The strands of hair flew away from her troubled face as the gentle soothing breeze that carried with it the saltiness of the sea blew towards her seemingly taking her spirit away with it.  She sat on the sand alone silently looking at the setting sun that appears to change the scenery’s hue as it slowly dips into the horizon.  She keeps her feet slightly buried in the fine sand, letting the small grains flow between the spaces of her toes as she listens to the waves crashing into shore.  She hugs her knees tight saddened with the thought of how things have turned.

She could not remember much about what happened earlier that day.  Her mind was almost a complete blank and her body to the point of being numb throughout the whole ceremony.  All she knew was she did what she had to do, said what had to be said and acted the way she was supposed to act.  She played the dutiful daughter, granddaughter and bride today…pitiful, but no one seemed to care.

No tears were shed from her eyes for today as she held them in well while she performed her part.  But no real smile was seen from her lips either for today, every smile she gave looked either fake or forced.  Somehow everyone knew how she felt just by looking at her eyes, but no one, not the family, not even her friends that were around wanted to point it out.  The best consolation she received was a squeeze in her hand by Wooyoung with a sad face before she walked down the aisle.

Now, as perfect as this scene is, she couldn’t deny what this is really for, her honeymoon.  If only honeymoons were taken alone as a time apart from the partner, then this would be perfect for her.

“Hey!  What are you up to?” Taecyeon said gleefully carrying a book with him as he sat beside her in a hurry scattering the sand around.  “I went to shower and found you gone when I came out.  That scared me.  I thought you ran off somewhere.”

“I was just here.  Where else can I run off to anyway?” she muttered as she played with the sand with her fingers avoiding to look at him beside her, her soft voice being muffled by her own knees.

“I don’t know.  Home, your mom’s maybe.” he said looking at her like waiting for her to turn her head towards him.

“Even if I want to, she wouldn’t take me.” she said as she began to choke on her words.

“Then to Chansung maybe.” Taecyeon said as he looked up to the sky, stretching his long legs out to feel more of the sand on him.

“Are you trying to pick a fight?” she said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

“No!  Not at all!  I wouldn’t even dare.” Taecyeon said shaking his head vigorously.  “To be honest, you scare the hell out of me…even when we were young.”

She silently looked away again, choosing to find small shells buried in the sand around from where she sits.

“But I’ve never recalled you being this quiet.” Taecyeon said fixing his gaze at her side profile.  “You’ve been this way for weeks now.”

“I just don’t have much to say.” she said quietly.  “And no one seems to listen to what I have to say anyway.  So what’s the use?”

“I’ll listen.” he said.

“Too late.” she softly said as she turned her head at his direction to give him a little smile.

“So I guess the reason why you haven’t smiled either is because you have no reason to.” he said.

“I just did.” she said showing her teeth again.

“Smile like you mean it.” he said.  “You look the most beautiful when you do.” Taecyeon tried to convince her but she remained without words choosing to play with the sand instead.  “I didn’t see Chansung at the ceremony today.”

“I did.” she said as she finds a small colorful shell buried in the sand as she rests her chin on her knees.  “He came early and then left before the whole thing started.”

“Ahhh.” Taecyeon said nodding his head as he looks at her dusting the shell with her fingers.  “Oh by the way, this is for you.” he said handing her a book.

“A book?” she said dusting her hands together before taking it.

“Nope.” he said shaking his head with a smile.

“So, it’s an album.” she said opening it to find a picture of them when they were kids in the front page, both with a huge grin for the camera as he holds a robot and she holds a red Twizzlers.  “I remember this.  Thanks.”

“It’s not an album.” he said holding on to the page with a smile before she could turn it again.  “It’s a time machine.”

“Taec, I know you’re making an effort, but you really don’t have to.  We’re married just in paper and only for a year at most…hopefully.  It’ll only be a waste to…” she said looking at him sadly.

“Just in paper or not, you’re my wife and I’m your husband.” Taecyeon said seriously.  “I’d appreciate it if you could also put that in your head and not forget it.  And just to make it clear, I take grave offense when it comes to cheating.  I’d expect you not to cheat on me in any way.  I lose my head and get crazy like that.  In other words, by being married, you belong to me and I belong to you.  Try to remember that.”

“I don’t get you.” she said.  “Didn’t you say you have someone you love?  I still wonder how you could agree to this without protest.”

“I do have someone I love, that’s why I’m doing this wholeheartedly.” he said.

“So you’re doing this for the inheritance thing?” she asked with creased brows.  “Wooyoung mentioned you’re finally getting grandpa’s company.  Is that why you could do all these?”

“That has nothing to do with it.” he said obviously offended.  “And it’s not like I asked for the company anyway.  Do you see me as someone like that?”

“I really don’t understand you.” she said.  “Do you even really have a girlfriend?”

“I did.” he said nodding his head as he looked far into the sea.  “Her name was Lola.”

