Mint Is Pure Love - Chapter 26

I opened my eyes to morning light.

“…….”

Normally, I’d be fantasizing about grabbing the collar of whoever invented first-period classes, but today I sprung out of bed the second I woke up.

Showered, shampooed, dried my hair—then half-heartedly tried using a round brush before giving up and just ran a comb through it.

I put on my neatly hung school uniform, waved off my stepmom who was trying to push cereal into my hands, and stepped out into the yard.

6:58 AM.

My steps were light, like spring rain on the grass. I floated down the steps, landing gently. By the time I reached the front gate, the early summer air had sunk deep into my lungs. I slowly pushed the gate open.

Clang. The soft metal clink behind me.

6:59 AM.

Then—whirrrrrr—the smooth, familiar sound of a bicycle wheel spinning.

And there he was. Cha Seokyung, just like always.

He didn’t ride past me. Instead, he got off his bike and walked over, pushing it by hand. Just like he had every day for the past few weeks.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Then, keeping about two steps between us, we started walking downhill. Together. Just like always.

“Can you believe finals are next week already? Ugh…”

“I kinda like it. We get out of school early.”

“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to cram like crazy. Me? I go straight home and start memorizing stuff for the next day.”

Seokyung gave me a quick side glance.

“Well… maybe if you studied before finals week…”

I shot him a glare.

“And people wonder why I’m the one who gets ignored in group chats…”

He snorted. Seokyung had been laughing a lot more lately. I glanced at him, a little distracted, then looked down at his hand.

When we walked side by side like this, sometimes our hands would brush—but not on days when he’s holding his bike. Weird how I missed that a little.

Trying not to dwell, I changed the subject.

“You’re good at studying. You must have a ton of college options. Where’re you thinking of going?”

“Dunno. I’m not even sure I want to go.”

“Wait, what?!”

His grades were stellar, but he spoke with zero regret, like it didn’t mean much to him.

“My brother’s taking time off from college to work. I don’t see why I should pour money into school unless I have a good reason. And I don’t really have one.”

Sometimes I forget things like that.

That Seokyung’s on a scholarship. That he delivers newspapers every morning. That his brother is the only one earning money at home.

When he’s standing in front of me, so composed and sharp, it’s hard to believe any of that applies to him.

“…But you have good grades. You could probably get a full scholarship in college too.”

“Yeah, well… who knows how I’ll do on the CSAT. What about you? Got a dream school?”

“Me? Uh… Yeonoh University.”

His eyes quietly studied my face. Lately, I’ve gotten better at reading his thoughts from that look.

“There it is. That look.”

“What look?”

“The ‘You? Yeonso?’ face. Like you’re trying to be polite, but your brain is screaming get real, Yeonseo.”

I mimicked his skeptical expression, which made him laugh again.

That stupid, beautiful morning smile.

“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… Yeonoh’s cutoff is right after Korea National. You’d need killer CSAT scores.”

“I know. But still—dream big, right?”

Seokyung didn’t argue. He just nodded, calm and cool.

“Hey, did you know that if we enter college the year we graduate, we’ll be ‘O₂ Class’?”

“‘O₂’?”

“Yeah, 2002 class. O-two. Oxygen. Get it? ‘O₂’? So clever, right? Pffft…”

It cracked me up again. I thought it was hilarious the first time I heard it. Still did.

But Seokyung didn’t laugh. Instead, he just stared at my face like he always did when I laughed. That was something new I’d noticed: when I smiled, Seokyung never looked away.

“Hey, did you hear the World Cup’s gonna be in Korea?”

“Yeah.”

“Think we’ll do well?”

“Well… we’ve got a decent coach this year. You?”

“I dunno. If we were good, I probably would’ve known already. I hope we win, though…”

He didn’t respond right away. Just kept walking beside me.

Our mismatched sneakers fell into a slow, matching rhythm down the hill.

Then he spoke, voice low.

“You know… by then, we’ll be twenty.”

“Yeah.”

“Wanna watch it together? See how we do?”

He said it like it was a given that we’d still be in touch two years from now.

“With beer?”

“I feel like you’ll still be drinking strawberry milk.”

Excuse me?

I glared at him for teasing me, but of course, he laughed again—his smile annoyingly radiant even in the morning.

“You’re acting like I’ll just agree to meet you.”

