I don't remember how long I stayed in the changing room.

Maybe ten minutes.

Maybe an hour.

Time had stopped meaning anything.

When I finally stepped back outside, the café was just as busy as before.

Customers came and went.

Coffee machines hissed.

People laughed over conversations.

The world hadn't stopped just because mine had.

I thanked my manager one last time before leaving.

The afternoon sun felt strangely warm against my skin.

I slipped my earphones into my pocket instead of putting them on.

For once...

Even music felt too heavy.

The rejection email was still open on my phone.

I read it again.

Then again.

As if the words might change.

As if another email might suddenly appear saying there had been a mistake.

There wasn't.

I let out a shaky breath.

"So..."

"This is really the end."

The scholarship had been my escape.

Not just from Korea.

Not just from poverty.

From this endless cycle of working, sleeping, and worrying.

For months, I had imagined calling my mother with good news.

"Mom, we don't have to worry anymore."

Now...

I couldn't even tell her I had failed.

The streets were crowded with people heading home from work.

Some laughed with friends.

Others hurried toward the subway, phones pressed against their ears.

Life continued around me.

Completely unaware that mine had fallen apart.

My phone buzzed.

A notification.

Without thinking, I unlocked the screen.

ECLIPSE Official Fan Community

There was a new post.

The title made me stop walking.

[Breaking] Is it true that Han Yujin has passed away?

I frowned.

"...What?"

Someone must have hacked the fan community.

Or started another ridiculous rumor.

It happened all the time.

I tapped the post.

Thousands of comments flooded the screen.

"Please tell me this is fake."

"Someone say something."

"Nova, make a statement!"

"This isn't funny."

I shook my head.

"No..."

It couldn't be.

Han Yujin?

The same Han Yujin who had smiled through every concert?

Who always reminded fans to take care of themselves?

Who laughed until he cried during variety shows?

No.

Not him.

I exited the post.

Someone would deny it soon.

They had to.

Then my phone vibrated again.

Another notification.

This time from a news app.

Nova Entertainment preparing official statement...

My heartbeat quickened.

"...No."

I looked up.

Across the street, a giant electronic billboard mounted to the side of a building suddenly switched to a live news broadcast.

People around me began slowing down.

Some stopped completely.

The reporter's expression was unusually serious.

"...Nova Entertainment has confirmed that ECLIPSE member Han Yujin was found deceased earlier today..."

My breathing caught.

"...Police are currently treating the case as an apparent suicide..."

Everything else disappeared.

The traffic.

The conversations.

The city.

I heard nothing.

Saw nothing.

Only those words.

Han Yujin.

Dead.

"...No."

The word escaped my lips as little more than a whisper.

Someone beside me covered her mouth.

Another person cursed under his breath.

A teenage girl burst into tears.

Around me, phones lit up one after another as the news spread.

"No..."

My hands began shaking.

This couldn't be happening.

Not him.

Not the person who had spent years telling other people to keep living.

Not the person whose songs had kept me alive on nights when I thought I couldn't endure another day.

I remembered one of his concerts.

His voice echoed in my memory.

"If today was hard... then let's survive tomorrow together."

I had believed him.

Every single time.

So why...

Why had he been left alone?

Warm tears blurred my vision.

The scholarship.

The debt.

My family.

None of it disappeared.

But somehow...

This hurt differently.

It felt like losing the person who had quietly carried me through the darkest years of my life.

I didn't even realize I was crying until someone gently asked,

"Miss... are you okay?"

I nodded automatically.

"...I'm fine."

Another lie.

I don't remember how I got home.

My body moved on its own.

When I opened the apartment door, no one was there.

Mom was still at work.

My siblings were still at university.

The silence inside the apartment felt suffocating.

I walked into my room and collapsed onto my bed.

The familiar ECLIPSE poster hung above my desk.

It was from their debut era.

All seven members smiled brightly at the camera.

Back then...

The future had looked limitless.

My phone wouldn't stop vibrating.

News article after news article.

Fan tributes.

Official statements.

Hashtags climbing worldwide.

Then another notification appeared.

ECLIPSE Announces Suspension of All Activities

A few minutes later...

Another.

Industry Sources Report Possible Group Disbandment

I locked my phone.

I couldn't look anymore.

The room suddenly felt too small.

Too quiet.

Too empty.

I needed air.

The convenience store near the river was almost deserted.

I walked inside without thinking.

The cashier glanced up as I placed three cans of beer on the counter.

I wasn't someone who drank often.

In fact...

I could count the number of times I'd been drunk on one hand.

But today...

I wanted everything to stop hurting.

Even if it was only for one night.

The river reflected the city lights like scattered stars.

I sat alone on a bench, one unopened can resting beside me.

The first sip tasted bitter.

The second wasn't any better.

Still...

I kept drinking.

The cool night breeze brushed against my face as I scrolled through endless messages from fans around the world.

Some refused to believe the news.

Some thanked Yujin for changing their lives.

Others simply wrote one sentence over and over.

"Please come back."

My vision blurred again.

I stared at one final photograph.

Han Yujin.

Standing beneath bright stage lights.

Smiling.

As if nothing in the world could ever break him.

A broken laugh escaped my lips.

"You always told us..."

"...to keep going."

My voice cracked.

"So why didn't you?"

The river offered no answer.

Only silence.

I lowered my phone into my lap and looked up at the night sky.

Somewhere beyond those lights...

Life would continue tomorrow.

People would wake up.

Go to work.

Attend school.

Read the news.

Cry.

Move on.

But tonight...

It felt as though an entire world had disappeared.

I slowly stood from the bench.

"I should go home..."

The alcohol made my steps unsteady.

I tightened my grip on my phone as I started across the road.

My eyes drifted one last time to the photograph still glowing on the screen.

Han Yujin's smile.

A blinding light suddenly flooded my vision.

Someone screamed.

Tires shrieked violently against the pavement.

I looked up.

Headlights.

Too close.

Far too close.

For one single heartbeat...

Time stood still.

My phone slipped from my fingers.

No.

The thought crashed through my mind.

Not yet.

I couldn't die yet.

I hadn't done anything.

I hadn't helped Mom.

I hadn't paid my siblings' tuition.

I hadn't given them the life I had promised.

Mom...

My chest tightened.

I tried to move.

I want to go home.

Then—

Everything went black.