When They Become One | Seventeen

Thirty: The end

Only ten minutes were left until the thirteen boys' test would be finally over. Wonwoo was serving the last customers in the cafe as the others were getting the cafe ready for the closing, "Thank you for coming" Jisoo said bidding the last customers a goodbye before closing the door and turning the sign for it to say "closed". "the principal coming here right now?!" Seungcheol exclaimed with widened eyes as he was on the phone with their homeroom teacher making the other boys turn to him in confusion "Okay thank-you for telling me. We'll get the cafe ready for him" he said ending the call then turning to his group of friends "Guys get the cafe ready. The principal is coming to grade us for the final test" Jeonghan and Mingyu made their way to the kitchen and started making different foods. Seokmin, Minghao, and Chan were setting a table for the principal. Meanwhile, the rest of the boys were fixing themselves to look presentable.

The principal and their homeroom teacher finally arrived and were now sat at a table for two. "Hello Mr.Kim, we prepared the best seller foods and drinks for you. You can eat whatever you like." Seungcheol said signing for Minghao and Wonwoo to put the food on the table. Mingyu started explaining each dish and he finally came to the last one "This one here is my personal favorite. It's a lemon cake made by me with specially picked lemons we got from Seokmin's father's farm. I squeezed the freshly picked lemons and mixed it with some different ingredients to make this. I'm personally very proud of this and I hope it suits your taste" the principal took a bite from the lemon cake and enjoyed it till the last bite. The boys can tell he liked it a lot. The principal finished eating and wiped his mouth then stood up "first of all thank you for the food. Second of all, I didn't come here to eat, but I came here to tell you that..." he stopped and looked at everyone in the room with a serious glare making the thirteen boys' sweat drip then he cracked a big smile and clapped his hands confusing everyone again "That you all passed the test with the perfect score. I had not much fate in you but you seemed to prove me wrong by being the best team I've ever seen. Despite the big number of people in the group, you all worked like one person and led the cafe perfectly. Congratulations you all have officially graduated school!" he announced happily making all the boys' eyes widen and look at each other in shock "Congratulations boys, your official graduation ceremony will be held two days from now" their homeroom teacher said smiling brightly.

The day of their graduation finally came. Some of the boys' families came. Seungcheol's father, mother, and brother along with his wife. Jeonghan's mother, father, and sister. Jisoo's mother and father came all the way from America to attend his graduation and canceled the work they had in America. Junhui and Minghao's family couldn't attend since they were currently in China but they sent both of them video messages congratulating the couple on both their successful graduation and their beautiful relationship. Soonyoung's mother came with his sister, his father had work but he still messaged his son. Wonwoo's mother and younger brother came, his father didn't come because first, he has work, second, he doesn't want to see his ex-wife aka Wonwoo's mother. Both Jihoon's parents came, they were the most excited since they really wanted to meet the boy that changed their son's life which is Soonyoung. Seokmin, Mingyu, Seungkwan, and Hansol's parents came along with their siblings.

Chan was the only one to not receive anything from his parents. He didn't know why, but he had small hope that either his mom or dad would suddenly show up and pull him into a hug. Obviously, that didn't happen and he was really devastated. All his older friends were introducing their boyfriends to their parents or getting their face stuffed with bread as they sobbed. But Chan had no one, he looked at the floor trying to hold back his tears. Just as he was about to break down in tears, he was snapped out of his thoughts by someone putting their hand on his cheek and making him look at them. The youngest looked up and saw all his friends and their families surrounding him and Jeonghan smiling fondly at him while his hand was on his cheek "Congratulations Chan, you graduated" Jisoo spoke softly and Seungcheol put a necklace of flowers around the little boy's neck quickly ruffling his hair. Chan took another look at the people around him who were smiling sweetly at him and burst into tears. He felt so thankful for all the love he got. Sure, it wasn't his mother or his father, but it was the people he loved more and knew that they loved him back.

"That wasn't what I expected to happen," Junhui said scratching the back of his neck slightly confused "Channie why are you crying?" Jeonghan asked in a panicked manner. "I love you all so much," Chan said and cried more as the boys' faces softened and a smile lingered on their faces "Chan, dear, don't cry" Jihoon's mother said hugging the small boy. That was when Chan froze. For the first time in so long, he felt the warmth of a mother, the warmth that could melt the biggest iceberg at the north pole, it was like his heart was fully sealed and all his wounds were healed. He looked up at Jihoon's mother with a non-readable expression still frozen in place. The mother noticed and was about to pull away thinking the boy was uncomfortable, but the little boy pulled her back and went closer to her. He was so close, the mother could feel his heart beating so fast. She realized how much warmth and love the boy needed and her eyes brimmed with tears, she couldn't imagine Jihoon being in this state ever. She quickly wiped her tears and hugged the boy tighter "If you need anything, we're here. Don't be afraid to ask, I'm your mother from now on" she said shocking Chan, her husband, and her son.

Once everything was finally settled, the thirteen boys an their families set a camera and put the counter at 5 seconds. "Dad hurry you'll miss the photo!" Mingyu yelled quickly shoving his father so he could be in the frame, but that caused him to trip and fall. The camera took many pictures of the scene that just happened, one picture was Mingyu falling and everyone looking either shocked or facepalming at how clumsy the boy was. "Mingyu! You ruined the picture" Seungkwan sassed at Mingyu and groaned as Mingyu smiled sheepishly "Sorry" "Whatever, I'm not doing that ever again" Jihoon said staring at the picture in his hands of the big family that consisted of his friends' and boyfriend's families and them. The thirteen boys he can't ever live without. He would seriously go and thank the principal for bringing them together and giving them the chance to have this amazing friendship but he can't because that's too embarrassing.

"1"
"2"
"3!"
The boys shouted and threw their graduation hats in the air before falling on the grass and laughing "Finally! No more school!"

After Minghao said that, the boys started thinking, "Wait if there's no more school then..that means..we won't be able to see each other anymore.." Soonyoung said sadly and sat up looking at his friends who were sitting up straight too "Why would we not see each other again? I mean we live together" "well soon we'll all separate for college and get busy with our future..." Jisoo explained with a sad tone. Then suddenly, Seungcheol stood up "No! That won't separate us! We're a family remember? We'll stay in touch even if we're busy with our future. How about we promise each other every day at that cafe we worked at? We'll eat lunch or breakfast there together! So we can be able to stay in touch!"

And ever since that day, the boys never broke that promise. Every day they would meet at that cafe. They would talk, laugh, and do everything together. They grew together and stayed together even in the hardest times. Their friendship wasn't something that would be easily broken, and they knew it.

They met as thirteen lost teens and now they became one

END

Yayy! Finally the book is over. Thank you so much for your support.
I never expected this story to get this far so thank-you again.
Please look forward to my new Seoksoo story, I'm really excited to release it and hope you are too. Ily goodbye loves~