Celestial Echoes~

Chapter 24

Weeks ago, everything seemed fine on the surface, but beneath that fragile illusion, things were unraveling. A silent heaviness settled over a few hearts, a quiet longing for something just out of reach. Era, once the embodiment of lighthearted joy, had grown quiet, her lively spark dimmed. Ren, the vibrant extrovert who used to command every room, had withdrawn into herself, her once outgoing energy reduced to a shadow of its former self. Both of them carried invisible burdens that no one else could understand, and no one could reach.

Era's POV:

I should have been happy. I wanted to be happy. But all I felt was confusion and pain. Since they left for Korea, I had been waiting-waiting for Joshua to reach out, waiting for a single sign that I hadn't just been forgotten. He had my number, so why hadn't he texted? Not a single call, not even a brief message. The days slipped by, and with every passing moment, it felt like a sharp knife was twisting deeper into my chest. How long was he going to keep me hanging? Didn't I mean anything to him?

I couldn't reach out to him either. His Korean number was missing from my contacts, like an unbridgeable chasm had formed between us. But after everything we had shared, after every stolen glance and whispered word, how could he just disappear like that? I loved him-truly loved him, with every part of my heart-and now I was drowning in the silence he left behind. How could he walk away, leaving me with nothing but false hope? It hurt more than I could express.

Maybe this was what idols did. Maybe they weren't capable of holding onto real relationships. Maybe the life of fame required them to play with people's hearts, leaving them guessing and abandoned. Was I naive to think we had something real? Or was it his agency pulling the strings, keeping him from me? I spiraled deeper into my thoughts, each one cutting me with more doubt and insecurity. I even tried reaching out through Instagram, but we weren't connected there either. It felt like he had slammed the door shut, leaving me standing outside in the cold, wondering if he would ever open it again.

And then there was Ren. I could see she was hurting too. She barely talked to me, always immersing herself in her work or pretending to. It was obvious she was trying to hide her pain, but I could feel it. Everything felt broken. Everything had changed since Joshua entered my life. He turned my world upside down, and now I was terrified that I would never see him again. What if those fleeting moments we had together were just a cruel illusion? What if they were nothing but empty promises?

Anger boiled up inside me. Anger at myself for believing in him, for falling so hard. Anger at Joshua for leaving me hanging, for making me feel like I was nothing more than a passing thought.

A few days later, Al showed me a video from a concert in Korea. Joshua was there, smiling, laughing like nothing had happened. It shattered me. He looked fine-happy, even-while I was barely holding myself together. But no matter how much it hurt, I couldn't bring myself to hate him. I was a Carat after all. Maybe, just maybe, there was more going on behind the scenes than I knew. Maybe he was being controlled by forces bigger than us. But still, deep down, I felt betrayed. He was my first love tho! and it was tearing me apart.

Ren's POV:

There was an emptiness inside me, one I didn't want to acknowledge. It hadn't been there for long, but it was already suffocating. I couldn't afford to get distracted though. I had to stay focused on my goals, especially after what happened with Wonwoo. I had already hurt someone I cared about deeply, and I wasn't going to let myself make that mistake again. So, even with this heavy weight pressing down on me, I forced myself to keep moving forward. At least, that's what I told myself.

But the guilt was always there, lurking just beneath the surface, a constant reminder of the pain I had caused. Sometimes, it washed over me in waves so strong I could barely breathe, but I couldn't show it. I had to pretend everything was fine.