To Yu Xuan,

I used to think love was enough. That if two people loved each other, everything else would somehow bend around it. But now I know love can exist inside bad timing, bad habits, pride, fear, and silence. Love can be real and still be handled badly. I handled us badly. I thought being quiet was peacekeeping. I thought avoiding difficult conversations was protecting what we had. I thought you would understand the things I never said, because somehow I believed love made people telepathic. It does not. You needed clarity. I gave you confusion. You needed presence. I gave you absence and called it space. If we ever find our way back to the same table, I do not want to start by asking you to trust me. Because if we ever get another chance, it should not begin with me deciding the terms. It should begin with you finally being heard.