To Her, From Him

Kai walked beside Moia through the park, their footsteps falling in rhythm on the gravel path. The late afternoon sun streamed through the trees, casting long shadows and painting the world in a golden glow. It was beautiful, and yet, every part of him screamed that it shouldn’t be.

He’d been here before—too many times.

The scent of fresh flowers, the distant sound of children laughing, and the quiet rustle of leaves in the breeze... all of it had become too familiar, too predictable. As if he were trapped in a world where only time moved forward, and he, the only one who remembered, was doomed to live the same hours over and over again.

And yet, when he glanced at Moia, his chest still tightened with that same familiar rush. Her dark hair framed her face like it always did, soft curls falling over her shoulders. Her laugh, light and melodic, echoed in his ears, a sound that both lifted him and crushed him with its sweetness. This moment—this perfect moment—was already slipping through his fingers.

"Are you okay?" Moia asked, her voice soft, concerned. She stopped walking and looked at him with those eyes—eyes that could make him forget the weight of the world. She tilted her head slightly, as if sensing that something wasn’t quite right.

"Yeah," Kai lied, forcing a smile. "I’m fine."

He wasn’t fine. Nothing was fine. Because, in two days, it would all begin again. The time loop. The failures. The heartbreak.

It was his fifth attempt.

He could feel it in his bones—the unbearable weight of the contract he’d signed at sixteen, the choice that had sealed his fate. A choice made to save the world, to protect everyone around him. But it had come at a cost: his future, his chance to ever truly live. His life would reset every time he reached the age of 22, leaving him in a cycle of trying, failing, and watching Moia slip away from him over and over.

She didn’t remember the other times. She didn’t remember the countless moments they’d shared, the quiet whispers in the night, the stolen kisses that had felt like a lifetime. To her, this was their first walk in the park, their first real conversation. To him, it was the echo of a thousand failed attempts.

"I’ve been thinking," Kai said, his voice barely above a whisper, as they continued walking. "I want to do something special for you. Something... that really shows how much you mean to me."

She smiled, and it made his heart ache. "You already do, Kai. Every day."

But that’s the problem, he thought bitterly. She doesn’t know. She can’t know. Not until I find a way to break this curse.

He had tried everything. The first few loops had been chaos—he didn’t even understand what was happening to him, why the world reset every time he turned 22. It wasn’t until he’d met the figure—an ominous presence cloaked in shadow—that he learned the truth. A contract. A curse. The price for saving the world was an endless cycle of failure in love.

Moia’s life was tied to his every move. If he succeeded in finding a way to live outside the loop, she would die. If he let go of the contract and tried to find another way, the world would be doomed.

He couldn’t bear to think about that. Not again.

But there had to be a way. There had to be a way to break free, to have a future with her. To not watch her die for the fifth time.

He felt the same unease wash over him as they walked past a large oak tree, its gnarled branches swaying in the wind. It wasn’t a typical feeling—a shadow in the corner of his mind, a chill crawling up his spine. Every time they passed this spot, it felt... wrong. And for a split second, his eyes flicked to the distance, toward a dark figure standing just beyond the park’s boundaries, hidden in the shadows of the trees.

A shiver ran through him, but when he blinked, the figure was gone.

"Everything alright?" Moia asked, noticing his sudden tension.

"Yeah," Kai said, his voice firming. "Just... tired, I guess."

She gave him a concerned look but didn’t press the matter. She didn’t know how many times he’d said those same words. How many times he’d fought to keep his mind from unraveling with the weight of his knowledge.

Every day, every hour, he felt the strain of knowing the outcome before it happened. Every moment with her, every shared smile, felt like a gift he had to savor—because he knew it would be gone too soon. The days stretched out before him like endless roads leading to the same dead end.

But this time... this time, it would be different. He had a plan. A new idea, one that would surprise her, that would give her the love and warmth he’d been storing up for all these years.

"I want to take you somewhere," he said, his voice steady but full of purpose. "Somewhere special."

She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Where?"

"It’s a surprise," he said, his heart pounding. "But in two days, I’ll show you."

She smiled again, her eyes sparkling. "I can’t wait."

Two days, he thought. Just two days.

And then it would all reset. Again.

But maybe... just maybe, this time he could change it. Maybe this time he would find a way to break the cycle, to escape the endless abyss that held him captive. The figure—the one who had given him the contract, the one who watched him from the shadows—hadn’t told him everything. There was always more. More to the curse. More to the contract.

As they walked, Kai’s mind raced, his thoughts tangled in desperation. If he could just figure it out—if he could just find the right moment, the right words—he could change everything. He could finally be with her, free from the burden of time, free from the constant resets.

But as they walked closer to the exit of the park, a dark shadow seemed to stretch across the path. A sudden, overwhelming sensation of being watched washed over him. He turned quickly, his heart pounding in his chest, but all he saw was a flash of movement—a figure, just beyond the trees.

And then nothing.

For a moment, Kai stood frozen, his breath catching in his throat. He wasn’t sure what he had seen—only that it felt wrong. Like a thread in the fabric of his world had snapped, leaving behind a jagged hole.

"Are you sure you’re okay?" Moia’s voice broke through his thoughts.

Kai blinked, forcing his attention back to her. "Yeah," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "I’m fine."

But deep inside, he knew that something was wrong. The contract. The curse. The figure watching him. Nothing was as it seemed.

And if he didn’t find a way to stop it, he would lose her. Again.