⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!! ⚠️
This post contains a detailed spoiler for a date that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~
From time to time, seabirds swept across the sparkling sea. The horizon extended infinitely, and the fresh smell of seawater filled the air.
I walked down the steps of the ferry, stood on the shore, took a deep breath, and glanced down at the time.
{{MC}} : His work time should be over now…
With that, I pressed a familiar phone number. The other end of the receiver rang several times, and he picked up the phone quickly.
Lucien: Good morning Miss Supervisor. I have just finished a slice of bread and read the summary document.
{{MC}}: I haven’t said anything yet.
Lucien: Does that mean that I can also get an extra reward for answering in advance in addition to good performance?
Lucien’s voice was a little tired but still full of smiles.
{{MC}}: OK, I’ll give you anything you want.
{{MC}}: You just said you were looking at the summary document. Is this phased experiment coming to an end?
Lucien: Well, we are just waiting for some analytical results to support the next phase of the experiment.
{{MC}}: Is that so…
I sighed silently in my heart and looked down at the ticket in my hand.
The sea breeze carried the waves against the stone walls, rolling up some water dew.
{{MC}}: Professor Lucien, I have an important message.
Although I was a little uneasy, I still raised my eyes, looked at the other end of the sea, and opened my mouth firmly.
Lucien : Hmm?
{{MC}}: I have kidnapped your most important thing.
{{MC}}: I advise you to immediately take the ransom to the designated location. I have put the specific information on the table in the living room at home.
{{MC}}: Be late, and the hostage will be killed.
In a fit of anger, I said the lines that I had rehearsed thousands of times in my heart and hung up the phone before he could reply.
{{MC}}: Yet, I don’t know if he will be angry…
I pursed my lips in self-mockery, got on the bus, and headed for the pre-booked accommodation.
My eyes reflected the beautiful light and shadow through the glass. I looked at the calm sea, and my heart was full of Lucien’s figure.
Lucien’s research made a breakthrough a few months ago.
So in the next few months, he ultimately fell into a state of forgetting to eat and sleep.
Although he maintained a minimum level of diet and sleep because of our agreement, he still lost weight and even had a fever.
I understand his work very well; I know that he has been taking care of himself “as much as possible.” But for several months in a row, this is the limit.
Forty minutes later, I arrived at the homestay, and after checking in, I had a simple meal.
{{MC}}: It’s so quiet.
I stood in the middle of the big living room, leaving only the waves and the sound of the wind.
I smiled and sighed. After thinking, I walked out and sat on the beach by the only path leading to the homestay.
In this way, if Lucien came, he would see me immediately.
{{MC}}: Come quickly, Lucien.
I sat quietly, holding my legs, watching the tide surging in front of me, the brilliant light shining brightly under the rising sun.
The sea seems to soften the boundaries of time. I don’t know how long I have been sitting until-
Footsteps approached behind me.
Lucien: Hello, I’m here to pay the ransom.
Like the waves stirred up at the moment, soft sound poured my ears together with the sound of the tide.
I blinked slowly and turned around to see Lucien wearing a white shirt, smiling and holding a small travel bag, with another ferry ticket in his hand standing not far away.
{{MC}}: Where’s the ransom?
As soon as I finished speaking, I felt myself being pulled into a firm embrace.
The familiar and coveted temperature is mixed with the scent of slightly damp sweat and the smell of the sea tide.
Lucien: Here
{{MC}}: It won’t be enough
My shaky heart finally fell to the ground. I sighed and reached out my hands to embrace the person in front of me.
{{MC}}: Alongside your most important thing, you’ve been kidnapped by me too
Lucien : So how long will this kidnapper kidnap me?
{{MC}}: Don’t worry, it won’t be long.
I nuzzled fondly against his chest, feeling the solid and nostalgic heartbeat in my ear.
{{MC}}: I’ll kidnap you for three days.
{{MC}}: After three days, I’ll let you go.
When Lucien checked in, I stood not far behind him and secretly observed his expression.
{{MC}}: …He doesn’t seem to be angry.
