The first sign that summer was getting close was not the weather.
It was the school calendar.
Someone had taped a large sheet of paper beside the teachers' office, marking the remaining weeks before the summer break.
Students gathered around it during lunch.
Some counted the days.
Some complained that exams were coming first.
Others were already making plans.
Seojun stood in front of the calendar with his arms crossed.
"Twenty-six days."
Minjae looked at him.
"Until summer?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Until I escape this school."
"You've been saying that since first grade."
"And one day I'll succeed."
Daewon passed them on the way to the classroom.
"Where are you going during summer?"
Seojun turned.
"Nowhere."
"Why?"
"Because my parents say traveling is expensive."
He shrugged.
"I'm probably staying home."
Minjae nodded.
"Same."
Then he pointed at Daewon.
"You're going somewhere."
"Two weeks."
"Two weeks?"
"Yeah."
"And Aera's going to Busan."
Seojun's eyes widened.
"You two are becoming international travelers."
"Busan isn't international."
"It's far enough."
Daewon laughed.
The conversation ended there.
But the calendar remained in his mind.
Twenty-six days.
He hadn't thought about it that way before.
Only twenty-six days until summer.
Only twenty-six days until the workshop.
Only twenty-six days until he and Aera would be doing things they couldn't share immediately.
The thought wasn't frightening.
Just unfamiliar.
That afternoon, Daewon received another announcement.
The art teacher wanted a small group of students to help repaint the school hallway before the new semester.
Mr. Kim had recommended him.
Daewon almost said no.
He already had his workshop coming up.
He had school assignments.
He had been working on his own drawings.
And he had promised himself he wouldn't turn every opportunity into another project.
But when he saw the old hallway walls, he changed his mind.
They needed repainting.
That was all.
No competition.
No showcase.
No portfolio.
Just work.
The next morning, he told Aera.
"I agreed to help repaint the second-floor hallway."
She looked surprised.
"When?"
"After school for a few days."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
She smiled.
"That means you know."
Daewon thought about it.
"Maybe I just wanted to do something that doesn't need to become anything."
Aera nodded.
"I understand."
She had her own problem that day.
Sora had sent her a message.
Bring three photographs you don't like to the next session.
Aera stared at the message for almost a minute.
She had hundreds of photographs.
She could easily choose three.
But the ones she didn't like were usually photographs she had already forgotten.
She opened her camera folder.
There were pictures of flowers that were slightly out of focus.
A street corner where the lighting had been wrong.
A person walking out of the frame.
A cloudy sky.
A cup of coffee photographed too late.
A child looking away before she captured the moment.
She scrolled.
Then she stopped.
One photograph caught her attention.
It was from months ago.
It showed Daewon sitting alone on the rooftop.
He was looking toward the city.
The photograph wasn't bad.
But Aera had never liked it.
She couldn't explain why.
She looked at it again.
Then she realized.
The photograph showed him from behind.
She couldn't see his expression.
She didn't know what he had been thinking.
And because she didn't know, she had always felt as if something was missing.
Maybe that was why Sora wanted it.
Aera selected it.
Then chose two others.
She sent them to Sora.
A reply came a few minutes later.
Good. Don't fix them. Bring them exactly as they are.
Aera stared at the message.
She wasn't sure whether she liked that instruction.
But she followed it.
The hallway repainting began on Wednesday.
Daewon arrived after school wearing an old shirt his mother had given him.
There were already three students there.
Haejin was one of them.
She looked at Daewon's clothes.
"You look terrible."
Daewon looked down.
"Thanks."
"I mean the shirt."
"Oh."
She picked up a paint roller.
"Mine is worse."
Seojun arrived ten minutes later.
He looked at the paint.
Then at everyone.
Then at the door.
"I suddenly remembered I have somewhere to be."
Mr. Kim appeared behind him.
"No, you don't."
Seojun sighed.
"Worth trying."
They spent the first hour covering the old walls.
The work was repetitive.
Roll.
Move.
Dip.
Roll again.
There was something calming about it.
No one cared whether the wall was beautiful.
They just wanted the color even.
Daewon found himself thinking about his drawings.
He usually worked from small details toward a whole image.
Here, the opposite happened.
The wall was too large to think about as a whole.
You simply worked on the section in front of you.
Then the next.
Then the next.
By the end of the afternoon, one section was finished.
Daewon stepped backward.
It looked plain.
Almost boring.
