Chapter 376
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
It may not be perfectly accurate, since it was so long ago, but I think this is about where I first met you.
Back then it was early summer, and forget-me-nots were everywhere, so why did you choose the ones growing on such a steep slope? Now it’s late summer, and I have no choice but to stand on the slope if I want any at all. Today, I decided to follow in your footsteps.
I climbed halfway down and stopped before a cluster of forget-me-nots thick with green leaves. The blue blossoms at the tips of their long stems swayed widely in the breeze, then fell still the moment I reached out my hand. It felt as if you were looking at me quietly.
I’ve been soothing my longing for you by gazing at petals the color of your eyes. When summer ends and the forget-me-nots are all gone, what will I use to comfort my heart then?
Just as I closed my hand around what might be the last sprig of the year—
Crunch, crunch.
Footsteps sounded along the forest path. This is near the entrance to the woods, so people pass by now and then. I was about to ignore it and snap the stem,
“What are you doing there?”
A voice I missed more than anything came from above my head. Startled, I jerked my gaze upward and found myself staring into eyes blooming with forget-me-nots.
“…Dana?”
“Were you picking flowers to give to me?”
The moment you smiled at me, your eyes curving gently, warm as sunlight, light began to spill into the dim forest. That was when doubt crept in.
‘Is this a dream?’
I couldn’t help suspecting it. Because you were wearing the summer dress I had bought you last year, the one I thought must have been thrown away.
“It suits you. You look like a fairy.”
“Really? I wanted you to see it.”
This time you smiled shyly, a faint blush coloring your face. You were so beautiful it made me forget how to breathe. I must have been smiling back without realizing it.
“Ah—”
The ground beneath my feet suddenly gave way.
Splash.
I lost my balance and plunged straight into the stream, icy water drenching me from head to toe. It was only when I felt that sharp, vivid cold that I knew this wasn’t a dream.
“Are you okay?”
You, scrambling clumsily down the slope after me—you’re real.
The thought that you might slip and fall too made my body move before my mind could catch up.
“Ah!”
I meant to catch you. But perhaps it’s more accurate to say I lunged forward and wrapped you tightly in my arms.
“Dana, I swear, never—never again…”
There were so many vows I needed to make that I didn’t know where to begin. My mind had gone completely blank, yet my body knew exactly what to do.
I buried my face in the nape of your neck, breathing you in, rubbing against you, reclaiming the scent I had missed so dearly, relearning the warmth I had forgotten. I crushed your small body against mine, as if I could press you into myself, feeling you—only you—again and again.
You did the same to me, then asked softly, your face pressed against my chest,
“My love… I missed you. Did you miss me too?”
“You always ask when you already know the answer.”
“And you always know why I ask, yet you never answer.”
You really must marry a man who always yields to you, so I suppose it’s my turn to give in.
“I missed you. I can’t put into words how much, so please forgive me for that.”
From now on, I’ll answer whenever you ask. I won’t hide anything anymore.
“I’ve been waiting for today.”
When I noticed your left ring finger was bare, joy flooded me and I kissed you again and again without thinking. Now there’s room for what belongs there, for mine.
I hope the ring I prepared will please you. I was so eager to show you that I swept you up in my arms and carried you back up the forest path.
At last, walking hand in hand toward our home, I asked what I’d wanted to ask every single day, but never could.
“My love, what flowers would you like to receive tonight?”
“Weren’t those forget-me-nots you picked just now meant for me?”
“We don’t need forget-me-nots anymore.”
“Hmm… then what should it be? Is there a flower whose meaning is eternal love?”
At the place where everything began—and where everything went astray—everything finally returned to where it belonged.
Our long history of deception ends here.
From now on, we’ll write only a history of love.
Until the day our love ends.
That day will never come, so forever.
– The End
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