“Jung Wheein!”

I briefly glanced to where I knew my mother and father were sitting. There was still an empty seat beside my mother. I sighed heavily before I gently shook my head. I smiled before I walked up the stage to receive my diploma.

Adrenaline was rushing through my body, knowing that I had finally graduated. My first year in college was shaky. My second year was one of the worst and the best because it was when Hyo and I broke up, but it was also the year that I met Yong and we finally got together. And we’re still together.

However, that empty seat beside my mother just means that Yong's not here yet. She texted me that she could come to my graduation. That she will come no matter what and I trust Yong that she will. I just hope she had seen me receive my diploma so I could make her proud, other than my parents and my friends.

For the rest of the ceremony, I just kept glancing at my wristwatch. I couldn’t see my parents from where I am sitting with the other graduates. I gave up trying as well and believed that Yong would be here any minute now.

When the ceremony ended, all graduates stood up for the recessional. My first goal was to locate Hyejin and Byulyi. Our seats were arranged alphabetically so my friends were far from me, which makes the rest of the ceremony boring. The only wonderful part was when I received my diploma but the adrenaline that I felt easily died down once I was back on my seat.

Students filled the entire open field right outside the coliseum. More and more people came into the open field when the graduates’ guests and relatives came out of the coliseum as well.

I was jumping and tiptoeing while looking for my friends. My eyebrows furrowed as concentrated over the loud buzzing and the black robes that surrounded me.

I turned around and squinted when I thought I heard someone called from behind me. I cupped my lips and shouted, “Hyejin! Byulyi!” I shyly smiled and apologized when the one standing beside me flinched when I shouted.

“Wheein!”

I turned around again, certain this time that someone called me. I tried to locate who it was while I continued to jump and tiptoe over the black robes around me. It was at this moment that I wish I was really tall so I could tower over these people and find my friends easily.

“Ahh!” I shouted nervously, my body shaking from being scared when I felt a hand on my knee.

I turned around once again and saw Hyejin and Byulyi laughing at me while I pouted at them. I dropped my pout and moved to my friends, hugging them both. We jumped so high, shouted on top of our lungs, and the little circle that we formed, celebrating that we have finally succeeded in college.

Hyejin grabbed my cap and ruffled my hair before she put my cap on me again. “Congratulations Wheeinie!” she said happily.

I lifted my cap and fixed my hair while I smiled so wide at Hyejin who was ruffling Byulyi’s hair this time.

“Congratulations Byulyi!” she said excitedly.

Byulyi and I glanced at each other and nodded at the same time. Then we moved to Hyejin and hurriedly lifted her cap before we completely destroyed her hair. “Congratulations Hyejinie!” Byulyi and I greeted her with huge smiles on our faces.

Hyejin pouted as she fixed her hair while we were just giggling at her. The pout didn’t last though and it was instantly replaced with a smile. “We should go look for our parents. I’m already hungry”

“Last person would buy all the drinks later tonight!” Byulyi said and instantly dashed without giving us a warning.

I followed her right away and left Hyejin behind. I don’t need to be the first person. I just don’t need to be the last one.

I was running closely behind Byulyi when I heard Hyejin shout “Unfair!”

We laughed as we ran hard to the entrance of the coliseum. We planned to meet there, but the entrance of the coliseum is not just a single door. It’s huge. With this many people, it might be hard to find them.

Hyejin and Byulyi’s family were all here for our graduation. Not just their parents, but including their sisters as well. Yong offered for all of them to stay in her house because she’s concerned about their expenses, but the Ahns and the Moons didn’t want to bother Yong as well. She already even converted her storage room into a guest room so my parents could stay in her house.

When we neared the entrance of the coliseum, all three of us were breathing so hard already. We were also laughing so hard, which slowed us down as well.

I saw a glimpse of my father and mother already. Then I saw someone carrying two bouquets of flowers, and wearing a pair of sunglasses and white long-sleeve off-shoulder shirt. My steps unconsciously slowed down as I squinted at the figure. She was wearing sunglasses so I couldn’t see her face that much, but when I saw her smile, that confirmed everything.

“Yong!” I shouted and ran ahead of Hyejin and Byulyi.

Her hair has grown so much now. I missed her short hair but there’s also something about Yong in her long hair that’s different as well. Good different, even when she tied it in a high ponytail.

I threw myself at her right away. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and my legs around her waist. She lifted the bouquets away from her just in time when I attached myself to her.

