The Black Swan Behind

138 New Year’s Eve

“Ah..” Emma immediately realized her gesture, and then, laughed back at Calvin. She had to be innocent and clueless so that Calvin wouldn’t be suspicious of her. “You’re right. Actually, I was just looking for something to talk about.. Haha..”

“Ow.. Sorry if it made you feel awkward. I’m not really good at finding a topic. I’m embarrassed to make you do that.” He rubbed half of his face with one hand.

Actually, Emma felt guilty because it was her lie that made Calvin feel guilty. However, she had no other choice. ‘I’m sorry Calvin..’ Emma said in her heart.

BAM!! SPATTER...

Calvin and Emma flinched when they heard the explosion-like sound. They immediately looked up into the sky to see the remnants of the sparks from the fireworks that had just exploded. Soon, other fireworks began to follow to decorate the night sky.

“Wow.. It’s beautiful.” Emma muttered as she looked up at the sky, didn’t know where the fireworks came from.

“Want to go there? We still have time.” Calvin said, pulling Emma to her feet.

“Where to?” Emma asked while picking up their trash.

Calvin glanced at his watch. Then, he took all the trash that was in Emma’s hands and ran to the nearest trash can to throw them away, “To a city square near here. I just remembered that there used to be a lot of people playing fireworks there on New Year’s night.”

.....

Finally, Emma followed Calvin to his motorbike. Then, Calvin took off the spare helmet he always put on the back of his motorbike. He gave it to Emma.

“What are you doing?” Emma asked while wearing the helmet. She watched as Calvin was taking off his big brown coat.

Calvin didn’t answer, but put the coat on Emma’s body, ??”It’s cold,”

Emma’s cheeks instantly heated up. She looked at Calvin who was now only wearing a white knitted sweater over the inside of his plaid shirt which only showed the collar part. Calvin would be riding a motorbike. He would get the most wind hit to his body but still gave his coat to Emma.

“What are you doing? I’ve already put on my own coat. You’d be colder if you only wore those clothes.” Emma said, about to open the coat that felt a little heavy. But, Calvin quickly held her hand.

“I won’t be cold. You’re behind me.” The answer made Emma think hard. Then, Calvin smiled gently while buttoning his coat which was covering Emma’s small body, “Instead of me, you are the one who has to stay warm.”

Calvin got on his motorbike and started the engine. Then, he gave his hand in front of Emma who was still standing transfixed, “Come on up.” he said with a warm smile on his face.

Thanks to Calvin who gave Emma his warm coat, she didn’t get cold even though she was riding a motorbike on a cold winter night. Even though Emma was used to riding around on winter nights, she admitted that it was true that she always felt cold, but still forced herself to go down the road with her favourite metal horse.

Like what Calvin said, it turned out that the mini-market they had visited was quite close to a square. Seen a nameplate made of carved marble. It said ‘Mona Square’.

It turned out that many people gathered to celebrate New Year’s Eve in the square. The people were busy setting off fireworks and preparing some of the biggest ones to be launched at midnight which would arrive in about thirty minutes.

Calvin parked his motorbike in a parking lot that was already quite full of motorbikes and cars. He helped Emma by using his hands to hold her when she got off the high bike.

Emma’s face was full of joy. Of course, she would be happy because the square looked pretty with lots of lights and several small booths selling food. If she had known from the start that there was a place like this, she probably wouldn’t have been feeling down because she didn’t have anything to do to welcome the new year.

Calvin, who saw Emma’s happy face, smiled with all his heart. He immediately took off his own helmet and tied the helmet that Emma was wearing back to its original place. “Let’s go there. What do you want to eat? Since it’s New Year’s Eve, I’ll be the treat.” He said after standing beside Emma.

“You sure?” Emma widened her eyes. The two bright brown irises instantly shone, reflecting the colourful lights.

Calvin nodded confidently, “I’m not kidding.” he answered, before pointing to a booth selling roasted corn, “How about that?”

Emma immediately nodded, and then, they approached the booth. In just a few minutes, Calvin’s hands were carrying three plastic bags containing multiple kinds of food. However, he didn’t mind at all as long as the girl beside him was happy.

