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Hyeongjun lived alone in a small coastal town. After his parents and close relatives passed away, he juggled between working part-time jobs to sustain himself and attending the local school.
He doesn’t talk much. He’s the quiet kid, but he’s artistic, passionate about all kinds of art. His beautifully crafted works spoke louder than words. Other than art, he loved music, so he saved up his money to buy a guitar. A guitar he holds dearly, the most special thing to him.
As special as his bandmates. It started with Seungmin, a classmate who noticed his love for guitar. As a keyboardist, he wanted to get to know Hyeongjun, and over time, they formed a close friendship. With that friendship, Hyeongjun was introduced to Seungmin’s friends. There’s Jungsu who also plays the keyboards, Gunil, a drummer from an older class, Jooyeon who plays the bass, and Jiseok who plays the guitar.
The newfound group of friends decided to form a band, now that all 6 instruments are present. The band didn’t gain attention, but the boys weren't deterred. “We’re doing it for the love of the game” like Jooyeon said. They bonded over their shared love for music, becoming each other's safe space, and especially Hyeongjun, who hasn’t felt this warmth ever since his parents’ passing.
But one summer afternoon, Hyeongjun left school as usual. He waved goodbye to his bandmates, as always. But the next day, he didn’t show up. And the next, the next, the next… days turn into weeks, weeks into months, he never shows up again after that.
By this point a year had passed. Search efforts had long ended, everyone silently moved on. Everyone besides his friends. They kept searching, they kept looking for an answer. Hyeongjun wouldn’t just leave like that, would he?
One particularly quiet and serene night, the group decided to meet at Hyeongjun’s house. After the place had been searched thoroughly by the authorities, the house was never touched again. They have made their peace now that Hyeongjun will never return, that no one will ever live in this place again. The air smells like a mixture of damp dust and old wood. A layer of dust had accumulated on all surfaces.
It was Gunil’s idea to gather at the guitarist’s bedroom. The door creaked open and the boys carefully made their way inside. Hyeongjun’s precious guitar was left on the stand, his sketchbook that will never be finished was placed neatly on the bedside table. It was unusually tidy, unlike Hyeongjun. Or was it the authorities who organised his things after they finished the search?
But there’s no time to ponder about that. Seungmin noticed something, a wooden box tucked away neatly under the bed. There’s something written on it, “Dear H.”
“Is this addressed to us?” Jiseok asked.
“I don’t know.” Jungsu replied as he picked up the box.
“Maybe we should open it?” Jooyeon suggested.
“What’s this?” Jooyeon asked, peaking over Seungmin’s shoulder to see the contents of the box. The rest of the band moved closer. “Looks like music sheets. There’s a few of these.” The older one said. He placed the box on Hyeongjun’s bed. Everyone gathered in a circle, watching Seungmin take the sheets of paper out of the box and lay them out on the bed.
The final piece of paper isn’t a part of the music sheets, but a drawing. A drawing of a young man, on the docks, stepping into the sea. On the back side of the paper, a written note addressed to his bandmates.
“…”
“...That’s him in the picture, he stepped off the docks”
“...He chose this fate… he wanted to disappear.”
“Was there anything we could’ve done?”
