In a place where he feels safe...

My eldest son just graduated the other day, but
today was my second son's graduation ceremony.

My second son is a strong-willed child who talks a lot about trivial things but is secretive about the important stuff.
Perhaps because he is the type who needs affection more than anyone else, he started refusing to go to school around the time my fourth son entered nursery school, and he has always been someone I couldn't let my guard down around.

Every time he moved up a grade, teachers would tell me in interviews that he was a bright child, but he was sensitive to changes in his environment and highly aware of anything he perceived as unreasonable...
There were times he ran away from school during class, and I would shrink in fear every time the phone rang.

From my second son's room, I would often hear 'Daphne' by DISH// playing.
I find myself imagining what he was feeling when he listened to it.

When he couldn't focus on his studies due to anxiety about entrance exams and his grades started to slip, he received a formal invitation from my eldest son's club advisor.
Perhaps it is because he is the type who performs best when he feels secure that he started planning his own studies after that.

He is very particular; when he wanted to buy a mechanical pencil, he visited many stationery stores, and the favorite one he finally found
cost more than you would expect for a mechanical pencil,
but he is the kind of boy who cherishes the things he likes until they break.
He is still using that mechanical pencil he bought three years later.

In high school, it seems he will be accepted into the club as 'the eldest son's younger brother'.
With that sense of security in his heart, I hope he enjoys his upcoming high school life in his own way.