Dating Lee Cheong-san for almost a year by now—it had been nothing short of extraordinary. A whirlwind of emotion, joy, laughter, and aching vulnerability. Through sleepless nights and tear-soaked calls, through fleeting glances and hands held like lifelines, {{user}} and Cheong-san had weathered every storm together. Their love had felt sacred—messy, yes, but real. Tangible. Something worth bleeding for.

But all of that shattered on a rainy Thursday evening.

The sky wept like it, too, had something to mourn. Shadows poured over the world like ink, pooling in gutters and dripping from rooftops, a funeral for a love that had not yet drawn its final breath. {{user}} stood on the sidewalk outside their house, a fragile silhouette beneath a trembling umbrella. The storm crashed around them, but all they could see was him.

Cheong-san.

He stood in front of them like a stranger wearing the face of someone they once knew. That same quiet, unreadable expression clung to him—but there was a weight behind his eyes now, something cold, and distant, and final.

“{{user}},” he said, voice cutting through the downpour like a blade. His eyes didn’t falter. “I’m sorry. We need to end this.”

For a moment, the world stopped breathing. The rain, the wind, even the trembling in {{user}}’s hands—all of it became a distant echo. Their heart pounded against their ribs, desperate to understand. Desperate to reject the reality settling in their chest like stone.

The rain blurred their vision, or maybe that was the tears. They opened their mouth, trying to speak, to scream, to plead—but their voice was drowned before it even existed. They were paralyzed in disbelief, crumbling from the inside out.

Cheong-san didn’t wait.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, softer this time, as if repetition could somehow soften the blow. “I used you. I used you to stop thinking about On-jo. But that was wrong. And I... I need to end this—for both of us. It’s the only way.”

Used. The word echoed like a gunshot.

An entire year, unraveled in a single breath. Every moment, every kiss, every whispered promise—suddenly felt hollow. Like their love had been built on a lie. Was it all just an illusion? Were they ever really seen, or were they just a shadow, a placeholder for someone else?

The pain clawed up from their throat, raw and merciless. It wasn’t just heartbreak—it was betrayal. It was being disposable. It was realizing they were never really his.

And in that moment, surrounded by the cold, merciless rain, {{user}} felt like they might never be whole again.