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LOVE THAT AIN'T FOR THIS LIFETIME
A man opened his eyes. He was dressed in white, from his robe down to his trousers. The first thought that came to his mind was a certain person. Softly, he murmured, "I want to be with you again."
A flood of memories rushed back of a small town, untouched by time, where modernity hadn't yet taken root.
A man stood silently like a shadow, watching two young boys play in the grass, their laughter echoing in the air, innocent and carefree, as if pain and death were strangers to their future.
The scene shifted suddenly. The boys were now teenagers, lost in a lively crowd, surrounded by food stalls and the smell of street fare. A sudden sparkle lit up the sky, it was fireworks. One of the teenagers leaned closer and whispered, "Fireworks are beautiful, but the person beside me is even more beautiful. And if you see them together… they're simply incomparable."
The other teen, delicate-featured, looked at him and smiled.
Then, the memory changed again. Now in their early twenties, the delicate one carried a basket of fresh vegetables from the market. His face was lit with delight, yet shaded with sorrow as he passed a house where a wedding was taking place. His expression faltered when he saw the groom, his childhood friend glance at him before quickly looking away. The delicate man held his head high and kept walking, his heart heavy.
The man in white, still standing like air, could no longer hold back his grief. Tears slid silently down his cheeks as he whispered, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
The scene shifted once more.
A public square. An execution site. A man, bloodied and bruised, was forced to kneel as a crowd looked on. Then, the decree echoed:
"Execute!"
The man was beheaded before the stunned eyes of the people.
The murmurs began:
"Poor thing… it wasn't even his fault."
"He endured so much, loving someone he couldn't have."
"And he was tortured on top of that."
"That official's the one who should've been executed such a heartless man."
"He lived humbly, never once voicing his love for his childhood friend because they were both men."
"But it was the wife who was jealous… afraid her husband would leave her for someone prettier."
"Then her brother the official kidnapped and tortured him. And now this? What cruelty…"
The man in white, still unseen, mourned deeply over the lifeless, headless body of his childhood friend. He remembered, when he learned of the situation that his wife and her brother is planning something bad to his childhood friend, he had rushed to take action. But his wife, consumed by jealousy, had locked him away, spreading lies that he had been unfaithful. By the time he was free, it was too late. His friend had long been executed. And only then did he truly understand: he had been in love, too. He had always been in love.
But in a world where they could not be together, tragedy had been the only path left to them.
Before the headless body faded from his arms, he cried out, his voice breaking the silence. And before he, too, disappeared from the memory, he mourned:
"We may not have had a happy ending in this lifetime… but may I see you in our next life. And then, I swear, I'll protect you. I'll cherish you. I promise…"
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