No one noticed when it started.
Not his family.
Not his teachers.
Not even his friends.
Because it didn't happen all at once.
It was slow.
Quiet.
Almost invisible.
But Kang Min-Jae…
was disappearing.
Not the Same Boy
He still walked the same streets.
Still sat in the same classroom.
Still stood with the same friends.
But something was different.
The boy who once ran without thinking—
now paused before every step.
The boy who once laughed loudly—
now smiled without sound.
The boy who once trusted everyone—
now trusted no one.
Living on Autopilot
Days started blending together.
Wake up.
Go to school.
Come back home.
Stay silent.
Sleep.
Repeat.
There was no excitement.
No curiosity.
No purpose.
He wasn't living.
He was just…
continuing.
Dreams That Never Formed
One day—
Ji-Hoon asked,
"What do you want to become?"
Min-Kyu answered instantly.
"Football player!"
Dae-Hyun smirked.
"Police."
Seung-Ho adjusted his glasses.
"Scientist."
Then—
they all looked at Min-Jae.
"What about you?"
Silence.
Min-Jae blinked.
The question felt strange.
"What… do I want?"
He had never thought about it.
Not because he didn't care.
But because—
he couldn't see a future.
"…I don't know."
They laughed lightly.
"Idiot, think about it!"
But Min-Jae didn't laugh.
Because for him—
it wasn't a joke.
Losing Identity
Slowly—
he stopped asking questions.
Stopped having opinions.
Stopped reacting strongly to anything.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Anything."
"Which one is better?"
"Both are fine."
"Are you okay?"
"…yeah."
That word—
okay—
became his shield.
Even when he wasn't.
Watching Himself from Afar
Sometimes—
he felt something strange.
Like he wasn't fully inside his own body.
Like he was watching himself…
from a distance.
Talking.
Walking.
Existing.
But not feeling.
It scared him.
But he didn't tell anyone.
Because he didn't know how.
The Gap Grows
Even with his friends—
the distance grew.
They still laughed.
Still joked.
Still pulled him into conversations.
But Min-Jae—
felt slower.
Like everything reached him late.
Like he was always one step behind.
Night Thoughts
At night—
when everything was quiet—
his mind became loud.
Not with fear this time.
But with emptiness.
"Why am I like this?"
No answer.
"What happened to me?"
No answer.
"Will I always be like this?"
Silence.
Becoming Invisible
Teachers stopped noticing him.
Not because he was good.
Not because he was bad.
But because—
he didn't stand out.
He became invisible.
Just another student.
Just another face.
And slowly—
he started believing that's all he was.
End Line
"He didn't lose himself in a single moment…
he faded, little by little, until even he couldn't recognize who he used to be."