The storm stops a minute after Tao disappeared. I sit there trying to wrap my head around what happened. I run around the beach searching for him but there is no trace of him and the sun hasn’t even risen. Only when it does come up two hours later do I go to my house. Just my luck, as soon as anything good happens to me, it’s taken away.

“What happened to you?” Taeyeon asks referring to the dark circles under my eyes. I hadn’t slept at all after the incident yesterday. I tried communicating with Tao, so hard that I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep. I was lucky that my alarm was really loud or else I don’t think I would’ve woken up.

“Just went for a jog at the beach, I lost track of time.” I say which is partly true.

“Okay then.” Taeyeon shrugs.

The next few days I went to the beach and ran around still searching. Each day I tried thinking about what could’ve happened to him. Tao had turned solid on the day he disappeared, did that show that he had spent too much time on Earth? I have no idea what happens in the afterlife, is he reborn? Did the judges of the dead finally take him to heaven? Or hell? The best thing I can hope for is that he’s finally at peace.

It’s the sixth day since he left. I’m sweating from the heat and the running around the beach. Now I only came here half hoping to see him. My mood is dull as I sink to the ground in front of the sea. I rest for five minutes and then get up to start running again. I run into someone and land on my back on the ground again.

“Sorry! I didn’t see you there. But what are you doing here at this time?” Someone asks. I look up and see Tao smiling at me politely giving no indication that he knows me. “Well I can't talk really, I woke up on the beach a few minutes ago. I’m Tao, nice to meet you.” He holds out his hand to help me up. I stare at it, still shocked. I hesitantly take his hand but he gasps. His eyes roll into his head.

“Tao?” I jump up and steady him. He shakes for a few seconds but then becomes still with a surprised, “Oh” and falls to the ground. “Oh god, oh god, oh god.” My arms shake as I slowly set him down on the ground. I feel his forehead and it’s quite warm. I fetch out my water bottle and trickle some on it.

About half an hour later he starts coughing and his eyes twitch. Then they open and his eyes land on me.

“Hello.” He grins. I hug him tightly.

“What happened to you?” I ask half angrily and half happily.

“After the storm it was as if my whole body was both on fire and frozen. It rippled but also didn’t move. I know that makes no sense whatsoever by that’s what it felt like. I was in complete darkness. It felt like I was there for years.” He says with a faraway look in his eyes.

“You were gone for six days I think.” I say.

“Wow, well after a while. The pain faded and I was back on the beach. The only thing I could remember was my death and everything before that, but nothing afterwards. Then you ran into me and I couldn’t remember anything about you, it had all been erased. But then when I touched your hands all the memories of after my death came back. It was so overwhelming that I out.” He explains. Wow, it’s like when I touched his hand and saw what happened beforehand, “Yes it is, just even more so.” He nods.

“I didn’t say anything.” I stare at him.

“What? I heard you say ‘Wow, it’s like when I touched his hand and saw what happened beforehand.’” So you can read my mind now? Nod if you can, he nods. Great, now there will definitely be no secrets, I hate you. He places a hand over his heart, “Oh don’t hate me. Hey, I thought there were already no secrets!” He exclaims, “Oh yeah, but you should still talk, it’ll look odd if I’m the only one talking.”

“Fine then.” I roll my eyes but smile at him.

“There we go, that wasn’t so hard was it?” He smirks.

“Shut up.”

“Don’t make me want you to go silent again.”

“Won't people recognize you?”

“I’ll keep a low profile, I can get a job here. Maybe I should dye my hair. What colour? Red, blonde, white?” He asks.

“Red, I have a feeling it could suit you.” I say.

*3 Years Later

“Hey.” Tao grins at me. I smile back at him. He’s waiting on a blanket at the beach (yes the one where we met) with a meal set out: one plate of about six sandwiches. He’s wearing a white cotton shirt with black shorts, which surprisingly fit with his dark red hair. I sit down next to him and we start to eat.

“So how was work?” I ask.

“I cleared the name of one of my clients, you remember the one accused of cheating on his wife.” He says. What really happened, I think, “She was the one who accused him because she wanted a reason to sue. I don’t know how she thought she’d get away with it though. I lean back eating my sandwich happily, ever since Tao came back from the dead he worked on either clearing the name of the innocent or finding the guilty. My hand feels the sand and it lands in a small groove.

Tiffany Hwang,

As we have been dating for 3 years, I have something to ask you.

Will you marry me?

Yes, is the first thought that comes to my head. I open my mouth to answer but I’m cut off when he kisses me.

“I love hearing your thoughts.” He says.