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Songhwa leaned back on her camper chair as she held the cup of hot chocolate and brought it to her mouth. A sigh of satisfaction escaped her mouth as the sweet liquid filled her taste buds. She looked up to the orange sky then to the man beside her, who was quietly drinking from his own cup, with a serene smile on his face.
It was a rare weekend where both Ikjun and Songhwa were free of hospital duties, and they decided to spend it by relaxing on their favorite campsite. Lee Uju was initially planning to join them, but the little boy suddenly got invited to his classmate’s birthday party and sleepover. So it became a camping date for them.
Ikjun and Uju had naturally become Songhwa’s loyal companions in camping, ever since they became a couple last year. She used to enjoy camping by herself, but now she was grateful to have her two favorite boys joining her. Spending time with them has made Songhwa a happier woman.
It is true what they said. When you love someone, you want to do anything and everything with them. Songhwa thought with a smile, unconsciously facing her boyfriend, whose focus was on her this whole time. Ikjun cleared his throat and said, “What are you thinking about, Songhwa-ya?”
Songhwa snapped out of her reverie and smiled sheepishly at being caught by him. Of course she was thinking about him but would never reveal it, so she simply answered, “Nothing important, my mind just wandered away a bit.”
Seeing his girlfriend’s reluctance to answer, Ikjun decided to let it slide and expressed his own thoughts. “It’s been a while since we last went camping. It’s nice to finally be out here enjoying nature.” “Eung, I know right! I can’t believe that the last time we went camping was on my birthday weekend.” Songhwa agreed.
“I can’t believe that you survived this long without camping. You used to do it at least once a month, and sometimes more.” Ikjun answered in wonder. She merely chuckled at him and they fell into a comfortable silence. His question made her realize how her favorite activity had truly shifted from camping to spending time with him and Uju. Now, she didn’t mind not going camping as much as she used to, as long as she got to spend more time with them.
A thought suddenly flitted into her mind. Ikjun never did such a thing with her. He never asked to do something he really loved together. The realization caught her slightly off guard, so she decided to question the man.
“Ikjun-ah, what is your favorite activity? The one that you can do by yourself because you love them so much.” “Kapchagi, what made you ask that, Songhwa-ya?” he answered with his eyes searching for a clue in hers. Songhwa sighed and explained, “It’s because I just realized that you never did anything for yourself, Ikjun-ah.” Her voice turned softer. “You always accompany me doing the things that I love and that makes me so happy. And yet, I haven’t got a chance to do the same.”
Ikjun gaped at her explanation, as he did not expect any of that. He never thought it that way, because he truly loved doing anything as long as he had his closest people by his side. Seeing his silence, Songhwa further asked, “Do you have something that you truly missed doing? It can be an old hobby or — wait a minute, is it clubbing, Ikjun-ah? I remember your answer when Seokmin asked you that question.”
“Yah, I was joking at that time, Songhwa-ya! I’m way too old for clubbing now. Who would go clubbing at our age, Songhwa-ya?” he immediately protested. “Besides, how about Uju? I don’t want to set bad examples for him, Songhwa-ya.” Ikjun continued softly while looking down at his hands.
“Ikjun-ah, look at me.” Songhwa waited until his eyes met hers before continuing, “If clubbing truly makes you happy, I don’t think it matters how old you are, and as long as you are doing it responsibly, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Ikjun-ah, Uju loves you so much, he wouldn’t want his father sacrificing his happiness for him.”
Ikjun contemplated a bit before answering, “You’re right, Songhwa-ya. I’ll think about it.”
Songhwa entered her office and immediately slumped on her chair. She took off her surgical cap and reached for her phone in her scrubs pocket. She then opened an app and started scrolling through it.
She just made her own Instagram account a few weeks ago, with the help of her favorite youthful resident, Jang Yunbok. It started when Ikjun joined her for lunch with her neurosurgery team, Seokmin, Seonbin, Seongyeong and Yunbok. Her team then started talking about Ikjun’s new Instagram post, which turned out to be a few photos of him with Uju and her camping together. She was the only clueless one, since she didn’t have an account.
