recommended: listen to someday while you read this.

all eyes were on her as she walked through the hallway. whispers and sounds of awe were exchanged among the students standing against the lockers. the news of a new student spread like wildfire. witnesses said that she could be the new beauty of the school. seeing her now, everyone could agree that the rumors were correct. wonyoung smiled and waved around as she was given a tour around the school building with yujin, the class president. it felt as if the area was lit up with just wonyoung’s new and unfamiliar presence, like the students were seeing colors for the first time, like she was leaving behind a trail of flowers and rainbows. 

"this place is bigger than my old school," wonyoung said to yujin. wonyoung, looking around to get used to her surroundings, was unaware of the senior in front of her. even though the girl tried to avoid any contact with wonyoung, the younger girl managed to trip and bump into her anyway. yujin was unable to catch her on time. both of them fell and suddenly, the atmosphere turned icy. everyone had the same reaction of fear for what would happen next to poor wonyoung.

“i’m so sorry! are you okay?” wonyoung asked as she got up and offered the flustered senior a hand. she ignored her and got up, getting upset at the attention from everyone around them. wonyoung could hear how people mentioned that this girl was the toughest of them all. she gulped nervously, waiting anxiously for whatever the senior could do. to everyone's surprise, nothing happened.

wonyoung looked down to see that the girl’s id was on the floor. ‘kim chaewon,’ it read. she crouched down to pick it up, however chaewon quickly snatched it. the younger one stared at her in confusion before speaking again, “your name is chaewon? i apologize for not watching where i was going...”

chaewon glared at wonyoung and angrily walked away. wonyoung frowned as she watched her turn the corner down the hallway. she felt yujin’s hand on her shoulder. “hey bub, don’t let her get to you. she never speaks and hates everyone.”

wonyoung pouted, “that’s dumb.”

“yeah, that’s why nobody ever dared to talk to her.” yujin shrugged. “just leave her alone and you’ll be fine.”

but the thought of chaewon couldn’t escape wonyoung’s mind. it was always in her nature to befriend everyone she encountered. if a person hated her, she would find a way to make them like her and it would work. if chaewon already hated her, then she’d try her hardest to befriend her. she felt like there was more to her than her intimidating exterior. her first day of going to a new school and her life was going to get interesting.

the pair entered their final location, their classroom. they made their way to their seats. yujin pat an empty desk next to her and wonyoung happily sat down.

“yujin,” wonyoung said. the older girl glanced at her as she took out her textbook. “i have a dumb idea.”

“what is it?” yujin asked.

“everyday, i’m going to try to make chaewon like me.” she grinned.

yujin laughed at her. “we only met today and i think you’re stupid.”

“then get ready for the stupidest school year of your life.”

for the rest of the week, wonyoung figured out what she had to do. she always saw chaewon in the morning since they would pass by each other. that would mean that wonyoung would start every morning by greeting her senior, even if it meant getting ignored by her. she didn’t care.

her second week there had begun. as usual, she walked to class with yujin until she saw chaewon, who was busy looking at her phone. wonyoung ditched yujin to speed walk up to her. she stopped right in front of her and smiled, greeting her good morning. the older girl didn’t bother to look up from her screen to see her at all and just moved around her. everyone around them mumbled things about those two that wonyoung brushed off. yujin ran up to wonyoung and sighed. she pat her head as a way to comfort her. “why are you trying so hard?”

wonyoung hummed. “i know she’s not as bad as she seems.”

it was finally the end of the day. wonyoung’s classmates were packing up as she laid her head down, asleep. the girl had stayed up to study for an exam that she forgot to sleep. yujin took care of her things for her and waited for a few minutes to wake her up. when 5 minutes had passed, yujin shook wonyoung awake and handed her her bag. they walked out of the classroom together. wonyoung, still half asleep, had forgotten about chaewon.

“what time is it?” wonyoung grumbled, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

“it’s time for you to get a watch,” yujin chuckled at her own joke.

wonyoung mocked her and tried to reach for her phone. when she checked her bag, it was nowhere to be found. she panicked internally for a bit, but then her face obviously showed that something was wrong. yujin noticed and asked, “what’s wrong?”

“i think i left my phone back in the classroom. just go on without me,” wonyoung said as she ran back.

she entered the classroom and found that her phone had fallen off of her desk and onto the floor. she quickly picked it up and ran out. she was about to finish making it down the stairs when she heard a voice singing. out of curiosity, she went back up to the second floor to find the source.

the lost girl roamed the halls for what felt like forever. she almost gave up until she passed by what she assumed was an empty classroom earlier. she peeked through the glass window to see her senior, too busy singing to notice wonyoung watching her. chaewon sang a familiar ballad that gave wonyoung the sad feeling of nostalgia. it was a song that her older sister eunbi used to sing. chaewon sang it like an angel. her voice was sweeter than wonyoung had expected. she could listen to it all day. as her memories flood back to her, she sang along without realizing it. she didn’t notice that chaewon had heard her. she didn't notice the sound of the classroom door opening. she didn’t notice that chaewon was right next to her until she felt a tap on her shoulder. wonyoung jumped and shrieked, earning a smack on the arm from chaewon. her senior shouted in embarrassment, “what are you doing here?!”

