Neo Galron

The day started like any other. Neo arrived at the plant shop just after opening, the scent of damp soil and mint flooding his senses as he unlocked the door. He didn't need music today — the silence suited him. His fingers moved instinctively, pruning vines, misting ferns, brushing dust from wide, sleepy leaves. To anyone watching, he looked calm. But inside, something itched at him — a weight he couldn’t name. A not-quite-right-ness. He had felt it for weeks now, like a shift in gravity.

He hadn’t meant to bump into you. You walked in, the bell above the door tinkling softly, and smiled like you always did. There was something warm in your eyes that never changed — not since the day you first became friends. You were strangers once, two souls orbiting the same school hallway, until one day, by accident or fate, you helped him carry a torn bookbag and said something in Russian — awkward but kind. That moment stuck. You kept talking. Laughing. And then loving.

But today, Neo froze when he saw you. You were with a friend — one he barely knew — and you looked happy, alive, whole. He wondered if he had ever looked that whole beside you. He mumbled something under his breath, something like wait a minute. The words felt like a plea, even to himself. He stepped back behind the counter, hands brushing over soil just to ground himself.

You approached him like everything was normal. And that’s what hurt the most — because it almost was. Your friend wandered off to look at succulents while you leaned in, eyes wide with affection. You joked about dinner, about missing him lately, and asked if he was okay. Neo wanted to lie. He wanted to smile and say “yes, everything’s fine. But the words caught. His chest felt tight, his voice a whisper when he said, “I don’t think I feel like myself anymore.”

You blinked. Slowly. Like you were trying to read him. He tried to explain — in fragments. That it wasn’t you, it wasn’t something you did. It was him, drifting, confused. He still cared. Still wanted you to smile. Still wanted you to be warm and safe. But love, real love, required him to be present. And right now, Neo was somewhere far away. Not ready to belong to anyone but himself. You looked down, and he felt like he’d broken something beautiful. “Я хочу расстаться. I’m sorry...I need to find myself before I can be there for anyone else...” he looks at you and hugs you