In fact, I’m so worried that he will not come. I’m afraid to hear him say.
“Silly, I’m still busy. You need to remember to eat well alright?”
But fortunately, here he is.
I smiled, people came one after another in the homestay, and there were also traveling aunties waiting for their companions to set off.
Aunt A: Ah, the weather is good now, and many young couples are out for a trip.
Aunt B: That’s right, it’s a nice day to come out and play!
Listening to their happy conversation, I unconsciously raised the corners of my lips.
However, following their smiling eyes, my smile immediately froze.
At the counter next to Lucien’s check-in, a girl in a long white dress goes through the formalities.
She wore a thin gray-blue coat and a pair of beige canvas shoes.
It looks like a couple’s outfit from the back as Lucien is wearing the same color.
I looked down at my striped dress, and my heart instantly hovered.
I have already done such a willful thing. I shouldn’t care about minor mishaps, right…
Thinking in this way, I patiently swallowed that little dissatisfaction. I went down, squeezed out a smile, and stepped forward to put my arms around him.
{{MC}}: Are you done, dear?
I raised my chin slightly and glanced at the aunts who were talking just now. Seeing them embarrassedly change the subject, my heart bubbled with glee.
Huh, forget it, next time we go out, I must wear the same color as Lucien!
Seeing me, Lucien smoothly took me into his arms and pecked my lips.
Lucien : Honey, I’m done. Let’s go.
After returning to the room, Lucien silently took off his clothes.
{{MC}}: Why did you suddenly take off your clothes?
Instead of replying to me, he opened his bag, took out another spliced T-shirt, and put it on.
Did he just hear what those aunties said?
I feel the whole body floating lightly as if gently stepping on the sea surface.
The continuously surging tide is under my feet, making my whole body feel tickled.
This person seems always like this, tolerating my wilfulness just like he comes here.
{{MC}}: Actually I don’t care.
Even though I said that I couldn’t help laughing and looking at him delightfully.
Lucien: You really don’t care?
He pretended to be troubled, walked over, and caressed my face.
Lucien : What should I do then? I still really hope you pay more attention to me.
{{MC}}: I still can distinguish between accident and intention, so I won’t make unnecessary trouble!
{{MC}}: Didn’t Professor Lucien always teach me to look at things rationally?
Lucien: ….That’s true.
His eyes flashed with a momentary emotion I did not understand, but he soon raised the corners of his lips.
Lucien: Speaking of which, Miss Kidnapper, I have come here according to your arrangement, so…
Lucien: What do you want me to do?
Lucien’s voice was a little low, and his caressing fingertips drifted from the face to the ear and finally slid down to the corner of my lip.
In his deep pupils, silent and restrained longings are contained in them.
I realized slowly that this was the first time we had seen each other after a long time.
I also reached out my hand and looked at the person in front of me.
Looking at the clothes he hastily put on, I smiled and scratched his neck with my fingertips.
{{MC}}: Can I ask you to do anything?
Lucien: Probably
He seemed to speak subconsciously. At the moment the words fell, his eyes became deeper.
Lucien: MC, didn’t you kidnap my most important thing?
His voice came up softly and flooded the brain a minute earlier than the ears.
Lucien : She is too precious, so I think she’ll probably have to do more with me.
The gentle illusion fell, and it was able to aid away all my reasoning and mind at that moment.
I was very moved, but I immediately regained my mind when I thought of the purpose of this “kidnapping.”
I don’t want him to think I’m being willful this time just because I want to see him.
I struggled to turn my head, and under Lucien’s puzzled eyes, I gasped slightly and pushed him onto the bed, leaning over with both hands on either side of him.
{{MC}}: I only have one task for you as a hostage.
{{MC}}: Don’t do anything and have a good rest.
{{MC}}: Do you understand?
Lucien looked at me earnestly with both eyes.
The sound of the tide filled the world. I was a little uncomfortable by his silence, ready to sit up at a loss.
Unexpectedly, Lucien reached out his hand and wrapped me beside him.
Lucien: Got it.
