Claire de Lune

Sunset Scent

"Mayu..." He repeats.

The girl smiles unabashedly, her chinky eyes are now nowhere to be seen. He is caught off guard. It's not everyday that a stranger asks him weird questions, let alone smiles this wide and he has to admit, it's refreshing. He's into spontaneity.

Mayu goes back to writing and doesn't spare him any glances. He tries not to bother her and checks the photos in his camera instead. He is now deleting some pictures he reckons that don't meet his standards.

"I have a superpower, I can smell the scent of the sunset."

He gives Mayu the incredulous look. Sunset has a scent?

"It smells like soda."

He bursts out laughing. This girl is indeed crazy for junk foods. Cotton candy and now, soda.

She joins in his laughter and is now crunching her nose, her teeth are showing. She is tapping her pen on her chin.

"You are such a sweet tooth. Sunset might smell rusty for all we know." He quips.

"You always spoil the fun. Play along and be imaginative!"

"And you always think about junk foods. That's unhealthy, you know."

"I know and I'm not afraid of cavities."

"I can see that. What are you writing?"

The girl gazes at him with surprise then suddenly her eyes go blank. "Nothing interesting. I just like to put into writing whatever comes to mind. I need to declutter my mind space so I use this notebook as my outlet."

"That's nice. I should try that. This," he points at his head, "is dirty. This requires general cleanup." He jokes.

"A pen and paper won't suffice. Get a vacuum cleaner to do the job."

"Yah. That's too much!"

"You're welcome". She says, laughing.

And Hanbin realizes that he has never enjoyed the sunset that much.

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Mayu is turning 22 in two days. She dislikes this time of the year. Not because she is getting older but she never thinks that birthdays are fun.

Growing up, her parents were never the type to fuss over something like birthday parties. They were happy just to send her money and let her spend it however she pleased. Her Ina, her grandmother used to bring her to the beach on her special day and would prepare a small picnic basket for the two of them. They would go there with Kyon, their dog. That was how she spent her birthday on the countryside. She missed it, and she missed her so much. Now, her birthdays are just like any other normal day. No Ina, no Kyon.

She heaves a heavy sigh as she wears her white button down shirt. Her forced smile is now on the reflection, straightly looking at her. "You are awesome today, Mayu. No one is going to ruin this day for you." She finally chants her daily mantra and off she goes.

As she makes her way down, a guy bumps into her, causing her to lose her balance and falls onto the hard ground.

"I'm so sorry!", the guy apologizes, full of concern in his voice and adds, "I was on a rush, I didn't see you. "

As she looks up at the man to tell him it's alright, she squints her eyes then yells in surprise.

"Hanbin?!"