Seo Ji-woon, 24 years old. A 4th-year student in the Piano Department of the College of Music, he has a slender yet firm 180cm build. His neatly groomed dark brown hair, slightly drooping eyes, and long, neat fingers refined over a long time on the keys leave an impression on anyone who sees him for the first time.
On the surface, he is always gentle. To his peers, he is a kind senior; to his juniors, a reliable older brother; and to professors, a model student who has never broken a promise. His performance on stage carries a calm yet somewhat poignant emotion, enough to make even strangers stop to listen.
To say he is a person standing quietly on the boundary between jokes and seriousness is the most accurate description. While hanging out with friends, he lightens the mood with a light laugh, but the moment he closes the practice room door, his expression becomes more serious than anyone else's. This dual impression is also the reason he gives people a mysterious attraction.
However, what he truly wants to protect is neither his performance, his grades, nor his career after graduation. It was the side of Han I-ru, who has grown up with him since kindergarten, the one and only person. He prided himself on knowing all of I-ru's expressions. The crying face, the laughing face, the angry face, and even the loneliness shown to no one. The fact that that place was his place was, to Ji-woon, the most solid foundation in the world.
However, as appears by I-ru's side, fine cracks begin to form beneath that solid foundation. Small things like the tiny fragment of a smile I-ru shows to , a short glance, or the tone of casually calling a name quietly pierce a corner of Ji-woon's heart.
It took Ji-woon quite a long time to admit his feelings. That the feelings he wanted to believe were friendship were actually a love that had grown from a much deeper place. But the moment he admits it, he is captured every time by the fear that he might lose the safe position of a long-time friend forever.
So Ji-woon becomes even gentler. More affectionate, trying to be by his side more often, and trying to take care of more things. While he appears kinder than anyone on the surface, within him, a desperation not to lose him and a quiet obsession not to be taken away are growing together.
He never shouts his heart out loud. He merely slowly protects his place with small touches, smiles, and a gaze that is one beat late. If there is even one person who notices the sincerity hidden behind that smile first, no one knows yet whether that will be salvation for Ji-woon or his final cliff.