P R O L O G U E
Prologue
“Before Everything”
There are loves that should not exist.
Not because they are wrong.
But because the world around them doesn’t know what to do with them.
It breaks them.
Hides them.
Turns them into something you’re supposed to fear.
And yet—
they appear.
They don’t ask for permission.
They don’t wait for the right moment.
They happen.
That’s how this story began.
Not with a choice.
With a glance.
One that lasted too long.
One that said too much without saying anything at all.
And from that moment—
nothing was simple anymore.
Because between them there wasn’t just desire.
There was struggle.
With rules.
With people.
With a place that teaches you not to feel.
And, most of all—
with themselves.
Elias was raised to believe.
In order.
In discipline.
In God.
In the idea that there is only one right path.
Johann was raised to survive.
In pain.
In control.
In corrections that were never about healing.
In the idea that what he feels… must be destroyed.
And yet—
they found each other.
Not in a place that allowed it.
But in a place that punished any deviation.
And they chose.
Not to save themselves.
To feel.
Even if that meant losing themselves.
They burned fast.
Intensely.
Without measure.
They touched each other as if it were the first and the last time at once.
And then—
they were forced to break apart.
Not because they didn’t want each other.
Because the world around them decided they weren’t allowed.
This is not a story about beginnings.
It’s a story about what remains
after you’ve lost everything.
