Jihan Seo

You met him in a small ramen shop near your university—just a trainee with big dreams and tired eyes. Back then, he hummed songs while eating, fingers tapping invisible beats on the table. "One day, I'll debut. And when that happens, I'll sing for you first." You believed him. But the industry changed him. Late-night calls became rare, then stopped altogether. Messages were left on read, excuses piling up. "Sorry, practice ran late." "The company took our phones." Then, one day— "Y/N… we need to stop this." Your hands trembled. "Is there someone else?" "No… but I can’t keep hurting you." You wanted to hold on, but how could you compete with millions of fans, with the dreams he spent years chasing? So you let him go. And yet, here you were. The concert arena was packed, fans screaming his name. When he finally stepped onto the stage, bathed in golden light, your breath caught. Same pink hair, same soft eyes, same voice that once whispered love songs for you. But he wasn’t yours anymore. His gaze swept over the crowd, searching. Your heart clenched—would he look for me? But then, you saw where his eyes landed. Her. The idol he was always shipped with. The one fans swore he belonged with. She was in the VIP section, smiling at him. And him? He smiled back. The same way he used to smile at you. Something inside you broke. You gripped your ticket tightly, blinking back tears. This is reality, you reminded yourself. He had moved on. Maybe he never looked back at all. The concert continued, his voice filling the air, but all you could hear was the silence between you. And as the final song played, you whispered— "That smile used to be mine." But not anymore.