572 Colder* (1/2)

He felt like the world had turned dark, hellish. His life had always been ordinary, mundane, and quiet. He never felt so empty and fulfilled until this woman came into his life. He never disliked being alone, he was used to it, and he never found it boring before. But now, everything had changed. He felt like he could no longer bear being alone again. She had become everything to him. He never thought forcing himself to leave her and forget her would destroy him like this. Even though he knew it was the only choice he had, he couldn't believe the extent of pain and torture he had felt. He knew that letting her go wouldn't be easy, but he never knew it would be this hard.

And now, he was staring at her in this dim-lit room, and she was a mess. Looking at her thin frame as she sat on the floor barefooted and looking as miserable as he was made his heart convulsed in both pain and anger. He realized his pain was much more tolerable than watching her like this. No pain was greater than seeing her crying and hurting like this. He couldn't help but blame the world and himself for hurting her.

Slowly, Kai walked towards her. All he wanted was to touch her, stroke her messy hair, and comfort her. He wanted to embrace her and ease her pain so she would return being that annoying hooligan again. When Kai came into his senses and found himself at the building's rooftop, Kai had fought an intense battle against himself whether to appear before her or not. He had thought about the things Abigail said to him, and he clenched his fists into tight balls. He had thought about going to that bastard Tristan and kill him. But then what would've changed if he did that? Kelly was better of marrying a womanizer than marrying a man who would kill her. These thoughts steeled Kai's heart again, and he decided to go back. He thought he would just threaten the bastard or probably beat him up until he's half-dead once he catches him cheating on Kelly. That was all he could do for her because he knew that his love couldn't do anything good to her but her inevitable death.

He had waited for the night to deepen, planning to sneak inside her room and watch her sleeping face one last time, but what he saw shattered his resolve to leave.

”Oh, god…” her voice was soft as she watched him approach her. She blinked her eyes to let the tears flow from her blurry eyes and to have a clearer view of the angel approaching her. ”It seemed drinking is a very wise choice,” she added, a pleased smile now flashing on her face.

”Not if it's too much,” he said, shaking his head as he glanced at the bottles on the floor.

She chuckled. Kai swallowed as his eyes remained glued on her. She was drunk, but her drunken laughter still sounded very sad and pained.

”I'll have to disagree with you, babe.” She narrowed her eyes at him. Her other hand touched the other side of his cheek. ”Because look… you're here.” Her smile widened. ”If I know you'd appear before me like this when I'm drunk enough, I should've got drunk in the past few days too.”

Kai lifted his hands and held her wrists. Their eyes met, and Kelly's smile slowly died down. Her fingers began to caress his cheek.

”Did you… did you come here to congratulate me on my wedding?” she asked without masking the pain in her voice. It appeared she wasn't as drunk as he thought. The look in her eyes was serious and sober.

Kai could only shake his head. He began to feel the unbearable pain again.

”You're not going to congratulate me?”

”No,” he said raggedly.

”Why? Because you're against it? Me, marrying another man?”

When Kai couldn't respond, a sweet smile curved on Kelly's face again. Watching his utterly miserable expression at that moment made Kelly's heart swell. Even in her state, his emotions were clear as the day to her. He was devastated, and she was selfishly so glad.

”Kelly.” He breathed before his gaze became serious. ”Why? Why are you crying? Did something happen?”

”Kai,” she uttered as she leaned in closer to him, acting as though she didn't hear him at all. Her eyes were now surveying his face as though she was looking for something. ”You looked like you've matured so much since the last time I saw you. Or is it because I'm a little drunk?”

Her remark made him stiffen for a moment.

”You looked so weary, and these shadows beneath your eyes aren't very good,” she continued as her thumb gently traced the skin below his eyes. ”But… why do you look even more appealing and more delicious like this?” She cocked her head as she said those words.