One Day, Long Ago Chapter 21

Listen to// Love Breath by Xia Junsu

“A story that no one knows. Even my deep scars you want to listen to them all night as you look at me.”

Eun Bi’s POV

The thin sheet of glass that was tenacious enough to protect the photograph, finally cracked beneath the impact of its fall. The once sturdy glass was now shattered to pieces, covering the photograph with its fragments.

Sobs resounded against the surrounding floor walls as I, myself crumbled to pieces. Despite my deteriorating mentality I thought I was capable enough to protect them. Wails rippled through my body, causing my shoulders to convulse with each cry.

“No! No! No! This can’t be happening!” My brain protested, screaming the phrase repeatedly. The injustice I received fueled my rage, provoking me to fight. My hands clenched into tight fists in an attempt to subdue my fury, but eventually it proved to be of no avail.  

My eligibility to adopt Sang Min, Ra Jin, and Young Ho was revoked on the defense that I was not mentally stable. It wasn’t the fact that I was a university student or the fact that I was working part time that disqualified me, but it was my time in the psych ward that rose dubiousness.

The only thing I was trying to accomplish by adopting them was to provide a lasting family for them where they would no longer be the abandoned.

My eyes were forced shut as the pain overwhelmed me like a wave crashing over. My fingers gripped the bed sheets. My face contorted in anguish, as all I could do was scream and sob.

Tae Kwang’s POV

Her once mournful sorrows ceased to an indignant silence as I held her. Her clenched fists now laid on the floor in a released manner, admitting defeat. The whites of her eyes were tinged red; an indication of her breakdown minutes prior.

She was the shattered glass. She thought she was strong enough to support them, but everyone else knew that fragility of the glass would eventually fail itself.

After what seemed to be hours, her ragged breathing grew steady. The heat of her breath grazed my collarbone since her head was resting on my chest.

“Let’s get away from here.” She whispered.

“Let’s go.”

We ended up driving to the beach because I thought that no one goes to the beach in the middle of spring. People usually go to the flower fields or to the cherry blossom trails.  We would have the entire beach to ourselves.

I parked my car and got out first, letting Eun Bi sleep in the car until she woke up to join me on the shore. The smell of saltwater was instantly perceived the moment I got out of the car. An empty beach was an oasis of serenity in the midst of our onerous lifestyles. The sun was just beginning to set, gradually tingeing the sky with hues of orange, magenta, and grey. It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight to witness. Living in the city made it very rare to observe sunsets while out here it was if the entire sky was engulfed in color.

I immediately turned to the car when I heard the door shut. Eun Bi came out, heading toward where I sat. She took a seat beside me on the sand when I noticed how authentic she looked. Her cheeks and nose were flushed from all the crying she did hours ago.

“Wow.” She uttered, looking at the sunset with a curious glint in her eyes. Then before I knew it Eun Bi was taking off her cardigan and slipping off her shoes to run into the ocean.

Remembering that she didn’t know to swim, I ran after her into the tides. But then my feet came to a halt. Eun Bi wasn’t drowning, but instead she was fighting against the currents even after they crashed over her. She’d come up for air every time and try again.

She wasn’t drowning.

She was overcoming her impulse to let the tides consume her.

Sparkling beads of water adorned her hair when she turned to face me. Eun Bi’s arms reached for mine as I pulled her arms around me. She buried her face into the crook of my neck and the fluttering of her eyelashes tickled my skin. She exhaled a breath, pulling her face away to meet my eyes.

“I did it.” She declared, wearing an expression of content.