Click.
The door to Hana's apartment opened.
Celian stepped inside, the folded umbrella in his hand. His gaze immediately swept across the room — and stopped.
Chaos everywhere.
Shards of glass glittered across the floor in the weak light from outside. The sweet smell of alcohol hung in the air, mixed with something bitter. Pink liquid still dripped down the wall, forming little puddles between the broken glass. Crumpled taiyaki wrappers lay scattered across the table. Beside them, an overturned glass.
Hana stood motionless in the doorway, staring at the mess.
"Wow," Celian said, letting out a low whistle through his teeth.
He set the umbrella aside and carefully stepped around the shards.
"And I thought Lyra had issues." His eyes wandered over the manga collection, the soaked disaster of a room, then back to Hana. "But hey, at least you're a weeb. Makes you instantly more likable."
Hana didn't react.
Celian sighed and pulled off his jacket. "Okay, serious question: was this some therapeutic rage meltdown, or did you try to drink yourself to death?"
Hana didn't move. Her eyes stayed fixed on the broken glass, as if staring hard enough could undo what had happened.
"Both," she finally muttered.
Celian nodded slowly, then his eyes briefly drifted over her — the oversized coat, nothing underneath except a bra, panties, and her bare scratched-up legs.
"Okay, before we talk about any of this…" He vaguely gestured toward her. "Maybe put some clothes on? I mean, I don't care, but I kinda doubt this is the best dresscode for a conversation."
Hana's cheeks turned red. She grabbed one of the couch cushions and hurled it at him.
"PERVERT!"
Celian caught it easily and grinned crookedly. "Hey, just saying. I'm here to help, not create awkward situations."
Without a word, Hana stomped into the bedroom and slammed the door shut.
Celian dropped into one of the chairs, carefully avoiding the glass shards. He leaned back and waited.
A few minutes later, Hana returned. Now wearing sweatpants and an oversized black hoodie. Her hair was still wet, face still puffy from crying, but at least she was dressed.
She sat down across from him at the table and pulled her knees to her chest.
"Happy now?"
"Very." Celian crossed his arms. "Now sit properly. We need to talk."
Hana pulled her knees even tighter against herself. "I don't want to sit." Her voice was quiet. "I want to go to Lyra."
"I know." Celian leaned forward. "But if you run to her right now, like this, with your head in this state… it'll only get worse."
Hana looked up.
"Worse? How could this possibly get any worse?"
Celian shrugged. "By losing her again. Forever this time."
Hana flinched like he'd slapped her.
"She… she already hates me."
"No." Celian's voice grew firmer. "She hates herself. Big difference."
Hana stared at him. Her mouth opened, then closed again.
"How… how would you even know that?"
"Because I got eyes." He sighed. "And because I talked to her today. Longer than you'd think."
Hana's fingers tightened around the fabric of her hoodie.
"What… what did she say?"
"Nothing specific about you." Celian scratched the back of his head. "But that was exactly the problem. She avoided your name like the plague. Every time I brought you up, she dodged it or changed the subject."
He stepped a little closer.
"You know what that means?"
Hana shook her head.
"It means you matter so fucking much to her that she can't even talk about you without falling apart."
Hana stared at him. The words refused to fully sink in, bouncing off the wall inside her head.
"But… but she left. She said I don't understand her."
"Because she's scared." Celian leaned back.
Hana swallowed hard. Her hands trembled.
"I… I need to tell her that. That I want to understand her. That I—" Her gaze fell on Celian's coat — and on her phone still sticking out of one of the pockets.
She abruptly stood up, almost tripping over the glass, grabbed the coat, and pulled out the phone.
"I'm calling her. Right now. I—"
The display lit up. No new messages from Lyra. But there was something else. Hana's fingers froze over the screen. Her breath caught.
Delivered. Read.
The voice message. The desperate, screaming voice message from earlier was sent.
But not to Lyra.
To—
All color drained from Hana's face.
"No."
The word barely came out. A strangled whisper.
"No, no, no, no—"
Her fingers shook so badly she almost dropped the phone. She opened the chat.
Syon.
The message had gone to Syon.
"I LOVE YOU!"
"Please… please come back! P-p…please! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Everything. Every single desperate word. Sent to him. The phone slipped from her hands and hit the floor. Hana dropped to her knees. Glass shards dug into her skin, but she didn't feel it. A brittle sound escaped her throat, half scream, half sob.
