I Loved You in The Silence ❤️‍🩹🫀 - Chapter 8: The Silence Between the Notes.

Chapter 8: The Silence Between the Notes

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Haruki didn’t expect to find the letter.

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He had been playing piano after school—alone, like always—trying to make sense of the noise inside his chest. The keys didn’t sound right. Every note felt like a lie.

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Then he saw the envelope near the door.

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Folded. Soft. Left like an offering.

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When he saw Ren’s name on it, his hands froze.

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He told himself not to read it. He wasn’t ready. He hadn’t been ready for three years.

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But he picked it up anyway.

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And opened it.

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Each word was a wound.

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Each line a reminder of everything he had run from.

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By the time he reached the end—

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> “You were my favorite part of this life.”

—he couldn’t breathe.

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He dropped the letter and buried his face in his hands, the piano bench creaking beneath the weight of someone who had kept everything locked inside for too long.

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He didn’t cry.

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Not yet.

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But something in him broke.

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That night, Haruki didn’t sleep.

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He kept rereading the letter, trying to find a version of himself in Ren’s words that wasn’t painted in regret. But the more he read, the more he realized—

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> He had hurt Ren far worse than anyone else ever could.

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And the worst part?

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He hadn’t meant to.

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Not truly.

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But intention didn’t erase impact.

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He remembered that day in the bathroom. How Ren had looked at him—eyes wide, voice trembling, reaching out not out of lust, but loneliness. But Haruki had panicked. He had run. And when Daiki twisted the story, Haruki didn’t correct it. Not loudly enough. Not clearly enough.

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Because some part of him had been afraid.

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Afraid of what people would say.

Afraid of what it meant about him.

Afraid that maybe… he had felt something. Something real. Something dangerous.

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So he stayed quiet.

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And silence became a weapon.

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Not just against Ren—but against himself.

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He remembered walking past Ren in the hallway. How Ren would glance up, hopeful, only to be met with nothing. No words. No nod. No recognition.

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And at the time, Haruki had convinced himself:

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> “It’s better this way.”

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But now?

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He wasn’t so sure.

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Haruki didn’t go to school the next day.

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Or the next.

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He couldn’t face Ren.

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He couldn’t face anyone.

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He sat in his room, curtains drawn, staring at the letter on his desk like it was burning a hole through his soul.

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> “I still love you.”

“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”

“You were my favorite part of this life.”

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Ren’s love felt like a ghost now—soft, tragic, and haunting.

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Haruki didn’t know if he loved him back. Maybe he had, once. Maybe he still did, buried beneath years of guilt and fear. But the feeling was so tangled now, so twisted with shame and silence, that he didn’t know what it was anymore.

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He just knew one thing:

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He didn’t deserve Ren’s love.

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And that thought hurt more than anything else.

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He lay in bed, hand over his chest, whispering into the darkness:

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> “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

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But it was too late.

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And even if he said the words to Ren’s face now…

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Would it ever be enough?

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Haruki didn’t know.

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But he knew he couldn’t face him.

Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

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He closed his eyes.

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