Six childhood friends, all very different from each other, but got along so well you couldn’t find one without the other five. When they were younger they felt invincible, not because they had everything they wanted, but because they had each other. Then came the horrible truth that sometimes you drift apart, and even though you felt like you were meant to be, turns out you weren’t because the world is cruel and will find ways to mess everything up. 

Can their friendship survive the test of time or will they let go and lose hope that they can still fix the mess they unwillingly made?

Kim Minjoo was three years old when she met Jo Yuri at the daycare their parents sent them to. It was hate at first sight when Jo Yuri stole Minjoo’s cookie and ate it right in front of her without a hint of remorse on her smug little face. Of course, being the cry baby that she was, Minjoo cried so hard that even the teacher couldn’t calm her down. 

Jo Yuri panicked and started to cry too seeing as the other girl wouldn’t stop bawling. See, Yuri has an older sister, and her sister would always steal her cookies when they were together so she thought that’s how you show people affection. She didn’t understand why the other girl with big brown eyes was crying, suddenly stopping her cries, Yuri leaned in closer to Minjoo and observed her face. 

“Yah, you look like a frog!” That honest remark that only a child could get away with halted Minjoo’s cries. If there was one thing in the world that Kim Minjoo loved as much as chocolate it would be animals, especially the cute green amphibians called frogs. As weird as that may be, Minjoo gave Yuri a big eye smile and giggled into her hand, of course, she had to give the other girl a nickname too! 

“And you look like a hamster!” Thus follows little Yuri’s half-hearted protests that she looks like a hamster. That was the day Kim Minjoo became Minjoo and Yuri, the big-eyed clumsy girl and the short-haired friend with a strong accent.

Minjoo and Yuri were seven years old and hanging out at the Kim’s house when they met Jang Wonyoung. Apparently, Minjoo had new neighbors and the Jang’s decided to introduce themselves around the neighborhood. 

Minjoo, the kind-hearted angel that she immediately wanted to get to know the other girl. Yuri, on the other hand, was the more cautious one of the two, after four years of them being Minjoo and Yuri, she was skeptical about suddenly befriending someone else. Yuri would never admit it, but she was territorial of the slightly older girl. Minjoo was her first friend and she was Minjoo’s. Curse anyone who tries to get in between them.

Alas, Yuri was also weak whenever Minjoo would start looking at her with those big eyes and looking like a pathetic frog. So of course, Minjoo and Yuri befriended the taller girl, who they would later find out is two years younger than them but taller, also she was super smart and was able to skip kindergarten altogether and start first grade with them next term.

Wonyoung’s height always made Minjoo pout, to her it wasn’t fair that the younger girl was taller than her. Yuri was already taller than her too, so when would she finally be taller than someone else? Of course, the Busan born was all too quick to tease Minjoo about her short height, not knowing that in a few years she would stop growing while Minjoo would be taller than average and that Wonyoung would grow to become a bean pole.

Despite the youngest girl’s tall height, she still became their baby and the same-aged friends spoiled their baby 24/7 and gave Wonyoung everything she wanted. That day Minjoo and Yuri gained another friend and they became the three musketeers, being known by their elementary school as model-students acing every contest they joined be it academically or something related to the arts.

Minjoo and Yuri were nine years old (Wonyoung was seven) when they met Ahn Yujin during their third-grade sports festival at school. For all the talents the three musketeers had, sports was NOT one of them. Too bad they were all forced to join at least one event or else they’ll fail PE for that term. 

Here comes their knight in shining armor, Ahn Yujin was the ace when it came to physical activities, and although she belonged to another class, the entire grade knew how good she was on the field. Fortunately for the three friends, their class was partnered with Yujin’s class that year, and the sporty girl would not stand for failure. So when she noticed the three were struggling she immediately came over to help them choose what game to join. 

When people say Ahn Yujin was an ace at sports and games, they meant it. The girl has won the jump rope competition three years in a row, and the long jump twice. Needless to say, everyone was glad they were on the same team as the ace. 

Yujin helped the three other girls find events that they could join, unfortunately, she completely underestimated just how bad the other three were at games. Eventually, she decided that besides the individual jump rope contest the three girls would join her on the team jump rope competition. 

If Yujin was the ace then Minjoo was the black hole waiting to destroy the earth, seriously, she was that bad. Yujin had never met someone so clumsy before in her life. Kim Minjoo was worse than Yuri and Wonyoung combined. Nevertheless, the young athlete was no quitter, so she tried her best to teach the older girl the right timing of jumps so that all four of them would be in sync. 

Competition day came and as expected Ahn Yujin once again took home the gold for both individual jump rope and the long jump. Now comes the most anticipated event of the Ahn’s sports career, group jump rope. 

Before their turn, Yujin gave the three girls a pep talk and especially focused on one Kim Minjoo. The older girl looked like she was going to combust any moment from nerves, and honestly speaking she looked like she was going to puke then and there. 

Of course, the four lost the competition, Minjoo tripped on all three attempts they were given. The look on Yujin’s face each time the older girl tripped was absolutely priceless, the face of defeat she wore and the disappointed glare she pointed at Minjoo didn’t make things better. 

