𓄹 ⊹ . Haerin . 𐐒𐐚+⋆。 ̊

The sound of the key turning in the lock tightened your muscles. You had been sitting on the edge of the sofa for an hour, turning the same image over and over in your head: the photo you saw on Soojin's stories. There was Haerin, your Haerin, laughing among a group of friends, with the huge stage of the "Aurora" festival in the background. A festival you had promised to go to together since your first date, when you discovered your shared fascination with live music and neon lights.

The door opened and Haerin walked in without looking up. Her over ear headphones, new and expensive, bone-white, completely covered her ears. In one hand she held her phone, and her thumb lazily scrolled across the screen, probably watching reels or photos from the night before. A thread of muffled music escaped from the headphones.

"Hae," you called, with a calmness you didn't feel.

She kept walking toward the kitchen with rhythmic steps, oblivious to everything. She hummed something under her breath.

"Haerin," you repeated, louder.

Nothing. She left the keys on the counter and opened the fridge, bending down to get some water. Your blood was boiling. Not only had she left you out of the plan, but now she wouldn't even give you a glance. She came out of the kitchen with a bottle, still focused on the screen, and that's when you stood in front of her, blocking her way.

It was a quick move. You yanked the headphones off her head. You didn't calculate the force well, or maybe deep down you didn't want to. The headphones flew off her head with a dry snap and bounced off the wooden floor with a hard, hollow thud. One of the earpads popped off and rolled under the dining table.

Haerin startled, almost dropping her phone. Her eyes, wide open, went from the screen to you, and then to the floor, where her new headphones lay. Her shocked expression turned to fury in an instant.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she shouted, immediately bending down to pick them up. Her voice trembled with rage. She turned them over in her hands, inspecting the broken headband and the internal wiring now exposed. She looked up and shot you a death glare. "They're new! They cost me a fortune! Can I even ask what...?"

You didn't let her finish. Your own rage was bigger, older, and it overflowed.

"The Aurora festival, Haerin?" you cut her off, your voice sharper than you intended. The words tasted like betrayal. "You went to the Aurora festival without me?"

Her mouth, already open to continue her complaint, snapped shut. The anger in her eyes froze, replaced by a guilty, sudden understanding. She held the broken headphones against her chest like a shield.

"Oh..." she muttered, looking away at a spot on the wall. Her thumb unconsciously stroked the damaged plastic.

"We've been talking about going for a year," your voice broke a little, and you hated it for that. "We said this time for sure, that we wouldn't miss it like last year and I see Soojin tag you in a photo, with all her friends, right in front of the main stage. And me? Here, waiting, as if I didn't exist. Seriously, Haerin? Why?"

The silence that followed was thick. She bit her lower lip, guilt painted all over her face. She wasn't looking at the headphones anymore. She was looking at you.

"I don't know, I..." she hesitated, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "You said you'd had an exhausting week at work. And the trip with Soojin's group came up suddenly, this same weekend. I thought... I thought you'd want to rest. That a festival would be too much. That... I don't know, that you wouldn't be in the mood. I thought you wouldn't be interested." she finally said, in a faint voice. It was the phrase you feared most, the emptiest excuse.