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We had the Christmas party yesterday.

Every Christmas, Santa Claus comes to the orphanage.

It’s not the teachers at the orphanage dressing up. There aren’t any male teachers to start with, and besides, if even one of the teachers were to disappear, the kids would notice right away.

The teachers have seen the kids grow up their whole lives. They’re practically their parents, so it would be impossible not to recognize them. I suppose very young children could be tricked, but…

One of the teachers’ relatives dresses up as Santa and comes to give out the presents that we prepared in advance.

We can’t always give the kids exactly what they ask for. No matter how much funding I might get from working, I can’t run things too loosely. Facilities can’t be maintained in their current state forever.

Still, we try to give them gifts that are as close as possible to what they wrote in their letters to Santa.

The kids were delighted.

Even the teenagers, who are not that much younger than me, seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. To them, the kids and the teachers here were family.

And today, there were visitors apart from Santa.

My seniors and my friends.

A magical girl, and the next-generation chairman of the biggest company in the country.

“I can buy the gifts just as the kids requested.”

I said quietly to Pang-pang.

“…If I buy them once this year, I’m going to have to keep doing it next time.”

If it were Pang-pang, she could manage that.

But still, I felt a bit guilty about asking for help indefinitely.

In the future, when I start earning a proper income, I wanted to help this place with my own money, proudly.

“Let’s think about it a bit more and decide.”

As I said in my small voice, Pang-pang smiled lightly and nodded.

*

Even though the Christmas Eve event ended so simply, our gathering afterwards was the real deal.

To be precise, it was after we finished playing with the kids on Christmas day.

We went out of the orphanage around four in the afternoon and found the party room that the seniors had reserved.

Even though they called it a party room, it was just a large space that was comfortable for hanging out. They said they had reserved it a long time ago to fit in with the Christmas schedule.

We weren’t going to spend the night, just using it until midnight, but that was enough.

The seniors weren’t completely over the hill yet, so we poured soft drinks into our glasses in a wholesome manner.

“Welcome, students, to hell.”

“No, it’s not even next year yet.”

“Normally, the real hell begins a year in advance.”

I had a feeling that even with a year left, I could do a lot of other things besides studying, but since most of the blame for that lay with me, I decided to just let it slide.

With the college entrance exam over, December was really coming to an end.

The seniors looked truly relieved. Even Chae-yeon, who usually had an expressionless face, was smiling.

“Now… it’s really not long left.”

Seo-hee suddenly said with a gloomy expression.

Winter break was coming.

These days, among high schools, some delay the winter break until a little later and start school again in March without a spring break afterwards, but for some reason, our school’s break schedule remained traditional.

I wondered if they were holding on to tradition or if the original creator simply reflected the time they went to school in this world.

Thanks to that, the seniors were set to graduate in February.

Although there were still two months left, strictly speaking, it wouldn’t be strange for them to say they were no longer our schoolmates.

“…”

Seo-hee saw that her comment had quieted us all and waved her hand quickly.

“Hey, don’t think too gloomily about it. It’s not like we won’t be able to meet again.”

“Right. Once we get to college, we’ll have even more time to meet.”

Yeon-woo chimed in, but we all knew.

It would feel completely different to meet the seniors as adults after we had played together as students.

Teenagers and twenties.

When I reach my twenties, I don’t feel that much has changed. The way I feel about myself has always changed gradually, and in fact, in my early twenties, there isn’t much of a difference in thinking from my teenage years.

But the way teenagers see people in their twenties is different.

There are numerous things teenagers can’t do, but those in their twenties can. And no one stops them around. It’s something they’re allowed to do.

Like smoking or drinking.

Going to clubs to dance with others or getting a boyfriend… the seniors in their twenties would surely indulge in things that would feel a bit frustrating for the younger teens watching them.

“…If there’s a way for us to stay as seniors and juniors, it’s this.”

As we fell silent, Chae-yeon opened her mouth.

“You all should go to the same university as us.”

“What? Is that it?”

I laughed shortly.

