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As the next row of students stood up and exited their seats in an orderly fashion, like they had rehearsed the day before, a rather rambunctious and large family barged through the doors. Their presence had most definitely interrupted the silent and suffocating atmosphere of the room and all the heads in the vicinity immediately turned toward their direction. They were making a great deal of noise but who could blame them when there were five grown adults and seven children, including a baby, in the mix.  

The gymnasium was packed and it was a miracle that they were able to find seats to accommodate their size. They had to sit a little further behind than they would have preferred but as long as they were able to witness their daughter walking across that stage and receiving her diploma that was all that mattered to them. Once they were all settled, the administrators deemed it fit to continue on with the ceremony.

“Did we miss her already?” A woman in her late forties panicked as she rocked the sleeping infant in her arms. She was scanning the room anxiously, ignoring all the weird stares she was getting.

“See, this is why I said we should have left earlier,” a girl no younger than fourteen stated as she shook her head apprehensively. She never liked her family’s habit of always procrastinating and putting things off until the last possible second, especially on days as important and significant as today.

“Saeyoung, be quiet. You know we had to wait for dad to get out of work,” her twin brother defended as he rolled his eyes.

Saeyoung frowned deeply at her brother’s command and crossed her arms against her chest indignantly. “Why don’t you just shut up, Younghae,” she shot back, not even bothering to look his way.

Younghae his teeth at his sister’s foul attitude and as he was preparing to fire back with his own ammunition, he felt someone poking his side. He glanced over to the left and then down to where his younger sister was stationed. She was carrying her favorite teddy-bear as she blinked innocently at him. “Oppa, did we miss her already?” she questioned, pursing her lips outward.

The boy scratched his head and shrugged. After, he checked his watch and said, “We’re only thirty minutes late. I doubt they already reached her class. We’ll see her, Aesook. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh my! Yumi, I think I found her!” another woman exclaimed as she nudged her sister-in-law excitedly.

“Where?” Yumi cried as she tried tracing her gaze.

“Right there, auntie! She’s waving at us!” another young boy confirmed. Next, he quickly climbed up onto his chair. With both feet planted, he cupped his small hands around his mouth to project his voice. “Arang noona is the best!” The people who were surrounding them had a mixture of reactions to his action. Some thought it was cute and adorable while others found it to be disturbing and disrespectful.

The boy’s father pulled his son back down and sent him a pointed look. “You know you’re not supposed to do that, Sooha. You’re supposed to wait until your cousin gets called first.” His father then broke out into a grin and winked.

Sooha cheesed right back and nodded. “Yes, sir.” He saluted playfully before getting comfortable in his seat.

“Is that your family, Arang?” a girl by the name Junmi asked curiously as she glanced back to where the fidgety family could be spotted.

Arang looked their way as well and chuckled. “Yeah. They’re a bit rowdy and loud but that’s what I love about them.”

“They’re nothing like you,” another classmate pointed out, a bit taken aback by the situation.

“We’re all different, Sungjae,” she countered casually as she faced forward. She had heard that kind of comment often or ones similar to it, therefore Arang was pretty accustomed to it. “If we were all the same it would make my life rather dull and boring and I’m not a huge fan of those two things.”

Sungjae nodded his head hesitantly, wondering if he might have offended her. However, when Arang turned his way again and smiled, his question was answered. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t hurt by the remark. No need to feel guilty over something so miniscule.” It was amazing how she was able to see through his expressions and actions. He had to admit that he was impressed with her.

Suddenly, Arang shot up from her seat and he was stunned. He thought she might have changed her mind and wanted to punch him in the face but instead she quirked an inquiring brow. “Aren’t you going to get up?” She jerked her head behind him and he realized it was their turn to strut across the stage and finally be done with high school.

“Oh yeah,” Sungjae replied dumbly as he stumbled to his feet.

Principle Jung was announcing names in alphabetical order and after each introduced body made their way across the poorly decorated stage, no one made a sound. There were no congratulatory chants or name-calling which was what made the place dreadful. It was part of a new policy the school decided to enact. To be respectful and polite, providing all of the families in the crowd with a chance to hear their beloved’s name being called out, the administrators believed it was best to hold all of the cheering, clapping and other festive gestures for the end of the program. It was only fair. So before they began the process, they kindly requested everyone to oblige to these instructions.

Too bad the So and Byun families had missed that part. “And next, we have So Arang.” As her name echoed through the speakers and danced in the air, her family hooted and hollered like there was no tomorrow with the exception of Saeyoung who couldn’t be more embarrassed. Again, the family gained the crowd’s undivided attention but they couldn’t care less.

“Honey, our baby girl really graduated,” Mrs So sobbed joyously as she buried her face into her husband’s chest.

“I know. I’m so proud of her,” Mr So agreed, restraining his own delighted tears from falling.

“Noona’s awesome!” Sooha declared enthusiastically. His two older brothers nodded in sync before they resumed with the gleeful shouting.

“Sorry about them, Principle Jung,” Arang whispered as she shook the man’s hand and curled her fingers around her certificate. “They’re just excited. I’m the oldest in the family which means I’m the first to graduate.”

Mr Jung gritted his teeth but smiled anyways as he released her hand. “I guess it’s a good thing I won’t be here when the rest of your siblings head into high school then, huh?”

“Actually,”—Arang tapped her chin—“My brother, sister and cousin just graduated from middle school and they have decided that they’ll be attending school here. I guess this won’t be the last time you’ll be seeing my family then, huh?” She was unquestionably sharp-tongued but hey, she was only telling the truth. Besides, he was clearly asking for it. What was a girl to do? “I’ll make sure to be much louder when it’s their turn,” she hummed before she shifted toward the audience and bowed.

She could feel the heat and anger radiating off of the old man behind her but he started it. If he didn’t want to be smart-mouthed by a student a third of his age, he should have kept his snide and snarky comments to himself. Arang knew what kind of person Mr Jung was just as she knew what kind of folks her family was. She was just that good and observant with people.

Last night she was already aware of how her graduation was going