The two of them ended up sitting on a staircase that stretched across the square where a lot of people sitting there too. The whole time, Calvin only watched Emma who was busy eating while looking around at the view of the bustling square.

When Emma finally turned her face to Calvin, she realized that the man was staring at her openly with a gentle smile, “What?” Emma asked confused.

Calvin shook his head, “Did you enjoy it? The food and the view,”

Emma smiled and nodded, “If I think about it, this seems to be the first time I’ve celebrated New Year outside the house since my mom passed away.”

“How is your new year usually?” Calvin asked.

“Hm.. I celebrated it with some of my relatives, the people who are always around me. We celebrated it in the yard.” Emma answered. The people she meant were Jonas and her caretakers who worked for her father. As for her family, each of them chose to be busy with their own business which Emma didn’t have any idea about.

“To be honest, this is also the first time I have celebrated New Year’s Eve with other people since my brother and grandmother died. Usually, I just sit alone in a crowd like this. Watching people laugh, even if it’s not with me,” Calvin said. “I’m so glad that you are by my side right now.”

Emma cleared her throat as she turned her gaze forward to watch the visitors who usually formed a group. Judging from the members, they seemed to be families with young children and the elderly.

“They look happy. It seems like it would be really nice to be together in a place like this with the family.” Emma muttered.

“I still remember the feel a little. It was fun. I wish I could feel it again, even if it’s impossible.” Calvin replied by looking at what Emma was witnessing. “Emma..” he called.

Emma then turned to Calvin with a questioning look.

“The times like we are feeling now will eventually pass. I think we can take this life experience as a lesson, so that when we start our own family, we shouldn’t be selfish parents.” He said.

Emma stared at Calvin for a while with a thoughtful face. That’s right. Actually, what Emma and Calvin experienced was the result of their parents’ greed. If only Emma’s father paid more attention to his children. If only Calvin’s parents didn’t always work abroad. Then, maybe, things would be different now. But Emma strongly agreed with what Calvin said. In the end, all of that would pass and they could only learn from what had happened, so they wouldn’t pass the same fate on to their children in the future. Because, they knew how painful it was.

“I’ll go there for a minute,” Calvin suddenly woke Emma from her thought. She replied with a nod.

Emma stared at Calvin’s board back who was walking away. The man with dyed blonde hair was seen standing in front of a booth selling various types of fireworks. Unconsciously, Emma was already looking at him without blinking.

Even though his hair was dyed weirdly, it turned out that Calvin’s handsome face did give him a lot of advantages. It was as if anything stuck to his body would look good. It seemed, so far, it was only Calvin who understood Emma’s feelings as a child who lacks family affection.

Just like Emma, ??Calvin was also living alone. Emma came to understand, maybe, apart from revenge, Calvin was hunting gangsters to cover the empty feeling in his heart. Because, that was exactly how Emma felt. From feeling lonely, she looked for activities that challenged her adrenaline and made her tired to death so she could sleep soundly at night.

Calvin returned to Emma with four packs of Sparkles fireworks in his hands. He opened one of them and took out a lighter which he had also bought at the booth because he was not a smoker, so he rarely brought lighters with him.

Calvin gave a spark stick that was shaped like a long small wire that could be held at the end. Emma accepted the thing, “I remember playing this a lot when I was a kid,” she muttered with a warm smile. It was Jonas who gave the sparks for her to play in the backyard for new year’s eve.

“I usually celebrate every New Year’s Eve by setting off these fireworks. Even though I light it alone, it feels good because it brings back fond memories of my childhood.” Calvin said by setting off the spark. After it was lit, he immediately lit Emma’s.

Emma’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the reddish-yellow spark that looked like a flower, “It’s beautiful...”

“Those things are beautiful to you. But you don’t know there’s something more beautiful than fireworks.” Calvin replied.

Emma immediately turned her gaze to the man who was staring at her deeply, “What is it?”

“You,”

WHIZZZ!! BAM!! BAM!! SPATTER...

The two light brown irises stared at the gentle smiling man in front of her, against the backdrop of dozens of huge fireworks exploding in the sky. It looked like the time had shown 00.00, which indicated the year had changed. With that, the time in Emma’s small world seemed to stop ticking. What Calvin said made her freeze.