If You Know...

"…" 

Elena gazed at Ryu for a moment, her gaze impossible to read. There used to be a twinkle of a mischievous light within whenever she looked at him, but right now it felt quite blank. It was entirely impossible to tell what she was thinking. 

If Ryu wanted to be optimistic, he might very well believe that his wife had simply matured. However, this wasn't what he chose to believe. 

Somewhere deep inside, he knew that thinking this way was just a way to absolve himself of responsibility and make the weight on his chest just that small bit lighter. However, he didn't want that weight to be lighter. He wanted to feel the full brunt of it. 

His wide smile softened into a sincere and caring look. His gaze alone spoke a thousand words. 

Right then, the light sound of footsteps entered Ryu's ears. It was an interruption that he immediately disliked and he didn't need to turn his head away from Elena to know that they came from Galkos.