Chapter Text
1 March 2023 — First Day of Senior Year
When lunchtime, the five of them ate together as usual, except Miyeon had been called away by Ms. Lee and hadn’t reached the cafeteria yet. Soyeon, Yuqi, and Shuhua went to get their food first while Minnie waited for Miyeon.
Minnie hadn’t forgotten to buy strawberry milk for her, nor the promise she made more than a year ago—to stay in Korea for university. While Ms. Lee was explaining the key points of the CSAT earlier, Minnie couldn’t focus at all; she had never seriously thought about what university to attend or what direction to pursue. She could play piano but didn’t want to study music, liked sports but not enough to become an athlete, had some interest in photography, and her parents had even said they could arrange for her to study abroad, but… At that moment, someone poked the top of her head.
“Ppong~”
“Oh, you’re here.”
Minnie immediately stood up and pulled Miyeon’s hand toward the food counter. Though she was starving, she let Miyeon take her food first. What a gentlewoman.
“Guess what I want to drink?”
“I remember~”
After getting their meals, Minnie went to buy a strawberry milk for Miyeon and a TAMS for herself. When they returned to the table, Miyeon flashed a triumphant smile.
Yuqi asked while chewing, “Cho Myeon, what did the teacher want with you?”
“Oh… she said I need to prepare for the exam, so the school won’t ask me to film promotional videos anymore. They’ve already chosen someone to replace me.”
“Who?”
“She didn’t say.”
“And you didn’t ask?”
“I don’t need to know.”
“I need to know!”
“Then go ask her yourself!”
“Yah! Kim Minnie! You’re in the photography club, don’t you know?”
Minnie: “Ms. Park already told me at the end of last semester that because of exams, I won’t be assigned to the photography team this year. So I don’t know anything.”
Yuqi was about to argue, but Soyeon pressed her arm and shook her head. Yuqi fell silent. Shuhua watched, amused.
Miyeon leaned toward Minnie.
“You never told me.”
“Didn’t I? Oops, I forgot.” Minnie shrugged.
Miyeon pouted and smacked Minnie’s arm lightly.
Shuhua checked her phone.
“Jinjin can’t come Saturday. Sorry, then I won’t go either.”
“Yah! Why? She’s not coming but you still can!” Yuqi protested.
“Jinjin needs to focus on practice. I need to help her tidy the house.”
“You won’t even see her while she practices.”
“You wouldn’t understand our love.”
“So cool.” Soyeon said, giving her a high‑five.
Miyeon seemed lost in thought, sneaking a glance at Minnie, who was quietly eating.
Minnie could feel that Miyeon had been anxious lately—probably because of exam pressure. Senior year was nothing but studying; even school trips were canceled. It was suffocating. Minnie thought: Maybe I should plan a small trip for her… somewhere she can relax… but where…?
She nudged Miyeon with her elbow.
“Hey~ if you could choose, would you want Everland, the beach, or glamping?”
“Huh?”
“Everland, beach, or glamping?”
“Why am I choosing?”
“Since there’s no school trip this year, we’ll go ourselves~”
“Huh? Just you and me?”
“Do you want everyone to come? We can—”
“No!”
The sudden volume startled everyone at the table. They all stared at Miyeon.
Yuqi narrowed her eyes.
“Heeey~~ what are you two whispering about? What secret?”
“If we wanted you to know, we wouldn’t whisper!” Minnie shot back.
Yuqi was ready to fire back, but Miyeon cut in,
“Minnie asked if I wanted another serving. I said no.”
Yuqi and Minnie both froze, mouths slightly open.
After lunch, they returned to class. On the way back, Minnie asked,
“Hey, you still haven’t answered me…”
“Hm? Oh—glamping? I’ve never tried it.”
“Yay~~ I want to try too!”
Miyeon laughed. “So when are we going?”
“It’s still a bit cold. Mid‑April?”
“Mm! Sounds good.”
As usual, since neither had club activities after school, they walked home together. While packing her bag, Miyeon turned to Minnie.
“Let’s walk home today, okay?”
“Oh… okay…”
Whenever Miyeon said that, Minnie knew she had something to talk about.
They walked to the bike racks. Minnie went in first, pulled out Miyeon’s bike, then her own.
“Let’s go, Princess‑nim~”
As they walked, Miyeon asked,
“Since you left the photography club… what about handball?”
“I talked to Ms. Park. Handball helps me relieve stress. If possible, I want to keep practicing and maybe still play as a substitute. She said she’ll try to arrange it. It won’t be as frequent as before, but I’m okay with that.”
“As long as you can manage both. The CSAT still needs a lot of time.”
“It’s just an exam. Why does everyone act like it’s life or death? The more stressed you are, the worse you do! No club activities, no leisure classes, no trips! how pitiful!”
Miyeon laughed at Minnie’s scrunched‑up face.
“Most people think not getting into university is even more pitiful.”
She continued, “Have you decided what you want to do?”
