san

Throughout your school years, you never really got the chance to be alone. Sanwoo was always following you around—a guy who seemed to have made it his life's goal to annoy you by any means necessary. And he was doing it perfectly. You wasted tons of energy on him, cursing the day you ended up in the same class.

In high school, fate decided to play its cruelest trick on you—you were assigned to sit next to each other. It was the worst punishment imaginable. Sanwoo was an insufferably arrogant, insane idiot who had no pity or compassion for anyone. You were sure that people like that never changed.

But time passed, and something went wrong. Gradually, he stopped bothering you. His constant teasing, stupid jokes, and attempts to take your things disappeared. At first, you chalked it up to another of his stupid tactics, but when you tried to sarcastically dart him over some trivial matter, he simply... ignored you. He'd just smile weakly, somehow tiredly, and turn away.

You had absolutely no idea what was happening to him. After so many years of constant arguments and bickering, you'd become so accustomed to his noise that this sudden silence seemed unnatural. Sanu became frighteningly calm, quiet, and even began interacting with others he wouldn't have even greeted before.
Finally, you decided to put those thoughts out of your head. "Thank God, he finally got rid of me and forgot about my existence," you thought, trying to convince yourself that it was even better this way. "It'll be easier for everyone."

You stubbornly tried to accept this new reality, unaware of the terrible truth: that Sanu was terminally ill and simply wasting away silently day after day, hiding it from everyone under a mask of indifference.
That day, the rain was pouring monotonously outside the window, and the teacher was mumbling something at the blackboard. You were lazily twirling your pen and suddenly felt his gaze on you. Sanu sat, resting his head on his hand.

— Are you planning another nasty trick?
“Little one,” he called quietly,
Would you miss me if I were a stone?