“Lola?” she said.

“Uhm.” he nodded.  “She was a showgirl.”

“What?” she asked surprised at the word showgirl.

“With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there.” he continued to say.  “She would merengue and do the cha-cha and while she tried to be a star, Tony always tended the bar.” Taecyeon started to sing like a fool.  (Copacobana by Barry Manilow)  “At the Copa, Copacobana, music and passion were always the fashion at the Copa – they fell in love!” Taecyeon ended the song with arms wide open laughing at his foolishness.  “Did you just fall for that?”

“Oh my gosh!  You’re so much weirder than I remember.” she said looking at him confused and disgusted as she shook her head in disbelief.

“You used to be so much sweeter.  And not to mention you used to love my jokes.” he said with a wide grin.

“I used to like a lot of things when I was younger.” she said writing her name in the sand with her fingers.

“Uhm.” Taecyeon nodded.  “You used to like me.” he said as he puts both his hands to the side as he looks up at the now dark sky.

“I don’t remember that.” she said as she clears .

“And you used to call me oppa.” he said as he began to lie down, his head resting on both hands.  “Do you think we can ever bring back what we had?”

“I don’t know.” she said.  “Maybe if we weren’t forced to marry each other or maybe not even then.”

“I never forgot about you.” he said as he continued to look at the stars above.  “And I have a feeling you never forgot about me either.”

“I did, until you came back again to mess up my life.” she whispered.

“I find that hard to believe, seeing how you held on to the necklace I gave you all these years.” Taecyeon said smug.

“It was just a nice accessory.  I actually forgot you were the one who gave it to me.” she said almost angrily.

“I remember how much you used to love borrowing your mother’s necklace, the one that had a mother and child as a pendant.” Taecyeon recalled as he sat right up.  “She used to scold you for always wearing it.  She would say, you’re bound to lose it because you play around wearing it.  And you would cry every time she asked you to return it.  So, I asked my dad for my birthday I wanted a necklace made for you.  So he helped me get it made provided I pay him for it every month with my savings.  He ended up giving it back to me after a few years, turns out he just wanted me to learn how to save. ” he said with a chuckle.  “I could still remember that day so vividly.  It was my birthday and I couldn’t wait to see you.  I wanted to give it to you so badly that as soon as I got the necklace I ran over to your house to hand it to you.  You had the brightest smile on, hugging me so tight saying you’ll never take it off and that you’ll never forget me for as long as you live.  You said thank you over a hundred times.  You were so happy telling your mother you’ll never take it off and that it’s definitely yours because it had you face on it and that you’ll never let her borrow it.”

“I got scolded a lot because of that remark.” she said as her face finally lights up at the thought.  “My mom said, is that a way to talk to your mother.” she said imitating her mom’s high pitched tone.

“So you ran to me, hiding behind my back, tugging on my shirt so tightly like you always do whenever your mother scolded you.” Taecyeon said as they both laughed remembering their childhood.

“You’re always good for things like that.” she said.  “For hiding, for riding on.”

“Yeah, you used to make me carry you around, pretending to not be able to walk.” Taecyeon said.  “I’m glad to know you really kept your promise.” he said looking at her.

As soon as she saw him looking at her happily with a big smile, her laughter begins to fade, coming back to reality…coming back to the present time from the past.

“But you didn’t keep yours.” she said.

“I know and though whatever I’ll say would sound as an excuse, I do have valid reasons.” Taecyeon said as he reached out to hold her hand.

“What’s the use of hearing them now?” she said softly, removing her hand from his as she begins to avoid his eyes again, looking at the sand instead.

“You should really try giving me a chance.” Taecyeon said, but again she has remained quiet.  “Oh well.” he said with a deep sigh.  “Do me a favor.  Go through all the pictures and read all the letters in it.  And then maybe you could understand, why and what really happened.  Oh by the way, you forgot this.” he said taking a ring out of his pocket.  “You’re not supposed to take this off either even though you’re tempted to throw it to sea.  It comes along with the title of being Ok Taecyeon’s wife.” he said as he puts it on her finger once more.

“I might lose it if I keep wearing it.” she argued.

“I’d hate to get mad at you and punish you for not wearing it.” he said glaring at her.  “It’s getting too cold out here, we should head in.”

“I’ll stay here for a while.” she said.  “You go on ahead.”

“Alright.  But hurry inside or you might catch a cold.” Taecyeon said, kissing her on the forehead before standing up to leave.

He walked away slowly heading towards their villa alone.  Upon reaching a distance, Taecyeon turns around once more to look at her still sitting on the beach playing with the sand with her feet, leaving the album right beside her not caring to flip through the pages as asked.

“Bad girl.” Taecyeon muttered as he looked at her from afar.  “I said to look and read it, but instead you’re ignoring it.  I ought to teach you a lesson one of these days.”