Ken stood speechless, his feet feeling like they were rooted into the asphalt of the parking lot. He watched, frozen, as Emily took her bag from the passenger seat of Mikael's SUV and headed toward the school building with a light, airy step.
Mikael didn't notice him. He reached back into the driver's seat to grab his phone and, with a casualness that made Ken's stomach turn, sent a text.
Ken's phone buzzed in his hand.
Mikael: Hey bae, I just got here... are you in school yet?
Ken stared at the glowing screen for a brief, agonizing moment before he began walking toward the parking space where Mikael stood.
Mikael saw him approaching and waved enthusiastically, looking like a man who had done absolutely nothing wrong. But as Ken drew closer, Mikael's smile faltered. Ken's face was a mask of shock and burgeoning grief.
"Hey Bae, what's wrong?" Mikael asked, his voice laced with forced curiosity.
"Is she the 'urgent something' you had to do?" Ken asked, his voice thick and wavering. "The reason you couldn't pick me up? I saw you, Mikael. I saw you let her out of the car. Don't lie to me. Please, just don't lie."
Mikael froze. A flash of internal panic crossed his features. Did he see me open the door for her? Is that why he's mad? But Ken isn't the jealous type... Then the weight of Ken's question hit him. "Wait... she... no, it's not what you think, bae," Mikael stammered, reaching out a hand.
"Then tell me! What is it?" Ken demanded.
"I promised my little sister I'd drive her to school today, and I did," Mikael explained, the words coming out in a rush. "But I ran into Emily afterward when I went back to get ready. I offered her a lift because her car is still in the shop and... well, she lives right across from me."
Ken's heart sank, moving from sadness to a cold, hollow confusion. "She lives across from your house?"
"Yeah. I thought you already knew. She even said she saw you leaving my place the other day."
Ken was dumbfounded. He hadn't known she had seen him, but more importantly, he couldn't wrap his head around how a "middle-class" scholarship student had ended up in the city's most exclusive gated neighborhood. Then, he remembered Mikael's mother—her cold smile and her insistence that Mikael was engaged. Was this her plan? To place the ex-girlfriend in his line of sight every single day?
"Is something bothering you?" Mikael asked, sensing the distance growing between them.
"No," Ken replied, though his soul felt bruised. "No, it's fine. I understand."
"Oh, thank goodness," Mikael sighed, visibly relieved. "Anyway, how was your weekend? I hope you had fun at the beach?"
Ken forced a small, brittle smile. "Yeah, I did."
They headed to class together, and Ken spent the walk narrating the moments at the beach with Amy and Laura, trying to pretend the world wasn't shifting under his feet.
But it was the beginning of the end.
The days bled into weeks, and a strange, agonizing pattern emerged. Mikael began to cancel plans with increasing frequency. He claimed he was tired and going to sleep early, yet Ken would see him active online. Most painfully, Mikael seemed more relaxed, more "alive" around Emily than he had ever been with Ken.
Ken didn't want to be the jealous boyfriend. He stayed silent, ignoring the growing gap in their communication, pretending the excuses didn't hurt. But he couldn't ignore the change in Mikael's spirit; Mikael was glowing, a vibrancy returning to him that Ken had never been able to spark.
Then came the Saturday that broke everything.
Three weeks after the incident in the parking lot, Ken was scrolling through social media when he stumbled upon Emily's latest post. The caption read: "A day with mine."
There were no pictures of a man's face, but the background was unmistakable—a five-star restaurant with a view that cost more than Ken made in a month. His heart rate spiked. Mikael had told him he was at a private beach party with his family.
He scrolled into the comments, his hands shaking. He found what he was looking for in a reply to a girl named Caroline.
Caroline: Same guy from the past?
Emily: My one and only. ❤️
She had replied with a blushing emoji. Ken felt a sickening sense of déjà vu. He remembered their conversation weeks ago—Emily had said she only ever loved one man.
The confirmation was a physical blow. Is he cheating on me?
Ken screenshotted the post and the comments, his vision blurring. He sent a single text to Mikael: I need to talk to you. Meet me at the park. Now.
He wiped a stray tear from his cheek and headed to the park. The weather had turned; the sky was a bruised purple, and the air was heavy with the scent of an impending storm. He didn't care. He needed the truth.
He arrived first. A few minutes later, Mikael's SUV pulled up. Mikael stepped out and walked toward the tree where Ken was standing. He looked untroubled, his face devoid of the guilt Ken expected to see.
"Hey Bae, what's up? What's the matter?" Mikael asked.
Ken looked down at his shoes for a long time before finally looking up. "Mikael... you promised. No lies. No secrets. Right?"
Mikael went quiet. Finally, a shadow of guilt crossed his eyes.
"Are you cheating on me?" Ken's voice was a ragged whisper.
Mikael didn't answer immediately. He stood there, searching for the "right" words, the kind words.
"MIKAEL! ANSWER ME!" Ken screamed.
Mikael finally looked up, his expression hardening into something final. "I'm sorry, Ken. I tried. I really did try to love you the best way I could. I thought I was doing it right. I thought I had truly moved on, but..." He reached out for Ken's hand, but Ken recoiled as if he'd been burned.
"I was lying to myself," Mikael continued, his voice steadying. "You are amazing, Ken. You're kind, cheerful... the best person I've known in years. In every lifetime, I would want you as my friend. But the truth is... I'm not sure I ever really loved you."
Ken went pale. He felt the air leave his lungs.
"I've been trying to find a way to say this without destroying you. You deserve the world, but you don't deserve a lie. I realize now that I was just using you to fill the void she left. And you filled it perfectly. But I can't keep lying to us. I know where my heart belongs now, and it's not with you."
Ken stood frozen. He felt like his body was made of glass and someone had just shattered it.
"I'm sorry, Ken. I truly am. I hope you find someone better—someone you don't have to teach how to be a person." Mikael took a step back. "Goodbye, Ken."
Mikael turned and walked back to his car. He didn't look back as he drove away, though tears were streaming down his own face.
Ken stood alone in the silence. Then, the first drop of rain fell. As the cold water touched his skin, the reality finally crashed in. His heart felt like it was exploding. His breathing hitched, and he stumbled to the ground, his body shaking uncontrollably against the rough bark of the tree.
He began to cry—a silent, racking sob that tore through his chest. The rain intensified, becoming a torrential downpour, but Ken didn't move. The freezing water was the only thing keeping him from drifting away entirely.
He stayed there for thirty minutes, shivering and broken, staring at the mud. Suddenly, the rain stopped. But only around him.
Ken tilted his head up. In front of him stood a pair of black trousers and polished black shoes. He hadn't heard a single footstep.
He slowly looked up. The clothing was pure, midnight black. His eyes finally reached the face of the man standing over him.
It was Lucien. He was holding a large black umbrella, shielding Ken from the storm.