Chapter 1 PROLOGUE

Pit. Pat.

The sound of dripping water.

It was dark. And cold. The atmosphere was depressing, but somehow, I could not leave.

I could not bear to leave. Because if I did, it felt as if I was leaving something... very important.

Pit. Pat.

There was it, the same melancholy sound. Just hearing the sound made my heart flutter and the sadness in my heart grew.

Pit. Pat.

No... that was not the sound of dripping water. Wasn't it the sound of tears? Someone was crying. Yet aside from the sound of his tears, I could not hear anything else.

Like he was suffering in silence... and bearing the pain inside of him alone.

Soon, my own tears found my eyes.

"Why... are you crying?" I softly asked the person whose face I could not see.

But silence was his only reply. Several seconds passed by, and more tears fell from his eyes.

"You... left me," I heard a soft and weak voice in my ears.

"You promised to stay with me. Yet, you left me," he added and heart shook.

"...I- I don't know what you mean," I stuttered. I did not know this person. But his words inflicted unbearable pain in my heart. And for some reason... I felt like begging down my knees to ask for forgiveness.

"I-I'm sor-" I started to say, but was not able to finish, because I felt a warm finger covering my lips.

"Those words... I don't need them," the man softly added.

"What I need... is you..." he added before seeing a dangerous gaze that threatened to devour me.