it was scorching hot.

hotter than the summer days when i first met you, when the ice cream on your cone dripped onto your fingers and landed on the heated sand. over your shoulder, you had the cutest yellow umbrella with a duck printed on it, in an angle that shields you from the sun. i knew how you hated getting sunburnt, which explained the thick coating of sunscreen. that's why i thought it was a little weird when you threw the umbrella folded onto your beach blanket and dragged me to the sea, not minding the threatening rays from above our heads and golden grains burning our soles. i kind of miss it, too. the lagoon used to be so blue and lively, different from what it looked like today.

unimaginable.

one moment we were complete strangers, the next we were laughing like we've known each other for years.

we were too young, too naïve, that it was foolish of us to think we had all the time in the world.

now the minutes were running scarce. time had never been so threatening to think of.

the world gets hotter by the day at the point of time where the earth succumbs to the sun's . something we'd never expect to see in our lifetime, at the peak of our youth, just as when everything seemed to be put in place. plants were withering. people were dying, and so were the animals, whether they were pets or livestock or astray. the streets had never looked this empty.

"thinking too much?" you say, voice hoarse and dehydrated. i turn to your direction and you were still smiling. the best of a smile you can make albeit the threat of death.

i return a small smile and shake my head.

we were at our house's rooftop, staring at the menacingly red sky. my legs dangle from the edge and you cautiously sat beside me.

your fingers slithered in between mine. just where they belonged. you'd still hold my hand even if our touches burn, and that's how i'd know you're worth the kool fever stuck on our foreheads.

love me until flames rock.

it had gotten so unbearably seething that the interior of our home felt like a baking oven, even with every door and window wide open. we had to sleep on the concrete cement roof.

i'm glad this house witnessed our everything, from us canvassing shelter, until our very end.

"is this a decent spot?" you enthusiastically and vivaciously asked.

i look around the place, mesmerized.

the marble patterns that spreads across the floor, the pristine flesh-colored walls soothing to the eyes, the unrealistically clean ceiling with different chandeliers crawling down like a waterfall situated in the center of the living room, they all have taken my breath away. i never thought i would live in a palace with you.

"decent?" i was in so much awe that my voice got airier. "this is perfect ."

we moved in a year into the relationship. no regrets. it was our little world, where absolutely nothing had the power to separate us. we were unstoppable and it felt like the world was ours.

but would it really be at this cost?

if it meant staying awake to see your angelic face whilst the rest of the world is falling, then yes; let's claim the earth ours.

it has always been ours since the day your foot splashed water on me, when we were beginning to realize what was brought in front of us.

"yena, stop!"

you didn't stop, though. i hate you for that.

so i ran away from the attacks but didn't go too far out. you know i can't swim for my dear life.

you zoomed in water to chase me until our bodies crashe