It’s the last week of summer for the students of SM Academy, the last seven days until they spread their wings in the world, and spread far out from each other, losing contact with dear friends, spending their days in college, finding jobs, and growing up. Former seniors Jung Soojung, Amber Liu, and D.O Kyungsoo, soon to be freshman in college, arrived at the entrance of their old school an hour before everyone else, getting ready for their performance. Everything was already set up for the farewell party, endless rows of chairs, various punch and snack tables, a stage, microphones, flowers, decor, etc. The four of them stepped out of their cars, and greeted each other warmly: they’d all kept in touch since the end of school. After a length exchange of introductions of their summers and hellos, they finally ambled their way over to the stage. Amber grins boyishly in the direction of Krystal as they walk up the stage steps together, “You ready for this?” Krystal smiles, “Of course I am!” 

The two of them laugh and help D.O with moving microphones, chairs, and stools into their proper places. The four of them all had their reasons for volunteering to perform in front of the entire school body, the song they were about to let loose on the arriving crowd would mean a thousand words, memories, laughs, and smiles to them. Amber’s reason lingers deep in the heart of a black haired girl with almond eyes and a powerful voice, someone who had yet to arrive, someone she hadn’t seen for longer than she wanted to remember. “Do you think Luna’ll show?” She asks D.O, worry lined on every word. The young man shrugs, “I sent her the lyrics and the sheet music, but I’m not sure if she’ll come. She didn’t email me or call or text.”

‘That’s not like Luna,’ Amber thinks to herself, frowning. “If she doesn’t come, Krystal’ll just cover her part,” D.O continues as he starts his vocal warm up. Krystal’s reason hovers in her mind, whispers in her ear, and never leaves her alone. Choi Jinri. Sulli. The angelic brown haired girl with smiling eyes and a positive outlook on everything, Krystal’s best friend. 

Or rather, that’s all they stayed, since Krystal never got the courage to tell Sulli she’d wanted more of Sulli, much, much more. The black haired girl sighs to herself at the memory and stares hard at her iPhone screen, contemplating wether or not to call Sulli and ask if she were coming to the party or not, wether she’d be there to hear her confession, the words she couldn’t say but could sing. In frustration, she shoves the phone deep in her pocket and refrains to fiddling with a microphone with her well manicured fingernails instead, trying to desperately distract herself from the people pouring into the seats in front of her, staring at her intently. D.O was simply there because he was the guy Amber, Krystal, Sulli, and Luna, had come running to for help and advice whenever they needed someone to talk to. He knew that all of them were madly in love with each other, but that they just hadn’t realized it yet. The young man hoped that Luna and Sulli would show, that way everything would settle the way it should, and his friends wouldn’t have to leave Seoul with heavy hearts filled with regret and words and relationships left unresolved. “I am such a good friend for doing this,” he mumbles to himself as he downs a bottle of water, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

One of the teachers in the audience signaled them to go backstage to ready themselves, and the principal, Victoria Song, took the stage, wearing an elegant yellow summer dress. “Hello, SM students!” She chirps cheerfully, earning a scream of delight from the teenagers. There wasn’t anybody who didn’t love Victoria, everyone adored the young woman greatly, making her job easy. “Today, we’ve got some very special guests that will be performing for us!” Luna rakes a hand through her golden hair, one hand tangled in her locks, the other firmly on the wheel of her Mini Cooper, “.”

She looks at her watch, “I’m gonna be late, stupid alarm clock!” She runs through a red light and a stop sign, her wheels squealing in protest as she speeds into the parking lot in a blur of white and red car. She sprints backstage and grabs a mic from one of the volunteer staff members, “Don’t tell them I’m here yet,” she says, running around to hide behind something. ‘My surprise is gonna be perfect,’ she thinks to herself as she watches kids she used to see everyday settle themselves into chairs and talk in little groups near the snack tables. It’s kind of funny coming back here, she thinks to herself, it’s almost as if nothing’s changed. Luna slaps herself in the face, ‘Of course it hasn’t, it’s only been a few months.’ runs dry, ‘A few months of missing a tall blond haired girl terribly.’ 

