“Promise?” Karin asked with her sweet smile, holding out her pinky.
“Yeah,” Mada replied, the guy sitting across from her, as he hooked his pinky around Karin’s.
“Yay!” Karin exclaimed, spinning around in the city park where they were spending time.
“You that happy?” Mada asked as he took a picture of Karin in her happy state.
“Of course!” Karin replied, posing because she knew Mada always took pictures of her without telling her first.
“Thank goodness. If you’re happy, I’m happy too,” Mada said.
“When we graduate, we’ll work there together, okay?” Karin said, pointing at the government office across from the park. A simple dream, wasn’t it?
“Yeah,” Mada replied.
A happy smile brightened Karin’s face. Mada simply smiled as he watched her. They had been classmates who became best friends back in tenth grade. Their friendship was so close that quite a few of their friends would say that wherever Karin was, Mada was sure to be there too, and vice versa. They often spent their days off going out together, just like they were now.
Their friendship began when Karin received a message in her Gmail.
“Kariiiin,” someone wrote in the message.
After seeing who had sent it, Karin turned around and found her friend grinning widely.
“Why are you messaging me?” Karin asked bluntly.
“Hehe, text me back,” he replied.
Without reacting to her friend, Karin turned back to her computer screen and replied to the message.
From that conversation onward, Karin and Mada grew close, frequently texting and calling each other. They became two inseparable best friends.
“Mada, what are your dreams?” Karin asked while they were at a café.
“Why are you asking all of a sudden?” Instead of answering, Mada asked Karin the same question.
“I don’t know. It just suddenly popped into my head,” she replied, sipping her matcha.
“Leaving home, haha,” Mada answered.
Instead of looking surprised, Karin stared at Mada with a blank expression.
“I want to tell you something,” Karin said.
“What?” Mada asked.
“I think I... might go to college,” Karin replied, her eyes filled with sadness.
“That’s great, isn’t it? Why are you sad?” Mada asked, confused by Karin’s expression.
They were now in eleventh grade, and their promotion exam would be held the following week. A few days earlier, Karin had discussed her future with her parents after graduating from vocational high school. They had agreed to send Karin to college. With the times changing so quickly, it no longer seemed sufficient to rely only on a vocational high school diploma, and Karin had agreed with them.
“I’m sorry I’m going to break the promise we made last year at the city park.”
Mada fell silent.
“It’s okay. Your parents probably want what’s best for you.”
“You... don’t want to try going to college too?” Karin asked.
“Probably not. You know what my parents are like. How would I ever get their blessing to continue my education, especially outside the city?” Mada replied.
Karin and Mada had grown up in different families. Karin was the eldest child in a modest family that always tried to provide for her needs and gave her the freedom to choose, as long as she did not stray from the right path. Mada, on the other hand, was the youngest in his family and was always expected to obey his parents. He grew into a stiff, rigid person until he met Karin, who taught him to enjoy life more.