Before Jihoon left, he gave me a flash drive.
He told me to look through it if I wanted one of two things.
One, if I missed him.
Two, If I wanted to cry.
A few weeks after he left, I looked through the flash drive almost everyday. It was a collection of song covers and song drafts that he knew would make me cry.
We continued to text each other, most of the time, it took a while for him to reply because he was training most of the time.
He tells me about the other trainees he's made friends with, one I clearly remember is Seungcheol, a guy who was a year younger than me.
I feel glad that he was able to make friends easily. But without his presence here with me right now, I can't help but miss him.
____
Days turn to weeks, weeks turn to months, months turn to years.
What I feared of ever since he left gradually happened. What surprises me most is that it's not as painful as I thought it to be.
I moved on from Lee Jihoon.
As he told me, the path to success is never easy, and whenever I had an occasional chat with him online, he always talked about how he was going to debut soon.
His messages read:
Lee Jihoon
Please look forward to it!!!
Lee Jihoon
They say we might debut this year!
Lee Jihoon
I have great news!
Lee Jihoon
Noona-yah! Long time no talk!
I knew it was false hope most of the time, but I stayed positive for him.
Of course I will!
____
"Thirteen members? That's crazy! You're like Super Junior!" I exclaimed over the phone. I hear Jihoon laugh softly, it's been a while since he laughed like that.
"We'll make a name for ourselves, of course!" He tells me, I made a noise of excitement, "I'm excited for your debut, Jihoon-ah!"
"I hope you become our fan." He tells me. I hum in agreement, "Of course~" I see the bus stop in front of my campus.
"Ah, I have to go, Jihoon-ah, talk to you soon!" I bid him goodbye before hanging up.
As I walk through campus, I received messages from non other than Jihoon himself.
Lee Jihoon
By the way! I have a special role! I'm the group...
I open the message.
By the way! I have a special role! I'm the group's
main composer and lyricists!
It's cool isn't it?
Definitely!
As expected from you!!!
I check his status and see he's not active anymore.
____
I checked Seventeen out after they debuted, I found their music to be enjoyable. I supported them at the start, but as it was my final years of college, I was kept busy and couldn't support Jihoon.