So, later that day, Songhwa summoned Yunbok to her office and asked for her help in creating one. Not only helping her with signing up on Instagram, the resident also patiently taught her how to upload her first post and story, follow the people she knew, and see through people’s posts and stories. By the end of the day, Songhwa could understand the basics of Instagram.
As she was scrolling through the app, she came across her junior’s IG stories from last night. From the stories, it looked like her hoobae was having a night out at a club last night. As she went through the series of stories, Songhwa was reminded of her conversation with her boyfriend during camping. Ikjun’s face trying to brush off his longing for clubbing came into her mind. It really broke her heart how much of an altruistic person he is.
So when Ikjun entered the office a few moments later, an idea suddenly popped into her head. She smiled as her boyfriend walked towards the couch with their lunch in his hand. As he set the food on the table, Songhwa got up from her desk and sat on the couch beside Ikjun. She watched him for a moment, before starting, “Ikjun-ah, I just saw my hoobae ’s posts of her going clubbing last night. It looked so exciting.”
Ikjun merely hummed in response, still focusing on opening all the food containers. Songhwa continued, “You know, I’ve never been to a club all my life. I’m really curious but I’m nervous about going alone. Would you take me clubbing, Ikjun-ah?” She ended with a request and fell into thoughts. This is the only way you’ll even consider doing this.
Ikjun was stunned hearing her request. In the twenty two years of knowing her, he had never thought that she’d be interested in clubbing. But staring at her eyes, he could see Songhwa’s desire. She would even do anything to make it happen. So why should he say no?
It was the next Friday night that they finally managed to go. Songhwa had gone home a few hours earlier, right after her shift ended, to get ready for their planned activity. Ikjun would pick her up from her apartment and they would head to the club together.
Upon entering her apartment, Ikjun was taken aback at how Songhwa sported a different style from what she normally wore. She wore a black top inside a shiny black leather jacket, paired with blue jeans and black heel boots. A mini black sling bag hanging across her body . The most astonishing part was that she was covered up in bold makeup with scarlet red lips. He had to admit that Songhwa looked very hot.
Looking at Ikjun’s surprised face, she merely smiled as she inwardly praised herself for researching club outfits and shopping for them online beforehand. The look on his face made it worth it.
Songhwa touched his arm to break him out of his reverie, and gestured for them to head out. They walked down her apartment towards the basement parking for his car. They moved side by side in comfortable silence, each occupied in their own thoughts.
If Songhwa was honest, she was intrigued by his cologne, which odor was even more prominent than usual tonight. Ikjun also cleaned up nicely, she noticed, wearing his black shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tucked into his dark gray trousers, which fit his calves perfectly, paired with his shiny black oxford shoes.
Arriving at his car, he started the vehicle and hit the roads. Songhwa then asked, “Ikjun-ah, you used to be a club rat. What made you love clubbing so much back then?”
“Hmm, I think it’s because I love to be surrounded by people. It also allowed me to meet new people most of the time.” Ikjun answered thoughtfully. “Tsk, my boyfriend is such an inssa.” Songhwa answered playfully and he smirked at her in response while wiggling his eyebrows.
She rolled her eyes at his antics and started laughing while gently smacking Ikjun’s nearest shoulder. Gosh, he’s just too funny. I could never not laugh at his jokes. Ikjun merely smiled warmly at his laughing girlfriend, proud of himself for eliciting such a laugh from her. After she recovered from her bout of laughter, Songhwa asked him another question. “What did you usually do when clubbing?” “Dancing, of course. I’d get a few drinks, and dance most of the night away.” Ikjun answered excitedly.
Songhwa exclaimed in response, “I love dancing too!” Ikjun was surprised at her revelation. “I’d only seen you dance once at the church, I didn’t know you love dancing that much.” “I used to dance at home whenever I wanted to relieve some stress from studying.” She answered with a nostalgic smile.
After arriving at the club and handing over his car to the valet attendant, Ikjun held Songhwa’s hand and led them through the crowd of clubbers. At 9pm, the dance floor was still quite empty, with only a few people dancing. So they opted to sit back and enjoy their drinks by the table.
