Apollo & Luna

Sohyang

Fair, reddish skin beaded with perspiration, as muscles rippled in his movements. Digging up a makeshift grave with his bare hands was a difficult feat, especially under the circumstances, but he forced himself to do it. This was, after all, a very small price to pay compared to the sacrifice the old woman made in order to save his life.

Remembering hours that passed, his mind was still filled with disbelief, and yet, he knew that everything that happened was real.  Alicia’s mother was gone – dead because of her selfless wish to give her daughter a brighter future with Yann.

“Yann…take care…of her… She’s my precious…precious…pres…cious…” the woman made him promise as she took her last breath.

And he would keep that promise…

His hands filled with dirt, he carefully placed it on the mound he had built. Glancing around, he spotted a huge rock and took it. This would be the kind and courageous woman’s temporary tomb marker, so that they would recognize her grave when they returned to give her a proper one. Satisfied with his provisional work, he turned around to find Alicia.

He found her sitting not far from where he was standing, and his heart constricted painfully in his chest.

Alicia stared blankly ahead of her, seeing and yet, not seeing anything at all. She had cried and cried until her tears ran dry, and now she was nothing but an empty shell. She looked totally lost and pitiful, and Yann wished he could do something to ease the emotional burden she was feeling at the moment.

“Alicia,” he called to her softly.

The dagger which had ended her mother’s life rested in her hands, gripping it tightly and Yann feared the other would hurt herself.

“Alice,” he called once more, using the nickname her mother used, but she remained unmoving.

If it weren’t for the flicker of moisture in her eyes, the slight trembling of her lips which he saw when he stepped closer, Yann would have thought Alicia had frozen where she was.

“Alicia,” he called again, but the young woman just refused to acknowledge his presence.

Yann feared he was now hated – though he couldn’t really complain if he was. After all, if it weren’t for him, Alicia’s mother would still be alive.

“Is it done?” Alicia finally spoke after a few minutes albeit still not looking at him, which made Yann feel thankful for.

His guilt was too great, he wouldn’t know what to do or feel when those huge doe eyes would turn to him accusingly.

“Y-yes…” he answered softly.

“Sohyang,”she whispered afterwards, and when he looked confused, she explained.

“It’s my mother’s name,” she said.

“It’s a beautiful name,”Yann commented, and a slight nostalgic smile curved her lips.

“I haven’t heard anyone call her name for a long time,” she said sorrowfully.  No one, not since her father died.

The businessman hesitated for a while, and without words, he took the dagger from her hands and walked towards the makeshift tomb. He kneeled in front of the rock, and clumsily carved the old lady’s name there.

SOHYANG

Afterwards, he returned to Alicia and gave her back the dagger.

“We’ll come back and give her a proper burial and a beautiful headstone,”Yann promised, and once again, the two of them fell into silence.

Yann sat near the young woman, his body stiff with awareness, anticipating whether Alicia would cringe at their closeness, and was a little relieved when she didn’t move.

For the umpteenth time since meeting Alicia and her mother, the young CEO was at a loss as to what to do. He wanted to offer comfort, and yet, he didn’t know how nor did he think that he had the right to. He lived.

“I don’t hate you,” Alicia spoke afterwards and Yann turned to her in confusion.

“You are feeling I hate you right now because of what happened to my mom right? I don’t. I don’t hate you,” she said once more, and the businessman’s confusion grew until he realized something.

“Oh yeah,” Yann laughed without mirth. “I forgot. You can read minds,” he stated as he slumped on his seat.

“I can’t,” was the abrupt retort to his comment, and once more he was confused.

“But – “

“I read emotions. I don’t read minds,” Alicia explained, cutting him off.

“The feeling here,” she explained, and Yann watched as she placed a hand above her heart.

“My mother…she said I’m an empath.”

“W-what?” Yann couldn’t understand, but the businessman in him told him to keep quiet in order to know more.

At least, Alicia was still willing to talk to him in spite of everything – not to mention he really wanted to know more about the person he would take under his wing.

But who was he kidding?

He wanted to know more about Alicia, because of a deeper – more ineffable feeling. Within the week he had spent with this person, he had found that the young woman held a special place in his heart that he couldn’t fathom.

His heart beat for her, his mind was filled with her – he yearned for her.  In spite of the confusing events, the tumultuous and blurry future ahead, he knew he would always find peace whenever he had her in his arms.

Yann meant what he said when he thought he was already dying. He loved Alicia. Even if there were so many questions he’d like to ask the other, in spite of the mystery surrounding her identity, the businessman would always love her.

But Alicia stopped speaking, and Yann didn’t push her. The young businessman continued to watch her as she stared ahead once more, letting her fall into silence until the sun was high up in the sky, its unkind rays starting to scorch their bare skin.

“Alicia, we should move,” Yann said as he crossed the remaining gap between them, his hand taking a hold of hers as he tried to pull her up.

As if snapping from her trance, Alicia looked up, her eyes locking with Yann’s pleading ones, and she slowly came to her feet albeit maladroitly. The events of the evening, the fatigue, grief, hunger and thirst finally took their toll on her body.

“Alice!”

Yann held her against him with a worried frown. Honestly, he felt a little dehydrated too, but he worried about Alicia more since she was the one who had been crying nonstop the night before.

“We should find somewhere we could eat and drink,” he said, his voice laced with frustration as he had no idea how they would accomplish the feat.