“You’re here! You came! I missed you! What took you so long? I was worried you couldn’t come” I whined as I pouted at her while she just smiled at me. I glanced at the bouquets in her hands. One is filled with yellow flowers while the other one is filled with red flowers. “Are these for me?” I asked her as I climbed down and planted my feet on the ground again. I reached for the flowers, jumping slightly on my heels from excitement as I said, “Thank you!”

Yong moved them away from my reach, stopping me from getting the flowers. “They’re not for you. They’re for Hyejin and Byulyi” she said, making me frown at her. I want flowers from her too. Noticing how my mood spiraled down right away, she hastily said, “I had yours in the car. It’s so big so I couldn’t carry it with me”

I smiled at her right away, my mood spiraling up instantly. She smiled back at me and said, “Go with your parents first. Let me give these to the two”

I nodded at her before I moved to my parents. They both hugged me and kissed my cheeks as they congratulated me while I thanked them for constantly supporting me. My mother was crying and I could see my father trying to hide his tears. I kept telling them not to cry because I might cry with them as well.

I hugged them one last time before I moved to Yong, Hyejin and Byulyi. When I saw them hugging each other, I joined with them and we started another round of jumping and screaming as we celebrated again. Then we moved to taking pictures next. Lots and lots of pictures were taken before we finally decided to head out for dinner.

We reserved an entire small restaurant for later so all three of our families could eat together. The Ahns and Moons headed out of the university to ride taxis while we headed to wherever Yong parked her SUV. Hyejin and Byulyi’s parents didn’t bring cars for later because it was already planned that there’d be lots of alcohol that’s going to be consumed later.

Yong handed me a huge bouquet of white flowers the moment we reached her car. “Ta da!” she exclaimed, smiling so big as she passed me the flowers.

My eyes widened while my mouth hung open by how huge the bouquet was. It covered her face when she lifted it from the car and she had to carry it with both of her arms unlike the ones she gave to Hyejin and Byulyi. Those were pretty too but this one is enormous.

“I had the biggest flower for you so you better stop whining about the ones I gave to your friends” she said as I wrapped my arms around it. “They’re heavy” she whispered before she pulled her arms from underneath the bouquet.

“Oh… Wow…” I whispered under my breath. “They’re beautiful. Thank you, Yong” I said. I moved the flowers to the side so I could see her before I moved closer to her and leaned forward to kiss her. I smiled at her before I excitedly said, “Let’s take a picture with the flowers”

“You should do it first with your Mom and Dad” Yong said, grabbing her phone from her pocket.

Another round of pictures were taken with me, my parents, and Yong with the flowers that Yong gave me. At some point, my mother offered to take pictures of me and Yong. My parents really loved Yong. Every time they check on me, they would always check on Yong as well. I’m not just updating Yong’s family about Yong’s whereabouts, I’m also updating my parents as well.

We took a couple of pictures while my parents smiled lovingly at us. The last picture was taken with Yong hugging me from behind. While my parents were checking all our pictures, we stayed in our position.

I missed her so much. This is the first day of her off week, yet she rushed her and chose to spend her day with me after being exhausted from work. She probably hadn’t had the opportunity to rest at all.

She kissed my temple before she leaned her chin on my shoulder. “I’m really proud of you, my love. I missed you too, but right now, I’m overwhelmingly proud of you”

I closed my eyes, my chest expanding from the sincerity in her voice as I sighed deeply. “I couldn’t do it without you” I whispered before I tilted my head to kiss her temple.

“You could definitely do it without me” she said, making me pout while she chuckled softly.

She removed her arms around my waist to grab her phone again from my mother. I reached for her hand and held it tightly while my parents headed back to Yong’s car. Yong and I smiled at each other, and before she could walk further, I tugged her arm, stopping her from walking as I turned my body to face her.

“You helped me a lot, Yong. In more ways that you could think of”

She pulled her sunglasses up so I could see her raising her eyebrows at me, silently asking me what I meant. I smiled at her before I leaned forward and kissed her. I dropped her hand and cupped her cheek, kissing her longer than the kiss I gave her earlier. I moved the flowers to the side when she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me closer to her, kissing me deeper as well.

Yong’s kisses always bring me nostalgia. She’s always gone most of the time for work. I always miss her. We always miss each other. The moment I’m over missing her, I’ll start missing her because she has to go back to work again. So every single time that we reconnect, it brings me home. But despite how frequently physically distant we are, she never rushes to devour me. She always takes her time in kissing me.

When we broke the kiss, I caressed my thumb on her cheek and stared at her intently. “You introduced to me what it’s really like to love and be loved. It’s kind of ironic thinking about it now because you said you have never been in love before. Yet you’re the one who showed me what it exactly feels like even though I claimed to be in love before” I said, chuckling to myself.