The said blackhole was on her knees and kept apologizing to the young ace saying she’ll do better next year and that she’ll train the entire summer. Yujin wore a look of doubt because there was no way this girl could do better, she was a hopeless cause if she ever saw one. 

Their classmates teased Minjoo endlessly after their horrible loss, and Yujin seeing the tears pooling in the older girl's eyes rushed to her defense saying that it was her first time and that she’ll be better next time. This of course warmed the frog lookalike’s heart and Wonyoung had stars in her eyes directed at Yujin. Yuri was also glaring at her other classmates, only she could tease Minjoo like that and get away with it!

In the next few years Minjoo did not improve at jump rope whatsoever, the foursome also tried tug of war but it seemed like the frog was worse at that than jump rope. Surprisingly the other girl was genius when it came to archery and ended up competing for a junior national title. Their third-grade sports tournament turned the three musketeers into the four aces of cloud elementary, this time they aced not only in academics and the arts but also sports.

Minjoo and Yuri were ten years old (Wonyoung was eight and Yujin was nine) when their class suddenly had two exchange students from Japan. This year all four girls were put in the same class, a fact that excited all of them as they already spent the entire summer hanging out and rotating houses.

The first time Honda Hitomi and Yabuki Nako entered the room of class 4-A Kim Minjoo could not help but squeal at the cuteness of the two girls. Being from Japan the two girls had trouble communicating with the class but luckily Minjoo started learning Japanese amidst the numerous lessons she was already taking. 

Because of Minjoo’s minor proficiency in Japanese, their homeroom teacher assigned her and her friends to be Hitomi and Nako’s guide for the first few weeks to help them settle down. Of course, being the angel she is, she immediately started up a conversation with the two exchange students. Admittedly Nako was the more talkative one of the two and Hitomi was the more reserved one. 

Not wanting to be left out, Yujin, Wonyoung, and Yuri tried to communicate with the two girls using broken English and the very limited Japanese they knew from hearing Minjoo practice. The two girls were touched by the efforts the other girls showed just to help them feel more comfortable, and even more so when they all offered to learn Japanese and help them with their Korean. 

As time went on the four girls slowly became more and more fluent in Japanese, and Hitomi and Nako were speaking Korean like they were born here. Now every time the six girls wanted to have some privacy when they had conversations they would use Japanese as the number of people who knew it at their school was limited and they felt so cool acting like they had a secret language of their own. 

Four girls became six, and with the addition of the two Japanese students, their group of friends only became more amazing as it turns out Hitomi was a cheerleader who could do incredible stunts and Nako was an amazing ballerina who has competed in loads of competitions. 

The six of them were closer than anyone and everyone around them was jealous, not at their talents, but at the friendship they shared. Anyone could see just how much each of them cared about each other and it was honestly so heartwarming to see. 

Minjoo, Yuri, Hitomi, and Nako were twelve (Wonyoung was ten, Yujin was eleven) when they made a promise to each other that in the impossible chance that they drift apart before they start college they would all meet-up at the edge of Han River and have a road trip to mark the end of a chapter in their lives. 

“What if we drift apart?” Yuri suddenly said, interrupting the festive atmosphere of their annual “summer week-long sleepover before school starts” tradition. This one was especially special since it was the summer before they started middle school.

This comment immediately made the air around them turn somber, Minjoo who had faith that all of six of them would remain friends in the future couldn’t help but scold the other girl. “Yah Yuri! Why would you say that? We’ll never drift apart, even our families know each other so well by now and everyone knows that once you meet the family it’s meant to be.” 

“I know that but, just what if” Yuri didn’t know why she suddenly had these thoughts but she was worried that something would happen.

“I think it’s impossible but just to ease Yuri-unnies mind, how about we make a promise!” Yujin also didn’t believe they would drift apart but decided to humor the older girl.

“What promise?” the three other girls exchanged a confused look since they also didn’t believe they would drift apart.

“That in the highly unlikely chance that we drift apart before college we would meet-up at, um… let’s say Han River! To have one last week-long sleepover before we trek through adulthood.” Honestly speaking Yujin was just spitting out random words in order to appease the worried girl.

“It feels like you’re just making fun of me but okay.” Yuri couldn’t help the pout on her face, here she was being serious but the other girls wouldn’t take her seriously!

“No, we’re not! Minjoo will drive us since she’s so adamant that she’ll have her license first out of all of us.” Hitomi was quick to make sure that Yuri wouldn’t start sulking because a sulky Jo Yuri was a headache in the making.

“Yup! And doesn’t Wonyoung’s family has a vacation house at Songjeong beach?” Remembering that Yuri was born in Busan she also remembered the maknae mentioning that they have a place there.

“Yes we do, and of course we can go there! Yuri-unnie can tour us around and we can meet her grandparents too!” Even though Wonyoung didn’t like the idea of them planning their trip as a just in case she was still willing to help make her unnie feel better. 

“That’s decided then, so is everyone promising that in the summer of 2021 before the start of the fall term of college all six of us will meet-up near the edge of Han River with Minjoo-unnie driving us to go to Busan and stay at Wonyoungies vacation house?” Being their official MC, Yujin stated their promise and as always they needed to pinky swear in order to validate the promise made.

