Kim Woon-hak at 11 o'clock at night

1

An evening street where streetlights come on one by one.

I walked slowly under the red light. The calm sunset was fading away, and the city lights were slowly waking up. A notification was pinging on my phone.

It was a message from the account 'recorded_11pm'.

bearwith_u

"Are you open today too? DJ's live broadcast."

I chuckled softly. For several months now, Insta Radio, which has been on every Wednesday night at 11 p.m., has become a household name thanks to word-of-mouth.

Familiar IDs filled the comment section, and a few regular listeners even sent us their stories via DM.

Among them, the one that stands out the most is the cute nickname ‘bearwith_u’.

His speech was calm and the messages he sent were always short, but there were many comments that particularly left a lasting impression.

I quietly turned off the lights in the room and sat down with only the desk light on.

As I drew the curtains and leaned back in my chair, the silence around me became like another world. The only sound was the faint rustle of the wind outside the window.

I opened my small laptop, plugged in my microphone, and brought up a familiar screen.

I took a deep breath, finished the sound check, and pressed the start button. Every Instagram live broadcast started here, in a corner of my room.

The moment I turned on the microphone button, a familiar emoticon appeared in the comment box.

bearwith_u

🧸

“Hello, Mr. Bear, who came at 11 o’clock sharp today.”

I began the broadcast with a small smile. "Today's story begins. The title is 'That Person's Time Keeps Getting Later.'"

I poured my emotions into a short poem: the weight of youth, the silence of others, the feeling of being alone.

The comments section slowly filled with familiar emoticons and short, sympathetic comments. But among them, one still caught my eye.

bearwith_u

"I thought being alone would be comfortable. But it wasn't. That's why I came here. When I hear DJ's voice, it just... makes me feel like the day has passed without incident."

"I think it passed safely." That sentence left a particularly lingering impression. Whoever was listening, those words were sincere.

The next day, I headed to the small conference room next to the lecture hall for a group project.

When I opened the door, someone was already there. An unfamiliar face peeking out from behind a hood. The man sitting there smiled, slightly surprised.

김운학

“Oh, hello. I’m Kim Woon-hak. Are you in our group?”

I nodded and took my seat. The name was unfamiliar, but the tone was somehow familiar. Her eyes were smiling, but her words were cautious.

김운학

"Isn't the weather nice today? The sunlight was really pretty on the lawn earlier. I was lying down alone, but a bug made me run away."

I let out a small laugh at his words. Unhak scratched his head with his finger and laughed.

김운학

"Oh, that was too much TMI. I'm not usually one to talk much, but I hate quiet, so I started talking."

He seemed shy at first, but the playfulness in his tone quickly became apparent. Our conversation wasn't long, but it often brought unexpectedly comfortable laughter.

I felt something awakening in a corner of my heart. The tone and choice of words felt somehow familiar.

Suddenly, bearwith_u came to mind. I couldn't help but chuckle.

As the meeting was coming to an end, Unhak pushed the remaining snacks towards me and said,

김운학

"You left them all. My sister is taking them. If you don't eat them, I'll probably eat all three."

His playful tone made me laugh without realizing it. It felt strangely comfortable. Even though it was our first time meeting, I felt a sense of familiarity.

That night, I didn't post a radio announcement on Instagram. Instead, I opened a DM window.

As always, bearwith_u left another line. As always, it was short, but strangely lingering.

bearwith_u

"Not doing it today? Then... I'll hold out until next week. When I hear your voice, DJ, it just... makes me feel like I'm here."

“I have an unforgettable feeling that I am here.” Those words lingered in my ears for a long time.

It was a day when just having someone say that was comforting.