The next day—
Far away from Kentarou's house.
Far away from Violet's birthday party.
Far away from all the drama and heartbreak.
A completely different scene unfolded.
---
The city library was unusually quiet.
Only the occasional sound of pages turning could be heard.
Sunlight filtered through the large windows, illuminating rows upon rows of bookshelves.
Near one of the corners of the library—
A girl sat alone.
A laptop rested on the table in front of her.
Several books were stacked beside it, though she wasn't paying attention to any of them.
Instead—
Her eyes remained fixed on the screen.
She was reading a web novel.
A web novel written by someone she had been following for months.
Its author's pen name was:
Izumi_Ken.
---
Click.
The girl refreshed the page.
Nothing changed.
No new chapter.
She sighed.
Then refreshed it again.
Still nothing.
The latest chapter remained exactly where it had been yesterday.
And the day before that.
---
The girl leaned back in her chair.
A disappointed expression appeared on her face.
"Seriously..."
She looked at the author's profile.
Then at the chapter list.
Then back at the profile again.
As if hoping a new update would magically appear.
Unfortunately—
Nothing happened.
---
She crossed her arms.
A small pout forming on her face.
"It's already been two days."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Where's the next chapter?"
The silence of the library was the only answer she received.
---
A few seconds later—
She rested her chin on her hand.
Staring at the screen.
Then a small smile appeared on her face.
Despite her complaints—
She genuinely loved the story.
The characters.
The emotions.
The way the author wrote ordinary moments as if they were something special.
Everything about it felt real.
Almost too real.
As if the author had experienced those feelings himself.
---
The girl slowly looked toward the library window.
Watching the clouds drift across the sky.
Then she laughed quietly to herself.
"Honestly..."
Her gaze returned to the author's name on the screen.
Izumi_Ken.
The mysterious writer she had never met.
The writer who made her wait every week.
The writer who somehow always left his readers wanting more.
A curious smile appeared on her face.
Then she whispered softly—
"I wonder what kind of person you really are."
A brief pause.
Then—
"One day, I'd love to meet you."
The screen remained unchanged.
The library remained silent.
And somewhere in Seoul—
The boy she was talking about had no idea that someone was waiting so eagerly for his next chapter.
---
On the same time at school-
The morning classes passed quietly.
Students listened to lectures.
Some took notes.
Some stared out the windows.
Some secretly used their phones when teachers weren't looking.
Everything seemed normal.
Almost.
---
Yui Takamura sat in her usual seat.
Her pen moved across her notebook absentmindedly.
Then—
Her eyes drifted toward the seat beside her.
An empty seat.
Kentarou's seat.
---
"...Absent?"
Yui blinked.
That was unusual.
Very unusual.
Kentarou rarely missed school.
Even when he was sick, he usually showed up.
Yet today—
His chair remained empty.
His desk remained untouched.
And his name never appeared during attendance.
---
Throughout the morning—
Yui found herself glancing at that seat more than once.
At first, she told herself it was because she was curious.
Then she stopped trying to explain it.
---
Soon—
The lunch bell rang.
Students immediately began standing up.
Conversations filled the classroom.
The peaceful atmosphere disappeared in an instant.
---
Yui stood up.
Then looked around.
She quickly found the person she was looking for.
Hayashi Senku.
---
Senku was about to leave the classroom when—
"Senku."
He turned around.
"Hm?"
Yui walked toward him.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Depends."
"About Kentarou."
"...Oh."
Immediately—
Senku understood.
---
"He didn't come today."
Yui nodded.
"Is he sick?"
Senku hesitated.
For the first time that day—
His expression became complicated.
---
"Well..."
He scratched the back of his head.
"It's not exactly that."
Yui frowned slightly.
"What happened?"
Senku looked around.
Students were busy talking among themselves.
Nobody seemed to be paying attention.
Still—
He hesitated.
---
Because what happened last night wasn't exactly his story to tell.
But then again—
Keeping everything bottled up probably wasn't helping Kentarou either.
---
After a moment—
Senku sighed.
"Let's sit somewhere."
---
A few minutes later—
The two sat at a quiet table in the school courtyard.
The spring breeze gently moved through the trees.
For a while—
Neither spoke.
Then Yui looked directly at him.
"What happened?"
