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Episode 5
At that, sea tilted her head in confusion.
“…Uh, no. We haven’t known each other for very long.”
At sea words, Esmeralda shrugged and said,
“Well, you never know, you might meet a wonderful romantic partner soon. Bali is an island full of love, after all.”
Esmeralda’s tarot reading was quite accurate. She analyzed sea past state and current psychology, offering various pieces of advice along the way.
As she wrapped up the reading, Esmeralda pointed specifically to one card.
“By the way, this last card, ‘The Moon,’ is a bit ominous. This card signifies deception and illusion. It’s a warning that there might be someone around you who is deceiving you.”
At that, River coughed, “Cough!”
sea, on the other hand, wore a deliberately serious expression as she fell into thought.
‘Deception? Don’t tell me that bastard Yoo Kang-san is up to something behind my back again.’
sea had a younger brother two years her age, and he possessed a peculiar talent for business. Specifically, the talent of jumping into a trend right as it’s about to crash and burn. Gang-san had recently lost a ton of money diving into the Tanghulu business just as the fad was dying out.
‘Mom cried so much I paid off his debts once, but there won’t be a second time.’
While sea was lost in troubled thought, Esmeralda began reading the cards River had drawn.
“Are you perhaps someone in a high position? Or do you have a responsibility-heavy mission?”
“I knew there was something. Riding around on a Ducati, pronouncing words like a BBC anchor. Look at him now, sitting with perfect posture like he’s posing for an etiquette textbook.”
At sea words, River simply offered a mysterious smile, his arms still crossed.
“However, this Death card drawn here is a bit concerning. Have you recently witnessed the death of someone close to you?”
At Esmeralda’s question, the smile vanished from River’s face in an instant. His chilling expression was enough to freeze the surrounding air. His blue eyes calmly stared at Esmeralda, prompting her to add nervously,
“W-Well, if not that, perhaps you’ve undergone a change so significant it feels like death?”
Judging by the atmosphere, one might think Esmeralda had insulted him. Seeing his frightening face, even sea felt a shiver run down her spine.
‘What’s wrong?’
After a tense silence, sea cautiously spoke up.
“Um… River?”
Hearing her voice, River finally opened his mouth slowly.
“That can’t be… “
The corner of his mouth twisted. His eyes, still not smiling at all, were sharp and fierce.
“…could it?”
“Ah, r-really? I’m sorry, I asked such a serious question too lightly.”
Flustered by his reaction, Esmeralda stammered slightly as she tried to continue the reading.
“Then let’s move on to the n…”
Just as Esmeralda was about to turn over the remaining cards, River pressed his index finger down on them, stopping her. He flashed a smile at the startled Esmeralda, as if telling her not to be nervous. But to sea, it somehow looked even scarier.
“To be honest, I’m not very interested in the past. Digging into someone’s past is something anyone can do if they set their mind to it. But seeing the future is a different story.”
“…….”
“Let’s find out, Esmeralda. Whether you’re truly a skilled fortune teller.”
Sweat had already formed on Esmeralda’s forehead. The card she carefully turned over depicted a tower being struck by lightning and burning. It looked somehow ominous.
Esmeralda cleared her throat and then cautiously parted her lips.
“You’ve drawn the T-Tower card. This card signifies sudden change and the collapse of existing order. It means a major upheaval may come into your life. But change isn’t necessarily bad. Sometimes, change marks the beginning of a new chapter.”
River just stared at her silently, as if urging her to explain further.
“The Tower card is paired with the Judgment card. Perhaps after everything collapses, you might face a choice. Whether that choice becomes a judgment on the past or a salvation… “
Esmeralda steadied her trembling breath and put strength into her voice.
“…only you would know.”
River seemed lost in thought, lowering his eyelashes without a word. The heavy silence continued for a while.
Before long, the table was filled with the food they had ordered. Chicken satay, steak, a salad sprinkled with Balinese seasoning – everything looked delicious. Hesitating over what to eat first, sea speared an arancini ball with her fork and asked,
“So, the tarot reading earlier, what did you think?”
River, who had been sitting with his arms crossed lost in thought, met her gaze.
“Do you believe in it?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking if you believe in such superstitions.”
“Hmm, I don’t believe in it 100%, but isn’t it fun to listen to?”
“But you used to work at an investment bank, right? Don’t you usually analyze phenomena based on numbers and data?”
