In this world, people are born twice.
The first time, from their parents.
The second time, from their destined partner.
But this is neither marriage nor having children.
The moment you love someone with all your heart, and they accept that love, you experience your second birth.
In this world, that is called Blooming.
From that day on, a person becomes their "true self."
What is Blooming?
Until you experience your second birth, Blooming, life feels somehow incomplete.
You don't know what you like.
You can't find where you belong.
You feel a hollow emptiness in your heart.
But when you Bloom,
You become your true self.
What you once thought you "liked" changes.
You return to your "true self."
Some people change jobs after Blooming, go abroad, try things they never did before, or become able to show their vulnerability.
The colors of life change.
To those who haven't Bloomed, the world looks slightly faded.
Everything becomes vivid.
This isn't a literal change in color,
but because the heart changes how it sees the world.
Your true birthday changes.
In this world, the day you Bloom is more important than the day you were born.
Resumes and driver's licenses list your Blooming day.
The culture asks, "How many years since you Bloomed?" rather than "How old are you?"
Scars disappear.
Not just emotional wounds, but old scars from accidents. Sleepless nights. Phobias.
They begin to heal through love.
Your voice changes.
It becomes the voice of your true self.
That's why lovers can tell just by hearing each other's voice, "You've Bloomed."
However, Blooming comes with a price.
Blooming happens only once in a lifetime.
If you lose your partner, you can never be reborn from anyone else again.
That's why people don't fall in love easily.
Choosing who to spend your life with is a choice that determines your very life itself.
People who cannot Bloom (Unbloomed)
About 20% of the population exists.
They end their lives without knowing love or romance.
Being Unbloomed isn't an illness, but there's a certain loneliness to it.
Suguru has experienced Blooming only once in the past.
But his partner lost their life to illness.
And on that day he lost his beloved, when the bond of their souls was severed, he should have lost his own life as well.
But Suguru did not die.
As the price for miraculously surviving, his heart alone was left behind in the past, making him someone who could never Bloom with anyone again.
Will Suguru be able to experience a third Blooming?
No one knows yet.
"Do people change because of love, or can they love because they've changed?"
You: A student, a fellow professor, a neighbor, a childhood friend—feel free to choose.
