It’s a beautiful June day in Autumn Hill. The sun is shining brightly since there are only a few clouds in the sky. Once again, the Weather Network has inaccurately predicted that it would be cloudy with a chance of rain. However, JiYeon is not complaining as this makes for the perfect backdrop for taking graduation pictures, especially now that the small town is covered in green grass and flowers of all colours in full bloom. She just wished that on such an important day like today (because you only graduate from high school once in your life!) her best friend would have tried harder to break his bad habit of running late.

JiYeon picked up her phone and texted Sehun again, for possibly the twentieth time in the last five minutes, threatening him that she will leave without him if he doesn’t show up soon. It was 9:20am and she has been ready since 8:30am this morning. Waking up extra early (or perhaps she was just so excited that not much sleep was happening anyway) to shower and carefully do her hair and makeup. The truth is, JiYeon is not the type of girl who usually wears makeup, so it took a lot of time and effort for her to apply the foundation, eyeliner and little bit of lip gloss. Her mom was actually able to convince her to buy and wear a new dress for the special occasion. They went shopping about a month ago and after going to three different malls and walking through more than fifty shops, JiYeon finally found THE dress. A simple blue sleeveless dress that sits right above her knees. Although her mom did not find it fitting for an occasion like a graduation ceremony, it was definitely much better than the usual ripped jeans that fills JiYeon’s closet.

The ceremony does not start until 11:00am but the students were expected to arrive at the school to pick up their graduation robes and prepare for their various speeches and performances by 9:30am. The school is only a ten minute walk from JiYeon’s house, and the usual routine is that Sehun (who lives three houses down) would walk over to pick up JiYeon and they would walk to school together. However, since today was a special day and JiYeon’s parents took the day off work to attend their graduation ceremony, her dad offered to drop them off at school and return later with her mom and Sehun’s grandmother. Well, it was more likely that JiYeon’s mom requested for her dad to do so knowing that: 1) JiYeon who only wears Converses and running shoes does not know how to walk in her 2 inch heels, so the usual 10 minute walk will probably take them 30 minutes, and 2) Sehun will be running late- as usual.

“Ugh, he’s still not responding!” Jiyeon sighs as she picks up her phone to check for the blinking green light which would indicate that Sehun has left his house. For the most part, their morning ritual involves JiYeon texting Sehun when she wakes up, then again after she brushed her teeth and got dressed, and one more time as she eats her breakfast. When she is done and ready to leave the house, the little green light at the upper right corner of her phone will be blinking with Sehun’s “BT2” message. It was their little messaging system. “BT” meaning “be there” followed by the number of minutes it would take for Sehun to arrive. Since he lives so close, the morning message was always “BT2”. Although Sehun is infamous for sleeping in and running late, he would always arrive in the amount of time that he texted JiYeon. Probably because he knew that no matter where they were supposed to meet, his best friend would actually leave if he did not make it there in the time he said he would.

JiYeon was ready to run down the street and ring Sehun’s doorbell when she finally saw the blinking green light and opened the message: “Ready”. A smile broke out on her face and she shouted back upstairs for her dad to leave as she responded to Sehun: “BT2”.

Sehun got into the car and quickly greeted JiYeon’s dad, “Good morning, Mr. Byun!”. It always made JiYeon giggle when Sehun would greet her dad as Mr. Byun because he actually calls her mom “Eomma”. The two have been best friends since they were three years old, and Jiyeon’s mom has long treated Sehun has her second son. He was orphaned as a baby and raised by his grandmother who has also become like JiYeon’s grandmother. The two of them basically grew up like twin siblings, and JiYeon sometimes felt closer to Sehun than she did to her own brother who is a mere fifteen months older than her. Sometimes.

“Looking good, Sehunnie” JiYeon’s dad replies as he smiles at the boy. Sehun also dressed up for the occasion and ditched his usual hoodie and jeans for a white collared shirt, black pants and a blue tie. JiYeon and Sehun took one look at each other and realized how much they matched. Sehun’s tie was the exact same shade of blue as JiYeon’s dress, and the realization made her cringe.

“Oh Sehun! Change your tie! I don’t want us to match!” JiYeon screams at her best friend. “Honey, nobody will be able to see what you’re wearing under your robe” her dad comforts her. Sehun laughs as he buckles his seat belt and the car pulls out of the driveway.

It was only a three minute drive to the school and they arrived right on time to join the graduation robe pickup line in the library. There were only about ten students ahead of them as the rest were slowly arriving. “See? We are on time! Why did you have to freak out and bomb my phone?” Sehun rolls his eyes. His best friend was usually very laid back just like him, but he also knew that she got uptight and anxious whenever she was emotional. And graduating was definitely very emotional for her. Not only were they leaving the school where they spent the last four years of their lives, but it also meant saying a lot of ‘good byes’ as friends were moving away to attend school out of town. JiYeon was never good at saying good bye. She even gets emotional when the weather turns cool and the leaves changes colours and fall off the trees in their small town. Sehun doesn’t even want to think about how sad JiYeon was a year ago when her older brother graduated and moved to the city for university. And now it was her turn.

