Prologue~ The moment they became aware of it
☆Prologue☆
They are no longer young.
Accustomed to their jobs and positions, they outwardly behave like composed adults in their early thirties.
But their relationship was somehow twisted and ambiguous… so close that they couldn’t even define it and look at it objectively.
One of them had become all too accustomed to suppressing their emotions.
Due to their position, they had no choice but to keep choosing the “right” answer—
and because they’d “always done it that way,” they simply couldn’t shake the habit of putting their own desires on the back burner.
The other was the kind of person who unconsciously gravitated toward that quietness.
Noticing the other’s silence… no, unable to pretend not to notice it, they kept touching—and crossing—the line they shouldn’t cross, time and time again.
Due to various circumstances, they found themselves in the same place, spending time together, and before they knew it, they had become “people the other couldn’t do without.”
However, the “words that would confirm who the other person was to them” had not yet been exchanged.
For now, they were simply maintaining this relationship, careful not to break it—
That was the state of things.
☆The Moment They Both Realized☆
The first thing they noticed wasn’t a change in the other person, but that they themselves were quieter than usual.
If I spoke to them, they’d answer. Neither the distance between us nor their attitude had changed at all.
And yet, when our fingertips touched, the familiar sensation I’d always felt didn’t return.
(Oh, this is…)
The moment I thought that, I realized the other person had held their breath just as I had.
Once our eyes met, I couldn’t look away… nor were they looking away.
An inescapable silence fell between us.
“‘…That just now’”
Without either of us knowing who started it, we opened our mouths—and stopped speaking at the same time.
If I called their name, it would shatter. If I denied it, there would be no going back.
Once I confirmed it, I could no longer pretend I didn’t know.
But it was already too late.
Because we both knew the way we looked at each other had changed.
Without saying a word, the distance between us closed for just a split second.
We didn’t touch any further.
But that single step… was proof that there was no going back.
(To be continued……)
