Silence.
It dripped between them like rain between leaves, soft, sacred, unspoken.
For some, silence was peace.
For others, it was a scar.
Ren had lived long enough to understand every shade, every dimensions of it.
At dinner tables, it was louder than arguments.
In classrooms, it was lonelier than empty benches.
In mirrors, it whispered truths no one dared say aloud.
Serin lived in a golden cage, wrapped in velvet comfort.
Her silence wasn't loud, it was delicate. Curated. Beautiful, like the wallpaper in her mansion — and just as suffocating.
They were in the same city.
Same night sky.
But still, their worlds were galaxies apart.
And yet, tonight — wrapped in blankets, screens glowing in the dark, breaths syncing without a word, They were closer than anyone else on Earth.
Rain murmured outside Ren's window. Not chaotic, not soft — just human. A steady rhythm.
Like someone out there — maybe God, maybe fate, was playing background music to this fragile, once-in-a-lifetime moment.
Ren lay on his bed. Motionless. Eyes wide open.
Serin, on the other side of the city, mirrored him like a soul split in two.
The fan hummed above.
Shadows danced lazily on the walls.
His heart beat — slow, uneven like it, didn't know how to act anymore.
No words spoken.
But everything inside them — screamed.
One city. Two hearts.
One breath. Two heartbeats.
One silence. Two silence.
Ren blinked.
Serin blinked.
Their breath synced.
Their hearts whispered across the void — louder than any voice could ever manage.
Two bodies apart.
"Hmm," Ren hummed, barely a vibration.
"Hmmm," Serin echoed, eyes softening.
His lips twitched. "You know," he whispered, "I was just thinking… if you were a weather, you'd be that sudden breeze in the evening. Quiet, unexpected, makes everything feel alive for a second."
She snorted. "And you'd be… that warmth left in the blanket when you get out of bed. You're not the sun… but you stay."
Ren chuckled. "That's either really poetic or really sad."
"It's both...Like us."
"I missed this… your voice."
"I missed us."
Their laughter broke the heaviness. Just for a moment, the pain paused.
And in that laughter, something clicked. Something sacred.
Ren saw her in a blur, not through his phone screen — but through the dream behind his eyelids. Not a memory. Not quite a dream.
But something deeper — like a heartbeat from a future that never happened.
He stood in a quiet chapel. Sunlight poured through stained-glass windows, scattering colors on the floor like God Himself was blessing this moment.
The world outside was still. Like it was holding its breath.
Ren wore a charcoal suit — not extravagant, but clean, elegant.
He looked older. Not by age.
But by healing. By love.
His hands didn't shake anymore. His shoulders stood tall and broad, like the man of the hour.
And at the end of the aisle…There she was.
Serin.
Draped in a gown that whispered instead of shouted. White. Soft. Flowing like stardust.
Her cheeks — a little flushed. Her eyes — glistening. Not because of makeup. But because she was crying. Crying.....out of happiness.
The kind of smile that said, "I've been through hell to get here, finally...We've won."
Cherry blossom petals floated in through a crack in the open door — impossible in that season, but dreams never followed rules.
She walked toward him.
Barefoot. Brave. Beautiful.
Each step closer was a promise.
And Ren? He wasn't nervous. He wasn't scared. He was… home.
Their hands touched. His thumb gently brushed the edge of her knuckles. She looked up — eyes full of a thousand lifetimes — and whispered,
"Even if the world burned, I'd still walk through fire… if it meant reaching you."
And just before the dream faded —Ren leaned in, forehead against hers, and softly said,
"I found you. In this life. I'll find you in every one after."
Then—He blinked. The dream disappeared like breath on glass. But he held onto it. Because even if it wasn't real…It was real to him.
Just a blink. Just a dream.
But he held it in his chest like prayer.
"Already asleep, baby boy?" Serin teased.
"What? No! No-no, I was just… dreaming. I mean, thinking. I swear I won't sleep before you do."
"Cringe."
Ren's eyebrows shot up. "Cringe ?! The only cringe is your brother. I swear, next time he rolls his eyes at me, I'm pulling up and whooping his ass all the way from your home to my home, No cap."
"Yeah, yeah. You start shaking just hearing his name. My tough guy."
Laughter again. The tears started to melt.
"Did you eat, Ser?"
"Not yet. You?"
"No. Wanna eat together? Like old times?"
"I'd like that."
He tiptoed through the dark. His door creaked open. Everyone asleep. This....this tiny space — his room, his galaxy, his rules.