Songhwa looked around to observe her surroundings. It was really her first time entering a club. She used to never find clubs appealing, since she’d rather be home studying at night. Her attention then turned towards her man beside her. She saw Ikjun sipping his drink while his body was moving to the music. He seems to be on his element here. I can see now how much he enjoys just being here.
Songhwa smiled as she opened her camera app and secretly caught his mini dancing with his cocktail in hand. As she tried to take another, the man in frame suddenly realized and gave her a playful smirk. He then took the phone from her hand, held it in front of them, and captured their selfie. They couldn’t really talk much, as it was too loud to hold a conversation.
As the night progressed, the crowd on the dance floor started piling up and the music was playing even louder, Songhwa pulled him to the dance floor. She started dancing freely, just moving in whatever way her body wanted to. Ikjun positively gaped at how energetic her dance was.
Ikjun was pretty sure he had read somewhere that by the age of 37, most people would prefer staying in rather than spending the night in a club. So imagine his surprise of witnessing his 42 year-old girlfriend dancing her first clubbing night away like there’s no tomorrow.
Ikjun was amazed by her dancing skills, although it wasn’t the moves that people would generally use for clubbing. Ikjun then too started dancing near her, his body automatically moving to the beats of the music. Ah it seems my body’s still got it. He smiled at the thought.
After dancing for some time, Ikjun noticed that the space was getting smaller as the people kept adding up. He then realized something. A man dancing a few meters away kept looking at them strangely. The man was apparently staring at Songhwa, with a mischievous face. It made him uncomfortable.
He then turned to his girlfriend, who was too immersed in dancing to realize Ikjun’s current agitation, moreover the source of it. Songhwa was actively moving her body according to the fast-beat music. Her energetic movements apparently satisfied the strange man as his smile turned even wider. Ikjun, who a few minutes ago decided to brush off his discomfort and ignore it, became increasingly annoyed.
He then tapped on Songhwa’s shoulder to get her attention. She mouthed “Wae, Ikjun-ah?” while still dancing. Due to the loud music, he had to loudly whisper into her ears. “Songhwa-ya, let’s go home.” “Shireo, I still want to dance.” Songhwa refused and continued dancing.
Ikjun let out a sigh of frustration. He waited for the current song to finish, before trying to persuade his girlfriend to go. Songhwa, with her face flushed from the heat and the few drinks she had before, kept turning down his prompt to go home.
Acting on his growing discomfort, Ikjun finally grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the club. He continued walking even though Songhwa asked him to stop. Only when they were safely outside the club did Ikjun finally release her hand.
Irritation flashed on Songhwa’s face as she demanded him to explain his strange behavior. Seeing her furious face, Ikjun found himself clamming up. His hands became sweaty and his eyes were focused on his shoes.
Seeing his state, Songhwa’s anger melted away. She held his hand and said gently, “Arraseo, let’s go home, Ikjun-ah.” She was sure that Ikjun had his own reason for doing such a thing. She would wait until he was ready to share it.
“Songhwa-ya, I’m sorry that I had dragged you out of the club against your will.” He started sometime later. “It was because I saw a strange man checking you out and it made me angry. I’m sorry to have lost my composure and acted rashly.” he admitted bashfully.
Songhwa suddenly teased him, “Are you jealous, Ikjun-ah?” Seeing his embarrassed face, she continued, “But you know you don’t have to right?” He looked at her face and answered with a smile, “I know. I just can’t help it because my girlfriend is too hot,” he continued quickly, “I’m not even interested in visiting a club again after tonight. I can feel my body aching.” Songhwa laughed and teased him, “Arraseo ahjussi . Next time I’ll only dance with you.”
They didn’t know it yet. But in years to come, they would always have their private ’clubbing night’ at home. They would put on club music, dim the lights and turn on the disco lighting, They would also wear revealing outfits to provoke each other.
They would dance together into the night until they were tired. The night would end with both of them in bed, fulfilling their lust. It’d be one of the things that kept their fire alive. Songhwa liked this better, as she chose to dance in front of the one who truly mattered – him.