##the moment we were very happy The afternoon at the resort passed more slowly than the morning.
After checking in, the whole class almost immediately headed down to the beach.
No one remembered the unfinished math assignments anymore.
And no one wanted to mention the entrance exam.
Two days.
Just two days.
And everyone silently understood that they had to have as much fun as possible.
“Don’t go too far into the water!”
Their homeroom teacher called from shore.
“Yes, ma’am!”
The whole class answered in unison.
Three minutes later, more than half the class had run far beyond where the teacher was standing.
Mai Chi was the first to go.
“An! Hurry up!”
An laughed as she took off her sandals.
“Slow down!”
“No! The waves are perfect!”
Mai Chi grabbed her hand and pulled her into the water.
The freezing seawater touched An’s feet.
She jumped and stepped back.
“Cold!”
“It’s not that bad!”
Mai Chi splashed her.
An immediately splashed her back.
“Mai Chi!”
The two of them chased each other along the beach.
Behind them, Khang stood on shore watching.
His camera was still in his hand.
Click.
One shot.
Then another.
An was laughing.
Not the small, restrained laugh she usually had in class.
This was the kind of laugh that needed no holding back, with her hair tousled by the wind, her pant legs half-soaked, and her sandals still in her hand as she ran after Mai Chi.
Khang looked at the screen.
He kept the photo.
“Aren’t you getting in?”
An turned around and asked.
“I’m taking pictures.”
“You’re always taking pictures.”
“If I don’t, who’s going to save these memories?”
“Then... let someone else take them.”
“I wouldn’t trust them.”
“You’re so picky.”
An said that and ran toward him.
“Give me the camera.”
“No.”
“Let me see.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Private photos.”
An narrowed her eyes.
“What have you taken?”
“Secret.”
“Khang.”
“Yeah?”
“Give it here.”
“No.”
An reached for the camera.
Khang stepped back.
“Hey, careful!”
But it was too late.
A big wave surged onto shore.
They both lost their balance.
An staggered, and Khang instinctively reached out to steady her by the shoulder.
The two of them stood still for a few seconds.
The seawater receded around their feet.
An looked at him.
Khang looked back at her.
Then An looked down.
“...Is the camera okay?”
Khang stared at her.
“That’s all you care about?”
“Yep.”
“What about me?”
An burst out laughing.
“You already know how to swim.”
Khang shook his head.
“You really are...”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
An ran ahead.
“Mai Chi! Save me!”
Mai Chi’s voice floated back from a distance:
“Play by yourself! I’m taking pictures!”
An turned around.
“Traitor!”
Laughter rang out again.
Khang stood behind them.
He raised his camera.
Click.
Near sunset, the whole class sat in a circle on the sand.
Some people passed around snacks.
Some sang.
Some told ghost stories, then got so scared they wouldn’t dare go to the bathroom alone.
Mai Chi grabbed the speaker.
“Now it’s time for the talent show!”
The whole class shouted:
“No!”
“Too bad! You still have to sing!”
Mai Chi turned to An.
“An, get up here!”
“No!”
“Sing a song.”
“No.”
“If you don’t sing, I’m telling everyone your secret.”
An immediately stood up.
“Don’t you dare.”
The whole class erupted in laughter.
Behind his camera, Khang tried not to laugh.
An shot him a glare.
“You’re laughing too?”
“No.”
“You obviously are.”
“The camera shook by itself.”
“Does your camera know how to laugh?”
“My camera is smart.”
An burst out laughing.
In the end, she still sang.
She wasn’t good enough to make the whole class fall silent.
But she wasn’t bad, either.
Some people sang off-key.
Some just sat below and clapped along.
And Khang didn’t take pictures while An sang.
He only watched.
Maybe because he wanted to remember that moment with his own eyes.
That night, the whole class played games outside.
Yellow lights hung in rows.
The sea breeze moved through the treetops.
After they finished playing, everyone gradually returned to their rooms.
An didn’t go back right away.
She stayed sitting on a stone bench near the shore.
Alone.
Khang found her there.
“Knew you’d be here.”
An turned around.
“You’re not asleep?”
“Not yet.”
“We’re sightseeing tomorrow.”
“I know.”
Khang sat down a comfortable distance away.
The two of them looked out at the sea together.
There weren’t many stars tonight.
Only the lights from the resort reflected across the water.
After a long while, An asked:
“Khang.”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever thought about... what everyone will be like later on?”
“Yes.”
“After we finish the exam.”
“Yes.”
“What school will you go to?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Khang looked over at her.
“What about you?”
An fell silent.
She used the toe of her shoe to draw a line in the sand.
“I guess... I don’t know yet, either.”
Khang didn’t ask anything else.
But this time, An wanted to talk.
She drew in a breath.
“Actually—”
“An!”
Mai Chi’s voice rang out from a distance.
“You’re here? Everyone’s looking for you!”
An turned around.
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
Mai Chi ran over, then looked at Khang.
“You’re here too?”
“Yeah.”
Mai Chi looked at the two of them, then at the sea.
“How romantic.”
An immediately stood up.
“Mai Chi!”
“What? I was talking about the sea.”
Khang laughed.
An turned away, hiding her own smile.
She had been about to say it.
But in the end, she still couldn’t.
Maybe because she wanted to hold on to a little more time.
At least until this trip was over.
That night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Khang sat alone by the window.
He opened his camera.
Dozens of photos appeared.
Mai Chi laughing.
The whole class running along the beach.
Their teacher standing on shore, calling everyone back.
A pair of forgotten sandals.
A bag of banh mi.
And An.
So many photos of An.
He stopped at one picture.
An stood in the middle of the sea, her hair flying in the wind, with the whole class laughing and playing behind her.
He didn’t delete it.
He didn’t edit it, either.
He only named the photo:
“friend.”
Khang stared at it for a long time.
Then he turned off the camera.
Outside, the waves continued their steady rhythm.
Tomorrow, they would go out together again.
Laugh together.
Take pictures together.
Return to school together.
But no one knew that some ordinary days would later become the days people remembered most.
And this trip would be the same.
It wasn’t over yet.
But perhaps, somewhere, a summer had begun on that very night.