After a while, everyone gathered into one corner of the yard.
Suwon stood inside the gazebo, fiddling with the camera and adjusting its angle.
"I'm taking the picture!" he called out.
"How many seconds?" Inseop asked.
"Ten seconds!" Suwon shouted, pressing the timer before sprinting back toward us.
Irina immediately cupped her face with both hands. "Hurry! Do your prettiest pose! Pretty pose!"
Everyone scrambled into place in a rush of laughter and shuffling feet.
Hyewon, Irina, and Ono squatted in the front. Jinkyung took the left side, with Seolhyo settling beside her.
I slid in next to Seolhyo, her shoulders brushing to my arm.
She looked up at me and smiled, and without thinking, I smiled back and laced my fingers through hers.
To my other side was Park Dong, then Inseop beside him, with Daegyu looming from behind. Suwon barely made it in time, diving into a squat next to Hyewon.
Click.
Silence followed for half a second.
"Did I close my eyes?"
"…Why do I look like the only serious one here?"
"Ahh! I didn't even wear my contacts!"
"Tch. Only me and Seolhyo look good in this."
"Why am I dating such a narcissist?"
I laughed under my breath, squeezing her hand a little tighter.
"Just keep it, It's not like we can even post it anywhere anyway."
The day stretched on, long and golden. They explore the countryside together, wandering along narrow paths between endless rice fields.
Our laughter drifted easily on the breeze, unhurried, as if time itself had slowed.
Eventually, we climbed a small hill overlooking the valley and collapsed there side by side, watching the horizon burn orange as the sun sank behind the mountains.
By nightfall, the first stars pricked through the darkening sky. In an open field, we lit fireworks one by one, bright streaks of color tearing through the night before blooming overhead.
Each explosion was met with gasps and laughter, the light reflected in wide eyes and careless smiles.
The night ended back at Ono's house.
They gathered in the living room, sprawled across the floor around a low table piled with food.
A movie played in the background, and somehow almost everyone was crying by the halfway point, sniffles mixing with exaggerated groans.
Their voices rose and fell with the scenes on the screen, blending together into something warm and familiar, It was the kind of moment that made you wish the day would never end.
Somewhere else, at Gyeongpo Beach, the night carried a very different kind of energy.
"Not gonna hang out with us?" one of the guys called out, flashing a grin. "We've actually got some really good people here."
"Come on, let's just have fun, noonas!" the other added, laughing a little too loudly.
Two guys stood facing three girls.
The girl in front forced a polite smile. "We're here with some guy friends too, you know. Have fun, guys."
They hurried past, heels crunching against the sand, clearly not wanting to linger.
After watching them disappear into the distance, the two of them fell quiet.
Almost at the same time, they each pulled out a cigarette. The small clicks of their lighters sounded loud against the steady rush of the waves.
Orange embers flared briefly, then dimmed as they took their first drags.
They were Seol Minsu's friends.
Choi Seo-bin putting the cig in his mouth for another dragged, his oddly shaped beard and mustache catching the ember of a cigarette.
"Hey, fucker," he snapped, turning to the other man.
"Maybe we're not getting any girls because you dress like a high schooler."
Heo Seong-pil, crouched low in the sand, took a drag from his cigarette and glanced up. "Seriously? You're blaming me?"
He scoffed, smoke curling from his mouth. "I told you not to call girls 'noona' with that face of yours. You're fucking scary, you psycho."
Seobin's jaw tightened, veins standing out as he spun toward him.
Seong-pil stood too, meeting his glare head-on.
"She is a noona," Seobin shot back. "What else am I supposed to call her? 'You'?"
He snorted. "It's because you act like a thug. That's why they ran off yesterday too, even after we were having fun."
"A thug?" Seong-pil laughed darkly. "You wanna die? Want me to rip out all your nose hair, you fucker?"
Seobin ignored him, turning instead toward the shoreline where Seol Minsu and Kim Hoon stood a short distance away.
His shoulders slumped. "…Man. I should've at least gotten their numbers yesterday. We gotta get Minsu a new girlfriend to celebrate his breakup."
Minsu's and his girlfriend is in the endless loop of breaking up, getting back together, then breaking up again.
Beside him, Kim Hoon said with a cig resting between his lips. "Wanna just head back to the neighborhood? I heard Hyeyoung's having a birthday party tonight. We could drop by."
Minsu stood silently, a cigarette hung from his lips, its lit end glowing faintly as he held it between two fingers, smoke curling lazily upward with each quiet breath.
As he held his phone to his ear.
"Hold on," he muttered calmly.
TUUT - TUUT- TUUT
A voice crackled through the phone.
"Hello?"
Seol Minsu's spoke.
"Where are you?"
Back at Ono's house, the room fell silent.
As Seolhyo froze seeing the name of the caller and stood up nervously and answer it.
A bead of sweat slid down her temple as she pressed the phone tighter to her ear, the other hand clutching a half-melted ice cream.
"W-where else?" she said, forcing her voice to come out. "Of course I'm at home. Watching TV. Why?"
Across the room, everyone sat stiff as statues, eyes locked on her with pure dread.
Seolhyo kept talking, her voice wavering but desperately trying to sound normal. "I already ate a bit earlier. What's up?"
Park Dong had his ice cream hanging between his teeth, not daring to bite down in case it made a sound.
He whispered urgently, "Hey be quiet. Don't even breathe."
Irina, sweating just as much, hissed back, "You be quiet…"
Suddenly, Seolhyo gasped. "Uh-huh?!"
She quickly recovered. "Ah no, I'm not surprised or anything. Okay. Just… bring snacks or something."
The call ended.
Her hands dropped to her sides, tightly gripping her phone.
She stood there, frozen.
The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating, everyone waiting for her to say something.
The bathroom door creaked open.
Seojin stepped out, towel around his neck. He looked around at the scene:
everyone was frozen, pale, sweating, and Seolhyo standing there like she'd been sucked of her life.
"…What is this?" he asked lightly. "You guys playing some kind of game?"
No one answered.
Irina swallowed hard and looked at Seolhyo. "Why.. what? What's happening?"
Park Dong nervously ask. "Seolhyo… what did your brother say?"
At that, Seojin's expression darkened as understanding what's happening.
Seolhyo swallowed. "…Right now."
She turned to face them, her face drained of all color.
"…He's coming home."
The words barely settled before she spun around and rushed into the girls' room. she hurriedly pack her clothes shoving it hastily into her bag, her movements frantic and panicked.
Seojin, Irina, and Jinkyung rushed in after her.
"You're leaving now?" Irina blurted out. "What are you even going to take? There might not even be a train!"
"I don't have a choice," Seolhyo said, shoving clothes into her bag with trembling hands. "I just have to go and see."
Seojin clenched his jaw. I'm so stupid.
He dragged a hand through his hair.
I knew this would happen, and I totally forget about this.
He said immediately. "I'll come with you, I'll ty to call my driver."
He turned and hurried toward the boys' room to grab his things.
Seolhyo didn't look back.
She bit down hard on her nails, panic spiraling tighter in her chest. "If he's driving from Gyeongpodae, it'll take around two hours,"
she muttered. "Even if Seojin's driver gets here fast or I catch a train… I'll still arrive after Seol Minsu."
Her breath hitched. "What do I do? What should I do? This is the first time something this serious has happened…"
Irina stepped closer, trying to calm her. "If your brother's already there… maybe you can just say you stepped out for a bit?"
Seolhyo shook her head sharply. "I already told him I was home. That guy's way too sharp. He'll know immediately if something's off."