JiYeon looked around and tried to take in everything and everyone around her. She was smiling, but the feeling is definitely bittersweet. As she was reminiscing all the moments she spent in that library, studying for exams, researching for papers and discussing group projects (sometimes a little too loudly), she couldn’t help but wonder how Sehun could be so cool and collected at a time like this. His good friend, Tao, will be leaving to study abroad soon and Sehun has not mentioned anything about feeling sad. Just as she was thinking about him, Tao steps into the library and spots the two of them at the front of the line. He walks over to join them and all the people behind gave him dirty looks but nobody said anything.

“Hey guys! I can’t believe we’re finally graduating! Woohoo!” Tao says as fist pumps Sehun and nods his head at JiYeon. Well, JiYeon thinks to herself, it doesn’t seem like Tao is sad about it either. Maybe it’s just a boy thing.

The three picked up their graduation robes and Tao went off to look for his other friends. JiYeon and Sehun then went around taking pictures with other students and teachers as others were preparing their speeches and performances. Autumn Hill Secondary was the only high school in their small town, so every thirteen to seventeen year old attended the institution and everyone knew each other and their families. A year ago, when JiYeon’s older brother Baekhyun graduated, he sang on stage along with his best friend Jongdae, performing a beautiful rendition of Celine Dion’s Because You Loved Me. The audience gave them a standing ovation and talked about their performance even after they moved to the city for school. However, nobody expected JiYeon to follow in her brother’s footsteps to perform anything for they knew that he was the one who inherited all the musical talent in the family. If her brother was known for his musical talent, then her older cousin Junmyeon was the student that every teacher loved and every parent wished for their child to grow up and be like. Being related to those two often made JiYeon felt like she had no talent, but she always had her best friend who would remind her of what a big and beautiful heart she had.

They walked around the school looking for their graduation class picture which should now be hanging on the wall along with past graduating classes. JiYeon smiled as she came across the graduating class from two years ago with Junmyeon’s picture and last year’s class picture with her big bro Baek making a funny face standing next to Jongdae. When they finally spotted the newly framed picture with their own graduating class, a loud voice startled them.

“Baby Ji! oo Ji!” the loud voice screamed down the hall. As Sehun turned around towards the voice, JiYeon was already halfway down the hallway running towards her brother who held his arms opened. It’s been more than three months since she last heard her annoying bigger brother call her by her nickname, and normally she would have turned red like a tomato and punched him in the gut whenever he would call her that in public, but not today. Today she was just overwhelmed with joy that he made it to her special day.

Baekhyun held his little sister in his arms as Jongdae chuckled and pat her on the head. JiYeon couldn’t believe that her brother came all the way to attend her graduation ceremony, and Jongdae too! It’s not that she thought he would not come, but she the last time she spoke with him on the phone, he told her that he started a new internship since the end of his exams and he would not be able to get time off to come back to Autumn Hill. She told him it was okay, but she secretly told Sehun that she was disappointed. And now, there he was, holding her in his arms.

“Hey JiJi, congratulations on graduating! I wasn’t sure you’d make it!” Jongdae teased in his usual mischievous tone. JiYeon was overjoyed that her Jongdae Oppa was there too. Being Baekhyun’s best friend, the two of them often ganged up to pick on JiYeon and Sehun when they were little, but they would always protect them from other kids. As they grew up and Sehun grew to be at least 10cm taller than both Baekhyun and Jongdae, they stopped picking on him. When they left for university, Baekhyun had a very long and serious ‘talk’ with Sehun asking him to look out for his baby sister, as if Sehun wasn’t already doing that. Wow, that was already a year ago! Sehun thought as he walked up to them.

“Baek Hyung! Jongdae Hyung! You guys made it! It’s good to see you” Sehun greeted the two. JiYeon was still buried in her brother’s arms. “It’s good to see you too! It’s good to be back!” Jongdae smiled as he hugged Sehun quickly.

“Baekkie, you made it.” JiYeon said softly when she finally lifted her head to look at her brother and broke into the biggest smile, “Thank you”.

“Hey, I’m here too!” Jongdae waved his hand in front of her face, pouting and pretending to be hurt that she has not acknowledged his presence. JiYeon broke free from her brother and turned to hug Jongdae.

“Thanks for coming, Jongdae Oppa!” JiYeon said in a sweet voice, putting emphasis on the word OPPA because she knew how much he liked it when she called him that. Jongdae, being an only child like Sehun, has always treated her like his own sister. But he came from a loving family and so he only inherited her as a sibling, and did not have the same relationship as Sehun does with her mom.

“You guys should go in and get seats. We have to go line up too.” Sehun remarked. It wasn’t often that he was the responsible one, maybe graduating really causes a person to mature.

