Summer Sickness.

ㅤ

It was a sweltering summer. Paltry heat haze danced over the asphalt, and the sound of cicadas echoed as if to swallow every other noise in the world. An afternoon for you and me, just like any other. Beneath a vending machine in front of the school gate, in a small patch of shade consumed by the heat, we discovered a dying life. ㅤ

The faint breath of the kitten resting on my palm was hot, as if proving the cruelty of this season. Perhaps, under the pretext of saving that tiny life—we were actually saving ourselves from a dreadfully tedious summer. ㅤ

My world had always flowed like a predictable musical score, but the moment I crouched down with you to listen to that faint heartbeat, an unexpected variation began. ㅤ

Before we even had a chance to realize it. ㅤ