“chaewon?! o-oh, y-you have a nice voice...” wonyoung shyly replied. chaewon turned red at the compliment and frowned. she turned off the song that was playing on her phone.

“mind your own business. do you know how creepy it is for you to watch me without telling me? look, just because you're new, that doesn't mean you can get away with doing dumb ? ugh, you know what? let’s pretend that none of this happened. if i hear you mention this to yujin, i never want to see you again,” chaewon told her and stomped away.

“wait!” wonyoung ran after her. chaewon turned around with an eyebrow raised and crossed her arms. “that song... was it by jo yuri and choi yena?”

for a second, chaewon almost smiled at the mention of her favorite singers, but stopped herself. it was surprising to her that wonyoung would know them, especially since they were so underrated. instead of choosing to ignore her, she answered, “yeah, it’s someday by yuri and yena. why do you ask? do you know them?”

“my sister used to sing it all the time before she left for college. it brings back a lot of memories.” wonyoung chuckled. “anyway, i’ll see you tomorrow, chaewon.”

the halls were silent except for the sound of wonyoung's shoes. chaewon thought for a moment and spoke up, “hey, wonyoung? would you like to stay and listen to music with me?” chaewon hesitantly asked. “i think that you also have a nice voice...”

and that’s how their days would end everyday after that encounter. wonyoung and chaewon would meet at the same room just to listen to music. chaewon enthusiastically introduced wonyoung to more of yuri and yena's songs. honestly, wonyoung was happy to see chaewon be her true self. the great music taste was a bonus. the older girl would sing and every time, it never failed to make the younger one emotional. chaewon mentioned to her once that it was her dream to sing together with yuri and yena. wonyoung told her that she would support her no matter what choice she made. this was the real kim chaewon.

sadly, all good things must come to an end.

the time had come for chaewon to graduate and go off to college to achieve her dreams. wonyoung didn't want her best friend to leave. she didn't want the two of them to drift apart because of this. chaewon would be studying in another country which meant that they would barely have the time to communicate. wonyoung wanted to make their last in-person memory the most unforgettable one ever. she had done her research and saw that the underrated singer duo that caused their friendship to blossom were having a concert in their city. wonyoung saved up enough money to buy concert tickets for both of them.

at their last hangout together, just as chaewon was about to leave, wonyoung stopped her. she held up the tickets and chaewon freaked out. "wonyo?! what the hell, did you actually buy tickets?!"

"yeah! the concert's tonight. do you wanna go?" wonyoung smiled. chaewon pulled her into a hug, which was rare, and accepted her invitation.

the two girls attended it together. when they arrived, they waited in line in anticipation. they rambled about how it would be the best night of their lives until wonyoung spotted a familiar face working. she excused herself and told chaewon to save her spot in line. wonyoung ran to the person and they also appeared to be surprised to see her. wonyoung shouted, "eunbi!"

"wonyoung? what are you doing here?" eunbi asked, hugging her younger sister.

"i'm here with a friend! what are you doing here?" wonyoung grinned. eunbi pat her head.

"i work for them. i'm a staff member for their company now," eunbi replied. wonyoung got an idea from hearing that.

"eunbi... is it possible if you do something for me?" wonyoung asked. eunbi nodded in confusion. she whispered her idea to her older sister whose expression seemed to be unsure.

"you've always had crazy ideas. well, i'll see what i can do, okay? they're about to start letting people in, so go back to your place in line before it's too late!"

the concert went by smoothly with chaewon happily enjoying herself. wonyoung was relieved to see that everything was fine. she nervously waited to see if eunbi did help her. it was almost time for the last song on the setlist. thank goodness that chaewon didn't see how anxious wonyoung was getting. she didn't want to ruin her experience.

"it's so sad how good things must come to an end," yuri said onstage. "let's end this with a song all of us can sing along to."

"but first, i'd like to welcome a special girl to come to this stage and join us!" yena said. wonyoung immediately got excited. she looked over to her sister who was standing in front of the stage. eunbi gave her a nod and wonyoung kept in mind that she would pay her back after the concert was over. yena continued, "miss kim chaewon, would you please come up here?"

chaewon jumped up in surprise. she turned to look at wonyoung who gave her a thumbs up. the girl made her way up to the stage and looked at the audience. yena handed her a microphone and grinned. "i believe that you know this song very well."

the instrumental to "someday" played from every speaker. chaewon was told to start the song and she closed her eyes. when she sung the very first lyric, everyone was in awe. her addition to the song sounded so natural that she could even turn the duo into a trio. even yuri and yena were surprised. wonyoung wasn't. she was proudly watching her. when she looked at chaewon, she could see stars in her eyes. chaewon made eye contact with her as she sang. wonyoung could tell that she was grateful.

"let's hold our hands tightly together and i will walk towards the bright light together with you."

the instrumental faded in the background as yuri sang the last line. as the song ended, chaewon brought the microphone up and smiled, still looking at wonyoung. the spotlight shone on her like an angel. "to my best friend, thank you wonyoung."