"So, where are we going?" she asked quietly, her voice tense, as if she already knew the answer.
I kept my eyes on the road. "Do you want to go somewhere?"
She hesitated, fingers tightening around her coat. "…Yes," she finally said. "I want to see where she died. If we can. I want to know how it happened."
The engine hummed steadily, but I felt nothing but emptiness inside.
I couldn't refuse.
I had stayed away from that place for twelve years, yet a part of me always knew I would return.
So I turned the wheel.
We stopped beside an old railway track.
No warning lights. No guards. No footsteps.
Just rusted rails stretching ahead, swallowed by weeds and silence.
The air felt colder here.
"This is it," I said.
I stepped out of the car and stared down at the track—at a spot where the stones were darker, worn smooth by time.
"That place," I continued quietly, "is where everything ended."
My voice trembled despite myself.
"My world shattered there."
I closed my eyes.
"Let me tell you the rest of the story."
It was winter.
The kind of cold that sank into your bones and refused to leave. Yuri walked next to me, her breath clouding the air, her hands hidden inside her sleeves. Miiky padded along near our feet, tail swaying lazily.
"This is freezing," Yuri complained, puffing out her cheeks.
"Well," I said with a small smile, "it is winter."
She looked up, frowning. "But there's no snow."
I followed her gaze. The clouds were heavy and dull, as if they were holding something back.
"…You're right."
Without thinking, I shouted toward the sky, my voice echoing through the empty space.
"Hey, God! I want to see my first snowfall with the girl I love!"
Yuri froze.
Her face turned bright pink, the color spreading to her ears.
"Don't say that so loudly, dummy," she whispered, glancing around.
I laughed. "If you don't want to hear it, put on your headphones."
She clicked her tongue. "You're impossible."
Yet she carefully set Miiky down and slipped on her headphones. A moment later, music spilled faintly into the air.
It was too loud.
I noticed.
I said nothing.
That was my mistake.
"Huh?"
Yuri stiffened and looked down. "Where's Miiky?"
Panic crept into her voice. "She was just here."
We started searching—calling her name, checking behind trees, near rocks, along the fence.
Without realizing it, we drifted apart.
I was farther down the path when I stopped.
"Miiky?" I called. "Where are you?"
Something cold brushed my cheek.
I paused.
"…What?"
I looked up.
Snow.
Small, quiet flakes drifting from the sky.
My breath caught.
"The first snowfall," I whispered.
For a moment, everything felt peaceful.
Then I heard her.
"Seo-jun!"
I turned.
"I found Miiky!"
She stood on the track, holding her cat close, laughing. Her eyes sparkled. Her smile was wide and genuine.
In that moment, she was my world. My light.
Then—
The sound shattered everything.
Metal grinding against metal. A deep, approaching rumble.
My body reacted before my mind could.
A cargo train.
My heart dropped.
I looked again.
She was still standing on the track.
"YURI!"
I ran.
I screamed her name until my throat burned. Pain tore through my legs, but I didn't slow down.
I couldn't.
If I stopped, I would lose her.
The horn blared—loud, desperate.
She didn't react.
Her headphones were still on.
The music was too loud.
I waved my arms. I screamed until my lungs felt like they would burst.
"YURI!"
She didn't hear me.
The distance felt endless.
My vision blurred. The sound swallowed everything.
The snow kept falling—soft and merciless.
Then—
Silence.
A silence so heavy it crushed the air from my lungs.
My strength vanished.
I collapsed to my knees.
I don't remember screaming.
I don't remember crying.
I only remember the sound of my heart breaking—
and then nothing.
Later, sirens came.
Someone must have called the police. The train driver, maybe.
I don't remember their faces. I don't remember the questions.
I remember only one thing.
The first snowfall came exactly when I asked for it.
Just not in the way I had hoped.