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The early morning sky was still a soft shade of pink as Wonwoo turned off the car, leaning back in his seat. He glanced at the clock on the dashboard—6:45 am.

Another school year was starting, but this time it was the first day of high school. Senior year. The year that would mark the end of their time as high school students.

He took a deep breath and checked his phone. A text from the group chat popped up.

Mingyu : Wonwoo, are you alive? You need to start texting back in the mornings!

Wonwoo shook his head with a smirk, quickly typing in a reply.

Wonwoo: I'm up. Just waiting for Areum.

It was a routine. Him and Areum always went to school together, ever since kindergarten. They were inseparable, always had been.

His fingers drummed slightly against the steering wheel, a nervous habit he had whenever he was waiting for her. His heart always seemed to pick up speed when she was around. And he hated it.

A few moments later, he saw her—Areum stepping out the front door, her backpack hanging loosely over her shoulder. She waved at him, a wide grin spreading across her face. He couldn't help but smile back. It was something he'd seen a thousand times, yet it always made his heart skip.

Areum climbed into the passenger seat, tossing her bag on the floor with a sigh.

"Good morning!" She greeted brightly, slinging the seatbelt across her chest.

"Morning," Wonwoo replied, keeping his tone casual, even though he felt the familiar nervousness creeping in.

He had no idea why it was still like this after all these years. They were best friends. He should be used to it.

"Ready for senior year?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

He grinned. "Ready as I'll ever be."

As Wonwoo turned the engine on, he made sure he connected his phone to the car Bluetooth before handing it to Areum so she could play her usual morning playlist. He started driving towards their school as she played random songs, screaming the lyrics to each song as loud as she could.

Wonwoo glanced at Areum out of the corner of his eye. He loved seeing this side of her. Happy, energetic.

He hated to admit this, but he'd been in love with her ever since first grade.

And she had no idea.

"Hey," she said, lowering the volume. "Have you talked to the guys?"

"Mingyu texted me," he replied. "He's already at school."

"Of course he is." She rolled her eyes. "He's always the first one to show up. Seungkwan is probably still asleep."

"And Jun's probably relieved he doesn't have to deal with Seungkwan's morning energy." Wonwoo chuckled.

"And Vernon's just... Vernon." She shrugged.

Mingyu, Seungkwan and Areum were probably the most energetic out of the six people in the group. Wonwoo, Jun and Vernon were the quiet ones.

"Are you nervous?" She asked suddenly, her voice soft.

"Kind of," he replied. "But we'll be fine. We've got this."

She looked over at him and smiled. "Hell, yeah! We've got this!"

Wonwoo smiled back, his heart still doing the funny thing it does whenever Areum looked at him.

As they drove into the parking lot, they watched as the students greeted each other. Wonwoo pulled into his usual parking spot, turned off the engine, and glanced over at Areum, who was now removing her seatbelt.

"Ready?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Let's go."

They both got out of the car and headed towards the main entrance, where they were instantly met with the familiar faces of their group.

"Wonwoo! Areum!" Mingyu shouted as he waved at them, causing a few people to glance over at them.

"You guys are late!" Seungkwan said with a dramatic sigh.

Jun nodded. "You were last to arrive. You were always early."

"Not today." Areum laughed. "I had to wait for Wonwoo for so long!"

"Hey, I was right on time!" Wonwoo protested, though he couldn't help but laugh. "Areum takes forever to get ready."

Areum shot him a playful glare. "You're just jealous because I take longer to look this good."

Vernon, who had been silent, gave them a small smile. "You both look fine."

Mingyu rolled his eyes. "Can we just get to the point? We need to check our schedules."

They pulled out their phone to check their schedules.

"No way!" Areum gasped.

"We have all our classes together!" Seungkwan yelled.

The group cheered, hugging each other and giving each other high fives, earning weird looks from the other students passing by.

"Come on, let's go check out our first class," Jun said excitedly.

The group made their way through the hallway, the sounds of chatter and lockers slamming filling the air. Wonwoo glanced at Areum, he couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked when she laughed at something Mingyu had said.

"Here's our first class, English," Mingyu announced.

The group walked into the classroom and sat in the first three rows. Mingyu next to Vernon, Jun next to Seungkwan, and Areum next to Wonwoo.

"How was your vacation, Vernon?" Areum asked Vernon as he turned around to face her.

"It was fun," he answered. "I went to Thailand with Sof, we had so much fun."

"That's so cool!" Seungkwan joined. "I've always wanted to go there!"

"We should all go together," Mingyu suggested.

"I don't think my mother would let me." Areum pouted.

"I'll convince her." Wonwoo smiled, bumping her shoulder playfully.

Areum smiled at Wonwoo before their teacher walked in, and their first class of senior year finally began.