The two young women finally crossed the street.
Sin stood facing her sister, while Noon's sister quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
A sly smile tugged at her lips as she glanced at Sin, who was speaking softly with her own sister. With a mocking tone, she said:
> "Oh, brother, I didn't expect you to be this good… How did you manage to win over a girl like Sin?"
Noon felt a flash of anger rise inside him, sharp and unexplained. His voice came out rough, slightly louder than intended:
> "That's none of your business..."
But he stopped mid-sentence.
Why was he angry?
Why such a harsh reaction?
He didn't recognize himself.
Closing his eyes, he fell silent.
His sister stared at him, puzzled, before the teasing look faded from her face.
With a coldness that cut deeper than any shout, she said:
> "How long are you going to stay stuck in the same place?
That's exactly why you're such a failure, brother."
Noon inhaled slowly, feeling as though the world around him had blurred.
Sin, speaking shyly with her sister.
Her soft laughter.
His sister's words.
Everything was real.
He hated himself.
He knew it.
Coward…
Weak…
Always running away.
Alone in a major he despised.
Distant from any community.
With nothing to be proud of.
It wasn't anyone's fault.
Not bad luck.
Not bad genes.
Not some hidden trauma.
It was him.
Just him.
Lazy.
Utterly lazy in every sense of the word.
He never truly tried.
Always running from reality.
Convincing himself that he was fine the way he was… or that he simply couldn't change.
Making excuses.
Settling for less.
Lying to himself again and again.
Life wasn't unfair to him.
Others weren't the problem.
He was the problem.
And so, when he wanted to snap back at his sister, he stopped himself.
He thought, "Is it even worth it? Will anything change? Will I be rewarded in the end? This is just too exhausting… It's not my path."
Thoughts like these filled his mind.
He had never once tried to truly live.
Always hiding in his comfort zone, convincing himself he was doing all he could.
That was his life.
That was who he was.
Returning to the present, he let out a weary sigh, looked at his sister, and spoke in a hollow, lifeless tone:
> "Sin and I... it's just a coincidence we ended up together.
Now that you're here, I'll leave her with you.
See you at home, sis."
A flash of anger crossed her face, but she said nothing.
She was tired, too.
Noon walked away, his steps slow and heavy, drained of all energy.
As he passed by Sin and her sister, he forced a cold, distant smile and said:
> "Well, Sin, looks like this is where we part ways... Goodbye."
The cold glint in his eyes,
the stiffness of his body,
the emptiness on his face—
It all made Sin's heart tremble.
Her walls shook, but no words came out.
She watched him cross the street under the dim yellow lights of the shops,
silent,
emotionless.
She averted her gaze, choosing instead to swallow the pain quietly.
Her sister gently squeezed her hand, and Sin turned to Noon's sister with a soft, fake smile, saying:
> "Alright, let's head home together!"
Inside, she was crumbling.
Waging a silent war.
"Why did I expect anything?
Why did I feel anything?
What's the point of it all?"
She had no answers.
But she was so good at smiling anyway, at pretending everything was fine.
After all, she had lived her whole life like this.
And so, she walked alongside the two sisters toward the bustling family home—
A house filled with laughter and noise,
far from the pain she buried deep inside.
Sin had known Noon for a long, long time.
She knew his sister.
She knew his mother, too.
It was only Noon who had never noticed her.
It was absurd.
But still…
She had first met him when she was just five years old.
She thought:
"Am I really that invisible?
How much longer do I have to live in the shadows?
I don't want this…
I hate this…
I expected too much, didn't I?
Am I just a fool?"
She lowered her head slightly,
a painful ache squeezing her chest.
Something raw, something impossible to ignore.
But she ignored it anyway.
She kept up her fake smile,
hiding her wounds behind a mask she had worn for as long as she could remember.
---
On the other side of town, Noon continued walking in silence, a crooked smile tugging at his lips.
He wasn't trying to fool anyone.
He was just trying to fool himself.
He thought that if he smiled... maybe it meant he was fine.
He kept moving down the softly lit sidewalk, the peaceful streets of the neighborhood stretching quietly around him. Beautiful houses, a sky dotted with stars, a gentle breeze brushing past him...
Everything around him was so alive, so bright—
Unlike the hollow emptiness in his heart.
He wasn't thinking about anything anymore.
Or maybe... he simply couldn't.
His steps were slow and sluggish, his body moving only for the sake of moving.
This time, he decided he wouldn't overthink.
He wouldn't question his choices.
Because if he ended up being wrong, regret would tear him apart.
And if he happened to be right... hope would devour him instead.
Either way, he was bound to lose.
When he finally arrived home, he kicked off his shoes lazily, barely glanced at the living room as he passed.
He climbed the stairs with heavy steps until he stood before his bedroom door.
Opening it, he tossed his bag into the corner, flicked off the lights, and let himself fall onto the bed, exhausted.
Lying on his back, he pulled out his phone and opened the novel he had been hooked on lately—a fantasy story set in a ruined world filled with monsters and heroes battling supernatural forces.
A far cry from his dull, gray reality.
Maybe that's why he loved it so much.
He buried himself in its pages, chuckling quietly at a funny scene between the hero and his companion.
His body laughed.
His mind laughed.
But his heart... was crying.
He saw himself in every line he read—
In every bit of escapism he so desperately clung to.
Shifting his posture, he leaned in closer to the small screen, as if he could dive even deeper into that other world.
---
Meanwhile, Sin had finally arrived at her own home.
After leaving her sister and Noon's sister downstairs with the rest of the family, she slipped quietly up to her shared bedroom.
Thankfully, it was empty.
Setting her bag aside, she changed into fresh clothes and neatly folded the ones she took off, even though her body ached with exhaustion.
She took a long shower, letting the water wash over her tired frame.
When she emerged, she sat at her tiny desk and opened her notebooks.
No matter how much her chest ached, no matter how much she wanted to cry,
there was no excuse for neglecting her studies.
If anything, the pain was just one more reason to work even harder.
She buried herself in textbooks and formulas, desperately trying to drown out the throbbing in her heart—
immersing herself in a world she could control.
---
And so,
their first true encounter ended.
Noon, choosing to run away, drowning himself in the illusion of smiles.
And Sin, choosing to face her pain, swallowing her tears behind the safety of her notebooks.
Another week passed like this.
Noon did everything he could to avoid crossing paths with her.
Sin, meanwhile, poured herself into exam preparations, pretending not to notice the heavy, aching beat of disappointment in her chest.
The final exams loomed closer...
And the promise of summer break shimmered just beyond the horizon.
Their first year of college was nearing its end.
And in the midst of this ending...
Would something new be born between them?
Or would everything simply fade away—
In silence?
---