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The night was colder than usual.

Rhys sat on the edge of a pavement near the hospital gates, his face buried in his trembling hands. His breath came in uneven gasps, as though the air around him wasn’t enough anymore.

He had tried to be strong. He had tried to be there.

But this… this was too much.

His fingers shook as he unlocked his phone and scrolled down.

He didn’t even think. He just pressed the name.

Adric.

The moment the call connected, he couldn’t stop his voice from breaking.

“Hel… hello?”

There was a pause.

Then Adric’s calm, slightly groggy voice answered on the other end.

“Rhys? What happened?”

Rhys opened his mouth, but no words came. His lips trembled. His heart was pounding. All he could manage was

“Please… come.”

The silence on the other end lasted just a second.

“Where are you?”

---

Within fifteen minutes, Adric arrived at the hospital gate, still wearing his hoodie and track pants.

His eyes darted around until they found Rhys hunched over, shivering slightly, tears streaming down his face.

“Rhys!” he rushed forward.

Rhys looked up, and the moment his eyes met Adric’s, he broke.

He staggered to his feet and wrapped his arms tightly around Adric, burying his face in his chest.

“I’m sorry.....I’m so sorry.....it’s all my fault.I didn’t know...I swear I didn’t know!” Rhys sobbed uncontrollably.

Adric’s brows furrowed in confusion, his hands gently resting on Rhys’s back.

“Rhys, calm down. Hey, hey… what happened? What’s going on? Where’s Zayn?”

Rhys shook his head and tightened his hold, as if letting go meant everything would fall apart again.

“He’s inside… he fainted. Because of me. Because I.” His voice cracked.

Adric slowly pulled him down onto the bench. “Breathe. Tell me. From the beginning.”

Rhys nodded slowly, his hands still trembling.

And then…

He told him everything.

From how Zayn started seeing Elior.

How he encouraged Zayn to trust him. To let himself feel loved.

How Elior became the center of Zayn’s small, slowly-healing heart.

And then

How Zayn fell for him completely.

How Rhys laughed with him, supported him, teased him about Elior’s calls and little gifts. How he assured Zayn that Elior was different. That he wasn’t like the rest.

And today…

“Today he proposed to him. In front of everyone. He said he was pregnant… And Elior…”

Rhys’s voice cracked like glass.

“Elior said no. And he said it was all revenge. That Zayn deserved this. That Zayn… that Zayn drove his friend Aseal to suicide.”

Adric’s entire body stiffened.

His fingers curled into fists.

But he didn’t say anything.

He let Rhys speak. Because it was clear that this guilt was eating him alive.

“I encouraged him, Adric. I told him to open his heart. I told him Elior was good. I told him to say yes. To give love a chance. And look what I did… Zayn broke down in front of the whole college.”

Rhys’s body was shaking now.

Tears streamed down his cheeks.

“He collapsed. He he was bleeding. He lost consciousness. I thought I lost him. I thought I lost both of them him and the baby.”

Adric’s heart sank.

He slowly leaned forward and gently wiped Rhys’s tears.

“Rhys… listen to me.”

Rhys looked up.

“None of this is your fault. You didn’t know. You only wanted to see your friend happy. And Zayn....Zayn trusted you because he loves you.”

Rhys choked out, “But I failed him.”

Adric’s voice dropped softer. “We all do, sometimes. But trust me, Rhys. He’s strong. Stronger than anyone gives him credit for.”

There was a pause.

Rhys wiped his face, trying to breathe steadily.

Adric stood up.

“Where is he now?”

Adric looked up at the hospital building. Then turned to Rhys.

“I’ll be here now, Rhys. No matter what.”

Rhys nodded. “I’m sorry, Adric. For everything.”

Adric gave a half-smile. “You don’t have to be.”

---

The sun had already set when Elior stood in front of the dark glass window of his apartment, staring into the city lights that flickered like dying stars. A storm was brewing in the sky but not as vicious as the one boiling inside his chest.

His phone buzzed continuously calls, texts, notificatons.

He ignored them all.

