They met at the riverside in the late afternoon.
The same place where they used to sit without thinking. The same place that now felt unfamiliar, like it remembered things they were trying to forget.
No one joked.
No one checked their phone.
They sat in a loose circle, space between them filled with everything unsaid.
"I'll start," Mio said suddenly.
Her voice didn't shake this time.
"I told Ren how I felt. He didn't lead me on. He didn't lie. This isn't anyone's fault."
Ren looked at her, surprised.
Yuna listened carefully, hands folded in her lap.
"I don't want this group to fall apart because of me," Mio continued. "Or because of feelings we didn't choose."
Ren exhaled. "Mio, you didn't break anything."
She smiled sadly. "Then why does it feel broken?"
No one answered.
Yuna spoke next.
"I'm leaving," she said, calm but firm. "That's the truth underneath everything. Even if none of this happened… I'd still be leaving."
Ren's jaw tightened.
"But I don't want to leave like this," she added. "I don't want silence or guilt or unfinished things."
She looked at each of us.
"I want us to remember each other kindly."
Ren finally stood.
"I've been running," he admitted. "From all of you. From myself."
He looked at Mio. "I'm sorry for hurting you."
Then at Yuna. "And I'm sorry I couldn't stop loving you."
Yuna's eyes softened. "You don't have to apologize for that."
The tension cracked—not loudly, but enough to let air in.
I spoke for the first time. "We don't have to solve everything. We just have to be honest."
Mio nodded. "And stay. At least for the days we still have."
They made a decision then.
Not to fix the future.
Not to promise anything impossible.
Just this:
They would finish the summer together.
No more disappearing.
No more pretending.
As the sun dipped low, Ren sat back down.
Closer this time.
Yuna rested her hands on the grass, breathing deeply.
Mio leaned against my shoulder, exhausted but lighter.
That night, the group chat changed its name.
"Until the End of Summer."
No one commented.
No one needed to.
The days left were few.
But they would face them together.