Cream Soda

Chapter 8

The moon casts a silvery glow on the waves as you walk along the shoreline, tears streaming down your face. The distant sound of crashing waves is drowned out by the echoes of the argument still ringing in her ears. You checked your phone, seeing you still had three days before your return flight home was available. As you continue, you stumble upon a figure sitting alone on a driftwood log. He speaks softly.

"N/n?"

You stop in your tracks. You take a second to catch your shaky breath, memories flowing in of your only lover who called you that. You kept walking, head down, thinking your mind was playing games on you.

But the figure only had to say two words.

"Kimchi toast."

You stopped again, turning. You finally saw the familiar face of your past lover, Daniel. He stands up, a mixture of concern and familiarity in his eyes. He approaches you, who can't help but feel a strange mixture of vulnerability and comfort.

"Are you okay?"

Your heart flipped a thousand times to his concern for you. "No, Daniel. I just ended a toxic relationship, and it hurts."

His brows furrow, standing closer to you so he could hold one arm as his hand lifted your chin gently to look at your face. You got to examine him, dark-rimmed glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose. You noticed his short-sleeved buttondown polo, the cream color accenting his peachy melanin skin. A moment of silence hangs between you two, the crashing waves providing a backdrop to your shared history. Daniel reaches out and gently wipes away a tear from your cheek.

"You deserve to be happy, Y/n," he says gently.

All the memories of the club rooftop came back to you. It caused you to start crying again, falling into the sand, head dropped down as you contemplated all the emotions.

Daniel knelt down next to you, holding both your hands. "Mon amour, he doesn't deserve you. Please don't cry. Pick yourself up from the sand, dust off the beautiful skirt of yours."

"I miss him, Daniel. I did everything right, I don't understand what I did to deserve the way he treated me," you rambled. It was true. You hadn't done anything wrong.

"Azalea, he doesn't understand the fact he was married to a queen," he assured. He helped you stand up just in time before a wave crashed into you. He guided you to a dry part of the sand, away from the water. Before you sat down, he unbuttoned his polo and laid it across the sand for you to sit on. He fixed the straps of the white tank top he wore under it, untucking it from his cream colored shorts. He sat down next to you, letting you rest your head on his shoulder.

"Yeosin, listen to me. You're so much more than a cheating husband. You don't deserve him. He's below you. You deserve someone better than the monster he created himself."

You nodded. You watched the waves crash into the shoreline, listening to the wooshes of the water. You sat there silently with your head rested against Daniel's shoulder. Daniel sat with his knees propped up, arms resting on his knee caps.

"Y/n, I can't help but wonder what happened with your husband. What led to all of this? I assumed you two solved everything when you hugged him at your doorstep."

Your stomach dropped. Then, the memory flashed.

————

I stood there on the sidewalk, about to walk up to Y/n's door. Though, halfway up the stepping stones, I noticed her soon-to-be ex-husband was there. He was holding pink roses. I rubbed the back of my neck as I walked up next to him.

"She hates pink," I said. I seemed to have caught him off guard.

"What?"

"Y/n doesn't like the color pink. Moreover, she hates roses," I repeated, putting my hand back into my pocket.