Jung jumped off the bridge into the slow-moving river below in a classic cannonball maneuver. He sank for several feet and then burst back out on the surface, laughing.

Kwang was treading the water next to him and looking at him with a weird look on his chubby face.

"What?" Jung asked suspiciously.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

Kwang spat the water from his mouth. "Last year, you sank like a rock in this very river, and you were so traumatized that you didn't return here for the next 3 months. Now you are swimming like a fish!"

Jung laughed so hard that he, too, accidentally got water in his mouth. "Well, I'm a fast learner, my friend!" he said.

"Is there anything you are not good at?"

"Hey! I learn to swim because I need to,” Jung said, as he remembered the 3 skill points he spent just to force his swimming skill to reach level 2, when he could have used those points for something else. “Just because you float whatever you do because of your fat ass doesn't mean everyone else can do that!"

"Oh hell no, you didn't just call me fat!" he roared as he attempted to headlock Jung. But Jung was like an eel and slipped away. They wrestled for a few more minutes before they were interrupted by another big splash as another of their friends jumped the bridge and into the river below.

“Ack! ” Sang-ki shouted as he got splashed once more from the recent human cannonball as he rested on the side of the river and continued to fish unsuccessfully. “Be careful, you guys! You almost dropped on top of me! ”

Meanwhile, Jung and Kwang continued to wrestle.

Both of the boys will never admit it, but the reason they were wrestling was the fact that the water was cold. It was the cusp of autumn, and the temperature of the air continued to fall in preparation for winter. The boys egged each other on who could last the longest in the freezing river.

"Are you ready to admit that you can not last as long as me in the cold?" Kwang asked hopefully.

"N-no," Jung said, still in a headlock, which he purposefully let his friend do to hide his rattling teeth. "I can do this all day!"

"Me too!"

Both were silent for a long time, and it was turning awkward. Then Jung said, "Would you settle for a tie?"

"Maybe..." Kwang said slowly.

Both of them walked near the edge of the river, still holding each other and ignoring the fact that they were both quivering. "Okay, we both rise at 3?Jung asked again.

“Yes, then we call it a draw! ”

"Fine," Jung said.

"One, two, three!"

Both of them stepped out of the water, but Kwang hesitated just a second longer than Jung to make his friend the first to touch the dry ground. "I WIN!! YEAHH!!" The bigger boy shouted in triumph.

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Jung stared at him in outrage. "You traitorous." But the cold got to him, and he hurriedly went to the thick blanket near their clothes besides Sang-ki. For a moment, he thought about chucking his friend's clothes into the cold river, but decided not to. He might be pissed at the cute kaiju, but even he can see that a retaliation like that will be too much of a dick move. He buried himself in the thick towel instead.

They had a good fire going in a nearby firepit, and both boys huddled for warmth. Despite the cold weather, both boys were grinning like idiots when they joined Sang-ki.

It was the great leader’s birthday, and for the next 4 more days, the government declared national holidays, and the kids decided to take advantage of no school to enjoy some vacation time. Jung looked up at the clear blue sky and realized that he won't have any more vacation holidays with his friend since this is their last year in high school and all of them will be too busy with their future.

Jung knew everyone was applying to every university and college available in the country in the hope of continuing with higher education. He knew most kids needed to get a full scholarship in order to study at one of the universities since their families could not possibly afford it on their own. Bank loans are almost unheard of in North Korea, and the money involved is not something you ask a relative or friend to borrow money from. Although he already has a scholarship from the principal, it was only for the tuition fee, the books he will study, and a few pocket money. He still needed money for school supplies, dorm fees, transportation, and other expenses. He hopes to get an additional source of allowance so that his university life can go smoother. He wanted to genuinely pass his college days with honors.

It wasn't just that he wanted to elevate the quality of life for his own family; he genuinely wanted to serve the fatherland as best he could.

Oh, great ancestors, he prayed. Please give me this one wish, and I promise to serve the fatherland with all my heart as all of you did. It is not that I don't think I cannot serve the great leader and my land by just being a farmer, but I believe I can do more good if I am educated and given a better position in life. Please, I won't ask for more, I promise.

