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.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjpd1cLzRj

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.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMJEHQ32Fr

But he didn’t go to the classroom.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqn5SI8lOe

His feet stopped in front of the music room.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUYY1etWa5

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.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9knnmC3W3q

He knew that sound.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmafzP6Aip

Haruki.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIHOzqW3BY

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.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0RfaVPs7s

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6rxpfZFH9

Painfully beautiful.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uGTk4BjUo

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTd2l5AAsK

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiR1LrAsFd

> “I’m sorry.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“I still love you.”

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLPgCAAvWA

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvBT07jFU1

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwNGZwt6Al

But he knew what would happen.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITL1jJw0ow

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgPlg2EbPn

So Ren didn’t open the door.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFeH4Yu515

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiU6FdwSoaC

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSRic7cAIh

And now, it was ready.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDBAsi0Djw

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.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjLBwySxqj

He didn’t stay.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ30iuNtVjw

He turned and walked away before the piano even stopped.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaVfYMH5Ki

But the words he left behind… would stay.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEgJUIFFry

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSHUL8YmVZ

---

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziYipQLE4l

The Letter

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkQ65vlSyg

Haruki,

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIc2Hu5wugd

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.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyVjDOA7fN

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7BWQmkfKv

I loved you.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRIHzy2Yjj

I still do.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvvkqd8IPW

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.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKJmrn0Ne3

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NvjUKyk6L

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.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvqxy5BuEx

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEBHvRsET2

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

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OM1g7edct

I miss us.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vKnDTtp6M

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

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQVYtCF5rC

Know this:

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuq7lx46JuH

I would do anything to protect that memory.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6nuJiE8KO

I’m not asking you to forgive me.

I’m not asking you to love me.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEfDZBClZQ

I just want you to know—

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3WokMQPb2

You were my favorite part of this life.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrEHvuBZiT

—Ren

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDiHO2ITeE

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetX0vtYcoF

Outside the music room, the hallway stayed silent.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVP9CJzQLx

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

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8LoGzhUjP

And Haruki stared at the letter in his hand.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFncs2OQC2

With trembling fingers.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3O9EnhX4v

And tears in his eyes.

99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5qTyDrtIe

---

ns216.73.216.82da2

Reading Theme:

Font Size:

Line Spacing:

Paragraph Spacing:

Load the next issue automatically