Luna groans, her mood only perking up once she sees the familiar boyish figure of Amber take to the stage. Sulli smiles at the front of the giant white poster she’s holding, the blank back of the poster facing the raised platform. It covers most of her features as she’s tall in the crowd flocking in the chairs around the stage, successfully concealing herself from the three people hurriedly taking the stage. She peeks over the rim of the paper and can’t stop from smiling as she watches Krystal sit awkwardly on one of the stools, a mic gripped in her right hand. “Aw, Jjung’s nervous.” Sulli watches the girls’ eyes sweep over the crowd. ‘Omo, she must be looking for me,’ Sulli thinks before she ducks behind the cover of the poster, escaping Krystal’s radar-like gaze. 

‘I can’t spoil the surprise of me being here,’ Sulli thinks before she peeks over the paper again when the music starts blaring out from huge speakers and the band begins to play. 

D.O lifts his mic up to his mouth, his eyes trained on the mass of faces before him, “I remember when we were yelled at for talking in the halls,” his voice is soft and caring, “I don’t know why it was so fun even when we were being punished.” Sulli in a deep breath when Krystal starts singing, unknowingly dropping her poster board camouflage, “After that day, yeah yeah, we always, yeah yeah,” and it was as if their eyes were magnets. Krystal’s chocolate orbs bored into Sulli’s as a stream of beauty flowed from her lips, “Stuck together like the Astro twins, you were me and I was you.” It was true, that phrase, the both of them were always side by side, always paired up, always together. Sulli wondered if this was what she thought it was. 

“You cried so much on the day before graduation,” D.O’s soft voice rang in Sulli’s ears, but not quite as angelically as Krystal’s did. “You held it in firmly since you’re a guy.” 

‘That’s funny,’ Sulli thinks, ‘Krystal was crying on the day before our graduation....,’ something strikes Sulli’s heart, ‘...and I wasn’t, I had to be strong for her.’ Sulli’s eyes widened. Krystal smiled. A smile Sulli had longed to see, and it seemed to convey a secret, encoded message to Sulli. Listen carefully, Choi, was what it said.  “Just like that hot summer when we couldn’t say what we wanted, goodbye,” D.O’s and Amber’s voice intertwined together, and the sound of Amber’s tone sent shivers down Luna’s back. The shorty was frantic to hop out from her hiding place behind a row of bushes behind the crowd and scream Ambers’ name and rush up the steps to hug her. 

But she held herself back because she knew what was at stake. She had to surprise Amber, she knew it would mean the world to the blonde if she came. And Luna had, Luna was here, Luna had come. She steps out of the bushes and raises her mic, singing with D.O, “The friend label is a label that I got to hate,” Krystal gazes almost lazily at the awestruck Choi, and Amber’s eyes are as large as saucers as they bore into the black haired girl who’d stepped out of a line of green leafage. “The feelings I’ve hidden still remain as a painful secret memory,” Luna’s slowly making her way through the open path to the stages’ steps, her eyes trained on Amber, “The photos that can’t define our relationship is a heartbreaking story. I’m sorry, summer, now goodbye, yeah,” with the ending word, Luna bounds up the stairs and takes a spot next to Amber , a triumphant smile plastered to her face at the shocked and pleased expression of the other girls’ face. Mission Surprise Amber: success. 

Every word brands itself into Sulli’s mind: the beautiful story of Soojung and Sulli, of Amber and Luna, of love, of bravery, of them. Luna watches as Amber clears and brings her mic to her lips, “What do I say, we didn’t have to play no games.” Luna loves it when Amber raps, especially when the blonde does little hand motions and bobbles her head along with the beat of the music, she’s never had to say it, Amber knows it. “I should’ve took that chance, I should’ve asked for you to stay.” Amber turns to look at the gorgeous black haired goddess, “And it gets me down the unsaid words that still remain.” Luna tries to keep herself from throwing her body into Amber’s arms and opts for biting her lip till she tastes copper and staring hard at the faces of the crowd.

