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[Wildflowef] - [Billie Eilish]

Sunghoon's chest heaved as he stormed into the restaurant, his bow tie undone, his perfectly styled hair now a mess from the rush. His eyes were frantic, his mind still reeling from Chaeryoung's words, the weight of them pressing on his chest. He barely noticed Sohee standing at the counter until he was already in front of him, his voice desperate.

"Where is she?" His words were breathless, like he couldn't catch his breath fast enough, as if the world itself was slipping away and all he could focus on was her.

Sohee stood still for a moment, processing his disheveled appearance.

"Aren't you getting engaged today?" Sohee's words came out softly, almost too carefully. He couldn't mask the surprise in his voice.

Sunghoon barely registered her words, his mind racing at the mention of his engagement. His chest tightened at the reminder, but it wasn't enough to stop the torrent of guilt and panic that had taken over him. He couldn't focus on the engagement anymore. He only knew one thing.

His eyes hardened, as if a switch had been flipped. He knew exactly where Iseul would be. Their spot. The river.

Without a second glance at Sohee, he turned and ran out of the restaurant, his footsteps heavy with urgency. He didn't care about anything else.

He knew the river—knew the way it calmed them both, the way it had always been their place of solace. Even when the world around them fell apart, the river had been the one thing that had always remained constant

Meanwhile, at the venue, everything had fallen apart. The guests, growing restless from the endless waiting, murmured amongst themselves. The atmosphere was thick with tension. Rena, her mother, and her brother anxiously scoured the venue, searching for Sunghoon, but he was nowhere to be found.

But little did they know, Sunghoon was somewhere they would never think to look.

His car screeched to a halt in front of the river, the very place where everything between him and Iseul had once felt right. The place that had once been their sanctuary. The place he had taken for granted.

As Sunghoon stepped out of the car, his heart pounded in his chest, his thoughts racing. He could hardly believe what he was doing—what had led him here. But he couldn't turn back now. Iseul was here. His Iseul.

His eyes locked onto her figure, standing at the water's edge, her back to him. She looked so small in the vastness of the river, like she was fading into the scenery, lost and alone.

"Iseul..." His voice cracked as he approached, but he couldn't stop himself. He rushed toward her, his feet almost stumbling over the gravel. His heart beat in frantic rhythm, each step carrying a weight that seemed unbearable.

Iseul's head turned slowly, her face tear-streaked and raw, a mask of confusion and hurt. She blinked as if she hadn't expected to see him there at all.

"Aren't you getting engaged today?" Her voice was soft, but the question struck him like a blow. There was pain behind those words, a kind of quiet devastation that tore through him.

Sunghoon froze, his chest tightening as the reality of the situation slammed into him. She wasn't just asking about his engagement—she was questioning everything they had been to each other. She was questioning him.

"Iseul..." His voice came out desperate, pleading. "Let's talk. Please."

Her eyes flickered with something unreadable, but she didn't move. There was a distance between them now, one that felt insurmountable. He had built it himself, brick by brick, with his own neglect and arrogance. And now, he had no idea how to tear it down.

But he had to try.

The words left Sunghoon's lips with an unrelenting heaviness. "What... what did you go through before we parted, Iseul? Did... did you have a miscarriage?"

The question seemed to tear through the air, shattering the fragile stillness between them. Iseul's knees buckled beneath her as the weight of his words landed, and for a moment, the ground beneath her felt as though it had given way.

A storm of memories crashed over her, memories she had buried so deeply, hoping they would never resurface. Her eyes welled with tears, and her chest tightened as she fought to steady her breath.

Sunghoon, kneeling in front of her, spoke again, his voice trembling with something raw, something desperate. "I have the right to know the full story."

They both sank to the ground, their knees brushing, the cool summer breeze weaving through the strands of their disheveled hair. The world seemed to slow down around them, as if giving them this one, fleeting moment to confront the pain they had both avoided for so long.

Iseul's hands trembled as Sunghoon gently clasped them in his, a silent offering of support, of connection, as he patiently waited for her to speak.

Her voice came softly, like a whispered confession. "I worked so many jobs at that time, Sunghoon... I was barely keeping my head above water. I didn't have the time to take care of myself, to listen to my body. I went to the hospital one day... I don't even remember why I was there, but that's when I found out I was pregnant."

