lmao tmw u start a story in 2014 and then don't put up another chapter until 2017

I'm bored this summer and I've had this idea for this story for a looooong time so I'm gonna see if i can finish it

but don't expect regular updates or anything

and yes i got the idea for this story in 2014 so a lot of this stuff is still gonna be centered around 2014 era kpop

no kaistal (but i love both kai and krystal), no schism between jessica and snsd, nor between fx and sulli, and as you may be able to tell this is based off their song "goodbye summer," which is from their 2014 album, not their most current album

that is all

     "Hi Soojung!" A bright, friendly voice called out behind me. I knew that voice. It was one I'd been aching to hear all summer.

     "Jinri!" I cried excitedly, spinning around. There stood the one person I loved almost as much as my sister, in a new school uniform as well (the one from last year had been much too small for her by the time third year had ended). I couldn't help myself and I took off running into her outstretched arms. Jinri caught me and spun me around dramatically. It wasn't our usual way of greeting each other, but given I hadn't seen her in several months, we were entitled. I screamed as Jinri almost dropped me, but I landed on my feet safely.

     "Careful! You could have killed me!"

     "Well, that's not my fault. You've gained a lot of weight over the summer. What did you eat for breakfast, cement?" I raised a fist, but Jinri only laughed lightly and swatted it away. "I'm kidding! But really, you've gotten so much taller! I bet you're taller than your 언니 now, aren't you?"

     It was true; standing next to Jinri I could see even more clearly how much I'd grown. My best friend, Choi Jinri, used to tower over me at 170 cm, but now we were closer in height. I could almost look her in the eye. As I surveyed her in return however, the only thing I felt was relief that she hadn't changed, not nearly as much as I had anyways. Unlike Sunyoung, Jinri had been my neighbor and my best friend since I was young- since I'd moved to Korea. All I had known was that we were leaving behind our old house, and that was scary enough. Meeting her friendly face eased much of my anxiety, and throughout all of our school years we'd been inseparable. (Unfortunately for Jess, Jinri didn't have an older sibling for her to play with). This past summer Jinri had gone to study abroad in England, and I'd missed her terribly. But my friend looked the same as always- big smile (with smiling eyes), long hair, and impossibly tall as always.

     "Yes, I grew taller. But what about you? Tell me about your summer!" I exclaimed excitedly. "Did you learn a lot of English? Do you have an English accent now? Did you meet any guys? What about any new friends?" Jinri gestured forward with her head, and we began walking on the path to school. I had many more questions, but I decided to hold my tongue for now to hear her answers.

     Jinri sighed, sounding disappointed. "Well, not as much as I'd hoped. For starters, my exchange family didn't bother to learn any Korean, so it was really hard communicating with them. And at first their accents were really hard to understand. They didn't sound anything like you when you speak English. I kind of wish I had the opportunity to stay longer than a summer, but I think I would have missed Korea too much. I did learn a lot though, even if I'm not fluent. I can ask for directions now, and order food. Oh! I had to go to the bank once, that was really scary." She furrowed her brow, reminiscing. "I can talk about my day, how I'm feeling, and hold a conversation. That sort of stuff. Like, 'Hi, how are you? My name is Jinri. I'm from Korea, it's nice to meet you.' How was that?"

     "Oh, that was good!"

     "Really?"

     "Yeah! You still sound Korean, but you do have a bit of an English accent now. It sounds nice," I said genuinely.

     "Okay then, talk to me in English. Let's see if it works." Jinri looked excited, gripping her backpack straps. It took me a minute to think of what to say.

     "Did you get a boyfriend? An English boyfriend?" I couldn't help but grin mischieviously.

     Sure enough, Jinri's face grew pink and she shoved me lightly with one hand, the other covering as she laughed. "No! I did not get a boyfriend. I met... nice men but I did not get a boyfriend in England."

     "What about any new friends?" I asked, now repeating my previous questions.

     "Uh... um, a couple. My exchange sister. Her name was Lizzy. She was really nice. She introduced me to her friends. They invited me to go skating with them. Also... There was another girl from Asia in my summer class. She was from... 일본? Oh, I mean, Japan. Talking to her helped with my..." She paused for a second, thinking. "My culture shock. Even though she wasn't from Korea. Her name was Masako, but her English name was Melanie."

     I nodded. Jinri spoke slowly, and her accent was an odd mix of Korean and British, but she had obviously improved her knowledge of the language considerably. "Do you have an English name?"

     "Yeah. Lizzy gave me the name Jay. She said it was usually a boy's name, but it can be a girl's name sometimes. She said it suits me." Jinri- or Jay- smiled, but then quickly said, "But... I missed you a lot. I liked Lizzy and Melanie, but I missed you so, so much."

     I smiled, the same sort of sad smile I'd seen on Jess's face only this morning. "I missed you a lot too," I admitted, reverting back to Korean. "It was really boring here without you."