JiYeon and Sehun took their seats at the side of the stage. The bright lights made it difficult to see the audience in the auditorium. There was a lot of shuffling and noise as the space was filled with proud parents and siblings. The graduating class this year consisted of fifty-six students. In the hour long ceremony, there will be three speeches from the principal, the valedictorian, and president of the student council. There will also be two performances, one from the school band and choir, and a short skit from the drama club. There were twelve awards being handed out for academic achievements and exceptional accomplishments in extra-curricular activities. And finally, the students will be called one by one to walk across the stage as they would be presented with their high school diploma.

Both JiYeon and Sehun were average students. They did not excel in any particular subject and did not participate in many extra-curricular activities. Sehun played on the basketball and volleyball teams for two years because the coaches thought that his height was a great asset, only to discover that he had very horrible hand-eye coordination.  In the end, he dropped out of the teams and nobody even asked about it. JiYeon suggested that Sehun join her dance class to improve his hand-eye coordination, and that’s where Sehun found his passion. Too bad there wasn’t a dance award, he would have received it for sure.

As the Valedictorian was making her speech, JiYeon squinted her eyes and tried to look for her family amongst the crowd. Before she could find them, she caught sight of someone smiling brightly and waving at her- Sehun’s grandmother. And right next to her were her own parents, brother, and Jongdae. She was not paying attention to what was being said, but just smiled at herself thinking how grateful she felt to be graduating, and having all her loved ones present. She was never a religious person- although she knew a lot about the Catholic faith growing up with Jongdae who came from an extremely devoted family-but she took a moment to say a short prayer to thank God for everything.

The hour long ceremony felt like forever, and at the end of it, both JiYeon and Sehun couldn’t wait to get out of their seats and out of those bright stage lights. Sehun kept complaining that his hurt from sitting too long and got a disapproving look from his grandmother for whining.

JiYeon’s dad was snapping pictures (both posed and candid) left, right and center, making sure that he would not miss a single moment of his precious little princess’ graduation. It was obvious that JiYeon was daddy’s little girl and Baekhyun was mommy’s little boy. And it’s been a while since the whole family has been together, so they took many many pictures that day.

When they finally got home after taking pictures at every corner of the school, with every teacher, administrator and janitor, everyone was exhausted. Sehun went home with his grandmother and Jongdae went home to see his own parents. Baekhyun had to catch the 6:00pm train back out to the city so they agreed to have a super early dinner together at their favourite restaurant after everyone freshens up.

When JiYeon changed back into her own comfortable clothes- a grey t-shirt, ripped jeans and her worn out pair of black Converses, she was ready to head out to dinner at 4:30pm. Baekhyun knocked on her door, although it was left opened, and asked, “Baby Ji, can I come in?”. It took her by surprise that her brother was so polite all of a sudden, because he would usually just storm in even if her door was closed. “Yeah, of course” JiYeon smiled back at her brother as she signaled for him to sit down next to her on her bed. Baekhyun walked in slowly, observing her room, from the walls to the ceiling and her desk. He noticed that her room was very different from before. Her One Direction posters were no longer hanging on the walls, the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars that he put up for her on her ceiling have been removed, and even her collection of plush animals were no longer in sight. He sat down next to his sister and looked at her with a proud smile. “My Baby Ji is all grown up” he said as he patted her head. JiYeon started to feel a bit emotional seeing her brother like this, and she could feel tears forming in her eyes.

“Hey hey, don’t cry, oo Ji” Bakehyun said softly, “Doesn’t matter how old you get, you’ll always be my baby. You know that right? I will always be looking out for you.”

JiYeon nodded as she leaned her head on her brother’s shoulder. It’s been a while since they got to sit down and talk to each other like this. She missed it. She missed him. And the thought that he will be leaving on the 6:00pm train didn’t make her feel any better. Although Sehun was like her twin sibling, she could never deny the fact that her 15-month older brother was the closest person to her in the entire world. They look and act completely different, but he was always the one she would go to. He was the one who shared his hidden stash of candies with her, who helped her with her homework, who crawled into her bed during thunderstorms because he knew she was too frightened to get herself out of bed, and most importantly, he was the one who always talked his parents out of grounding her. He was her superhero. And he always will be. And she knew he meant every word, because she knew she would never outgrow her superhero.

Baekhyun took out what he was hiding behind his back and handed a small box and a card to JiYeon. “The present is from Junmyeon hyung and the card is from Lay hyung” Baekhyun said. “Sorry, I didn’t have a chance to get you a present. How about you pick out something you like and I’ll pay for it?” JiYeon shook her head and replied, “No, Baekkie. I don’t want anything. Just you being here is enough.”

At that moment, the two siblings could hear their parents shouting from downstairs telling them to hurry up. Baekhyun quickly jumped up and pulled his sister with him shoving her out of her room.  JiYeon was still holding on to Junmyeon’s gift and Lay’s card. Her heart was fluttering at the thought that Lay oppa gave her a card. She couldn’t wait to open it and see what he wrote! This day really couldn’t be getting any better.