Chapter 298
298 – Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
After leaving the student council room, I headed to the rooftop of the old building, which was the location the vice president told me about.
Shake!
When you open the rusty rooftop door and go out, what you see in front is a tall barbed wire fence.
The president, wearing his distinctive black school uniform, was standing in front of the barbed wire and looking down at the campus.
“Kumiko-senpai.”
When I called his name, the chairman greeted his shoulders and turned around.
“Welcome, Yoosung.”
“What were you doing alone?”
“I was just looking around the school and thinking about various things.”
The chairman said and grabbed the barbed wire with his palm.
“Personally, I think it’s been a pretty hectic three years. As the student council president and daughter of the Saionji family, I have to be an example to other students, so every day was a series of tension. I’m saying this because It’s all over now, but honestly, should I quit halfway? I thought about it several times.”
“But you persisted until the end.”
“It’s all thanks to Shinji, Minami, and Yoosung who supported us by our side.”
The Chairman said, brushing back the hair below his ear that was blowing in the wind.
“I probably wouldn’t have been able to endure it if I had been alone. In that sense, I am grateful to Yusung-gun for his dedication.”
At the same time, the slight smile on her lips she was so beautiful and pitiful that one could involuntarily lose one’s attention
‘Ah, this is why I fell in love with the chairman.’
So much so that you think.
“… Sunggun? Yuseonggun?”
“Oh, yes.”
“What’s going on? You’re suddenly standing there blankly.”
“No, it’s nothing.”
As I said that, I gave a vague answer and rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment.
“Looking towards the campus, it looks like the graduation ceremony is starting soon. Let’s go down too.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Now.”
“?”
“Self.”
The chairman extended his right hand to me and shook it.
I realized too late that it meant asking me to hold his hand, so I carefully held the chairman’s small hand.
“Hehe, Yooseong’s hand is so warm whenever I hold it.”
The chairman smiled happily as he said that and pulled me toward the stairs while humming.
***
The place where the third-year graduation ceremony was held today was the auditorium of Ichijo Academy High School, which was also used for cultural festival performances.
Pipe chairs lined up tightly inside a large building.
And wreaths sent by many people were lined up densely in front of the entrance.
Even so, we didn’t have the confidence to hold hands in front of people, so we let go and went in separately until we left the old school building.
“Kim Yoo-seong! Here!”
As I was snooping around the auditorium, I found a familiar face.
“Senior Fuma.”
It’s senior Fuma in school uniform.
Perhaps because we met more often outside of school than inside, it was refreshing to see Senior Fuma wearing a school uniform.
“Hello~ It’s been a while~”
And sitting next to him was senior Ayabe, the former head of the newspaper department.
“Were you two friends?”
“Then~ We are best friends.”
“This woman is one-sidedly clinging to me.”
“What? How could you say such harsh things?!”
“Ugh! It’s gross, get away!”
Ayabe-senpai tries to kiss him, and Fuma-senpai desperately pushes Ayabe-senpai’s face away.
Honestly, from a third party’s point of view, all I see is two pretty girls cackling.
“Woman.”
At that time, someone spoke from behind without any sign.
“?!”
When I turned around in surprise, the person standing behind me was a middle-aged man with long hair pulled into a ponytail and his muscular body covered by a black suit.
“Who are you?”
As I looked at him with a wary gaze, the man scratched his beard as if he was troubled and said.
“You don’t recognize me?”
I remember hearing this voice.
“Mr. Kotaro?!”
“Now you realize it.”
A middle-aged man said that and waved his hand happily.
To be honest, it is an incredible transformation.
Is this the grumpy old man I knew? So much so that I want to.
“Yukika, is this your father?”
“But?”
“Will you call me stepmom from now on?”
“You’re really crazy.”
After hearing Ayabe-senpai’s joke, Fuma-senpai criticizes it with cold eyes.
However, Ayabe-senpai seems to be used to being treated like this, and she seems to have no problem.
At that time, Mr. Kotaro asked me.
“But why are you here, a second year student?”
“Ah, today I got to give a congratulatory speech as a representative of the current students. After all, I am the top student in my grade.”
“Surprisingly.”
“I usually hear things like that a lot.”
In the first place, not many people would think that a muscle mass like me would be good at studying.
Anyway, it seemed like the graduation ceremony was about to start, so I told the three people that I was going to leave and left on my own.