“Promise!” All six girls kissed their pinkies and intertwined them with each other to seal their promise.

Minjoo, Yuri, Hitomi, and Nako were seventeen (Wonyoung was fifteen, Yujin was sixteen) when everything started to change. All throughout middle school they felt like they owned the world as all six of them were winning contests left and right. 

All of a sudden Yujin was selected as the only freshman to be on the volleyball team, and with training filling up her entire day she could no longer hangout with her friends as every moment she wasn’t training she was catching up on school work. 

Then Wonyoung became part of the student council and she too had no more free time to hang out with her friends as her seniors would always ask her to do something in order to prepare her for the presidency as she was the best candidate they could think of to take over after they graduate.

For the entirety of their freshman year, the other four girls barely saw Yujin and Wonyoung. And just as they thought things couldn’t get any worse, Hitomi and Nako had to go back to Japan for their junior year as they were selected by the Japanese-Korean student association to represent them and encourage other Japanese students to study in Korea and they wouldn’t come back till senior year starts. 

For their annual “summer week-long sleepover before school starts” tradition before their junior year it was only Minjoo and Yuri, as Hitomi and Nako flew back to Japan already, Yujin was at Volleyball camp, and Wonyoung was on a summit with the student council.

Yuri couldn’t help the tears streaming down her face as she remembers what she said a few years ago about how they were going to drift apart. She hates the fact that everything is changing and there’s nothing she could do about it but stand there and watch as her entire world is falling apart

“Yah, why are you crying?” The only thing that hasn’t changed is that Minjoo was still by her side, and she’s been there since they were three years old. 

“Why am I crying!? Why aren’t you! Everything is falling apart! I knew we would drift apart and now look, everything is changing.” Of course, Yuri cried harder.

“It’s part of growing up Yul, we just have to accept the fact that some things are out of our control and that even though we want things to stay the same we can’t do anything to stop the changes.” Minjoo circled her arms around Yuri and delicately wiped the other girl's tears with her thumb. 

“Promise me you’ll never leave me?” mumbling into Minjoo’s shirt, Yuri buried her head deeper into the other girl's warmth.

“I promise, and you know I never make a promise I can’t keep.” softly kissing the other girl’s head she wrapped her arms around her tighter, humming a sweet lullaby to help the other girl fall asleep. 

Minjoo was eighteen when she lost the last friend she had left. They were already juniors and with the two Japanese in Japan, and the two giants busy with their co-curricular activities Minjoo had no one left. Losing the other four hurt her since they’ve been her friends for so long, but losing Yuri? It felt like there was a part of her that got ripped out and now she feels empty. She kept her promise to Yuri though, she never left her, she just never thought that Yuri would be leaving her.

Yuri met Choi Yena while the older girl was convincing her to join the glee club as she heard the younger girl singing in the bathroom. It was that same year that the hamster fell in love with the duck and started a relationship with her, spending all her time between glee club and her new girlfriend.

Left with no choice unless she wanted to be a loner her entire high school life, Minjoo sought out a club to join in order to socialize and maybe learn a new skill. That’s when she found the Cloud High School Media Group, a club that hosts the school news channel in collaboration with the school paper as well as the school’s very own radio segment that airs on the local radio station. 

She found out that they also host several screenings wherein they showcase the short films the club members produce during the year. Apparently, they were also in charge of the yearbook committee so everyone with a camera automatically becomes a photographer complete with a press ID to be used during school events.

Minjoo remembers the last birthday she had where all her friends were present, the other five pooled together their money and bought the frog her first camera. She would always use that camera to capture the special moments with her friends, but now that all of them were busy with something else she might as well find something new to use it for. 

So there she was staring at the poster of the Media Group’s recruitment week, thinking if she should give it a shot, who knows? Maybe she’ll find some new friends too. 

“Hey! Do you want to join the Media Group?” Minjoo was startled out of her thoughts by a voice coming from behind her.

“Uh, I don’t know yet, I’m still thinking about it.” mumbling a half-hearted reply while observing the girl talking to her. And wow, the other girl was gorgeous. She had a tiny face that she was sure was smaller than her hand, cat-like chestnut eyes, soft lips that had catch scratches above them, and short brown hair that made her look even more gorgeous. 

She kinda reminded Minjoo of Yuri, if Yuri was a little bit taller and resembled a cheetah cub instead of a hamster. There goes another jolt of pain straight to her heart that she would always get when thinking of the other girl.

“Well, you should! We always have fun during every meeting and you get to learn something new every day. I’m Kim Chaewon by the way! The media group’s vice president, it’s nice to meet you…” 

“Oh, uh… I’m Kim Minjoo.” Kim Chaewon with that eye smile and angelic voice was something else. 

“We’re both Kims! If that isn’t a sign that you should join the media group then I don’t know what is” 

“Besides the fact that there are literally millions of Kims around the world? But you know what, maybe I will join. It seems interesting and if the vice president looks as good as she does then I don’t mind having that view for the rest of the year.”