To say that we’d stay in a senior-junior relationship by going to the same university is a bit strange. After all, unless you’re in the same major, it’s blurry to call it a senior-junior relationship.

But Chae-yeon’s expression was completely serious.

“…Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

Chae-yeon said while looking at me.

“I wish we had become friends a bit earlier.”

Hearing that made me feel a little flustered.

“…”

I stayed silent for a moment, then said, “Well, we’ll still meet again soon anyway, after we become college students.”

As I said that, Chae-yeon fell silent for a moment before nodding.

“Right, I’ll even give you free tutoring!”

Yeon-woo said, giving me a pat on the back.

“I’ll definitely pass on the know-how you need to get into our school!”

“That’s a bit helpful.”

No, more than that, for friends to be saying they should go to the same university together.

How close can we be, I wonder?

…And it made me feel a little good that such people would say those things to me, a junior.

I chugged my drink. Maybe in a year or two, it would be beer instead?

I was curious about how Ha-yoon would react when she drank. Ji-hye seemed quite curious about alcohol. Jua, for some reason, seemed like she’d get really intoxicated—Pang-pang doesn’t care at all about alcohol, she won’t get drunk unless it’s caffeine.

The seniors seemed like they would all drink a lot.

Yeah, that’s it.

Even if affiliations change and people change little by little.

The seniors I know will continue to be seniors. Because that’s how I started to refer to them.

Anyway, I always just called them by their names, just names.

I figured I could maintain this relationship like this while slowly changing myself.

Somehow, thinking like that eased my mind a bit.

*

The way home was chilly.

It reminded me of the past.

Earlier this year, feeling similar weather, I had completely different thoughts than now.

I felt like I hadn’t accomplished anything, despite my efforts.

I wanted to be the main character of my life, but I ended up being a supporting role—

“…”

That doesn’t seem to have been the case.

“Do you all have something planned for the first?”

“Isn’t it probably a promise with the seniors or these guys? Is there really any meaning in asking?”

“No, it’s just out of courtesy.”

I burst out laughing at the sound of Ji-hye and Seo-hee chatting.

Everyone turned to look at me in surprise at my laughter.

Did I laugh too loudly?

…Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.

The weather is cold. Honestly, it’s so cold that I can’t stand it with my hands outside of my pockets.

But still, my heart wasn’t cold.

Because I have people who can empathize with me and be with me, whether I laugh or cry from this position I’m in right now.

“…Ah.”

As I looked up at the sky, I felt something cold touch my forehead.

When I stretched my palm up, a white, cold thing fell onto my hand.

It was snow.

“What a timely moment.”

Snow falling on Christmas, with my friends all together.

We all stopped in our tracks. Other people passing by also halted and looked up at the sky.

With smiles on our faces, we stood for a moment, letting the white snow drifting down fall on us.

I remember learning in textbooks that snow seen as a child is a symbol of innocence, whereas snow seen as an adult represents the hardships of reality.

It’s ironic that I’m feeling completely the opposite this year compared to last year.

Have I returned to that sense of innocence only now? After aging quite a bit?

Looking down, all the kids were staring at me.

I smiled brightly at all of them.

“Since it’s like this, do you want to stay over? The room might be a bit cramped, though.”

“I want to stay over!”

Jua quickly replied, then shut her mouth. We all laughed.

“Well, if the room is cramped, at least it won’t be cold. We’ll all be huddled together.”

Seo-hee replied on behalf of the group.

“Let’s buy snacks! While we’re at it, let’s buy a bunch for the kids.”

Yeon-woo said.

“I hope there’s no leftover cake? If they sell it cheaper, it’d be great if we could buy a lot. Let’s share it with the kids.”

Ji-hye added.

“We don’t have to make it cheap. I can buy it myself.”

As Pang-pang puffed her chest out, the kids went “Ooh!” in admiration.

Not that there are many people around here who aren’t well-off.

As I looked beside me, someone slipped their arm around mine—it was Ha-yoon.

Ha-yoon was smiling brightly against the backdrop of the falling white snow.

After returning her smile, I looked up at the sky for a moment before we all moved our feet together.

Tonight is surely going to be quite lively.

 

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