Chapter 45: Love at First Sight

It was such an unimportant and mundane day.

As usual, young Mr. Wang ate his breakfast that day and went to school. He attended his classes and diligently passed his assignments. He studied and pondered and participated until the afternoon classes were finally dismissed.

He was walking on his way home that day and the afternoon air was slightly cool with tints of warmth because of the climate then. And the scenery was a tad bit prettier because of the soft touch of the orange hues from the sun.

He was lost in his thoughts as his feet wandered unknowingly.

When he came to once more, the environment was unfamiliar.

He looked around, gripping on the straps of his bag, carrying heavy books.

'Where am I?' He thought with a little nervousness. He broke cold sweat and became restless as he turned and turned, looking for a path to lead him back.

But the bustling town he used to pass by felt like it disappeared.

There was silence and uneasiness. Quiet cicadas and desolated temples, empty streets and dying grasses.

He stepped back, unsure of what to do.

He found a stone, which he sat onto and laid his heavy bag down on the muddy soil. He moved his shoulder and felt the ache from wearing the bag all the way.

He tried to calm himself down for a while, watching the glow of sunset gradually receding back as if it's their time to go home.

And it was only a few minutes later that he saw a girl, wandering around nearby.

At first, he could only see her back as she fretfully looked around. When she turned and faced the young Mr. Wang, he saw the most beautiful girl in his life as a child. She had white complexion and small face, slender nose and thin lips, and pretty eyes.

He fell in love with her at first sight.

--

When Haru, with Ali, and Camille separated, they went to dip their bodies in the hot spring. As expected, it was relaxing.

The steam was softly and unsteadily ascending as if telling all their worries are going up with it.

Ali looked especially pleased with the hot bath.

"This feels good, right?" Haru commented. "The bathtubs at Castellia Fort were amazing, but this is much better."

Ali nodded with a smile, "It's good!"

"Oh, I'm finally seeing you smile. And your voice is getting louder."

Ali looked away, his ears reddening. Haru thought that the little boy must still be feeling shy for being complimented and noticed like that.

As they are having a good time, Haru was still filled with thoughts of Mr. Wang's childhood memory. He still wondered what lies ahead those pretty moments.

Since they are triggered usually with traumas and bad experiences, he wondered what could've gone wrong in that diligent and uptight lifestyle.

'It's not like the girl he fell in love with broke him… right?' He thought. 'I can't imagine Mr. Wang is getting into trouble because of that…'

When Haru's thoughts about Mr. Wang stopped, he saw Ali slowly swimming towards the center of the hot spring. He saw the little boy struggling with something towards the center, so Haru finally moved and helped up.

"Hey, Ali! What's going on with you? Did you find something?"

As if to answer him, he saw the shining jewellery steadily sitting beside the flowing water from the center. It was in the shape of a diamond. Haru immediately grabbed it and held it up in the air.

"I didn't think that these jewels were so dense. What do you think, Ali?"

"Maybe it's made with a different material?"

"Let's go over to Camille. The hot spring over her place might also have the diamond jewel."

Ali nodded and they dried themselves with the towel. When they were clothed and ready, Haru and Ali went to follow the path of the water streaming away from the hot spring to lead them back to the other hot spring where Camille is.

Halfway through though, they were stumped as the stream suddenly diverged into three ways.