The Last Days of Summer
Summer holidays were almost over.
The calendar still insisted there were a few days left before the university entrance examinations, but no one truly felt like they were on holiday anymore.
The freedom that had once sounded exciting had quietly disappeared beneath stacks of practice papers, sleepless nights, and cups of coffee that grew colder before anyone remembered to drink them.
It no longer felt like summer.
It felt like waiting.
The school gates stood open.
Without the usual flood of uniforms rushing through them, the campus seemed strangely unfamiliar.
There were no teachers calling attendance from classroom doors.
No students running through the corridors before the morning bell.
No announcements echoing across the courtyard.
Only graduates.
Some arrived alone.
Some came in small groups.
Everyone carried the same mixture of anticipation and unease.
The admit cards had finally been posted.
Dust floated lazily through the warm sunlight pouring into the old corridors.
Open classroom windows let in the distant chorus of cicadas.
The blackboards had already been wiped clean, leaving behind faint traces of white chalk that refused to disappear completely.
Inside the classrooms, desks had been stacked neatly against the walls, making the rooms look larger than anyone remembered.
For the first time in three years...
the school didn't feel like a place they belonged.
It already felt like somewhere they used to belong.
Kai was the first to arrive at the notice board.
The moment he found his name and admit card number, he let out an exaggerated groan that echoed down the nearly empty hallway.
"...Admit cards."
He stared at the paper for another second before shaking his head.
"It already feels like the end."
Rui stepped beside him, scanning the list with practiced calm.
Without looking away, he smirked.
"We'll just bribe the examiners."
Kai turned immediately.
"Can we?"
"No."
"...Then why give me hope?"
Chen, standing quietly behind them with his own admit card in hand, folded the paper carefully before slipping it into a transparent folder.
"Stop joking."
His voice was as calm as ever.
"Just focus."
Kai sighed dramatically.
"I have been focusing."
Rui glanced sideways.
"On complaining."
"I complain because I care."
"You complain because you're Kai."
Dev laughed softly as he adjusted the strap of the old film camera hanging around his neck.
He raised it toward the group.
"Nobody move."
Kai blinked.
"What?"
Click.
The familiar sound of the shutter echoed through the hallway.
Dev lowered the camera and frowned slightly.
"You all look too serious."
Nobody answered.
He smiled anyway.
"Smile."
Kai immediately pulled the most ridiculous expression he could manage, puffing out his cheeks and crossing his eyes.
Rui stared at him for exactly one second.
"...You somehow look worse."
"I worked hard on this face."
"It shows."
Chen shook his head, unable to stop the small smile that appeared.
Even Jian let out a quiet laugh.
Wei looked at Kai for another moment before the corner of his mouth lifted almost unconsciously.
The laughter spread through the hallway.
Soft.
Real.
Comfortable.
For a few brief seconds...
they sounded like themselves again.
Then, just as naturally as it had appeared...
the laughter faded.
Nobody knew why.
Perhaps they were simply tired.
Perhaps everyone was quietly thinking about the examinations waiting only days away.
Or perhaps...
somewhere deep down...
they all understood this would be one of the last mornings they stood together in these familiar corridors.
No one said it aloud.
They didn't need to.
The silence that followed carried the thought for all of them.
After collecting their admit cards, no one seemed eager to leave.
"So..."
Kai looked around.
"What now?"
Dev shrugged.
"We're already here."
Rui slipped both hands into his pockets.
"Might as well walk around."
No one argued.
Without planning it...
the six of them simply started walking.
Their footsteps echoed softly through the long corridors.
They passed classrooms where faded class schedules still clung crookedly to the walls.
The music room stood open, revealing rows of chairs stacked neatly around an old upright piano whose keys had yellowed with age.
Kai peeked inside.
"I still remember Chen playing that thing."
Chen looked genuinely confused.
"I played it once."
"And you were annoyingly good."
"It was one song."
"Exactly."
Rui smiled.
"Some people are talented."
Kai placed a dramatic hand over his heart.
"I feel personally attacked."
"You should."
The teasing continued as they wandered past the science laboratories and toward the basketball court.
The court sat empty beneath the afternoon sun.
A single basketball rested forgotten beneath one of the hoops.
Dev paused.
"Remember when Kai thought he could dunk?"
Kai immediately protested.
"I was this close."
"You touched the net."
"I almost touched the rim."
"You almost touched the dream."
Even Wei laughed quietly.
Kai pointed accusingly.
"You too?"
