Seorin opened her suitcase on the wooden floor and began moving her clothes one by one onto the small shelf beside the bed.

T-shirts, folded neatly. Cardigans, hung up. Her charger and toiletries lined up side by side in the corner of the desk.

Her movements were too orderly for such a crowded room.

Behind her, Minji sat cross-legged on the bed, drying her hair with a small towel. The faint scent of shampoo mixed with the cold mountain air still slipping in through the gap in the window.

“Honestly...” Minji glanced at her with a small smile. “I never imagined I’d end up sharing a room with the debate queen herself.”

Seorin slowly zipped her pouch shut.

“Let’s just mind our own business.” she replied without turning around. “I’ll look for another room tomorrow morning.”

The towel in Minji’s hands stilled for a moment.

“Wow,” Ara’s voice came from beside the window, light as ever. “We’re just sleeping, Han Seorin.”

Seorin slipped a book into her bag without lifting her head, as if that voice were just another part of the noise filling the old house.

***

The first night didn’t really give her a chance to sleep.

The beds in the room were narrow. The cold air made everyone pull their blankets higher, and without realizing it, they all shifted closer to the nearest source of warmth.

Minji’s foot brushed against Seorin’s calf several times. An elbow shifted. Half the blanket was tugged away.

Seorin opened her eyes in the dark, then slowly pushed Minji’s leg away with her knee.

A few quiet minutes passed.

Then it happened again.

A short breath slipped out through her nose. She pulled the blanket up to her chin, closed her eyes again, then woke when Minji’s shoulder nearly pressed against her arm.

In the end, she sat up carefully.

The lights were off. Only a thin wash of moonlight seeped in through the curtains.

Seorin gripped the edge of her bed and slowly dragged it closer to the wall. Wood scraped softly against the floor.

Once there was enough distance, she lay down again with her back to the room.

The cold from the wall pressed against the back of her cardigan.

At least now she could breathe without having to push someone’s foot away every few minutes.

***

Morning came too quickly.

Seorin opened her eyes slowly. Her neck ached from sleeping in a bad position, and the morning air in the room felt colder than it had the night before.

The beds across from her were already made.

Blankets folded.

No one was there.

She sat up carefully, her hair falling over part of her face before she tucked it behind her ear.

Outside the room, footsteps and laughter already filled the main house.

Seorin took longer than necessary to make her bed before finally stepping out.

The moment the door opened, sunlight hit her eyes.

The front yard was already busy. A few students sat on the steps eating breakfast, while others walked back and forth carrying buckets and work supplies.

“Good morning, princess.”

The voice arrived together with the faint vanilla scent that had become far too familiar.

Seorin’s jaw tightened slightly before she even turned.

Ara stood not far from the porch, biting into a rice cake with an expression far too relaxed for such a cold morning.

Seorin turned around before Ara could say anything else.

***

The bathroom behind the main house was empty.

Her shoulders lowered slightly once the door closed.

She shut it behind her, set her toiletries near the sink, and turned on the faucet.

Water hit her fingertips at once.

Her hand pulled away before she could stop herself.

It was so cold her fingertips went numb immediately, as if she had just touched the surface of ice.

Seorin stared at the faucet for a few seconds before looking around again.

No water heater.

Of course.

She turned the faucet a little farther, as if the temperature might change if she gave it enough time.

It didn’t.

“Unbelievable,” she muttered under her breath.

A moment later, the water touched her face, and her shoulders shot up as she forced herself not to react.

She squeezed her eyes shut in front of the sink.

In the end, Seorin only washed her face and brushed her teeth as quickly as possible before giving up.

When she came out of the bathroom, her fingertips were still cold.

***

Seorin returned to the room with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

She had just closed the door when another one opened again.

“You showered in cold water?”

Ara came in carrying a change of clothes, a towel draped over her shoulder. The ends of her hair were still damp.

Seorin looked at her flatly from the bed.

“Don’t joke with me. This place really doesn’t have a water heater?”

Ara raised an eyebrow.

“What for? There’s a hot spring out back.”

Her steps stopped in the middle of the room. Her gaze moved to the blanket still wrapped around Seorin’s body.

“Wait... don’t tell me—”

“I prefer cold showers.”

The answer came out too quickly.

A short silence fell before the corner of Ara’s mouth slowly lifted.

“That’s insane.”

Seorin shot her a sharp look.

Ara only laughed quietly as she walked out again, her shoulder bumping the doorframe because she was too tall.

The door closed.

Seorin yanked a shirt out of her suitcase a little too hard before dropping it back inside.

***

After breakfast, all the students gathered in the small field near the village hall.

Village Head Choi stood in front of them in a thick coat, his voice heavy with age. The morning air was still filled with a faint mist, making people’s breath visible whenever they spoke.

“We hope we can help one another during your stay here.”

Seorin stood among the other students with her hands tucked into the pockets of her cardigan.

There were no cars.

No tall buildings.

Only mountains, cold air, and leaves rustling softly in the wind.

The first day was spent getting to know the village.

Some students began taking photos from the start of the walk. Minji even asked people several times to take pictures of her in front of the traditional houses.

Eventually, Seorin took out her phone too.

She photographed the narrow path, the old wooden fence, then the mountains in the distance.

Her lens moved once more—

and stopped.

At the edge of a small cliff near a red maple tree, Ara stood alone.

Her hands were tucked into the pockets of her hoodie. Her dark hair moved gently in the wind.

No smile.

No sound.

Through Seorin’s phone screen, Ara looked unfamiliar in a way that was hard to explain.

Seorin’s thumb hovered over the screen a few seconds too long.

Then her phone froze.

“Ah...”

She pressed the button several times.

Nothing.

When she lifted her head again, Ara had already turned toward her.

