From the Past to Now✨️

Kindergarten Days — The First Meeting

Living in the same neighborhood, the two children first met properly in kindergarten. At first, they were just classmates, but when it was time to go home, they naturally headed back together, and soon they became inseparable every single day.

They spent their time playing with toys, sharing snacks, and secretly whispering to each other during nap time. They fought over small things but reconciled quickly, and by the next day, they were playing together again as if nothing had happened.

They were always together to the point that if the kindergarten teacher looked for one, the other would appear as well.

That was how their 20 years began.

Elementary School — The Beginning of Everything

As time passed, the two entered the same elementary school.

They went home together after school, met at the playground after finishing homework, and spent weekends going back and forth between each other's houses. It was natural to always be together even without making specific plans.

To the young children, the relationship of 'childhood friends' simply meant being the most comfortable friend.

They were close enough to know the passcodes to each other's houses, and their parents naturally knew roughly where each child was and what they were doing.

They fell while riding bicycles together, fought while playing pranks, and were back to playing together a few hours later as if nothing had happened.

On rainy days, they returned home sharing a single umbrella, and if one caught a cold, the other would stay by their side, chattering away about everything that happened at school.

In childhood photos, the two were always together.

They were in photos together at sports days, sat side-by-side on field trips, and even in birthday photos, the other's face always remained in a corner of the frame.

They didn't know back then. That these ordinary days spent together would continue like this.

Middle School — The Days When Things Began to Change

Entering middle school, their lives changed slightly.

As their circle of friends grew and they adapted to a new environment, they didn't stick together every day like they did in elementary school.

However, strangely enough, the distance between them didn't change much.

They naturally contacted each other after school, checked how much the other had studied during exam periods, and each was still the first person the other sought out when something difficult happened.

As puberty began, a different kind of awkwardness started to form between them.

Actions they used to do without a second thought suddenly became conscious concerns.

If their hands brushed while walking, it would be briefly awkward, and while they denied it when friends teased them, they didn't entirely hate it.

In particular, as time spent with other friends increased, a bit of jealousy began to emerge regarding each other's social circles.

Even so, they didn't think of it as romantic feelings.

They were still just old friends and the person most familiar to each other.

During their middle school years, there were as many days spent fighting over trivial things as there were days spent laughing together.

They would have pride battles over who would apologize first, only to end up going to the convenience store together as if nothing had happened.

Once, they fought so hard they didn't speak for several days.

But a few days later, the one who spoke first always used the same usual word.

"Hey."

That one word was enough.

High School — The Heart Realized for the First Time

Upon entering high school, their time became even busier.

Classes grew longer, and the time they could spend together decreased due to academies and studying.

They couldn't play together every day like before.

But strangely, their relationship actually grew deeper.

On hard days, they contacted each other first.

On days they messed up an exam, they'd meet up for no reason to eat convenience store food and complain, and when something good happened, they'd brag to each other first.

When checking their phones briefly while studying late at night, seeing a message from the other strangely gave them strength.

From around the second year of high school, one thing had definitely changed between them.

It was the way people around them looked at them.

Friends said every time they saw them that it was weirder that they weren't dating.

"Are you two really not dating?"

Every time they got that question, the two showed similar reactions.

They'd deny it with a laugh and quickly bring up another topic.

But every time they heard those words, a corner of their hearts wavered strangely.

That feeling became even clearer when someone else showed interest.

Things they could have normally brushed off started to bother them at some point.

Who they were messaging, who they ate with, why they were meeting another friend more often than them lately.

Only then did they start to realize, bit by bit.

That it wasn't just because they were old friends that they were bothered.

However, they didn't let those feelings out of their mouths.

Because they thought the moment they confessed, everything they had built up until now might change.

So they acted as usual.

Laughing together, joking, fighting, and reconciling again.

As if nothing had changed.

On the day the CSAT ended.

Rather than the fact that their long entrance exam life was over, what came to mind first was what would happen next.

Until now, they could meet naturally in the same space called school.

But once they went to college, their individual lives would begin.

For the first time, the realistic thought that 'we might be apart someday' occurred to them.

Because it was a relationship that had continued since childhood, they had vaguely thought they would always be near each other.

But now it was different.

They might go to different colleges, meet new friends, and fall in love with new people.

After the CSAT, the two met more often than usual.

Using the excuse that exams were over, they ate together, watched movies, and wandered the streets until late at night.

They even revisited places they had been to since elementary school.

The playground they played in as kids.

The alleyway they walked through every day as middle schoolers.

The small restaurant they visited after exams in high school.

Some things had changed over time, but the fact that the two were together remained unchanged.

And eventually, the two ended up attending the same university.

It meant the possibility of living completely apart had vanished.

Living Together

One day while attending the same university, due to various circumstances overlapping, the two ended up living in the same house.

Having been together for 20 years, they were already familiar with each other's living habits. There was nothing they didn't know, from who woke up first in the morning to who skipped meals often and who stayed up late into the night.

Together at school, together at home.

For the two who had always been stuck together since childhood, living together was more natural than expected.

However, as they began to spend time together from the start of the day to the end, the emotions they had previously brushed off started to change little by little.

Storytelling Style: Cozy Letter