The next morning, Hinari woke up without Zaki by her side. She sat up slowly and rubbed her head.
She was in a dazed and she felt that her eyes were swollen. When she remembered all the things that happened last night, she felt like she wanted to cry again. She remembered that she had cried herself to sleep in his arms, unable to accept that it was over for them.
Hinari raised her hands and she tugged at her chest. She wanted to think that everything from last night was just a dream. She began to think about how she would have to carry on now without him in her life and all she could feel was an intense pain, as if invisible sharp knives pierced through her heart. Hinari had never hurt this much before, even though she had been preparing herself for this for a long time now. Even though she already knew this would happen to them in the end, it still hurt like hell that she felt she could die.
Hinari locked herself in the room that day. She wanted to be by herself because she had finally decided that it was time to set Zaki free.
She had been waiting for him, chasing him for nearly six years now but Zaki was still as unreachable as ever. He was really like a beautiful firefly impossible for her to hold in her arms. He was a breathtaking firefly she could only watch from afar. She smiled bitterly because her heart still wanted to chase after him despite it all but enough was enough. Hinari decided to stop living in her fantasy world and to face reality.
She would stop chasing after him now. She was going let go of him. She knew she could never force him to stay beside her so no matter how painful it might be, she had to accept that it had to end here. She had to accept that Zaki would only ever be a wish that would never come true.
Night came and Hinari finally stepped out of the room. It was little Shin who first ran into her with a worried look on his face. Upon seeing the little guy running towards her, Hinari bent down and hugged little Shin tight.
“Auntie, are you alright?” little Shin asked and Hinari could only force a smile.
“Autie is just sad because she’s going to leave little Shin again,” she replied and the little guy pouted his lips.
“You’re leaving now?” he confirmed as his eyes widened.
“Mm. I’m sorry but auntie needs to leave tonight.”
Upon saying those words, Little Shin creased his brows and pulled away from Hinari before he suddenly ran away.
Little Shin went straight towards the study room. The servants told him a while ago that his uncle Zaki was resting there so the little guy barged in like a little boss.
When he saw his uncle lying on the bed covering his eyes with the back of his hand, Little Shin ran and jumped up on him.
“Uncle, uncle… auntie Hinari said she is leaving. Wake up and go stop her!” Little Shin was shaking Zaki but the man just rolled over and hid his face on the pillow.
His reaction of course made the little cupid’s face darken and he jumped on Zaki’s back like he was riding on a horse.
“Uncle! Do you really not care if auntie leaves?! C’mon, wake up! She looks so sad so you must go see her,” the little guy pleaded when Zaki finally spoke.
“Little Shin… I’m sorry but uncle can’t see her anymore, so you must go and see her off in my place.”
As soon as Little Shin heard Zaki’s voice, the little guy slowly moved away from his back and he sat beside him. Little Shin was used to the jolly and playful Zaki so he could immediately tell the difference in his tone of voice.
Thus, instead of leaving, Little Shin put his palm on Zaki’s neck with a worried look.
“Uncle, are you alright? Is there something wrong?”
When Zaki remained silent, little Shin sidled towards him trying to see his face but when he failed, he backed off and he asked again.
“Uncle, a… are you crying?” he asked and Zaki immediately replied.
“I’m not.”
“Then why are you hiding your face?”
“Little Shin, uncle is currently badly hurt so he doesn’t want you to see his weak face.”
“You’re badly hurt? Where? Where does it hurt? Then I should go ask auntie to call a doctor!”
Before little Shin could jump off the bed, Zaki caught him and he pulled him back in his arms. He then hugged the little guy as he spoke.
“It’s my heart that is hurt so doctors can’t do anything about it. I just need to rest so don’t worry, you understand?”
“But…”
“Uncle can’t go see auntie Hinari so you should go and make her smile for me, okay?”
…
Meanwhile, Hinari who followed little Shin was standing by the door. A servant told her that Zaki was inside but even though she wanted to see him before she left, she realized it would be better if she left quietly this time.
Hinari then raised her hand and placed a palm on the door. She gazed at it as if she could see Zaki inside.
’Beauty… I don’t know what lies ahead of me. I don’t know if my broken heart will ever be mended. I don’t know if I could ever stop loving you. Honestly, I still can’t imagine how I could carry on without you. I don’t know if this pain will ever heal. All I know is that, I will always cherish the days I’ve spent with you for the rest of my life… I am still glad that I have met you. I’m going to the place where I can’t see you anymore. I wish you all the happiness in the world. Goodbye my beauty… I really love you…’
Hinari’s eyes were starting to well up again so she quickly moved and ran away.
However, before she could step down the stairs, someone grabbed her wrist. She raised her face and when she saw that it was Sei the great, she immediately straightened up. However, when she saw Davi behind him, she relaxed and she started to speak.
“Uhm… I… I am leaving now. Thank you for everything,” she said and she immediately turned to leave but before she could take another step, Sei’s voice reached her ears.
“Before you go, there’s something you need to know about Zaki.”
