He stared at me again.
"..."
"...Looks like you cried. Your eyes are red."
"Ah... not really. Tears just... started flowing and... didn't stop for a while."
I rubbed my eyes gently.
"I see. Were you sad? Or... in a fight with your mom?"
"..." I paused and looked at him. But I wasn't surprised — of course he knew. He always knew. My address. My miserableness. And now... even that.
"You know everything, don't you?" I asked.
"Most of it... yes."
"So, there are things you don't know?"
"Things like... what you're thinking right now. I can't read you. But I can read most people.
What they're doing.
What they've done.
What they're... afraid of.
But sometimes, a few special cases appear — like you.
That's why..."
He stepped closer, his voice lowering.
"I keep wondering... if what I'm doing is really the right thing for people like you."
He placed his palm on my cheek and pulled out a small, transparent bottle filled with red pills. Opening it, he took one out.
"This..."
"...Will take me to nirvana?" I said dryly.
He smirked.
"Yeah... this will cure you. This will take you to nirvana."
"Sounds like a typical drug-addiction scam. How can I trust you? What if it's poison?"
"..." He fell silent.
"Haha... yes, it does sound like that. It's plausible, but..."
He paused, his gaze turning chilling, his voice dropping to a devilish whisper.
"Do you even care? Even dying sounds better than suffering like this... doesn't it?"
"..."
"It evaporates in the mouth after seven seconds."
He stepped closer. Placing the pill on his tongue, he leaned in toward me — slowly, deliberately.
His thumb brushed against my lips.
I knew what was about to happen. I should have stopped him. But I didn't — because I had no reason to.
He's right. So right. Even if it is poison... it doesn't matter. And honestly, it would be quite an interesting way to die — while kissing someone.
My mom would be horrified. Haha...
But the question remains — how will he save me when he isn't anywhere better himself? I can see it. In his eyes. In his calm yet clear voice, laced with pain.
And why am I so drawn to him, even though I barely know him? Why do I trust him so much? This attraction — it's overwhelming, maddening. I don't even know if any of this is right anymore.
Gradually, the boundaries of my own self began to blur... and I could no longer tell where 'I' began or ended.
I closed my eyes.
He kissed me gently — as if afraid to scare me.
With his thumb, he parted my lips and slipped the pill into my mouth with his tongue.
2 seconds...
His tongue was warm. Soft.
3... 4...
I was running out of breath.
Haa...
5... It's... so strange...
His hand slid into my hair, caressing it softly.
6...
And just in time, he stopped.
"Close your eyes."
"?" I started to open them, but he covered them with his hand.
The pill dissolved like foam on my tongue, leaving behind a tingling, refreshing sensation.
He moved behind me, still covering my eyes.
"Niva... don't let the outside noise drown you out," he whispered, his voice calm and grounding. Then, he slowly lifted his hand.
"Open them."
I did.
And... I saw what I had forgotten. What I had lost for so long.
Now I understood why he had called me here — of all places.
The whole twilight sky shattered like a broken mirror. The sun was no longer round; its fractured light painted a jagged kind of beauty across the horizon. Dusk wasn't just orange anymore — it was a dreamy purple, melting into a long night streaked with red, flaming clouds.
"What... is this..."
How could I have missed something like this? After so long... I could finally see colors. It was terrifying and overwhelming at the same time.
Haa... this is just so... magnificent.
There was autumn in my heart, but now I was surrounded by a piece of summer.
Tears slipped down my cheeks.
"So... beautiful. I had... forgotten this feeling. Didn't realize how numb i had become."
"..." Luc's eyes didn't change, but a faint smile curved his lips. He stepped in front of me, placed his hand against my cheek — and then...
He licked the tear from my face.
My heartbeat skyrocketed. It was so loud — I wondered if he could hear it too. Oh no. This was bad. My cheeks were heating up.
And then... he bit my earlobe.
"Ah!" I yelped in pain.
"Haha... it's a relief. "
"W-What was that?!" I demanded.
"Haha... did it hurt? " he asked, laughing brightly — which only made me more annoyed.
"Of course it did!"
"That's good. Pain... makes you feel alive."
Again, those eyes. The ones longing for something — something distant, unreachable. Why did he look at me like that?
"...How do you feel? " he asked.
"...Never been more alive." I smiled, watching the sunlight reflected in his eyes — they looked like flames.
But for some reason...
He wasn't smiling anymore.
to be continued...