The Secret Island
Chapter 75: Back to Her Graduation ii

Until dusk, Celine walked out. She walked out alone after saying goodbye to all her friends. Her hand was still holding a bottle of wine. Even though Martin guessed it was considered normal considering the context of partying after the ceremony, Celine appeared strange; Martin observed that she wasn't particularly enjoying the time. Still, with the intention of giving her a gift, he followed her from a distance. He was really worried about Celine, seeing that her head was down when she walked. She was very drunk by that point, and no friends were around to take care of her.

She sat down on the bench and removed the crown of olive leaves. She sat there and stared blankly into nothing for a while and took out her phone, and looked at the screen. He saw she was calling someone, but it seemed like the end of the line could not be contacted, so she put down the phone and covered her hands over her face, and cried.

Martin was immediately taken aback by that. Why is she crying? Who is she calling? He suspected she called her ex-boyfriend, whom she told him about. The guy she was with before we met.

And then something crossed his mind...

He had changed his phone number since the day she left the island and departed from his life.

Or maybe she was calling him?

Martin looked at the woman who should be the happiest person on the most successful day in her young adult life. She was crying shamelessly on her big day. And so he felt the guilt. Once again, he felt the limits of what he could do for her. He felt useless and shamed. Even though he wanted to go over and comfort her and wipe away her tears, he couldn't...

All he could do was just stand there dumbly and watch her cry.

She was crying for several minutes, and suddenly Celine did what he didn't expect. She...slept there? What?

Gosh...

In public?

This was another piece of new information he had just found out about Celine. It was apparent that she was the kind of person who fell asleep when she was too drunk. And she wasn't careful about where she was. She was alone, for God's sake! Anything could happen, and she wasn't even that careful about her surroundings. No one took care of her in this vulnerable stage except him. If he could talk to her, he probably gives her a long lecture on taking better care of herself. The only positive thing he saw from this was the opportunity for him to walk towards her and sit there silently next to her, a sleeping girl on a public bench.

Martin did not hesitate to drop the small gift box into Celine's pocket, and since we had the opportunity to be this close again, he wanted to say something to her.

"It's been a couple of days since we haven't seen each other...." He said softly. On the one hand, he was afraid that she might wake up and question why he was here. But on the other hand, he really wanted to say something to her, even though she was not conscious of hearing him.

"Congratulation on your degree. That is quite an accomplishment." She was still sleeping soundly.

"You need to take better care of yourself, you know. You are already an adult. You have to take better care of yourself. I'm not always here to protect you if anything goes wrong. I'm really worried about you. Please care good care of yourself...." He knew very well that everything he said was pointless, and all the warnings were unheard, but he just wanted to get that out of his chest.

But he smiled once he got a chance to really look at her. Her face was red from alcohol.

"I'm flying back tomorrow. This time, it is for real."

He was saying goodbye to her.

"I don't know what I have to face there when I'm back. But at least my heart will be quite safe, don't you think? I gave you all. I gave you my heart...."

The only reply he got was her mumbling in her throat. The things he said were more like noises that caused annoyance to her than a sign of approval. But Martin continued speaking his mind.

"I'm really happy for the two weeks that we were together...."

Suddenly, he wanted to say things he didn't get a chance to say. If his worse fate was to die for the mistake of his past actions, he wanted this chance to tell her his true feeling in person, with his own voice. He wanted to say what he truly felt to her, not just keep it in his mind forever.

"In the future, no matter how long, no matter what has changed, I will always love you, I will always love and miss you... no matter where you are."

"Hey, if I could get a chance to get back to you, can you always stay with me? I want to see you every morning when I wake up. I want to have you to go home to. I don't know if I can have the honor, but let me tell you, that is just my dream...."

Thinking about that, he teared up.

"Someday... I wish you could become my family...."

He confessed his feeling.

No matter who he might become, no matter how traumatized he might be by what will happen to him, he still had the dream of having someone to be his family. He wanted someone to always be there for him as a family. That was Martin's dream.

He was tired...

He was tired with competition, he was tired with the expectation, and he was tired of the complexity of the business world.

If all problems could be resolved, that was Martin's wish. He wished for simplicity of life and a warm embrace from a woman he loved. That was the only thing he hoped for.

He didn't know if she would share his dream. That was a bit too much to wish that from someone.

He was sitting with her, being her company while she was taking this nap for a while. It was until he saw her phone vibrating and she was stirred up that he jumped and prepared to leave.

He decided to walk away and looked at her from afar. It was a good decision because only a few minutes after, her father was walking to where she was sleeping and scolding her for doing just that. Apparently, she was sleeping on a bench in front of the hotel her family was staying.

She seemed confused about what was happening. He bet she barely heard her father's berating. She was confused when she patted her pocket and found his gift there-the gift she didn't know was from him until she read the card anyway. Celine looked to her left and right. But then she went into the hotel with her father.

One day...

He thought. One day... no matter how long, even when everything had changed.

One day... if he was given an opportunity, Martin thought he would say those words of confession to her again. But now, all he could say was... "Goodbye, my darling Celine."