Plot twist: Viral UP Diliman Freedom Wall story on Carl x Japanese boy turns out to be fiction
The story of Carl from Fine Arts and a Japanese student that went viral has been revealed to be a work of fiction.
Earlier in August, a supposedly Japanese user shared a farewell letter to his friend on the UP Diliman Freedom Wall, a Facebook page where users can anonymously share their sentiments, messages, and stories.
The user, who was said to be an exchange student studying in Ateneo, expressed his gratitude and feelings for Carl, a Fine Arts student at the University of the Philippines.
The Facebook post, shared on August 16, has since gone viral with over 105k reactions, 2.7k comments, and 39k shares, as of writing. It was also shared on other social media platforms like X.
Users in the comments wrote about their investment in the Japanese student's stories.
"Carl [please] 'wag mo siya hayaan lumipad ng Japan," one said.
"Mag fund-raise na po tayo pang trip to Japan ni Carl," quipped another.
'For closure'
In a Sept. 3 post on the UP Diliman Freedom Wall, it was revealed that the story was fictional.
"This is to inform everyone that the Carl x Japanese boy letter is an excerpt from a fictional romance story written by a student from the UP College of Arts and Letters (CAL) for a writing activity," the post read.
The user continued to share that while it was fictional, the story was inspired by the experience of his uncle who became friends with a Japanese exchange student from Ateneo, similar to the original entry.
"My mother said that they were really close friends, and would often [hang out] in the sunken garden after class. It was their routine to watch the sunset together consistently until the Japanese boy finished his term in Ateneo," the poster said.
They continued to share that "Carl" wasn't actually a UP Fine Arts student but a teenager suffering from heart disease and a patient at the Philippine Heart Center.
"[Seven] days after [he passed,] they received [mail] from Japan. My mother barely recalls the content but she said it was a confession of love. This is where the fictional letter I wrote came from," they added.
Users said that finding out the story was fictional was "more painful."
"HAla I didn't expect the plot to turn out like this," one said in the comments.
"Bat mas masaket?" said another.
Meanwhile, others applauded OP for sharing a story that had users invested.
"The mixed feelings were still worth it though! It means that it was that well written to the point where some people [mistook] it as a real story," said one Facebook user.
"Fictional or not, thank you for sharing this story. The thought that love can navigate distance, sexualities, and cultural differences made me believe it exists," added another.