"No… no, that can't… that can't be…"
Celian was beside her instantly, pulling her away from the glass.
"Hey, hey! What happened?!"
But Hana didn't hear him. She just stared at the phone on the floor, at the glowing display.
At Syon's name.
Then Celian saw it too. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him.
"Hana. Who's Syon?"
Hana swallowed hard. The words only came out in fragments.
"He was… he was a friend back then. From school."
She wiped at her eyes, smearing tears across her cheeks.
"And when I got out of rehab—"
Rehab.
The word hurled Celian straight into the past. His thoughts raced like a train without brakes. Black hair with red tips. The crush Asaki never wanted to talk about. The girl from the clinic she couldn't let go of. Is that why Asaki works at that filthy club? Not for the money? Definitely not because of Rudi. But because of her? Because of this wrecked alcoholic who—
"Celian?"
Hana's voice pulled him back to reality. He blinked, only now realizing how tightly his fingers had dug into her shoulders. He loosened his grip.
"Yeah, I… I'm listening." His voice sounded tighter than intended. "Go on."
Hana nodded weakly and took a shaky breath.
"When I left the clinic… Syon suddenly came back into my life. He took care of me, stayed by my side." Her voice grew more fragile. "We got together and he… he became my boyfriend."
Celian watched something dark spread across her expression, watched her whole body start trembling.
"And then…"
She pressed her lips together. She could barely breathe.
Click.
The quiet sound of the door opening. So quiet it almost disappeared into the room.
Lyra stood in the doorway, completely drenched.
Her hair clung to her face. The gray hoodie — Hana's hoodie — dripped silently onto the floor. One hand still rested on the doorknob, frozen in place.
Hana looked at Celian, her lips trembling.
"Syon… Syon…"
She swallowed hard, squeezing her eyes shut.
"...ra— … ra—" A sob broke the words, her fists clenched.
"…raped me."
The word hung in the air like poison.
Lyra's hand slipped from the doorknob.
Silence.
The silence wasn't empty.
It was filled with everything that couldn't be said. With the sound of water dripping from Lyra's soaked hoodie onto the floor. With Hana's strangled breathing. With Celian's hand still resting on Hana's shoulder — not holding her anymore, just there.
Lyra stood motionless.
Pure horror filled her face. Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but the words didn't exist. They couldn't exist.
Her eyes — red, swollen, full of tears — stared at Hana. At the girl standing among the glass shards. At the girl she had loved. The girl she still loved.
And that—
Syon.
The name echoed through Lyra's head like a voice inside an empty cathedral.
"Syon raped me."
Lyra's knees gave out. She collapsed against the doorframe, fingers digging into the wood like it was the only thing keeping her upright.
"No."
The word crumbled apart on her lips, a broken whisper.
Finally, Hana looked up. Their eyes met.
And in that moment, everything shattered.
"Lyra, wh—"
"NO!"
Lyra's voice ripped through the room, high and shrill. She stumbled a step forward, then another, her legs shaking so badly she could barely stand.
"That… that can't… that can't be…"
Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the rainwater.
"Syon? SYON?!"
Her voice cracked apart.
Hana couldn't say anything. She could only watch Lyra fall to pieces.
"He was… he was our friend… he…" Lyra's hands flew to her head, fingers digging into her wet hair. "No, no, no, this… this doesn't make any sense…"
She staggered again, almost falling. Celian instinctively moved to catch her, but Lyra shoved him away.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
Her eyes were wild. Panicked. She dropped to her knees directly in front of Hana. Her hands trembled as she reached for Hana's face and cupped it between her palms.
"When?" The word came out strained. "When did he… when…?"
Hana sobbed, barely able to endure Lyra's gaze.
"A-at the clinic. He kept visiting me and he was so nice to me and… and then he signed something so I could get out earlier and… um… then he took me in and took care of me…"
Lyra's face twisted.
"No…"
"And… I thought… I thought he was the only one who still—"
"NO!"
Lyra pulled Hana against her chest, holding her like she could somehow undo everything.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I… I should've been there… I should've…"
Her voice completely broke. She held Hana so tightly it hurt. But Hana held onto her just as tightly. Just as desperately.
Celian stood nearby with his hands in his pockets, looking away. He didn't know what to say.
There was nothing to say.
After what felt like forever, Lyra pulled back slightly, still holding Hana's face in her hands. Rough words tore out of her throat.
"I'm going to kill him."
It wasn't an empty threat. It was a vow.
