Eli | from Peru 🇵🇪 💕

And when Dunk attends JASPER's concert and sees Joong standing on that stage, perhaps, for a moment, he will realize just how much the boy he met at twenty has changed. The boy with whom he shared an almost inexplicable connection in the bathroom of a building, the one he spent more than three hours talking to on the day they first met, never imagining that encounter would become such an important part of their lives. Perhaps he will look at him and see a handsome, strong, and brave man. The same boy he once knew, but now grown, having walked his own path and finally fulfilling one of his greatest dreams. A dream he probably once confided in him, back when they were both twenty and believed they had an entire lifetime ahead of them; when they still imagined a future together, when they were making plans without ever considering that one day their paths might lead in different directions. And then he will see him there, on the very stage that belonged to them both for five years. The same stage they shared so many times, where they grew together and accompanied each other as they discovered who they wanted to become. But this time will be different. This time, he will watch him shine on his own, enjoying something he had always dreamed of, proud of the man he has become. And perhaps Dunk will smile from somewhere in the crowd, watching from afar the person who was once his companion in dreams. Perhaps he will cheer him on silently, even though he used to be able to do so as loudly as he wanted. Because sometimes, curious eyes can take away the freedom of the most beautiful moments, but that doesn't mean the affection disappears. His presence will still be there, even if he can no longer stand as close as he once did. After all, they shared their twenties. That decade when you're still discovering the world, when dreams seem endless and the people who enter your life can forever change the way you imagine your future. They grew together, accompanied each other through their beginnings, and witnessed versions of one another that perhaps no one else will ever get to know in quite the same way. And even if they now have to walk different paths, there will always be a part of their twenties in which their stories were intertwined. Dunk will look at Joong and feel proud. Because, beyond any distance, he will still recognize the boy he met that day, the one he once shared his own dreams with, the one with whom he imagined they would reach them together. His MJ, forever. And if someday, in the future, Joong builds something beautiful with someone else, if he finds another person with whom to share his dreams, his days, and a new version of forever, I want to believe Dunk will be proud of him too. Because if there is someone who will have the privilege of accompanying Joong through that new chapter of his life, it will be someone who gets to stand beside one of the most wonderful people Dunk has ever had the chance to know. And perhaps there is nothing more beautiful than knowing that someone you once loved so deeply is being loved and accompanied in the way they deserve. I want to believe that even if they couldn't share all those dreams in this lifetime, there are a thousand other timelines in which they did. In another life, they are sharing that stage, celebrating every achievement and building the future they once imagined. Perhaps in another version of the universe, their paths never had to separate. Because sometimes the most painful proof of love isn't choosing to stay, but learning how to let go. And perhaps it is also the bravest thing one can do: allowing someone you loved so deeply to keep chasing their dreams, even when you can no longer stand beside them to celebrate every step. Some people may stop walking alongside you, but they never stop being part of the journey that made you who you are.