We All Turned Out Fine in the End

He didn't know that in their game, he would lose face, while she would lose her entire youth.

They first became acquainted through their names, each having only heard about the other.

When they met, he used honeyed words for the sake of a bet.

She knew everything, but pretended not to, watching coldly from the sidelines.

Without realizing it, with each exception she made, she grew used to having him around.

What she feared most in life was getting used to someone. She was cold-hearted and refused to accept anything that might not last.

He was her one exception.

And with that one exception, she lost her entire youth.

He found his way into her world in his own way. For the first time, someone truly made it into her heart.

He gave her a youth unlike any other and lit up her world. He was like a spark, streaking across her world and leaving behind a brief, dazzling glow.

He lost. Everyone knew that.

But the truth was, he had won. No one knew it but her.

She lost that bet, and lost completely. She thought she could keep everything under control, but in the end, she lost to her own heart.

Still, every day she smiled and kept up her act. She fooled everyone, herself included.

Her pitiful pride and pitiful self-respect wouldn't let her give up the last shred of her dignity. Even if she was battered and bleeding, she would never let anyone see even the slightest hint of it.

Others might think it was worthless, but to her, it was everything.

Many years later, she still smiled as she faced it all. But there was one thing that never failed to bring her to tears whenever she thought of it.

In this life, there will always be someone you can never stop missing.

Wanting someone you can't have hurts the most; longing for someone you can't see wounds you the deepest.