The room furthest to the back, overcome with silence as Yue Ling and Lu Tian slept through the night after showering. Lu Tian's eyes calmly flutter open, and the ceiling above came to view.
He glances at the window. Although the curtains in the room were not drawn, he could tell that morning had come. The faint sun rays from outside entered through the gaps, letting him know that it was bright and sunny.
Like his usual routine, he turns to his sleeping wife. He would always kiss her on the head, then get up to go on a morning run before returning to freshen up and prepare breakfast.
However, his hands felt nothing but the blanket and pillows.
He sits up in bed and frowns at the empty spot his wife should have been sleeping.
"Yue Ling?"
He didn't hesitate to call for her, thinking she might have woke up to use the bathroom. However, seconds pass, and he received no response.
Even the adjoining bathroom to the room was left open.
His frown deepens, and he stood up from the bed. He was shirtless, allowing his perfectly toned upper body to view, but he wore simple gray lounge pants to cover his lower half.
'Did she leave while he was sleeping?'
He asked himself but quickly brush it aside when he sees their packed bags still on the chair he had left last night. However, what bothered him was that he didn't hear or felt her get up from the bed. Was he that deep asleep?
"Where did she go?"
He murmured another question and ran his hand through his disheveled bed hair. He doesn't grab a shirt but strides out of the room.
Maybe she went downstairs.
He climbs down the stairs that allowed him to view the living room and part of the dining room. Like the bedroom, his wife was nowhere in sight.
"Am I still dreaming?"
Just as he nears the last few steps of the stairs, a delicious aroma enters his nose. He was reminded of the breakfasts his wife makes for him when she beats him to the kitchen in the morning.
He smiles a soft chuckle and makes his way in the direction the smell was coming.
"Good morn-"
He enters the kitchen expecting to see his wife and greets her. However, before he could finish his words, a frown returns to his face.
The kitchen was also empty.
A sense of worry wash inside him, and he got a feeling like the day when his wife flew to City Z. The same day, he became aware of Lee Shin's existence.
He spun around to go back upstairs to get his phone. He needs to find his wife. Even if he has to turn the entire world upside-down, he will do it without a second thought.
Just as he strides past the dining room, he pauses in his steps when his eyes subconsciously glance at the dining table. His body turns to face it, and he stares down at the nicely laid-out breakfast.
It was a simple breakfast of pancakes, sunny side eggs, and sausages with a glass of orange juice.
However, it wasn't the breakfast that caught his attention.
Placed at the side of the table was a small folded note.
Lu Tian stares with unblinking eyes at it. He didn't know why but the note made him feel nervous and a sense of another Deja Vu.
He can still remember the note his wife left him when she left the hotel room after their first night together. He will never forget every word but what stuck to his mind was when she signed her name.
'your worst nightmare!
He admits that night's incident was genuinely unforgivable as they were both drugged and had to experience such a thing. However, it was also a night that he will never forget.
It allowed him to understand a feeling he has never experienced before, and that was to chase after her, who now means the world to him.
He stared down at the not and pursed his lip.
"Ah… What is this?"
He mumbles the words in a frustrated growl. After taking a deep breath, he reaches for the note. However, as he did this, he was unaware that he had closed his eyes and reached blindly.
His hand fumbles over the table until he felt the paper and picks it up.
He brings it closer to his eyes and nervously opens one eye as he unfolds the small note. The first line that came to view was her signed name at the bottom, and he swore he was on the verge of fainting.
'-your worse nightmare.'
He quickly smacks the note closed again like it was a stain on his eyes. His hand raises, and he pinches the space between his eyebrows.
"How can she do this to me?"
It was just a note, but why was making his heart run a thousand miles.
"Lu Tian, get a hold of yourself. Now isn't the time to act this way. What if your wife left you alone on the island? Maybe she wrote down where she went."
Coaxing himself out of the nervous feeling, he takes a deep breath and opens both eyes. He opens the note like he was never in a scary moment at all.
'I prepared breakfast for you. I didn't want to wake you up since you needed more sleep, so I went out for a walk. Be back soon.
-With love, your worst nightmare.'
Reading the note, Lu Tian laughs at himself. He was scared and panicked for no reason. He even misses the heart his wife had drawn at the bottom corner.
He places the piece of paper down and looks out the window.
He wanted to go outside and find his wife, but considering the breakfast she had prepared for him, he pulls a chair back. He took a seat and began eating. He also didn't forget to glance in the directions of the front and back doors in case his wife returned.
In the distance, where the ocean meets the island shore, Yue Ling sat quietly on a rock. She wore a simple white dress with an oversized gray cardigan to keep her warm. She had removed her sandals and placed them at her side.
When she opened her eyes from sleep, she was surprised to see Lu Tian still asleep next to her. It was usually him who wakes up first, but she can tell he must be tired.
Not wanting to disturb his sleep, she decided to let him sleep in.
Even though her body was still sore and aching in pain from their night's exercise, she forced herself to get out of bed quietly.
She freshened up for the morning, put on a simple outfit, and then headed downstairs to make breakfast.
By the time she finished cooking, Lu Tian still hadn't woke up, so she had left him a note and decided to go out for a short stroll.
Thinking about the note she left, she chuckles and holds her chin with both hands as her elbows rest on her bent knees.
"I wonder if he saw the note I left him."
It was about time she returns to the villa, but seeing the ocean view in front of her, she sighs.
"So beautiful…"
She had followed a path near the back of the villa. Surprisingly, the trail led her to this beautiful part of the island.
The cool breeze from the ocean and the calm waves genuinely know how to take away all worry in one's life.
It is moments like this that remind her that one can always find peace in something despite all the hardship one experiences in life.
Such a breathtaking scene should be admired, and for that, she will stay a little longer.
