Chapter 24 - Graduation
"H-Hi," I said. "Mina? What happened?" Uncle asked, confused. "Nothing just went for a jog" I explained awkwardly and sat down on the sofa, next to Jonghyun. "So why are you here?" I asked in return. "I was curious about your friend, whom I couldn't meet last time, so I decided to pay him a visit"
He seems to be in a good mood. "Anyway, I made dinner for you" Jonghyun interrupter. He placed the food on the table and we both looked at him surprised. "You can even cook Korean food now?" I asked. "Wasn't it you, who told me to have proper meals?" he asked and smiled.
"Thank you" Uncle expressed and took a bite. "That's really good" he added as he acknowledged his cooking. "Would you like to eat too?" he asked me and I shook my head. "I already ate with you, remember?" I stated. "You guys seem really close" uncle said.
"Well, let's go home after you finish. Jonghyun is probably tired" I said. "He doesn't seem tired to me to at all" he opinioned. "Yes, he is" I declared. "He is not" I sighed as I looked at him peacefully eating. "Yes, he is"
"It's fine, Mina," Jonghyun said calmly. "We get along anyway" he added and uncle nodded satisfied. "See, he doesn't have any problem" I sighed once again and stood up. "Fine. After you are finished with you talk, come home" Before I walked away, Jonghyun grabbed my hand and looked at me disappointed. "You're going?"
"Sorry, but yes. I still have some work to do." I explained and exited the apartment with an apologetic smile. Since they are getting along better than expected, I don't have to worry much. For the following hour, I cleaned the apartment, took a shower and prepared for our last day at school.
In a blink of an eye, I fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the night. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 2 a.m. Because I knew that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep now, I decided to walk around in the apartment for a while. It's always been that way. I often wake up in the middle of the night and don't know what to do.
As I walked around, I peeked in my uncle's room and noticed that he wasn't there. He still won't be there, right? I grabbed the key to Jonghyun's apartment and quietly opened the door to see that the light from the living room was still turned on. I sneaked myself in and made sure that they didn't see me, who hiding in the hallway.
"And this is the last picture taken from Mina and Hina together" I heard uncle's voice as he showed him a picture. "She used to smile a lot, right? She genuinely seems happy here" Jonghyun said and he nodded. "I wish I see her like that in the future"
I looked at the ground as I heard their conservation for a few more minutes and eventually decided to go back to my room and lay down. For the first time, after waking up in the middle of the night, I fell asleep again. In fact, if uncle wouldn't have woken me up at 7.30 a.m., I might as well have missed my last day of school.
I jumped around the house, getting ready as uncle looked at me and laughed. "I am leaving in a few hours too, have fun," he said and I hurriedly bid my goodbye to him as I left the apartment. He probably forgot that it was a special day today, but I didn't mind since I knew that he was a busy person who has more important things to do than to attend my report card day. It's not even my graduation today.
I headed straight to the assembly hall, knowing that by now, everyone will be there. After I reached there, I saw that everybody was properly standing in their positions, listening to the headmaster's boring speech. "Lastly, I wish all of the graduates best of luck and hope that everyone has a pleasant holiday." I quietly walked where my class was standing, making sure not to draw too much attention to me as he finished his speech.
Next, every student went back to their classrooms, except the graduates who will accept their certificate from the headmaster, and we received our report cards. Soon after, the teacher left the classroom and some students hurried outside, wanting to enjoy their holidays as soon as possible, while the majority remained in the class, chatting with their parents or friends. And then, there was me, who was sitting quietly and watching the others enjoy.
Suddenly, the door slammed open and everybody looked at the person who had opened the door so loudly. A smile formed on my face as I saw Jonghyun, Daisy and Jae Wan entering the class, holding their final report card in their hands as they were heading towards me. "Mina! Look at this" Jonghyun said as he placed the piece of paper on my desk. "Who knew that you'd be this good" I mocked as Daisy and Jae Wan laughed.
"We are finally finished with this!" Daisy said with joy. Her phone rang and she picked up, talking to someone I assume to be her mother. After she hung up she looked at us with an apologetic smile. "Sorry guys, my parents are waiting for me outside. See you" she said and left. For several minutes, we three kept on talking, until someone entered the classroom.
"You've already grown up. Feels really weird" the stranger said as he slung his arm over Jae Wan's shoulder and he looked at him surprised. The closer I looked, the more I noticed the similar facial features both shared. He looked like a more mature version of Jae Wan. "Hyung! I thought you won't be able to make it"
"I've always got time for my little brother," he said and ruffled Jae Wan's hair. He pushed himself out of his brother's grip and looked grossed out. "Don't be so cheesy" We all laughed and introduced ourselves to him afterward. "See you guys later, Jonghyun and Mina," he said and both walked away while discussing what to eat for dinner.
By now, only us were left in the classroom, Jonghyun sitting on my desk and me sitting on the chair. We both looked out of the window, seeing the crystal-clear blue sky as the summer breeze hit my skin. "No one will come for us, right?" I asked with a sad smiled. "No. But I have you and you have me. That's enough for me"
"Stop talking nonsense" I heard a female voice, a voice I had heard before but was not acquainted with very well. We turned around and came face to face with my uncle and the same lady, who had barged into our school to talk to Jonghyun a long time ago. It was his sister. "You little girl, why didn't you tell me that it was an important day today? I had to cancel my flight on time" uncle said as he pulled my ear. "Ouch, ouch, ouch. That hurts!" I exclaimed as I tried to remove his hand from my ear. "I am lucky that I glanced at your calendar and read that today is your last day"
"What are you doing here, Noona?" Jonghyun asked astounded. "What do you mean? It's your graduation, why shouldn't I be here? Unfortunately, I got lost on my way and couldn't arrive on time. Thank goodness, I found this nice man, who was lost while looking for this school, too. We both managed to reach here somehow"
After I finally released myself from my uncle's grip, I rubbed my aching ear and finally introduced myself to Jonghyun's sister. "Let's have a nice chat afterward" she whispered in my ear, making me feel tense. Is that how Jonghyun felt while meeting my uncle? "Don't make her feel nervous" he warned and made sure that she was not somewhere near me, but when he didn't look, she winked at me mischievously, sending shivers down my spine.
"We've made it!" I heard a very familiar voice, it was Key. The door was shut opened, revealing Minho, Onew, Key and Taemin who were out of their breaths. "We ran here, as fast as possible, after receiving our report cards," Onew said as they greeted everyone in the room. "There are more people who take care of us than I assumed," I said to Jonghyun. "Right"
"So why don't we go for an ice cream?" Jonghyun's sister, So Dam suggested. "I also want to get to know you, Mr. Lee. Who knows, we might welcome Mina in our family one day" she added. My face reddened a bit and Jonghyun awkwardly fake-coughed, while the others tried to suppress their laughter. "Of course, that's a pleasing idea. Let's go"
We walked out of the school and decided to go to the nearest shop by foot. Both, Jonghyun and I turned around and looked at the school again. "It's going to get boring again next year" I stated. "It won't. You have to make some friends, go out with them on Fridays and start not to ignore everyone" he comforted and I chuckled.
"You spend too less time with us since you met Mina" Minho whined, as he joined our conversation. The others were walking a few steps ahead of us while laughing and joking around. "You won't even be here the entire summer holidays" he added and I looked at Jonghyun confused.
"What?" I questioned. "Didn't I tell you? Since I am somehow getting along with my father, I agreed to his request to accompany him on his business trip. We'll attend four meetings in different countries, so I'll be gone for a long time" I'll have to spend my summer alone?
End of Chapter 24