Nayeon scrambled around the room, chucking clothes out of her closet and drawers, flipping bedsheets and every piece of furniture in there. “Saaaana!! Where in the world is my cap?!” she bellowed without ceasing her movements.

“How am I supposed to know! I never touched that!” Sana yelled back from the bathroom. She was in the middle of applying lipstick when her Unnie’s yell caused some to smudge on her cheek. Cursing under her breath, she wiped it all together and gave up on reapplying it. She looked at the mirror one more time and inspected her makeup. With the noise in the other room getting louder and louder, Sana finally got out of the bathroom and witnessed a mess of the whole place, like a tornado came in and flipped the whole place upside down.

Nayeon checked under her bed one more time, and without success, she groaned. “I swear, the thing never left this room. Where could it have possibly gone?”

“You know, we’re kind of late. Just ditch your cap and let’s go.” The Japanese put on her sandals, taking her sweet time as if the ceremony was going to wait for her arrival before it began.

“Yah, how late are we?” Nayeon asked as she frantically put on her shoes.

“I don’t know. 20 minutes?”

“What?! You !” The oldest grabbed her hand and ran out the door, dragging her friend along with her. “How could you act so nonchalant when we’re so late? You should’ve said something!”

Sana struggled to keep up as she was wearing footwear with slight heels underneath. “Since we were already late, I thought there was no use in hurrying.”

The oldest rolled her eyes. She could only hope that Jihyo’s speech was after the receiving of diplomas rather than before. Otherwise, she would get a handful from her friend for missing one of the most important speeches in her entire college career. “Please, please, please. Don’t start yet,” she begged under her breath.

When the auditorium building came into view, they could see a crowd of black gowns scattered in front of the entrance. Nayeon heaved a sigh of relief as she wiped the light sweat on her forehead.

“See? All’s well,” Sana shrugged. She pulled out her phone and looked into the camera to check her face one more time.

The older one shook her head at her, “I’m never letting you wake me up ever again.”

As they walked around trying to spot their friends, Jihyo noticed them first and behind her were the rest of the graduating friends. “What took you guys so long?” Jihyo asked.

Nayeon gestured at Sana. “She woke me up late.”

“Why are you blaming me? You should be old enough to wake yourself up.”

“Mina got here on time though,” Jihyo commented.

Mina immediately looked up from her phone upon hearing her name. “What?” Often times she was in her own little world, occupied with her thoughts or her games.

“She left early to fix herself at the maknae’s room,” Nayeon replied for her instead. “Also, do you think I can get another cap somewhere? I couldn’t find mine for the life of me. I searched the whole room.”

“And by search, she means turned everything into a hurricane of a mess,” Sana snided with a chuckle.

“Unnie!” Jihyo gave a light stomp of her foot. “You didn’t mess with my stuff, did you?”

The oldest only gave a guilty smile as she tried to hide herself behind Momo who seemed to be spacing out. It wasn’t a surprise that the oldest Japanese could only think about what to eat for lunch at that moment, and therefore was not at all paying attention to the conversation.

The leader gave a loud groan. It was then that rows of black gowns started lining up in front of the auditorium, bodies crowding the double doors as students made their way inside. The six friends started joining the rest as well, putting an end to their light bickering. Each section of seats were divided into different departments. Mina and Sana sat next to each other, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Momo sat near each other in another section, and Jihyo sat in the front along with the rest of the graduating student council members.

As Nayeon sat down, the vice principal of the school stood before her, hands behind her back and her eyebrows turned up. “Ms. Im Nayeon, where is your cap?”

Nayeon looked up at her and smiled. “I lost it?”

The lady sighed and dropped her hands to the side. She opened to give her a good scolding when Tzuyu came running towards her unnie. The maknae handed her a cap, “It was in the lost and found.”

The oldest took it and placed it on her head, mouthing a thank you to her. The VP looked over at the maknae and then at Nayeon. Shaking her head, she ceased the scolding and walked back to her position up the stage.

Nayeon heaved a sigh of relief as she left. “Thank you,” she told Tzuyu. “How did you know I lost it?”

Tzuyu shrugged. “I made a wild guess. Anyways, good luck Unnie!” She smiled at her, and with a wave of her hand, she made her way back to the audience section.

Idle chatter echoed in the building and the shuffling of people continued until the mic rang in the whole place, causing everybody to quiet down. There was a moment of silence as everybody waited for the principal to make her opening speech, students waiting patiently more than usual, somehow anticipating her words because they knew it was the last time.

Today marks the end of this chapter of your life… As you take a step into the outside world, you might feel overwhelmed, pressured, lost even. But don’t forget that the path you took to get there was not easy, and the fact that you were able to overcome that means that you can overcome the next…

Silently, the students listened, keeping their sights on the stage and behind the podium where their principal stood. She looked like she was about to cry, and seeing so only made them all the more sentimental. Sana glanced to her left where the guests sat and sure enough there was Dahyun, seated behind the piano, waiting for her cue.

