Chapter 99
Age Doesn't Matter...Or Does It?
Min Yu's POV
"...To my parents who have been there by my side throughout everything. I am eternally grateful, especially to my father. Despite of the screaming fan girls that always cease to exist wherever you are, I would never be the same without you and my ever-loving mom. To my friends, even though I may be insensitive at times or I like to isolate myself from you, thank you for not leaving my side and being patient to me all the while."
"To Super Junior and the Teen Top members, who became the railings to the complex staircase of my life, you've all been a great help. You all contribute to what I was, what I am now, and to what I will become." I couldn't mention Chunji's name directly, but I just gave him a warm smile. He responded with a wink, to which I would punch him later. "To you, you know who you are. I'm still waiting for you to come back. It's been months, and almost a year since you left."
"I'm graduating, just like I had promised. Remember how I worried about not getting into the honor's list? Guess what? I came in first. It means you have to come back, as soon as possible. To you, you're the main component to my success. You always thought I'd forget you when I get older. Your fear might just come true, what with the miles, oceans, seas, islands, countries and boundaries that separate us. Come back. I'm begging you."
"To everyone, we're all winners here. It doesn't matter who made it to the honor's list, or who failed Physics. In the end, it's all about defying boundaries, breaking the rules and standards that other people make. I'm only 15, turning 16 this year."
"Some of you might be older by a year or two, some younger. Age is just a number. It wouldn't define who you are. But we're all here together, from all walks of life. No one is poor, no one is rich. No one is famous, no one is ordinary. All of us did our part in the last four years of high school. And now that we've finished, it doesn't mean everything ends right here."
"It all just started. We're like coins here. We are coins punched out from sheet metal. Rimmed, beveled, stamped, and cleaned. We've been personally examined to check if there is even the slightest bit of imperfection. And now we're out, released into public. Some of us may go through banks, through grocery cashiers. We're all going to get to where we want to be. All it needs is a little time, patience, and effort. Young, old, or like me, a little bit of both, age doesn't matter to what you want to accomplish."
"Never be afraid to be different. Try and test the waters. It wouldn't swallow you to its depths if you know how to swim and go with the flow. What do you know, it might also bring you to where you want to go. I've always been traveling upstream, against the current. If you try to take the road less traveled, it makes a big difference. Take risks, take chances. If you're wrong, if you get into trouble, it's worth the risk. Go beyond limits. There is no limit, actually. Limits only exist when you have fear."
"And this is how I would end this long, boring speech of mine. I've been given a second chance at life. Before, as my close friends would know, I was cold, isolated, different. When I had the accident, I was nearly dead. I had less than 10% chance of even making it out the operating room. When I woke up, I turned my life 360 degrees around."
"To all of you, do you still need that near-to-death experience just to change? What if you never made it out alive? If you want to change, change now before it's too late. It hurts to know you can't have something for a specific reason. But it hurts even more when you realize there's no way you could ever get that something, no matter what you do. Thank you."
I gave a 90-degree bow, and left the stage. I couldn't hear my feet touch the floor because of the roars of comments and applause. I walked over to where my family was. By family, I meant my father, mother with my sister on her arms, the Super Junior members, and the Teen Top members. They were all smiling at me, proud of what I had just done. "Can I take this off? It's killing me," I complained. They only laughed and we all gathered together for a group hug.
After the graduation ceremony, we all went out to eat and celebrate. My family was happy. But I wasn't. I excused myself and went somewhere they couldn't hear. I saw the restaurant balcony was empty, so I went and stood there. It was cold, despite the season. The sky was beginning to darken, and the sun was nearing its farewell. But there were already stars. Yes, the sky was clear.
Ever since Donghae left, I always gazed up at the stars like we used to do back when I was still stuck in the hospital. But during those alone times, there was no coffee, no random conversations, and worse, no Donghae.
I had read once that you would know what people are by their opinion on a glass half-filled with water. Pessimistic people see it as a glass half-empty. Optimistic people see it as a glass half-full. Realistic people gulp down the water and ask for more.
I tried being optimistic about the situation. I would always look up at the sky and think of Donghae doing the same. If we were looking at the same sky, the same moon, the same stars, I'll just count it as us being together. Countless moments came when I doubted if he would ever come back.
But the Donghae I've met, known, and loved was different. I kept my trust and kept leaving him numerous voice mails that I don't know if he listens to. But this time I'll push my luck again. "Donghae. It's me. When will you come back? My graduation ceremony was a while ago. I made it into the honor's list. Unbelievable, right? But I didn't care about the award, or the medal. What was important was that I completed another promise."
"My sister's here with us, and I still haven't taken care of her. But I will, soon. I only have one promise to accomplish. But I think I've finished this one a long time ago. I've been waiting for you since you left. It's the middle of March, but you're still not here. I want to see you. I'm begging you. If you want, I'll get down on my knees, or you could give me 10 tasks again, or whatever is it that you want for me to do only so you would come back."
Someone snatched the phone from my grip, and encircled his arms around my waist and turned me around. "You miss him again, don't you?" Chunji asked. He didn't need to. He already knew the answer. I sobbed violently against his chest, and he patted my back comfortingly. He has been with me ever since Donghae left. I try my best to show him that I appreciate everything he does, because I also don't know what I would do if Chunji also left.
He handed me a box. It was another gift from Donghae. He'd sent me numerous gifts during random occasions. I wasn't looking forward to the gift itself. I waited for the letter that came with it. But it wasn't the same. I want to see him personally, flesh and bones. I want to make sure he's still alive, that he still doesn't drink any alcoholic beverage, that he still obsesses with himself.
If God would give me a chance to see him again, even just for 24 hours, even for an hour, I swear I wouldn't disrespect him anymore. I wouldn't lie to him, tell him he's short, and every bad thing I've done towards Donghae. All I wanted was to see him again. I could beg on my knees even just for a minute with him.
Inside the box was a silver bracelet. I ignored it and proceeded to read the letter.
Your father told me that today's your graduation day. I'd give you this bracelet. It's not just some jewelry I bought from a store. It's my own, it was from my mother. It had been handed over from generation to generation. So I'll give it to you. When we see each other again, I want to see you wearing this.
And that was it. No promises of his return. No saying any date of when he will come back. No assurance that he was receiving my voice mails. No more pictures. No more Donghae. I have read in a study once that only one out of five people are happy with their love life. The conclusion was that people always end up with correct love, not their true love.
So maybe this was me, not bothering to find my true love because I'd always end up with the correct one, even if my true love was only somewhere in Thailand.
The next morning...
Narrator's POV
"Min Yu, what do you want for breakfast?" Leeteuk asked. "Wait. I saw something in the internet just days ago. It really looked delicious and it was easy to make. Wait here, I'll look for it again," she said and her fingers started to pound noiselessly on the immaculate keyboard of her laptop.
A pop-up about the latest news on a Korean website blared on one corner of her screen. She pressed the X button and proceeded to her search for the perfect breakfast. But if she had been curious enough to check the pop-up, she would have been surprised.
Comments