Min Ho's POV
Coaching Dae to win the contest proved to be much harder than expected.
We were in an empty room that smelled like old wood and dust, with Dae and Eunice standing in the center. Dae was stiff as a board.
I frowned, slouching back in my seat. "Alright, Dae. Let's try that again," I called out. "This time, maybe try not looking like you've been kidnapped?"
Dae groaned, muttering something about how he wasn't built for choreo, which almost made me laugh.
"You don't look like that," Stella chimed in quickly, nudging me. "You're doing pretty good for your first time. But that's why we're here— to help you get even better."
Truthfully, Dae wasn't bad at all (singing-wise. Don't get me started on learning a dance). His voice was angelic, and he had a natural charm. But he'd need more than charm if he wanted to win the talent showcase. He needed confidence. Stage presence.
Which, apparently, meant dragging Stella into coaching him. She was much better at positive reinforcement than I was. (Obviously, I asked __ first, but she said she didn't have the patience to spend all dae teaching Dae how to dance)... yeah no
We spent the next hour running through the song and breaking it down piece by piece. At one point, when he messed up the same sequence for the 8th time, Eunice looked like she was about to slap him to the Moon. (haha, because moon empire, he's tryna win the moon showcase... that was terrible)
Stella was, of course, patient, offering gentle encouragement and tips that actually seemed to help. Eunice was focused on teaching him the dance, though in vain. I focused on the technicalities— timing, posture, how to hold the mic...
"No, no!" Eunice was shouting, stopping the music again. "It's giving flamingo!"
Stella leaned towards me with a low voice. "I think we're going to be here for a while."
I sighed. "Yeah. Thanks for helping, by the way," I added. I don't know if I could sit through this alone.
She shrugged, not looking at me. "It's nice, doing something different for a change."
For a moment, we watched Dae and Eunice in silence. The tension that had followed me ever since the conversation with my father felt a little lighter. I'd been desperately squashing that event out of my mind ever since it happened.
"Hey," Stella said suddenly, her voice even softer than before. She turned to face me, her eyes searching mine. "Are you okay?"
The question caught me off guard. "Uh, why?"
"I mean..." she hesitated, her expression clearly sympathetic. "With everything going on... you know, __, your family, the media..."
"I don't need your pity," I said tartly. She'd mentioned the three things that struck a nerve.
"I'm not pitying you," she replied, undeterred. "You don't have to carry it all by yourself, though."
Something in her tone—or maybe the way she was looking at me—made me relent. While Dae and Eunice continued to practice (Eunice was just yelling at him now), Stella acted as a sympathetic ear. I told her, because she actually listened. She was this calm, comforting presence— the exact opposite of __, in some ways.
But it's not like I was comparing them. I liked girls with distinct personality, and no one else could come even close to who was mine.
"...One, two, and three!" Eunice shouted, before sighing AGAIN. "No!"
Poor guy. Dae just sighed, his arms dropping to hang limp by his side. "This isn't gonna work!"
"It is not my fault that you can't handle a little constructive criticism," she retorted.
"Oh-kay," Stella interrupted, sensing the rising tension in the air. She smiled hopefully at me. "Why don't you tell them your brilliant idea?"
"Well," I began triumphantly, "I thought of the cherry on top of your performance. When the song ends, you spin around, bend her back, and lay one on her. You know, a romantic little kiss." I would demonstrate if __ was here, I wanted to add.
Eunice gasped. "Perfect!!"
"...Absolutely not."
By the time we called it a dae, Dae was noticeably crashing out, though not more than Eunice. As they gathered their stuff and headed for the door, Stella and I stayed behind to clean up. The floor was littered with crumpled lyric sheets, water bottles, and a lot of moved furniture.
"So, let me get this straight," Stella said after a while, breaking the silence as we cleaned. "Your dad wants you to break up with __ because she's tarnishing your family image?"
I raised by eyebrows at the thought. "Yup."
"Hmm," she said.
"What do you think?" I added. After watching her work semi-successfully with Dae, I wanted to hear what she had to say for once. I didn't realize it at the time, but with the growing strain in my life, I was starting to associate her with feeling better.
"Nothing. I just think... he might have a point," Stella replied as she stacked sheet music into a neat pile. "I mean, think about it. Like, really think about it. This whole thing—the leak, the tabloids, the divorce—don't you think it's all... a little much for __?"
