Trayl thought her summer break would be just another ordinary escape to the province-peaceful mornings, falls, fresh air, and a bit of harmless drama with her friends. But everything shifted the moment she crossed paths again with Kuya Xeign-cold, unreadable, and the last person she expected to pull her heart into chaos. What was meant to be a short getaway turned into a whirlwind of teasing friends, secret glances, accidental touches, and a near-drowning that ended in an unexpected embrace. With a heart that no longer listens to her, Trayl finds herself caught between danger and desire. Surrounded by loud but lovable friends, awkward silences, and emotions she tried so hard to bury, her summer spirals into something she never saw coming. And with Xeign's presence getting harder to ignore, every encounter pushes her deeper into something that might be more than just a summer crush. Will it all fade with the season-or is it the beginning of something she never dared to hope for?

This is not just about love-this is about a love that gives without return, a love that persists even when every sign says "let go." Sambenia loved him not at his best, but at his worst-when he was most unlovable, most distant, most broken. She didn't ask for perfection. She only wished for a little love back. Even just a sliver. Even just once. But what happens when love feels like chasing after smoke-when you're tied by fate, only to be torn apart at the end? When you're nothing more than a "trial card" in someone else's game? A love story full of questions left unanswered, of a wounds that keep reopening, and a heart that never stopped hoping... until it had nothing left. A love that wasn't toxic, but exhausting. A love that wasn't lost, but never truly there. A love that keeps coming back-not with joy, but with pain. How do you survive a love that never belonged to you in the first place?