Dirt crunches under the tires as Yeji parks her car alongside the coast.
She makes her way to open the door for the girl sitting on the shotgun seat; a brittle smile was formed on her lips and a tug was felt in her heart as she brings the girl closer to her body — a gesture she always does to express the love she has been feeling.
The silver moon shines in the night sky, painted in a dark shade of blue. Yeji’s body shakes and her lips becoming dry as the chilly wind of December hit them. She pulls the love of her life closer to her, sharing the warmth left in her body.
They make their way towards the vast ocean. Yeji didn’t mind if sand gets into her shoes, didn’t mind if her pants get wet as she continues to walk until the cold water levels her knee — as long as she’s with her, it’s okay. As long as she’s with Lia, everything is okay.
-
It’s been two silent minutes for the both of them. The sound of waves that drenches the sand and the tranquil atmosphere are not even helping to stop Yeji’s heart from beating loudly to the point that it could be heard by all the deities in the universe.
“Let us dance, shall we?” for the umpteenth times this night, Yeji pulls Lia closer to her chest; holds her delicately, as if she’s the most fragile thing a human could ever touch.
Yeji closed her eyes and smiled.
“Do you remember when we used to go here after a tiring day at school?” she chuckles at the thought. “I’m so happy that I’m still with you even after many years of difficulties,” Yeji continues as contentment rush all over her body.
Silence.
“Happy third-,” she says. They let their bodies get carried away by the ocean waves.
She opens her eyes, and that is when reality hits her like a fucking truck.
Caged in her arms is not her Lia. Well, actually it IS her Lia.
But not her Lia with a bright smile and contagious laugh, not her Lia that eyes form crescent whenever doing something hilarious, not her Lia with a voice sweet like honey, not her Lia that gives color to her monochromatic world.
Instead,
It’s her Lia — ashes tightly held inside a blue cinerary urn.
“-death anniversary, love.”
A bitter smile.
“She’s gone,” words escape her lips, not exactly a statement but a note to herself.
She opens the lid of the marble vase, grabs a handful of it and tosses in the ocean. Ashes slip through her fingers as memories slip through her mind. Tears forming in her eyes as pain slowly pulverize her already wrecked heart.
She looks up at the blanket of stars that stretched to infinity. She became one of them.
Yeji’s chin trembles as she tries her very best to balance herself from drowning in now waist-deep water.
With one last deep breath that she hopes will take away her emotional sufferings, she says,
“Good bye.”