No one else can hear you

In a dusty bookstore, Mann, a reclusive poet with a penchant for broken things, encounters a woman he dubs "Cassette"-a muse whose hum pierces his silence and ignites an all-consuming love. As their romance deepens, fueled by shared literature, slow dances, and raw intimacy, Mann's devotion warps into obsession. Viewing her as a perfect cassette tape, he sees any interference -be it a crude law student, a suspicious friend, or a prying landlord-as "noise" or "scratches" marring her melody. One by one, he eliminates these threats with gruesome precision: a throat slit, a body drowned, a car compacted, a fire set, each kill a vow to keep her pure.



Cassette, unaware at first, is drawn



into his orbit, her own scars and trust



binding her to him. But when her friend



group stages an intervention, Mann's



violence peaks, and he tests her loyalty,



coaxing her to kill. She does, sealing



their dark duet-only for Mann to decide



her perfection can't endure life's decay.



Poisoning her tea with arsenic, he stops



her "tape," preserving her in a grotesque



ritual of lavender and glass eyes, their



love eternalized in stillness. As he



mourns her at a table set for two, his



gaze drifts to a new hum, hinting at a



cycle poised to rewind.