Seorin immediately lowered her phone.

***

The next day, they were divided into five work groups.

Names were called one by one in the small hall near the village school.

Seorin glanced at the group list on the board, then felt her breath ease slightly when she didn’t find Ara’s name in her group.

But Minji was still there.

Their group was assigned to the village elementary school.

The children filled the room the moment they arrived. Small footsteps ran back and forth, chairs scraped, workbooks lay half-open across desks.

Seorin stood too straight near the teacher’s desk.

A few children glanced at her before running toward the louder, friendlier members of the group.

On the other side of the room, Minji was already surrounded by several little kids tugging at the hem of her clothes and laughing, as if they had known her since morning.

Seorin lowered her gaze to the stack of exercise books on the desk.

Then someone tugged at the edge of her cardigan sleeve.

“Noona.”

Seorin turned.

A little boy stood there, holding a math workbook with a serious expression.

“Help me.”

She accepted the book slowly.

“Which part?”

The child pointed at a fraction problem.

At first, Seorin’s voice sounded too formal for children their age. But a few minutes later, two more kids came closer.

Then three.

Small chairs began shifting around her.

“If you divide this part by two first...” she said, writing slowly in the workbook.

“Whoa,” one of the children exclaimed softly. “Noona’s smart.”

Seorin paused for a moment before continuing to write.

Beside her, Minji held back a smile.

“Kids like smiling faces more,” she said quietly.

Seorin glanced at her.

Then the corner of her mouth moved faintly when the child in front of her miscalculated again.

And the children really did start staying around her.

***

The fourth day.

Seorin still hadn’t found another room.

She had tried asking a few other girls, but their answers always turned awkward the moment Minji and Ara’s names came up.

Now she sat alone on the back steps of the main house, drinking warm tea from a paper cup.

“We’ve been getting along lately, haven’t we?”

Ara appeared from nowhere and sat one step below her, biting into an apple.

“Why do you still want to switch rooms?”

Seorin lowered her cup.

“How can you sleep next to Minji?” she replied flatly. “She sleeps like she’s fighting for survival.”

Ara’s shoulders moved slightly as she held back a laugh.

“That’s all?”

Seorin gave a short nod.

Ara took another bite of her apple.

“Easy.”

Seorin stared at her for a few seconds longer.

Ara only bit into the apple again, as if her answer required no further explanation.

***

That night, the sleeping arrangement changed.

Minji slept on the innermost side, near the wall.

Ara slept in the middle.

“What a completely useless solution,” Seorin muttered, turning her back to them.

Ara only pulled her blanket up to her chin.

“Just sleep, princess.”

A few minutes later, the lights were turned off.

And for the first time since arriving in the village, Seorin slept without waking up again and again.

***

The next morning, her body felt much lighter.

She had just stepped out of the main house when a female student approached her, curiosity written far too clearly across her face.

“You’ve been sharing a room with them for a few nights now...”

The girl lowered her voice.

“Is there anything that shows they’re actually dating?”

Seorin stopped walking.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean... they seem really close.”

Seorin looked at the girl for a few moments before answering.

“They sleep normally.”

Her voice was calm, but sharp enough to make the girl straighten at once.

“What exactly were you hoping for?”

“Oh—no, I was just—”

“It’s none of my business,” Seorin cut in, walking again. “And it isn’t something other people need to talk about.”

***

A week passed quickly.

That day, all the groups worked together to clean the village school.

Seorin was assigned to the book storage room with Dongchul.

For the first time in days, she could work without hearing Kang Ara’s voice every few minutes.

Wooden shelves were carried outside. Old books were wiped clean of dust. Dongchul joked several times about how creepy the storage room was, and eventually, Seorin laughed quietly too.

But the peace didn’t last long.

Ara appeared carrying a trash bag.

Then she appeared again with a broken chair.

A few minutes later, Ara returned with a broom over her shoulder.

When Seorin and Dongchul went out to throw away trash—

Ara came out too.

When they lifted a folding table—

Ara was already holding the other side.

Seorin shot her a sharp look when Ara sat down at their lunch table and opened a can of juice as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Enough.

“Kang Ara.”

Ara looked up lazily.

“We need to talk.”

“How scary.” Ara stood, still holding her juice. “Let’s go.”

Seorin walked ahead, away from the noise of the school, until the students’ voices began to fade behind them.

They stopped beneath the maple tree near the back fence.

“What do you want?” Seorin asked directly.

Ara frowned slightly.

“What?”

“You keep showing up whenever I’m with Dongchul.”

The evening wind stirred the ends of their hair.

“Ara,” Seorin continued, her voice dropping a little, “you’re not that clueless.”

Ara stared at her for a few seconds.

Then she laughed.

Really laughed.

Her head dipped slightly, her shoulders moving with it.

“Are you serious?”

“Kang Ara—”

“I do like Dongchul.”

Ara said it too casually.”

Seorin’s hands went still at her sides.

Ara looked at her for one second longer.

Then the corner of her mouth lifted.

“I like messing with him.”

Ara laughed again. “I can’t imagine dating Park Dongchul. He panics way too easily.”

“Kang Ara.”

Seorin stomped one foot lightly before turning away.

“You’re so annoying.”

“Han Seorin.”

She didn’t look back.

Her steps stayed quick over the dirt path.

“If I really did like Dongchul—”

Ara’s voice came from behind her, lower this time.

“—what would you do?”

Seorin stopped walking.

Her fingers slowly tightened against the side of her cardigan.

Wind moved through the maple leaves above them, carrying the scent of earth and damp wood after last night’s rain.

A few students laughed somewhere in the distance, but the sound reached her as if muffled behind glass.

Seorin’s lips parted slightly.

No answer came out.