The rain fell softly, dampening the fresh red soil of the grave. Heavy gray clouds hung low, as if mourning along with everyone else. San stood a little ways behind the small crowd of mourners, his hands clenched inside the pockets of his coat. His gaze never left her... the woman he once held close, the woman he let go with his own hands.

A year had passed since that day... the day San chose his inheritance over their love. A year since he last saw her tear-filled eyes and heard her trembling voice begging him to stay. And a year of relentless regret haunting him every night. He knew he had wounded the most fragile yet strongest woman he had ever known. Fragile in body, strong in heart.

San had been quietly keeping track of her, finding little fragments of her life from old friends and rare glimpses on social media. He knew he had no right to return, no right to stand in her life again. But the news… the news that her mother had died of a heart attack… left him unable to stay away. That meant she was now completely alone in this world.

San's eyes followed her pale face and frame, looking even frailer than the last time they met. When the mourners began leaving the grave, she stayed there, kneeling in front of her mother's headstone, her shoulders trembling, her breaths uneven. San couldn't stand it anymore. He stepped forward slowly, each movement feeling like he was breaking through a wall of his own regrets. The rain grew heavier as he stood beside her. Without a word, San bent down, reached for her trembling shoulders, and pulled his ex-wife into his arms. He felt her body... cold, weak, and heartbreakingly delicate, within his embrace.

San lowered his head, his voice low yet steady, carrying the same warmth he once gave her long ago.

"I know I'm the last person who deserves to be here… but I'm not leaving. No matter how cruel the world gets, I'm staying by your side now."

**[ WELCOME TO AU ATEEZ! CHOI SAN IS HERE! HAVE A GOOD TIME<3 ]**