***
“Ah, ah, then the 78th Ichijou Academy High School Graduation Ceremony will begin.”
The graduation ceremony began in earnest with the words of the host holding the microphone.
As the students and parents sitting on the pipe chairs applauded in unison, the host said thank you and explained the order of the ceremony.
“Then first, I will give a congratulatory message from the Chairman.”
Eventually, the person who came up on stage with the host’s introduction was an old man with graying hair.
He is the current chairman of Ichijo Academy, whom we meet once a year.
“Today is the day when the proud students raised by Ichijou Academy take their first steps into society. Just like the educational philosophy of our school, which was established in 1971, Ichijou Academy is a better person than yesterday…”
Most of what the chairman said on the podium was about the future of students.
What’s going on in the small society called school, what’s going on outside, what’s going on.
Because it was a fairly long story, students and parents who had been listening intently at first looked bored by the middle.
When the chairman, who had been talking for a long time, finally finished speaking and came down from the podium, the students and parents applauded with heartfelt joy.
Afterwards, the graduation ceremony was held sequentially according to the ceremony order.
“Then thank you for listening to my long story.”
And after the speech by the president, the graduate representative, it was finally my turn to return.
As I was coming down the stairs, the chairman, who was waiting behind the stage, made eye contact and spoke with his mouth.
From noble mtl dot come
‘Cheer up.’
I greeted the chairman with a glance and nodded his head.
“Yuseong, it’s your turn.”
“Yes.”
After receiving a signal from Mr. Matsuda, I took a deep breath to control my pounding heart before going up on stage.
“Seup! Phew-“
The heartbeat gradually slows down.
It’s not my first time standing in front of many people, but since I’m also human, I couldn’t help but be afraid of making mistakes.
‘Okay, let’s go.’
After mentally preparing, I slowly went up to the stage.
Step by step! Step by step!
The sound of my footsteps echoing in the quiet auditorium.
I deliberately tried to look only ahead.
It felt like I would get more nervous if I looked around for no reason.
Finally, standing in front of the podium, I took my eyes off the barn I had worked so hard to build all night and spoke.
“Nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Kim Yoo-seong, the student representative.”
Of course, no answer came back.
Because everyone was quietly holding their breath and concentrating on my every move.
But that was enough.
“Whenever I stand here, I remember the day I stood on the podium as a freshman representative.
At that time, I was looking forward to my high school life with a fresh mind, but now I am already approaching my third year.
I met many people while attending this school. Of course, there are people who like me and there are people who dislike me. But I saw a better tomorrow and future through the relationships I made.
Guys, don’t be afraid to move forward. Of course, I know that you are afraid of being hurt in human relationships.
But when the wound heals and new skin grows over it, you will definitely become a better person than you were yesterday.
Even if it is difficult to take a step forward, people around you will reach out and help you, just like they have done so far. So, have courage.”
The events of the past year flash through my mind like flashes of light.
At first, he denied his relationship with the original characters, but in the end, it became an irreplaceable treasure.
That’s what the ‘relationship’ between people is.
“Graduates, we sincerely congratulate you on your graduation.”
The moment I ended my congratulatory speech by saying that, all the graduates and their parents who had been listening with bated breath began to applaud in unison.
“──”
I was just staring blankly at that dazzling scene, but soon came to my senses, bowed my head, and came down from the podium.
“Good job, Yoosung.”
The chairman, who was waiting at the back of the stage, said that and gently waved his hand at me.
“Senior.”
As I walked towards the walker with a happy heart, I hesitated when I saw the chairman suddenly open his arms.
“Now?”
“If not now, when would you do it again?”
I couldn’t resist the chairman’s pressure and carefully hugged him.
“Hehe, it feels like I’m being hugged by a big teddy bear.”
The chairman, who said that while burying his face in my chest, looked up at me and asked.
“Yuseong, do you remember the promise you made on the uninhabited island before?”
“The promise you made on the desert island?”
“You asked me to confess to you again if my feelings don’t change even after I graduate.”
“… I did.”
Now that we’re already lovers, isn’t it a promise that has no meaning?
With that in mind, it was the moment I was about to let go of the Chairman.
Side &
The chairman suddenly jumped up and gave me a surprise kiss and spoke to me while I was making a dumb expression.
“Yuseong, will you marry me when you graduate next year?”
I never thought he would propose at this time.
Having been hit by the chairman without even thinking about it, I nodded with a happy smile.
“Of course.”
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