I have loved you since we were 18
Long before we both thought the same thing
To be loved and to be in love - 18 One Direction

The room felt like it was spinning as Doyeon looked at all the sparkly dresses around her. She'd never gone to any big dance like this, so she wasn't sure how dressed up she was supposed to be, luckily she had a very overly excited girl here to help her. 

Mira practically pranced around the clothing store in the mall, her eyes sparkling just as brightly as the baby pink dress she was holding up to Doyeon. "You would look so cute in this!" Despite her words, she still put the dress back on a rack and moved on to the next one. "Do you think purple would suit me?" Mira asked, holding a mini dress up to her own body. Doyeon nodded. Mira smiled, "What color are you wanting your dress to be? Do you have any styles in mind? Length?" The questions flew out of Mira's mouth at a speed that was almost incomprehensible to Doyeon. 

Doyeon dressed well, but she was never the type to become completely hung up on how others would perceive her style...but something about the dance made her want to dress to impress. "Something pretty, but not too in your face." Doyeon finally said, hoping Mira would be able to work with that. 

Mira hummed as she rummaged through another rack, "When I was looking online--to scope out some of the options--I saw a dress that just screamed Doyeon in flashing lights!" She squealed as she moved to look at yet another rack in hopes of finding the dress. Doyeon had a feeling she'd successfully located it, when another ear piercing squeal came out of her. "It's here! Doyeon it's here!" She turned around, holding the prettiest dress Doyeon had ever laid her eyes on. It was white, with puffy tool sleeves--a string from each tied in a pretty bow where it would lay on her collarbone. White embroidered butterflies and flowers  littered the single layer of sheer fabric that went all over the dress. On both sides of the string that connected, there were also two butterflies. Mira held the dress up to Doyeon, "It's perfect, and long enough that you won't have some teacher yelling at you. Doyeon, the short sleeve poofs oh my goodness!" Mira seemed even more excited than Doyeon was--and Doyeon definitely was very pleased with the find. 

"I agree, this ones perfect!" She said, grabbing the dress from Mira and draping it over her arm. "Now, to find yours." She said, starting to look through the same rack Mira had just been weaving through. 

Mira nodded, "It won't be hard, I'm not very picky." she said with a wave of her hand. 

~~~

Despite Mira's words, she was actually agonizingly picky. It had taken an hour for her to finally pick a dress, one that was a light shade of pink, with flowy fabric that stopped at her knees, and sleeves that stopped midway down her arm. The worst part was, there little shopping trip hadn't ended there, they ended up also stopping by another shop to pick up cute summer dresses for under their graduation gowns--Doyeon had ended up with a royal blue wrap sundress, which she was currently wearing. 

Graduation day had finally arrived. With it, a certain level of jitters, excitement, and dread. The last day of school had been odd, it felt bitter-sweet, and honestly ended far too quickly. But, there was no going back in time, meaning all that was left was to go forward, and to face whatever new struggles and glee that came along with the next chapter of their lives. Doyeon looked at herself in the mirror, her curled hair and the pretty blue hues that could be seen through her white gown. She raised a fist to her reflection, "Here's to the future, Nam Doyeon." 

A knock from her balcony door made Doyeon smile, "Come in." She hollered as she picked up the gold airplane necklace her grandfather had given her the day before, when they'd arrived for her graduation, and fastened it around her neck. 

Jaemin opened the door, "Wow," he said, giving her a once over, "you look great, Yeon." The nickname didn't go unnoticed by her. Jaemin had been trying to pick some cheesy pet name for her, but Doyeon always shot them down. The only ones that had somewhat stuck were, Yeon, Darling, and occasionally--usually when he purposefully wanted to make her roll her eyes at him--he'd call her love. But, for the most part he'd call her by her name. 

"Thanks, you do too." She smiled, looking over at him. His black hair had been swooped over under his cap, and the gown somehow complimented the mixture of his skin and hair tone. It was almost unfair how handsome he always looked.  

He did a little twirl, "Thanks," he said around his smile, walking over to her and slinging an arm around her shoulders. He began leaning his head down towards her, when a voice from downstairs made him stop. 

"Doyeon, we're going to be late!" Mr. Nam yelled.

Doyeon opened her previously shut eyes, looking up at Jaemin. "We're going to be late." She reiterated her dad's words, taking a step away from Jaemin. "You should head back to your house, your parents are probably waiting for you." 

Jaemin lolled his head back, "Yeah, yeah." He started walking backwards towards the balcony, "I'll see you there." He sent her a little salute before walking out. 

Doyeon smiled to herself as she walked out of her bedroom, it was finally time to graduate. 

~~~~~~~~~

"Caps off to S.M High's class of 2021!" The school's principal yelled. 

Everyones caps immediately went flying into the air, smiles littered the crowds and shouts of joy echoed through everyone's ears. 

"That's my little girl!" Grandpa Nam yelled from somewhere on the bleachers, with an embarrassed looking Taehyun beside him. Even Jaemin's mothers eyes had tears in them--which was a bit better than Grandma Lee who had tears down her cheeks. 

Jaemin, walked past the few people in between him and Doyeon, and pulled her into a hug, one by one the rest of the guys ran over and joined into the, now, group hug. "Woooo!"

They all ended up at the local pizza place for a celebratory pre-party dinner. The dinner was full of the parents sharing memories from when their kids were younger, and with hopes of their futures being passed around the table. Mr. Nam shared how Doyeon would cry everyday when they dropped her off at kindergarten, but now it was him wanting to cry because those days had long since passed. It felt as if this should all make them feel melancholic, b