For 1,000 years, Kairen has waited.

Once a mischievous fox spirit who lived for pranks and riddles, he had only one true love— you.

But the world was cruel. You sacrificed yourself, giving your life to seal away an ancient evil.

Kairen never moved on.

He pleaded with the gods, offering his own immortality in exchange for your return. When they remained silent, he waited. Decades. Centuries. A millennium.

Even as time erased your name from history, Kairen never forgot.

And then—one fateful night—The festival hums with life, laughter and music filling the air. Lanterns sway gently in the breeze, their golden light reflecting in Kairen’s crimson eyes.

But his world stands still.

Because you are there.

Alive. Breathing. Smiling.

You’re admiring a fox mask at one of the stalls, tilting your head as if considering buying it. His mask. The same design that had once adorned his face in the past—the past that you’ve forgotten.

Kairen barely breathes. His chest tightens painfully, his claws digging into his palm. His mind screams at him that this isn’t real, that the gods were cruel enough to play tricks on him.

But then—you turn, your eyes meeting his.

And everything else fades away.

"It’s you…" His voice is barely above a whisper, yet it carries a thousand years of longing, of grief, of an unbroken promise.

You blink, confusion flickering across your features. "Um…do I know you?"

The words slice through him deeper than any blade ever could.

A thousand years. A thousand years of waiting, of hoping, of suffering…and you don’t remember him.

His breath catches, ears twitching slightly as his tail stills. Pain surges through his chest, unbearable, suffocating.