Dead flower🥀

I thought I would never come back again, but here I am -in my home, my sweet home. Actually, I can't say I have only good memories here, but there are some that I really love. These streets, these buildings have changed a lot in three years. When I left Seoul, it was a cold winter, and now that I’ve returned, it’s autumn with its romantic atmosphere. To be honest, it doesn't matter to me - no matter how hard I try to stay positive, it’s becoming more difficult. I hadn’t planned to come back; it just makes it harder for me to forget everything.
While I was walking to my house, thinking about everything that has happened until now, I caught sight of that familiar face. It was him! He was smiling brightly, and next to him was a really gorgeous girl. Suddenly, I felt my eyes tearing up. I wiped them quickly and turned around. I walked as fast as I could, but someone stopped me by grabbing my wrist. When I turned my head, it was that boy. I could feel the anger, sadness, disbelief, and pain in his eyes.
"You..." he barely managed to say, then paused for a moment to hold back his tears.
"When did you come back? You said you’d never return." He forced the words out through gritted teeth.

I didn’t know what to say at first, all I could do was avoid his eyes. Then I noticed the girl behind him, a bitter smile on her face. I could read her thoughts: "Why? Why, now?” I felt a wave of guilt in front of her, so I quickly pulled my hand back and met his gaze.
“It’s none of your business!” I snapped.
To avoid causing a scene in the middle of the street, I hailed a taxi to get home quickly. While I was giving the driver my address, he never stopped looking at me, not even for a second. Finally, the taxi started moving, leaving him behind. I didn’t turn around. Instead, I closed my eyes.

I already knew. I knew he had a new girlfriend. He had moved on, started a new life -though not without difficulty. It had been hard on him when I broke up with him and left. A friend of mine kept me updated from Seoul from time to time.

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When my boyfriend’s ex left, he didn’t move for a minute. He just stood there, staring in the direction she had gone.
I still wonder why she came back and why, after I finally helped him move on and escape from all that darkness and pain she left.
I hate her. Not because she’s his ex-girlfriend, but because of what she did to him.

They were the ideal, legendary couple at our university. Everyone envied them. It felt like they were made for each other. Both of them were famous for their looks, she was the princess and he was the handsome prince beside her.
Their love story was like a romance novel to the rest of us. They truly loved each other, especially him. He was crazy about her, she was his everything. He protected her, cherished her, treated her like a delicate flower, carefully guarded by its gardener.
And I was just one of those people watching quietly from the sidelines, admiring their love like a fly on the wall.

But then, one day… a strange rumor spread like wildfire: the legendary couple had broken up. She had dropped out of university and moved abroad.
When I first heard it, I didn’t believe it. I was shocked.

It wasn't just me, the whole university was pretty shocked. We had no way of knowing the reason behind the chaos, because we were just passengers, walking away.

All we knew was that their separation completely broke him. He moved through life like a ghost, half-alive since the day she left. To be more precise, he lived but didn’t feel; ate but didn’t taste. She had taken the color with her when she left. His appearance was grave -he had lost his one and only flower.

One day, I was going home after staying late to prepare for exams in the university library. As I was leaving, I noticed someone on the roof of a building across the street. I ran as fast as I could toward the rooftop, I had already guessed who it might be.
Luckily, the door to the roof wasn’t locked. But, unfortunately, my prediction was right. It was him. I didn’t know for sure if he was planning to jump, but I wasn’t about to take that risk.
I approached him slowly, careful not to startle him. I cleared my throat softly to get his attention. He turned and looked at me with a chilling expression in his eyes. Honestly, it scared me a little, but I didn’t let it show. I tried to stay calm.
“Are you going to jump, huh? That’d be quite a show, I’d love to watch,” I said with a forced smile.
I just needed to distract him long enough. I had already called the emergency services while running up the stairs.