I frowned, not getting what she was hinting at. "What do you mean?"
Stella sighed, stepping closer. "I'm saying that maybe stepping back wouldn't just be for your family's benefit. Maybe it would be better for her, too."
My first instinct was to laugh. "Better for her?" I repeated incredulously. "How would breaking up with me, the hottest guy in school, possibly make her life better?"
She crossed her arms, her expression soft but insistent. "Look at everything she's dealing right now. Her parent's divorce, her name being slandered online, and on top of that, she's trying to lay low on appearances with you. It's not fair to her, Min Ho."
"That's not—" I started, but Stella cut me off.
"It's not just about you, Min Ho." I could tell she was trying to be helpful, even though it stung. "Every time another headline comes out, it hurts her. Every time someone questions your relationship, it adds pressure. She doesn't need that right now. Don't take this the wrong way, but... she doesn't need you. And she probably doesn't realize that it's actually for the best."
My chest tightened, the weight of her words finally sinking in. Wow, that has a kick to it.
"You think I'm making things worse for her?" I asked quietly.
"I think," Stella said carefully, her eyes locking onto mine, "that sometimes, letting someone go is the most selfless thing you can do."
I just stared at her, my throat dry. "But I lov— um, I really like her. I physically can't leave."
"I believe that," she said, her voice softening. "But love isn't always enough in a relationship, Min Ho. I don't know how to say this but... Your relationship is holding her back. She needs to focus on rebuilding her life."
The part I hated the most was that Stella's corrupting words were actually beginning to make sense to me.
"You stepping away doesn't mean you don't love her," she continued on, rendering me speechless. "It just means you love her enough to do what's best for her. Life is unfair like that, and I'm sorry."
The logic in her words cut deep, because I couldn't deny it. __ had been through it all lately, and I'd watched the light in her eyes dim with every passing day. Maybe I was the real problem, but like me, she'd been so blinded by her feelings that... she couldn't see it.
And now she needed a push.
Stella placed a gentle hand on my arm, sensing my emotion. "If you really care about her, maybe this is the way to show it. Selflessly."
I swallowed hard, my mind racing faster than Q and Jin. I hated the idea of leaving her, but if Stella was right—if staying with me was causing her more pain than joy—what choice did I have?
"I just don't want her to think I'm abandoning her," I replied, my voice barely audible.
"It'll take time for her to understand," Stella assured me, her voice steady. "But does it really matter if you're helping her in the end?"
I wanted to argue— to tell her she was wrong. But in my heart, doubt had already started creeping in, and Stella's words were fanning the flames.
For the first time, I wondered if loving __ meant letting her go.
˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹
𝑻𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒆𝒏𝒈,
I don't know how to start this, so I guess I'll just say it.
𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖.
I love you in a way I didn't even know I was capable of. It makes me want to be with you all the time; to have you only ever be mine. It even makes me want to be selfish; so selfish that I want to ignore the way everything around us is crumbling and pretend like my love is enough to fix it.
I know now that it's not. My love isn't worth it— not when it's hurting you.
With every other girl, I never cared. It was always about what I wanted and what made me happy. But with you, I can't be selfish. I care too much. So, I can't stand that being together is something you have to defend instead of something that makes you're proud of.
The last thing I ever wanted was to make your life harder.
You probably have a lot of questions right now, and I understand. Perhaps you're reading this letter years later— maybe you're thirty years old when this finds its way to you, with a husband and children. But you're my first love. No guy ever really gets over their first love. Even if I had a wife and children, a part of you would always be with me.
I want you to know that none of it was fake to me. Not even in the beginning, when you hated my guts. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me, __. I knew it since the day you took care of me when I, like an idiot, accidentally got drunk. I used to wake up from dreams in the morning and think you were gone. That's how beautiful you are to me.
I can't be the reason you hurt anymore.
So, I'm letting you go. Not because I want to—that's far from the reason, since I literally ache for you, even when I'm sitting right next to you— but because I care too much to ruin you like this.
I know you don't see it this way right now, but no matter what happens, I'll never love someone else like I love you.
Even if it means I have to do it from afar.
𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓,
Min Ho
───── ⋆⋅💔⋅⋆ ─────
a/n ~ lowkey speechless that i wrote that. i'm not even a man!
(hope yall are fed tho. new chapters soon ୨♡୧) also wanted to clarify that a lot of time passed between the convo and him writing the letter.
XO, liv__ing