Chapter 34

Somehow feeling embarrassed, she pressed harder against the fingertips resting against his back. In response, his heartbeat thumped heavily right against her fingertips.

Slower and looser like a slackened thread, his heartbeat instead beat faster and stronger than anyone else’s. The breath of his spreading across her chest was hot enough to scorch this very moment.

Isu held her breath. A sensation warm enough to burn whirled wildly in her chest.

She wanted to give something back to him, the one who had gifted her that sensation.

“You’ll be able to be happy from now on.”

All she could offer was the vague hope that he, too, could become happy.

Slowly stroking his back, she finally loosened her arms and pulled back. Sitting up properly with some distance between them, Isu looked down at the tin can where he had portioned out the soup. If she left it alone any longer, it would grow cold. Since it was a fish dish and might smell fishy, she figured it was better to eat it now.

“Want to taste?”

Asking him, she picked up another empty tin can and ladled some soup into it. Soon holding the tin with both hands, she inhaled the scent.

The savory aroma of almonds and white-fleshed fish stimulated her appetite. She put a spoonful into her mouth first.

The salty flavor of the fish meat and the fragrance of the almonds blended together matchlessly well. She thought it wouldn’t look out of place even if sold at a restaurant. At that moment, tasting the soup, he flashed his white dimples and said,

“I didn’t think you could cook. Color me surprised.”

In an instant, they cleanly cleared away the soup together. Seemingly unsatisfied with the portion, he stared down into the empty tin and said,

“It’s delicious. I’ll make it tomorrow.”

Hearing a man who likely only ever ate high-end hotel steaks say it tasted delicious made her immensely happy and proud. Isu responded with a bright smile. Afterward, she helped him wash the dishes, and then they rinsed out their mouths together.

Now it was time to put out the campfire and tidy up the yard. Watching Hayden shovel dirt onto the campfire, Isu asked quietly,

“By the way, a social gathering is like some kind of secret meeting for the rich, right? Fascinating…”

Knocking down the campfire—which had been stacked like a triangular pyramid—with his shovel, Hayden replied,

“I’ve seen Graham before, too. When I attended the 100th-anniversary ceremony of Graham Systems, a defense contractor.”

Crouching down in front of the wood, Isu’s eyes widened. The name dropped so unexpectedly struck her ears with such sharp force that they rang.

“Graham?”

Hayden replied indifferently.

“Yeah, Graham.”

Unlike him, Isu’s lips trembled violently.

Why hadn’t he mentioned the fact that he knew Graham all this time? A strange wave of betrayal washed over her.

“How do you even know Graham…? Why didn’t you tell me you knew Graham all this time?”

He replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Because whenever the name Graham comes up, you get utterly terrified.”

Before she knew it, Isu’s face had turned completely pale.

“Do you really know Graham? Are you close? Have you even talked to him?”

“……”

“A few days ago, we looked at the CCTV footage together in that burned building. The man in it—was that Graham?”

“That’s right.”

“Where is that person living right now? How old is he? What’s his job? Is he a soldier by any chance? Does he have any criminal records like murder or kidnapping?”

Hayden stared intently at Isu, who had even forgotten to blink. Then, seeing her pared, dry lips, he sighed silently.

“Breathe. Your lips are turning blue.”

Only then did Isu take a long, deep breath. As if granting a reward, Hayden answered step by step.

“Graham lives in London. He’s the same age as me, and his profession is a biotechnologist. He has no criminal record.”

Considering she had been trembling so hard she looked like she might faint, she was pulling herself together remarkably well.

“Do you know… any weaknesses of his? Can you tell me? If I end up in danger, I want to use that against him, at least.”

She looked frail enough to need protection, yet her tenacity to bite into an enemy’s weakness was something else. Scanning her with his bright blue pupils, Hayden tilted his head at an angle and replied,

“Graham’s weakness.”

“……”

“Is you.”

The smooth flow of conversation snapped to an abrupt halt.

Graham’s weakness was a mere woman who had lost her memories…? That made no sense whatsoever.

“What kind of…”

Hayden smiled wickedly.

“Just how far do you plan on believing my words?”

Isu raised both eyebrows and asked,

“What…?”

Did he really know Graham? Or was he just giving her a fitting answer because he found her reaction amusing?

She had no idea how much of his answer was the truth and how much was a lie.

“Don’t tease me! I’m being serious right now.”

Soon after, she glared at Hayden resentfully.

I comforted you, after all…

For a split second, even a sense of unfairness welled up inside her, and as she closed her eyes, he spoke in a low voice.

“Graham’s weakness really is you. If not, there’s no way he would’ve hidden you away on an island.”

“……”

“I know you’re terrified of that man, but when you look closely, everyone’s just the same. Even if you leave this island, I’ll protect you. From him, or from anything else.”

The baritone wrapping around her ears was unshakeably dependable. Composing her turbulent mind, Isu gazed up at Hayden.

His main point seemed to be that, no matter what kind of human Graham was, he would protect her. She was grateful for that sentiment, but she felt she couldn’t simply rely on him blindly. Because Hayden himself didn’t seem to fully grasp just how dangerous a figure Graham truly was.