Hana weakly shook her head.
"Lyra, no… you can't—"
"He touched you…" Lyra's voice trembled, but there was something dangerous underneath it. "He hurt you… and I… I wasn't there…"
"It's not your fault."
"YES IT IS!"
Lyra screamed it so loudly her voice cracked again.
"I LEFT YOU ALONE! I… I abandoned you when you needed me most!"
She pressed her forehead against Hana's. "It's my fault… all of this is my fault…"
Hana closed her eyes, tears running down her cheeks.
"No, Lyra… please…"
Celian quietly cleared his throat.
Both girls looked up at him as if they'd forgotten he was still there.
"I… I'll step outside for a bit," he muttered. "You two need… time."
He turned toward the door. But before he could leave, Hana spoke.
"Wait."
Her voice was quiet, but firm. Celian turned around. Hana looked at him, then at Lyra.
"He… he's blackmailing me."
Lyra's eyes widened. "What?"
"He's threatening to tell my parents everything. That I'm not clean. Where I really work." Hana's voice trembled. "They think everything's going well. That I… that I made it."
Lyra stared at her in disbelief.
"And today…" Hana swallowed hard. "Today I accidentally sent him a voice message. One that… that was meant for you."
Lyra's eyes widened even more.
"What… what did you say?"
Hana's face turned bright red. She couldn't look at Lyra.
"I… I can't… I can't—"
"Play it."
"Lyra, please—"
"Play. It."
"NO!"
Hana pressed the phone against her chest like she wanted to hide it from Lyra.
"I can't… it's… it's too embarrassing…"
Lyra blinked in confusion.
"Embarrassing? Hana, what—"
"Oh, let me guess," Celian cut in.
He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, a grin spreading way too wide across his face.
"Was it maybe… a love confession?"
Silence.
Hana's face exploded into a shade of red that honestly shouldn't have been physically possible.
Lyra's mouth opened. Then closed again. Then opened a second time, but no sound came out. A faint pink spread across her cheeks. Then darker. And darker, until she was just as red as Hana.
"You… you…?"
Lyra couldn't even finish the sentence. Hana buried her face in her hands, the phone trapped somewhere between them.
"I thought… I thought I was sending it to you… but then… then I picked the wrong contact and—"
"What… what did you say?" Lyra's voice was barely a whisper.
Hana only shook her head. She couldn't answer.
Celian laughed softly.
"Oh man, this is better than any rom-com." He grinned. "You know what?"
Suddenly he pushed himself off the wall and walked toward Hana. "I'll do it for you."
"WHAT?! NO!" Hana screamed at him.
She pulled the phone closer, but Celian was faster. In one smooth motion, he snatched it out of her hands.
"HEY! GIVE THAT BACK!"
Hana jumped to her feet and reached for the phone, but Celian held it high above his head.
"Celian, I swear to God—"
"Too late!"
Hana pounded her fists against his chest, trying to grab the phone, but he was too tall.
"You ASSHOLE! GIVE IT BACK RIGHT NOW—"
CLICK.
The sound of the voice message filled the room.
Hana froze.
So did Lyra.
Then Hana's voice came through the speaker.
Desperate. Broken. Raw.
"I LOVE YOU!"
"FUCK, I LOVE YOU!"
Hana's cheeks weren't red anymore. They were purple.
She let go of Celian, stumbled backward, and buried her face in her hands.
"Please… please come back! P-p…please! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Lyra stood there motionless, eyes wide open.
Hana's knees gave out. She sank to the floor, hiding her face completely in her hands.
The message ended in broken sobbing.
Silence.
Celian lowered the phone, looking deeply satisfied. "There we go. See? Wasn't that bad."
Hana shot him a murderous glare — at least as much as she could through the fingers covering her face.
"I'm… going to… kill you…"
But Celian ignored her. His eyes stayed fixed on Lyra. She still stood there completely frozen. Tears streamed down her face.
But these were different tears.
"Hana…"
Her voice broke.
Hana didn't dare look up.
"That… that was… for me…?"
Hana gave a weak nod, her face still hidden. Slowly, Lyra walked toward her and knelt down in front of her. Carefully — so carefully — she took Hana's hands and gently pulled them away from her face.
Hana's eyes were full of tears, her cheeks burning bright red. "I… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… I—"
Lyra pressed a finger softly against Hana's lips. "Don't say anything."
Then, so quietly it was almost impossible to hear:
"I love you too."