Aerith held Aerel's hands gently
"Don't hate yourself," he whispered
"You should love yourself… because he loved you
It would hurt him to see you in pain."
Aerel nodded slightly, his eyes glistening
Aerith looking at the book signed slowly
"And… don't hate looking at yourself in the mirror,"
"Every time you see your reflection, remember him… and the love he gave you"
Forgive yourself
"You didn't do anything wrong."
"Nothing heal fast"
"Nothing fade away "
"But slowly it will become in a way that no longer hurt us "
"It's okay to hurt"
"But never okay to hold into it and making you suffer"
"Heal slowly"
"I'm with you"
Aerel chuckled in his tears
They stayed like that for a while—hands clasped, breaths slowly steadying, hearts quietly mending together
In that silence, the weight of the past softened,
replaced by something warm… something healing
Later that night,
in the quiet of the flower shop—
Moonlight slipped through the glass, falling gently across the room
Aeris stood in front of the mirror
Slowly, his hands reached up to his face
He peeled away the fake skin he had worn all this time—layer by layer
The mask he had hidden behind for years
He removed his contact lenses
Then he washed away the dye from his hair, watching the color fade
Moonlight flowed through the glass window and settled over him
In the mirror's reflection,
his hair was misty light blue, soft and glossy
A small mole rested beneath the center of his lower lip.
His lips—naturally glossy red
Aeris quietly sat by the window for a while, letting the night air brush against his skin
He breathed slowly
For the first time in a long while,
it felt like he could finally breathe as himself
Aeris POV
Yuri…
It's been so long.
And still, I don't know what we are to each other.
When will it be revealed?
I don't want to ask you
I want you to tell me—
on your own
Who am I to you?
What was I to you?
The only thing I remember clearly
is my true identity
Everything else feels borrowed
Blurred
Like a life I watched from a distance
As I grew up, I kept faking who I was
A different name
A different face
A different role
Then I became a leader
I kept moving forward—
until the accident
That's the last sharp memory I have
This much… only this much…
I know because it stayed with me
Everything else slips away
Faces. Voices. Feelings.
Connections I know existed—
but can't reach
I forget everything else
Except this ache
And your name
And the vivid memory of you
Next Scene
The library was quiet,
wrapped in the soft rustle of turning pages and distant footsteps
Ash sat at a table, surrounded by books, eyes moving slowly across the words
A familiar voice broke the silence
Izan:
"Hey."
Ash looked up.
Ash:
"Yeah… Izan."
Their eyes met
For a brief moment, Ash felt his breath catch
Izan's eyes glowed softly under the warm library lights—intense, impossible to ignore
Ash quickly looked away, his cheeks flustered
Ash POV:
Damn… what is this feeling?
Why does my heart react like this every time I see him?
Izan noticed and chuckled lightly
Izan:
"Ash… if you want, come see my performance."
He placed a ticket gently on the table
Ash picked it up, smiling without realizing it
Ash:
"I will come."
Ash spoke again softly
Ash:
"Izan."
Izan:
"Yeah?"
Ash asked in soft voice
Ash:
"Don't you want to see the sketch of yours???
Izan's interest sparked instantly
Izan:
"I do."
Ash carefully took out a sketchbook and turned it toward him
It was a painting of Izan—beautifully detailed
His eyes in the artwork glowed with the same warmth Ash had just seen
But beside the portrait, Ash had drawn a mirror
And in that reflection—
Izan's eyes were empty
_The contrast was subtle, almost haunting_
The drawing hit izan's chest so Hard at same time softly
His eyes flickered , caught in the depth of it
Ash
"Even though your eyes are so mesmerizingly beautiful"
His voice was calm
"In my artist eyes"
"They're empty. There's a depth of emptiness in them."
Izan felt deep emotions in his heart —someone had truly seen him. Not just the surface, not just the perfection everyone else admired. Ash had seen the hollow places, the weight behind the spark
"His eyes sparkled"
that made ash heart beat skipped
Izan pov
"He draw my soul"
He saw beyond the outer beauty and perfect
Izan eyes blurred
He bittted his lips
As tears flowing down his cheeks he chuckled
Izan
"It looks like my soul ash "