Thank you so much for your comment. I’m really happy that you truly focused on the story and tried to understand the subtleties of their relationship because that was my main goal, and every detail was important.
In reality, that’s exactly it. Adrian and Jules were connected and complemented each other. In the living room memory, we understand that the two are also alike because they are shaped by their fathers' expectations (attitude, performance). But Jules distanced himself because he felt overwhelmed by Adrian and everything he was going through. Adrian is intense and seems emotionless, but he tried to reach out every time to Jules (phone calls, letters). Adrian had a dark side he hid from others but Jules could see it (it’s represented by Adrian’s shadow—thin, vulnerable with large, frightened white eyes).
At the graduation ceremony, their paths will diverge. Adrian, forced by his father, and Jules, freed by his mother. Adrian asked him to read the last letter he wrote to him before the end of the summer, but Jules ignored it and didn’t read it in time, and Adrian died in the summer break (before the life his father had planned for him could begin). Whether it was suicide or an accident is unclear, but Jules knows the truth, and that’s why he’s consumed by guilt, even after all these years. That’s why Adrian says that without Jules, he would feel forgotten because he (the real him) exists through Jules's guilt and feelings. In the final ending, 'Heartless,' Adrian tells him that despite everything Jules might have tried, he wins because even after all these years, he still lives somewhere, and he has taken Jules’ heart, so no one else can ever have it.
At first, I wanted to put it in the BL category because of the subtext in the story, but I wasn’t sure if I met the expected criteria for the contest. But I just found out I can edit the page (I thought it was locked until the end of the ratings), so I’ve now placed it in that category haha Thanks again I'm happy you enjoyed !!