Season 4: Chapter 1. I’ll Remember (1)
The international tournament had begun in winter. Everyone assumed they would return to Korea before winter ended, but they remained in Japan well into full-blown spring. Although it wasn’t quite summer, Japan’s late spring already felt scorching.
So-Yeon once lay sprawled in the pavilion beside the schoolyard and said, "Ah... what a summer."
The present spring felt like summer, but it truly was midsummer back then. The blinding heat pierced through the vibrant green leaves like arrows. It felt like the kind of heat that seared everything.
As such, the archery club grew even busier. Summer was the season for archery when the body loosened easily and bowstrings slackened just right. Still, even the best archers couldn’t escape the summer heat. It was miserably hot.
I mumbled while stuffing my mouth full of ice cream, "What a summer? It’s still summer."
"Don’t you get it?"
"Huh?"
"It’s just something people often say."
"What a summer?"
"Yeah, it’s something you say after something big ends. Like when they realize a dreamy midsummer night is really over. But for us, it’s just beginning."
And she was right. The archery tournament hadn’t even started yet. Summer was still in full swing. Maybe it was from the sun or something else, but her face looked flushed as she changed the topic.
"In Japan, they have firework festivals in the summer. Did you know that?"