*Scene is dark. Lights come in, silhouetting both A & B*

B: It doesn’t go further than this, does it?

A: Our relationship is not doomed, it is merely not something that belongs to the future.

B: Nice quote. Are you summizing that this is as far as it goes?

A: How long can you spread out the emotion of a one night stand? A week? A month? A year? The remaining period of your lifetimes?

B: Are you saying that love is a game of chance?

A: I’m saying it is a game of skill. Perhaps love is a game, and the winner or loser depends on who leaves first.

B: That’s pretty sad.

A: Not as sad as the one left alone in the end.

B: There are people who are happily in relationships.

A: Perhaps we are not one of them. Or perhaps, you not with me. Perhaps one of them is forever compromising.

B: And perhaps maybe, some like you don’t deserve it.

A: I once believed in the idea of love. But seeing that it was futile, I chose to optimize it to my liking. To love, be loved, and be the first to leave each time.

B: You never know if you stay, what could happen.

A: You never know the pain it could bring if you weren’t the first to leave.

B: That’s negative control. That’s like saying, by committing suicide you are in control of your life.

A: Negative control is still control.

B: In that case, why bother getting in any relationship?

A: Have you heard that saying? “No one pursues pain for pain itself, but for the pleasure that comes with the pain?”. In this case, the optimal condition would be perhaps, pleasure for both of us for a time period of my choosing, and your pain after. Your pain, not mine. Perhaps, there needs to be an exit strategy for every relationship for it to be fully optimized.

B: What you’re saying makes sense in a way. But it just seems wrong on so many levels.

A: I wish you never come to the same conclusion as me. If you can embrace the fact that it was good as long as it lasted, you can free yourself from the feeling that it could be more. Good luck.

B: I hope to never lose so much hope, to think like you.

*Curtain closes, lights fade to black. End of scene*

“This may be a work of fiction. This conversation may or may not have happened. Nevertheless, be assured that some people do think this way, and I just wrote it down. And yes, the gender of A and B are vague for a reason. “