Some said that everything is temporary, people come and go. Nobody stayed for you except yourself. She understood it very well; people kept leaving her all by herself. She tried so hard to put on a big smile, ensured herself that it was just life circle. But why it felt so hard when it was about that person? The one that shared the most precious youth together, they grew up together as if it was some natural thing to do. She was fully aware that this day would come but she never expected that this would be so difficult. He resembled her favorite book, a thick classic book that she always read in the middle of the night. She liked every chapter of her book, from happiness to sadness and vice versa. Every chapter on that book spoken how they had through thick and thin together, stood for each other. Their happiness and sadness were both painted gradually with the touch of their own ink; they had made their own book through their journey. Their story might be the best story of their lives, being each other shelter, encouraging each other, reached out their hands when one needed help and stuck in their deepest darkness pit. They had been each other’s light, bringing the brightest verse in their story. She read their book leisurely; her eyes scanned every word, until she suddenly stopped. The dense black ink spilled, stained half of the page. They gave up, no, he gave up. He took his pen down as if there was no hope for them, he stopped writing their story. She choked up, swallowing her unreleased words.

“I thought you would fight for me, for our relationship.”

“I’m sorry; I don’t want to hurt you any longer.”

Classic, his last words were classic. It was cliché, he closed their book. She continued to read unfinished book, flipped to the next chapter. It was barely written, words were all scattered everywhere. They resembled her feelings, scattered with uneven black ink. Her eyes were teary, their memories flashed before her. This was the book that she deeply in love yet the words were gradually far apart as the space between those words were infinite. She could still feel him and his words of their story; sit in front of her, on his favorite chair as he laughed upon her jokes, vivid.  But why did he also look vague? He kept walking toward the light which blinded her sight. She reached for the next chapter, it was his writing.

“As much as I want to, I can’t live in your book anymore, our book.”

He asked her to let him go, to stop writing their story like what he had done first. The dense black ink dripped as if it was her scar.

“I have never loved anyone the way I loved you.”

She burst into a soft cry; the tears were gradually dripped down to the last page, blended with the stained ink. They shared everything too deeply, it was difficult for her. They had unfinished story for her but the book had already ended for him.  He is still her favorite book, still. The book that would make her came back to read it again, tracing the memories.

“Goodbye, Baekhyun.”

Jieun closed the book gently as she took a deep breath, forced a small smile, tried so hard to let everything go. This is the end; this is how their story ends.