Work Text:
"Dear Mr. Cho,"
There was nobody better than you. I never noticed up until recently. These empty halls stay quiet, yet your voices echoes in my ears when I walk. If I were to call out for you, your voice would cease, and these halls would be quiet once more.
Summer days have gotten much longer since we last met. With every rainfall I can only see your face, stained with the blood you shed for me. When we could've left together, you wanted to stay behind. Cho Sang-woo, my only light. To think we'd leave together gave me an insatiable bliss.
Now as I bury you in my memories, letting myself change for the worse, I wonder who we used to be. What we could've been was more than all the money in my possession. When you next see your mother, tell her all about us. About me. How I was selfish, and how I let you leave me.
And in return, when I see your friends I tell them all that I ever saw in you. My dearest Sang-woo, how you've burned this hole in my heart and left these pains in my hands. I long to have you in my arms again, even if it's only to hear you deliver those awful last words one more time.
Your dear mother, old and wilting, I see you blossoming in her. Now what am I supposed to do as I wait for the day we reunite? I cross off the days and pray that my last will come soon, because what am I supposed to do without you?
As night approaches, I'm tempted to visit. Each day the vines crawl up the walls off your home, claiming it from you slowly but surely. Each time I pass, I can't help but remember how you've started to let go. First your family, now your home. There will be a day where I walk by your home and see you, suit and tie, ready for work. I'll see your face, tired yet so beautiful. You'd be smoking a cigarette, stepping into your fancy car and hitting the gas almost immediately.
This letter is not to make your heart blue, nor is it addressing my regrets. I write this note purely to reminisce. To remember what we could've been and see what we one day will become. Even if I do not see you after tonight, know that my attempts to visit will never be in vain. One day, one day I will reach you.
Nobody is better than you.
"Sincerely, Seong Gi-hun."