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.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVarwdUSnBk

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.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEg2V74eiz

But he didn’t go to the classroom.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NK8p5lJPb

His feet stopped in front of the music room.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEBNo1j1Cr

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.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHKpJ8C1Qi

He knew that sound.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjHoh5DcBr

Haruki.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjLjdeikUR

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.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1rRYicgL7

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86IduyzydR

Painfully beautiful.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TLprSJsex

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQjJQjzMb9

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaI01NnJ6Ol

> “I’m sorry.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“I still love you.”

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8nh4Gl0T2

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDO9sW6Pte

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgnaSbPdIY

But he knew what would happen.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wHc7Y54Dw

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBQNJPrtIl

So Ren didn’t open the door.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkXGPRIlxl

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynMYRkhfTz

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrB96ylxFgB

And now, it was ready.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNviHcg37J

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.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0W4YRXotQ

He didn’t stay.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRO4G5C48j

He turned and walked away before the piano even stopped.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pd5l28RjN

But the words he left behind… would stay.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnU8T8HqRIq

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqJZcWAWrU

---

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPajIYiQfF

The Letter

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDA246CUuS

Haruki,

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMRgfcuUkb

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.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZJ8tkr985

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohznv34bVT

I loved you.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwA8Yah8k73

I still do.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpjWq8mPdC

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.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbo9bx0mB43

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjQm2sWF18

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.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysRTKCtRX7

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZAefJsxvg

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

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DRscamS40

I miss us.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4zNsVyzMO

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

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOdufCb68x

Know this:

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lcnpXQSUr

I would do anything to protect that memory.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIUfqLSZ6n

I’m not asking you to forgive me.

I’m not asking you to love me.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cpqjhsaB8

I just want you to know—

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡandE3ATOOW

You were my favorite part of this life.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVEGgdemiY

—Ren

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnbJ7xdUhy

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8ct9Tx8o6

Outside the music room, the hallway stayed silent.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmrmGCGUQr5

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

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlyXUT10X6

And Haruki stared at the letter in his hand.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuxlnIcNrP

With trembling fingers.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjpf8G3wcl

And tears in his eyes.

73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7WsLA7wfk

---

ns216.73.216.122da2

Reading Theme:

Font Size:

Line Spacing:

Paragraph Spacing:

Load the next issue automatically