The bag at Luv's feet was light—just a change of clothes, some cash, and a small notebook he always carried. He didn't need much. He had trained himself to live with little, to survive anywhere, to move without leaving a trace.
Still, as he zipped it shut, his hand paused for a moment on the worn strap. This wasn't like the times before, when he had vanished into the night without explanation. This time, he wasn't running away.
He was going to someone.
The thought felt strange, almost heavy in his chest. For years, he had been content with solitude. At eighteen, when the betrayals had torn his trust apart, he had disappeared into silence. He remembered the voices—the friends who laughed behind his back, the classmates who humiliated him, the ones who had taken his kindness and twisted it into weakness. The pain had been sharp then, unbearable.
So he had cut himself off. No friends. No attachments. No one to betray him again.
And yet, in that isolation, Ayu's voice had reached him.
He still remembered the first time they had talked online. It had been casual, meaningless chatter at first. But somehow, conversation had flowed with her in a way it never had with anyone else. She had dreams like his. Scars like his. A stubborn fire that reminded him of everything he thought he'd lost.
Now she was in danger.
And for the first time in years, he felt something stronger than his own pain—an urge to protect.
Luv slung the bag over his shoulder and locked his apartment door behind him. The hallway was silent, the lights dim. His footsteps echoed softly as he made his way outside. The air carried the faint chill of night, the streets mostly empty.
He walked steadily to the station, his expression calm but his mind restless. Every step was a step away from the shadows he had lived in, and toward something unknown.
The train arrived with a low rumble, headlights cutting through the dark. As he boarded and found a seat by the window, he allowed himself a rare glance at the stars overhead.
This is it, he thought. The road ahead.
The carriage swayed gently as the train began to move. Luv leaned back, closing his eyes. The memories of betrayal still lingered, sharp as broken glass, but for once, they didn't choke him. Instead, they pushed him forward.
Because this time, he wasn't just surviving. He was going to stand by someone who understood.
He rested his head against the window, the rhythm of the tracks carrying him closer to Ayu's city.
Closer to a meeting that would change both their lives forever.