LIES BETWEEN US

CHAPTER 5: THE DISTANCE BETWEEN WORDS

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Hyeri’s POV

They met at a small park near the river, just past 9 p.m.

The benches were cold, the paths slick with melting snow. Lights along the water blinked like tired eyes, and the wind rustled through the bare trees like a whisper of things unsaid.

Hyeri saw him before he saw her. He was sitting beneath the old streetlamp, hunched forward, hands in his coat pockets, as if the cold could bury his thoughts. For a second, she thought about walking away.

But she didn’t.

She walked toward him slowly, every step echoing in the silence between them. When he looked up, he didn’t smile. He only stood.

“You came,” he said.

“You asked me not to lie,” she replied.

They sat on opposite ends of the bench. The space between them felt familiar — like the final weeks before he left. Too close to be strangers. Too far to be lovers.

Eun looked at her with eyes full of things he still wouldn’t say.

“I should’ve told you everything back then,” he said.

Hyeri didn’t respond.

He took a slow breath. “There was someone who needed me. Someone I couldn’t leave behind.”

Her brows knit slightly, but she said nothing.

He wasn’t talking about another girl — she could see that in his eyes. This was something else. Something heavier.

“I thought if I stayed… you’d get hurt too.”

“So you left me to protect me?” she asked, voice even.

Eun nodded once. “That was the idea.”

“Next time,” she said quietly, “don’t protect me like that.”

They sat in silence for a moment. The river flowed gently beside them, unbothered by human wounds.

He turned to her, hesitating. “There’s more. I want to tell you. But not here. Not like this.”

“Then when?” she asked.

“When I’m sure I can look you in the eye and not lie to you again.”

Hyeri stood. Her fingers curled inside her pockets, searching for warmth that wasn’t there.

“You don’t have to lie,” she said. “You just have to be brave.”

And with that, she turned and walked away — not quickly, not angrily — just enough to remind him that she wouldn’t wait forever.

Behind her, she didn’t hear footsteps.

But for the first time in a long time, she hoped he’d follow.

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