Priceless

IV.

×

Days piled up to weeks.
Weeks turned into months.
Before you knew it, an entire six of them had passed by.

Now you were standing at your graduation ceremony, dressed in the polyester graduation gown, sweating from the early summer heat. Your sleep-deprived eyes managed to find Hoseok and Jimin between the seated crowd of proud parents and bored-looking siblings and classmates.

You tried to smile when you met their gazes. Hobi waved at you with enthusiasm, a bunch of pink flowers rested on his lap. And out of habit, your eyes swept over the number of people, in search the number of a blonde head and a familiar smirk.
No sign of Yoongi.
You weren't even disappointed anymore; your hope to see him again was driven on miracles, not expectations.

Yoongi left the country a while ago. You did your best to not count the number of days, but the calendar reminded you that it passed more than six months; approximately 182 days.
He disappeared without a word.
The call never came.
Instead, you got three sentences inked on a white page.
To this day, the meaning behind his sudden absence remained unresolved to you.

You had been patient with Yoongi even after he left, which was more than your heart could take.
You hadn't seen him since the day after he dropped you off at your apartment; since he picked you up from your night shift and passionately kissed you goodbye. That day you would never forget, and you did your best not to.

Two weeks of waiting for his call, your phone finally rang during lunch period. Only... the person on the other end turned out to be Hoseok. He had asked to meet up and you agreed. Although you didn't expect him to be waiting for you in the school parking lot once the last bell rang of the day.

After some meaningless small talk, Hobi finally handed you a white envelope. With anxious eyes, he explained that it was from Yoongi.
You believed him, recognizing the handwriting on the page. A big-numbered paycheck met your eyes, and behind it; a few words written in blue ink:
"This is my call.
Sorry it all turned out like this.
This is your final paycheck, so let's end everything here."

Let's end everything here.
You didn't get it at first.
Not until Hoseok explained that Yoongi had to leave the country for business due to unfortunate circumstances -he couldn't evaluate what kind exactly. But you were no idiot. You knew that Yoongi leaving the country had to do with his father's threats. When you asked for how long, the brunette remained quiet for a pregnant beat. Then told you that you shouldn't wait for Yoongi to come back. He told you he didn't know if Yoongi even will. You didn't want to believe Hoseok's answer.

That night, with Yoongi's letter crumpled against your chest, you cried harder than you believed you ever could. Even your mother didn't bother to give you her daily drunken lecture when she saw your tear-stained face.

Let's end everything here.
Those words wouldn't stop flashing in your mind. They kept forming cracks in your heart until all pieces were a bleeding, shattered mess. It took a good while of Hoseok's and Jimin's company along with a bunch of food and movies to help you get through the fact that you'll probably not see Yoongi again -not anywhere near the future, at least.

Now... well, now you had finally graduated. And, thanks to the collected money that you earned by working for Yoongi and the other side jobs, the other half of your tuition was fully paid off and you were moving into the dorm in a weeks time. You were more than grateful for Hoseok's help in this; he kept promising to help you with the move-in even though you told him he didn't have to. There really wasn't much moving to do besides your wardrobe and books.

"Congratulations, princess!" Hobi grinned as you made way through the crowd toward him. "You made it!"

The ceremony was over with and you had already gotten out of your graduation gown. Everyone was now in the spacious parking lot taking pictures and talking loudly with their groups of people. With a backpack in your hand, you've never felt more relieved to leave a place in your life.
To be quite honest, you felt completely beat; mind and limbs fatigued.