439 A Realization

Isolde got distracted and watched Ren and Evie, who were in the waters, forgetting about Leonel. It took her a while to realize that the poor man was paralyzed, unable to move an inch due to the wet sand weighing on his body.

"I think Ren is doing well. It's good that Evie is with him," she said.

"Yeah. I'm grateful to Evie for being there for Ren," Leonel responded.

"He is still teaching her how to swim."

Leonel looked over at the horizon and yawned. That sun was blistering, but why was he feeling comfortable? "Is that so?"

"Ah." Isolde covered her mouth when she noticed that Evie had lost her bra.

Was she having a wardrobe malfunction right at this very moment?

Upon hearing the panic in Isolde's voice, Leonel asked, "What is it?"

His initial reaction was to get up but once again realized that he couldn't. So he stretched his eyes towards Ren's location.

"Don't look." Isolde was quick to react and threw the sand in her hand to Leonel's face.

"Ouch! Sand! There's sand in my eyes!"

"Oops . . . sorry. Wait here." Isolde scooped a handful of water and splashed it on Leonel's face, causing the latter to flinch.

"Agh! My eyes! It burns! Isolde, that's salt water!"

Isolde bit her lips and guiltily apologized, "S-sorry. I'll get you fresh water."

After cleaning Leonel's eyes with a bottle of water, Isolde patted his face.

"Are you still alive?"

Leonel opened his eyelids. His eyes were so red that they looked worse than sore eyes. He couldn't even keep his eyes open.

"What do you think?" he pouted.

Isolde awkwardly laughed and said, "Don't be too angry. Here."

Isolde placed her sunglasses over to Leonel's eyes and nodded to herself. "There. How do you feel?"

"You . . . you know what . . . I think I feel a little–ouch!"

"W-what is it?"

"S-something is biting my leg! Get me out of here!" Leonel wanted to cry. He felt pain but couldn't do anything about it. This was the worst kind of torture!

"Egh? Is it a crab?"

"Why are you excited? Get me out of here!"

Isolde had buried him too deep to even left a finger.

"R-right!" Isolde quickly dug into the area where she thought Leonel's legs were, attempting to get that crab first.

"H-hoi!" Leonel burst red when Isolde was digging in the wrong area, but his throat was too dry, and it hurt him to talk.

"Ahuh! I got you!" Isolde's eyes sparkled when she noticed the sand twitching on top of a bulging area.

She cupped it with her hand and happily announced to Leonel, "Leo, I got the crab! Don't worry. I'll get it off you right now!"

". . ." Leonel's chin trembled. His head was bursting from heat and from how hard his heart was beating.

He closed his eyes tight and uttered in a weak voice, "T-that's not a crab . . ."

"Hmm?" Isolde tilted her head when she saw that Leonel was red all over and shifting his head away from her.

Isolde repeatedly shifted her eyes between her hand and Leonel's face. Unknowingly, her hand squeezed the bulge, making Leonel let out a moan.

Isolde gasped and retrieved her hand lightning-fast. Her whole body was burning as she stared at her hand while her fingers were twitching.

No wonder it felt too big for a beach crab.

Isolde shook her head and shot to her feet, and she bolted away from Leonel in a hurry, screaming, "I'm sorry!"

"H-hoi! I-Isolde, don't run! Get me out of here first! Something is still biting my leg!"

After escaping from Leonel, Isolde caught her breath in a bar. She ordered their strongest drink and drank it with one gulp.

"One more!" she shouted and slammed the shot glass on the table.

"Yo. Isolde, you're here too?"

Isolde flicked her attention at Sky, who just popped out of nowhere.

As usual, he looked cute with a grin on his face. He could light up the dark sky with just a smile.

"Agh . . ." Isolde brushed her hair behind her ear. "Yeah."

Did he saw her being unladylike again?

Isolde didn't care about what Sky thought anymore, though.

"You too?"

Sky only smiled and sat beside Isolde. "Yeah, well . . . I heard that you're here so . . ."

Isolde's heart skipped a beat. "W-what do you mean?"

Was he confessing at this moment when her entire mind was a mess because of what just happened with Leonel?

Sky licked his lips and fixed himself on his chair to face Isolde. "Well. . . I know that we have broken up before, but . . ."

Sky grabbed Isolde's hand on the table and captured her elusive gaze. "I always wanted to tell you that . . . I never stopped thinking about you. I don't even have a girlfriend ever since we broke up . . . maybe we can start again . . . you know, maybe dinner later?"

Isolde's system was in shock from what Sky told her. She didn't expect that he would say that after all what happened in the past.

But . . .

Isolde pulled her hand from his grasp. "You told me before that you wanted to break up because I'm more of a man than a woman."

Sky rubbed the back of his head. "Augh . . . that . . ."

"And I agree with you," she said. "And I think that as long as I'm like this, you'll still break up with me in the end. I don't want to change, so . . . I'm sorry."

Sky's smile fell when he realized that Isolde wouldn't get back to him even after he lowered himself and sweet-talked her.

He immediately felt offended and smiled condescendingly.

"What are you thinking? I only feel sorry for you. I'm only asking you out to dinner and not asking to get back together. Don't think too highly of yourself. You're not that beautiful, Isolde. I can easily replace you if I wanted to."

Isolde couldn't speak for a moment before her face turned serious. "Don't slap into my face that you could replace me because I could smack right back at you the words, 'I had loved you, but you were never a loss.'"

She then drank another shot of tequila and marched back to where Leonel was, leaving Sky gasping for a comeback.