[EDITING]
When Jeon Jeongguk's sister gets engaged to his friend's brother, almost everything changes.
Desperate to hold onto a fragile friendship, Jeongguk is willing to get himself into sticky situations--even to the point of ruining his sister's...
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Chapter Twenty-Eight: Farewell, for Now
The past two weeks had slipped by as if they were a dream, and now, graduation day had arrived. Surprisingly, Jeongguk had been pretty thankful for the hellish end-of-term exam weeks that had taken a firm hold of his body and soul, causing him to spend all his waking hours reading, studying, eating and repeating. It had taken his mind off of things. It had given him no room to dwell on everything that had been going on and it had given him space because, as everybody was using up every minute of their time to study, he hadn't met Taehyung at all.
And now, he was graduating. It felt weird, sitting in the auditorium next to people he did not really know (for they were sitting in alphabetical order) knowing this was his last hour as a high school student. He felt a weird mixture of relief, nostalgia, fear, dread and excitement.
It felt good to close this chapter of his life, to leave behind the petty drama and gossip, the awful teachers, the cramming of useless information, the morning fatigue (though he supposed that would continue pestering him throughout his entire life). He felt a sort of impatience to get on the stage, he wanted to get it over with; he was losing his mind listening to the headmaster bore on and on about whatever it was he was saying – Jeongguk wasn't listening.
But while he wanted nothing more but to walk up to the headmaster and snatch his diploma into his hands, he felt apprehensive about leaving. Perhaps everyone did. During these pivotal moments of one's life, one always begins thinking about everything but that moment. The future. The past. What has changed. What might change. And right now, he was doing exactly that. Thinking back on how small he had been when he first started this school – he hadn't even been into photography back then. And thinking about what was to come. What his future had in store for him. He was going to university in the fall, to study photography. While he knew it wasn't exactly a stable job, he wanted to do nothing else.
Then, the headmasters winding voice suddenly started calling forth the students, name by name and before he knew it, he was walking across the stage, shaking hands with the headmaster, the assistant headmaster, acquiring the diploma and walking back to sit down. Just like that, the moment was over, one of those moments people remembered for the rest of their lives, so quick to pass.
He watched as his friends, one by one, graduated. He himself hadn't been awarded for his studies, unsurprisingly, for he hadn't exactly been an excellent student. Jimin didn't get an award either, but Taehyung got awarded for his swimming and Mina – because what else would you expect from her? – was crowned valedictorian.
Just like that, it was over.
Next, everybody went to the gym, not to work out, but to celebrate.
Around the gym, the students' homeroom projects were on display, as well as a buffet table of various drinks, cakes, and snacks. Some people walked around, holding little paper plates, and looked at the creations, mostly trying to find the ones their daughters or sons (or however they were connected to the students) had made. Some were hugging. Some were crying, mostly the girls, standing in groups, kissing everyone goodbye. Jeongguk found Jimin who gave him a fist-bump as if to say, "we did it".