Lucien: If that’s the case, then you need to stay with me.
A long sigh came from overhead.
Lucien: Sleep with me for a while, {mc}.
For the rest of the day, Lucien and I didn’t do anything.
He obeyed my “orders.” He didn’t touch any work-related content and didn’t answer a single phone call.
On the other hand, I am responsible for supervising him to eat, sleep and wander along the path by the sea, holding hands.
Just in case he was bored, I took a few books from the shelf before I left.
Those were the ones he marked and prepared to read, but he also left them behind in the corner.
Time flows quietly and peacefully. Lucien sometimes looked at me silently but didn’t say a word.
The next afternoon, I grabbed him for a nap as usual. When I woke up, I found that Lucien was no longer in bed.
{{MC}}: …Did he go out for a walk by himself?
I walked out of the bedroom to see him lying on a hammock in the courtyard outside the living room.
It was a little hot, so he unbuttoned his buttons lazily, revealing a strong and solid chest.
The slender hand held a book on his face, blocking most of the light.
{{MC}}: I can’t afford to stand still…
I sat quietly beside him. The sea breeze was gentle, making the world peaceful.
Looking at the sleeping person in front of me, I saw his tired but determined face, dark circles under his eyes, and the appearance of going to the research institute despite a fever.
{{MC}}: Even Iron man also needs to rest.
I sighed, and poked him lightly in anger.
{{MC}}: You just don’t know how to eat well and sleep well.
{{MC}}: What can I do to make you value yourself more?
{{MC}}: It’s not that I don’t understand you, but…
I stopped my mouth and didn’t know what to say.
“Understanding” and “caring” always speak loudly in their respective positions, which annoys me and makes me helpless.
This wayward “kidnapping” act, though in the name of his good.
But to be honest, I don’t know if it would make him feel that I didn’t understand him and couldn’t support him adequately.
And make him think I’m wayward or selfish.
{{MC}}: Even if you think so and get angry at me, I can’t help it.
{{MC}}: Lucien, I can only do such a thing.
Lucien : How do I feel?
A familiar voice suddenly entered my ears, and I raised my head in a panic.
I saw Lucien lift the book that covered his face. The eyes hidden in the shadow of the book now are looking at me.
With his movements, the hammock swayed slightly, and the sunlight sifted by the palm trees swam on him like shining fish.
It swam into my heart and disturbed the entire pond in just a moment.
{{MC}}: ….You pretended to be asleep!
Lucien : I’m just thinking about things. I didn’t say I was sleeping.
He clasped the palm of my hand that I wanted to take away, raised his leg, and pulled me a little closer to him.
Lucien : You just said, what do you think I’d feel?
His eyes locked against mine so tightly that I couldn’t escape, making me bite my lower lip subconsciously.
How can I express my indescribable feelings?
What can I say because of those selfish and greedy thoughts caused by you.
I breathed slowly and stared at the person in front of me.
{{MC}}: It’s just…I don’t want you to be angry because I suddenly “kidnapped” you.
{{MC}}: These few days have still delayed some of your work, right?
Lucien : Silly, how could I be angry.
Lucien : Of course, I know you want me to rest and relax. You just worried about me.
With the ebb and flow of the tide, only his voice was particularly clear, like a sparkling pearl sifted out on the beach.
I felt myself being embraced by him.
Lucien : But this time, I seem to suddenly realize…
Lucien : After the “heartbeat”, the beautiful flower in my heart seems to have new growth.
{{MC}}: Huh?
I raised my head in confusion and saw that his eyebrows were slightly curved and his pupils were flickering as if he’s facing something unfamiliar.
Unfamiliar, but extremely excited about it.
I look up at the dazzling light in his eyes; it can’t leave my sight.
{{MC}}: What is that?
Lucien : I don’t know either.
Although he said this, Lucien smiled softly.
His broad palms clung to my face and traced it as if clumsily observing and confirming it.
Lucien : What exactly is that.
Lucien’s words finally melted into the sunset.
Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye, it was the last day of my “kidnapping” Lucien.
