It was a rainy day in March.
The only sound echoing through the schoolyard was the dull slap of soaked sneakers against wet pavement.
“...Sunwoo, I failed another idol audition.”
JL dropped his bag and sat down on the bench, shoulders slumped, bangs clinging to his forehead from the rain.
Sunwoo turned his head, already bracing himself.
“How many times is that now?”
“Five... no, six? I don’t even know anymore.”
“Then maybe it’s time to stop.”
JL's head snapped up.
“What?”
“I’m just being honest. Do you really think you’re gonna make it?
I mean... I don’t think you’re that special.”
The air thickened.
Jael slowly stood up and stared directly at Sunwoo.
“What do you even know?”
“I’m your friend. At least I can see reality.
Do you know how many insanely talented idols are out there?”
“Reality is just the box you built for yourself.
I’ve dreamed of this my whole life...
And if you’re saying I don’t even have that—then what do I have left?”
Thud.
JL shoved Sunwoo’s shoulder. Not hard. Just enough to leave something hanging in the air.
In that instant, everything they’d built between them cracked like glass.
“...JL, what the hell—”
“I’m sorry, Sunwoo. But I can’t live like you. I just... can’t.”
JL turned and ran across the rain-soaked field.
“JL!! Where are you going?! Hey!!!”
.
.
.
The next day,
Word spread that JL had left home with nothing but a suitcase.
Sunwoo stayed behind at school, staring at the empty seat beside him.
'Where did you go, JL..'
The rain hadn’t stopped.
***
Three Years Later
On the subway after work,
Sunwoo was lazily fixing the collar of his wrinkled shirt while scrolling through YouTube.
There he was—JL, now a global idol, commanding the stage under blinding lights and deafening cheers.
Confident. Radiant. Almost unreal.
But to Sunwoo, he still looked like the boy from that rainy day—
Hair dripping, voice trembling, saying “I just want to try...”
'You proved me wrong.
You really made it, huh, JL.
Guess I was the fool. I'm... proud of you.'
Sunwoo smiled faintly, about to close the app—
when a notification popped up.