Yet, for the moment, she didn’t want to fret over future troubles. She wanted to cherish the present moment. Nodding, Isu opened her mouth.

“Just like you told me about yourself, I want to tell you about myself, too. But there isn’t much I can remember…”

Whenever she tried to recall her lost memories, everything felt futile and bothersome.

She didn’t know what on earth Graham had done to her, but it felt like she had been subjected to something like hypnosis, brainwashing, or brain surgery.

Even so, Isu wanted to tell Hayden everything about herself.

“I dream often. Dreams of wandering through the dark, dreams of being chased by a man, and I’ve even dreamed of getting a tattoo added to my pelvis.”

“……”

“Recently, I dreamed of having a conversation with a colleague at a newspaper office. Eila… Eila. I think that’s my name. I’m only telling you this.”

Isu wrote her name in the dirt. After setting his shovel against the wall of the quarters, Hayden looked down at her name.

EILA

Overlapping her name with a twig, Isu looked up at him and asked,

“Eila, isn’t it a pretty name?”

She thought it was a name overflowing with loveliness. But the man sitting across from her wrote the name Isu with a twig and smiled.

“Isu rolls off the tongue better.”

She was surprised that he preferred a name with an exotic feel.

“Really?”

Flaunting his long, slender collarbones, Hayden wrote the name Isu again.

“It feels lonely.”

Isu shook her head decisively.

“Being lonely isn’t a good thing.”

Curving his horizontally long eyes, he replied,

“Because I feel like I could fill that empty space.”

As the reason why he liked lonely people, he picked the fact that he could fill up the lonely spaces in the other person.

Then, if they broke up, would the other person end up lonely again in that wide-open, hollow space? She suddenly found herself wondering what kind of love he actually wanted.

“Wouldn’t it be too hard if we ended up breaking up then?”

He answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“That’s why we can’t break up.”

For some reason, it felt like he wanted absolute love. Though the credibility was close to zero, coming from a man so smooth he seemed capable of sleeping with a different woman every night.

Still, she thought she’d like to experience that kind of love just once.

“Not bad.”

Smiling faintly, she continued,

“Do you think we’ll be able to escape this island?”

Actually, more than that, she wondered if she’d still be able to see him even after leaving this island. She had a premonition that, blocked by the walls of social standing and the walls Graham had built, she and Hayden would naturally drift apart.

“I think at least once a day that it’d be fine to just live here forever.”

Since he might not want the same, Isu didn’t bother adding that living a quiet, ordinary life with him on this island would also make her happy.

Hearing her, Hayden stopped tracing over the name Isu. Soon nodding his head as if chewing over those words, he said lazily,

“Yeah, me too.”

“……”

“I think living like this with you would be nice, too.”

The moment she heard the words she had desperately held back spoken right from his lips, her heart stopped with a thud. The suppressed emotions surged wildly, devouring her nerves.

Her senses grew endlessly distant, to the point where she didn’t even notice the humid summer breeze tickling her cheek.

I think living like this with you would be nice, too, I think living like this with you would be nice, too… Those words churned Isu’s chest into a chaotic mess and painted her cheeks red.

A sense of incongruity emanated from a man with such a decadent, dark face wishing for an ordinary, quiet day, but that made it all the more appealing. To think she even liked something like that…

As if finding it hard to believe, Isu replied,

“It’s amazing.”

The man before her smiled as purely as a boy.

A smile she was seeing for the first time. It was like a flower blooming brightly across a dark landscape. It was like a rainbow cast over a gloomy sky.

While she stared stupidly at Hayden in a daze, he—looking just as blank—narrowed his pupils and said,

“We should go see the rainbow now.”

As nice as it was just staying like this, she also wanted to spend some time in a different setting.

Right, we should go see it. Repeating his words softly, she stood up.

At that moment, Manuel appeared, carrying something in a black, bowl-curved iron plate supported by both hands.

Because of what had happened on the beach earlier, Isu felt awkward around Manuel. Still, since they’d be running into each other every day, she couldn’t keep pretending she didn’t know him, so she spoke up first.

“Manuel…? What’s that?”

Putting the black bowls down in the yard, Manuel replied casually,

“I went and salvaged some fuel from the helicopter on the roof of that burned building. Having fuel should make it easier to light a bonfire, and I’m planning to make torches when needed.”

With that, he tore the hem of his T-shirt and wrapped it around the tip of a tree branch like a tennis ball. Worry hung heavy on Manuel’s face.

“I think we need to go look for Declan, but since we never know when the sky will turn dark, I’m trying to prepare in advance.”

The moment an unwelcome name came up, the air turned chilly. Hayden narrowed his brow, and with a pale face, Isu spoke.

“I don’t think I can go searching with you. Have a safe trip.”

Manuel nodded as if he understood.

“I understand.”

Leaving their conversation at that, she was about to head to the cliff. At that moment, glancing around cautiously, Manuel called out to Isu.

“Hey, I have something to talk to you about privately for a moment—is that okay?”

His brownish-yellow eyes shone with desperation. What on earth did he want to say? Asking Hayden for his understanding, Isu stood a short distance away from the yard.