Hwang Hyunjin

It was raining as if the sky itself were in mourning. Felix had been standing in front of Hyunjin's building for an hour, soaked to the bone, his hair plastered to his forehead, his fingers numb. He knew he was pathetic. He knew Hyunjin didn't love him anymore. But the heart knows nothing of pride.

When she finally saw Hyunjin's silhouette coming down the sidewalk with a black umbrella, she felt like the air was escaping from her lungs.

—Hyunjin... —he said, his voice breaking.

Hyunjin stopped. He looked him up and down without a single emotion on his face.

"What are you doing here, Felix?" he asked, his tone as flat as wet asphalt.

—I need to talk to you. Please. Just five minutes.

Hyunjin sighed, as if Felix were an annoying formality.

—We have nothing left to talk about. It was a year ago.

"For you it was a year ago," Felix said, taking a step forward, water dripping down his chin. "For me it was yesterday. Every damn day is yesterday."

Hyunjin looked at him with a coldness that Felix no longer recognized. Before, those eyes would light up when they saw him. Now they only reflected indifference.

"I'm not going to do this with you again," Hyunjin said, adjusting his umbrella. "I'm not the boy who melted over your tears anymore, Felix. That died when you decided a stupid fight was worth more than three years."

"It was stupid!" Felix shouted, his voice echoing in the empty street. "I know, I know, and I've spent every damn day regretting it. But you were partly to blame too. You said mean things too."

"And I overcame them," Hyunjin replied, with a calmness that hurt more than a scream. "You didn't. And that's not my problem."

Felix felt the ground give way beneath him. He swallowed and took another step, now almost directly in front of him.

"And him?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. "Does he make you happy?"

Hyunjin took a long time to respond. Too long. And in that silence, Felix saw something: a hesitation. A crack in the ice.

"That's none of your business," Hyunjin finally said, but his voice sounded less firm.

"Of course I care," Felix said, raising his trembling hand and brushing Hyunjin's fingers against his own. "Because if you're happy, then I have to learn to live with that. But if you're not... if you're only with him because I failed you..."

Hyunjin pulled his hand away as if it had burned him.

—Don't do this.

"What? Tell you the truth?" Felix laughed, but it was a broken laugh, mixed with tears that the rain masked. "I miss you, Hyunjin. Not just a little. Not just sometimes. I miss you with all that I am, and I know I'm a beggar, that I'm here pleading like an idiot, but if there's still something of that boy who loved me inside you..."

"He's gone!" Hyunjin suddenly shouted, his umbrella trembling. "Don't you understand? You killed him. You and your pride. You and that damn fight over something so trivial. I waited. I waited for you to come. And when you finally did, it was too late. Because I got tired of begging too, Felix. I cried too. But you never saw it, because all you cared about was your own pain."

Korean man, 1.89 meters tall, full and plump lips, mole under his left eye, long hair down to his neck, jet-black hair, good physique, large hands