Shakespeare once said: for never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

I believe it was true. Nothing will ever be more woe than death. Juliet and her Romeo, separated by death, the beyond boundaries. In the past, in the present, and in the future, too, I believe death would be the infinite boundary. Death will always be the saddest, the merciless, and the long grieving. But what if I had found something, more woe than Juliet and her Romeo?

Love is a mystery of what added sadness and what gave happiness.

***

Lee Ji Eun lied next to the man’s warm presence. The man’s presence supposedly warm, felt very cold and distant to her. She knew he was displeased with her presence and the fact that they both were sharing the same bed. It had been a long time since they last slept on the same bed, overjoyed by each other presence. She remembered the old days where sleeping in his embrace was very comfortable. He became her comfort, she became his comfort. She remembered the perfect little life they used to lead on.

He was not facing her. In fact, he was not willing to let her in his room. Her room was at the other end of their mansion. They made sure they wouldn’t have to bump into each other, despite living in the same house. It was a sweet torture that slowly grew deeper into a pure torture. She did not know how much longer she could hold on to him and to this life. She wondered what had gone wrong in their little perfect life.

She shifted closer to him, as he shifted further away. Did he know that she was hurting inside, day by day? Did he know she spent so much effort trying to save what had been too broken? Even if he knew, she doubted he cares. He changed. She changed. Everything changed. She held his shoulder closely and shifted even closer, his back pressing against her petite body. It was not a comfortable position to neither of them, yet she insisted.

She shifted and fidgeted with her ring, around her ring finger. It had stayed and survived throughout the years. It was a beautiful and expensive ring with diamond adding the elegance to it. His name was engraved at the inner side. She smiled bitter sweetly. It was a happy memory that had turned painful after a few years. She never thought she would choose the wrong decision when it came to this man. Did she regret it? She did.

She drew circles on his back, trailing them slowly. He groaned, displeased while she just chuckled. They both has gone used to this. They even stopped asking what had happened a while ago. What happened to them was tragic and the fact that they stopped saving it, they stopped trying and asking made it even more tragic. There were pain and wounds that healed a long time ago, and the fact that they healed made it even worse. Lee Ji Eun just smiled, while drawing more circles on his back. For the past years, they had not been this close. And even enclosing the visible distanced couldn’t enclose the invisible one, deep inside their heart. They gave up a long time ago.

Ten years ago, when she first met this man, she could never imagine living a day without him. Now, she can’t imagine living another day with him. Ten years ago when she decided she would like not to marry anyone and perhaps not to fall for anyone, he came like thunderstorms that sweep everything away including her heart. She fell for him and she swore living the rest of her life with him would be perfect. She changed her mind. She fell in love and get married. A reason of why she firstly refused to lead a love life was her being a witness to countless heartbreaks and broken home, divorces. She realized, when people get married, they never think theirs would fail. She could understand a bit more of it.

Yet it made her questioned more about the vow they exchanged. When they exchanged their vows five years ago, they meant it. She meant it with all her heart and soul; she swore her life upon it. His eyes, the way he stared at her was very sincere that she knew they both shared the same feeling. So what happened to their vows and promises? What happen to her being unable to live another day without him? He was her sanity and now he became her insanity. What changed?

She found their story to be more tragic than what Shakespeare has written. She found their story more woe than Romeo and his Juliet. What sadder than death and unrequited love, she found it to be them. The two of them shared a worse destiny than Romeo and his Juliet. She drew stronger circles on his back and he groaned again, but when she softens he grew silenced. It was the first honest conversation, a conversation without fight that the two had for the past years. The question had been there, at the tip of her tongue for so long.

“When I first marry you, I was so in love with you. I couldn’t think about living a day without you. I even thought I would love you for a thousand year, and now all I can think about is how to get away from you.” Jieun honestly stated and stopped drawing circles on his back. His body tensed and the silenced overwhelmed the two.

Yoo Seung Ho had shared the same feeling about it. He had not found an answer to their problem and he quit without even trying. The atmosphere became silent as she let out the first silent words they shared. Lee Ji Eun’s presence used to be precious to him. It was warm and friendly, kind and so nice, yet it became a stranger’s now. Her presence, instead of adding comforts, it added unpleasant discomforts. When she came and started drawing circles on his back then pulling out all the honest feeling, he reminded she was once precious that he should try to save it. But it was far too late and he knew there was nothing left to fix.

“So, Seungho-ah, what happen to us?”

With that she left, placing her diamond ring beside him. Her presence completely disappeared.

***

I had found something in the present, more woe of Juliet and her Romeo. What people used to fight for became something we needed to get rid of. What more woe than Juliet and her Romeo is: two people madly in love with each other, then their love decreases until it fully disappeared. A love disappearance is utterly sad, yet the pain never existed. 

Author Note

Honestly, this does not turn out as I expect it to be. It's bad. I'm purely unsatisfied. I'm running out of ideas, so maybe it's about time for me to start taking request. Let's see... I'll just think about it.