Stay By My Side - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After living for so long by running away from her thoughts, burying herself in the relentless rush of time and work, she had believed that everything inside her had finally fallen asleep.

But the past was never meant to be forgotten.

Those memories had only been lying dormant somewhere deep within her. And whenever the old days came rushing back, they awakened once more.

She wanted to step into the endless rain outside, to let herself be drenched beneath the curtain of white pouring from the sky. Perhaps the rain would be cold, but maybe—just maybe—it would bring back the image of the man he used to be. And perhaps, as it fell, it would wash away all the longing and pain she had carried inside her for so many years.

Her dreamy youth had passed as quickly as a fleeting patch of summer sunlight—briefly glowing before disappearing beneath an afternoon storm.

She had given him her heart, her love, and believed that the two of them would be happy together forever.

She had loved him with all the sincerity in her heart, holding on to one simple promise: that after four years of studying abroad, he would come back to her.

Life had given her love, and in return, she chose to repay it with faith—in him and in the future they had dreamed of together.

Youth, after all, was like a flower. It bloomed only once before eventually withering away.

And she had kept the best years of her youth for him, waiting for the day he would return.

Throughout those years without him, she buried her hurt and loneliness in solitary walks along familiar streets, wandering into little cafés and quiet corners where their footsteps had once crossed, where the two of them had once been happy.

She believed that one day, all those tears and sadness would bear the sweetest fruit of happiness.

For her, that was enough.

Enough to endure all those long, lonely days while waiting for him to come home.

And then, he did.

He came back.

He was still beside her, but he was no longer the man she remembered.

Time and money seemed to have changed him.

Anxiety slowly consumed her as she desperately searched for an answer to the transformation she saw in him. The man standing before her was still flesh and blood, still the same face she had waited years to see, but somewhere along the way, his soul had become a stranger.

And everything she had sensed, everything she had feared, finally came true.

He stood before her and spoke coldly.

“My family doesn't agree to us getting married. My parents are against it. They believe we're not compatible because our birth years don't match.”

“Then can't we try to persuade them? Can't we wait until they agree?” she asked, tears spilling uncontrollably down her face, her complexion turning pale with disbelief. “We're not going to give up, are we?”

He lowered his gaze.

“I know that I still love you. But I can't go against my parents.”

He paused, then quietly said the words that shattered everything she had believed in.

“I'm sorry. But I think we should end this. I don't want you to keep suffering by waiting for me. You'll find someone better than me—someone who can give you the happiness you deserve.”

“What…? What did you just say?”

Her ears rang. His words felt like salt rubbed into an open wound.

“That is my answer to you,” he said. “After all these years you've spent waiting for me, after all the plans we once made together…”

She stared at him with empty, wounded eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

That was all he said.

She lowered her head and quietly turned away.

The sunlight was merciless, burning against the back of her neck as she walked away.

Silent.

Burning.

If only a sudden downpour would come right now—if only she could throw herself into the rain and let it wash away the pain spreading through her, sharp as countless thorns piercing a heart that could barely breathe.

A sob escaped her.

Then another.

And suddenly, she broke down completely.

She cried until all the pain became tears.

She couldn't hold on to his love anymore.

Everything she had believed in had slipped away so suddenly, in a way she had never once imagined.

The love she had nurtured for so many years had ended with nothing more than a simple goodbye.

Was this really the future she had spent all those years waiting for?

What had she been to him?

What did she mean to him?

Had she really lost him?

What was she supposed to do now?

How would she ever face him again when one day she saw him walking hand in hand with another woman?

How was she supposed to live with these truths?

How was she supposed to go on living, knowing that the future she had once dreamed of had already ended?