---
Senku exhaled slowly.
Then began explaining.
The birthday party.
The gift.
The balcony.
Gen.
Everything.
---
As the story continued—
Yui's expression slowly changed.
From curiosity.
To surprise.
Then disbelief.
And finally—
Concern.
---
"He gave her a necklace?"
"Yeah."
"And she liked it?"
"More than liked it."
Senku smiled faintly.
"Honestly, she looked happier than I've ever seen her."
---
Yui remained silent.
Listening carefully.
---
Then came the part about Gen.
The rivalry.
The confrontation.
The balcony.
The words Gen had spoken.
---
"Kubo Violet is mine."
---
The moment Senku repeated those words—
Yui's eyebrows furrowed.
"What?"
"Exactly."
"Who even says something like that?"
Senku nodded immediately.
"That's what I'm saying."
---
Then he explained what happened afterward.
How Kentarou became quiet.
How his mood completely changed.
How he decided to leave.
And finally—
What he said after returning home.
---
"I won't approach Violet anymore."
---
Yui froze.
For several seconds—
She didn't say anything.
---
She remembered the Kentarou she knew.
The quiet boy who spent most of his time writing.
The boy who rarely talked about himself.
The boy who always seemed calm.
---
For someone like him to say those words—
It must have hurt.
A lot.
---
"...Idiot."
Senku blinked.
"Huh?"
Yui looked away.
Not angry.
Not annoyed.
Just frustrated.
---
"Why would he give up so easily?"
She muttered quietly.
Almost to herself.
---
Senku stared at her.
Then smiled.
For some reason—
That wasn't the reaction he had expected.
At all.
---
Meanwhile—
Far away from school—
Kentarou remained completely unaware that people were worrying about him.
And that someone had just called him an idiot.
For giving up on the girl he loved.
---
At Kentarou's house-
The sun had already set.
The house was quiet.
A warm light illuminated the dining room.
The smell of freshly cooked food filled the air.
---
Kentarou sat at the dining table.
His father sat across from him.
Kenta sat beside him, busy eating while occasionally telling stories about the birthday party.
Nobody mentioned Violet.
Nobody mentioned Gen.
And for that, Kentarou was grateful.
---
His mother placed another dish on the table.
Then finally sat down.
"Eat before it gets cold."
The family quietly began eating.
---
For a while—
Only the sounds of chopsticks and plates could be heard.
Then Kentarou's mother suddenly looked at him.
"Kentarou."
"Hm?"
"You're going to school tomorrow."
It wasn't a question.
It was a statement.
---
Kentarou paused briefly.
Then nodded.
"...Yeah."
His mother seemed satisfied with the answer.
"Good."
"You already missed one day."
Kenta immediately joined the conversation.
"Brother looked like a zombie yesterday."
"Kenta."
"What?"
"Eat."
"Okay."
---
His father chuckled softly.
Meanwhile, Kentarou simply continued eating.
His appetite wasn't great.
But compared to yesterday—
He felt slightly better.
At least enough to return to school.
At least enough to face reality again.
---
After dinner—
Kenta ran upstairs.
His father turned on the television.
His mother started cleaning the dishes.
Everything felt normal.
Comfortingly normal.
---
Kentarou stood up.
Then quietly headed toward his room.
Before entering—
He glanced at the family behind him.
A small smile appeared on his face.
No matter what happened outside—
This place always remained the same.
His home.
---
A few minutes later—
Kentarou sat at his desk.
His laptop was open.
The cursor blinked on an empty document.
Waiting.
Patiently.
---
It had been two days since he had updated his web novel.
Two whole days.
Normally, he would have uploaded something by now.
But recent events had completely destroyed his motivation.
---
Kentarou stared at the blank screen.
Then sighed.
"...I should write."
His readers were probably waiting.
Complaining.
Refreshing the page repeatedly.
Wondering where the next chapter was.
The thought almost made him laugh.
---
Slowly—
His fingers moved toward the keyboard.
For the first time in days.
A single sentence appeared on the screen.
Then another.
And another.
Little by little—
The story started moving forward again.
Just like life itself.
---
Outside the window—
The night sky quietly watched over Seoul.
And for the first time since Violet's birthday—
Kentarou felt like tomorrow might not be so bad after all.
To be continued...