She walked down the mansion stairs. Her home glowed like something out of a masterpiece.
Ren's eyes widened.
He gasped "Damn. I don't think I need a job if I marry you."
Serin smirked. "You better have one. I want a husband who brings flowers and knows how to make an Omelette. Not someone who only knows how to cook Ramen"
Ren clutched his chest dramatically. "Ramen is love, woman."
In their kitchens, two different worlds — they boiled water. Placed their phones near the stove. Face to face. And there they were — finally seeing each other again. After tears, fights, Silences.
Her eyes were raw. Honest. Beautiful. His expression — nothing performative. Just heart.
They waited, As if the time around them stopped — just to connect two souls down in that sacred moment defying space and time and the truth of the whole universe.
The water boiled. The ramen danced.
But neither noticed.
Ren looked up — and there she was.
Serin.
Lit by the soft overhead light of her kitchen, her face framed by loose strands of hair, her eyes puffy from tears, yet somehow… glowing.
Not glowing like stars. Not glowing like makeup ads. Glowing like someone who'd just been seen — fully, gently, for the first time in a long time.
And she was looking at him. Just… looking. Not with expectation. Not with questions.
With something quieter. Something like love.
The hiss of steam curled around Ren's pot. Serin's broth bubbled softly on her stove.
But their eyes — across cities, across screens — didn't move.
It was a quiet gaze, but it held everything.
All the pain from the silence. All the fear that this might end soon.
All the longing of two hearts that had missed each other in ways even they didn't fully understand.
And in that gaze, something shifted.
Serin exhaled first. Just a breath. But it was shaky — like her lungs didn't know what to do with this much emotion at once.
Ren's hand moved toward the screen slowly. He didn't touch it. But he wanted to.
He wanted to wipe her tears. To hold her cheeks. To whisper into her ear, not a phone.
And then — softly, reverently, like a confession born in silence,
"Even if I never see you again in real life… this moment? It would still be enough to love you. For a lifetime."
Serin's lips parted. Her eyes glistened. "You idiot… don't say that. I want a hundred more moments. I want thousands. I want them all with you."
Ren's voice cracked — he laughed through the ache in his chest.
"You know… I think this is what love really is. It's not flowers or music. It's… watching your person make noodles at 2 AM, When the world is sleeping But still Us being awake And realizing you'd marry them for this exact version of them. Tired. Messy. Honest. Real. like.....What's More beautiful than this vision."
Serin blinked hard. She tried to speak. Failed. Then finally—"Ren… marry me in every life. Even if we have to start from scratch each time."
"I already do."
And in the glow of two kitchen lights, separated by streets and families and fate, two souls stared across a screen — and melted into one breath.
They just stared. Into each other. Past the camera. Into the space only they could touch.
Ren holding up chopsticks like a sword, laughed out. "Alright. Prepare for battle."
Serin felt like a mom talking to the immature son.
"You and your ramen wars."she laughed. "What can I say? I fight for what I love."
"Then you'll lose every time… because I'm never letting you win."
In a long time, They finally had a wholesome moment between them.
They slurped noodles. Laughed. Ate like kids left unsupervised in a candy shop.
Even with screens between them, their closeness felt more real than most couples ever know.
Ren cleared his throat.
"I was scared today, Ser. When you didn't talk to me... I was messed up. I couldn't focus. I thought I lost you. I kept checking my phone like it owed me an answer. I felt… lost."
She didn't answer at first.
"Ren…I'm so sorry you felt it but....I'm scared too. What if our families never accept us? What if we lose this fight? I kept wondering if this, us was falling apart. Like… are we running out of time, Ren?"
His mouth opened. Then closed.
How could he promise a future he wasn't sure he could build?
"I… I don't know," he admitted.
Her voice cracked. "Ren, if we fight and lose... I don't want us to break. But... we'll have to, won't we? If it means not hurting each other more."
He was speechless. The pain in his throat clung like vines.
"But promise me…" she continued. "Promise me we'll live every second we do have. Right now. This moment. Like it's everything. Because one day we wake up to see all this was a dream."
That night, her words weren't just speech.
Those lips, Spat Facts that burned his heart starting with each letters.
"I don't wanna lose you Serin."
"Ren I'm just as scared as you are ... I'm scared of choosing you and losing everything else. My family, my home…"
" But serin -"
Before he could finish she slapped him with a question.
