The Only One I See

My Dear Stranger,

You once asked me, softly but seriously,

“Why do you like me?

What do you even see?

”And you kept asking… as my answer might change.

I remember I said, “I don’t know.”

And I meant it.

Because you’re not even my type… at least not in the way I used to think.

But maybe that’s exactly why this feels different.

I didn’t plan this.

This feeling didn’t begin with a crush,

or stolen glances,

or slowly growing interest… nope...

It just happened.

Like a page quietly turning in a book,

or a coin flipping mid-air and suddenly landing—decided.

One moment, nothing. And then… it was there.

Not new, not unfamiliar—almost like it had been there all along, just waiting for me to notice.

I tried to stop it. I really did.

I told myself maybe it was just a temporary crush…

or just curiosity,

or just the thrill…

“It will pass,” I said.

So I tried everything: to ignore it, to push it away,

I even tried so hard to hate you… especially when you hurt me.

I've made lists in my head;

all your red flags,

all your flaws,

all the reasons why I should walk away.

I thought if I did that, it would be easier for me to hate you.

I thought the feeling would fade, and it would be easier to let go.

The same promise I kept making over and over again:

"This is it, I’ll hate you, I’ll leave you without saying goodbye.

But somehow…I never really could.

My Dear Stranger,

It's been almost nine months… and I still feel the same.

If anything changed, it wasn’t the feeling fading away.

Deep in my heart...It stayed…It grew in silence,

Not louder, but soft.

It's become more patient,

more mature,

more honest,

more calm,

more real than I ever expected.

My Dear stranger,

I’ve been in love before…but never like this.

With you, it feels different.

Like I’ve known you forever.

You’re the first person

I can truly be myself with—

my stories, my flaws, my feelings… all of it.

The first person I didn’t run from,

even when I was hurt.

Instead, I stayed…and told you why.

I let you see it all—the deepest, rawest, most vulnerable parts of me.

And I don’t even understand how.

What makes you different from everyone else?

Maybe you’re the answer to my prayers…

Maybe your heart heard the things I never said out loud.

Maybe your soul found mine in some quiet way and chose to stay.

My Dear Stranger,

You don’t need to be perfect for me to stay.

You don’t have to become anything more for me to choose you.

Who you are today is already enough.

You are perfect because of your imperfections.

And even if you don’t understand it now,

even if you question it again tomorrow…

I will still be here,

not just waiting,

but staying.

Still seeing you,

still choosing you,

still looking at you…

like you are the only one, my heart ever finds in the room.

Vie