Chapter Text
While Eunji was getting better at waking up in the morning on days that she didn't get to sleep until she woke up naturally, it was still a huge struggle to drag herself out of bed when her alarm went off. But that morning, her excitement had her already half-awake when her alarm started ringing. She turned it off and jumped out of Riley's bed, immediately gathering up a fresh set of underwear and the dress she'd purchased specifically for her college graduation before hurrying to the bathroom. She hopped in the shower, scrubbing every inch of her body thoroughly, washing her hair, and shaving her legs, before climbing out. Then once she was in a towel she first dried her hair, pulling half of it back and holding it in place with a bow hair clip. She did her makeup then pulled on her underwear and dress, double checking herself in the mirror before leaving Riley's grandparents' bathroom.
She was immediately greeted by Riley, who was also already dressed for the day and offering her a piece of breakfast fruit pizza. "You already to go?" She asked.
Eunji nodded, going up on her tiptoes to give Riley a quick kiss before accepting the breakfast offering. "So ready." She took a bite of the pizza and checked her phone, nearly choking when she saw what time it was. "And we're cutting it close. I'm supposed to be there by 9:15 to get checked in."
"Looks like we're having breakfast to go." Riley said. The two of them bid Riley's grandparents goodbye before heading out to Riley's car so they could go to the Devil Dog Arena at Morrilton High School where the community college commencement ceremony was taking place.
***
Riley's family had rented out their pack's reception hall following Eunji's graduation ceremony to hold a celebratory lunch complete with a white person's taco bar as the provided meal. The guests included the Min family, of course, including Hana, Jaehyun, and Julie who had driven up the day before so they could be there, their friends, Riley's family, and some members of the pack who'd wanted to congratulate Eunji on the milestone. Although the Mins and their friends were polite and welcoming to the others, the two groups did end up somewhat divided, similar to cliques in high school, everyone keeping to their own people except for Riley and Eunji who kept bouncing back and forth. But that didn't stop the occasional 'helpful' advice or unsolicited opinion that would come from the pack members.
It started just as people began to fill their plates following the prayer the pack members had insisted upon prior to eating, prompted by Julie's fussing during the moment despite Hana's best efforts to keep the toddler quiet and calm. "Sounds like somebody needs to learn how to act in public settings." An omega a little bit older than Yoongi and Jimin said with a faux joking tone, yet Hana could have heard the judgment from miles away.
"This is usually when she takes a nap so she's just getting a bit tired." Hana explained politely, bouncing the toddler slightly to try to soothe her further.
"Well, they still gotta learn at some point." The older omega insisted. "It's not like she'll always get to have her nap at the same time every day. Being tired is no excuse."
Hana blinked at her. "She's only 16 months old."
"They're never too young for discipline." That had Hana nearly seeing red. "She's old enough to know better."
Eunji appeared at that moment, cutting into the conversation. "Actually, she's not. Pups don't begin to recognize right from wrong until around the age of two, and then they don't truly begin to understand the nuances of right and wrong until they hit the preschool years. So all Julie here knows is that she's tired and is communicating that in the only way she knows how." She managed to get Hana and Julie away from the older omega and through the taco bar line. "And that's on having a degree in pup development." Eunji grinned at her older sister.
"Thanks." Hana said. "Although I think Jae and I will just pack some food up to go so we can get her to sleep. Sorry we won't get much more time together."
"It's all good." Eunji assured her.
Next was when an omega around Hajoon and Charlie's age suddenly sat across from them as they were feeding Jason bits of food from their plates. "I couldn't help but notice…" He trailed off and gestured to his scent gland to signify their lack of mating bites. "Don’t you want to set a good example for this little one?"
Hajoon and Charlie shared a look before Hajoon responded. "I think portraying a healthy relationship that doesn't involve rushing into something as serious as a mating before we're ready is the best example we can set." Soon after they finished eating, they also took their leave so they could get back to Conway and put Jason down for his own afternoon nap.
Eunji's parents and Sunwoo were the next to leave after they finished eating, due to her mom and Sunwoo needing to get to the studio for that year's competition team auditions, and soon after the other guests began to trickle out. Yet that didn't save Eunji from also being on the receiving end of someone's judgment. "So what are your plans now?" The pack alpha's mate, Addison, inquired as they were packing up the leftover food.
"Well, the campus daycare offered me a full-time position." Eunji said. "I like it there well enough, so I'll be staying there until a better opportunity comes along, if one does."
Addison furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head slightly. "You don't want to finish out your degree and become a real teacher?"
Eunji paused. "I mean, daycare and preschool teachers are 'real' teachers. Just for a different age group."
"But that's more like glorified pupsitting." Addison said.
"It's a lot more in depth than pupsitting." Eunji said. "But I can understand the confusion since your only work with pups is dropping off prepackaged lesson plans created by capitalistic companies that don't know much about pup development at all in each of the Sunday School classrooms for the teachers to follow." She plastered a smile on her face before moving as far away from Addison as she could.