The Unspoken
The baseball field was just a short walk away, a dusty patch of grass where they had all spent countless afternoons during their childhood. Now, at seventeen, it was a place of reflection, not just fun and games. The world outside of Ssangmun-dong was beginning to loom larger, and yet, the field was a safe haven, a space where they could be themselves without the weight of the future pressing down on their shoulders.
Deok-sun walked alongside her friends, the golden light of late afternoon bathing the scene in a nostalgic haze. Sun-woo, always the mediator, chatted with Dong-ryong, trying to calm him down as he rambled about some minor school crisis. Taek, as usual, remained quiet, his attention elsewhere—probably thinking about his next baduk match or, perhaps, just lost in his own quiet world.
Jung-hwan, however, stayed close to Deok-sun, walking a little slower than the rest. There was a stillness between them now, a silence that felt different from before. They had shared so many memories, yet there was something unspoken now that lingered, something neither of them was willing to address.
Deok-sun felt the air between them thicken, and it made her stomach tighten. As they approached the field, she could see the others already running around, but she was lost in her thoughts. The realization was creeping in—she was growing up, and with it came the painful awareness of change.
"I was thinking," Deok-sun said abruptly, trying to break the silence between them, "about what happens after school. You know, after everything changes." She glanced at him quickly, trying to gauge his reaction. "Do you think things will be different? Like… will we still be friends?"
Jung-hwan didn't answer right away, instead looking ahead at the others who were now starting a game of baseball. The question seemed to hang in the air between them, unacknowledged but heavy.
"You know we'll be friends," he said finally, his voice low but reassuring. "Things change, but we'll still be here." He paused. "We always find our way back."
His words were comforting in a way, but there was an underlying tension to them, something she couldn't quite place. They both knew things would change. College, new relationships, new lives—nothing would be the same. Deok-sun wasn't sure if that thought excited her or terrified her.
As she watched her friends play, laughing and shouting, the unease began to melt away. For the moment, all she could do was be here, in this place with these people. And maybe, just maybe, she could figure out the rest as time went on.