Blue and Grey | Jungkook fanfic

Two

Your post had 20 more likes in the past week.

Go Eun stared at her phone screen.

"Looking at that Instagram account again, aren't you?" Jeong Hui, Go Eun's best friend, asked, giving her a playful smack on the shoulder. She was from Go Eun's class since the start of university, and they'd been friends for about two years already.

Go Eun showed Jeong Hui the number of likes on her most recent post. "Didn't know it'd blow up like that." She gave Jeong Hui a small smile.

Someone at the side clicked their tongue. Their homeroom teacher was shushing them.

"Let's talk later," Go Eun whispered.

The emcee came out from behind the stage curtains — a fellow classmate of hers. He made the introductions, and invited the principal and the guests of honor to make their speech.

The graduates of each class went on stage accordingly when their names were called out. Go Eun was in the second class — one of the better ones.

Dressed in a black graduation gown and a hat, Go Eun felt weighed down. Perhaps it was also because they were more than a hundred people watching her as she stood up and walked to the stage, taking the stairs up to where the principal was with a bouquet of flowers and a graduation certificate.

Go Eun was well aware of all the eyes on her. She didn't search, but she was sure two of those pairs belonged to her parents. They were probably sitting amongst the rows of seats, staring at their failure of a daughter receiving her undeserved graduation certificate.

Jeong Hui gave Go Eun an excited nod below stage, silently giving her the moral support that she much needed.

Go Eun shook her head, as if trying to shake those thoughts away, and realized she'd stopped midway up the stairs. Her face burned, and she urged her legs to continue up the remaining few steps.

The principal, a smiling old lady of about sixty, handed Go Eun the flowers and muttered a few words of encouragement, before presenting her with a certificate rolled up with a red ribbon. Go Eun bowed in thanks and posed for the camera with the principal, all the while putting on a horribly forced smile.

As much as Go Eun wanted to graduate, she had many forebodings of her graduation. She knew her place. She knew that she'd never be enough for her parents. Her parents had never saw anything adequate in her. All she ever wanted was some recognition for what she had achieved in her life. Was that too much?

She could never be who she was, because of the public eye, because of her parents, because of... everything. There is no reasonable way to explain this, her father would constantly remind her when she went out. You just have to know that you should always carry yourself with pride.

As she grew up, Go Eun had understood the pressure on her parents. Maybe that was why she found herself able to empathize with them more. But sometimes she wished they did not have to go through all of these.

There was a price to pay in exchange for riches and luxury.

Go Eun received her certificate from the principal, fumbling with the smooth and round surface. Bowing one last time to the principal, Go Eun clutched the certificate scroll and bouquet of flowers tightly, scared that they might slip away from her, returning to her seat. Her breathing was shaky. She didn't know why she was so shaken up. There wasn't anything to fear in a graduation ceremony.

"Go Eun, you were daebak on stage, you know!" Jeong Hui whisper-shouted, shaking Go Eun's shoulders. Go Eun shrugged. She didn't like it when people gave her praises. They were never a part of her life.