Our Summer Is Not Over - vanish into fiction

“Dylan, the clothes you ordered might be hard for me to wear.”

Hearing Mia’s words, Dylan asked, as if he was genuinely curious,

“Why is that?”

“My body is like this now, and that outfit is rather revealing.”

It could cover her scars, but it was a dress that couldn’t possibly hide all the marks Dylan had left on her. He had pressed his lips to areas even wider than her scars, so there was no way a dress like that could conceal them.

“Why don’t you try it on first?”

He was already right next to her, offering the dress.

It felt like a waste of time, but as always, Mia didn’t refuse. She draped the dress over her body. The dress she had previously had fitted hugged her body without a single gap.

As Dylan, standing behind Mia, fastened the dress for her just like before, the white dress slowly tightened around her.

When he finally finished buttoning it up, Mia realized that none of the marks he had left on her were visible at all.

“You… Did you know from the start?”

“If not this dress, you’d wear the same kind as last time, wouldn’t you?”

Should she say it was just like Dylan to calculate things like that, even when he was rutting like a beast?

Still, it didn’t feel bad. The way the white dress she had been eyeing fit her perfectly made her so happy that she momentarily forgot her reality.

She also felt grateful to Dylan. Of course, she was still dissatisfied with his unreasonable demands and the way he had tied her to this place, but she decided not to dwell on those things any further.

Still, spending more time entangled with Dylan wasn’t something she welcomed.

‘If we keep living tangled up like this, and I get attached to him…’

Even now, she already felt all sorts of emotions for Dylan that she couldn’t clearly define, so all the more reason to worry.

‘…I probably shouldn’t think too deeply about it right now.’

Mia shook her head, dismissing it as a pointless thought.

“If we just call in the servants to do my hair, I think we can leave right after. Would you mind waiting a bit?”

“Sit down.”

Dylan held her shoulders and sat her down in front of the vanity. Then, he slowly started brushing out Mia’s long hair.

“What are you doing?”

“You can see for yourself, can’t you?”

“There’s no need for you to do my hair as well.”

“It’s quicker if I do it, rather than having the servants come in and take up time one by one. If we want to be on time, we should hurry.”

There was really nothing to argue with in his words.

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”

As Mia relaxed and answered, it seemed as if the tension in Dylan’s face, reflected in the mirror, also relaxed. Wondering if she’d seen it wrong, Mia started to turn her head, but his stern voice struck her ears.

“Mia, look forward.”

“…Dylan, can you not talk to me like you’re dealing with a child?”

“Is it that bad?”

His gaze was still fixed on Mia’s hair as he asked. The soft sound of her hair and his hand brushing against it tickled her ears.

“Sometimes it seems like you forget my age.”

“That could never happen.”

“It’s just embarrassing.”

“Maybe you should get used to it this time.”

After he finished tidying her hair, Dylan held Mia’s shoulders and met her eyes in the mirror.

In the vanity mirror, a man and woman dressed in matching white stood together. Dylan, with his hair neatly brushed back, and Mia, with her hair tied up into a round bun by his hands.

It looked like a painting.

“How about it? I’m at least a passable husband, aren’t I?”

“If you ever have a daughter, you’d make a wonderful father.”

“At least I won’t be disliked wherever I go.”

From the pure white dress to the jewelry on her neck, the earrings on her ears, and her neatly tied hair. There was no part of her untouched by Dylan’s hands.

Even though there was hardly any makeup on her face, the subtle blush made her look lively. It was an unfamiliar sight.

She also felt an odd, fluttery sensation deep in her chest.

“It suits you well.”

Dylan bent down and brought his face beside hers. When Mia turned her head away with a reluctant look, he kissed her lips as if he had been waiting for it.

Thump, thump— Her heart raced out of control. The eyes that looked like the sea she hated so much stared straight at her. Overwhelmed by the sense that she might be swallowed up and drowned at any moment, Mia closed her eyes.

With her vision cut off, the irregular beating of her heart rang loudly in her ears.

When the kiss became overwhelming and Mia braced herself against the vanity, her hand hit a glass she’d set down earlier. The glass fell and shattered on the floor.

Silence swept the room in an instant.

Their lips parted, and only then did Mia open her eyes and look around.

Staring down at the broken pieces of glass, Mia felt as if she had just been doused in cold water and finally came to her senses.

“Ah.”

Realizing that she had momentarily forgotten her desire to return home, and even the people who had died because of her parents and herself, guilt spread across Mia’s face.

Slowly moving away from Dylan as if nothing had happened, Mia returned to her usual, calm self.

“We should get going now.”

Watching Mia quietly, Dylan also simply nodded as if nothing had happened, and the previous commotion came to an end.