Chapter 10
297words
When I heard this, I was on the balcony, pruning new branches on the jasmine plant.
Winter sunlight faintly dappled the pure white petals.
My movements didn't stop, my heart calm as still water.
Where he went had nothing to do with me anymore.
Even later, Dad and I sold the old house and moved to another city.
On the balcony, we grew a few pots of flowers Mom had loved in life—Dad tended them carefully, and they bloomed occasionally.
I still worked hard, spending free time walking with Dad, playing chess, and starting to try new social circles through friends' introductions.
Though sparking interest was hard, at least life was gaining new hues.
Time flowed slowly.
One spring afternoon, while sorting old things, I found a thick photo album at the bottom of a box.
Opening it, there were photos from college days with Landon.
Youthful faces, bright smiles—backgrounds of the field, library, cherry blossoms...
Each one brimming with the joy unique to that age.
I flipped through page by page quietly, my heart unusually calm.
No nostalgia, no resentment—just a faint, distant sense of separation, like from another lifetime.
The girl in the photos, smiling with curved eyes, seemed like someone from a past life.
Closing the album, I put it back in the box bottom, sealing away those ten years of youth along with it.
Outside the window, sunshine was perfect, a few more flowers had bloomed—white as jade.
I took a deep breath—the air carried a light floral scent, mixed with the slightly bitter, fresh breath of a new life.
Everything was over.
And the future was still long.
The End.
