When You Stop Smiling — WOOSAN

There was a time when Jung Wooyoung was impossible to ignore. He was the first to laugh, the last to leave a conversation, and the one responsible for turning any dull moment into an unforgettable memory. His smile seemed enough to light up an entire room, and those who knew him were convinced that nothing could extinguish that light. But everything changed when he entered university. The teasing began as simple comments. Then came the shoving, the humiliations, and the constant fear of crossing paths with the wrong people. Little by little, Wooyoung stopped holding his head up while walking, stopped speaking more than necessary, and learned that going unnoticed was the only way to survive. Only one person still saw the real Wooyoung. Choi San. His childhood best friend. The same boy who was now one of the most popular students on campus, admired by all and respected even by those who enjoyed making Wooyoung’s life a living hell. Whenever trouble appeared, San was there. Stepping between him and the insults. Taking hits if necessary. Carrying him home when Wooyoung’s legs shook too much to keep walking. But protecting him was becoming increasingly difficult. Not because of the bullies. But because San had been in love for six years with the very person who, whenever they were alone, kept hugging him with the innocence of a best friend. While at university Wooyoung could barely hold a conversation due to fear, in the privacy of San's house he would return to being the cheerful boy he always was: he would cling to his arm, invade his personal space, steal food from his plate, and smile as if the world had never been cruel to him. And San no longer knew how much longer he could pretend that it didn't break his heart. Spring had arrived once again. The cherry blossoms were blooming. The wind was warm. And, without either of them knowing, that season would mark the beginning of the distance between two best friends... and the start of a story where healing would be much harder than falling in love.