It's not too late

to say goodbye now

say it now

say it

before I fall

deeper and deeper

into the sea of your love

 

and I swear I'll let myself

drown in there

and never

ever

let anyone save me

 

not even you can.

 

===

 

"Guess what day is tomorrow," he asks while braiding her hair with the sweetest smile one can ever carve.

"Saturday," she answers, looking at the pictures from her black camera.

Kai. The guy to die for, with a smile that can effortlessly make every heart melts, a pair of eyes that gazes everything a little too intimidating and a natural bronze skin which makes everything a tad bit ier.

And like every other cliché stories from the children books or that popular high school tv series - the exact same thing is happening to this girl.

Na Seon. The girl who used to read books in libraries is now reading on a guy's lap. Beautiful. Like the unfailing fairytales; when the slave became the king, the poor became the richest, the ugliest became the prettiest and the unknown became popular.

Na Seon is not a nerd. She is not the kind of girl who wears thick eyeglasses and sloppy t-shirt who only befriends with books. No. She is just a normal girl. Dark blue Converse, ripped jeans, plain white t-shirt underneath the gray hoodie that always cover a little too much of her hair and a matte black camera that she slings almost everywhere.

One can't even count how many of them that envy her. When the two started dating, a lot of people made fun of Na Seon but she didn't flinch because in every harsh words, there was Kai who would hug her close and tell her that everything will be okay. Na Seon feels like she is living in heaven. A princess that is taken care very well by the mightiest knight in shining armor.

"When you cut a tree into two, you'll find its growth rings inside. There will be dark and bright rings which are known as the snapshots of the previous climates. If the ring is bright, the climate for the year was mainly sunny and if the ring is dark, the climate was rainy."

The words from her Science teacher still stuck in her head every now and then. If she is a tree, Na Seon is pretty sure the rings of her previous years would be all dark. Maybe a few bright rings earlier when her parents were still together.

But as the time passes by, so do them.

Her father was a doctor, busy saving someone's live while her mother was a fashion designer, busy designing someone's dress. They forgot about their one and only daughter that should be fed with loves.

Then, they decided to hire a nanny thinking that it would cover all the lacks of loves towards Na Seon and soon after that, they got busier than ever. There were even times when they didn't come home for months.

Na Seon was 14 and was taking pictures all around the house with a new camera she bought herself when she heard small voices coming from her parents' room.

The voice of her mother but not her father's.
 

Click.

Don't ever be like the woman in this picture.
 

The woman who ruined her life. The one who failed the entire family because when Na Seon's father found out that his wife was cheating -- divorced was his only option.

However this year and the years coming, Na Seon is sure that her rings will be brighter than ever.

Because this year, she has Kai.

 

"Tomorrow is our 100th day," Kai whispers.

It is warmth that travels all over her body, enlacing each and every veins until her heart starts to race.

This guy is a flirt and she likes it.

"Come to the park, I have something for you. Okay?",  he continues while softly wrapping his arms around her small waist.

With cheeks redder than the rose, Na Seon turns her head just enough to see his glory. Her breath touches his cheeks. 

"Okay."

===
 

Today, the wind is blowing softly and the sun is shinging brightly. The evening is almost as wonderful as her feelings. Na Seon dons her usual outfit, a maroon hoodie matching the color of her Converse.
 

Love is beautiful

Na Seon steps outside of her house slinging the dearest camera over her shoulder. She lets the wind brushes her hair as she looks up to the sky. Today marks the 100th day of being Kai's girlfriend and she really can't wait to see what kind of surprise Kai prepared for her.
 

yet fragile

 

While walking, Na Seon spends most of her time looking at the camera's gallery, reminiscing every memories she had with Kai. Today, she plans to take as many pictures as possible.

Let the time passes but the memories remain.

She checks the camera's film. Empty.

"Urgh."