After taking a nap, I looked out the window at the clear blue sea and wanted to pay for the evening ticket, so I turned to look at Lucien, who was lying on the side.
Maybe the seawater from the island also soaked in him, and he became lazier and lazier after three days.
Lucien was like a big lazy cat, lying on his side on the bed, his pajamas lifted slightly, revealing his muscles.
With his eyes half-open, he looked out the window through my gaze.
{{MC}}: Would you like to walk by the sea?
Lucien: Do you want to go for a walk?
Our voices sounded simultaneously and we laughed together because we said the same thing to each other.
While changing, I glanced at him and found him smiling, pointing to the dress in my hand and shaking the shirt of the same color in his hand.
Obviously, we didn’t say anything.
It seems that this silence makes everything strangely romantic.
The waves swept over our ankles. Lucien and I interlocked our fingers and walked on the shoal with our shoes on.
The gentle sea breeze lifted the hem of his shirt, the light and shadow scattered, as bright as rippling ten thousand summer days.
None of us spoke, and we were the only silent world between the shore and the waves.
We will board the cruise ship in the evening. We will return to Loveland City tomorrow, and Lucien will continue to devote himself to his great scientific research.
He probably will continue not to sleep, rest and eat well.
Maybe, when I can’t help it, I will repeat this “kidnapping” again.
Thinking of this, I couldn’t help but laugh.
Lucien : What are you laughing at?
Lucien lowered his eyes and brought my laughter into his sight.
I smiled and tilted my head, swinging our hands back and forth.
{{MC}}: I’m just thinking…
{{MC}}: After we go home, Professor Lucien will return to his old habit.
{{MC}}: Then maybe I have to kidnap you again and again
{{MC}}: We should not be like this when we become grandma and grandpa.
It was hard for me to imagine that scene, and Lucien seemed to think about it too and looked at me helplessly.
Lucien: I have also worked hard to eat, sleep, and rest in the past few months.
{{MC}}: Yes, I know
Lucien: During the busiest time of the experiment, I probably didn’t sleep well.
{{MC}}: Yes, at least you sleep for three hours now.
Lucien : I don’t seem to be hungry either.
{{MC}}: Even if you are not hungry, you will eat at least one meal a day now.
Lucien: Take a half-hour break every day.
{{MC}}: Also call me to report.
We finished each other sentences. The indigo blue sea and the sky were burning in his eyes, making the emotions in it more directly cast into my eyes.
{{MC}}: I know it all, Lucien.
Some people change a little bit. Although it may be an effortless thing in the eyes of others, it is very difficult for him.
Because everyone moves at a different pace.
Lucien stood in front of me, but I saw too many things growing in silence in him.
Just as I am constantly changing and growing because of him.
{{MC}}: So I understand and accept it happily because you are changing for me.
Lucien: But I’ll still make you unhappy.
Lucien: And that’s not what I want.
{{MC}}: Lucien, you are so stupid.
Under his dazed gaze, I pulled him to sit on the reef in the shoal.
{{MC}}: We can’t be the most idealized being in each other’s eyes all the time.
{{MC}}: Just like I can’t keep you happy all the time, as it will also disrupt your pace and make you uncomfortable.
Lucien : I…
{{MC}}: But so what?
The bright spots of light keep surging and raising as if burning.
And in this dazzling world, our palms are tightly held together without a gap.
As if they were born to hold each other like this.
{{MC}}: I will continue to walk holding these hands, because this is the most important thing for me.
{{MC}}: Isn’t that the case with Professor Lucien?
Lucien: Of course.
Lucien: It is probably more important than I thought to me.
The sea birds that suddenly flocked put a period on his word, and with the swaying feathers, the world seemed to be slowly blooming.
Lucien: After hearing your call, I set up my work faster than usual, and came home to see the ticket and luggage on the table.
Lucien: Then come to see you.
Lucien: Obviously, I should be hesitating.
Lucien: But I didn’t.
Lucien: At that moment, I suddenly realized that…
Lucien: I can probably allow you to do anything to me.
