“Krys—Soojung-ah,” I switch to her Korean name as I take her smooth, pale and flawless hands into my trembling, tan, callous one. “I have lost myself along the way on this voyage as a married couple. I have dared to allow my feelings for you to exceed and progress more than what I should have allowed. I have crossed the thin line that separates virtual and reality. What I’m trying to say is….” I gulped, “I-I-I l-love you, Soojung-ah.”

The feeling of pure euphoria of finally confessing to the woman I love only lasted but a few short seconds as she soon doused me in ice cold water with her reply, her words like knives that repeatedly stabbed into my heart.

I see moving, but I couldn’t hear a thing. In spite of that, I knew exactly what she was saying. Thank you for buffering the pain. I thanked my sense of hearing after she had retreated back into the room of WGM staff that was too busy celebrating Kryber’s success to notice that the “couple” had been missing.