I felt my world spinning, everything that I laid my eyes on flashed swiftly like a blur. Everything but him. A long silence ensued, but his words that echoed incessantly in my head deafened me. At this point, my heart that was already broken had been crushed immeasurably.

“Let’s put an end to this, So Eun, he repeated, but more painfully this time.

Am I too late?

I wanted to scream. I wanted to get in a time machine and be taken back to that certain point in time.

No! Please don’t give up on me…on us just yet

It was like each word that was supposed to roll off my tongue had been incarcerated inside my mouth. The only thing I could feel was the air being out of my chest.

He stood steadfastly, but the way his orbs brimmed with unshed tears spoke volumes of pain and hurt. “My heart was broken when you left me, yet seeing the both of us, especially you, suffer like this breaks it all the more. I love you…so much. Always have and always will. But if this love will continue to cause the both of us pain, then we need to let each other go. We need to set each other free.” I felt another shortness of breath, with my chest compressing. He must have noticed my state of pain as he whispered softly, “I’m not holding you accountable for anything, So Eun.  Whatever happens to me, I assure you that it’s what I wanted. If I end up in pain, that’s because I chose it and I won’t regret my choices.” Shaking my head apprehensively, I gazed back at him while making sure that there was direct eye contact. “You don’t understand, Bum-ah. I-” “I don’t want you to feel burdened about how I feel. I just want you to be happy and I hope you won’t regret your choices, too. If there is someone else who can make you happier than I ever made you, I will accept defeat. I won’t ever deprive you of that.” He gave me a stare of intense longing before he dropped his gaze and closed his eyes. If you want it so bad, you will do everything in your power to make it work. If there was anything that could kill me on the spot, it would be seeing him broken while knowing that I was the sole reason behind it. If it matters to you, you will do everything you can to deserve it. Catching my breath, I was able to let the words flow out of my mouth as I laid my soul bare. “There can never be someone else,” I spoke softly, which rather came out as a squeak, but sounding awful was the least of my worries because all I cared about was saying what needed to be said, “Not when you’re here.” He opened his eyes before locking them with mine. The way he was looking at my face was enough indication to know that I had his undivided attention. “Not when I love you this much. I knew it all along, Bum-ah. I just couldn’t be more of a fool. I was so stubborn to admit it that it had to be at the expense of losing you. I’m so sorry for pushing you away when all I wanted was to beg you to take me back. I was afraid, afraid that what we had would be taken away from me and I was an idiot for being the one to let go of it.  It wasn’t easy to come to you because I thought I already lost you and didn’t deserve a second chance.” Not once did he remove his gaze from my face and neither did I from his. Without a single hint of emotion he asked, “How does it change everything?” “In a way that I know already what it’s like to be without you,” I answered in a heartbeat, “I’m so sorry that I was selfish, that I thought only of my own pain when you were hurting more than I was. Because of that, I became my own worst enemy. I’m so sorry that I came too late, but I’d still like to believe that it’s always better late than never. And I’m sorry that you got tired of fighting for me.” Despite the tears that were itching to break free, I kept my strong resolve and continued, “But I’m done being weak, so please don’t give up on me just yet. Let me be the one to fight for you this time, just like how you always fought for me. It’s my turn to fight for us…if you let me. I already made the mistake of letting you go and I won’t make the same mistake again.” His piercing gaze conveyed that he was looking through me, deep into my soul. Nothing could really escape his eyes and I owed him one. “How sure are you that it was a mistake? What if you were right all along, that we were never meant to be together?” “Because I trust myself now. More than ever,” I replied with resounding conviction, “I trust myself to know that I’m making the best choice, the one that always felt right.” “And what could that choice be?” He didn’t end the interrogation, but I didn’t mind one bit. He could interrogate me to his heart’s content and I could swear that every answer would come from the bottom of my heart. “To be with you.” My upfront response seemed to have astounded him, but it didn’t take long before he came back to his consciousness. “What if I’m the one who ends up hurting you this time? Do you think it would still be worth it?” Although his question was unanticipated, I didn’t let it deter me from saying what I truly felt even if it made me look like a fool. “T-then just d-do it! Hurt me if you have to. I’d rather get hurt than lose you again!” He stood with his mouth agape. “Do you really believe I’d want to hurt you?” he asked before shaking his head disbelievingly. “Well…no…but…let’s just say it happened…I mean, hypothetically speaking, but I’m not saying I believe it can happen,” I rambled as I hit my forehead with my palm. “Gosh, what am I saying?” A silhouette of a smile took form before he quickly pulled his poker face back on. He was certainly enjoying every minute of it and who was I to deprive him of that? “Are you done walking away?” “Yes,” I answered earnestly more than I ever had. His once noticeably tensed shoulders loosened. “Did you miss me?” Thoughts of the times we were apart and crossed paths again ran through my mind. He was just supposed to be within my reach, but the distance couldn’t get wider because of the wall I placed between us. “There was never a single day when I didn’t want you back.” He nodded his head slowly; his eyes that used to be lifeless were gradually regaining their vivacity as they glistened. “Do you still love me like you say you do?” “I never stopped,” I spoke the truest words that I had ever said in my whole life. His gaze softened, but I could detect his hesitance. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop him from finding out, “Are you still afraid?” I already deprived him of the truth that he deserved to know when I pushed him out of my life and while he may not entirely like what I was going to say, I owed him nothing short of the truth. “A little,” I confessed, yet the understanding that I saw in his eyes couldn’t be denied, “But I don’t doubt that I will overcome it. As long as I’m with you.” The moment he heard my response, no words were needed to affirm that things were starting to look up as he finally gave me the pleasure of seeing his signature lopsided grin, the one that hadn’t made an appearance for quite some time now.  Tenderly, with a deep, slow breath; he uttered, “Will you come back to me now?” My heart that had been crushed into tiny crumbs molded back together, bit by bit. I could feel it beating madly, much like a riot. “W-will you still take me back?”  I trembled with tremendous emotion, doing my best to keep my tears at bay. The smile on his face grew wider and the way he was looking at me expressed all the emotions that no longer needed to be put into words. “Come here.” Throwing away all the fears, doubts, insecurities, and suppressed feelings that I kept bottled up all this time, I let the tears that were begging to be freed finally fall as I closed the gap between us by jumping straight into his arms, where I truly belonged. He took me in his arms, welcoming my weight before pulling me closer, as if holding on for dear life. I let my head rest on his chest and listened to the rapid beating of his heart playing a melody that hit all the right notes. But this time, it was undoubtedly beating with mine, both of our rhythms in sync. I basked in