Author's Note: Set somewhere in the East China Sea, the story is rewrite of an older piece. The setting is fictional but loosely inspired by places in the region near the Korean peninsula and Japanese islands.
Chapter 1 -- Newlyweds
A vision flashes: of a sun dappled swimming pool by the sea with a young wife washing dishes at the sink, bay window overlooking the water, while a man whose face she cannot identify brushes her shoulder. She turns and smiles, but her eyes are empty as she stares over his shoulder into the roiling sea that has somehow surrounds them. It churns. Something dark swims underneath the surface but it bides its time. The man's face approaches hers but it remains blank and formless.
There is a roar in the background that keeps rising and rising.
A vast figure rose up from the ocean, towering over her and she stands before it, exposed and quaking. But it wasn't fear that permeates her, but something just as primeval. The roar turns into a shriek.
She is startled awake from the announcement to fasten seatbelts. The plane was about to land.
Her husband leaned over, "Are you okay?"
"It was just a strange dream," she replied, leaning her head onto his shoulder.
***
Jet lagged but giddy, the newlyweds grabbed their luggage from the carousel and tumbled out into the blinding sun.
She was taller than her husband and obviously a foreigner with bright blond hair tucked under a baseball cap and a ponytail. Jessica had a sleek runners frame, tall and athletic. In fact, she'd briefly been in a member of her high school track team but had never pursued it beyond that. Still, she still liked to run, muscled thighs stretching her white shorts. Her strapless top did little to camouflage her ample chest. Dozens of honeymooners swarmed around them, some of them staring curiously at the immodest American.
The majority of them had dark brown hair, slim figures, and the moderate statures of the mainland Asian populace. Many wore matching casual outfits and the same dazed look as cabbies and hawkers harangued them for attention in the busy exit zone of the airport. There were a few other foreign tourists, but even they were mostly from other Asian demographics. A skinny cabbie ignored her completely and solicited James Choi, her new husband, for his driving services in rapid fire local dialect.
Although her accent was rough, Jessica was still able to surprise the local when she spoke in their tongue to demur the services. "I'm sorry, but we have a rental car." The man took it in stride and moved on to other targets. Some of the other people nearby held their hands to their mouths and gossiped. It was closing in on the turn of the millennium but many people were still stuck in their old ways.
James gathered their luggage and went ahead toward the car rental office. He was a handsome man, having done well enough in sports that he had a decent physique; yet, he had a habitual shyness that made it difficult for him to interact with strangers. Hence, he was the one with hunched shoulders trying to avoid the stares and comments as Jessica followed along closely, her long, tanned legs flashing in the brilliant sunlight that poured through the airport's glass windows. He was the moon to her sun.
After checking in at the rental office, they loaded their bags into the small Korean sedan and drove off with Jessica navigating, map unfolded on her lap, while James peered around at the signs.
"I really don't recognize anything around here," he said. "It's been so many years."
"Take the next right, it will hit a highway that will take us around the island," Jessica pointed. "You were young. I barely remember my own grade school back in the States. I'd never expect to find my way around their either."
"It's just so strange to be back. I never expected it, and definitely not with a hot new wife," James smiled, squeezing her leg. She slapped his hand when it attempted to ride up her shorts.
"You're wrinkling the map!" she exclaimed. "Did you call your relatives ahead of time?"
"Of course, I borrowed the rental office phone. They've prepared a welcome dinner, so we can't be late. I'm sure grandmother had something to do with it," he winced. His eyes kept wandering to his bride's lovely figure.
"Jim, you're acting like this is our honeymoon. Keep your eyes on the road."
Ironically, they were probably the only newlyweds who weren't on the island for a honeymoon. They had taken theirs in Europe a few weeks before their arrival at James birthplace: the semi-tropical Tamru Island which the brochures insisted was a mini-Hawaii. There was no way Jessica was going to pass up the offer of renting a small villa by one of James relatives.
"I'm going to have to fly every week to the mainland. It's a short commute but I'll only be home for weekends..." The short commuter flight was relatively cheap and he'd be staying at a corporate long-term residence, part of the perks of his employment.
"Stop worrying. I'll be fine. The teaching job will keep me busy. With both of us working, we can set aside some money. Look at this paradise."
"For you, while I have to slave away in an urban sprawl," he jibed. She pinched him. A car honked when he accidentally turned down the wrong way onto the highway.
James had been barely more than a kinder-garden student when his mother had taken him from the island to move overseas. He really didn't have one place he considered a permanent home as they had travelled a lot, including Japan, Europe and finally the US where he had gone to university and met Jessica Martin, now Jessica Martin-Choi.
