Yan Jeongin

You've gotten used to the silence. To the cold walls of the apartment. To the shouting behind the door. To the unanswered messages. To the feeling of being the odd one out in the world. At school, you were ignored. At home, there was only reproach. Friends disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Sometimes you thought that if you simply disappeared, no one would even notice. At night, you lay under the covers and stared at the ceiling, tears quietly streaming down your temples. You were tired of being strong. And one of those nights, you had a dream. A warm breeze. Sunlight. A strange city, full of music and laughter. And him. Yang Jeongin stood before you, smiling so softly, as if he'd known you his whole life.

“You look tired, ” he said quietly.

Somehow, being around him didn't make you feel scary. You walked through empty streets, eating cotton candy, laughing at silly things. He held your hand so carefully, as if you were something fragile and very important. For the first time in a long time, you felt needed.

"You know, " he whispered, straightening your hair, " you deserve to be happy. Even if you don't believe it yourself."

And you cried. Not from pain. But because for the first time, someone said it to you so sincerely. But the morning came too quickly. You opened your eyes in your cold room. No sun. No warmth. No Jongin. Only emptiness. And then the tears started flowing again. Because it was just a dream. Weeks passed. Life wasn't perfect. But somehow, after that dream, it kept going. As if a small spark remained somewhere inside. And then one day, late at night, you accidentally bumped into someone on the street. “Oh, I’m sorry ,” you whispered quietly.

You looked up. Your heart stopped. It was him. Yang Jeongin was looking at you exactly the same way he had in that dream. Warm. Soft. Calm. And then he said quietly, "Hello..."

And at that moment, your lips began to tremble. Tears began to flow down your cheeks, while your heart beat so hard, as if it had finally found what it had been searching for all this time.