Kai

Claire. Claire. Claire. Cuh-laire. Her name, it takes a trip down your tongue, rolling off as it transitions from one elegant syllable to the next.

A fittingly beautiful name for an even more beautiful woman. My light, my life – if she ever left I'd up and leave and follow her to the ends of the earth.


I love her.

It may sound silly, because I know. I know, I know, I know she's never felt the same way for a solitary moment. But when she smiles at me after I buy her yet another cocktail, and she drifts deeper into a state of intoxication… It's more than enough. She's more than enough.

It's ironic, isn't it? Me, Kai, the 'womanizer' who travelled the world, collecting girls' hearts and throwing them away just as quickly – that I could fall so hard for this farmer girl who I could never have.

But she's different. Oh Goddess, I would call her perfect, but even that word isn't an accurate enough description of what she means to me.


Sure, she's gorgeous. She's got those ethereal long blonde locks that go on for days, she's got killer blue eyes, the works. She's kind, hardworking, caring, every quality you could ever want in a woman.

But it's not just that.

She… She makes my heart feel like it's finally found a resting place.

That's the reason I decided to settle down in Mineral Town for good. All my life, I'd wandered different countries, believing I was a great traveller who was just trying to find a home in this world. It's funny though. I'd never known that home could be a person, not a place.

When I see her at the bar, slightly sliding off her stool as she, Gray and Cliff all take another shot, I feel like there's nothing more for me out there in the world. I feel like leaving her here would be leaving a part of me here – her heart is my home.


Yeah, it hurts. Oh Goddess, does it hurt.

When I see her drunkenly lean on Gray's shoulder and hang her delicate arm around Cliff's, I feel this indescribable drop in my stomach. I want to get up and swing a right hook into both their faces, and shout at them that this drunk angel was mine, not theirs.

Hell, I don't even know if Claire feels anything for either one of them – although it's clear to see that they're both crazy about her too.

Whatever. It doesn't matter anyway.

No one will ever be able to love her the way I do. My love for her is like the ocean – go deeper and deeper, and all you would find is more ocean. Never ending ocean. Never ending love.


"Woo!" Claire shouted as she beckoned for another shot. The bar was almost empty that night, so Claire had asked me to join her in her nightly ritual of drinking. She was 5 shots into the early night, and she showed zero signs of stopping. "Come on, Kai, take the damn shot like a real man and the next one's on me!" she grinned her dazzling smile, slightly leaning on me for support as her inhibitions started to float away.

"Alright, Claire. But at 8 shots I'm taking you home," I warned, heart thumping as her head fell onto my shoulder.

"Oh come on, Kai! Don't be a party pooper. You may be real cute, but that doesn't mean you can be no fun," she whined, erupting into a sudden onslaught of giggles, as if what she just said was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

"You think I'm cute, huh?"

She nuzzled her beautiful head into my chest as I stroked her blonde locks out of her face. No answer.

"I mean, cause I sure think you're hell cute."

I inched my face closer to hers.

"You're more than just cute. You're absolutely, heartbreakingly gorgeous," I whispered. My heart was so close to jumping right out of my chest.

"I love you, Claire. My love for you is like the ocean. Deep. Never ending. Infinite."

Suddenly, she leapt right out of her seat, sobering up faster than I've ever seen anyone do. Fumbling around for her wallet and leaving enough money to cover both of us, she mumbled something like, "sorry, I gotta go. Tonight was fun."

She never talked to me after that.


I didn't mean to scare her like that. But it just spilled out.

I wish I didn't say that.

What I would give to just relive that night, to stop myself from scaring her like that. Maybe things would be different. I wouldn't be the fool, watching her in silence as Gray drunkenly picked her up, bridal style, carrying her back to her farmhouse. Maybe it would be in reverse, and Gray would watch in silent regret as she wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my chest.

Claire, I didn't mean to scare you like that. I didn't mean to.


And Popuri, please understand that I never wanted to hurt you.

Far, far from that. But you were a child. So full of innocence, so untainted.

You were never ready to see the world with me – the world is scary, Pop. I was trying to protect you. I was trying to spare you the agony of being exposed to a world that would break you.

Whenever you said the things you said, so full of hope, so full of innocence, I didn't have the heart to say no to you. You once came to me crying about how no one thought you were pretty – I called you beautiful after that because I couldn't bear to see a child like you being broken. I swear, I never meant to break your heart the way I did.

Trust me, Pop. I know what it feels like to love someone who doesn't love you back.


Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I'm never leaving. I can't. When you haven't had a home for 22 years and you suddenly find it, there's no conceivable way you can leave. I love her.

She's my home.