Only the faint sound of a piano resonated.
The only thing that broke the silence was the sound of one person's applause. It was the man who had played the piano. It was he who had pressed each note with devotion, and it was he who had made the practice room resonate with his applause. The practice room, which was not necessarily small, somehow seemed very spacious. Because the person who should have been there, the person who should have been right in front of you, was absent. No one knew where he had gone. At first, there was talk that he had quit because it was too difficult, and when it was learned that contact had completely been cut off, rumors began that he had run away. After some more time had passed, it was rumored that he had committed suicide... That's it. If I dwell on it any longer, I'll go crazy.
“Seungcheol, it’s almost 12 o’clock. What time are you planning on going in? Are you still in the practice room?”
“..Oh, I was just trying to organize it.”
At the director's words, I unplugged the electric piano, tidied up the cables, and put the guitar back where it was lying awkwardly. I turned off the practice room lights and looked back at the piano before closing the door. This was the reason I only used practice room 3. Even you, who used to laugh at how one of the keys didn't work, used this piano exclusively. I held back a sigh that I couldn't remember when it had risen to the top of my lungs. It's time to let you go. It's been a year and four months, and you haven't contacted me at all. I occasionally have these unanswered thoughts. It wasn't suicide, but evaporation. I wanted to believe that you, who seemed to exist nowhere, had vanished like this. That God had taken you away inevitably, and that neither you nor I could do anything about it.
“Seungcheol hyung, it’s your turn to clean today~”
“It’s already been a week?”
Kwon Soon-young's words, approaching with a broom, made me realize how much time had passed. It's your birthday soon. I pondered. What kind of cake did you like? What gift did you want? I put my hand on my chin and thought about it. To throw you a birthday party without you. Even if it's shabby, I'll be happy.
"..happy birthday."
A single candle on a shabby piece of cake. I sang a song in my mind, blew out a small candle, and blew it out. All the other friends at the training camp had already fallen asleep. While you were gone, I had grown again, and the debut members had finally been decided. This was the debut you had hoped for so desperately, but you weren't here. Thinking about it, I almost burst out laughing. Wasn't it you I had longed for so desperately? But why was everyone else here but you? And so I ended up making a wish. Since you're gone, I'm making the wish in your place... for myself.
I wish you would appear before my eyes. It doesn't have to be right now.
'···I miss you.'
For the first time in ages, I felt like crying. It must have been because you appeared in my dream that day. With your gorgeous blonde hair, your seemingly well-groomed attire, and your soft love songs, you looked just like the person you'd always said you wanted to be. You'd said your black hair was dull, and you'd said you were sick of the sweaty smell of your sweatshirt, which you wore all day. Yes, that's how it was.
But what I hoped for wasn't something like a dream,
“···It was just you, Jeonghan.”