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He led her to the Naksugyo Bridge.  They walked over to the railing, and he leaned against it, staring out at the beautiful waters displayed before them.  A bit of a wind had suddenly found its waves and they were dancing now, sunlight sparking off them in rays of joyous light.  As though the lake was celebrating with them.

By now Breeze was certain Namjoon had planted another gift here.  She looked around.  She walked a ways down the bridge, checking between every pair of railing posts.  She found nothing.

Namjoon watched her returning.  She looked slightly disappointed.  He held his hand out to her and pulled her up next to him.  

“Did you take the time to simply enjoy the view?”

She looked out over the water. If he had only two gifts for her, that was more than enough. All she required was his presence.  The presents were like the cherry and the whipped cream on a sundae.  They enhanced the ice cream.  But truthfully, it was good enough by itself.

“What are we looking at?” he asked her suddenly.

Puzzled, she answered, “Ilsan Lake.”

He nodded.  “What is Ilsan Lake part of?”

She gazed at him quizzically, slightly confused.  

“Part of Korea, right?”

She nodded.

“What are we standing on?”

Again, a confused look.  “A bridge?”

“Very good, Sherlock.”  He lifted their entwined hands and pressed the tip of her nose with the edge of his index finger before continuing the interrogation.

“What’s your native tongue?”

She answered without hesitation, “English.”

“What’s mine?”

“Korean.”

“Then how can we speak to each other and understand one another?”

“You learned English.”

He nodded.  “I created a bridge between your world and mine.  And you walked across it to reach me.”  

He pulled her hand up to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.  Then he withdrew his other hand from behind his back and held something out to her.  She stared down at it, trying to decipher what it said.

“This was my very first Korean primer.  I learned the rudiments of my native tongue from this book.  And from my parents, of course.”

When she simply continued to stare at the book in his hand, he prompted her, “Here.  It’s for you.”

“What?”  Her face lifted so she could meet his eyes, surprise evident in her own.  “You’re giving me your elementary Korean book?”

He nodded, smiling.  Those darling dimples were teasing her again. “I want you to have it.  I thought it might help you master my tongue.  Well, it won’t actually get you to mastery, but it will help speed you on your way.  Truth is, you may already know everything contained in this book. But you gave me a book.  Now I want to give you one of mine.”

Breeze smiled up at him in awe.  She sighed.  Oh, this weekend was very dangerous!  She was falling even more in love with this endearing man!  He was more than she had dared to dream.

She glanced back down at the book now resting in her hand.  Namjoon’s own elementary school textbook.  She thought of the earrings hanging from her head and the rose she still carried in her hand. 

“Are there any more?”  She couldn’t keep the excitement out of her voice.

“That depends.”

“Upon what?”

“Upon whether you’ll come back to Ilsan for my birthday.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“It’s Thursday.”

“I know when it is!  September 12!”  Her face fell.  “I have class.”

“Can you skip it for one day?” he asked gently, dipping his head close to her face, increasing the intimacy between them.  “I want you to come up on Wednesday after your classes are done and stay the whole weekend.”

Her heart was racing.  This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, an unbelievable invitation that any ARMY would drop their entire life to accept.

She nodded.

“Then perhaps the pleasant pursuit of presents will prosper when you present yourself posthaste.”  Namjoon grinned.  “How did I do?”

“Polishing your English presence, perhaps?”

He laughed.  “I’ve got to catch up with you!”  He glanced at his phone.  “We need to head back to the house.  Mom has plans for us today.”

They turned toward his home.  Breeze would never forget the morning they’d spent in Ilsan Lake Park, Joonie’s favorite place on earth. Now it was hers too.