Finally finally, the day has come.
The airport was alive with chatter and the constant rolling of suitcases, but for Kia, none of it mattered. He stood near the arrivals gate, holding a banner in one hand and a bouquet of ninety-nine roses in the other, heart pounding as he waited.
Five years. Five years of longing, regret, and imagining this moment. And now… it was finally here.
The automatic doors slid open, and travelers began to spill through. Kia's eyes scanned the crowd, searching, desperate, until he saw him.
Rylan.
He walked with the calm confidence of a man who had grown into himself completely. Handsome, strong, radiating a quiet authority that made people turn their heads. But what made Kia freeze in shock was not just him—it was the twins clinging to Rylan's arms and the man walking behind them, carrying luggage and laughing softly.
Kia's chest tightened. Twins? And who was that?
He stepped forward instinctively, heart racing. But when Rylan's eyes finally met his, Kia froze.
There was no recognition in Rylan's gaze. No spark of longing. No flicker of emotion. Just a blank, calm, nonchalant expression. He carried the twins as if nothing—or no one—could shake him.
Kia's mind raced. Had Rylan married someone else? Was this… a family?
The friend—tall, broad, and easy-going—walked beside Rylan, joking with the twins, who laughed and clung to him as if he were part of the family. Kia's heart sank further. Whoever this man was, he had been given the closeness Kia once had—or had wished for.
Kia wanted to speak. To run to Rylan, to throw himself into his arms, to demand answers. But something held him back. The calmness in Rylan's face, the protective way he carried the children, the unshakable distance… it all told him one thing: he wasn't the same boy who had once loved him.
Instead, Kia swallowed hard, his chest tightening with pain he hadn't felt in years. The roses in his hand felt heavy, the banner meaningless. All he could see were the twins, the friend, and the man he had loved and lost—looking at him like a stranger.
The past five years crashed down on him in an instant, and Kia realized the cruel truth: Rylan had changed, grown beyond him, and perhaps—whether he wanted to admit it or not—had moved on.
And in that instant, Kia's heart broke all over again.