Part 3

2005

Silver Wings’ old label didn’t like Sunghoon’s solo efforts, nor did they seem to wish him any success. Suddenly a concert performance would be cancelled, or a song writer would out of the blue say no to a work offer.

Some days Sunghoon would wonder if the same happened to Jiwon, on the days he allowed himself to actually think about him. It was like a wound that had never healed. Every thought of Jiwon felt like removing the scab, making the wound bleed again.

To make up for the lack of job offers, Sunghoon would perform on many smaller events and outside the country which lead to him travelling a lot. He’d be tired and sick, even sometimes collapsing from exhaustion. It was half of what he had wanted to escape from during his career in Silver Wings and part of what had ruined it all. The only thing that cheered him up was his remaining fans’ smiling faces.

But he just couldn’t handle it alone.

Sunghoon stopped making the music that he loved. The contract with his label ended and Sunghoon found himself looking down at the letter in his hand. He’d already gotten it long ago but had always delayed doing what was inevitable.

So, it was time for him to enlist.

2008

Sunghoon had been out of the military for the last six months, but he hadn’t sung even once. The more he thought of his time alone on stage and in the entertainment industry, the more he came to resent it. He lay on his sofa, having not moved from there for the majority of the day, snacking on half-cold left-overs from the day before.

It was already late at night. He was scrolling through the channels when he caught a glimpse of Jiwon. Sunghoon paused when he heard his own name being mentioned, an old picture of him on the screen.

“I haven’t spoken to Sunghoon in four years,” Jiwon confessed.

Sunghoon studied Jiwon. He looked a ton better than Sunghoon did, healthy and well-dressed. Jiwon was still so handsome. Sunghoon had read in the newspaper that Jiwon’s variety show had gotten popular – not that he tried looking out for news about Jiwon – but he’d never watched it to see how Jiwon was doing.

Now Sunghoon saw the look of sadness on Jiwon’s face as