Thank goodness she decided to leave early now that she has an extra 30 minutes to go to school and fetch a few extra films that she purposely left in her locker in the cases of 'emergency' like this.
 

if you force it
 

The school is empty. Of course. It's Sunday. Na Seon manages to pass through the fierce and bald school guard only after surviving a nag that feels like centuries.

She takes two films that are hiding beneath the piles of books inside her locker before peeking at the wall clock on her left. 20 minutes more. The park is just a stone throw away from the school; a few steps and she will be there.

Na Seon then decides to spend some time on the school's rooftop where she heard the view up there is beautiful and it will be awesome if she can get a few aesthetic shots. Nevertheless, it's a day to remember. She wants to capture every single details about this day including the sceneries.
 

love will break at anytime
 

As she reaches the top, Na Seon pushes the door to the rooftop. Lo and behold. Her wide smile fades. The views? Not even close to beauty.

There is a couple kissing and she knows who the guy is.

 

Click.

===

 

"Kai?" Na Seon calls, unsure.

Her heart breaks into more than a thousand pieces when he pulls away from the kiss and looks at her, slightly panting. His eyes are rounder now probably confused by Na Seon's sudden presence. He lets out a small chuckles trying to brush away all the awkwardness as he moves towards her, leaving the other girl behind.

Na Seon steps back in defense, breathing heavily. At this point, she doesn't know what to feel as her mind is clouded with questions. She frowns while keeping her eyes on Kai who is smiling with one hand on the back of his head, scratching his dark locks.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Kai coos, holding Na Seon by her shoulder softly.

Na Seon finds herself struggling with her heart, half of it wants to surrender to Kai's touch and pretend that nothing has happened but another half is feeling as if being stabbed by daggers. It hurts so much to catch her boyfriend kissing another girl especially on their special day and to see that he seems too unbothered, Na Seon forces herself to keep her mind together, looking at Kai in disbelieve.

"What are you doing here?" she answers back, trying to sound strong, emphasizing the word 'you' in it.

She knows she fails because it is then when she witnesses how Kai's eyes are slowly turning darker, tilting his head slightly to the side as if silently mocking her. He lets go of her shoulder and raises his brows nonchalantly. "Nothing."

She wants to be in denial. She wants to believe that it is really nothing but then she sees that smirk. That ing smirk. Na Seon wishes she can unsee it and when he brings his thumb to brush on his bottom lips, it is when Na Seon finally realize that she is just a game.

"Baby, forget about it. Come to the park with me, okay?" Kai tries to hold her hand and she roughly pulls it back. 

"No."

"What?"

"I said, no! Are you just going to ignore what I saw, Kai? You were kissing that girl. Do you know what that is? That's called cheating Kai. God, I wonder how many other girls have you kissed."

"Three."

"Excuse me?"

"Maybe more, I don't know."

Then he laughs. He laughs so hard that Na Seon swears she never felt this humiliated before. As if it's not enough, she glances at the girl behind him who is laughing too, looking at Na Seon like a fool she is. 

"Do you think I was cheating you? No baby, I was not because you know why? Because I never love you. Come on, look at you!"

Kai's words are enough to send her heart to hell and she hopes it burns there. There is no use of a heart when it is only for a guy like him to fool around with. She looks at Kai, feeling so small as she feels her eyes watering. Na Seon bits her lips almost too tightly that it bleeds, trying with all her might not to drop a single tear. She can't cry now, she can't let him win this. Na Seon wants to fight, she wants to scream her heart out but there is no way she can do that without shedding a tear. So she gathers all her strengths, letting her anger builds up to the core with her heart beating violently against her ribcage and when she sees that Kai is about to mutter another word, she brings her hand up in the air and slaps him on the face real hard - right there and then.

" you!"quickly enough, she gives Kai one last disgusting glare before turning around, making her way out of the rooftop.

It doesn't take long when the anger is fully replaced with sadness and humiliation all together. There are just so much emotions and Na Seon finds herself running down the stairs, choking in silent tears. 

The day has surely ended for Na Seon and Kai made sure that it ended badly.