This scene had played out in my mind countless times before.

In my second year of college, I won first place in the school's speech competition, but someone accused me of plagiarism. My roommates, who already didn't like me, locked me out of the dorm.

I wandered the streets aimlessly in the cold until I found myself standing in front of a bridal shop.

"Nina, turn around."

Liam's voice came through the phone. I turned to see him standing behind me, arms open, though he was supposed to be in Gallance for a competition.

I threw myself into his embrace, taking in his familiar scent that calmed me. Tears streamed down my face, and he held me close.

"Shh, I'm here now."

Under the moonlight, our shadows stretched long and intertwined.

When I later asked how he managed to come all the way from Gallance, he simply said he missed me.

It was that day he promised me I would wear the most beautiful wedding dress.

"Liam, is something bothering you?"

He came home, hung his coat, and placed his phone screen down on the console. I noticed he had a new scarf. He used to hate this color. When I asked why he was wearing it, he said he didn't like it.

"I brought your favorite shrimp. Nina, what happened to your head?"

His face filled with concern as he rushed to me, not even bothering to change out of his shoes. He cupped my head gently in his hands, his eyes full of genuine care.

For a moment, I saw the eighteen-year-old Liam again.

"It's nothing. I just took a small fall."

"So careless. Does it hurt? Next time, call me immediately, okay?"

"What about this time?"

I looked at the man I had loved for ten years. He was no longer the boy I once knew—he had become a mature, composed man. But why did it feel like a knife was twisting in my heart? It hurt, so much.

"Today was just an accident. A client needed an urgent meeting, so I had to go..."

He stumbled over his excuses, but when he saw my tears, he stopped talking. Hastily wiping them away, he pulled me into his arms. The unfamiliar scent of perfume on his clothes made me feel sick.

"Alright, don't be sad. It won't happen again," he promised softly.

I bit down on my lip, trying to hold back my emotions. "Liam, we'll be together forever, right?"

He hesitated for a moment before resting his head on my shoulder, gazing at the snow falling outside. In a gentle voice, he whispered.

"We will."

Looking at the busy figure of Liam in the kitchen, I had a moment of trance.

When I just graduated, I had to eat instant noodles every day to save money. When Liam found out about it, he applied to transfer his job to New York. In order to take care of my diet, he filled the refrigerator full, and my stomach disease also improved a lot.

Suddenly, his phone screen lit up, and a message popped up.

"Liam, I'll be your most beautiful bride."

I stared at the message, frozen. Liam, who was in the kitchen, glanced over at me, signaling that the noodles were almost ready. I forced a smile.

We'd been together for ten years, and we trusted each other, so I'd never had the habit of checking his phone.

But reality had just slapped me hard in the face. As I scrolled through the chat history, my heart felt like it was being squeezed.

What started as work handovers had become increasingly flirtatious. They shared their lives, wished each other goodnight, and Liam even kept track of her menstrual cycle.

That girl, Maya, would playfully complain, "Got it, you nag!"

As my hands trembled while scrolling through the chat, I felt my heart sink lower and lower.

It turned out they had met two years ago at a company party. Maya had gotten drunk and called Liam, saying she couldn't get home. Without hesitation, he left me, who had a fever, at home and didn't come back all night.

Wiping away my tears, I impulsively clicked into the girl's social media profile. What greeted me was a picture of her, smiling blissfully as she held onto a man's arm. Although his face wasn't fully shown, I recognized him immediately—it was my boyfriend. The butterfly tattoo on his ring finger was identical to Liam's.

A butterfly with broken wings.

Liam brought the noodles to the table, the steam rising between us like a barrier. He noticed the redness around my eyes and jokingly said.

"Nina, you're still such a crybaby, just like before."

I heard his words and forced a smile. Ignoring the heat, I shoved a mouthful of noodles into my mouth. It was the same beef noodles as before, and the person beside me hadn't changed either. So why, why did everything feel so different?