Even until now, Jung has not yet chosen a class offered by the system. His future depended on it, and it was a hard choice. Certainly, the farmer or entertainer class is out of the window, but he still can't decide whether he wants to be in the crafter class or the scholar class. The former will help smooth his education by having more money that he could use, but the latter can help him excel and therefore evolve into an entity that can better help the fatherland.

His thoughts were interrupted when a group of other teenagers on a bike loudly crossed the bridge above them. There were 4 bikes and 8 kids. The boys pedaled while four girls rode behind the bikes.

Jung enviously watched them. He always wanted to have his own bike, but it was simply not essential enough for him to ask his parents to buy one. Even if he earns enough money to buy an old one himself, he knows he will feel guilty for not investing the money in their family resources instead. He sighed.

And then an unexpected sight caught his eyes. Eun Mei was leaning at the back of the second boy's bike, and she had this excited laughter on her face.

Jung could feel the heat of envy redden his face even more, despite the cold weather. At that moment, he would have given up his right arm to be that boy with the bike.

Garam is one lucky guy, Jung thought sadly.

Again, Eun Mei and the other girls laughter can be heard above the river and into the bridge, and Jung mercilessly suppresses his longings to the back of his mind. He sighed and smiled again. He turned around and noticed Sang-ki was looking at him silently. Kwang is still dancing from one toe to the next and complaining about the cold.

"You really like that girl, huh?" he said quietly. Sang-ki never liked the girl all these years, but Jung's affection for the girl never wavered as they grew up. Why can't he see that the girl was trouble? The boy in the wheelchair thought. Jung is usually the smart one, and yet he always seems to have a blind spot for that girl.

Jung grinned at him as he extended his arm to warm up even more in the fire. “I do, but let's change the subject, shall we? ”

Eventually, they changed clothes, and Jung started to grill the small fish Sang-ki had proudly caught earlier. They ate the fish plus some fruits Kwang brought, and they talked about gossip in school and what was happening in town. Sang-ki’s connection gave him a lot of gossip in every clique in school. And he entertained his friends with stories about them plus a bit of opinionated editorial on how they should have dealt with it in a manner he thought was appropriate.

Jung laughed with Kwang, but his eyes kept going back to the healing bruises in Sang-ki’s arms and legs. When he reached level 15, Jung had access to another perk, and he chose “Healing Aura.”

The perk helps people or animals who are near him get slightly better and healthier within his vicinity. The limitation, however, is that only people with whom he has positive relationships can benefit from the aura. So Jung spent a lot of his time with the wheelchair boy in his first week after the incident with Chung-ho. The fact that Jung wasn’t there to protect his friend still eats at him every time he sees his friend. Remarkably, Sang-ki took it in stride. He felt bummed out that he gets beaten up for no apparent reason, but after he learned that Jung paid the guy a visit, he was content, and after several days in the hospital, he was back to his usual animated self.

After eating the fish Sang-ki had caught, Kwang excused himself to take a piss somewhere in the woods. Jung and Sang-ki were left for a while, and Jung smiled a sad smile at his friend.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what? ”

“For not being there.”

Sang-ki scoffed. “What I needed then was a nitro booster for my ride. You don’t see me cursing the wheelchair manufacturer, do you? ”

Jung chuckled weakly.

“Look, you idiot,” he said when Jung didn’t look convince. “You will never be there for all the occasions when the people you want to protect will be in trouble. You should learn that now. Just, when you are with me, be a good friend.”

Jung’s smile took some time to break out of his face, but it came out. “Alright, sang-ki. You have a deal.”

“Good,” Sang-ki said with a brilliant smile on his face. “Besides, I plan to live forever.”

“You know what?" Jung said, looking at his friend. “I think you just might.”

They laughed, and Kwang joined them. That memory was one of the most pleasant ones Jung had about his friends.

He didn’t know it then, but unfortunately,

Oh Sang-ki will die the following year.