It was getting late after Nathan left the café.
The roar of his motorcycle engine shattered the silence of the increasingly deserted road, but neither his thoughts nor his heart was focused on where he was going. City lights flashed past on either side, turning into streaks of light. Both hands still gripped the handlebars tightly, while his emotions continued to burn after everything that had happened.
Elena's slap.
That disappointed look.
Then the words he had never wanted to hear.
They all kept replaying in his head.
He no longer cared when the light turned red. The helmet covering his face made the outside world feel utterly silent. All he could hear was his own breathing.
“Everything is over.”
The words came straight from his heart, accompanied by the fierce tightening of his fingers. He twisted the throttle hard, sending his motorcycle speeding faster than usual.
By then, he had heard several complaints from other drivers.
“Hey... are you trying to get yourself killed?” The voice sounded faint.
But to him, it was like wind passing by. Nathan kept speeding forward. He looked as though he no longer cared about anything.
That night, he didn't feel like returning to his lodging. He was alone, too, without his best friend there to keep him company. That would only make his thoughts feel even more suffocating.
His motorcycle continued racing forward. A horn blared for quite a while. A short time later, he slowed down. The motorcycle finally stopped at the side of the road facing the city park.
Nathan turned toward the park. He shut off the motorcycle, then went to sit on a bench that stood in an already deserted park.
He took out a cigarette and lit it.
He seemed lost in thought over what had just happened, as if he still couldn't believe it had happened at all.
The scent of grass freshly watered by the rain and the rather chilly night breeze slowly pulled his memories back toward a distant past.
As though he were reopening a memory from when the two of them still understood each other.
The evening sky was orange. The sunlight sinking toward the west slipped between the leaves, casting long shadows across the footpath. A gentle breeze stirred the branches of the trees lined neatly along the park.
Back then, Nathan walked a few steps ahead of Elena.
Every so often, he glanced back.
Elena was still following him, both hands tucked into the pockets of her thin jacket. The wind occasionally blew her hair across part of her face.
Beautiful... Nathan still remembered that face.
Not because Elena was wearing anything special. Nor because she had dressed up. It was because that afternoon, Elena had laughed freely, without a care in the world.
“Wanna race?”
Elena immediately looked at him in confusion.
“Race?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Just... because.”
Elena shook her head with a small laugh.
“No way.”
“Why not?”
“I'll get tired.”
Nathan raised both shoulders.
“Okay... whatever.”
Without warning, he ran down the footpath.
“Hey!”
Elena's voice came from behind him. Nathan deliberately didn't look back, grinning to himself.
A few seconds later, the sound of footsteps began drawing closer.
“Nathan!”
That exasperated, laughing tone always made him want to tease her even more. Nathan slowed his pace. The moment Elena caught up, he grabbed her hand.
Soft. Her hand always felt soft.
“Come on.”
“Why are you going so fast?”
“I don't want to go slow.”
“You'll fall.”
“No, I won't.”
Nathan tugged Elena's hand, pulling her a little faster. That afternoon felt so simple to Nathan. Yet it was precisely because of its simplicity that everything felt perfect. Elena gave Nathan's arm a gentle pinch.
“Who are we running from, anyway?” Elena asked.
Nathan stopped, then turned to Elena. She was still smiling in front of him, breathing a little hard from the run.
Nathan didn't answer right away.
The afternoon sunlight reflected in Elena's eyes.
For some reason, the words simply came out of Nathan's mouth.
“Elena... we're being chased by time.”
Elena furrowed her brow.
“Huh?”
“We're being chased by time,” Nathan repeated softly.
A few seconds later, Elena laughed.
“Ahaha... you're weird.”
Nathan chuckled.
“Am I?”
“Yeah.” Elena was still laughing a little.
“But I mean it, El.”
“That’s exactly what makes it weird.”
Nathan didn't reply. He only flashed a bright smile.
Then Nathan pulled his phone from his pants pocket.
“Here.”
“What for?”
“A picture.”
Without realizing it, Elena fixed her hair before standing beside Nathan. Nathan raised his phone to face level.
The camera screen displayed two equally happy smiles. But just as he pressed the button, Nathan deliberately shook his hand.
Click.
The photo turned out blurry.
“Aww!”
“Seriously... why'd you shake it?”
Nathan laughed loudly.
“Haha... it's good.”
“How is it good? You can't even see my face.”
“It's artistic.”
“What part of it is artistic?”
“Motion.”
Elena lightly smacked his shoulder.
“Jerk.”
Nathan laughed even harder.
Before Elena could complain any further, Nathan mussed up her hair and ran.
“Nathan!”
Elena chased after him.
Their laughter filled the park.
Like two little kids playing tag.
Nathan still remembered how that afternoon had felt as though it would never end.
Deep down, Nathan truly believed that time was always faster than people.
Tonight, he remembered it all.
The breeze.
The sky.
Elena's laughter.
Everything.
Nathan opened his eyes. The night breeze touched his face, and he realized that tears had been falling for some time.
The same phone was still in his hand. With slightly trembling fingers, he opened the gallery.
Searching.
He kept searching.
Until at last, he found the photo.
The blurry photo of him and Elena.
Their faces couldn't be seen clearly.
Only two silhouettes filled with the orange light of the setting sun.
Elena had once considered the photo a failure.
Nathan, on the other hand, had never deleted it.
Now he understood why.
The photo had indeed failed to capture their faces.
But it had captured something far more precious.
Happiness.
Nathan smiled faintly, even as his chest felt tight.
“Maybe it's time...” he murmured.
Nathan closed his eyes and tilted his head upward. His thumb hovered directly over the delete button, yet he found it incredibly difficult to press it.
With his eyes still slightly wet and pain overwhelming him, Nathan was consumed by the hurt and felt that Elena's rejection had stripped him of his dignity. He felt he had to make a decision.