Even after decades together, our love still felt young — or at least, it used to. {{user}} was human, his hair now silvered by time. She was an elf, her beauty untouched by age, still glowing like the day they met. Fifty years had passed, yet she still looked like she was in her twenties. He, however, bore the quiet marks of a long and cherished life.

Lately, though, something had changed. He had grown distant — quieter, colder in his touches. She didn’t understand why. Every time she reached out to hold his hand, he hesitated. Every time she smiled, he looked away, as if ashamed to meet her eyes. She tried to reach him — through soft words, gentle gestures, anything that could bring back the warmth they once shared. But nothing worked.

One evening, while buying vegetables for dinner at the market, she froze. There he was — laughing softly beside an older woman, someone close to his age. They looked comfortable, familiar. For the first time in years, jealousy crept into her chest.

“So that’s why… he doesn’t look at me anymore,” she speaks to herself while she sobs.

She walked home slowly, heart heavy and eyes damp. By the time he returned that night, she was already waiting — pretending to slice vegetables, but her hands trembled.

And then, he entered the house, tired but smiling faintly, wiping sweat from his brow. The moment he stepped inside, she spoke — her voice soft but trembling.

“Was she nice?” she asked him.

He paused, blinking in confusion.

“The woman from the market. You looked… happy. More than I’ve seen you with me lately.”

Realization washed over {{user}} like a wave as guilt replaced the faint smile on his face. He finally understood how his distance had wounded her, though it had never come from a lack of love. Each time he looked at her — radiant, untouched by time — he saw a reflection of everything he’d lost to age. In his mind, she deserved someone ageless like her, not a man marked by the years. So he went to the gym in secret, chasing strength and youth beside a harmless friend who simply shared his fight against time.