What if all this never happened?

I’m not talking about the good memories we made, or how it brought us closer, creating unshakable bonds with people who were once strangers. I mean really imagine—what if none of this chaos ever tore through our lives?

What if our childhood wasn’t stolen from us, ripped apart by things we didn’t ask for and couldn’t control? What if we had the chance to grow up the way we were supposed?

Would things be different? Maybe. Would they be better? Maybe even that.

Sometimes I wonder if we'd still laugh as loudly, or cry as deeply, if life had been kinder to us. If we hadn’t been thrust into situations that forced us to mature far beyond our years, would we still carry this same weight in our hearts?

But then again, would we even recognize ourselves without the cracks in our armor, without the battles we fought and the lessons we learned too early?

It’s a question I can never answer.

All I know is that this path—painful, chaotic, and unfair as it may be—is the one we walked together. And maybe, just maybe, that’s what matters most.

I was walking through the chaos-filled corridor, dodging flying paper planes and sidestepping a group of students who were attempting—quite unsuccessfully—to form a human pyramid in the middle of the hallway. Someone had taped a “Kick Me” sign to the back of one of the seniors, who was now spinning in circles, trying to figure out why everyone was laughing at him.

Another corner was occupied by a heated arm-wrestling match between two of the loudest boys in our grade, with a crowd chanting like they were at a championship game. To my left, two students were having a very serious debate about whether pineapple belongs on pizza, complete with wild hand gestures and exaggerated facial expressions.

Honestly, all this noise and chaos would usually annoy me. But today, it didn’t. After all, it was our final year as high school students. A new start—a fresh start.

I paused for a moment, watching my classmates live it up, their carefree faces lit up with laughter. They were living in the moment, savoring their teenage years for one last time before the weight of the real world caught up to us.

And for the first time in a while, I couldn’t help but smile.

"Woahhh, look at you smiling. Did something crash on your head?" Dookjoeng asked, poking my head.

"Shut up. I'm just in a good mood," I said, swatting his hand away.

"And that's even more concerning," Kimchi chimed in, appearing out of nowhere like he always did.

"Ugh, be grateful I'm not in the mood to rip your eyebrows off and feed them to you," I said, flashing them the fakest smile I could muster.

They both looked at me like I’d grown a second head. "Yup, definitely something’s wrong," Dookjoeng muttered to Kimchi, who nodded solemnly.

Meanwhile, a group of girls had turned the classroom into their personal beauty salon. Mirrors propped up on tables, makeup brushes flying, and a heated debate over whether glittery eyeshadow was "too much" for a casual last-year vibe. Spoiler alert: the answer was never.

One girl dropped her mascara, and three of them screamed like it was a life-or-death situation. "NOT THE MASCARA! SAVE IT!" someone yelled, diving to pick it up like it was a priceless artifact.

I had gotten my hair done—it was the only upgrade I could manage today. Feeling a little smug, I stopped the two unsuspecting boys in front of me, Jangsoo and Soocheol, determined to fish for a compliment.

“Jangsoo, Soocheol, perfect timing! Do I look any different today?” I asked, attempting to flair my hair dramatically.

Jangsoo gave me a deadpan look, squinting slightly. “Nope. Still ugly.”

The smile on my face dropped instantly. “Yahhh!” I yelled, swatting at him while he casually ducked like he’d mastered the art of avoiding my wrath.

“Oh, wait! I know!” Soocheol suddenly exclaimed, snapping his fingers like he’d just solved world hunger.

I perked up, turning to him with the brightest smile I could muster. Finally, someone noticed!

“You… brushed your teeth today!” he announced triumphantly, grinning like he deserved an award for his keen observation skills.

The silence that followed was deafening.

“YOU LITTLE—” I screeched, lunging at him as the two bolted down the hallway, laughing their heads off.

"Eun-ah," I heard Ilha's voice behind me, he wa sitting on the tables with the rest of his gang.

I turned around to see him standing there, his eyes immediately locking onto mine. There he was, my boyfriend, with that rare, genuine smile that always made my heart skip a beat.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to act casual, though my cheeks were already betraying me.

He took a step closer, his gaze sweeping over me before settling on my face. "You did something different to your hair," he said, his voice gentle.

I blinked, caught off guard. "You noticed?"

"Of course, I noticed. You look..." He hesitated, his fingers reaching up to gently brush a strand of hair behind my ear. "...Beautiful."

My heart melted right there and then. "You're just saying that," I mumbled, suddenly feeling shy under his gaze.

He leaned in slightly. "I’m not. You look stunning, Eun-ah. But even if you didn’t change a thing, you’d still be the most beautiful person in the world to me."

Before I could even reply, a string of complaints erupted around us like we were public enemy number one.

“Yah! Can you two not do this in the middle of the class?" Junhee yelled
"Some of us are trying to get to through the day without gagging!” Soyeom groaned.

“Seriously, get a room! Or better leave.” Youngju shouted, throwing a crumpled-up paper in our direction.

“Ilha, if you’re going to simp, can you at least tone it down? I’m already on my third heartbreak of the morning!” Hana added, clutching their chest like they were moments away from fainting.

“Excuse me, some of us are trying to recover from failing last week’s test, and now we’re stuck witnessing this? I demand compensation for emotional distress!”

I turned to Ilha, who just smirked, clearly unfazed. "Looks like we’re popular today," he whispered, leaning closer like the chaos around us was just background noise.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. “This is why I can’t take you anywhere.”

"Hey, if they’re going to complain, we might as well give them something to really talk about," he teased, leaning in like he was about to kiss me again.

“ILHA, NO!” several voices screamed in unison, and I couldn’t help but laugh as I gently pushed him away, my cheeks burning.

“Alright, alright! We’ll keep it PG,” I said, holding up my hands in mock surrender, but the grin on Ilha’s face told me he wasn’t planning on letting the teasing stop anytime soon.