I had lost an important deal today, so I was worried. After the meeting ended, I didn’t return to the office—instead, I decided to take a walk. As I walked along the road, I didn’t even notice when I reached a park. So, I chose to sit there for a while. Sitting on a bench with my head hung low, I suddenly felt a presence beside me.
Before I could say a word, she asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I replied, trying to hide the disappointment and exhaustion in my voice.
“You don’t seem okay. You sound tired,” she said gently.
“It’s nothing,” I tried to dismiss it, forcing a smile.
“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine,” she said kindly. “But according to my friends, I’m a good listener. You can tell me what’s troubling you—maybe I can help.”
I didn’t know if I should trust her. After all, she was a complete stranger. But something about her voice, her eyes... it made me feel like maybe—just maybe—she could be the answer to all the chaos in my head. I’m not someone who makes decisions based on feelings, but in that moment, I decided to open up.
“Look, I’m not always this... messed up,” I began, my voice low. “But I’m overwhelmed by everything right now. So I hope you won’t take advantage of my vulnerability. Because the real answer to your question is: no. No, I’m not okay.”
“I know it might seem strange that a stranger wants to listen,” she said softly. “But you can trust me—I won’t break that trust.”
“Now... tell me what happened?” she asked, her voice calm and gentle.
“I lost a very important deal today,” I said. “My team and I had worked so hard for it. I haven’t slept for the past three days trying to make everything perfect. And now I’ve got a migraine on top of it all—”
“Wait,” she interrupted, pulling something from her bag. She handed me a pill and a bottle of water. “Here. This will help with the migraine.”
I don’t know why, but I listened to her. I took the medicine without question.
“Now, go on,” she said.
“I want to cry,” I admitted. And before she could respond, the words just poured out.
“I don’t feel good. No one knows what kind of pressure I’m under—not even my family. As the eldest son, I don’t want them to worry. So I hide it all. I wear this stoic mask every day. They keep asking about my work, why I’ve grown so quiet, why I don’t smile anymore... but I just bury everything. And honestly, I’m tired. I wake up early, skip breakfast, go straight to the office, and dive into work. I usually eat lunch quickly—if at all—then go right back to working. Most days, I don’t reach home until after 11 p.m. By then, my family had already had dinner because I’ve told them not to wait for me. So sometimes, I eat dinner alone… or not at all. I work and earn solely for my family, and that was my decision. I wanted to give them every bit of happiness I could. And if that meant working myself to exhaustion without sleep or food, so be it. I haven’t spent real time with my family in years. I took on the responsibility of providing for them when I was just 19. Now, I’m running a company on my own. And honestly? I have no regrets. Everything’s fine… because my family is happy." I paused and let out a long breath.
“No! Nothing is good. You are not getting emotional support, peace, and quality time with your family. And no one's at fault in this, you have to tell them that you have workload then only will they know it. But you never let them know, so according to them you are doing fine. Even if you are doing all this for your family, you have to think about your health as well. From today onwards, you have to eat and sleep on time no matter what,” she ordered.
Her face was barely visible in the darkness, yet her mesmerizing blue eyes sparkled in the gentle moonlight.
“Ok,” I don’t know why, but I obeyed her—like my will wasn't mine anymore.
Both of us stayed silent for some time, letting the silence fill the space between us.
"Uh... I think we should leave now. It's getting late," I broke the silence.
"Yeah, I should also go home." She stood up saying those words.
As she started walking towards her house, something inside me was telling me that I should not let her go alone, so I stopped her.
"Wait," I called out.
She turned with a questioning look.
"You should not go alone this late at night. I can drop you in my car?" I offered.
"No, it's okay. I can go. You don't have to trouble yourself for me," she replied.
"It’s not a problem for me. Just accept this ride as a thank you for listening to me," I explained.
"Since you're insisting, sure." She agreed.
We sat in my car and sped off following her directions towards her house.
As I parked in front of her house, she was about to step out when I called out, "Suno!"
"Hmm?" she questioned.
"I am grateful that you helped me, but please forget everything I said, and if we ever cross paths someday, just pretend that we are strangers," I said.
Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t deny it — she simply nodded and left the car.
After making sure she entered the house, I went back to my house. But, I never thought that I would receive such a big shock at home.
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