The final exam ends in a silence that feels almost sacred.
For a few seconds, no one moves. Pens hover midair. Breath is held.
Then chairs scrape against the floor, voices murmur, and the room slowly empties , like waking from a dream with trembling legs.
Harin stays seated.
Her pen is still trapped between her fingers, her knuckles pale. She closes her eyes.
Her heart is still racing, echoing the chaos of her thoughts. But beneath it, quietly, unexpectedly, something settles.
A pause.
A breath after the storm.
"It's over," she whispers, almost afraid the words might disappear.
A gentle hand lands on her shoulder.
Jisoo stands beside her. Her eyes are tired, but there's light in them. Relief. Pride.
"Come with me," she says softly. "Let's fly."
Harin frowns slightly.
"Fly?"
"Hiking," Jisoo clarifies, smiling. "Just you and me. Tomorrow morning. We climb until the sky feels close."
She tilts her head, playful but sincere.
"Not to run away. To breathe. To remember we're alive."
Harin hesitates.
She has always been afraid of heights. Of vertigo. Of that moment when the ground disappears and fear takes over her body before her mind can stop it.
But she had promised herself something.
To become who she was before the wounds.
To stop turning away from fear.
To walk toward it, even if her legs trembled.
"…Okay," she breathes.
"Let's fly."
The next morning, Seoul wakes beneath a clear sky, washed clean by the wind.
Mount Inwangsan stretches ahead of them, framed by pine trees and stone, bathed in soft golden light.
Harin adjusts her cap and inhales the cool air. Her backpack is light.
Her chest is not.
Jisoo glances at her, grinning.
"Ready to challenge the void?"
Harin lets out a nervous laugh.
"Let's say… almost."
A voice interrupts them.
"You're hiking today too?"
They turn.
Junwoo stands a few steps behind them. Beside him is a quieter friend, a camera resting against his chest.
Junwoo wears a khaki jacket, a wool scarf loosely wrapped around his neck. His expression is calm, always calm, as if he can hear what people don't say.
His eyes meet Harin's.
He gives a small, almost shy bow.
"May we join you?"
Junwoo glances at the trail ahead, then back at them.
A faint smile touches his lips.
"What a coincidence," he says softly.
As if he doesn't quite believe it himself.
Jisoo answers before Harin can.
"Of course."
The trail begins gently.
Gravel crunches beneath their shoes. Dry leaves whisper with every step. The silence is comfortable, filled only with breath and movement.
Junwoo walks slightly behind Harin, not too close, not too far.
But he notices everything.
The way her shoulders tense when the path narrows.
The way her fingers curl and uncurl, searching for something solid.
The way her breathing changes before she even realizes she's afraid.
As the trail climbs higher, the trees thin. The city begins to reveal itself below.
Harin slows.
She looks down.
Her knees lock instantly.
For a split second, the mountain disappears, and she's somewhere else.
A hospital room.
White lights.
The sharp sting in her veins.
The weight on her chest, heavy and suffocating.
She can't breathe.
Her fingers tighten unconsciously, nails biting into her palms.
The wind brushes her face, but inside her, panic rises fast and violent , like water filling her lungs.
Junwoo stops walking.
"Are you okay?" he asks quietly.
She nods out of instinct, but her hand is trembling.
She takes another step. Then another.
Until she sees it.
A narrow stone staircase carved into the mountain.
No railing.
Nothing but open air beside it.
Her vision blurs.
"I… I can't," she whispers, stepping back.
The wind whistles louder. The sky feels impossibly high. The city below feels unreal.
The world tilts.
Junwoo doesn't rush her.
"Do you want to go back down?" he asks gently.
She shakes her head immediately.
She doesn't want to run.
Not again.
"I want to," she admits, her voice shaking.
"But I'm scared."
Junwoo doesn't smile.
He doesn't tease.
He understands.
Without a word, he steps closer and holds out his hand.
"Then we go together," he says. "One step at a time."
He meets her eyes.
"Don't look down. Just look at my hand."
Harin stares at his fingers. Hesitates.
Then she takes his hand.
His grip is warm. Steady. Unwavering.
One step.
Then another.
Her heart pounds wildly, but he never lets go.
When she falters, he stops.
When she freezes, he waits.
"You're doing great," he murmurs.
"You're moving forward. That's all that matters."
A few steps behind them, Jisoo slows her pace.
She watches Harin's tense shoulders soften.
Watches Junwoo adjust his steps without a word.
A knowing look flickers in her eyes.
She murmurs, barely audible,
"So this is how fate moves."
Junwoo hears her words.
He doesn't turn around.
But his grip on Harin's hand tightens,
just slightly.
Slowly, painfully slowly, the fear loosens its grip.
Hours later, after a long and winding climb, they reach the summit.
The world opens.
The city lies small beneath them, like a painting. The sky stretches endlessly above.
And at the center of it all
The late-afternoon sky, slowly melting into sunset.
Soft flames of orange, rose, gold, and lavender melt into the horizon.
Harin steps forward.
This time, she doesn't look at her feet.
She lifts her eyes.
And she laughs.
A sound so light it surprises even her.
The wind plays with her hair. Her cheeks glow from the climb. Her eyes shine like fireflies.
Junwoo forgets how to breathe.
Everything slows.
All he sees is her smile fragile and luminous like something that survived the dark and chose to bloom anyway.
"It's…" she whispers, awed.
"It's so beautiful."
"Yes," Junwoo answers softly.
"So beautiful."
But he isn't looking at the view.
He's looking at her.
A few steps away, Jisoo watches.
Her chest tightens, not with jealousy, but with gratitude.
She sees Harin coming back to life.
Rising to the surface after months underwater.
The shadows fall away from her body, one by one.
Jisoo lifts her phone.
Click.
The photo is slightly blurred but real.
Two souls standing at the edge of fear and light.
Hold on, Harin, she thinks.
You deserve to live. To love. To be loved, exactly as you are.
As the sun dips below the horizon, they begin their descent.
At the foot of the mountain, Junwoo lifts his camera.
"I took a few photos up there," he says casually.
"If you want… I can send them to you."
Harin hesitates.
Just a second too long.
"…Okay."
He hands her his phone.
She types her number carefully.
Junwoo saves it slowly.
Adds a small flower emoji next to her name.
She notices.
Says nothing.
But her heart remembers.
That night, Harin looks down at her dusty shoes.
Her almost-empty bag.
And her heart,
a little fuller than yesterday.
She climbed a mountain.
And maybe, without realizing it,
she began climbing the one inside her too.
She doesn't know it yet.
She doesn't know that somewhere else, in another silence,
someone once held her hand when she couldn't.
And unlike fear ,
he never let go.