"No."
Ren's voice broke. His chest tightened. His heart screamed.
"How can something this beautiful end this fast?" His mind spun, like static on an empty channel.
Fingers trembling, he unlocked his phone in desperation.
"What do you mean breakup?
What's happening? Dude?"
"Dude?"
"I never cheated on you… I never even looked at anyone else. I swear."
There was a pause.
One that stretched like an infinite hallway in his chest.
"It's not about you, Ren."
"It's just… my brother. I think he saw the story "
She fixed her voice.
" idk...He was staring me whole day "
"But, Like I said " he might." So… we still have a chance not to break."
That's when he breathed again.
"Phew."
The sound of survival.
His chest loosened. His fingers slowly stopped shaking.
"There is nothing as sacred as this... to break that easy."
he gave her everything.
Love.
Comfort.
Whispers of warmth from 3 km away.
He had never loved himself—But he had loved her in ways that defied the gods.
And then he asked,
"Oh shit—Serin, how was your day?"
And that's when she opened the floodgates.
And like that, the screen of Ren's phone faded into memory, and her words turned into a flashback — slamming his heart like a baseball bat.
The sun glistened against her cheeks like gold pressed onto soft mochi.
Her room basked in warm orange hues.
And in that light, Serin looked like a painting too perfect for this century.
Messy buns danced over her face. Her cheeks caught light like clouds at dusk.
She wasn't trying to be beautiful. She just was.
And yet… her heart thumped.
Not with love.
But fear.
"Do they know about Ren?"
"Did Ashin find out?"
"Is today the day everything breaks?"
She walked to the mirror.
Paused.
Stared.
The old Serin would've counted flaws.
But Now ? She saw what Ren saw. Not perfection. But peace
The girl staring back wasn't the insecure Serin from months ago.
She was a little more steady now.
A little more bright.
"Someone 3km away loves me… so damn much." And that was enough.
As she walked down the stairs, she saw her brother Ashin, And the family Staring, As if the air had frozen.
"Is this it?"
"Did they see?"
"Do they know?"
her mind whispered.
Her knees weakened.
Her mind started to tremble.
Ashin looked up. "So, ready to go?"
His voice was calm. Too calm. Her heart thudded. Was it genuine? Or did he know and was just… waiting?
Ashin drove her to school.
He didn't speak.
Neither did she.
Finally, he asked, "Are you… keeping secrets again?"
Serin froze. "What do you mean?"
"You think I don't notice? You flinch when you see me now., You Stays at your room all day who are you talking to. What's going on?"
She hesitated.
"Nothing... just school stuff."
He sighed. "Serin. I'm not stupid. I know how kids hide things. I've done it myself."
Pause.
"But one thing you should know—love isn't a joke. It isn't rebellion, If You love someone then that's your end "
She couldn't reply.
Because he wasn't wrong.
But he wasn't entirely right either.
They reached the school.
He parked.
He looked at her, softer now.
"You're smart. And stronger than you think. Just… don't waste yourself, Serin. People like us, we only get one life. Don't throw it away for a moment's fire."
She nodded.
Bit her lip.
Fought tears.
As he drove away, She exhaled.
The first step into the hallway was hell.
"You have a bf?"
"Ren??"
"Girl, how did that happen?"
"Are you even happy?"
"I heard you kissed him through phone, what the hell lol"
Voices.
Laughs.
Judgments.
Like arrows.
Her chest turned into a battlefield. Her calm face was just armor.
Her inner self?
Drowning.
Down.
Down.
Down.
She fell through a void.
A dark, cosmic space inside her soul.
A room with no walls.
No time.
Only echoes of her doubts.
"Are they right?"
"Am I wrong to love him?"
"Why does something that feels this right... hurt this much?"
She missed Airi. God, she missed her more than anything. The little sister of her soul.
Today, of all days—Airi was absent.
But then, In that infinite fall, she saw a hand.
Ren.
A vision.
Of the second date.
Brown baggy hoodies.
