The Secret Island
CHAPTER 30: The Innocence

Me? Me? Really? Did I fall in love with that girl?

He thought about that word again. Thinking about it, he didn't have time to contemplate his feeling and didn't fully understand what he agreed with Joe about how he felt.

After the call with Joe yesterday, he sat alone, lost in his thought, on the sofa again. He heard Celine's voice through the door. He smiled because she laughed.

When had this bond so strong? All this concern and goodwill he had for her. When had all these feelings towards her gotten this strong? He thought it was almost impossible to get out of. For sure, he didn't fall for her on the first day they met. On that first day, he even thought she was kind of annoying. And the second day didn't get better either. That day he just wanted to help. Or was it the third day? Or the fourth day?

He massaged his brows. Everything that happened was unexpected. He didn't know if it was coincident, or her liveliness had become the only color in his miserable world.

Once he knew it, the world he lived in wasn't the same anymore.

"Sigh...." Martin covered his face in despair. Even now, there was nothing concrete or predictable. He didn't know what to offer her and wanted to be with her anyway. How irresponsible! He couldn't believe how things had become. Maybe because she asked for a chance that day, he threw his reasons off the window.

"Hey, Martin, why are you sitting here all serious again?" Celine just left the room and called him out. He lifted his face to look at her. His expression was blank. His brain was worrying about the unforeseeable future. For the first time in a long time, he was afraid. That day in the future, after she left, he was afraid he might disappoint her.

They both knew their time together was coming to an end, and they both knew that everything was like a ticking time bomb; every second was ticking, and the time was running out until there was nothing left. They couldn't know the extent of how they felt on that day, and he didn't want to anticipate it.

He had been lying to himself. He told himself over and over that he would be fine if the day arrived.

What else could he do? He would be hurt to death either way.

Martin looked at Celine. She was worried he didn't respond.

She was always worried about him, but she never asked anything out of respect for his privacy. She just sat next to him to keep his company.

"...." And this time, Martin didn't say anything.

He hoped she could sense what he was thinking, so he began this little experiment of telepathy. She was probably confused.

"What is on your mind? Are you worried about your nightmares again? Is anything wrong?" His gaze didn't make anything better. There, she was definitely confused.

Martin smiled slightly. He placed one finger on his mouth, signaling her to be quiet, and pulled her hand to come to sit closer.

He smiled in response to saying that he was fine. And he bet she was still confused over his motive of not saying anything and asked her to do the same.

He still smiled and looked deep into her eyes. We stared at each other for a moment. And Celine, having low patience and still doubting his silence, spoke again.

"Is this an eye-staring game or what?"

He could only smile at her. Celine sighed and narrowed her eyes.

"You are being mysterious again. Fine, I'm playing your games."

And we did just that, staring into each other's eyes.

Everything between us had been happening too fast. Too many things had happened that he never really looked at her. He accepted his friend's observation of his love for her. But he never really looked and saw her for who she truly was. The kind of observation with his heart.

We went with the flow of the situations. He wanted to stop everything, sit down, and contemplate his feeling toward her. He simply wanted to sit and look at her. Just looking at her.

"Well, I don't know what you are up to, but wait a minute, I need to make sure I'm not laughing if we are just going to stare at each other." She took a deep breath, and once she looked into his eyes, she tried to suppress a burst of laughter. He didn't blame her. He was smiling until my face ached.

It was a strange feeling. He even felt a bit shy.

Martin did what he intended, looking at her, caressing her soft cheek with genuine tenderness. He could see her face turning red by the second by him just doing that.

Everything was so quiet. We only heard the sound of the rhythm of our breathing and the accelerating heartbeat once he moved closer.

Everything was clear. In this silence, everything was clear to him. He had the clarity he sought.

"

No words were uttered. He could feel her intensity in what she felt towards him. He felt it with his heart.

We were inches apart. Her gaze softened and shifted to his lips. She seemed hesitant.

It was him who looked at her invitingly, challenging her to close a space between us.

In the future, no matter how long ahead, no matter if we would ever see each other again, he would always remember her well.

At that moment, the trembling lips of the girl in front of him moved closer and closer still...

Once her soft lips touched his, Martin knew immediately-the initial uncertainty dissipated. Her tenderness made him understand exactly how he felt.

He would always remember her....

As the woman who made him truly understand the word...love.