Embers of Hope// Hyunlix

Chapter - 2

Felix stood outside the front door of the house for a moment longer than usual, his hand resting on the handle. The sun had already set, and the cool night air nipped at his skin, but he couldn't bring himself to step inside just yet. The house—his house—felt more like a cage with each passing day. Not because of the walls or the rooms, but because of what waited for him inside.

Hyunjin.

With a deep breath, Felix finally turned the handle and walked in. The lights in the hallway were dim, casting long shadows across the floors. He could hear the faint sound of movement from the kitchen, probably Hyunjin finishing up some task or another, like always.

Felix loosened his tie as he walked past the kitchen without glancing inside. He could feel Hyunjin's presence, could sense his gaze lingering on him, but Felix wasn't in the mood for pleasantries—not that they exchanged any these days. He headed straight for the study, hoping for the quiet solitude that had become his only comfort in this empty marriage.

"Felix..." Hyunjin's voice, soft and hesitant, stopped him in his tracks just before he could close the door behind him.

Felix closed his eyes briefly, a wave of frustration coursing through him. He didn't want to talk. He didn't want to feel anything right now. Especially not for Hyunjin.

"I'm tired," he said curtly, his voice colder than he intended. He didn't turn around. He didn't have to. He knew the look that would be on Hyunjin's face. That same look he saw every day—the quiet hurt, the confusion, the unspoken questions.

But what could he say? What could he tell him? That he didn't love him? That he couldn't love him? That every time he looked at him, all he could think about was that day? The blood on Hyunjin's hands, the knife, the girl's dying breath?

Felix shut the study door behind him, exhaling as if the act of closing the door could shut out all the memories that clawed at him. But they didn't go away. They never did.

He sank into the chair behind his desk, his fingers running through his hair in frustration. His mind raced, images flashing in his head—Hyunjin standing over that girl, her body crumpling to the floor, and Felix's own voice screaming, What have you done?!

He shook his head, trying to push the thoughts away, but they clung to him like shadows. He had married Hyunjin out of obligation, because their families expected it, because of the pressure, because he thought maybe... just maybe, if they were together, things might change.

But they hadn't.

If anything, things had only gotten worse. Every time he looked at Hyunjin, Felix felt like he was suffocating under the weight of his resentment. No matter how much time had passed, he couldn't forget what he'd seen. He couldn't forget that she had died, and that somehow, Hyunjin was a part of it.

Yet, there was a part of him—one small, buried part—that sometimes doubted what he'd seen. A part of him that, late at night, when the anger had faded and the exhaustion set in, wondered if there was more to the story. But those thoughts were dangerous. They led him to a place he didn't want to go—a place where he might have to confront his own guilt, his own doubts.

Felix rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the tension in his body tighten with every passing second. He didn't hate Hyunjin, not in the way he thought he did. He just didn't know how to let go of the past, how to move forward from the pain that had settled between them like a wall.

But as much as Felix tried to convince himself that this marriage was just a responsibility, a duty he had to bear, he couldn't deny the small pang of guilt that stirred in him every time he heard Hyunjin's quiet, pleading voice. Every time he saw the hurt in his eyes, the hurt that Felix himself had put there.