Minnie’s mind flashed back to that day two years ago—their first snow, the promise she made, the future she imagined with Miyeon…
—————
2023年3月1日 高中三年級開學日
到了午飯時間，跟平常一樣，5人都會一起吃午飯，但Miyeon被李老師召喚，還沒有到飯堂，Soyeon Yuqi Shuhua先去取餐，Minnie坐着等Miyeon。
Minnie沒有忘記要給Miyeon買草莓牛奶，也沒有忘記年多前對Miyeon的承諾 — 留在韓國讀大學。 剛才聽着李老師的講解大學修能試的要點，Minnie根本聽不進去，因為她沒有想過要讀什麼大學，往什麼方向發展，懂彈鋼琴，但不想讀音樂，喜歡運動，但不至於要做運動員，對攝影有點興趣，爸媽說過可以安排到外國進修，但…
此時有人戳了Minnie頭頂一下。
Miyeon：「Ppong~」
Minnie：「哦你來了」 馬上站起來拉着Miyeon的手去取餐，Minnie其實餓到發慌。
Minnie拉着Miyeon，到了取餐櫃檯，讓Miyeon先取，Minnie就是個gentlewoman。
「你猜我要喝什麼？」
「我記得～ 」
Minnie取餐後到飲品區向阿姨買了罐草莓牛奶，給自己買了罐TAMS。回座位後，Miyeon滿意地報以勝利的笑容。
Yuqi邊嚼邊問：「Cho Myeon，剛才老師抓你去談什麼？」
「喔… 老師說我要準備修能試，學校不會再找我拍宣傳片了，怕影響我溫習，已經選好了接班人」
Yuqi：「誰？」
「老師沒說。」
「那你不問？」
「我沒有要知道呀！」
「我要知道呀！」
「那你自己去問老師呀！」
「呀！Kim Minnie！你攝影組的不知道嗎？」
「去年學期末老師已經通知我，因為考試，今年不會被編在攝影組了，所以我什麼都不知道。」
Yuqi正想回話，Soyeon就按着她手臂，搖一搖頭。
Yuqi就靜下來了，Shuhua在旁邊看得很樂。
Miyeon輕聲問Minnie：「你沒有跟我提過耶。」
「沒有嗎？嘻嘻我都忘了」 Minnie聳了聳肩。
Miyeon 噘着嘴拍了Minnie手臂一下。
Shuhua看了下手機，是Soojin。
💬 今個星期六真的不能來，替我向大家說聲不好意思🫶🏼
「Jinjin星期六來不了，不好意思，那我也不來了。」
Yuqi：「呀！你至於嗎？她不來你也可以來呀，就吃個飯而已」
Shuhua：「Jinjin要專注練習，我要幫她收拾家裡。」
Yuqi：「她練習你們又不會見面。」
Shuhua：「我們的愛，你不會明白。」
Soyeon：「真帥。」 與Shuhua擊掌。
Miyeon若有所思，偷瞄了一下專心吃飯的Minnie。
Minnie其實感受到Miyeon最近有點焦慮，猜想應該是考試壓力吧。高三生活只有考試，連學校旅行也沒有，實在太壓抑了。Minnie心想：要不我安排一個小旅行讓Miyeon輕鬆一下？嗯… 去哪裡好呢…
Minnie手肘碰了碰Miyeon的，小聲說：「誒～讓你選，你會想去愛寶樂園、沙灘還是glamping？」
Miyeon：「蛤？」
「愛寶樂園、沙灘還是glamping？」
「為什麼要選？」
「今年沒有學校旅行，我們自己去～」
「蛤？就我跟你？」
「你想他們一起？也是可…」
「不用！」
同桌的被突然提高的聲量嚇倒，一起盯着Miyeon…
Yuqi側目：「誒～～～ 這兩位又在悄悄話了，有什麼秘密呀？」
Minnie：「就是不讓你知道才說悄悄話呀！」
Yuqi再次準備好要反擊，Miyeon：「Minnie問我要不要再點一份，我說不用。」
Yuqi 和Minnie 嘴巴微張呆看着Miyeon，表情就是一大個蛤？
午飯後便正常上課，回到課室的途中Minnie問Miyeon：「誒你還沒有給我答案…」
「嗯？哦～～ Glamping怎樣？反正我沒試過…」
「Yay~~ 我也想試～woohoohoo」
Miyeon 被逗笑了：「那什麼時候去？」
「現在還有點冷，4月中？」
「嗯！好喔～」
跟往常一樣，如課後沒有活動或練習，Miyeon Minnie都會一起回家。
Miyeon邊收拾，轉頭跟後座的Minnie說：「我們今天走路回去好嗎？」
「哦… okay…」 每次Miyeon這樣提出，Minnie就知道Miyeon有話要跟她說。
兩人走到腳踏車停泊處，Minnie逕自走進車堆裡把Miyeon的車先推出來，再推自己的。
「走吧，公主nim～」
走着走着，Miyeon：「攝影組那邊退了，那手球隊呢？」
「我有跟朴老師提過，打手球對我來說是減壓，如果有時間，我希望可以繼續練習打比賽，老師說盡量安排，可能不像之前的頻密，比賽也可能是後備，我覺得可以。」
「你覺得可以兼顧就好，修能試還是需要投放很多時間。」
「其實就是個考試，為什麼要那麼緊張，越緊張越考不好呀！ 課外活動取消、興趣班不能上、旅行不能去，多可憐呀！」
Miyeon被Minnie的皺眉表情逗笑，好像隻小貓咪喔，「普遍看法就是進不了大學更可憐」
Miyeon繼續：「你想好了嗎？」
Minnie腦海閃過兩年前跟Miyeon巧遇初雪那天的畫面…