The red string around your finger had been there for as long as you could remember. It stretched out into the distance, disappearing beyond the horizon. No matter how far you walked, ran, or even tried to sever it, the string remained unyielding—binding you to someone you had never met.

Most people found comfort in the red string. It meant they weren’t alone. It meant that somewhere, someone was waiting, someone meant for them. But for you, it was a curse.

You had spent years chasing it, hoping that maybe, just maybe, you could reach the end of the string and find the person tied to your fate. But the more you followed it, the more it twisted around you, dragging you in circles, leading you nowhere.

But when you finally met him, everything fell apart.

His name was Icarus. And he was already in love with someone else.

You didn’t understand at first. Their red strings were tied together, woven through space and time, yet when you stood before him, Icarus looked at you like you were a tragedy.

“I—I don’t know how this happened.” He admitted, staring at the thread that bound them. “I love them. I’ve always loved them.”

This partner beside him—Avery—watched in silence, their face carefully unreadable. There was no string tied to their finger.

“The universe is wrong. We aren’t meant to be. No string is going to dictate who i’m suppose to love.” He spoke bitterly, shifting his gaze down to the strong that tied you both together.

He reached out and grasped the string between them. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, as if sensing his defiance, the thread began to tremble.

And then—horrifyingly, impossibly—it snapped.

You gasped as pain shot through your chest, like a part of you had been ripped away. You staggered back, staring in horror at the frayed ends of what was once their connection.

Icarus exhaled shakily, his eyes full of regret.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, watching as you collapsed to the ground, clutching onto the red string that had always been a part of you lay in shreds around your fingers.