He walked over to his drawer, opened the bottom-most one, and pulled out a small, dust-covered wooden box. Inside it, there were old photos, some letters, and a single silver chain.

At the bottom lay a picture of two boys smiling, standing side by side in a school hallway.

One of them was Elior.

The other… was Aseal.

Elior sat down on the edge of the bed, holding the picture in his trembling hands.

---

Flashback – 1 year ago

“Aseal, you’re going to be late!” Elior called out from the living room.

“I’m coming!” Aseal yelled back, shoving a few books into his backpack.

They were best friends more than that, they were inseparable. They had grown up together, shared everything from comic books to heartbreaks. Elior always thought he knew every part of Aseal.

But he was wrong.

That evening, as they sat by the rooftop watching the stars, Aseal's expression turned grim.

“I need to tell you something,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Elior turned to him, worried. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m in love… with someone.”

Elior’s eyes softened. “That’s great, Seal. Who is he?”

Aseal bit his lip. “Zayn.”

The name dropped like a stone into a quiet pond. Elior blinked. “Zayn…?”

Aseal nodded slowly. “I don’t know what it is… but I fell for him hard. We slept together once. It was… not just physical for me. I thought he felt the same.”

Elior tilted his head. “And?”

“He ignored me afterward. I thought maybe he was confused. So I tried to talk to him. Again and again. I even told him I loved him.”

Elior’s heart clenched. He knew how sensitive Aseal was how deeply he loved.

“And what did he say?”

“He laughed.” Aseal’s voice cracked. “He told me I was annoying. He said I was just one of the many, and I should be grateful he even gave me that one night.”

Elior’s fists clenched.

“I tried to forget it. I told myself maybe he was scared. But then... that day in the cafeteria…” Aseal stopped, his eyes glassy.

“What happened?”

Aseal looked away. “He stood in front of everyone and told them... that I had a small d*ck. That I couldn’t satisfy anyone. Everyone laughed. Even the teachers looked away.”

Elior stared at him, stunned.

“He humiliated me, Elior. In front of everyone. After that, people avoided me. Rumors spread like wildfire. I couldn’t walk the halls without being mocked.”

Aseal’s hands were trembling now.

“I went to the rooftop that night. I looked down and wondered if the pain would finally stop if I just jumped.”

Elior’s blood turned cold.

“You didn’t.” he whispered.

“I almost did,” Aseal admitted. “But you called me. You said you made lasagna. That one stupid message saved me that day.”

Elior didn’t speak. His throat was closing up.

“But I broke that day, Elior. And I realized… Zayn Alaric wasn’t the person I thought he was. He broke me, piece by piece.”

---

Back to Present

Elior’s jaw tightened as he stared at the picture of them both. He remembered the way Aseal used to laugh like the world was still worth loving. And how that laugh faded, week by week, after that incident.

He had watched his best friend fade away into silence, into darkness, and into despair.

And Zayn never looked back.

Zayn never apologized.

Never explained.

Elior had watched Aseal cry himself to sleep. He watched him flinch every time his phone buzzed. He had to sit through therapy appointments, watched him throw away sketchbooks full of broken poems each one bleeding with humiliation and heartbreak.

It had taken months after everything and he lost all the dignity he has and He left this world afterward. Forever.

And Elior?

Elior stayed behind.

And promised himself one thing.

"I’ll make him feel what you felt. I’ll show him what it’s like to believe in something… and be crushed.”

So Elior waited.

He watched Zayn from afar. At first, he thought Zayn was the same cocky, arrogant omega everyone described.

Zayn still never took responsibility for what he did to Aseal.

So Elior got close. Played sweet. Pretended to care.

Until Zayn fell for him.

He had thought it would be satisfying when Zayn proposed in front of the whole college, Elior thought he would feel victorious.

But The way Zayn collapsed fragile, broken, bleeding…

It didn’t feel like revenge anymore.

It felt like destruction.

Elior sat down on the floor, back against the wall. The guilt began to rise in his throat.

He had become what he hated.

He had become the very reason someone else might not survive.

---

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