Haejin stood beside him.
"Looks better."
"Yeah."
She looked at the wall.
"It's strange."
"What?"
"We spend so much time making things people will notice."
Daewon looked at her.
"And this?"
"Nobody will notice it."
She tapped the wall lightly.
"That's probably why I like it."
Daewon smiled.
"You've changed."
"So have you."
"Maybe."
Haejin picked up another roller.
"Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow."
On Thursday, Aera stayed late in the photography room.
She had printed the three photographs Sora requested.
They were lying on the desk.
The first was blurry.
The second was badly framed.
The third was the photograph of Daewon on the rooftop.
She looked at it again.
There he was.
Small against the sky.
His back toward the camera.
The city beyond him.
She remembered that day.
She had been sitting several meters away.
She had taken the photograph because he looked peaceful.
But now, looking at it again, she wondered whether she had misunderstood the moment.
Maybe he hadn't been peaceful.
Maybe he had simply been quiet.
Aera picked up the photograph.
She turned it over.
On the back, she wrote:
I don't know what he was thinking.
Then she stopped.
After a moment, she added:
That's why I kept it.
Sora read the note the following day.
She didn't say whether it was good.
She only asked,
"Why did you take this photograph?"
Aera answered honestly.
"Because I liked how he looked."
"That's not enough."
Aera looked down.
"I wanted to remember him."
"That's closer."
Sora placed the photograph on the table.
"Photography isn't only about knowing what you're looking at."
Aera listened.
"Sometimes it's about admitting that you don't."
Aera looked at the image again.
She understood.
Not completely.
But enough.
By Friday, the hallway was finished.
The new paint made the corridor brighter.
There were still scratches near the bottom of the wall.
One corner had a slightly different shade.
Seojun had managed to leave a tiny handprint behind a noticeboard.
The teacher said it would be cleaned later.
Nobody was especially proud of the result.
But Daewon liked it.
It felt useful.
As they packed their things, Haejin looked at him.
"Are you going to draw the hallway?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I already know what it looks like."
Haejin smiled.
"Good answer."
Outside the school, Aera was waiting.
She had her camera bag with her.
"How was it?"
"Finished."
"Did you learn anything?"
Daewon thought.
"I learned painting walls is harder than it looks."
Aera laughed.
"Anything else?"
He looked back toward the school.
"Sometimes it's nice to make something that doesn't need anyone to remember who made it."
Aera became quiet.
Then she said,
"I think I like that."
They started walking.
The evening was warm.
There was no rain.
No special event.
No photograph taken.
No drawing made.
Just the two of them walking home.
After a few minutes, Aera asked,
"Are you nervous about the workshop?"
Daewon thought about lying.
He didn't.
"A little."
"Me too."
"About what?"
Aera took a moment.
"Being somewhere where nobody knows me."
Daewon understood immediately.
At Haneul Middle School, people knew her.
They knew she was quiet.
They knew she took photographs.
They knew she spent time with Daewon.
Teachers knew her work.
Sora knew her habits.
Her classmates knew how she reacted when someone teased her.
But in Busan, none of that would exist.
She would just be another student with a camera.
Daewon felt something similar.
At the youth arts center, nobody would care that he had won a school exhibition.
Nobody would know about the hidden garden.
Nobody would know about the drawings he had made over the past year.
They would see only what he brought.
Maybe that was frightening.
Maybe it was also freeing.
"You don't have to be the same person there," Daewon said.
Aera looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"You can be someone who hasn't done everything yet."
She smiled.
"So can you."
"Yeah."
They walked another few steps.
Then Aera said,
"Maybe that's what I'm looking forward to."
"What?"
"Being somewhere nobody expects anything from me."
Daewon nodded.
"I think I am too."
The road ahead split at the familiar corner.
Neither of them stopped immediately.
They walked a little farther than usual before finally slowing down.
Aera looked at him.
"Twenty-five days."
Daewon smiled.
"You counted?"
"No."
"You did."
"I saw the calendar."
"Sure."
She laughed.
Then she turned toward her road.
"See you Monday."
"See you."
Daewon watched her leave.
This time, he didn't think about summer.
He didn't think about the workshop.
He didn't think about becoming better.
He simply stood there for a moment, watching the person he cared about walk home.
Then he turned toward his own road.
There was still time.
And somehow, knowing that made the coming change feel less frightening.
Not because nothing would change.
But because they had time to change slowly.