Happiness, anticipation and the feeling of finality were filling the air on the day of all third year students' graduation. They had all gathered assembly hall, neatly seated in rows, to receive their diploma. At least those who passed the exam would. A few days ago, the results had been given to the students individually, and the top thirty students' names had been hung out in the main corridor. 

Ara had claimed the fifth spot, Sehun the seventh, and his friends were all spread across the top twenty with Suho being the best with his third place. Surprisingly, Lee Byunghee was on the fourth place, having finally entered the top five. Maybe it was due to the fact that the past month neither Ara nor Sehun had caught sight of him other than during class, which probably meant that he was using his time to study properly. Maybe a little bit of realization had dawned upon him after what Ara said, after he'd seen that telling Sehun's parents hadn't been to his favor. Maybe he had finally lost the ambition and energy to harm them. There were many maybes, but Ara didn’t care which one the real cause was. Fact was that he finally achieved his long-awaited goal, which most-likely meant that even after the studying period, he'd leave her alone.

Their school life would be over after this day. After they'd get hold of their certificate. Another chapter of their life would be closed. A lot happened during the last year. Especially for Sehun. Looking back, the male felt that he had changed a lot. Whereas one year ago, he had still felt too pressured to accept any of the responsibilities his parents expected him to, he was now ready to work hard to be able to live up to all expectations. He had learned that even though changing the corruption of the world was impossible, he could try to live his own life with an honest mindset. However, he had also learned that things couldn’t always turn out the way he wanted them to. He had to accept life with all the bad and flaws and try to make the best of it, instead of isolating his core from the corrupted world and therefore lose touch with the good things as well. It was the appearance of Ara in his life. It was the bit of her life he'd seen. It was his stay abroad. It was the obstacles he had to face once he'd been back. It was all that, that had made him the person he was at this very second.

Whereas the bigger part of Ara's high school life hadn't been memorable for her, she would always keep her last year in mind. Because it was during her year as senior in which her dull and stressful cycle had been interrupted, halted. Because it was during this particular year that a new face had appeared in her life, breaking through her rationality. Because she had grown the most during her last year, having learned not to suppress her emotional side too much, having learned to depend on others from time to time. Sure, there was still a lot to learn, but due to her last year, due to Sehun's appearance, she wouldn’t finish her school life without any kind of realization, without at least a little bit of growth.

The two of them went to the stage in the same group as their surnames' first letters were close to each other in the alphabet – they were sitting quite apart though due to the seating arrangements. They gave each other little smiles only they themselves noticed as their gazes met.

Sehun took a deep breath as his fingers came into contact with the folder. His mind was still with all the thoughts he'd just had. All that had made him the person who was now receiving his certificate.

Ara's mind, as well, was filled with the thoughts she'd had at her seat as she stepped forward to receive her certificate.

There was the prickling feeling of anticipation and pride as they got hold of their diploma.

As Sehun sat down, he realized something. Something, of which he didn’t understand how he hadn't noticed it. It may have been due to all the anticipation that had been running through his veins. It may have been that in all the anticipation and happiness, that he had forgotten about his surroundings. Whatever the reason was, fact was, he only realized now that he hadn't seen Miyoung step forward to receive her certificate.

He had seen her once before the ceremony started. He had caught sight of her when everyone had been going to their seats. In fact, he had only seen Ara and his friends before the ceremony began as well – other than Ara and Chanyeol with whom he had been on the stage.

Sehun turned his head a bit and craned his neck to get a better view on the row at the very front of the right side. The row Miyoung sat in. Or should be sitting in, as he realized that she wasn’t sitting there anymore.

Both confused and worried, Sehun turned to look at the stage again. Where was she? Why had her absence remained unnoticed? He wanted to stand up and leave the assembly hall to look for her, but it was prohibited to leave, except … Sehun quickly made his way out of the row and looked for the nearest teacher.

“Excuse me, I feel really unwell. May I go outside?” He asked the teacher, who was his homeroom teacher and luckily the one who liked him a lot. The older woman didn’t hesitate to give him permission.

As quietly as possible, Sehun left the assembly hall and quickly jogged through all the corridors, but he couldn’t see Miyoung anywhere. Had she gone home? Had she been feeling weak? Had – his thoughts halted as he spotted the familiar petite figure standing in the corridor of the highest level.

He quickly closed the distance until he was standing a few meters bef