Vampire | ATEEZ

3.5 holy shit they made it

its 5:37 in the morning and Zoya had never awoken this early for anything in her life. she went to the bathroom and undid her hair from the tight french braid of last night, resulting in perfect waves to her liking. she put her hair up and starts to wash her face, prepping it to do her makeup. getting ready at 5 am is so new for her that she can't help but smile at the absurdity of it all.

zoya kim is getting ready, to get to campus on time.

these were words she never thought would come together to form such a sentence, but they did and she got face-ready in no time. as she left the bathroom she was greeted by her friend jiwoo, curler in hand. they gave each other a look of encouragement and went ahead to get ready. zoya had decorated her cap, her friends had made fun of her for doing so but she loved the flowers she had stuck to the square cap, a quote from her favorite childhood book slapped with purple letter stickers in the middle that read out:

Oh! The places you will go - Dr.Suess

she might tear up now, but she had time until she was done with it all. 250 assignments, 45 deadlines, and a million breakdowns later, she was here; above it all with people she'd grown to love and cherish. this was not the same girl who had been bullied in school all her life, who kept quiet and observed from afar, who had only one friend throughout her life. this was a different zoya, an older, healed version; one who stood up when needed and spoke out when necessary. so much had happened in this one year, yet it seemed like it had been just yesterday when she was trying to grow accustomed to the musky-smelling hallways and the taste of black coffee. she had learned so much, emotionally and academically and she was ready to excel in both.

as she slipped on her lavender dress and beige heels, she realized just how different she'd become. as she walked out of the room she was greeted by her other roommates in suits. crisp tied park seonghwa looking more handsome than ever helping another devilishly beautiful jung wooyoung with his tie as he fixes the cuffs of his shirt on his own. she greets them with a smile and it is returned with compliments and wishes. for now, she is happy.

the girls squeal when they see each other for the first time which alarms the boys but they are quickly hushed as soon as they see them engulfing one another in a tight embrace, they geek and go on and on about their appearances which makes wooyoung attempt too.

Wooyoung:
"hwa you look so pretty"

Seonghwa:
"why thank you wooyoung, you look great yourself"

silence.

wooyoung clicks his tongue in annoyance but soon recovers upon realizing this quite literally isn't his first graduation. before he had reformed he was in his second year of university and after he transformed he stopped going to classes and thought of himself as a higher being. this ego was quick to come to an end when hongjoong knocked some sense into him but by that time his attendance was already too low and he couldn't take his exams. as a token of support all the members came together and applied to the same university as wooyoung and the elder ones studied with the younger ones too. to them knowledge was power and something they felt that even after their abnormal self, they could pursue. with multiple rules and regulations laid out, they had set out into the academic world once again and were now finally graduating.

the hot afternoon sun was out, beaming with pride. the group had got together, excited and cheerful. fellow graduates were standing underneath the heated canopy beside the old abandoned halls getting ready to walk onto the beautiful field. everyone made sure their cap and gown were set up nicely. the time was near for all the graduates to line up and start heading down to the field to begin the ceremony.
after everyone had the chance to walk, they were seated in their assigned chairs, zoya and jiwoo together with san and wooyoung, the others separated by their respective courses. everyone's names were being called off one by one and their classmates made their way across the picturesque stage. the girls cheered especially loud for kim hongjoong after he was called to the stage and was spoken highly of by the host for his immense efforts and hard work in his field. zoya made eye contact with him on stage and noticed a secret smile he had reserved just for her.

people's hearts are visible from their eyes and at that moment it felt like her heart had just skipped a beat.

•✞•

San:
"ZOYA! COME TAKE A PICTURE WITH US!"

Zoya:
"coming, jeez don't yell!"

it was after the ceremony, everyone was laughing. meeting up their loved ones for pictures, but no one was there for the ten of them and zoya didn't ask why no one was present to congratulate them. it seemed comfortable to ignore it and live in the moment with the people who mattered, as they stood to take a picture wooyoung yelled out:

Wooyoung:
"GUYS! just remember how san tripped on stage!"

the group bubbled with laughter as the older pouted, attempting to redeem himself to no appeal. the images came out to everyone truly happy courtesy of wooyoung's remark.

the battleship had sunk beneath the waves and the shore was near. the shore had bore home. yet, strangely enough, it felt like they could go anywhere but home. what they didn't realize was slowly the lines blurred and home became them. to zoya, home became the random boys she had met in the University of South Korea, Seoul.