She helped me wash away my insecurities, which was what I was struggling with the most when we got together. It’s still there. I’m still insecure. It won’t be totally gone, but I’ve learned not to react right away if I feel insecure.

“You were just with the wrong person yet, I guess” she said.

“Maybe” I said nonchalantly as I shrugged my shoulders.

I smiled when she laughed at me. I missed seeing her eyes sparkle and the dimples below her lips so I took the moment to stare at them. Then I closed my eyes when she leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “I love you” she whispered, her lips still on my skin.

“I love you too, my angel” I said to her.

She kissed my forehead again before she held my hand. Then we started walking back to where her car was. “Let’s go. We don’t want your parents to wait for us” she said, tugging on my arm before we walked faster.

My mother helped me out of my cap and gown when we reached Yong’s car. I’m wearing a white suit dress that Yong gave to me and the angel wings necklace that I always wear with me. Then we all get inside the car after. I placed my huge bouquet of white flowers on my lap before I fastened my seatbelt.

“Where are we going?” Yong asked as we moved out of the university.

“I’ll just type it in your navigation panel. It’s this restaurant that the three of us go to when we want to drink” I said, winking at Yong as I smiled at her.

We can’t drink inside our dorms so we always go out every time Hyejin, Byulyi, and I wanted to drink. We discovered this small restaurant that sells affordable yet delicious food. It’s also where we always go if we drink to the point that the owner already knew me and my friends. Since we met Yong, we didn’t drink in the restaurant anymore and do it at Yong’s house. But it is still where we buy our alcohol and food.

I chuckled when I saw Yong throwing me a questioning look as she raised her eyebrows at me. I pointed at my father and said, “The fathers wanted to drink as well”

She shook her head and chuckled softly before she said, “Can you text Sujeong for me as well? I haven’t told her where we’ll be heading right now”

“Okay…” I said in a singsong voice. I reached for her purse and fished for her phone inside it to text her best friend. Sujeong and Taejoon will be joining us tonight to celebrate with us as well. I’m still shy around Sujeong and Taejoon but I’m not a mess when I talk to them now.

“Will Ggomo be okay tonight?” Yong asked as I finished up sending a text to Sujeong. “I rushed to your university earlier. I haven’t checked if he has enough water or food before we go back home” she said worriedly.

I smiled as I placed Yong’s phone back in her purse again. Ggomo had really grown in her. My cat, my own cat, loves her as well, far more than his owner who feeds him all the time. He’d ignore me and would look for Yong all the time.

“Oh, I filled his bowls with food and water before we left the house,” my mother said, answering Yong’s worries.

“You love that cat more than the owner loved her own pet” my father said before he erupted in his loud laugh that made my mother and Yong laugh with him while I just pouted at them.

“That’s because he doesn’t love me anymore and only loves Yong now” I whined as I leaned back and slouched on my seat.

Yong held my hand and caressed her thumb on my knuckles. “He loves you. He just doesn’t want to show it” she said teasingly as she grinned at me so wide, which just made me pout harder. She laughed at me again, squeezing my hand before she held the steering wheel again.

I dropped my pout and reached for Yong’s hand. She was startled for a second before she let go of the wheel so I could hold her hand. I held it with both of my hands, lifted it up to my lips, and placed a long kiss on the back of her hand.

I leaned my cheek on the back of her hand and faced Yong, seeing her constantly glancing at me with a soft smile on her lips. “I love you, my angel” I whispered softly before I kissed her hand again. I interlaced our fingers together and placed our joined hands on the center console.

She squeezed my hand before she whispered back, “I love you too, Whee”

Sweat.

Sweat is rolling down all over my body. I’m all covered in sweat. Even with my eyes closed, I know I’m not somewhere under the heat of the sun. but it just feels like that by how impossibly warm I am right now. I felt so sticky and I could feel my clothes sticking to me like it’s my own skin.

I felt like gravity had doubled and tripled overnight but I’m shocked that I’m still not buried deep in the sheets I’m lying on. There’s a constant pounding in my head that goes with the rhythm of my beating heart. My mouth, lips, and throat are all dry and my saliva feels so thick in my mouth mixed with what I know is the taste of soju and beer.

I want someone to crack my skull open and pull my brains out because it hurts so much. I want someone to pour tons of water into my mouth because it has completely dried out. I want someone to throw me in the freezer. I don’t like how warm I feel right now. I hate it. And if it’s possible, I just want to float in the air. I don’t like the gravity that’s making my entire body heavier.

I groaned so loud, my voice cracking and my throat hurting. I want to cry from the pain. I like drinking, but I always hate what the alcoh