Sea of Love by Cat Power
***
Y/N's POV:
The late afternoon sunlight slanted through the window, casting warm stripes across the worn wooden floorboards of my little apartment.
I had been pacing for hours, unable to still the restless energy that pulsed through me. My heart felt like a bird trapped in a cage, longing to break free and soar.
Minji was sitting on my couch, a book splayed open on her lap, her eyes focused on the words, but her mind seemed a million miles away.
She had been like that all day, lost in her own thoughts, her usual vibrant energy subdued. It worried me.
"Minji," I started, my voice hoarse from the unshed words that had been building up inside me for days, "Are you alright? You seem a bit…distant."
She looked up, her eyes a deep, warm brown that I could get lost in for hours. A flicker of worry crossed her face. "I’m fine, Y/N. Just a bit tired, I think."
I knew that was a lie. Minji never got tired. Not in the way she was acting now, anyway.
She was hiding something, burying her emotions deep down, and it pained me.
I wanted to reach out, to pull her close and tell her everything would be alright, but the words wouldn’t come.
"Minji, I…" I started, but then stopped. The words felt clumsy, inadequate. How could I possibly express the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside me?
I wanted to tell her how much the mere sight of her smile could brighten my darkest days, how her laughter was a melody that filled my soul with warmth, how her touch sent shivers down my spine.
But it all felt so small, so insufficient.
I took a deep breath, gathering my courage. "There’s this place I’ve been wanting to show you, Minji. It’s…special."
She raised an eyebrow, a hint of curiosity flickering in her eyes. "Special how?"
"It’s…a place where you can feel everything," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "A place where you can be completely yourself, where you can feel the warmth of the sun on your face and the wind through your hair, and it all just feels…right."
She looked at me, a sliver of understanding dawning in her eyes. "Like…a beach?" she asked tentatively.
I shook my head, "Not exactly. It’s a sea, but not any sea you’ve ever seen before."
"What do you mean?"
"It’s a sea of love, Minji," I said, my voice firming with resolve, "a place where our love can flow freely, where it can be boundless and endless."
She tilted her head, a thoughtful expression on her face. "A sea of love? That sounds…beautiful."
"It is, Minji," I said, reaching out to take her hand. It was warm and soft in mine, and I held it tightly. "It’s a place where we can be together, where we can finally say the things we’ve been holding back."
She squeezed my hand, "What things?"
I looked deep into her eyes, seeing the unspoken questions, the unspoken fears, the unspoken love that we both held back. "I want to tell you how much I love you, Minji. I want to say all the things I haven’t been able to say."
"But…you do tell me," she said softly, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"No, not really," I countered. "Not truly. The words I use, they don’t capture it. I need…I need to show you. I need to take you there."
She was silent for a moment, her brow furrowed in contemplation. "Y/N…I don’t know. I’m not sure I understand."
"You will," I promised, my voice filled with conviction. "You just have to come with me."
"Come with me, my love, to the sea, the sea of love," I pleaded, my voice breaking with emotion.
She looked at me, her eyes filled with a mixture of doubt and hope. "What if…what if it’s not what I expect?"
"Then we’ll find another sea, Minji," I said, my voice filled with a determination that surprised even me. "We’ll keep searching until we find a place where our love can finally be set free."
She gave me a small smile, the worry lines on her forehead softening. "Alright, Y/N. I’ll come with you. But only if you promise to show me your sea of love."
"I promise," I said, relief washing over me. I pulled her close, burying my face in her hair. Her scent, a heady mix of lavender and sunshine, filled my senses, calming the turmoil within me.
"Remember the day we met, Minji?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "You were my pet, a little stray cat I found wandering in the park. I fed you, played with you, and you wouldn’t let me go."
She chuckled, a soft, melodious sound that warmed my soul. "I think you were the one who wouldn’t let me go, Y/N."
"Maybe," I admitted, a smile tugging at my lips. "But from that moment, I knew you were something special. You were the missing piece I didn’t even know I was searching for."
We sat in comfortable silence for a while, the only sound the gentle ticking of the clock on the wall. The world outside seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of us in our own little bubble of shared dreams and unspoken desires.
"Let’s go then," she finally said, her voice firm and resolute. "Let’s find your sea of love."
I felt a surge of exhilaration, a sense of freedom I hadn’t felt in years. "Let’s go," I echoed, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.
We walked out of my apartment, hand in hand, the setting sun painting the sky in hues of orange and purple.
The world stretched before us, full of possibilities, and for the first time, I saw it not as a daunting unknown, but as a vast canvas waiting for us to paint our love story upon it.
