One
Strangers
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Cold? Yes.
Peaceful? Yes.
Beautiful? Definitely.
Breathtaking?
Absolutely.
He is absolutely breathtaking.
Sitting with his legs stretched out towards the lake, eyes gazing afar, probably taking in the magnificent sight in front of him. Every slow blink of those dark orbs framed by fluttering soft lashes taunts him, urging him to move forward and hold that lonely figure in his arms.
And yet, the rays of sunlight that fell on that velvety white skin of his face reflected such a mesmerizing glow, so mesmerizing it was almost sinful to look at, much less touch it. He held himself back in approaching the stranger, his mouth slightly gaping now at the shimmering skin. Oh how he hated the cold weather now as it gave the sun less skin to fall on.
Lake Mývatn.
It wasn't his first time there. It was his second. He never goes back to the same place twice but it was Lake Mývatn. It was so stunning at the first visit and yet now, it didn't impress as much as this exquisiteness that sat diagonally ahead of him.
"I'm going to have to charge you if you continue staring. I think I'll make quite a sum."
He wasn't sure if he spoke as his lips barely moved and his eyes, oh those deep and dark eyes, were still glued to the picturesque view ahead. But that voice, that angelic voice, it must belong to him or he is turning crazy and giving this stranger a voice in his head.
"$10 a minute? Is that alright with you?"
He shook his head and blinked, a smile slowly growing on his face, "and how long, were you staring at me to know that I was staring at you?"
"I didn't made it as obvious as you did."
"Ah, so you did stare."
"Touché."
Silence.
"What are you?"
"Did you mean who are you?" The stranger finally turned his head, his gaze fixed on him.
He felt a shudder run through his body from his toes to his feet, pretty sure that it wasn't from the frosty wind that was surrounding them. Damn that face looks even more precious in its frontal view. Rubbing his own forearms in a pathetic and pointless bid for warmth, he shook his head, staring back into those dark orbs, "I meant exactly what you have heard. What are you? An angel?"
A light tinkling filled his ears and he never felt warmer as he watched the stranger laugh. The corner of his lips twitched and he found himself smiling, like a fool, to this beautiful stranger.
"That, has to be the corniest pick-up line anyone has ever used on me."
"That, was the most genuine and sincere question I've ever asked anyone."
The stranger's eyes widened for a split second before he narrowed it, regarding him humorlessly, "Do I look stupid or do I look gullible?"
Again, his face showing no trace of ridicule, "Neither. You look amazing, enchanting in fact. That is also exactly the reason why I am asking you, are you an angel?"
A smile. His heart stopped for a moment. Damn, he really was beautiful.
A pat at the empty patch of grass by his side. He blinked his eyes. Was he being beckoned over by the stranger? Clumsily stumbling to close up the distance, he sat unglamorously beside him, and stared.
"Are you really that enthralled?"
"Very much."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure if it's the freezing weather that is causing my brain to attain some frostbites, or if it's the scenery that is reflecting on you, or if it's... Well actually, I'm pretty damn sure it's just you."
"You do this often?"
"Do you think I would see an angel this often?"
"I'm not an angel. I'm far from being one."
"And yet, you hold the closest resemblance I have seen."
Another smile and he couldn't help but lift a hand to brush the stray hair that was tickling the stranger's eyelashes, "but you seem too sad, for an angel. Are the heavens not treating you right?"
The stranger watched the fingers shifting his fringe and gave a tiny shiver at the fingertips that grazed his forehead, "I'm afraid not."
"Ah, that's too bad."
"It is. But I guess we just have to live with what life has to give."
"Or, we make or ask life to give us more."
The stranger gave a little snort, how cute, before he turned to him, "what if I requested from life to lean on your shoulders and to have you watch this view with me for another hourly ?"
He shuffled closer to the stranger, hips touching hips, and placed an arm gently around him, "life would willingly give you that."
"If I'm an angel, what are you?"
Smiling as he caught the soft whisper emitting from his shoulder, "A wanderer."
"Ah, of course. You look nothing like an angel."
And he laughed. It had been years since he had been this close to someone after he started wandering the corners of the world, and it was only now that he wondered what have he been missing out. Or maybe, it was just because there was no one else he rather keep this close.
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He raised an eyebrow as yet another random person stared curiously at him as he used his phone. Was it a crime to not be using a smart phone? Checking his phone again for any latest message -- thankfully there was none, he sighed into his palms.
His only point of contact his family had with him was the phone and they knew better then to call him. It had always been messages. For years, that was how it was. Thus, when the phone call came, he knew it wasn't good news and true enough, after five years of wandering around the world, his bags were packed and he was ready to return to Seoul.
As he turned to his side and stared at the planes that were lined neatly at the right of where he was seated, separated only by the glass window and a vast amount of concrete space, his mind drifted off to that angel, or the stranger as what he had requested for himself to be identified as.
He had given the stranger the hour of companion and he would have given more if not for the stranger being akin to Cinderella minus the glass slippers, having run off at the 60th minute. There were no exchange of names, numbers or even some basic demographics of one another. And yet, he felt like he had known him for the longest time ever. In that hour, each had their fair share of talk time, indulging in delightful conversations of which country had the best sunset
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