Sunghoon's breath caught in his throat. His eyes flickered away, the raw emotion etched on his face. He couldn't look at her, not yet—not while she carried the truth of what had been left unsaid for so long.

Iseul's voice cracked as she continued, "I was scared, Sunghoon. I couldn't tell you... I couldn't burden you with it. We were already so distant. We became strangers, even though we shared the same roof. We didn't talk... we didn't listen to each other. We spent cold nights because we couldn't pay for the heating, and even when the creditors came to take everything... I couldn't look after a child in a house like that. I couldn't do that to our baby."

Sunghoon's chest tightened as the weight of her words crashed into him. His breath hitched, and his hands shook, unable to hold himself together.

He stared at Iseul, his heart shattering in real time, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, he realized the depth of his failure. His voice was thick with emotion, barely a whisper, but it held all the pain he couldn't suppress.

"How could I be this blind? How did I not notice you were suffering?" His eyes, once sharp and filled with ambition, were now clouded with guilt, his expression raw with regret. His face twisted in anguish, like he had just woken from a nightmare he couldn't escape.

Iseul didn't respond at first, her tears speaking louder than words ever could. Sunghoon's gaze flickered between the ground and her face, unable to face the full weight of the hurt he had caused.

He hadn't been there for her—his ambition had consumed him, and in the process, he had lost sight of the one person who had always been by his side.

Iseul finally spoke, her voice trembling. "We were both too busy. I was working while you were out in meetings, trying to sell your app... trying to build your dream. I wanted to help you with your broken dreams, but I was falling apart. All of this happened while I was pregnant. I got so attached to the baby, Sunghoon... I thought I could handle it. I thought we could handle it. But... I decided not to tell you."

Her words cut deep into Sunghoon's chest, and he felt himself crumbling under the weight of his ignorance. How could he have been so selfish, so wrapped up in his own pursuits? How had he not seen the woman he loved breaking right before his eyes?

"I was at the store that day," Iseul continued, her voice breaking. "I was trying to sell freebies, and I felt this sharp pain in my stomach. I rushed to the bathroom, and it was blood. I... I fainted, Sunghoon. They took me to the hospital." She closed her eyes, reliving the pain, and when she spoke again, her voice was a fragile whisper. "I already lost our child."

Sunghoon's heart shattered, the pain almost unbearable. His body moved before he could think, pulling Iseul into his arms in one swift, desperate motion. He held her tightly, as if his touch could undo the past, could heal the wound he had helped create.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he begged, his voice raw and desperate. He buried his face in her hair, his breath unsteady as his heart ached with the weight of his own neglect.

"I called you... many times, but it didn't get through. You were always so busy with work... I waited for you, but you were never there. That night when I came back home... you looked at me, Sunghoon, but you didn't understand. You didn't see the pain. You didn't notice I was hurting."

Sunghoon's hands tightened around her, his heart shattering with every word. His eyes welled with tears, guilt clawing at him from the inside out. His world had been built on ambition, but in the end, it was empty without her by his side.

"I was so alone, Sunghoon... I realized I couldn't share anything with you anymore. Neither my pain nor my joy. That's when I decided... divorce was the only option. I couldn't keep pretending that we were okay when we weren't."

Sunghoon's world was spinning. His breath came in ragged gasps as his mind replayed the past.

"I was so selfish," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "I never saw how much you were hurting... I was so focused on my own dreams that I let you slip away. I can't... I can't change the past, but I need you to know... I'm so sorry, Iseul. I'm so sorry for everything."

His hands trembled as they cupped her face, wiping away her tears, though his own were falling freely now. He leaned in closer, desperate for her forgiveness, his voice barely a whisper.

"Please, forgive me. I'll spend the rest of my life making it right if you'll let me."

Iseul's voice, soft as the breaking of glass, shattered the fragile silence between them. "You can't make it right, Sunghoon. It's too late."

The words hung in the air, heavy, suffocating. They were not words spoken in haste or anger, but a quiet decree, one that had been etched into her soul for so long it no longer required rage to be understood.

Their love that had turned to ash beneath the weight of their miscommunication, their silences, their neglect.

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