HEATHER, lee jeno。

🦢 | fly high

kang haneul

"may we have this batch's president, now, ceo kang haneul, to the stage to give a few words of encouragement please?"

claps and cheers erupted from inside, making me snap out of my thoughts when i heard my name being called. i laughed to myself and went up to the stage.

i held my hand out, signaling them to be quiet and smiled when they all did. i adjusted the microphone and began to speak,

"it's been so long since i stood in front of you all, how are you guys?" i stifled out a laugh, seeing all the familiar faces clearly, my brain racking through the memories for their names. 

they replied with 'we're good', 'we're doing great!' and more, and i continued with my impromptu speech.

"i still remember like it was only yesterday when we all passed our tests and graduated with flying colors, as we threw our caps in the air, cheering, and starting a new chapter in our lives.

i may not have been together with my friends or any of you guys, to see you get accepted in your favorite universities, but i'm really proud of us. i'm proud of what we have achieved as a class, as a batch, and what measurement of effort and perseverance we have made to be where we are today.

i don't care if you ended up to be a janitor, a guard, a ceo, an idol, because as long as you are doing what you love and you're doing your best, you're already living the life, and i'm proud to say that i have been in-charge of this wonderful batch, full of wonderful people.

to be able to hear my friends' achievements while i was in germany made me happy, even though they couldn't tell me in person. the first few months in a foreign country was hard, especially in a country you couldn't speak the language of.

but i managed to get by. what i'm saying is that, whatever situation we are in, we need to remind ourselves that this hardship that you are facing shall pass and life isn't as hard as we think it is.

there are moments in our life, in other words, different situations in our life are what makes life hard and it'll pass with time. i'll say this again as i've once said it in our graduation.

'i may not reach your standards, but i'm myself, this is me. your insults are just a way of saying that you're afraid of what i can achieve and it is what you cannot, and i'll keep on flying high and there's nothing you can do about it.'

so, batch 2018. i hope we keep on flying high! thank you and please enjoy the gathering."

i finished the speech with a smile adorning my face, i bowed at them and they gave me a standing ovation with tears running down on their cheeks. i walked back to my table and see june bawling her eyes out.

"you motherfucker, why do you always make me cry?!" june whined, and the whole dreamies except mark, chenle and jisung, laughed at her.

i sat down and the waiters began to serve us the food, and some of them recognized me, and they got flustered. i smiled and told them to relax themselves, and have a break.

we began to eat and made small talk, i was casually scrolling through my instagram feed when i felt the rough and bumpy texture of a tissue touching the side of my mouth.

i looked to my side and see jeno grinning and wiped my mouth. the four watched and silently squealed.

"you're still the same back then, hannie." he laughs out, crumpling the white tissue and threw it to a nearby trash bin.

"could say the same to you, nono" i grinned, his nickname rolled off my mouth and  remembering that he would do the same thing whenever i got something on my cheeks when lunch time rolled around.