The waves surged over my ankles and seemed to roam over my head, causing me to subconsciously suffocate my breath.
Lucien: I seem to have become a simpler and more complex person because I surrendered to that instinct.
Lucien: In addition to happiness and joy, many not-so-beautiful things have been born, and some…
Lucien: …few things that I can’t describe either.
His fingertips, like waves, gently landed on the side of my face.
Lucien: “I don’t need her to care about me so much,” and “She could care about me more.”
Lucien : “Why don’t you care if you hear people say I’m wearing a couple’s outfit with someone else?” and “It’s okay that she knows it’s a stranger and shouldn’t care.”
Lucien: It’s complicated and troublesome, making me want to get closer to you and take a step back.
Lucien: It makes me want you to care, but also, I don’t want you to care.
Lucien: Did this happen to you too?
I looked at him fixedly, and the words were so barren that I couldn’t even find any words to express my mood at this moment.
I want to tell you everything that was born because of you.
But all I could do was mutter, smiling and narrowing my eyes.
{{MC}}: Lucien, I am the same.
I also don’t know how to place and pass it on. That too intense deep feeling.
{{MC}}: I don’t want you to think that I am willful and selfish, but I will only use some methods that you may not like so much.
{{MC}}: I want you to know all my feelings, but I don’t want you to know that I’m not so good.
{{MC}}: It’s really troublesome, right?
In response, an extraordinarily delicate and tender kiss fell on the corner of my lips, and the tide spread into the soil of the wilderness where it sprouted and bloomed.
Lucien : [kiss] Yeah, it’s really troublesome.
Between the waves, his words came closer and more fully to my mind.
Lucien : It seems to remind me all the time, restrain me, and tell me that I am no longer walking in this world alone.
Lucien : I will affect a person and her emotions.
Lucien : At the same time, I was also influenced by her.
Lucien : As a result, it suppressed my other habits or instincts.
{{MC}}: That sucks.
The sound of our heart was deafening, covering up the sound of the waves together.
{{MC}}: I seem to be a little more serious than you.
{{MC}}: At times, it seems that all that is left in the world is your name and existence.
Lucien : Is that time now?
{{MC}}: It is right now.
I looked into the eyes that reflected the tide and just wanted to drown in it.
I closed my eyes and moved to his lips.
The staggered fingertips follow the undulating waves, clasping tightly and rubbing.
As if slowly falling into the sea, all the waves are beyond the world.
A long transparent net gently wrapped all the anxieties and doubts, silent and noisy.
Like a soul that has always been restless and hesitant, finally connected to the other half that was unintentionally left behind.
I opened my eyes slightly, wanting to see the person in front of me forever and ever.
But perhaps, he has already fused into every corner of my body along with my breath and blood.
{{MC}}: Lucien, thank you for coming to see me.
Lucien : I’m just following my own thoughts.
The delicate kisses slid between my lips and teeth as if they were tracing.
Lucien : [kiss] don’t know when it started, rather than being happy because my desires are fulfilled…
Lucien : I find that my happiness comes from your smiles.
Lucien : You are more important to me than myself.
I need you to be happy more than I need to protect and love myself.
{{MC}}: Is this the beautiful flower in your heart, the new growth?
Lucien: Yes
Lucien : Do you know the name of this feeling that caused by you?
{{MC}}: I know.
Among the waves and floating light, he saw that the girl’s face was covered in red.
The color stained his eyes. He felt, for some reason, that he had tasted happiness at this moment.
{{MC}}: It’s called “love”.
{{MC}}: It is a little more than joy and infatuation*.
- T/N: 心动 (literally means “the throbbing heart”, but it has the nuance of falling in love/having crush/that spark, fluttering you get when someone or something stirs your feelings in a way that’s tender, exciting, and a little uncontrollable. Also! It’s a continuation of theme From The Heart Date)
He quietly felt the surging emotions in his heart, as if the tide around his ankles also poured into his heart at the same time.
The flower that bloomed because of her will continue to grow, growing more fruits that he has not yet harvested.
Lucien : {{mc}}, close your eyes.