As graduation from 12th grade drew closer (even though they were only in 11th grade), the school held a midyear celebration to honor all the outstanding extracurricular groups, including Static Radio.
That night, the school auditorium was decorated simply but festively.
Bara, who usually performed onstage, was sitting beside Kiki in the audience this time because another band had gotten the performance slot that night.
"Not used to seeing you down here instead of onstage," Kiki teased.
"It's okay once in a while. This way I get to keep you company," Bara replied, squeezing Kiki's hand under the table.
Della and Yuda, sitting across from them, secretly exchanged a look and smiled—the two friends who had witnessed the whole "wrong seat" story from the beginning as it turned into a relationship that had the entire grade swooning.
In the middle of the event, the MC announced a small award called "The Grade's Most-Supported Couple"—a silly prize based on a playful poll by the student council—and Kiki and Bara's names were called, greeted by cheers and laughter from the entire auditorium.
"They say we're couple goals, Ki," Bara said with a grin, holding up the silly certificate.
"That's not an official award, Bara," Kiki said.
"It's still an award. I'm putting it up in my room," Bara replied enthusiastically.
At the start of the new school year, conversations about college began coming up more often.
Kiki, who had dreamed for years of attending medical school at a prestigious university—conveniently located out of town—started preparing in earnest, enrolling in extra tutoring and studying more intensely than usual.
Bara, meanwhile, became more serious about pursuing music. He even started considering music school or a major related to audio production, which would probably be in a different city from Kiki's choice too.
One afternoon, while they were studying together as usual, Kiki suddenly fell silent, her eyes staring into the distance.
"What's wrong?" Bara asked.
"I'm thinking," Kiki said with a sigh. "We'll graduate next year.
Then we'll go to college—maybe in different cities, with different schedules. I'm scared... we'll end up like all those other people who were close in high school but lost touch once they got busy with their own lives," Kiki said, looking sad.
Bara was silent for a moment, thinking about the right words.
"Ki, I can't promise the future will be easy," he said quietly. "But I don't want us to stop fighting for this together just because we're afraid of something that might not even happen. What matters now is that we support each other in reaching our goals, and when the time comes, we'll find a way together to stay connected, whatever form that takes," Bara explained, sounding unusually wise.
After thinking it over for several days, Kiki and Bara finally sat down together and had a serious conversation about their future—not to make sure everything would be perfect, but to come to a realistic agreement.
"We're not going to force ourselves to attend college in the same city," Kiki said. "Our individual dreams are important, and I don't want either of us to sacrifice a dream just to stay close."
"Agreed," Bara replied. "But we're not going to stop communicating, no matter how busy we get. A video call every week, sharing the little things, and meeting up whenever we get a chance during break."
"And if either of us starts feeling tired or overwhelmed by this, we have to be honest and talk about it instead of keeping it bottled up," Kiki added, remembering Della's advice about that from the very beginning.
They shook hands jokingly, like they were drawing up a business contract, until they both ended up laughing.
"So it's official, huh? A long-distance relationship agreement for high school kids who might not even end up long-distance," Bara teased.
"Shut up. We might not even get accepted into our dream colleges," Kiki shot back, though she was still smiling.
What they both knew for sure was this: whatever happened in the future, they had already learned the most important thing from their relationship—that healthy love wasn't about holding each other back, but about trusting and supporting each other as they became the best versions of themselves.