Wei nodded once.
"...You looked confident."
"I was confident."
"That's what made it funny."
The group continued walking.
Past the library where they had pretended to study and secretly fallen asleep.
Past the old vending machines that never seemed to have the drinks anyone wanted.
Past the auditorium where entrance ceremonies, festivals, and farewell speeches had slowly blended together over the years.
Every corner carried a memory.
Some were clear.
Others lingered only as feelings too familiar to explain.
Teachers occasionally passed by, offering warm smiles and words of encouragement.
"Study hard."
"Do your best."
"We'll be cheering for you."
Each farewell sounded almost identical.
Each one somehow made the day feel a little heavier.
Near the main building, several students had gathered around notebooks and yearbooks, writing hurried messages before everyone scattered in different directions after the examinations.
Kai accepted a notebook from one of his classmates.
He stared at the blank page for nearly a minute.
"What am I supposed to write?"
Rui answered without hesitation.
"'Sorry you had to know me.'"
Kai considered it.
"...That's actually not bad."
"Don't you dare."
Dev quietly took another photograph.
This time no one noticed.
Somewhere along the walk, the group naturally shifted into smaller conversations.
Rui and Kai argued over which university had the better cafeteria.
Chen patiently corrected one of Dev's Chemistry questions.
Without anyone realizing it...
Wei had drifted beside Jian.
Not intentionally.
It simply happened.
Their walking pace matched without thought.
When Jian slowed slightly to let another group pass, Wei slowed too.
When Wei stopped to glance toward the old classroom building, Jian stopped beside him.
Nobody pointed it out.
Because nobody found it unusual anymore.
Kai turned around after reaching the staircase.
"Are you two coming?"
Jian nodded.
"We're coming."
Wei followed without another word.
No one exchanged knowing looks.
No one teased them.
Somewhere along the endless afternoons spent studying together, shared scooter rides home, and ordinary dinners at Jian's house...
the group had quietly accepted something neither Jian nor Wei had ever explained.
If one of them was there...
the other usually wasn't far behind.
It had become as ordinary as breathing.
And perhaps that was why nobody questioned it anymore.
By noon, they settled beneath the broad shade of an old tree overlooking the school field.
Lunch boxes appeared one after another.
Simple meals packed early that morning by tired parents.
Rice.
Eggs.
Pickled vegetables.
A piece of fried chicken.
Shared bottles of tea passed from hand to hand.
Kai had barely opened his lunch when he frowned.
"...Where's my chicken?"
Rui looked suspiciously innocent.
"What chicken?"
"The one that was right there."
"I didn't see anything."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"...Open your lunch box."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because it's my lunch."
Kai lunged forward.
Rui leaned away laughing.
Sure enough...
one familiar piece of fried chicken sat neatly inside Rui's box.
"I knew it!"
"You weren't eating it."
"I opened the lid three seconds ago!"
"You hesitated."
"I blinked!"
"You blinked for too long."
Dev laughed so hard he nearly spilled his tea.
Chen pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You two are impossible."
Jian quietly tore his own piece of fried chicken in half and placed one half into Kai's lunch box.
Kai looked at him with exaggerated emotion.
"...You're my favorite person."
Rui shrugged.
"I can take that half too."
"Touch it and you'll lose a hand."
Laughter rose beneath the old tree.
Warm.
Comfortable.
Familiar.
But even between the laughter...
there were pauses.
Longer than before.
No one rushed to fill them.
Sometimes everyone simply watched the breeze move across the empty field.
Sometimes they listened to the cicadas singing from the trees.
Sometimes they just sat together.
Thinking about nothing.
Thinking about everything.
No one spoke about the examinations.
No one spoke about graduation.
Yet somehow...
both lingered quietly between every conversation.
Above them, the sunlight slowly began to fade.
A cool breeze stirred the leaves overhead.
Dev looked up first.
Dark clouds had gathered across the horizon without anyone noticing.
He adjusted the camera hanging around his neck and watched the sky for a moment.
"...Looks like rain."
Kai followed his gaze.
"Huh."
"It probably won't start until tonight."
Rui closed his lunch box.
"Hopefully after we all get home."
Chen nodded absentmindedly.
"We still have time."
Nobody thought much of it.
Summer rain was common.
It came and went without warning.
The conversation drifted elsewhere again.
But beyond the school buildings...
the clouds continued gathering.
Quietly.
Patiently.
As though they had been making their way here all afternoon.
The others didn't notice.