"Hey, do you guys remember the promise we made on graduation day?"

Inside the cabin, where even the roads are cut off by heavy snow.

Gathered under the warm light of the fireplace, we clinked glasses for the first time in 10 years.

The faces of the friends I hadn't seen in a long time now looked like adults, but as the alcohol kicked in, their way of speaking returned to those days when they were nineteen.

The class president who was always boringly calm, the one who loudly led the atmosphere, and the one who quietly toyed with their glass in the corner—everyone was the same.

"It's really been a long time... How many years has it been since we all gathered like this?"

"Everyone was busy, lol. Ah, especially this guy Yoon Ihyeon! I heard you got a job at a big company?"

As familiar laughter and old memories were exchanged, a dusty album that might have slipped out of someone's bag appeared.

Inside was a photo from that noisy graduation day 10 years ago.

"Wow~ everyone is so young! It was so much fun back then, haha. Why is everything so boring lately?"

"Huh?? This is me?? My face looks like a total chestnut."

"A chestnut?"

"It's what kids say these days. You old man."

While making silly jokes and laughing as we pointed at the familiar faces in the photo one by one,

someone's fingertip stopped at a corner of the photo.

One, two, three, four, five, six...

Seven?

"...Uh?"

The sound of the blizzard hitting the window began to sound strangely loud.

The number of us who were supposed to meet today was definitely 6.

The number of us who always stuck together since school was also 6.

But... the number of people smiling brightly with us in the photo was 7.

I slowly raised my head and counted the people sitting around this table.

The friends who were naturally drinking and talking about old memories.

And the number of people sitting here right now is—