Aya saw smoke coming from the shore when she woke up in the morning and ran to follow it. When she got there, she found Kris seated beside a small pile of wood which were burning. She wondered about that and looked at the horizon. There weren’t any ships passing by and she could only question herself why he was even bothering to do that.

She took a step nearer. “What’s up?” she asked him.

He didn’t even look at her and just stared at the water. “Don’t you think it would be easier for people to find us if they see this?” he asked her gently.

Why? He didn’t even bother to do so and he had expressed his intention not to return to China any time soon.

Kris had been acting off since the previous evening. He won’t look at her and he just made himself busy with random things. Aya could only think of one reason and that was the fact that she was becoming a pain to him, having to save her every single time she’s in trouble. His words from before crossed her mind as well. Did he even mean those things?

She backed away. “I’m sorry.”

He chuckled bitterly. “Why are you apologizing, Aya?” He sighed. “I just can’t stand it when you wander off, okay? Now please stay in the hut until we get help.”

She ran off after that, her eyes welling with tears, falling from her eyes. She thought they still had a chance, but as it turns out, Kris was just trying to while away time. She knew it. She couldn’t have been more wrong in her life and yet she clung to the delusion that maybe, just maybe, Kris would fall for her, too, like she fell hard for him.

I’m such a fool, she told herself, but she was still determined to give her husband that party she wanted to throw.

Aya headed toward the shore and began looking for small stones that resembled a blue marble, but she couldn’t find one. Her eyes strayed towards the shore and an idea hatched in her mind. She was feeling a bit too dizzy because of the heat, but she jumped into the water and went to find that blue stone she saw the previous day when she nearly drowned.

She swam down, thinking that she doesn’t want to look mediocre before him. She reached the coral, but ran out of air before she could reach for the stone. She resurfaced and took a big breath before diving down to her destination. She reached for it and was successful, but as she was swimming towards the surface, another wave swept her off, making her end up the way she did the last time she attempted to do just that.

As she was on the process of drowning, not even caring to fight anymore, she gripped the small stone in her hand as tightly as she could, her brain filled with nothing but those smiles from Kris. Just when she was about to give up, someone grabbed her and she knew just who it was, feeling that familiar warmth though she was submerged in the water.

Kris carried her to the shore and laid her on the sand where she began to burst into a fit of coughing. She was gasping for air and trying to steady herself, but then, she lost it and just gave up on doing that.

“Are you stupid or something?!” Kris roared at her for the first time.