Delete if problematic; no intent to disparage the artist.
All content is unrelated to reality.
The mornings at Eunha Garden always began with the ringing of bells.
Ding, ding, ding. Before the third bell could even ring, the door flew open.
Unhak "Noona! They say it’s potato pancakes for breakfast today! Hurry!"
It was Kim Unhak.
Our youngest, already sixteen and still doesn’t know how to knock
I pulled the blanket up over my head, but Unhak paid no mind and tugged at my ankle.
"If you don’t get up, Seongho hyung is going to eat it all."
In the end, I was dragged out with my school-uniform collar not even properly fastened.
Passing through the creaking wooden hallway and out the central entrance, the plaque hung above the main gate glittered in the morning sunlight.
Carved large and bold, 「銀河園」, and beneath it, on a small wooden board, 「家園」.
For fourteen years, I passed beneath it every day.
Eunha Garden was our home.
In the dining hall, there was the scent of citrus blossoms mixed with the sea breeze and freshly fried potato pancakes.
It was my fourteenth summer at Eunha Garden.
Jaehyun "Hana's here."
From the very last seat, Myung Jaehyun slid my plate over to me.
Jaehyun, the oldest among us, was always like that.
Quietly looking after us, quietly waiting for us
Jaehyun "Seongho was eyeing yours, so I saved it."
Seongho "No, I wasn't eyeing it, okay?"
Park Seongho pouted in injustice with a potato pancake in his mouth, and Kim Ihan quietly laughed beside him.
Ihan didn’t say much, but his laugh was lovely.
Morning class was history.
As I copied down the years written on the blackboard, a folded note slid across my desk.
It was Han Taesan’s handwriting.
'Question of the day: How many steps are there in the main building staircase?
If you get it right, I’ll give you my Wollyeongrang snacks'
Holding back my laughter, I wrote down the answer and sent it back.
Taesan unfolded the note and frowned.
Looks like I got it wrong.
Taesan was the kind of kid who counted things like this very seriously.
During afternoon P.E., Seongho and Ihan got caught skipping class after making a bet over who could hang from the horizontal bar the longest, and ended up standing punishment at the edge of the field.
Behind the two of them with their arms raised, green barley swayed in the wind.
I saw Iriu pass by and secretly slip a candy into each of their mouths.
That was always how Iriu was.
The kind of kid who couldn’t just walk past someone getting scolded
These kids who are with me are the most precious ones, impossible to replace with anyone else.
Today, especially, there was a farewell gathering in the evening.
The one graduating tomorrow was Chae Yuri noona.
The noona whose name had stayed at the very top of this year’s ranking board all year long
We hung paper stars from the cafeteria ceiling, and Teacher Yoon brewed us Eunha tea with twice the usual amount of honey.
The teacher lifted her cup and said those words she said every year.
Teacher "Eunha Garden is your home away from home. Even after you leave, don’t forget it."
Yuri "Once I’m outside the gate, I’ll write letters for sure. Don’t you dare forget me, all of you."
Yuri noona laughed as she clinked her glass against ours.
We all applauded. But at that moment, for just a brief instant, a strange thought brushed past me.
Had I ever actually read the letters from the seniors who left through the gate?
Unhak "Noona, your tea’s getting cold."
Unhak tapped my cup.
I took a sip of the warm Eunha tea.
It was sweet.
What was I thinking about again.
I couldn’t remember right away.
The lights-out bell rang, and the seven of us sneaked up to the rooftop as always.
The night sky was so full of stars it looked ready to pour down.
I was leaning on the railing, looking up at the sky.
When I hunched my shoulders because the night sea breeze was colder than I’d expected, something soft was draped over me.
Riu "If you’re cold, say so."
It was Riu’s school jacket.
Riu casually looked back up at the sky, but my ears were burning for no reason, so I just counted the stars.
Taesan "I wonder who among us will go outside the gate next year."
Taesan muttered.
Jaehyun "Whoever it is"
Jaehyun sat up.
His profile in the moonlight looked more serious than usual.
Jaehyun "The one who leaves first waits outside the gate for the rest of us until everyone else arrives. Promise."
Seongho "Oh, hyung’s cool."
Seongho teased him, but the first to hold out his pinky finger was Unhak.
Unhak "Promise! Everyone, link fingers!"
Seven pinkies tangled into one beneath the starlight.
Back then, I really believed it.
That someday, all of us would meet again outside the gate
On the way back to the dorm, I stopped walking in front of the window at the end of the hallway.
To the north of the island, beyond the forest we weren’t allowed to enter, a small light was blinking.
It was a place where the Eunha Garden map showed nothing.
When I rubbed my eyes and looked again, the light had already gone out.
I tilted my head and went into my room. So I didn’t see it.
At the same time, someone’s back as they quietly went down the opposite staircase alone
