Primary Song: f(x)- Goodbye Summer

Genres: Sad with bits of fluff

Characters: Jong In/ Female OC (Shin Hyun Rin)

“Are you almost done, sweetheart?” my mother shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

“Almost!” I called back. I straightened and looked around my room in satisfaction at how much I had accomplished within the past hour. All my belongings were sorted and packed into boxes. Only the large furniture such as the desk and bed were left in the open.

“Oh, wow,” I heard my mother breathe in surprise as she walked into my emptier than normal room. “It’s- it’s so...clean.” She chuckled weakly, trying to mask her sadness over her only daughter going off to college.

Wordlessly, I embraced my mother, who tightly hugged me back. Because I was much taller than her, I was able to rest my chin on her head. “It’s okay, mom,” I soothed. “I’ll be back during the holidays.”

“But it’ll be different from seeing you every day,” she sniffed. I didn’t say anything, unable to counter that.

We stood there, hugging for a few more moments, before I heard my ringing cell phone. Gently disentangling myself from my mother’s arms, I walked over to where it was charging and unplugged it. With a smile, I answered it, knowing who was calling just based on the ringtone.

“Hello?”

“Hyun Rin!” my friend exclaimed cheerfully. “What are you doing right now?”

“I just finished packing my stuff.”

“Oh, good! Wanna meet at the park for our summer tradition? It’s the last day before I go off to college, after all.”

Swallowing the lump that formed in my throat when he mentioned the last part, I laughed. “Of course! Who am I to refuse? See you in a few!”

When I hung up with a silly grin on my face, I turned around to see my mother with a knowing look on hers.

“Was that Jong In?” she correctly guessed the caller, my closest and childhood friend, Kim Jong In.

Feeling my cheeks heat up a little, I turned away from her to look for something to wear. My pajamas would not suffice. “Yeah,” I answered, trying to act as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“You know, it’s a bit strange the two of you are nothing but friends. Unless you’re secretly dating and haven’t told me-”

“Mom!” I whirled around in shock and exclaimed.

“What?” she defended herself. “You guys are around each other so often,  it’s a wonder one of you haven’t developed romantic feelings for the other.” She paused then continued suspiciously, “Unless you actually like him but haven’t told me-”

“Mom,” I interrupted, heart racing. I was rather glad she didn’t know that though. “There is nothing going between us. There isn’t an inkling of one of us liking the other as more than a friend either.” When she didn’t look convinced, I emphasized, “Seriously.”

“Alright.” She fell quiet, not wanting to push the matter. But a few moment later, as she watched me decide what to wear, she asked again, “Are you going to go meet him?”

“Mmhm.”

“What time will you be back?”

I shrugged. “Depends on what we do today.”

“And what are you going to do today?” At this point, she’s nearly dying of curiosity, but I could hear the restraint to not seem too nosy.

“What we always do on the last day of summer before school,” I answered.

“Oh, come on,” she whined, letting her restraint go. “You two have been doing this...this ritual since the third grade, but you’ve never told me what it is. I’m your mother; I have the right to know.”

I laughed aloud, finally choosing a summery dress. “Mom, it’s not a big deal. And I’ll tell you one day, but today is not the day.” Before she could argue, I began to shoo her out the door. “And if you don’t mind, I need you to get out because I need to change.”

And without waiting for her response, I nudged her out and closed the door, slowly so that she could see my apologetic face and I could see her face to make sure she wasn’t offended.

When I determined she wasn’t, I shut the door and locked it before quickly changing into the dress. I decided to wear a small flower pendant necklace as well, a present from Jong In years ago. After assessing myself in the mirror, I grabbed a small purse and stuffed my phone inside before unlocking and opening the door and running down the stairs.

Slipping my feet into comfortable flats, I shouted a goodbye to my parents and ran out the door but skidded to a stop in surprise. In the middle of my driveway was Jong In, leaning against his car as he waited for me.

“Surprise,” he greeted me, grinning. My lips lifted upward in a smile as well.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I walked toward him for a hug.

“It’s our last summer hang out ever. I should optimize our time together, shouldn’t I?”

The smile on my face slightly drooped when he mentioned our last summer hang out ever, but I managed to keep it from falling visibly. “Yeah, we should,” I agreed. And, in my head, I swore I would make the most of it. And if I had enough courage, I would- No, I couldn’t. I already knew I wouldn’t have enough courage.

Like a gentleman, he opened the passenger’s seat for me, and got in after I did. “Do you still want to go to the park like always or try to go somewhere el-”

“Don’t even suggest that,” I cut him off, scandalized. “It’s not tradition if we don’t go to the park.”

Jong In simply laughed. “Alright then.”

On our way there, we chatted about various and insignificant topics, jumping from one random topic to another, in a way only close friends do. And somehow, we began to discuss how we had first met.

“It wasn’t my fault I shrieked,” I huffed. “If I remember correctly, you were the one who yanked my ponytail.”

“No, I was pulling out a bug from your hair,” he insisted.

“I’ve asked witnesses and they all said there was no bug and you definitely pulled it.”

He chortled when he saw my stern expression and crossed arms. “Fine, let’s pretend that’s what happened.”

“Because that is what happened!” I said exasperatedly. “And because of you, we were both called out by our teacher and had to stay inside for recess!”

“Ah, yes, I remember that. You were really angry at me but forgave me when I offered you chocolate. Worked then, works now, and worked every time in between,” Jong In reminisced happily, smiling.

I rolled my eyes but softened when I realized something. “Can you believe it’s been around ten years since then? We were in third grade, Jong In. And now we’re off to college,” I said.

There was a pause on his end as he digested the information. And then: “wow”.

We stayed silent for a moment as our thoughts drifted off into separate directions. But the silence was quickly broken because Kim Jong In was present, and he can never stay silent for long.

“And it’s been ten years since we’ve been best friends,” he mused. “That’s a really long time for someone to be a friend with you.”

“Hey!” I cried, hitting him for emphasis. He winced.

“What? It’s not a lie,” he said defensively.

“But that’s not nice,” I reproached him. He shrugged, but when he saw my pout, he sighed.

“Fine. I’m sorry.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled.

But he was partially true about one thing; ever since that incident, we’ve been best friends. Maybe we wouldn’t have been so close if he didn’t live in my neighborhood and his mother became close to mine. But that’s what happened and that’s how we became really close.

“Oh, I have a funny story,” Jong In suddenly said, as if just remembering something, “Just as I leaving the house to go pick you up, my mom asked me where I was going. I told her I was going to your house to pick you up so we can do our summer tradition, you know? Do you know what she said next?”

Although I was a tiny teeny bit upset by what he had said earlier, my curiosity was undoubtedly perked. “What?”

“She asked me if we were dating! Can you believe it?”

I was a little hurt by the way he said it, as if it would be a far fetched idea. Would it really be that bad? But I was m