Some memories don't break loudly.
They fracture in silence—leaving no sound behind,only the feeling that something essential has gone missing.
Lin didn't know what she had come here to forget.
Only that this was the last place she would remember it.
The sound of glass breakingdid not echo in the room.It echoed inside her head.
Lin closed her eyes, just as Thir asked.
The warm orange glow of the lamp slowly faded.The scent of old wood dissolved into nothingness.It felt as though the entire world was being gently pulled away from beneath her feet.
"If it becomes too much, please tell me," Thir said.
His voice was very close.Close enough that she could feel his breath.
And yet—though this was the first time they had ever met,his voice carried a strange familiarity,as if it had been beside her for a very long time.
Lin nodded,even though she did not know why she felt compelled to do so.
Thir's fingertips touched her temple.So lightly that she barely felt the pressure.
But in that instant,the world split apart.
Not into images.Not into sound.
Into space.
Lin felt herself standing in a vast gray room.The floor was smooth, seamless.The walls stretched upward so high she could not see a ceiling.
Doors stood everywhere—lined up without order.Some tightly shut.Some slightly ajar.And some… fractured with visible cracks.
She was not afraid.
Instead, she felt as though she had been here before.
"Do you see anything?" Thir asked,his voice distant now, as if reaching her from far away.
"A room," Lin replied."There are so many doors."
His fingers paused for a brief moment.
"Most people don't see details like that."
She let out a small laugh,without knowing what she found amusing.
"Then I suppose I'm not normal."
He did not respond.
But Lin could feel it—he was looking at something.
Thir saw the fracture.
It wasn't on a door.It ran across the entire wall,as though someone had poured their whole life into striking it again and again,refusing to let it truly break.
The crack trembled.Alive.
"Where would you like me to repair?" Thir asked.
Lin pressed her lips together.Her gaze drifted until it stopped at one particular door.
It bore no label.No symbol.
Yet her chest tightened every time she looked at it.
"There," she said softly."I… don't want to feel this way anymore."
Thir nodded.
He knelt down and placed his hand against the fractured wall.
And in that moment,something flooded into his mind.
Laughter.The sound of the sea.The silhouette of a man standing beside him—
Too close.Close enough to hurt.
Thir flinched.His hand trembled.
These were not Lin's memories.
They were his.
"Thir?"
She called his name.
A name he had never told her.
He looked up at her, eyes meeting hers.
"How do you know my name?"
Lin froze.
Her expression emptied for a brief second,as if someone had pressed a pause button.
"Uh…"She let out a dry laugh."I don't know.It just… slipped out."
Thir did not press further.
He returned his focus to the fracture,bringing both hands together slowly,as though piecing together broken glass.
The crack faded.The trembling ceased.
"It's done," he said.
The lights in the shop came back on.
Lin opened her eyes, breathing a little harder,like someone waking from a long dream.
"How do you feel?" Thir asked.
She shifted, clenched her hand, rolled her shoulders.
"Lighter," she said, smiling—a smile that felt more genuine than when she had arrived.
Then she stopped.
Lin looked around the shop.The door.The window.The counter.
Then back at Thir.
"I'm sorry," she said politely—too politely.
"Where… is this place?"
Thir went still.
"You walked here from the end of the alley," he replied."Just a moment ago, you said—"
He stopped.
Because of her expression.
It wasn't shock.Not fear.
It was confusion—carefully hidden.
"Oh?"She nodded, as if trying to remember."That's strange…I can't remember how I got here at all."
Thir's heart sank slowly.
He saw it.
What was missingwas not a grand memory.Not a name.Not love.
It was a path.
The path that led her here.
As though Lin's memorieshad begun choosingnot to let her return on her own.
"It's alright," Thir said,his voice steadier than he felt."I'll draw you a map."
Lin smiled, visibly relieved.
"Thank you."
She hesitated before asking quietly,
"Um…what's my name?"
Thir's hand froze around the pen.
He looked up at her.
Those eyes were still warm.Still polite.Still exactly the same.
Except for one thing—
There was no memory of her inside them.
"Your name is Lin," he said.
She smiled, pleased to have an answer.
"Oh…Lin," she repeated,as if afraid she might forget it again.
And in the dark corner of the shop,a small figure in a gray dress leaned silently against the wall.
Her eyes were still.As though counting something.
One.
"Your name is Lin," Thir said.
She smiled, relief softening her features.
"Oh… Lin," she repeated,carefully,as if the name itself might slip away if she held it too loosely.
Thir watched her,his expression unchanged—
except for the absence behind his eyes.
There was no memory of her there.
In the darkest corner of the shop,a girl in gray stood motionless, counting under her breath.
One.
Because something precious had just been taken.
And neither of them knewwho had paid the price.