Aera, already excited:
— THE SEAAAA IN WINTEEEER!!!
I'M GOING TO SCREEEAM!!!
I'M SCREAMING!!!
She ran into the sand, spinning around on herself.
Nari laughed.
Really laughed.
So Aera came back to her, grabbed her by the waist…
and threw her down into the sand.
— BETRAYAL!! yelled Nari.
BATTLE.
Aera was tickling her, Nari was screaming, laughing, struggling.
They rolled in the cold sand, two children escaped from life.
The laughter rose, tearing through the wind.
The sand flew.
Their voices burst into the night.
Nari's cheeks were red, her eyes shining, her hands frozen.
But she was alive.
— You see? shouted Aera, laughing.
You're not dead.
You're NOT dead, Nari.
Look how you're still laughing.
Nari stayed still for a moment.
Short of breath.
Heart tight.
She looked at the sea.
The stars.
The night.
And in that suspended moment, a thought crossed her heart:
I still love him.
I will always love him.
But if I lose myself, that love will die too.
I need to live again.
To rebuild myself.
What is meant to come back will come back.
She sat up.
The wind swept through her black hair.
Her brown eyes reflected the moon.
She told herself:
"I didn't come all this way to die.
I have to honor the love I have for him… by staying alive.
By taking my life back."
Aera threw one last cushion of sand right into her face.
— You coming, princess?
Let's go get a hot chocolate before heading back!
Nari burst into laughter that made the icy air vibrate.
She stood up.
She followed Aera.
Heart in pieces.
But beating.
Still.
The next day, Nari opened her eyes even before Aera came to wake her.
For the first time in days, she felt something move in her chest.
A thread of light. A thin, fragile spark, but very real.
She got up by herself, took a quick shower, put on her uniform, then joined Aera in the kitchen.
— Oh damn… YOU'RE AWAKE BEFORE ME? choked Aera, dropping her mug of hot chocolate.
— Just for today, answered Nari with a discreet laugh.
Aera opened her mouth wide, as if she had just seen a miracle.
— Wait… you LAUGHED.
— I didn't laugh.
— YES. YOU. DID. LAUGH. I HAVE AUDITORY EVIDENCE.
Nari nodded, half amused, half moved.
They left to go to work together, walking side by side in the icy December air.
For the first time, Nari wasn't dragging herself — she was walking with a certain rhythm, a certain breath, a certain faint hope.
As soon as they arrived, Aera and Nari were swallowed up by the electric atmosphere of Saturday night.
Christmas Eve.
The bar was already filled with clients in shiny suits, satin dresses, overpriced perfumes, gold watches sparkling under the dim lights.
The DJ was slowly turning up the volume, a warm bass that vibrated in the belly of the Black Orchid.
Nari took her place behind her bar, a new energy in her movements, in her posture, in her gaze.
Kai threw her a look from the other side of the room.
A look that stayed hooked on her one second too long.
As if he wanted to check that she was standing…
and was discovering that she was doing better than just standing.
Between two cocktails, Ryo showed up sliding across the floor — literally.
— I SLIPPED ON A SLICE OF LEMON!!! he shouted.
— It's not possible to be that dumb!!! answered Aera, running toward him.
— It's the universe's fault! I'm a victim! I demand a lawyer!!
Nari burst into a clear laugh.
Real.
Spontaneous.
Luminous.
Ryo straightened up, stared at her as if he had just seen a shooting star.
— Hey… it's been a while since I last heard you laugh like that.
— Me too, she answered softly.
Aera rested her head on Nari's shoulder.
— I'm proud of you, she murmured.
Nari lowered her eyes, a discreet smile stretching her lips.
It was 10 p.m. when the bar became completely packed.
The richest people in the city were there:
diamond watches, heady perfumes, loud laughs, credit cards ready to burn.
Kai was talking with a group of businessmen in the back, dark fitted jacket, posture straight and cold, like a steel blade.
Aera moved between the tables serving colorful Christmas cocktails.
Ryo was doing his show behind the decks, waving his arms as if it were an international stage.
Nari served drinks with speed and precision, a small smile on her lips, her hair tied up, a new energy vibrating in her eyes.
Everything was going almost too well.
Then.
Everything flipped.
A man approached.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Perfectly tailored black suit.
Brown hair slicked back.
Square jaw.
Green eyes like cut glass.
He sat down slowly.
With the assurance of a man who knows he's going to be looked at.
Nari didn't pay attention at first — she was preparing a drink, focused on her task.
— Good evening, what can I get y—
She turned.
And her glass exploded on the floor.
