The Lone Tear

´•The chapter ||1|| •'

With the cold waft, frozen metal holders, salty aroma, dried skin, and splashing waters, the sea is heaven for those who see it with a whole heart. A spirit that is competent and tolerates anything. Sadly, if there was such, the great sea wouldn't have devoured the wad of human trash.

Either you toss it at her or she hurls herself at you. She is steady and pretty at the sight, the nautical blue clad of hers hosting the extensive waves and wildest of sharks to cease you into bones. Cracked ones.

Like the old crystal blue Japanese paintings of the waves, under shadowed by white tints, imbue a connotation, a deep one, like the mind, the tides never halt. And one such mind was lost, within the dark hues of blue, but dubiously it was calm and… blank.

Until the sight was cut by a man, his chocolate brown hair, with wavy locks, seized her engagement and her mind into a frenzy. A man, so flawless and fetching to the eye.

His sharp chin, large eyes, and the mole over his slender nose, a greek god in guise. The Greek gods were never calm. So was he.  Phenomenally, What is the magic he has up his sleeves, might be his charm. The god of charisma and decoy? Or was it something squelched under all this?

His reverberating brown orbs, creamy yet frigid, slipped from hers as he turned towards the sea. The cruise shifted in a rhythm, as he tucked his hands in his brown jacket, in a reprieve that tempted her to relish.

"Chae-Yeong," she uttered as he slowly gazed at her bare face, her soft freckles that cutely idolized her face, as her face held a fanciful smile. Nonetheless, he was unaffected, he acted unmoved.

"Hey… " She whispered, drawing close to his ear, "Look," her eyes played and ridiculed. She fondled her hands down his neck, caressing his little bulge, the yellowest of coercion enough to scrape it.

He let her do all she desired, and as she let out a shivery whiff, he chuckled, "What are you doing, little lady?" he disparaged,

"What are you?" Chae-Yeong asked back in a raspy voice, baffled and humiliated, his lips spiraled into a smug smile, as he brought his face near her, their breaths intermixing, the surroundings settled in a hush as if counting on what is going to transpire next,  "A psycho" he whispered back.

His long dreamy stares cut off as he moved back and lifted his brows, "But, You can call me, Tae."  he winked.

She was dazed at the timid boy's silence, certainly, she misestimated his silence to be weak, instead, he was flirty. Shouldn't have spoken with him, she thought.

"What? Should I be frightened? Omma! Save me" she heckled back as she brought her hands up, reckoning to be afraid,

His lips broadened into a brisk smile as he patted her head and left her dumbfounded.

'Omma' Chae-Yeong sulked as she wiggled her hands in frustration when she saw an old couple looking at her. She let her hands fly in the air and hit the metal pole, yelping 'Acting cute and sexy backfired. Aish! Maybe I don't have luck with men, ' she reckoned.

That night, Gusty winds played with Chae-Yeong's freshly straightened hair, washing off the poor girl's hard work to achieve them.

The two valuable hours she spent on her messy curls went straight to the bin!

Her hands set the strands behind her ears but the gusts force them to cover her dark chocolatey face, irking her to the core.

Her face twitched in displeasure with each step, which she took in the direction of the opposing wind. Her mind was foggy, too many crises clouding her to unconsciousness.

But she must do the necessary and the extraordinary. She had to relish the exceptional features that the ship, Layla provided.  She has an urgent trip to the Liquid Cherry; a biological pink water lake.

Also a very commonly popular site for lovers across the world. And our Chae-Yeong is the one-sided love, madly in love with the shade of the Liquid Cherry.

She is also a native and spent her childhood around the lake.

But after graduation, she had to move out for a job, a life. But still no matter how far she goes, wherever she is, valentine's day comes like a magnet, annually pulling her to the lake of love.

Chae-Yeong stood straight, gazing at the cruise ship, luminous eyes pleased by the sight. Her breath abruptly hitched with the sound of the bell ringing, as a lady's voice screeched from the large speakers. "Dear passengers, the mid-sea boating activity will commence shortly in 10 minutes. Please make yourself available before it."

By this time she was straining at the leash to magically teleport on the 1,000 feet long average-sized cruise ship like a giant frog.

But the human world is not so magical.

"Hey lady, come here!" Someone called out for the check-in, "Show me your ticket, please." The deep voice ran in a hurry.

Chae-Yeong’s eyes grew wide as she recognized the man, it was Tae. Rummaging in her handbag to find the single piece of paper.

"Miss. Hurry up, please,"  Tae spoke like a professional, and hence she stuck to it.

"Sir-r, wait a second. I couldn't find my ticket." Her timorous feminine voice pressed through the ear of the check-in guard, resonating with pure irritation.

'These fraudsters!' He mentally scoffed.

"Tell me your name, I'll find it in the list."

These words coming from the guard settled her restless search as her eyes diverted to the paper sheet, she looked at him, 'Is he kidding?' dejected with the lack of response, "Chae-Yeong," She breathed out, gently letting her edginess turn a little balmy.

"Chae-Yeong …" Tae trailed off, tracking the details of the said name, voice so thin and peevish, waiting for his shift to end.

"Sorry ma'am, there's no such entry here."

After numerous times of analyzing the paper, this was all he could tell her. Her mind couldn't contain the information.

