When Shijui Let Him Go
Chapter 1: The Smile That Hid the Pain
Shijui was the kind of girl people remembered for her calm smile.
A smile that never complained.
A smile that never asked for anything.
No one knew how heavy that smile really was.
Every morning, she stood by the window of her small room, watching the city wake up. The world moved fast—dreams chasing dreams, ambitions colliding with hope. Shijui remained still, holding her own dreams quietly, as if they were too fragile to survive being spoken aloud.
She loved Evan.
Not loudly.
Not desperately.
But deeply.
Evan was hope in human form. He spoke about the future as if it were already waiting for him. He believed in someday, while Shijui lived in what is.
"You deserve more, Shijui," Evan once said, looking at her as if she were the answer to every question he had ever asked life.
She smiled. She always did.
What he didn't know was that Shijui's life had already been written in responsibilities.
A sick mother.
A quiet house filled with unpaid dreams.
And a heart that learned to sacrifice long before it learned to love itself.
One evening, Evan finally told her the truth.
"I got selected," he said, his voice trembling with happiness. "A new city. A new life. This is everything I ever dreamed of."
For a moment, Shijui felt her heart stop beating.
Then—she smiled again.
"That's wonderful," she said softly. "I'm so proud of you."
He waited.
For her to say stay.
For her to ask him not to go.
But Shijui only looked away.
That night, she cried for the first time in years. Not because he was leaving—but because she knew she would never be the reason he stayed.
"Loving someone doesn't always mean holding on," she whispered into the darkness.
"Sometimes, it means letting them go… even when it breaks you."
The next morning, she stood at the station.
Evan hugged her tightly.
"I'll come back for you," he promised.
Shijui nodded.
She had stopped believing in promises.
She believed only in sacrifices.
As the train slowly disappeared, her smile finally faded.
Shijui turned back alone, carrying a love she would never speak of again—
a love she chose to give up,
so he could fly.
And that was the beginning of her silent pain.