“That’s true, but actually, quite a few of my colleagues believed in superstitions and spells. Even if data gave you 99% confidence in a deal’s success, it could still go wrong because of that 1% uncontrollable variable.”
Investment banks were like battlefields where a single mistake could cost billions. The workload was unimaginably intense, and countless people quit before lasting two years, even with annual salaries in the hundreds of millions. In such a mentally grueling environment, it wasn’t uncommon for people to rely on superstitions or peculiar routines.
“So, you’re saying you need self-suggestion?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
River stared quietly at sea, then reached out his hand to her.
“Let me read your palm.”
“You know how to read palms?”
“Yeah.”
River quickly grabbed sea outstretched hand and began to examine it.
“How can your hands be so slender and soft?”
“…….”
He stroked her palm with his thumb as if giving a massage. He also gently circled the protruding wrist bone with his index finger. A tingling, electric sensation ran down sea spine. Feeling that, sea flinched reflexively and asked,
“Are you… sure you actually know how to read palms?”
“Of course.”
Before she knew it, the distance between them had closed, their breaths nearly mingling. The bare skin of her leg beneath her skirt touched his firm thigh. Quickly averting her gaze, she now noticed the veins standing out on his thick forearm. The scent emanating from his solid body was overly stimulating.
‘What would it feel like to be with a guy this handsome with such a great body?’
Suddenly, a hot flush rose at the back of her neck, and a lewd imagination scrambled her mind. A scene of her tangled messily with him under the sticky tropical climate. sea unconsciously swallowed.
Am I crazy?
I don’t usually indulge in fantasies like this, so why am I suddenly like this?
Maybe there’s an invisible magical force in the Balinese air.
When eyes meet, intense sparks fly, and people easily get physical.
The languid, sticky tropical temperature.
The sense of liberation felt in a place where no one knows you.
These factors combine to make one’s heart open easily.
And if the man sitting next to you happens to be extremely attractive, Bali’s magic is amplified.
‘You’re probably thinking the same thing.’
He tickled her palm with his fingertips as if painting. A moan threatened to escape her lips, and sea had to hold it in.
On the surface, he looks neat and gentlemanly, but in the end, aren you just looking for a roll in the hay with me too?
Once the goal is accomplished, you probably won’t even remember my name. Someday, I’ll just be remembered as ‘that girl from Bali back then.’
“You’re quite sensitive.”
Startled back to reality by his voice, sea said awkwardly, as if being interrogated.
“…What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean your senses seem sharp. The touch of skin, the warmth on your skin, sounds…”
As he held her gaze intently, the pulse in her wrist beat a little faster.
“…those things stimulate you more than most.”
Nervous that her wildly beating pulse might be transmitted to him, sea awkwardly tried to pull her hand away. Had he read her inner thoughts? But he tightened his grip, holding her hand more firmly.
“…Does that show up in the palm lines too? I don’t really know.”
“Liar. Your body is telling me everything.”
“…….”
His gaze was as intense as a beast’s glare, making her eyelashes flutter. Did he catch me having those lewd thoughts? Her heart raced as if she’d downed three or four espressos at once.
“It’s written in your palm lines too.”
“What is?”
“See this faint line under your heart line? That means there are many things you’ve left unsaid.”
“Come on, that’s nonsense.”
“This is your fate line. But look closely, this vertical line here crosses your fate line.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means at this exact point, a major event will occur that changes the axis of your destiny. How old are you exactly?”
“Twenty-seven.”
He looked at her as if digging into her eyes and asked.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Of course not.”
“Thoughts on marriage?”
“…Well, I’d probably need to get a boyfriend first before thinking about that.”
The realization that she might have just given him the information he seemed to want to dig up flashed through her mind. He made a gesture of counting numbers inwardly and then said,
“Then it’s exactly this year. The turning point where your destiny’s axis changes.”
At his words, sea put on a quite serious expression.
“…Really? Hmm, that might be a little bit true, since I quit my job and am at a crossroads in my life right now.”
He chuckled at that, as if finding something amusing.
“Anyway, I wonder what I’ll do when I go back to Korea. I don’t want to work at a company again, ugh.”
“When that happens, it’s good to try something new.”
“Something new?”
Resting his chin on his hand, he gazed at her and said,
“Yeah. For instance, dating me.”