White T-shirts.
Holding hands in the mall.
Sharing fries.
Laughing.
And suddenly, she wasn't falling anymore. She was floating.
She floated in class like a feather held up by love. No wind. Just warmth.
Teacher started the class long time ago,
But she was still in the void.
" Why does everyone chase bodies, kisses, skin... when a single text from him can lift me out of darkness?"
"Isn't that love? Isn't that sacred?"
"This… this long-distance chaos… is the purest thing I've ever known."
"In a world that runs on touch, I fell in love through silence and signals—and I'd do it all over again."
That line hung in her chest like a banner.
A truth.
"Ren would've fainted by now if he were me," she smirked.
"He would've sweat like he ran a marathon."
"Lil guy would've died if five people called him out."
A laugh.
It escaped her lips.
Despite everything.
She laughed.
just like that,
they came back to the present.
And she called Ren.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey…"
Pause. Their hearts talked before their mouths did.
"You're like a baby, Ren. So dramatic. So silly."
He stayed quiet.
"But… I love it. I loved every second of it. And I know it's selfish but—if I could, I'd keep you all to myself. Forever. Just us. Nothing else. No noise. No judgment. Just… us."
Before he could say anything,
The sky bled hues of violet and pink, with the moon shyly tucked behind it. Cherry blossoms danced in the air like confetti.
They watched the rain.
Silence.
Sacred.
The wind whispered.
The petals danced.
The rain began to fall — not in chaos, not in noise — but in rhythm.
Outside the balcony, droplets painted the sky with silver streaks.
Not too loud.
Not too soft.
Just right — like a gentle knock on the universe.
Inside their rooms, 3 kilometers apart, Ren and Serin both looked up.
They were still in the call,
talking through the soul.
No voice, but it wasn't silent either.
She rested her head by the window, eyes glowing in the flicker of the moonlight reflecting off the glass. The first few drops hit the pane like the start of a lullaby. Her hand reached out, touching the cold glass.
In that moment…She didn't feel trapped. She didn't feel scared. She felt seen — by the sky, the moon, and maybe even fate.
"This rain… it's not just water,"
she whispered,
"It's the sky crying out for a love that dares to exist quietly."
As the petals of the cherry blossom trees floated past in the background, She imagined Ren standing across the glass. Smiling. Awkward. Nervous. Like always.
And without realizing it, her lips formed the words:
"Even when you're not near me, I feel like I'm in your arms."
Ren stood shirtless at his window, letting the breeze pour into his room. He blinked as the rain kissed his cheeks. The city lights below looked like stars trapped in glass, shimmering through the haze.
He chuckled softly.
"This is so cinematic, what the hell…"
But he wasn't laughing.
His heart was loud.
He held his phone, fingers trembling just a little.
There was a storm inside him, but the rain outside… felt peaceful. Calm. Sacred.\
He Looked out the window. Then back at his screen.
He couldn't say it,
This wasn't something to say in pixels.
but he had no choice.
"Hey…"
"Hey…" serin giggled softly
Silence.
But the good kind — the kind that only exists when two hearts beat in rhythm across a storm.
The kind where the world stops talking, so their love can speak.
His voice trembled,
"If I asked you something right now…And I meant it…Would you answer honestly?"
"sure"
He looked up.
The moon peeked between clouds, Like it was watching them — their only witness.
He took a breath.
A sacred one.
One meant for legends.
"Will you marry me? Not tomorrow. Not next year. Just… one day. When we're ready.
When we've grown. But still us — just like this…Will you say yes when that time comes?"
Serin didn't speak.
The rain paused, Or maybe it didn't. Maybe the world just felt still for a moment.
Serin's breath caught. Her eyes widened — not in surprise, but in fear.
Just a quiet, trembling breath.
A single drop rolled down the glass beside them. Another fell from her lashes.
The moon hid behind the clouds.
The only sound left…
was the rain.
It fell like poetry from heaven. Not drenching the world — but cleansing it.