It was another summer.

Another year had passed and Chaeyoung now was starting to get busy job-hunting. She had been stressed about this for a while. Who wouldn’t be, when you went to a school which students have mostly got offered before they graduated?

Her clique in Management, Yerim and Ji Woo were among the firsts who got offered a good job. Yerim had somehow met a headhunter in one of her debate competitions so she was offered a position immediately. Companies would also be a fool if they didn’t notice Ji Woo’s academic record and headhunt her. They were very encouraging to Chaeyoung though, so Chaeyoung didn’t feel that bad for being associated with the black sheep in the clique. But still.. she was human after all.

Dahyun had graduated a year before. She found a good job in an MNC and she had been offering to give Chaeyoung a word of recommendation to her company, but Chaeyoung felt like that was an unfair thing to do. So, Chaeyoung continued to apply to other places and had not yet used Dahyun’s card.

Tzuyu? That girl’s so rich she only studied veterinary medicine just because she wanted to. If she was bored with it, she had a position in her family’s shipping business ready for her. Chaeyoung was sure Tzuyu most likely would open her own practice though, she was always a hard-working person and basically Chaeyoung saw herself in Tzuyu: she wouldn’t use her family’s power just like that. Well unless their money, to kickstart opening a practice, that Chaeyoung didn’t have.

Mina noticed that Chaeyoung barely replied to her these days and she was sure that they were on good terms. That only meant one thing: she was overthinking some weird things so she didn’t have the mental energy to tell her stories in Chaeyoung manner (only Mina could explain what ‘Chaeyoung manner’ was).

Mina managed to apply two day-offs from her seniors so she took the initiative to be Chaeyoung’s happy pill. After all, all these time it’s been Chaeyoung whom Mina cried to (med students did cry that much).

“Chaengchaengg!”

Just another day of Mina barging into Chaeyoung’s bedroom in the morning.

“What is it again Minariiiiii!!!!!” as she was getting better at waking up in the morning, no more clueless sleepy Chaeyoung.

“Change your clothes now. I have packed for you. Consider yourself lucky because you have Mina’s exclusive time today and tomorrow.”

“I caaaaaan’t I have to study for a job test today!” But Mina was not having it, “Chaengie you have been studying enough stuff the past four years, stressed people tend to not do well, don’t you know?!”

“No!”

“Change now or I am changing your clothes!” the crazy-mode Mina attempted to really pull her shirt up. “Geez okay okay mom! I’m changing!”

***

“Where are we going, Mina?”

“Haeundae.”

“A beach??? In Busan???? In autumn????????” Chaeyoung looked at Mina like she was crazy. Damn, who was this girl? Chaeyoung didn’t know a Mina that was spontaneous and actually found going outside on a day-off to be fulfilling, “..Are you Myoui Mina?”

“What are you talking about.. You can just sleep, shush! Eh, no no no, don’t sleep that would make me sleepy. Talk to me.”

“Woohoo, things are indeed so different after you get your own driver license. How do you get it really with your busy schedule?”

“I just applied? I could drive ever since high school, Chaeng, but back then I didn’t find driving a car to be a substantial skill. You should learn how to drive too, you know.”

“Nah, no need, I got you already.”

“Lazy kid.”

“Not a kid!”

“Also not a chauffeur here,” Mina stuck her tongue out like she had just won an argument. She did though, she didn’t know Chaeyoung was weak to the slightest cute thing that Mina did.

“What do you want to hear? Play us a song. … God not that Justin Bieber album again!”

“Whyyyy Yummy is a good song. You liked it when I sent you my Yummy challenge!”

“No pic, hoax, Chaengchaeng.”

“, so that’s why you said that over the phone.” Mina laughed at that, she missed their banter. Yeah, another busy year so they couldn’t get together often.

“Ah! It’s an old song. I used to hate this one so much back then, it was overplayed. But I looked into the lyrics randomly a few days ago and wow, this song was so sweet. You should hear it.”

Oh don't you dare look back

Just keep your eyes on me

I said you're holding back

She said shut up and dance with me

This woman is my destiny

She said oh oh oh

Shut up and dance with me

“Nice song,” Mina commented.

“Sis, please, we know between us two I’m the DJ. Drive faster, driver-nim, we had a four hour drive to go. GODDD WHY DID YOU PICK SUCH A FARAWAY PLACEEE AND WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE A BEACH? IN THE AUTUMN?”

“My God, Son Chaeyoung I’m taking you there so you don’t get stressed, don’t stress me out with your whining!”

“Myoui Minari-ssi you’re such a passive aggressive, you don’t get stressed while smiling at me like that.”

*

They arrived at Haeundae beach after only 3 hours of driving. Mina was really putting her arcade driving skill into action. Note: It was still a safe drive, don’t worry.

As expected, it was so cold. But Busan people are weird. The beach was lively and full of people even though it was autumn and they were all wearing padding jackets.

Probably it’s the cool breeze and the liveliness of the tourist, Chaeyoung felt it was healing. As usual, Chaeyoung hugged Mina’s hand when it was cold as they walked on the beach.

They tried to touch the sand with their bare feet so they took the shoes off. The sands felt weirdly cold, as opposed to the usual warmth people associate with beach sands.Chaeyoung brought her analog camera, so they also took pictures here and there. Satisfied with the amount of pictures she took, Chaeyoung wanted to feel the cold water, so she insisted that Mina joined her to walk closer to the shoreline, feeling the water grazing their feet. They played for a bit, starting with Mina who surprisingly splashed water to Chaeyoung, and then they were suddenly playing a mini war.

“Ahahaha, stop, Mina!”

“Okay, I will stop if you stop,” she assessed whether Chaeyoung was serious. When she did, they retreated back to their car to get themselves dry.

“That was fun! How did you find the inspiration to go to this beach?”

“Hmmm Nayeon unnie went here last time. She recommended this beach to me, so I thought, ‘Ah, she would be more than happy if I said I’m taking leave to visit her recommendation’, so here we are.”

“Hold up, why are you still under Nayeon unnie? Wasn’t that your department last year?”

“Yeah, somehow I still need her direct approval for any absence. A good thing though, I don’t think other seniors would