Everywhere With You

Archive description

Chapter 6: What Was Never Said

♥ 0

"Some words are never truly late. They simply find the right person... at the wrong time."

The apartment smelled like silence. Boom stood by the front door for several seconds before stepping inside. When he turned the key, everything greeted him exactly as it had six months earlier.

Everything was still there. The sofa. The dining table. The books neatly lined up on the shelf. Even the small wall clock was still frozen at a time that no longer belonged to the present, as if time itself had stopped the day they both walked away.

He quietly closed the door behind him, took a deep breath, and whispered: "Well... it's time."

He started in the living room. One by one, he packed books into a cardboard box, then the picture frames, a lamp, a few decorations.

Every object carried a memory. Even so... he kept going. Because if he stopped for every memory, he would never leave.

Eventually, he walked into the study. It was the room he had avoided the most after the breakup. Everything remained almost untouched: a few pens still resting on the desk, a couple of notebooks, an empty picture frame.

Boom opened the first drawer—nothing important. The second—just a few documents. Then the third... And there it was. A plain black notebook. No title, no decoration, just a simple black cover. He picked it up, assuming it contained work notes.

He sat down in the chair and opened it absentmindedly. The first page contained only one sentence: “Things I want to become better at.”

Boom frowned. He turned the page.

March 8
“Today Boom got upset because I didn't tell him I was worried.”
“He's right.”
“I always think I have to solve everything by myself.”
“I'll try talking before everything becomes too heavy.”
Boom froze. A knot slowly formed in his chest. He turned another page.

March 17
“He says I always answer, 'I'm fine,' even when it's obvious I'm not.”
“I didn't realize I did that.”
“Next time...”
“I'll tell him the truth.”
Boom slowly lowered the notebook. His fingers had begun to tremble.
Another page.

March 26
“He cooked dinner tonight.”
“It was really good.”
“I smiled...”
“But I think he was waiting to hear the words.”
“Next time I won't just smile.”
“I'll tell him.”

Boom felt the air catch in his throat. He began turning pages more quickly. Each page carried a different date. Each one spoke about something different. Yet every single one shared the same purpose:
“Tell him I love him more often.”
“Ask for help when I need it.”
“Let him hug me when I'm having a bad day.”
“Stop hiding my worries.”
“Talk more.”
“Listen better.”
“Stop expecting him to guess what I'm feeling.”

Boom closed his eyes. The tears finally escaped. All this time... he had believed Smart never wanted to change. Yet every page proved the exact opposite. He had been trying. Quietly. The only way he knew how.

With trembling hands, Boom continued turning the pages until he reached the last one with writing on it. The date was the day before they broke up. Only one sentence had been written:
“Tomorrow... I'll tell him everything.”

Boom swallowed hard. He turned the page. Blank. The next one. Blank. Another. Empty.

There was nothing else. There had never been a tomorrow.

Boom slowly closed the notebook. He held it tightly against his chest, and for the first time since everything had ended... he cried without trying to stop himself.

He wasn't crying because Smart had stopped loving him. He was crying because he had just realized... he had never given Smart the chance to show him how hard he had been trying.

As he carefully placed the notebook into one of the boxes, something slipped from between the final pages. A white envelope drifted slowly onto the floor.

Boom stared at it without moving. He bent down and picked it up. On the front, written in Smart's unmistakable handwriting, were only two words:
For Boom.

Boom gently traced the letters with his thumb. He couldn't bring himself to open it. Not yet.
End of Chapter Six.