Amber almost chuckles the last part, “The story ended without even starting.” 

“Your song on the last day of the school festival.” “The flickering summer sea,” Luna’s voice is gentle and kind, portraying her personality, and Amber’s busy drinking in the sound.
“Our feelings that were precious because we were together.” “Like the deepening night sky, goodbye,” the pair stare deep into each others’ eyes as they’re voices wrap around each other in the air, and the space between them lessens. “The friend label is a label that I got to hate, the feelings I’ve hid still remain as a painful secret memory. The photos that can’t define our relationship is a heartbreaking story, I’m sorry, summer, now goodbye, yeah.” 

Krystal fiddles with the buttons of her jean jacket and her eyes slip from the elegant face of Sulli to the poster at her feet, a smile stretching over her face at the words.“Baby, oh no, oh, oh, I’m sorry that this is a monologue.” Sulli’s poster, decorated with hearts and the bold pink words of: KRYSTAL JUNG, SARANGHAE!! Krystal’s eyes slide over to Sulli again, and she can’t stop smiling, flashing a wink at the girl, and making a heart shaped sign with her hands that threaten Sulli to faint with joy as D.O sings, “Oh, actually, I love you, yeah.” Luna readies herself for the of the song, turning her stool to face Amber, “If only our long-time hidden secrets were revealed, I would hold you in my arms,” Amber tries to hold in the tears that threaten to bead near her eyes as Luna stares lovingly into her, holding out that last note with utter perfection. “The friend label is a label that I got to hate,” Krystal and Amber pick up where the two left off, letting them sing out, “the feelings I’ve hid still remain as a painful secret memory. The photos that can’t define our relationship is a heartbreaking story, I’m sorry, summer, now goodbye, yeah.” 

D.O faces a roaring crowd while Luna’s busy holding Amber’s hand and Krystal’s reaching hers out for Sulli to grasp as she runs her way up the stairs. She nearly tips over in her seat as Sulli’s body comes crashing against hers in a warm embrace, the girl unable to contain the urge to feel the other girl against her. Krystal’s eyes shut and she runs a hand over Sulli’s back, trying to memorize the feel of Sulli, the scent of Sulli, everything of Sulli. “La, la, la la la, la la la la la, la-la la la la la la, la la la, la la laa.” D.O, Luna, and Amber stand up, holding hands, and bow deeply before the whistling and clapping horde of people, while Krystal falls to the floor with Sulli on top of her, the two of them still hugging. There’s something nagging Sulli in the back of her mind, and it keeps repeating itself. So she finally gives in and presses her lips, soft and true, on Krystal’s. 

Luna and Amber look over at the pair and roll their eyes, “Young love,” they say disapprovingly, “They can’t even hold themselves back until we got home.” And then they stare at each other. Until they, too, give in to the temptation, and press kisses on each others’ mouth. D.O lets go of Luna’s hand and steps off the stage to where his posse of buddies have gathered. They envelop him in bear hugs, slaps on the back, and the ruffling of his hair, “Good job, Kyungsoo!” All of them say, and there’s a gentle tap on his shoulder. Everyone freezes, including D.O, and they turn to see a tall, lean boy with tousled blond locks shyly smiling at the red haired boy. “Good job, hyung,” he says just before D.O rushes over to him and tackles him with a hug. Kai chuckles, his arms wrapping around the other boy, D.O stares down at his hands folded across the strong back of the blond boy, and he can hardly believe it as he pulls away. “Kai?” He murmurs, “I thought you were in Busan for your dance studies?” He chuckles, “Kyungsoo, you’re much more important than a dance rehearsal I know by heart. Besides,” he runs a hand through D.O’s hair, fixing it for him, and sending butterflies in the red heads’ stomach, “I missed my Kyungsoo.” As the day comes to an end, three newly established couples walk out together, hand in hand, all smiles, and drive off together, ready to start a life together now that their true feelings have been worded out.