Yoseob’s POV

A couple days had passed by, and it was the day of our high school graduation.  The school had an early dismissal, so the graduates could have time to prepare for the graduation ceremony tonight.  After tonight, it will be the last time I’ll ever see my high school friends again, except for the BEAST members of course.  The 6 of us will be taking the train to Seoul the first thing tomorrow morning.  It could be the 7 of us, depending on whether or not Aerin wants to join Cube Entertainment.

I buttoned my white stress shirt, and tightened my black tie.  Then, I pulled on the silky black robe that was lying on my bed.

“Yoseob-ah!  The graduation ceremony is about to start, are you ready?”  Mom called out to me from downstairs.

“Neh!”  I responded, quickly skipping down the stairs with my mortarboard (the graduation cap).

My eyes couldn’t stop staring at the scenery on our way to the school.  My eyes were on the road, but my brain was focused on Aerin’s response.  What will her final decision be?  Will we have to go our separate ways from now on?  These questions circled my head again and again until we finally arrived in the school parking.

I sent my mom into the auditorium first, while I went to look for the others.  Daehyun was still in rage that Mom came to the talent show, but Mom didn’t care.  She toughened up and grew just as furious as he was.  She wasn’t going to let Daehyun control her life anymore.  I smiled when I turned away from her.

“You’re doing it wrong!”  I suddenly heard a familiar voice complain.  I followed the voice and discovered Dongwoon complaining to Hyunseung that he is putting his cap on wrong.  The boys were all wearing a silky black robe, with a light green stripe on it, symbolizing our school’s colour.

“It looks fine!”  Hyunseung defended his work of art.

A soft chiming giggle brushed by my ear, and Aerin revealed herself from behind Hyunseung.  “Here, let me do it.”  She carefully fixed Dongwoon’s cap, and put the coloured tassels on the right side.

“This looks way better.  Thanks Noona!”  The maknae’s smile gleamed.

“Ah, Yoseobie!”  Doojoon noticed my appearance, so he gestured for me to go over to them.

“You didn’t put on your cap yet, let me help you.”  Hyunseung offered, but was pulled away by Junhyung.

“Yah, let the professional do it.”  Junhyung said as he brought forth Aerin.

My girlfriend walked up to me.  Without saying a word, she took the cap from my hands and placed it on my un-styled blond hair.  She brushed aside my bangs, and smiled that adorable smile of hers.

Wow, that was possibly the longest speech ever made by our principal.  He just droned on and on about his teaching years at Shinhwa High School.  But at last, after the valedictorian’s speech, all the graduates threw their mortarboards up in the air.  The auditorium was filled with cheers, laughter, and whistling.  Shinhwa, I’m going to miss you.

Everyone made their way to the refreshments out in the school’s backfield.  Somehow, in the sea of parents, I managed to spot my mom socializing with Dongwoon’s dad, Junhyung’s mom, and Kikwang’s parents.  See, she finally realized that she can still live without Daehyun.  My heart became easy, and I let out a content sigh.

“What are you sighing about?”  Aerin popped out from behind me, flashing me a light smile.

“I’m just happy that Daehyun’s not here to trash my graduation.”  I said in a teasing tone, which Aerin replied with a chuckle.  “Aerin-ah,” I paused as I took her hand in mine.  She looked at me with curious eyes.  “Thanks for everything you’ve done.”

“W-what do you mean?”  She looked away as she tucked a loose strand of her chocolate brown hair behind her ear.  Even though she was trying to act innocent, I knew what she did.

“Thanks for persuading my mom to come to the talent show, and come to our graduation, without Daehyun.”  I emphasized the word a bit too much than I intended it to be.

“I tried to get Daehyun-shi to come, but he was too stubborn.  No offence.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t expect him to come anyway.”  It was true.  I didn’t expect him to come.  In fact, I didn’t even want him to show up at my graduation if he was going to be rude and hateful about it.

Suddenly, it reminded me.   Tonight, Aerin was going to tell me about her decision.

“Aerin-ah,” I hesitated, thinking about how I should phrase my words so I won’t sound like I was nagging or pressuring her.  “Remember how you told me, about a week ago, that you were going to tell me your decision?”

She thought for a while, and nodded.  “Yeah, my life-changing decision.”

“So… what’s it going to be?”

“I’ve decided that…”  She paused before she gave me her answer.

My heart hammered against my chest with the passing of every second.  The beating was so loud that I was sure Aerin could hear it too.  Will she choose to go to Korea with me and the rest of BEAST members, or will she follow her long-time dream to study at UBC?  Whichever path she chooses, I promised myself – and her – that I will respect her decision.  We will still be together, but it’ll just have to be a long-distance relationship.  And who knows, she’ll probably meet another guy in Canada, who’s better-looking and smarter than I am.  Oh gosh, I didn’t even realize that I was starting a mental argument in my head.  I took a deep but silent breath, calming myself down to wait for Aerin’s answer.

Aerin took out a train ticket from her hand-held clutch that she’s been carrying, and waved the ticket in front of me.  “I’M GOING TO SEOUL WITH YOU GUYS!”  Aerin exclaimed with a dazzling smile as she threw her arms around my neck.

My muscles relaxed, but then my blood was bubbling with excitement once I realized that my girlfriend was going to stay in Korea with me and my best friends!  We will be spending practically years together, and hopefully debuting together.  With all the joy and commotion, I wrapped my arms tightly around Aerin’s waist, and lifted her off the ground to spin her in the air.

Now we wouldn’t have to have a long-distance relationship, where we call each other on the phone in different time zones.  We wouldn’t need to video chat to see how each other’s doing.  I wouldn’t need to wait until the holidays to receive a hug from her, and I definitely didn’t need to worry about other foreign Caucasian guys hitting on my girlfriend.  This was possibly the best day of my life.