What is a letter/note you've always wanted to give to a loved one but never had the courage to? - The Letter

The hallway was empty.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk29EWu1eGN

Ren walked slowly, the quiet echo of his footsteps following him like a memory. It was late—long after classes had ended. He had come back for a book he’d left behind, or so he told himself.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREL8KaLmob

But he didn’t go to the classroom.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kLFdKyRNc

His feet stopped in front of the music room.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qP5S8ZMeF

Inside, soft piano notes floated through the air—hesitant, broken, like someone searching for a melody they couldn’t quite reach. He didn’t have to look.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcHmhaLIQc

He knew that sound.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjaXse1hJDq

Haruki.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6qxsmriVR

Ren stood frozen, just beyond the glass-paneled door. The lights inside were dim. Haruki sat at the piano bench, head down, fingers trailing over the keys like they were made of glass.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndRqlAFrIw

His hair had grown longer. He looked tired. Beautiful.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6eLHvwn7A

Painfully beautiful.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ959gj5M2Dy

Ren’s chest tightened. His heart knew what his mind didn’t want to admit—he still loved him. Desperately. Quietly. Unreasonably.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaZCYNzVtE

He thought about opening the door. About walking in, sitting beside Haruki like he used to. About telling him everything.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEeyWWWq8M

> “I’m sorry.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“I still love you.”

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUH2PinURB

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygSxSYIZHO

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTIt550qTm

But he knew what would happen.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LF3wl5kZ5

Haruki wouldn’t speak. Maybe he would leave. Maybe the silence would scream louder than any words ever could.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHILtSSk2Qv

So Ren didn’t open the door.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzDhA0WQfA

He just reached into his coat pocket… and pulled out the letter.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTl3RnpK2D

It was worn, folded at the edges. He had rewritten it three times. He had cried over it once.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTJDOlicTY

And now, it was ready.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdHw4bUsok

Ren knelt down, quietly, like a boy laying a gift at the feet of a god he could never touch. He slid the letter under the door—just far enough so Haruki would see it when he stood.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7ufflAX9N

He didn’t stay.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61wB8A9QnE

He turned and walked away before the piano even stopped.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xmO9k8aN1

But the words he left behind… would stay.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXH5PSDSkE

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHmljEVpax

---

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Jq9GqHfHx

The Letter

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7t6mXzQeCt

Haruki,

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeZezbczSz

I don’t know if you’ll read this. I don’t know if you’ll tear it apart, or laugh, or cry, or feel nothing at all.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1X7fiWgVl

But I need you to know what I couldn’t say—what I was too broken, too scared, too ruined to tell you.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFe6TY2zPwV

I loved you.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIatJgrZyHJ

I still do.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SiI7ick6i

Not because you were kind to me when no one else was. Not because you were beautiful or smart or special.

But because when you smiled at me… I felt like I existed.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBqVvMVCAR

You made this gray world glow. You were my light when I didn’t even know I was drowning.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeN8expvxD

I’m sorry for what I did. I should have never followed you that day. I should have never hurt you. I thought love meant reaching for someone—but maybe for someone like me, it meant staying away.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzBrcJ6m7w

You didn’t owe me anything. Not your friendship. Not your forgiveness. Not even your eyes.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JLzIxXF00

But I still miss the way you used to look at me.

I miss the way your voice softened when you said my name.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oJNGVtQNm

I miss us.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYX4LpUWeg

If there’s any part of you that remembers what we had—

even just the way cherry blossoms fell around us that spring—

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBtROB9weo

Know this:

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJafvpNqViW

I would do anything to protect that memory.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXfPwvJfR7

I’m not asking you to forgive me.

I’m not asking you to love me.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWbbUPHT64

I just want you to know—

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixl3yO4ZHR

You were my favorite part of this life.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpeHvZC7L1f

—Ren

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJqrCZcsJJ

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVPvQui6gy

Outside the music room, the hallway stayed silent.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXzrrqd3BV

But inside, long after Ren had gone, the piano stopped.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKM6sTr8TBG

And Haruki stared at the letter in his hand.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lVftJDaWi

With trembling fingers.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuljSRxYi4

And tears in his eyes.

53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DbSZfaBfa

---

ns216.73.216.85da2

Reading Theme:

Font Size:

Line Spacing:

Paragraph Spacing:

Load the next issue automatically