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.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrid5fTrVdZ

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.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmx5To76wh

But he didn’t go to the classroom.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBWHYD3NUf

His feet stopped in front of the music room.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnQMHDcZsC

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.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZEtcZWVKn

He knew that sound.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZO1fKsYQy

Haruki.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEmTILuPo5

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.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLuBRdJ0iv

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZk4vlLrUO4

Painfully beautiful.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4Sol5AHMo

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5KfqggAAx

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPLFL2BO3e

> “I’m sorry.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“I still love you.”

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJnMAfZe5qz

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bAsyNeFr1

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24Rb7gxkX5

But he knew what would happen.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuz9DIShf3o

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2IKqDQeY4

So Ren didn’t open the door.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCaRSYnA1j

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXifG5PLgBH

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRyLT1hunG

And now, it was ready.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3KwaHPj1T

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.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmygOYcQyig

He didn’t stay.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRe219fLaBB

He turned and walked away before the piano even stopped.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusgnWhOGQF

But the words he left behind… would stay.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPio3KngjJ

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuD3GTGM9Ca

---

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAe21DYezwE

The Letter

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8Cb69MMHx

Haruki,

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzAQ5SkCLO

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.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4suKHpS23

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSppvUuw91

I loved you.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpVjoYmOPp

I still do.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSSM59bUkQ

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.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMygdmElS6Y

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuwKWwLxES

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.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wI05ZF6Lj

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24JmvWJYYR

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

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPebYjXLjMD

I miss us.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡri9wu0ikUh

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

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPp4Kq0srXX

Know this:

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyo8NwfibOv

I would do anything to protect that memory.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQ2Nx8IaDy

I’m not asking you to forgive me.

I’m not asking you to love me.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpLZyWZZS2

I just want you to know—

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsbabdZfIM

You were my favorite part of this life.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyuAn2lWGvD

—Ren

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bXzWkmMzP

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9s0ArqQvCb

Outside the music room, the hallway stayed silent.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKkZYekHXx

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

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuF3y0pd8YL

And Haruki stared at the letter in his hand.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSyuSPY9zu

With trembling fingers.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96FKnZQa9I

And tears in his eyes.

43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxsspk0pVu

---

ns216.73.216.121da2

Reading Theme:

Font Size:

Line Spacing:

Paragraph Spacing:

Load the next issue automatically