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This light novel is inspired by the beautiful landscapes and cultures of Bolivia and South Korea. However, the characters, events, and situations portrayed are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is purely coincidental. This content does not intend to represent or reflect the historical, social, or cultural reality of either country. The author disclaims any legal liability arising from the interpretation of these elements.
Chapter 75 — Between Unspoken Words
The evening air began to cool as they both stepped out of the restaurant.
Dim streetlights illuminated their path,
and the breeze carried the scent of jasmine growing by the wooden pillars.
Zayra walked slightly ahead, her back straight and shoulders relaxed,
possessing that peculiar calm that only secrets can keep.
Ryu followed without haste, his eyes tracing her form like someone studying a new landscape.
He noticed an absence without meaning to something he had already glimpsed in the restaurant but,
due to the circumstances, hadn't questioned then.
He tightened his jaw slightly, a gesture imperceptible to anyone but those who knew him well.
A slight knot tightened in his chest, uncomfortable and deep.
He frowned, his gaze locking onto her bare finger.
The ring wasn't there.
It wasn't just a piece of jewelry... it was what bound them together.
Taking a breath, his right eyebrow arched barely a fraction as he looked up at her.
Trying to sound neutral, he remarked.
"Zayra, I noticed you aren't wearing the ring I gave you."
Zayra, turned to look him in the eye, reacting as if she had been called out in a classroom.
She smiled and said.
"Hm? Oh... It's here."
She pulled it out of her purse.
Ryu watched her with a look that didn't hide his disappointment, though his voice remained calm.
A flash of hardness crossed his expression, as if her lightheartedness bothered him more than he cared to admit.
Within seconds, he wondered.
"I don't understand how she can smile about something this serious."
That smile was far too light for what he was feeling at that moment.
He looked directly into her eyes with gravity and reflected.
"For the people here, lightness is an escape.
For me, it's invalidation."
He inhaled deeply, remembering everything it had implied for him to place ring on her finger.
How far he'd had to step outside his own nature.
Perhaps that was why it hurt more than he was willing to admit.
He cleared his throat, trying to regain control,
and suddenly dropped the following comment in a serious tone.
"So it's true then...
The ring looks better in your purse than on your finger."
As he spoke the words, he averted his gaze for an instant, avoiding showing the conflict burning inside him.
His voice tried to be casual, but his eyes betrayed the tension.
There was no irony in his eyes.
No open reproach either.
Just something tense, firm, and unknown.
He let out a barely audible sigh that seemed to hold more than his words showed.
Zayra felt a small knot in her stomach.
"Ryu... it wasn't because of that."
She said softly, looking toward her purse.
She slipped the ring on carefully,
as if with that gesture she were trying to sew back the invisible thread that had broken.
"I'm sorry."
She added.
"Please don't be mad at me."
He looked at her without scowling or raising his voice, but his jaw was rigid,
and the silence stretched longer than usual.
His shoulders tensed and he breathed deeply,
looking away to control his frustration.
He repeated to himself.
"I'm not angry... but I need time to process this."
That emotional distance,
though contained, was palpable.
She swallowed hard.
It was the first time she had seen him like this.
So contained.
So far away.
He exhaled slowly through his nose and looked away,
pressing his lips together firmly as if holding back something deeper.
"I'm not angry."
He finally said, but the rigidity in his voice said otherwise.
His answer didn't sound like an acceptance of her apology,
nor like the truth.
Without another word, he resumed his pace.
She followed him, her heart still heavy.
***
Ryu walked a bit further ahead with a firm stride,
hands clenched in his pockets, jaw tight, avoiding looking back.
Decreeing.
"I need space so I don't say things I'll regret."
Zayra followed him in silence;
the distance between them reflected the distance he felt inside.
She bit her lower lip in frustration and analyzed.
"It seems I hurt him without meaning to..."
She remembered the sleepless night, the half-finished wine, the ring on the nightstand.
