1999
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It was a cold rainy day in the rocky and grassy mountains as usual. Today, people stayed inside but Luo decided he'd see his lover, Homura.
The two were at the mountains for drastically different reasons. Homura grew up in the mountains and hadn't been anywhere else her entire life. Even after her mother had died, she had yet to move anywhere else. Homura knew this town like the back of her hand. As of right now, she worked as a tailor in her fathers workshop. But Luo? He never quite fit in back home. He was an outcast of sorts. He was like a fish out of water back home. His own family had even sent him to the mountains purely out of the embarrassment he had caused them. His family had made it pretty clear that they wanted him out of their lives. They had assumed he'd die of disease up here and rot away.
When he walked into her humble home, she immediately hid something in a drawer, but he didn't think anything of it so he simply brushed it off.
"I made some of your favorite soup." Luo says with a smile in which Homura smiles in response.
"Thank you, Luo. You didn't have to make me something." Luo laughs in response to this.
"I have leftovers at home, that's why I brought some. I'm not gonna starve by giving you a portion of the food!" He smiles. Homura smiles back.
She was happy to see his smile one last time before she'd leave that night. She was leaving the mountains behind as she had found out she was pregnant. Naturally, she was too scared to tell anyone… especially Luo. So she was leaving to start a new life.
While everyone was asleep, Homura packed her things and left while she had the chance. But before doing so, she took one last look at the place she called home. This was the place she had known all her life. She had walked her first steps here. She had opened her eyes for the very first time up in these mountains. And just like that, it was enough to bring a tear to her eyes. But alas, life was full of difficult choices. So with that… she left and never looked back.
Luo woke up the next day and knew he'd immediately want to go see Homura. After all, today was a special day for him. This was the day he had been preparing for what had felt like his entire life for today was the day he was going to propose to the girl he had fallen in love with many years ago. as nervous as he was, he knew he was ready.
As he approached her lovely home, he'd take a deep breath in and tried to settle his nerves. Knock knock. No response. Knock knock. Silence was the only thing that greeted him. It was odd considering she was typically so quick to answer. Where could she have gone? On a walk perhaps? Or maybe she went to visit her dad?
So he waited… and waited… and waited… nothing. It was clear to him that something was wrong. Something was oh so very wrong. He dropped the black box containing the ring upon realizing she had truly gone missing.
"Homura? Where are you?! This isn't funny!" He shouted as if she had been playing some kind of sick joke on him. He had looked everywhere from top to bottom, looking for the love of his life.
Yet, after doing so, he couldn't find any trace of where she had gone. He'd break down into tears, devastated that the love of his life was gone. The light of his life, his soul, his purpose… gone without a trace.