27 – Graduation Ceremony (2)
Since then, there was no conversation in the car.
Soyeong felt awkward in the unexpected situation, and Ulrike felt like she couldn’t breathe because Yeoul was beside her.
As for Yeoul, well, she just stayed still.
Even in the midst of the silence, the car moved steadily towards the school.
As they got closer to the school, all eyes were on the limousine.
“Hey, what is that?”
“A limousine? Wow, I’ve never seen something like that before.”
“Did we have someone so rich at our school?”
As the car stopped and the driver opened the door, the people’s interest grew even more.
Moreover, the people who got out of the car were all good-looking.
Soyoung felt flustered by the attention but since Yeoul and Yeoong walked ahead as if nothing was out of the ordinary, she had no choice but to follow them.
They had arrived at the school field, which was crowded with people, just in time for the graduation ceremony. They walked towards the auditorium.
Students, parents, and acquaintances filled the hall.
They found empty seats and sat down.
The graduation ceremony.
Ten years ago, when Yeoul was still a middle school student, he was about to attend a graduation ceremony but was abruptly taken to this other world.
Now, his younger brother was experiencing that same ceremony after ten years had passed.
Even for an ordinary person, it would have been an overwhelmingly new experience, but unfortunately, Yeoul sat there emotionlessly, staring into the distance.
The ceremony began.
The customary rituals were performed, and soon it was time for the representative graduate to receive their diploma.
But it wasn’t Yeoong who was called.
Yeoong confidently walked up to the stage and received his diploma from the aging principal.
Then he turned around and greeted others.
Yeoong spotted Yeooul sitting behind her, wondering where her older brother was, and waved at him. But then she noticed two women sitting next to her brother. Her expression subtly hardened.
Who are those women sitting next to my brother?
Unable to think deeply while on stage, Yeoong returned to her seat.
Then, the principal finished his long speech.
The graduation ceremony came to an end.
The auditorium buzzed with the excited voices of the students.
Yeoong, too, was enjoying the joy of graduation with her friends, and they were taking pictures together.
Yeoul stood up from his seat and walked towards his sister.
Yeoong stood there, beaming with happiness. When her friends noticed Yeooul approaching before her, they froze.
“Hey, hey. Look at that person.”
“What is it…. Wow, that’s crazy.”
“Just something about them, they’re so damn cool….”
“It seems like that statement is true….”
While taking pictures, the friends suddenly became distracted by something. Curious about what it could be, Leeyoon turned her head.
Maybe it’s because of the graduation ceremony.
Her charismatic brother, who looks so impressive that even passersby would be captivated, was walking towards them.
“Leeyoon.”
Yeo-ul called her younger sister. Upon hearing this, her friends around her became even more excited.
“Oh? Song Leeyoon, do you know him?”
“What’s going on?”
Are they acquainted with each other? Her friends looked at her with surprised faces.
In her heart, Leeyoon wanted to run towards her brother right away, but she only managed to give a small smile in front of her friends, feeling embarrassed to act that way.
“Oh, it’s our brother. Our close brother.”
“Close brother?”
“Wow, amazing.”
“What’s with the genetics?”
“This is really unfair… Why is our brother…”
Every time she heard her friends’ comments about her brother, she felt a surge of pride as if she was receiving compliments.
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But…
“But who are those people next to our brother?”
“Do you know them too? They’re so beautiful….”
“Do they belong in a different picture? Is this for real?”
This time, it was Leeyoon who felt uncomfortable from her friends’ words.
They don’t seem particularly pretty….
And who are those people coming with my brother?
When did my brother become so close with girls….
Leeyoon’s heart became uneasy for reasons she couldn’t understand.
Yeo-ul’s group stopped in front of Leeyoon and her friends.
“Hello!”
“You must be Leeyoon’s brother, right…!”
“Brother, you look so cool…!”
“What are you saying? I saw him a long time ago and called him ‘brother’.”
Kyarruk, the high school girls who chatted and laughed among themselves, blossoming like flowers.
Yeonwool, who had been looking at them emotionlessly, asked Ryeowoon if they were her friends.
“Yeah, they’re my friends. Thanks for coming, oppa,” Ryeowoon replied.
“Alright.”
Ryeowoon looked at the women standing on either side of Yeonwool. They seemed pretty…. He felt slightly annoyed with himself for silently acknowledging their looks.
