17 DAYS TO GO | KWON SOONYOUNG

49

The sound of pen scratching against paper filled the quiet bedroom.
Morning sunlight streamed softly through the curtains, painting warm streaks across Kang Hana’s desk and the journal resting beneath her hands.

Outside, spring had fully settled into the city. Cherry blossoms drifted lazily
past her window while distant voices echoed from the neighborhood below.

Graduation day.

Hana stared at the page for a long moment before writing one final line.

There was a future where none of us made it here.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the pen.
The memories still lived inside her.

The rain.

The funeral.

The unbearable silence.

Back then, she had barely known them.
SEVENTEEN were just boys from school—the performers everyone watched during festivals and talent shows before forgetting them the next morning. They were talented. Loud. Strange. Too much for most people.

And Hana?

Hana had been invisible too.
The girl whispered about in hallways because of her father. The outcast who sat quietly near windows and left classrooms before anyone could speak to her.

Their worlds had never overlapped properly.

Not until the funeral.
Not until she watched Soonyoung’s friends break apart around his coffin while the rest of the school carried on like nothing had happened.
Not until she met Death beneath the rain.
And not until seventeen impossible days changed everything.

A soft knock sounded against her bedroom door.
“Hana?” her mother called gently. “We should leave soon.”
Hana blinked.
Hana swallowed hard before answering quietly, “Okay, Mom. I’m coming.”

She looked down at the journal one last time.

Maybe seventeen days isn’t a long time.
But sometimes it’s enough to save a life.

Slowly, she closed the journal.
The faded gold letters on the cover caught the sunlight.

Seventeen Days.

The school was complete chaos.
Students flooded the courtyard in white graduation uniforms while teachers desperately attempted to organize people who clearly did not want to be organized.

Parents crowded near the gates carrying flowers and cameras. Somewhere near the auditorium entrance, someone dropped an entire bouquet and started crying immediately.

And in the center of all that noise—
SEVENTEEN.

“SEOKMIN, STOP JUMPING!” Seungkwan yelled.
“I’M CELEBRATING!” Seokmin shouted back loudly before throwing both arms around Mingyu dramatically. “WE RAISED THESE HYUNGS WELL!”

“We literally did nothing,” Mingyu laughed while trying not to fall over.
Nearby, Hansol stood filming the chaos on his camcorder while Minghao calmly sipped iced coffee like he wasn’t surrounded by insanity.

“Why are all of you screaming this early?” Jihoon muttered tiredly.
“Because emotions are BEAUTIFUL!” Seokmin declared.
“Emotions are loud,” Jihoon corrected.

Chan, meanwhile, looked personally devastated.
“This is so unfair,” he complained for the tenth time that morning. “Why are all my favorite people leaving me?”