The morning light filtered through the curtains, soft and golden.
Your phone screen glowed from the nightstand. 9:47 AM.
You reached for it, a smile already tugging at your lips.
Dozens of notifications lit up the lock screen. Texts from friends. Birthday wishes from family. Instagram tags and Facebook posts, all starting with the same three words.
You scrolled past them all.
Opened your chat with Hyunjin.
Still no new messages.
The timestamp stared back at you from last night. A goodnight text at 11:23 PM.
That was it.
You blinked at the empty space beneath it, where a happy birthdayshould have been.
