Chapter Text
“Corin... Just pick the teamilk you want,” Ellen said flatly, her half-lidded eyes heavy with boredom and exasperation. The shark thiren girl stood with one hand holding her own teamilk, which she sipped slowly as she stared at the younger girl.
“B-But… There’s so many! How can I be sure which one’s right…?” Corin replied, her purple eyes darting anxiously across the glowing menu. She tugged nervously at the hem of her skirt, clearly overwhelmed by the abundance of choices.
A short distance away, a certain white wolf thiren and a ghostly woman stood together, quietly observing. Each held their own teamilk in hand.
“I still don’t quite understand the appeal of this… ‘teamilk’ that Ellen’s so fond of,” the wolf thiren said, inspecting his cup with mild skepticism. He took another hesitant sip- his first in the past five minutes. Before lowering the cup again. “But I suppose it’s simply not to my taste.”
A brief pause.
“…Perhaps Corin could use some help?”
Rina let out a soft chuckle behind her hand in response.
“Hm~ I say we let them be. It’s not often we get a chance to relax like this,” she said with a gentle smile. “Let them enjoy it. This is a rare bonding moment for all of us, after all.”
“I suppose you’re right, Rina,” Lycaon replied, returning her a small smile with one of his own.
It was a simple, quiet moment shared between coworkers... buying teamilk, enjoying each other’s company. From a distance, one might even mistake it for a heartwarming scene between a close-knit family.
Or perhaps, that's what they really seem like to be.
In the distance, a tall, slim man with long golden-blonde hair and mismatched eyes stood still, watching.
Not that he was stalking them. No—he was just passing by. Pure coincidence. They just happened to catch his attention.
He wasn’t looking at them.
...Right?
Look at them. What a perfect little scene. Laughing. Smiling. Bonding. Like a real family.
Good for him.
Really.
He’s happy.
That's great.
Hah.
Krrrrip!
The sound pulled Hugo out of his thoughts. He looked down.
Oh.
He’d forgotten about the documents in his hands. Forgotten he was holding them at all.
He’d clenched them so tightly the paper had torn clean through.
No, it’s fine. It’s really fine.
Just an instinct.
It doesn’t mean anything.
He didn’t know him. Not anymore.
It’s just… a coincidence. That’s all.
But that eye—
There's not mistaking it.
That singular, sharp red eye.
That white fur, streaked and faded in all the same places.
That slow, familiar swish of a tail.
That voice.
He should go.
Yes. He was supposed to be running a quick errand for his dear Vivi before heading home. Wouldn’t want her waiting.
...
So he has a wife now. She’s beautiful. Kind. Smiles easily. Two kids- Though a wonder how come one of them is not a wolf thiren like the father, maybe just how the genetics worked out.
They seem happy.
No—they are happy.
He’s happy.
He’s well.
He smiles more now.
He’s doing fine.
He’s happy.
Hugo blinked again.
His jaw ached. He hadn’t even noticed he was grinding his teeth until he tasted the faint copper tang of blood where his fang had nicked his tongue.
He should go.
He tells himself he should go.
But his feet don’t move.
Why are you still standing here?
What do you think you’re doing?
He's the one who left you, you should be seething.
So what right do you have now—to watch like this? To want?
You’re nothing more than a stranger now. A ghost.
He doesn’t need you. Never did.
He probably walks the kids to school in the mornings. Maybe they pack lunches together. Go on weekend picnics. Laugh at old jokes.
Simple. Sweet.
Everything you couldn’t give him.
He has his own life. One he built without you. One that works.
And none of it includes you.
It’s like none of it ever mattered.
The nights spent bickering over dinner, stealing food from each other’s plates just to be annoying.
The triumphant grins after every heist pulled off side by side—the quiet pride in each other's success, the unspoken trust.
The gentle touches while patching up wounds, careful hands wiping away blood like it meant something.
Even when the injury came from each other.
Those quiet nights in the dark, curled up together in that tiny attic, holding each other close when one of them had a bad dream.
Too cold. Too small.
But safe.
And now?
Now it’s like it never happened.
Like he never existed in that part of Lycaon’s life.
Like he was just—some passing chapter. One that closed and got left behind.
Hugo sucked in a shaky breath and forced a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.
It’s fine. Hah.
Fineeee. Pfftt.
They broke up. It’s been years.
Years.
Hugo doesn’t need to be part of that mutt’s life. Not anymore.
He has his own life now.
His own world.
And it’s good. It’s great. It’s—
Perfect.
He’s perfectly content.
And more than happy.
Absolutely, undoubtedly happy.
He is.
Really.
He shook his head hard, forcing himself to look away.
Gods, he’d been staring. Just standing there like some desperate ghost.
He probably looked like a creep.
Strawberries. Kiwis. Vivian asked for strawberries and kiwis.
That’s what matters right now.
That’s what he told himself as he started walking away, jaw clenched so tightly it ached, fingers digging into his palm as he walked.
He didn’t look back.
"When that time comes, you’ll eventually forget about me.”
"Or you’ve already forgotten me.”
“Not out of cruelty. Not out of spite. Just… the way people forget things they no longer need to remember.
You’ll forget the way I used to call your name.
The weight of your hand resting on mine, steady even when everything else wasn’t.
The little arguments we used to have about nothing, the ones we always made up from with a grin or a nudge.
The sound of my footsteps beside yours.
The warmth we shared when the nights got too long.
The promises whispered when no one else was listening.
And it's all faded
The edges blurred
I’m already just a half-memory in the back of your mind.
A story you no longer tell.
A face you’ve replaced with someone else’s smile.
And that’s okay.
I don’t blame you. IblamemyselfIblamemyselfIblamemyselfIblamemyselfIblamemyselfIblamemyselfIblamemyselfIblamemyself
You found something better. Something quieter. Softer. Something I could never give you.
You moved on, like people are supposed to.
You let go, you made up your mind
And me?
…I'm just the one who never learned how to.”