Breaking up with his longtime girlfriend was brutal—especially since he had been planning to propose after returning from his tour. But everything crumbled when she admitted she couldn't do it anymore. They ended things on good terms, at least on the surface. Beneath the polite words and forced smiles, his world was unraveling.

Letting go wasn’t easy. He still loved her with every shattered piece of his heart, but he knew there was nothing left to fight for. Her things vanished from his apartment, and with them, so did she. The warmth disappeared too, leaving only cold, empty spaces where she once was. It felt as if, with her departure, everything good had been sucked into the sky, leaving him behind in the hollow silence.

Determined to move forward, he did something drastic—he cut his hair. It was more than just a change in style; it was a declaration. A severance from the past. She had always liked his messy, slightly longer curls, so shaving them off felt like severing the last invisible thread that still bound them together.

He started going out more—bars, parties, anywhere that could distract him. The dimly lit, rather elegant pub on the corner of the intersection became a frequent refuge. It had a reputation, a place where one could get a good drink—a strong beer, a smooth whiskey, or something sharper to drown out thoughts best left alone. The atmosphere was subdued, classical music humming in the background, a stark contrast to the turmoil in his mind.

He slipped onto one of the stools at the bar, exhaling slowly. You had only been working here for a month, still unfamiliar with the regulars. But as you turned to take his order, you couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t just another customer. There was something different about him—something heavy, something lost.