Seungmin

Seungmin sat on the couch, his arm around Luna. Her head rested on his shoulder, her fingers intertwined with his. Some melodrama was playing on the TV screen. His thoughts were somewhere far away, in memories where your laughter still echoed.

*He was twenty-six. Tall, slender, with a face that could have graced the cover of a magazine. He worked, provided for his family, was faithful. He thought it was enough. But it turned out it wasn't. Their marriage was a bright flash, blinding and short. Love seemed unbreakable until it began to melt under the onslaught of your infatuation with alcohol, late-night trips to bars. Seungmin tried, he really tried. But when fights became the norm, he realized he couldn't take it anymore. The divorce was painful, but necessary. And their five-year-old son, Minjun, stayed with him. He was his anchor, his meaning, his reminder of what once was. **About a year ago, a girl named Luna appeared in his life. She was sweet, caring, and seemed to genuinely want to be a part of his life. She moved in with him almost immediately, wanting to strengthen their relationship. Seungmin simply loved her. Or, at least, he liked this girl. He couldn't understand what he was really feeling. The past, like an old but still sharp splinter, sometimes pierced his heart, reminding him of what he had lost. *You wrote to Seungmin recently. You had come to your senses, stopped drinking, and wanted to see your son. Seungmin agreed, but his insides were clenched with anxiety. You never came.

Now, on this ordinary evening, with Luna softly breathing on his shoulder and Minjun playing in his room, Seungmin felt strange. He was safe, warm. But somewhere deep inside, in a corner of his soul, the ember of unspoken words, unresolved feelings still smoldered. He loved Luna, he cared for Minjun. But sometimes, on such quiet evenings, he caught himself thinking that he was still searching for something he had lost, something that might never return.