Page 22 of Perfect Happiness
Instead of answering, Yuna offered Eun-ho a bite as if to ask,You want to find out?Eun-ho took the ice cream bar, not wanting to shy away from a challenge.Yuna had already eaten away all the chocolate coating, leaving only a bar of milky white ice cream.Eun-ho stared at the ice cream for a moment.He was pretty sure ice cream became frozen solid at -41°C.
Eun-ho took a bit of the ice cream, but before his teeth could make contact, his lips became stuck to its white surface.Eun-ho frantically pulled his lips away, tearing the thin skin on his lips and filling his mouth with the taste of blood.Tears formed in his eyes again.
“You should have let your saliva dissolve the ice before pulling away.”
Eun-ho could detect enjoyment in Yuna’s voice as she said this.Yuna offered Eun-ho a tissue, which he exchanged for the ice cream.Yuna immediately began nibbling away at the Nuga Bar again with her front teeth, as if to show him how it was done.The way the ice cream crumbled in her mouth sounded like crunching snow.
“Can I ask you three questions?”Eun-ho asked.
Yuna nodded, the Nuga Bar still between her teeth.
“Did you find your SIM card?”
Immediately, the crunching sound stopped.He shot off the second question.
“Was the bread from Khabarovsk good?”
Now she seemed to understand where these questions were coming from.Yuna took the Nuga Bar from her mouth and looked at him.The way the reflection of light hanging from a streetlamp was swaying in her pupils reminded him of a swinging bell.The image was so intense that he could almost hear the sound of church bells.
Did she think these questions funny or creepy?Eun-ho realized it would be best to put out the fire in her mind before it spread.
“I’m not a stalker.I just happened to see you.”
Her answer to the first question was no.She had lost her original SIM card, too, so her cellphone was useless.The answer to the second question was also no.
“I have a question for you, too, Eun-ho.”
The way she called Eun-ho by name seemed significant, as though it were a fortuitous sign of her interest in him.Eun-ho decided not to ask his third question, which was about how she had hurt her hand.He just nodded and tried not to grin.Shoot away.I’ll answer your questions all night.
“Why did you get divorced?”
Eun-ho flinched slightly.This question was neither expected nor very polite.But Eun-ho liked Yuna too much to be offended.He thought for a moment about this simple yet deep question.When he couldn’t think of something witty to say, he decided to tell her the embarrassing truth:
“She told me to get out of her life.”
Yuna burst out laughing.This was the second time he had heard her laugh, and he was even more captivated than the first time.Last time, her laugh had made the hair on his entire body stand up.But this time, it aroused something deeper inside him.For a moment, he forgot about the cold because his body was on fire.From head to toe, his whole body was radiating heat.
“That’s unfortunate,” Yuna finally said, releasing Eun-ho from her torturous spell.
Eun-ho was just about to agree with her when he stopped.He had been too mesmerized by her to notice they were being surrounded by a pack of dogs.
Black dogs, yellow dogs, gray dogs, spotted dogs, huskies—but just from their size, you’d think they were wolves.Not only that, but they seemed to understand teamwork, too.The dogs had made a perfect circle around them and were slowly closing the distance.Some of the dogs were licking their chops, others were pulling their noses back and baring their teeth with a growl, and in the back of the pack, a few dogs were howling.
These dogs probably worked as cattle dogs by day and neighborhood thugs by night.They had their eye on the Nuga Bar in Yuna’s hand.Eun-ho put Yuna behind him, and Yuna hid the Nuga Bar behind her back.But the dogs continued to come closer, their paws crunching on the snow.
“Go away!”she said in a loud whisper.
But the dogs were going nowhere.
“Don’t come any closer,” Yuna said again in a futile whisper.
Yuna turned around and stood back to back with Eun-ho.She moved the ice cream bar from her left hand to her right.The dogs shifted to move the focal point of their circle.Yuna switched hands again, and the dogs followed.
Eun-ho realized this wasn’t a fight they could win.They were both outnumbered and outclassed.Judging from their numbers, they probably made a living by robbing tourists at night.With his finger, Eun-ho gently tapped Yuna on the leg.
“The ice cream bar.Give it to me.”
Understanding immediately, Yuna gave it to him without protest.Eun-ho took the ice cream and threw it in the direction of the store.He then took his bag of peanuts, and threw that, too.A few moments later, they heard the bag of peanuts pop.The dogs rushed toward the sound, barking and howling.Eun-ho grabbed Yuna’s hand and ran toward Nikita House.
