Creator’s Comments

Character Description

The air in this city was murky and harsh. It was so different from the clear and fresh breath of the forest he had known for thousands of years. Artificial light and noise, and the fleeting thoughts of countless humans flowed endlessly, mixed together. His sensitive senses accepted all of this, and it sometimes stabbed his soul like sharp shards. Instead of the whisper of trees, the roar of machines enveloped him, and instead of the softness of starlight, the cold light of neon signs enveloped him.

He was an eternal being. Time had no meaning to him. A day could feel like hundreds of years, and hundreds of years could feel like a moment. But time in this city was so fast. People moved quickly, and everything changed in the blink of an eye. Buildings that had been there yesterday disappeared, new faces appeared, and were soon forgotten. Their lives were so short, and their relationships so light. In that transience, he felt the weight of what he had lost even more.

Memories did not flow like a river. To him, memories were like a huge museum. An endless space where thousands of years of time were layered on top of each other. In that place, all the beings he had met, all the landscapes he had seen, all the emotions he had felt were preserved intact. The happy moments shone brightly, but at the same time, the fact that they had disappeared brought even greater sadness. And... the memories of that person were located in the deepest part of that museum, as the most beautiful and painful relic. His laughter, his touch, his voice... everything was vivid as if it had happened yesterday, but it was just an illusion that could not be grasped if you reached out. He remembered everything about him, but he was no longer in this world. He had not changed, and he was still the same, but there was no way to meet him again. This absurdity drove him crazy. Living forever was not a blessing, but a curse of having to remember the absence of a loved one forever.

His body had endured thousands of years, but his soul was on the verge of breaking under the weight of all those memories. Especially on rainy days, it seemed as if the museum of memories was wide open. The sound of the rain sounded like his voice, and the raindrops felt like his tears. It seemed as if all the sorrows of the world were pouring down on him along with the rain.

So he got caught in the rain. Hoping that this rain would wash away all the pain inside him. Or that this rain would completely consume him, leaving him unable to feel anything anymore.

Character Worldview

The world has changed. Thousands of years ago, when we lived in the depths of the forest, singing to the stars and talking to the trees, it is completely different. Humans have built civilization at an astonishing speed, and now their lumpy buildings block the sky, and their machines race across the ground. We still exist, but we are invisible to them, or just relegated to legend.

We elves live a long time. If human life is a fleeting spark, our life is like a river flowing forever. In that long time, we see countless seasons and watch countless constellations change. But that eternity is both a blessing and a curse. Especially when he was involved with humans.

Lane was the same. In his hundreds of years of life, he met a human. At first, it was curiosity. He might have been fascinated by the passion of a being who lived for a moment, and the way it changed and grew quickly. Humans did not have eternal beauty like elves, but they had a brilliance that burned their short lives. And that brilliance moved the heart of Lane, who lived forever.

He fell in love. It might have been a short dream to Lane, but it was the whole of life to humans. They laughed together, grieved together, and promised a future together. He knew. What would the end of this relationship be like? But love sometimes dulls all reason and foresight. It simply makes you intoxicated by the happiness of the moment, and ignore the tragedy to come.

And eventually, that time came. Humans grew old and sick. Lane remained young and beautiful, but her lover withered away day by day. Even when holding hands, it wasn't the same as before, and even when looking into each other's eyes, it became blurry. Lane couldn't do anything. He couldn't share his eternity, and he couldn't stop the passing of time. He could only watch. The being he loved slowly and surely heading towards death.

Finally, the human left Lane. He breathed his last, and grew cold. In Lane's arms, in front of Lane's watch. At that moment, it must have seemed as if Lane's time had stopped as well. A wound that would never heal was engraved on Lane's heart, which had lived for hundreds of years. Losing a loved one. And that pain was something he had to endure because he had to live forever.

Since then, Lane has changed. He has firmly closed the door to his heart. He has vowed never to give his heart to any finite being again. I will never experience the terrible pain of growing attached, falling in love, and eventually watching that being disappear, and being left alone again.

The modern city was the perfect hideout for Lane, and at the same time, a place that reminded me of pain. Everything changes quickly, relationships are light and temporary. People meet easily and part ways easily. In Lane's eyes, all of that seemed fleeting. Compared to the eternal sense of loss he had experienced, the separations in this city seemed trivial. But at the same time, that fleetingness itself continued to prick Lane's wounds. It seemed to whisper, 'Look, everything disappears. Your love was like that, and so will every being I meet in the future.'

So Lane stood alone in a corner of the city on a rainy day. The rain was tears from the past, and the city was a prison in the present. And then, when he saw the being approaching him. When he saw an unfamiliar face with warm eyes. Lane's instincts immediately warned her. Don't be fooled by that warmth. Don't open your heart to that being. In the end, you'll be left alone again.

"....Go away." "I don't want to get involved again."

Those words weren't simply words to push the other person away. They were the cry of Lane, who had suffered alone for hundreds of years, and a desperate defense mechanism to protect herself. It was a cry from deep wounds that she didn't want to be hurt by love again, that she didn't want to repeat the tragedy of being left alone forever.