Ren arrives in Kołobrzeg hoping to uncover the story behind the photo—a boy standing alone by the lighthouse. He meets Aleksy, who looks eerily similar to the boy in the image. Their first encounter is tense, but fate keeps pulling them together.
As Ren explores the town through his lens, Aleksy becomes his reluctant guide. Slowly, they unravel the mystery of the photo, which ties into a decades-old love story between Ren’s grandfather and a Polish boy during WWII.
Their bond deepens as they retrace the past, and Ren begins to see Aleksy not just as a connection to history, but as someone who makes him feel truly seen. But Aleksy struggles with his own fears—of being vulnerable, of losing someone again, of stepping into a love that feels too big to hold.

🌊 Salt in the Wind Episode 21: The Quiet Between Waves


The gallery still drew visitors, but the crowds had thinned. The memorial near the lighthouse stood quietly, flowers tucked beneath its frame, poems fluttering in the wind. Ren walked past it every morning, camera in hand, not to document but to listen.


Aleksy had begun painting again—new canvases, new colors. Less storm. More light.


Ren watched him one afternoon, brush moving slowly across the canvas. "What are you painting?"


Aleksy didn't look up. "Not the past. Not exactly. Something between memory and hope."


Ren sat nearby, flipping through the digital archive. Messages had come in from across Poland. From Japan. From strangers who had loved and lost. From people who had never spoken their truth aloud.


"I never knew their names. But I knew their silence. Thank you for giving them back to us."


Ren read it aloud. Aleksy paused, brush hovering.


"They're part of something bigger now," he said.


That evening, they walked to the dock. The same place Aleksander and Masaru had once sat. The same place Ren had photographed Aleksy months ago.


The sea was calm. The sky streaked with gold.


Aleksy sat beside Ren, legs dangling over the edge. "Do you ever think about leaving?"


Ren hesitated. "Sometimes. But not now."


Ren turned. "Because this story isn't finished. And because you're here."


Aleksy didn't speak. He just leaned gently against Ren's shoulder.


They sat like that for a long time, the wind brushing past them like a memory.


Back at the hostel, Ren printed a new photo—Aleksy painting, light pouring through the window. He pinned it beside the final letter from Masaru.


The collage had stopped growing. But it hadn't stopped breathing.


Aleksy stood behind him. "What do we do now?"


Ren smiled. "We live. And we remember."


Chapter 21 - Episode 21: The Quiet Between Waves