"Tell me the truth… if your parents didn't accept me… would you still stay?"
His breathe was caught .He choked.
" Then I'll be torn, Serin. I won't lie. Because it'll hurt like hell choosing between the people who raised me… and the person who taught me how to breathe. But if I have to lose one to keep the other… I'll choose the one who made me feel like I was finally worth loving."
Silence.
"In every life. Even if I don't remember who I am... my heart will still remember you.
Something buzzed out through his ears.
She was sure....He won't have an answer for it.
Ren whispered,
" I swear, I'll fight for this love. To the last breath. To the last day of my life. You are Safe with me, I will take care of you till my last breathe. I will Provide whatever you want. If you can't sleep i will be your dreams. If you can't walk, I'll be your legs."
He stopped a second to catch his breathe. Silence.
"I love you, Serin."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I love you too, Ren."
And the rain outside — it began to fall harder. Like the sky was crying along with them.
They cried. Together. Not from fear.
But because this… this was sacred. This was real.
Ren lay there, a soft stream of tears trailing down his cheek. That's when Serin's voice, barely above a whisper, trembled into the silence.
"…My past," she began, her voice cracking. "Even I haven't fully moved on. It's not something I say aloud. Not something I show. It just... stays inside."
She hesitated. Then whispered.
"But tonight… I wanna show you."
Ren didn't speak. He only listened. His eyes wide open, as if trying to memorize her soul.
She took a deep breath, clutching her pillow tighter.
"I was never allowed to cry, Ren. Never allowed to speak up. Even when I was hurting, I was told to smile. To act perfect. To be a 'good girl.' I was praised when I obeyed. I was punished with silence when I didn't."
She swallowed hard.
"My house is huge, but I never felt like it belonged to me. My heart was always someone else's to command. Love was conditional. Freedom was a myth. And dreams?"
She let out a breathless laugh. "Dreams were jokes in my house."
"My house was… beautiful. From the outside. Inside, it was made of rules. Expectations. Conditions."
Suddenly, it wasn't Serin in bed anymore — it was her younger self.
A little girl in a spotless dress sitting on the edge of a velvet sofa. Hands on her lap. Back straight. Even her breathing felt rehearsed.
"I was told how to sit. How to smile. How to be polite. But no one ever asked me how I felt."
She remembered the fear of opening her phone. How every notification brought a rush of anxiety.
The one time a boy from her tuition texted her something sweet — just a meme.
She giggled. And then her mother's voice rang like thunder from the hallway.
"Who are you texting?"
That one question had the power to tear her world apart.
She had tried to explain. That he was just a classmate. That they were just talking.
But her phone was taken. Her voice ignored.
The next day, she was forbidden to go to class without supervision.
Like talking to a boy was an infection.
Like she was something that needed to be locked away, just in case the world touched her.
"I was raised to fear the world. Especially love. They said they were protecting me. But no one ever asked if I wanted to be protected like that."
Her voice cracked.
"I didn't want to be locked in a palace. I just wanted to be… a person."
She took a breath, then continued softer:
"Every time I wanted to be myself — to laugh too loud, to cry, to say no — I was met with silence. Disapproval. Or worse, nothing at all. So I learned to smile. To obey. To stay silent even when my heart was screaming."
A pause. Then she looked at Ren through the screen — truly looked.
"And then you came."
"And suddenly… silence wasn't scary anymore. Talking to you felt like finally being seen. Like I was allowed to exist outside their script."
She blinked back tears.
"So no… I didn't grow up poor. I didn't grow up in chaos. But I grew up starving.
Starving for freedom. For love that didn't come with a price. For someone to just… listen."
Her voice fell to a whisper.
"And I found you. And for the first time, I felt human."
Ren's heart throbbed. He placed his hand against his screen as if trying to touch her through the glass.
Then quietly, almost reverently, he whispered—"Serin, I swear—on every second we've ever shared, every silence we ever passed through — I will never let you feel alone again."
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Their eyes locked.
They both were sure, This is gonna end soon.
And just then… the night above Ren's house began to change.
From that still navy void, colors bled into the sky. Soft violets. Pale roses. A shimmering whisper of gold along the horizon.
The stars didn't just blink—they shimmered like they were clapping, like they were proud. Clouds shifted slowly overhead, forming shapes that didn't look random anymore.
A heart. A pair of wings. Two hands almost touching.
The night had become a canvas.
Painted by their love.
Painted by their pain.
Painted by the truth they finally let bleed out between them.