The sound cracked through the whole bar.
Kai immediately lifted his head.
So did Aera.
Nari stayed frozen.
— … You, she breathed.
The man smiled.
An insolent, almost cruel smile.
— Did you miss me?
Her heart dropped into her stomach.
Impossible.
Impossible.
That face…
That voice…
But that body?
That look?
That new confidence?
— Min… Jun? she murmured.
Him, her ex.
Fiancé.
Ghost from the past.
He patted his suit, as if to make himself stand out even more.
— I dressed up for the occasion, do you like it?
I wanted to be… presentable. For you.
Nari stepped back by a millimeter.
She couldn't fully recognize him.
He was transformed.
Before, he was thin, almost fragile, always in oversized joggers.
Now, he looked carved out of marble.
— Wh… what are you doing here…? she stammered, panicked.
He smiled even wider, a grin that had nothing warm about it.
— You don't seem happy to see me. Shame.
I was hoping you'd jump into my arms.
After all…
He leaned toward her, slowly.
— We were engaged, Nari.
His whisper slid over her skin like a soft threat.
Nari was clutching the dish towel in her fingers like a lifeline.
Her lips were trembling.
She felt like the floor had disappeared under her feet.
— Wh… what do you want from me, Minjun? she managed to say.
He burst into a light, almost musical laugh, but with a background that vibrated with a sick kind of darkness.
— Oooh, you want to get straight to the point?
Still as impatient as ever, I see.
He straightened up, smoothed his suit with his fingertips, then tilted his head slightly like a man who has just stated something obvious.
— I'd like you to come eat with me after your shift.
Nari stepped back.
— I finish late, she replied dryly, like a door being slammed.
Minjun smiled.
A smile too wide, too white, too confident.
— Ah ah ah… I'd forgotten how funny you were, Nari.
He rested his elbow on the bar, leaned a little closer to her, his voice becoming almost caressing.
— I'll wait patiently. Don't you worry.
Nari felt her stomach clench.
She opened her mouth to answer, but a presence behind Minjun sent a shiver through her whole body.
A shadow appeared behind him.
Tall.
Massive.
Unmoving.
Suffocating.
Kai.
He slowly placed his hand on Minjun's shoulder.
Not violently.
Not brutally.
Just firmly enough for a normal man to understand he had just lost all his rights.
Then his eyes turned to Nari.
— You okay? he asked, his voice low, steady, dangerously calm.
Do you need me to deal with him?
— No, no… it's okay, Nari answered too fast.
Nothing… nothing bad.
Minjun burst into theatrical laughter.
— Ah ah ah! I see you're still very well surrounded, Nari.
Then he lifted his eyes to Kai, looking him up and down like an opponent he was sizing up before a fight.
— Let me introduce myself: Minjun.
Nari's ex-fiancé.
Kai's eyes widened.
Not with naïve surprise.
With a cold shock, immediately followed by a dull anger that passed through his pupils like a shadow.
Minjun laughed again.
— Ah ah ah, so you didn't tell him about me, Nari…
I'm offended.
Nari's face turned ghostly pale.
Her hands were shaking.
Every word from Minjun sounded right, polite, almost charming… but she knew.
Behind his smooth sentences, there was an abyss.
A sick, oozing aura that slowly crawled through the air.
Kai stepped forward.
Very slowly.
Very calculated.
His eyes locked onto Minjun's.
Then, without raising his voice, without moving a muscle, he leaned slightly toward his ear.
His voice was a sharp whisper.
— You think you're interesting, here?
Minjun instantly stopped smiling.
Kai continued, barely audible, but every syllable vibrated like a knife against a throat.
— I suggest you walk out… nicely.
And not come back.
He paused for a brief moment, his eyes flashing dark.
— I won't be as lenient next time.
Minjun stayed frozen for a second.
Then, slowly, his arrogant smile came back, stretched, stiff, almost trembling.
— Oh my, oh my… I see I'm not welcome.
Alright, alright… I'll step aside immediately, sir.
He bowed slightly — a fake politeness, a disguised provocation.
Then, as he stepped back, he looked Nari straight in the eyes.
With that icy possessiveness, a toxic softness.
— Nari…
We'll see each other again very soon.
He bowed one last time, then left the bar with calm, silent steps.
Nari almost collapsed against the counter, her legs unable to hold her, her breath cut short.
Kai stayed still, his gaze fixed on the door through which Minjun had disappeared.
His fingers clenched on the bar.
His face closed.
A single certainty floated in the air:
Nari's past had just come back.
And this was only the beginning.