The moment Sana’s eyes landed on her girlfriend, Dahyun turned to meet her gaze. It was like an automatic response for her. When one looked at Dahyun, it was almost always certain that she would look back. That was how heightened her senses were. The Japanese gave her a smile and Dahyun responded with a light fist pump in the air and mouthing the word Fighting.

It has been a pleasure seeing you all grow these past few years and I’m so excited for what the future has in store for you.

It had been a journey that Sana didn’t expect to have when she moved to the country. She thought back on the first moment she entered the university and how nervous she was. She didn’t expect to meet such great friends and to be able to experience love she once gave up on. Watching her friends in their sections in front of her and feeling Mina fidget next to her, she felt grateful for having them in her life.

Congratulations, graduating class. Without further ado, you may line up to receive your diplomas.

In an instant, the graduating class stood up from their seats and started to line up towards the stage. Jihyo stood in front to lead the crowd into a uniform line, taking her role as the student council president one last time. Sana could see her playfully scolding Jeongyeon as she walked past her. The Japanese couldn’t help but chuckle at the silliness even at serious occasions. She scanned the auditorium as she walked towards the stage. It seemed bigger than usual. Sana often went there to watch Dahyun in her plays and sometimes show her support on the school’s band club’s shows, but looking at it then, with all the students in her class gathered in one place, she didn’t fully realize how massive the place was until then. But amidst the crowd, the entirety of the class, she was sure that she could spot all her nine friends within seconds. And she thought then how special they were to her and how grateful she was to have met them.

As part of the music department, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Momo were one of the firsts to go up the stage to receive their diplomas. A wave of students went and then it was Mina and Sana as part of the business department. The graduating members of the student council went last to receive recognition for their outstanding work ethic as part of the council. Jihyo went up the stage with a huge smile on her face as she held up her diploma and her medals of achievement, possibly posing for a picture for her family that were seated in the back to take.

The diplomas were all handed out, there was a moment of silence and the students chattered amongst themselves in hushed tones. Mina looked around at the teachers, waiting for them to do something. “Isn’t there supposed to be some sort of speech coming up?” Mina whispered to her friends.

Jihyo turned half her body around to face the Japanese friends behind her. “The valedictorian is supposed to make a speech.”

“Isn’t that you?” Sana asked her.

“Yeah, but they haven’t signaled me to go up. I swear if this becomes a mess like last year’s graduation after all that planning I did, I’m going to lose it.”

“Last year, 3 people went to the ER because of all the shoving,” Mina added.

“Don’t remind me, please.” Jihyo put a hand up as a gesture for her unwillingness to think about anything that could go wrong. “I just want my duties to end in peace. No ERs, no complaints, no impatient students trying to leave.”

Sana patted her friend on the shoulder to reassure her that things would work out just fine. However, she did wonder what was holding them up. She expected the song her and Dahyun created to be played during the receiving of diplomas, but only a simple instrumental was played during that part. At that point, she actually didn’t know how it was going to be played in the ceremony. She expected the band club to line up beside the stage and sing the song they wrote, with Dahyun playing as their accompaniment. But the band club remained seated on the side without any sign of moving.

After about 10 minutes of nothing occuring, the students started to become restless. Their voices grew louder, they started fidgeting in their positions, and Jihyo started to panic that the peaceful graduation ceremony she envisioned would end up in a chaotic mess. It was then that the auditorium lights became dim and a projector casted its light on the stage back curtain, an image of the class’ group photo projected in front of the audience. Everybody became quiet, and the six friends shot their attention to it.

Another light , two spotlights casted on the side of the stage. Underneath those lights stood their maknae friends— Tzuyu and Chaeyoung on top of the stage, and Dahyun next to them at the bottom of the stage, behind the grand piano. They stood under the spotlight with great confidence, as if they’d done this plenty of times. Their six friends looked at them with great confusion, certainly oblivious to what was happening.

The moment the screen emerged with a Congratulations message, Dahyun played the first few notes. It was then that Sana knew. That all too familiar sound she kept hearing that day. Those notes were the beginning of an end, signaling the start of their independent lives. The notes that rang in her heart everytime Dahyun played it and turned to her with a warm expression. Dubu didn’t fail to do it then. The moment she hit those keys with her finger, she turned towards Sana for a moment and smiled.

Chaeyoung kept her gaze in front of her, opened and started the song.

Far down the distant path is a place we’re heading for.

I wonder what the world looks like from there

At the same time, the screen emerged with a slideshow, images of various students from the graduating class. Photographs taken during festivals, events, and random pictures of an everyday scene at the university. Nobody spoke, everybody had their eyes on the stage. The students in the screen looked like they belonged in a different time, in a different world. It had only happened that year but it felt so long ago, like a distant past being replayed on screen. The six friends looked up, their feelings becoming all the more sentimental. Mina had her eyes on her girlfriend as she sang on stage, feeling her heart move at the surprise.

My feet feel a little weak with anxiety

But you’ll hear it if you listen carefully

The warm voice that cheers me up

Because you were here, here right next to me

I could walk without hesitation

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