“Oh, by the way… who are these ladies next to you?” he asked.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce them,” Yeonwool said, pointing to a woman with a tall stature, golden hair, and impressive ears. “This is Miss Soyeong. Remember, the person I said I owed a favor to?”
“Oh, hello… I’m Kang Soyeong…”
Soyeong smiled as if she had been untied.
Her face looked familiar, probably because she was the neighbor next door.
Ryeowoon thought that even though they spent a whole week alone in a house with someone as attractive as her, nothing seemed to have happened.
“Hello, unnie. Our oppa owes you a lot,” Ryeowoon said.
“Oh, no….”
Soyeong couldn’t bring herself to say that she was actually thankful for getting to know Yeonwool.
Ryeowoon thought to himself, “Yeah, Soyeong unnie seems okay.”
Although there was something strange in the way she looked at her brother…. She felt grateful, knowing that she had caused trouble for her.
But who on earth is this elf person? When did her brother become friends with such a beautiful elf?
Just then, Yeonwool pointed to the elf and introduced her.
“And this is, uh, just an acquaintance.”
“Ha, hahahaha…. Hello, I’m Ulike.”
Ryeowoon couldn’t help but be surprised when she heard her name.
Not using a Korean-style name meant that she hadn’t applied for refugee status, and that meant she had enough power─whether it was wealth, influence, or strength─to not need it.
Her other friends seemed unaware of this.
How did my brother become friends with someone like her….
“Hello, I’m Song Ryeowoon, Yeonwool oppa’s sister. Ah, and feel free to call both of them casually,” Ryeowoon said.
Soyeong welcomed the opportunity to get closer to Yeonwool’s family, but Ulike, for some reason, refused, saying she couldn’t do that as Yeonwool’s friend.
Ryeowoon couldn’t quite figure out the relationship between Ulike the elf and her brother.
Meanwhile, Ulike was going crazy.
The person who had arranged the kidnapping was right in front of her.
She didn’t feel any guilt, but she couldn’t even begin to guess what thoughts were going through Yeo-ul’s mind, forcing them to face each other.
“Um, if it’s okay with you, should I take a picture?”
Yeo-ul momentarily moved away to hand her friend a smartphone to take a photo. Ullike brought her lips to Yeo-ul’s ear and whispered.
“Yeo-ul-nim… You didn’t mention it was Ryoun’s graduation ceremony….”
“So what?”
“Well… There’s nothing I can do about it but….”
hahahaha… Ullike looked up at Yeo-ul who didn’t even glance in her direction, and sadly laughed.
Seeing that conversation unintentionally, Soyung began to wonder about their relationship.
An elf who smelled of money behaving so subserviently towards Miss Yeo-ul. When did they become acquainted? Was it when she was at work?
She even felt a twinge of jealousy towards Ullike for having heard Yeo-ul say “So what?”
Ryoun, who handed her smartphone to her friend, approached this side to take a photo next to Yeo-ul.
hehehe, as Ryoun smiled at Yeo-ul, she couldn’t help but show a slightly flustered expression while looking at some of the sisters who ended up taking photos together.
“Now, I’ll take the picture-“
Click, the sound of the camera app’s shutter was heard.
“Oh….”
Soyung’s friend who took the photo let out a sigh as she looked at the result.
They are all good-looking, so it would have turned out well no matter how we took it…. Why is everyone making such expressions, she thought.
She wondered if she should take it again, but as she kept looking, this photo seemed to have turned out well in its own way.
* * *
“See you later, Father-in-Law!”
“I’ll go with you!”
Yeo-ul’s group walked out of the auditorium, bidding farewell to their cheerful friends.
How did it turn out, I wonder. Ryoun opened the gallery app and looked at the photo she had just taken.
And then, she burst into laughter involuntarily.
Yeo-ul standing expressionless in the middle.
Ryoun with a somewhat pouting face standing next to her.
Soyung awkwardly smiling with a forced smile.
And even Ullike with a stiff expression.
Perhaps there isn’t a single person here who looks ordinary. Amidst it all, the photos were well taken, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Ryeowun.”
Was it because I was quietly standing there looking at the photos?
Suddenly, my older brother’s group had walked far away.
“Just a moment-!”
I chased after them, smiling.