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We have no idea when the breath we take will be our last…

Monroe squeezes my hand, earning the glance I give her.

“Whatever happens next, I’m just glad we have this time,” she says perceptively.

I nod, my throat tight. “Yeah, me too.”

“I know what’s on your mind, Jin.” She stops on the spot to turn and tilts her head up at me. “You bear the weight and you don’t say a thing. But you don’t have to carry it alone. I wish you wouldn’t torture yourself like that. I’m here to be your partner, aren’t I? Isn’t that what we are now? What we mean to each other?”

“Tokki-ya…” I trail off with a single shake of my head.

“I know why you cuffed me. I know you didn’t do it expecting the fire would happen. You wouldn’t put me in danger like that. You were trying to protect me—from myself, from everyone else. I was frustrated when I blamed you. But you risked your life to make it up to that balcony and get me out of there. Thank you, Jin.”

“That means a lot, Tokki-ya.You… mean a lot.”

The wind tousles her curls the same way it does my hair. We come together as if pulled by the tide, drawing long breaths, collecting sea air into our lungs.

I clip her chin between my thumb and forefinger and place a tender kiss on her mouth. She tastes of her usual sweetness but salt too. My lips linger on hers, savoring the taste and how her soft mouth feels against mine.

When we part, I notice something laying at our feet. The shoreline fizzes and then recedes, washing something up on the sand. The moonlight halos it as if hoping we’ll notice.

It’s a seashell unlike any of the others.

It’s pale pink and almost translucent, curled around the edges like a misshapen heart. It looks too fragile to have survived the tide, yet here it is washing up at our feet.

I stoop to pick it up and offer it to Monroe.

She takes it slowly, turning the shell over in her hand. The way she studies it makes it seem like it’s the most precious gift she’s ever received.

“I’m going to keep this,” she murmurs. “And whenever I look at it, I’ll remember this night.”

We kiss again, more lazily, taking our time. I slip my tongue into her mouth and flick it against hers, kissing her with everything I feel.

The depth of what I do still takes me by surprise. It hasn’t been long. Only a matter of weeks. The summer was just beginning when she stumbled into that alley and everything changed. Monroe Ross came into my life, and now I can’t let her go.

Eventually, our walk continues. The waves inch higher, brushing against our ankles. Even the summer wind has turned cooler, making Monroe shiver at my side. I sling an arm around her to keep her close.

“This house… it feels so peaceful. It feels like the kind of place you can raise a family,” she says, running her bare foot over the tiny grains of wet sand. “Did you grow up here?”

“I inherited it when I came of age. I hadn’t even known I would.”

“So your family lived here?”

“A long time ago.”

“And you?”

I hesitate a second, pushing back against the memories. “I suppose I did. When I was very young.”

“Do you remember anything? Any special memories?”

The question is innocent and curious, like Monroe tends to be. But it’s difficult answering when the truth is the opposite. The real answer is soaked in memories of blood and screams of terror.

I was a young boy sniveling in a wardrobe when my family was slain. They dropped one by one to the ground, never to get up again.

Monroe is at my side cradling the shell I’ve given her in her palm. She gazes thoughtfully at the sea and the starlit sky and resembles some princess from a fairytale. Telling her what’s really on my mind would ruin this special moment for her.

Afterall that she’s been through in the last twenty-four hours.