And a mind that didn't want to rest.
Sleep had come late and left abruptly with a phone call.
She wasn't capable of telling him she had spent the night thinking of him.
Some truths had to be kept.
The murmur of the street enveloped them: distant engines, muffled laughter, the rustle of dry leaves underfoot.
Neither said anything.
The air had grown cooler, but the tension remained, suspended between them.
They walked a few more meters in silence.
The scent of spices reached them first: warm bread, meat roasting slowly.
A small shawarma stand lit up the sidewalk with warm lights, and soft, rhythmic Arabic music played from a speaker.
She slowed her pace without realizing it.
Something in that sound sparked an idea.
He kept walking a couple of steps before noticing she had fallen behind.
She stood still, letting the melody and the aroma transport her for a moment.
To memories of when she used to practice that dance from a place so far from Bolivia.
Her lips curved into a mischievous smile, as if a secret made her grin from within.
He watched her from a few steps ahead, his eyebrow lifting in intrigue as he approached her.
She looked up and asked, turning with a bright gaze.
"Are you still upset with me?"
"I'm not upset..."
He replied, trying to sound serious, though his eyebrow gave him away.
"Aha, sure."
She said with a little laugh.
"But it's okay, I'll make it up to you."
For the first time that night, the tension in his brow softened and his shoulders dropped slightly.
Ryu arched an eyebrow, curious and expectant.
"Maybe she understands... and wants to fix this."
"And how do you plan to make it up to me?"
He inquired, a hint of playfulness in his voice.
"Easy."
She replied with a knowing smile.
"Do you remember when I went dancing at the club?"
Of course he remembered.
Not the place or the music, but her.
How she moved differently, oblivious to everything.
Even though he tried to maintain his composure.
He couldn't stop his mind from reliving the image of her dancing that unique fluidity,
that subtle dissociation of movements that defied the rigidity he knew.
It had been a brief, interrupted moment, and perhaps for that reason, it had stayed etched in his mind.
For a man like him, accustomed to discipline and order,
that dance was a fascinating mystery that made him wonder what other secrets she hid.
However, at that time, he hadn't had the chance to understand it.
Ryu nodded.
"I saw very little."
He said.
Zayra tilted her head slightly,
as if that answer confirmed something.
"Then... I will dance for you."
Ryu looked at her intently.
His pace stopped completely.
He had learned that when she said something like that,
it wasn't a casual remark.
"Oh, really?" He asked.
She stepped a little closer.
She didn't touch him.
"Belly dance isn't for just anyone."
She whispered.
"You don't dance it just because."
She paused briefly, aware of the effect.
"I will dance for you on our wedding night."
Commented in a delicate tone.
Ryu felt the shift before he even thought about it.
Something light, almost imperceptible, tightened in his chest.
It wasn't just surprise; it was the realization of what she was offering.
Not a performance, but something personal and deeply significant to her.
The rigidity in his shoulders gave way just a bit.
His lips curved just enough a minimal smile he didn't try to hide.
His gaze softened,
and the tension in his jaw slowly vanished.
His thoughts had changed completely.
"This is more than a ring. It's us.
It's worth moving forward with this."
He cleared his throat like someone pretending her proposal didn't interest him and remarked.
"...I see."
And after a second, in a lower voice, he added.
"Then make sure that this time... I don't get distracted."
She laughed, interlacing her fingers with his.
He felt a pang of tension as her fingers brushed an unexpected contact that almost made him flinch.
But in her gaze, he saw the sincerity of her attempt to repair the damage,
and though reserved, he did not pull his hand away.
She smiled.
"I promise you this ring is staying right here."
And said, showing him the ring on her finger.
Already calmer, he observed the ring and murmured almost to himself.
"It's more than an object... it's part of us."
Both smiled, and as they walked under the city lights, an invisible shadow loomed over them,
a silence that promised to challenge everything they thought they knew.