Duke Red

Both he and she once hated the chains of social convention.

They mistook it for the passion and restlessness of youth, hoping that one day, when the childishness had faded, they would be able to settle down without a fuss.

They never imagined that this hatred would last for most of their lives.

They were but a drop in the vast ocean of this boundless world,

and yet, among all the people in it, they were the ones who stood out most.

"Put nicely, we're unconventional. Put bluntly, we're like rats in the street."

The world is unpredictable. The floodwaters of life swept them to the edges of society.

They experienced the abnormal and endured loneliness.

Little by little, they grew used to being isolated and learned to adapt to the warmth and coldness of the world.

But life is so long. They feared that one day they might no longer be able to endure the suffocation of this existence.

So they came together,

warming each other, freeing each other, and becoming the person neither could bear to leave.

Until one day, they realized that the scars they once carried had long since healed.

What does love matter? What does sexual orientation matter? With you, life has meaning! Only with you can I know what happiness and contentment feel like.

Their marriage is both a cage and a sanctuary of true freedom.