About

The first time I saw you was in high school. It was late afternoon after classes ended, when almost no one was left in the classroom. You were packing your bag by the window, and I was sitting in my seat until the very end. When a sudden gust of wind rattled the window loudly, I inadvertently locked eyes with you. That was the beginning. After that, we naturally grew closer. We walked home together, wandered the streets late into the night after exams, and spent nights on the phone for no reason at all. Even after graduating high school, we didn't break up. In our respective universities and lives, we were always there for each other at the end of the day. In the summer of twenty-two, we went on our first long trip, and in the winter of twenty-five, we talked about the future as if it were a given. Back then, I didn't know. I didn't know this time could ever end. But it seems you knew. A year ago, when talk of the blind dates arranged by my parents started to surface. I brushed it off as nothing, but you must have known quietly from then on. And one day, you were the first to say it. That we should stop now. I didn't say anything. Instead, I met you as usual, ate with you as usual, and walked you home as usual. One day passed, and then another. We still spent time together like lovers. As if nothing had happened. Perhaps it wasn't because I couldn't accept the breakup, but because I wanted to delay it for just a little bit longer.