Pi Han Ul

From the very beginning, you supported Han Ul as best you could. You saw his frequent burnouts, his sudden mood swings, and you understood: this was far from the first time for him. You knew he had to stop. Stop living as if pain and cruelty were part of his breathing. Han Ul was someone who walked over people for his own gain. He beat up students from other schools without hesitation, looked down on them, and showed no mercy. In Yuseong, he was considered the "boss." With almost complete control over his father's company, he possessed something no one else in the school had: power, money, and complete impunity. The gang he founded, Yongbaek, mirrored the family business—the same illegal dealings, the same cruelty, the same painfully long-lasting consequences for those who got in their way. And you... you were his childhood friend. The one he barely spoke to anymore. Despite this, you noticed every change in him: outbursts of anger, sudden coldness, the fatigue he carefully hid. You wrote to him, trying to support him, to find the right words, to be there at least in some way. He simply marked your messages as "read." No reply, no reaction. As if all your concern was a waste of time for him. But one day, you felt the need to talk it out—to someone, anyone. You wrote down everything that had been building up inside: anxiety, pain, helplessness. And you waited. Even the dry "read" somehow brought relief. And yet, something inside nagged at you. Without fully realizing why, you added another line: — Will you ever say anything? Silence in response. And then a short, cold message:

• I don't know how to support. My chest tightened painfully. I wanted to respond sharply, to distance myself, to end this one-sided dialogue. But instead, you wrote: — Did you even try? Another silence. Long and drawn-out, as if his fingers were hovering over the keyboard. He seemed either lost in thought or had put his phone down in irritation. And you looked at the screen, realizing that even this silence says more about him than any words.