     "What about Sooyeon 언니?" Jinri inquired. "Did you get to see her over the summer? Or was she too busy?"

     "She was really busy. She started promotions for Singing in the Rain as soon as school let out, and she got even more famous after every performance. She now has fansignings every week, and they're talking about getting her a reality TV show in the winter." I kicked a rock into the street, distractedly, and Jinri had to hold me back from walking directly into the slow flow of early morning traffic.

     "Oh, wow." My best friend's eyes grew wide. "I knew she was getting more popular but I didn't know she was that famous. Maybe she'll release an album soon."

     "Yeah." Something clicked as I looked at her once more, taking in her appearance. "야! Choi Jinri! I've had to stay indoors all summer just so that I don't catch a tan! How is it that you went to study abroad and your skin looks even more fair than it did before!"

      Jinri laughed at my indignance. "Have you ever been to Britain before? Have you seen any pictures of it? It's always cold and cloudy and stormy! The sun isn't often out, even in the summer. Ah, it was so relieving to go out in a skirt and not in long pants for the day."

     "Of course you would go and come back even prettier. Are you lying? You must have used whitening cream. Did you get surgery over there?" I joked.  I knew Jinri was a natural beauty, and besides I didn't think tan skin was unattractive. Regardless, it kicked off a long, playful argument on the rest of the way to school. Just like that, we were back to being best friends as if the summer apart had never happened.

     We made it to school just in time, luckily. (I told Jess I wouldn't be late.) As much as I disliked school at times, I was ultimately grateful that I was able to attend Hanlim Multi Art School. Lots of people in my sister's graduating class had now become kpop idols, actors, or musical theatre performers like her. Others were working their way up the totem pole as models, film directors, choreographers and the like. When I first arrived, I had many teachers fawn over Jessica to me, which I didn't mind too much, but I was glad after a couple of years when I began to make a name for myself as a unique individual. I wasn't sure yet what I wanted to do, but I adored music. Jinri was also a music lover, but she was considering becoming a model.

     I already had my schedule, but Jinri had to go print hers out, so we parted ways, and I walked briskly off to my first class. So concentrated was I on the paper in my hands that I didn't notice the figure rounding the corner at the same time as me until we ran into each other at full velocity. We collided hard enough for both of us to fall over in a heap of books and legs. I tumbled hard onto my rear end with a groan, and distantly heard the other person echo it.

     "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," said an unfamiliar voice. I didn't want to get up- I wanted to lay fully on the ground and let it swallow me whole- but i noticed a hand above me. Full of humiliation, I took it. It was surprisingly strong and pulled me up with ease, swiftly. I saw for the first time who I had unintentionally body slammed. It was a girl, about my age, in the typical jacket and skirt uniform that I was wearing. She had choppy, short hair, and an apologetic expression on her face.

     "No, no, I'm sorry," I told her. She crouched on the ground to gather her books and I did the same. "I wasn't looking where I was going, it's my fault."

     She looked confused for a second. "Uh.. no. I-it's okay, I'm sorry. Here." She handed me one of my notebooks, and stood. "This is yours."

     "It's okay. I hope you're not late for class because of me." I brushed off my skirt. "I'm sorry again."

     She still looked confused for some reason, but I was worried I might be late for class. "I have to go now."

     "Wait, please!"

     I turned back around. "Yes?"

     She her lips, looking nervous. "W-where is Room 330?"

     She didn't look young enough to be a first year, but she must have been new. Now I was the perplexed one, but neither of us had time to waste. "This is the 4th floor. All the room numbers on this floor start with 4. You have to go down to the 3rd floor. It's right next to the teacher's lounge," I explained.

     The girl nodded slowly. "Thank you."

     "Go quickly. The bell will ring soon," I warned her.

     Once again, she nodded, and took off. I heeded her example and rushed to my first class, Music Theory. I slid into my seat 30 seconds before the bell, and Jinri hurtled in 10 seconds after me. Other students giggled behind their hands, but neither of us cared.

     "I had to get my schedule, what's your excuse?" Jinri muttered out of the corner of . We shuffled around to pull out our proper books for notetaking.

     "I accidentally ran headfirst into someone in the hall- oh no." The notebook was a bright scarlet- all my other books were in light shades of periwinkle, lavender, and pink. How had I not noticed? I flipped the cover open. In messy handwriting, in the top left corner was scrawled a name: 유은영.

     "What's wrong?" Jinri peered over my shoulder. "Who is Yoo Eunyoung?"

     "I think she's the girl I ran into," I whispered back. "This must be her notebook. I'll have to get it back to her. But I don't know when I'll see her again."

     "We can look for her at lunch. I'll help you." Jinri abruptly pulled away from me as the teacher glared over at us. I made myself look busy, and sighed. For now, I'd take notes in her notebook, and rip out the pages later, but sooner or later (probably sooner), I'd have to hunt down this girl who had my notebook.