the deserted island one by one. Washing clothes together in the stream, sprinting away from snakes, and our shelter being smashed to pieces by a typhoon.

Jay gave obligatory responses at first, but eventually went silent, probably tired of my chatter.

I had reserved a café right on the beach. Sitting on the outdoor terrace, the full view of the sea stretched before us.

“How is it?”

“You’re asking even though I’m exhausted?”

“Do you feel anything suddenly… like a sharp pang in your head, or a scene that feels familiar from a dream?”

“What do you think it would feel like?”

“……”

Jay leaned back and crossed his long legs. I glanced briefly at his tapping shoe and clicked my tongue, licking my lips.

Again, nothing. Still, the promised time wasn’t up yet. I needed to move on to the next schedule…

“Wait a moment and eat this.”

I handed him the leftover gelato.

“Where are you going now?”

“I’ll be right back. Don’t run away!”

I dashed to the convenience store I had scouted. I glanced back occasionally, worried Jay might get bored and leave. Fortunately, he sat obediently, eating the gelato I left behind with a heavily furrowed brow.

“Where’s the instant coffee?”

Coffee by the sea. Jay had once woken me in the middle of the night just to have a cup. I hoped he still remembered the taste, just like he hadn’t forgotten how to work wood.

I carefully poured two cups of instant coffee into paper cups and returned to him. I set them in front of him and his straight brow immediately furrowed. He didn’t even pick up the cup, only glared down at it with a cold stare.

“So this is something that Jay liked, huh?”

A colder, sharper edge than usual lingered in his eyes. Something was clearly twisted inside him. 

Had it been triggered by me suddenly leaving my seat? I didn’t know why, and I pushed the paper cup forward with my fingertips.

“Drink it.”

“……”

“We used to work under the scorching sun, sweating buckets, and then take a break with this. Remember that time you spilled your coffee and acted like the world was ending, and we ended up sharing mine?”

Having seen Jay’s mood swing countless times, I was more focused on something else than on his current state. I was anxious to see how he would react to the instant coffee.

“Ah.”

Suddenly, he let out a low laugh.

“Aren’t you tired?”

There was an odd edge in the words he tossed out. I froze, unable to understand what he meant.

“…What would I be tired of?”

“Isn’t it tiring to force someone who doesn’t care to try and remember?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you think you’re being a nuisance?”

“……”

“I don’t want to know how you and that Jay got involved.”

“……”

“Why force someone to dredge up memories that won’t do them any good? Just to make yourself feel better? Isn’t that selfish?”

His words hit me like a heavy blow to the head. My mind went blank, and the excitement I’d felt while fetching the coffee drained instantly. 

Instead of helping him recover lost memories, he drew a line. The cold attitude, as if treating Jay like someone else entirely, shook me to my core.

The man in front of me was Jay, so I had wanted to help him remember. But as I blinked, trembling, I realized that the face stiffened in front of me wasn’t Jay. It was . My hand twitched involuntarily.

A nuisance.

Had I really been acting just for my own pleasure, as he said?

“Finally, it feels like we can talk. Stop wasting time. Let’s get up.”

Even as Jay rose, I couldn’t move a muscle. He let out an exasperated sigh and called me.

“Sun Woo-ri.”

But I needed time to sort out my thoughts.

“No, I’m fine…”

“Follow me quietly.”

Before I could respond, his arm gripped mine. I was forced to stand, my hand knocking against the table. 

Thud. The coffee, prepared with anticipation, toppled over, staining the table and spilling onto the floor.

***

On the way back, Jay took the wheel. My hands kept shaking.I wasn’t in any state to drive. Nuisance, selfish… his words scratched sharply at my mind. I wanted to deny them, but I couldn’t. 

Perhaps I had felt it subconsciously all along. Those mere five months of memory… to Cha Yoon, they might have meant nothing. In fact, forgetting might have been better for him.

Every moment with Jay had been precious and special to me, but would it be the same for Cha Yoon? He had been living a comfortable, abundant life, then was suddenly stranded in a harsh wilderness, forced to suffer… 

There would only be memories with nothing good in them. It had been nothing more than my selfish desire.

Thunk.

I rested my head against the window. My stomach churned. I felt lost. I’d never felt this way before. Even when I ran away from my parents, or survived on that barren island, I always set clear goals for myself. 

But now… what should I do? This feeling was entirely new, and it confused me.

Inside the car, the silence was so profound I could feel each breath. Apart from the engine, nothing could be heard. Lost in thought, I suddenly noticed the scenery outside had changed. It wasn’t Jay’s house, but the hotel we had visited earlier. 

While I was dazed, the passenger door opened. I didn’t move, just stared, and Jay pushed the hotel staff aside, unbuckling my seatbelt.

“Let’s just go home.”

“Get out.”

Don’t make that pitiful face. He had practically dragged me to the hotel lounge bar.

***

“Ugh… dizzy.”

I didn’t know how much I had drunk. I didn’t even notice the taste, just shoved whatever I could grab into my mouth. There seemed to be quite a few bottles, but every time I lifted one, it was empty. Each time, Jay, looking tired, rubbed his nose bridge and ordered more.

Yet Jay hadn’t even finished the first drink he poured for himself.

“You can’t drink?”

The world kept tilting back and forth. I wanted to look at Jay, but my vision was blurred. Rubbing my eyes hard with both hands, I heard him click his tongue and grab my wrist.

“Get a grip.”

“Why aren’t you drinking?”

“You’ve never had drinks with me before, huh?”

“……”

“Well, I’m ahead of that guy this time.”

His constant separation of himself from me made my stomach churn. The hope I had been holding onto, the expectation that I could face Jay again, was completely denied.

“You… really irritate me.”

Finally, a voice laced with tears burst out.

“What?” Jay asked, seemingly startled.

“You… What are you doing? Are you… really trying to make me regret this…?”