Hawol stayed by the door, her hands firmly holding Hwanuk’s as they stayed there for a moment. Eye to eye and breath to breath. She asked him if he could stay a bit longer, a question they both knew the answers to. He said he would, but it was time for him to go. 

“My babies are waiting.” Hwanuk said, biting his lips as he anticipated Hawol’s reaction. He imagined her looking annoyed, brows all scrunched up together and lips pursed. But she reacted differently, sighing heavily as she pulled the tall man closer and hugged him. 

“Okay. But remember to wash up and eat, and be safe.” She said, a bit sadly and worried. But the young man held her tighter and rubbed her back, gently and comfortingly. Its okay. Its okay he said, while he allowed her skin to seep into his, almost like a thirst but deeper. More passionate. A warmth that was hidden under all his layers of monstrous flesh. A human touch. 

He left without saying goodbyes or the good old, ‘I love you’. She didn’t need it. Hawol knew everything, every thoughts and every wish. Because they were the same. They both hoped for a better tomorrow. 

And that was love to her. A similar dream and hope. To be forgiven by the world and to have the freedom of loving each other boundlessly. They both wanted that. 

But his skin was freezing, inhuman. Just like her mother, Hawol was a realist. She knew that something was surely bound to happen soon. It has to be. 

She knew that their hope was just naive. 

The next few days we