Even nature had surrendered to the sacredness of this moment.
And in that silence, they realized something:
They weren't afraid of the future anymore. Not because it would be easy. But because whatever happened—they had known this night.
A night where vulnerability wasn't weakness—it was worship.
A night where love didn't need a body—it only needed a soul.
A night the stars held their breath.
The ceiling fan spins slow. Light flickers.
Outside, the rain has softened — now no more than a hush, like the sky itself is tiptoeing.
Ren lies still. Eyes bloodshot. Phone still glowing beside him — and on the screen… Serin.
She's curled into a cocoon of blankets.
Her cheeks are flushed from crying.
But her eyes… her eyes are open. Tired. Scared. Brave.
The room was quiet.
So quiet that even the fan sounded like thunder. Even the breathing between them—miles apart—felt like waves crashing against a shoreline of something ending.
On his bed, Ren didn't move.
His eyes were wide, bloodshot.
His fingers hovered above the screen—frozen—like they were afraid to touch what might be the last moment of this dream.
Serin's voice cracked the silence.
"Ren…"
She swallowed. Her throat ached. Her heart burned.
And then—
"If we lose this fight…" Her voice trembled. "I want you to leave me."
The moment fractured.
Like glass shattering in slow motion.
Time didn't stop. It just refused to move forward.
Ren's heart stalled. A beat missed. Then another.
"…What?"
But Serin didn't repeat it.
She didn't have to.
The words hung in the air like rain suspended mid-fall.
She looked down, clutched her blanket tighter, and her lips parted again.
Not to hurt him.
But to save him.
"I know you'll try, Ren. I know you'll fight. And I love that about you."
"But if the worst happens… if everything breaks and our families win…"
She paused.
The words trembled like a bird in her throat.
"Then I don't want you wasting your whole life trying to fix a love the world won't allow."
Ren shook his head slowly. Once. Twice. Like a boy refusing a nightmare.
"No. Don't say that. Don't—"
"Ren." Her tone was firm now. But still soft. Still Serin.
"If I'm pulled away… if they shut every door, if I'm married off, or locked in a life where I can't come back…"
Her voice broke. Her hand covered her mouth—but it was too late.
The pain had already spilled.
"Then I want you to promise me, you'll live."
"Live, Ren. Don't become a ghost chasing a memory."
And then, she looked up.
Right into the screen.
Right into him.
"You might not be leaving me, Ren. But I might be forced to. And I don't want you destroying yourself for something fate already crushed beneath its heel."
His hands dropped.
Eyes glazed. Mouth open, but silent.
Like someone had stabbed his soul and left the blade inside.
He wanted to scream. Wanted to grab the stars and pull them down and beg God to rewrite this chapter.
But all he could do… was listen.
Serin wiped her cheeks with trembling fingers.
Her voice now nothing but a whisper from a breaking heart.
"You don't deserve to suffer because of me."
"You deserve a life. A real one. Not one spent clawing at a locked door."
"Even if it's not with me."
A pause.
"And if it ends here… I need you to let it go."
Ren looked down at his lap. His hands.
They were shaking. Not from fear.
From rage. From heartbreak. From helplessness.
He wanted to tell her no.
He wanted to swear he'd fight till his dying breath.
But he couldn't find the words.
Because this — This wasn't her giving up.
This was her protecting him.
And that… made it worse.
Serin choked back a sob.
Then she whispered—
"I've never loved anyone like this before."
"And I never will again."
"But if we lose… I'd rather carry the scar than watch you break yourself against a wall for me."
Her voice cracked.
"Because I love you Ren."
And that's when Ren broke.
Not loudly. Not dramatically.
Just… quietly. Silently.
A tear slid down his cheek.
Then another.
And then—
In his head, he screamed.
"No. No, I won't let this be our ending."
"Even if they build walls a thousand feet high, even if they chain you down in gold, even if they lock you in a tower of silence—"
"I will fight."
"I will fight until there is no breath left in my body."
"I will show them that love—real love—isn't a weakness. It's a miracle."
His soul roared inside his chest like a lion wounded but unbowed.
And then, out loud—Barely a whisper.
But enough to break the stars—
He cried out loud,
"If they call it foolish to love you like this…Then let the world remember me… as the fool who chose you till his last breath."
"If God ever sculpted love into a single night…it would be this one.
Where no hands touched, No lips met—But two hearts held each other so tightly,
The stars dimmed…Just to listen."