“Well, you know… air is always around.”

It felt strange. I knew he was joking, saying he’d be like air—always close by, unnoticed—but it stirred something in my chest.

He, meanwhile, looked as calm and casual as ever. I found that kind of annoying.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Think about it?”

His gaze brushed my cheek again.

“If Korea loses… I’ll meet you for a drink to cheer you up.”

“And if they win?”

“Then what’s the point? We’ll just celebrate on our own.”

“So the only way to see Ji Yeonseo… is if Korea loses.” He chuckled softly.

The downhill road came to an end, feeding into the main street. From here, other students usually hopped on buses, and we naturally split up.

I headed to the left bus stop. Seokyung climbed onto his bike and rode off to the right.

He said he’d be like air. But as he moved away, the air felt… different. Like I couldn’t breathe the same.

It was a morning filled with excitement, a hint of nerves, and the tiniest bit of hope.

Days like that kept happening.

During lunch, I’d wait until my classroom was quiet, then sneak up to the 4th floor. I’d unlock the room with the key Seokyung gave me, shut the door, and claim my private little landmark.

Sometimes he’d leave a strawberry milk, or chocolate, or an old English poetry book on my desk—one with clear signs it had been read.

Once or twice a week, he’d join me there for lunch.

“You’ve already come twice this week. Don’t come too often.”

I’d tease him like that, and he’d give me this look—like I was an ungrateful tenant. But behind it, there was a flicker of something else. Disappointment, maybe?

“Keep talking like that, I’ll start coming every day.”

“Says who?”

“I already want to.”

I laughed like it was a joke, but he was completely serious. Calm-faced and honest.

Sometimes, when I saw that version of him, something stirred inside me—something like a wild impulse.

I imagined walking across the school field with him during lunch, waving to friends who knew us, whispering about the things we always talked about—right here in this quiet room.

And maybe… maybe I could handle all those curious stares, if I was with him.

But for now, I liked our current pace. I had a secret landmark. And in it, small gifts were waiting for me.

We texted every day. Even random thoughts always got a reply. I wanted to enjoy this easy rhythm a bit longer—days I could breathe in like air.

These were the calmest days of my high school life.

Kim Eunho, who used to cry at the drop of a hat when our eyes met, seemed to be avoiding me now. No more dramatic “let’s get back together” scenes in front of classmates. Everyone was distracted by finals and the upcoming summer break.

If things could just stay like this for one more year… or even half a year… wouldn’t that be perfect?

It didn’t feel like such a foolish wish anymore.

Not with someone like Seokyung around.

***

“Something good happen lately, Yeonseo?”

“Me? Why?”

“Your face is glowing.”

“I’ve always glowed, you just never noticed.”

We were folding laundry on the couch when my stepmom suddenly said that, and I felt weirdly flustered. I casually turned my face away.

“Should we change your name, sweetie?”

“My… name? Where did that come from?”

She kept folding my brother’s tiny clothes, glancing sideways at me.

“Everyone else has ‘Min’ in their name—Mingyu, Minjae… but you’re the only ‘Yeon.’ It always bugged me a little.”

Her tone was light, but her face was serious—like she’d been holding this in for a long time.

“We were gonna call you Yeonjae or Yeongyu, but Grandma insisted the boys needed their own name pattern. She literally threw a fit and lay down like she was dying. I’ve never gotten over it.”

My stepmom was usually easygoing, someone who knew how to stay on Grandma’s good side. But when she did blow up, not even Grandma could stop her.

I could picture it—her losing it over something like my name. My nose stung a little.

“Unique names are good. Makes you special. I’m the only ‘Yeon’ in this house full of Mins.”

“Your mouth—who did you inherit that silver tongue from?”

Then my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I tossed down the towel to check.

[What’re you doing after the end-of-term ceremony?]

Obviously, it was Seokyung.

There were still three weeks until break, but… what am I doing after? Until now, I’d never had anyone ask me that. No one to ask me to hang out.

Just being able to wonder about it made me giddy. I started typing back, smiling.

It was the start of a warm, peaceful summer at eighteen. The kind of summer I truly wished would last forever.

And for a while, I even believed it could. I thought… maybe I could handle the weight of something real between us.

But, as always—

Not a single thing in my life would go easily. Not even this.