It is deplorable to the young lady.

"No, no. You must be missing it. Please, do a re-check!"Chae-Yeong turned snappy and whiny as her body stiffened from the shock.

"Miss, I already checked four times."

Tae unbelievably expressed just to hit Chae-Yeong's begging tone .'I have never gone boating by myself nor have I gone that close to the waters, please.'

"Oh, just one more time. Let me check it!"

Chae-Yeong tried to snatch the paper, fuming Tae as he stopped her. "Miss, you are creating trouble here. Please, go find your ticket. I can not let you join the activity without that even if you will have your name on the list."

The mid-sea boating activity is a small-scale sport for the elite ticket holders to sail around the cruise to feel the mood and the thrill.

"Your turn, come here." Tae wasted no more time in getting another passenger, "Will you excuse us? Please." He turned away from Crimson, who shivered at the deadly look in his sambaegan eyes.

Chae-Yeong shut her mouth, taking a few steps back, eyes narrowed to her tiny handbag, which most probably did not have the ticket.

'Where did it go!?' Her eyes met the ground for the hunt, but all she got were some stylish, not-so-stylish shoes.

"Yahh! Then did I board the ship without a ticket?" she fumed at him, as he replied,

"Who knows? You are a con anyway"

"A con? What do you mean by it?"

"Who randomly flirts with a stranger?" Tae asked back, as she strutted,

"You- You did play along," to which he chuckled,

"Oh, I did. How can I resist a lady like you?" he called back,

'pervert' she mumbled under her breath.

She turned around a little tired in the hubbub, a little feeble because of her insomnia. There was nothing else she carried but her love, just wanting to go back to the place she called home.

Leaving her mother's town wasn't her choice but a need. The cities around her dear Liquid Cherry are very expensive.

Her two months' salary bought the single ticket and she lost it.

"Where will I find you?"

Chae-Yeong' cried out, slowly, addressing the ticket. Brimming tears in the corner of her eyes, blurring her sight.

Giving the area a round, trying her best to find her thing but she lost her morale soon.

And she just sat still, with her thoughts, with her self-taunts, 'such a useless person I am.' Leaving a sigh here and then there.

All she could do was sit here and oversee others enjoy themselves without her.

Chae-Yeong is hopeless, woebegone.

But they say love always finds a way.

In her case it was those intimidating sambaegan eyes, sneakily stealing glances of hers while they do their work.

Greenery arose in her winter eyes, hope came out of the box and danced on the surface of her fertile land when she caught the guard red-handed.

The guard immediately tore his gaze from her blue and grey aura and missed the sudden change in it. As she bloomed.

Her tongue ran over her russet lips, taking a quick decision. The bench creaked in quiet rancor as the only weight on it weighed off in a blink.

Crimson's body swayed towards the guard, the naughty wind giving her company.

But also messed up the scene with its obstinate determination to cover her face with her dark black hair, further dishevelling her look.

Her fingers grabbed the rulable strands which can dance on anyone's command, putting them back in their place, her eyes met the amusing look on his face.

The guard had his heart skipping a beat by the movements of her hips, then trying to control his laughter by looking at her struggling and fighting against the gusts.

'Long hair is no joke.' He thought.

Humiliation washed over Crimson, leaving her plan overcooked.

Anyways, she always lacked in the art of seduction, history says, history knows. It works intrinsically, like the last time. Though, how to dupe a man twice?

Tae felt her presence on his right side while checking the last passenger. She opened her mouth to speak as he turned to her side with that look in his eyes, giving her heart a kickstart, making it race, run in the spell of the deep orbs.

So, It beat in a euphoric rhythm.

"Can I-"

"Yes, you can."

The guard whispered, taking his cap off, messing up with his wavy hair, flawlessly complimented by the wind as he was not opposing its flow like Crimson.

"Haha, let me complete at least. How do you know what I'm asking for?" Chae-Yeong simpered, giggling the words out.

"I know, I know."

The guard tilted his head and chortled at the obvious. He continued speaking her words, "You want to go up there."

"Haha, right. It's so obvious." Crimson shook her head, a little shy and impressed.

This man was different from the rest.

"Come with m-" Chae-Yeong assumed it was a matter of money and she jumped in before the guard got to complete his sentence.

"I don't have money." Chae-Yeong grew very apprehensive but she was fast enough to not let the male interrupt her.

"But I have a Lustrous platinum chain, and its cost is around the ticket's cost." She said in one go and the guard just stood there with his eyes expanded in confusion.

'Is this cruise that much expensive!?'

Baffled, he thought. Their eyes took a broad look at the big cruise as he shook his head. "No, no. I don't want money." This came out as a pleasant surprise but also sounded fishy.

"Really…?"

"Yeah, I would like to have a little help from you."

"Oh."

His voice was so plain to detect any emotions or assume the 'help' he wanted.

"It's something really important, which only a lady can do." His eyes blink away the forming peril in them. "Only you."

She held a limb in her throat for so long to only gulp it down while thinking about this offer. 'What can it be?' 'Should I agree?'

There was no one else to consult, she had to decide on her own.

"Come with me," he called as he held her hands and led her to the activity locale.

Published on 30 Oct, 2022.