Exams were over, and it was vacation time, right as winter started to roll around. Soo-jin was top of the cohort, no surprise there, and Shu-hua came in at a close second, which earned her brief bragging rights with Soo-jin.

"Aha! See! I did well!" Shu-hua said excitedly as she sat next to Soo-jin, her test papers in hand, "I performed the second best in all our subjects, and it was all thanks to you! You know, maybe if you studied just a little bit more, you could be–"

Her celebration was cut short as she heard their teacher announce, "Seo Soo-jin, good job! You've topped the cohort!"

Soo-jin happily received her papers, taking her seat beside Shu-hua as she signed, "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Nothing," Shu-hua grumbled as she looked at Soo-jin's scores, just a few marks higher than hers. She knew she wasn't mocking her, yet she still felt a little grumpy about it.

The remainder of their school year was uneventful, and the two of them started hanging out over the holidays. Sometimes Shu-hua would visit Soo-jin, and other times, Soo-jin would visit Shu-hua.

"Hey, Soo-jin!" Shu-hua greeted loudly, somehow knowing it was her on the other side of the door before opening it, immediately stopping in her tracks as she looked the stranger up and down. It was Soo-jin, yet it wasn't her at the same time.

The Soo-jin she knew wore the school uniform, a white blouse with a dark blue skirt. But the Soo-jin who stood before her wore black pants and an over-sized t-shirt with a skull on it. Your typical edgy outfit, but not exactly too edgy, you know?

"What's wrong?" Soo-jin signed as the two of them stood at her door for a few seconds.

"Nothing, nothing, you just remind me of those pictures of girls I see on the internet, but younger and smaller, well, not as small," she said as she stepped aside for Soo-jin to enter.

So far, it had mostly been Shu-hua going over to Soo-jin's house, and that was mostly after school. To see Soo-jin wear casual clothes like this was a first, and it was interesting, to say the least.

"Why don't you dress like this when I go over to your place?" Shu-hua asked, munching on the plate of cookies her mom brought into her bedroom, both of them seated on the floor, the Sun starting to set, painting the neighbourhood a very light tint of orange.

"I mostly dress like this as pyjamas. Since I'm only hanging out with you in the late afternoon, I just decided to wear this so I don't have to bring a change of clothes," Soo-jin signed, not having to bother about the food in to talk, "Besides, I prefer dressing like this. It's much more comfortable."

"You should do that! You look cool," she said as she gave her a thumbs up, "If we ever go to the same college, it'd be nice to see you dress casually like this."

"Are you okay? You seem a little more excited to see me than ever," Soo-jin smiled as she signed, blinking to see the red strings on the fingers shorten, was it a physical representation of how close there were?

"I mean, you look pretty handsome today, how could I not be excited to see my best friend like this?" Shu-hua replied, causing the string to su