Midterm exams. Tests. Evaluations.
Words inseparable from the life of a South Korean student. Kang Sihyun never thought he would see those even at the prestigious Mirgun Academy. It seemed that, despite being at the top of the ranks, the school couldn't entirely disregard the South Korean education system.
He was certain that when he first merged, he thought he could get by without much effort.
A sigh escaped Sihyun's lips. Back then, it was someone else's life, but now, it was his own, and he felt reluctant even to coast through it. The only solace was that he only had four subjects to test for.
Sihyun reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a notebook. It was just one notebook, but there were more than four post-it notes stuck to it, reminders of the days he'd dozed off in class. He wished he'd paid more attention.
As he began planning, he heard Haewoon's voice beside him.
"I heard if the scores in the evaluations are below a certain level, we'll have to do something."
"What do we have to do?"
"Clean. All the dorm bathrooms. Separately for boys and girls."
"...."
Sihyun, who had thought cleaning was trivial, was taken aback. The dorm at the top-tier Mirgun had five floors. Even cleaning one floor's bathrooms would be no small task, but being tasked with cleaning all five floors felt more like torture than a punishment. Suddenly, a memory struck him.
Days when he diligently took notes during class but ended up dozing off ten minutes later.
He couldn't ask Haewoon to clean the bathrooms.
As he pondered, half of the day had passed. It was perfect timing.
As Sihyun stood up, he grabbed Haewoon's arm. When he did, Haewoon turned his gaze. Due to the many times Sihyun had pulled him around, he wasn't as startled as before when grabbed unexpectedly.
"Hyung."
"Yeah?"
"Do you study well?"
"…Uh."
Sighing as if hearing something after a long time, Sihyun shrunk back. Haewoon had a habit of speaking about both being good and bad at things, so Sihyun harbored a faint hope, but the response dashed those expectations. Slyly, Sihyun grabbed Haewoon's hand.
Having held a pen for so long, Haewoon's hand was rough. They say rough hands don't suit delicate work, but Sihyun didn't want to treat even rough hands harshly.
Their roughness was proof of the hard work they'd endured.
Thinking that the rigorous studying he'd done before might come in handy now, Sihyun let go of Haewoon and returned to his seat. While seemingly clueless, Haewoon followed him. Sihyun pulled out his calendar and tapped on the 22nd date.
"That's the day of the test."
"Ah…."
"They say if we don't meet the grade, we'll have to clean all the bathrooms in the dorm."
"Hmm… Should we practice cleaning bathrooms…?"
That wasn't the response he hoped for.
Looking at Haewoon making nonsensical remarks, Sihyun shook his head. Instead, he took out a pen from his pencil case.
"Not that."
"Then?"
"Wanna study together?"
"Study?"
"A study group. I tend to doze off in some classes. Since we're at it, it'd be nice to do it together, right?"
Honestly, Haewoon studying alone didn't seem like it would yield grades good enough to avoid cleaning. Keeping that thought to himself, Sihyun tilted his head subtly, looking at Haewoon.
"Will you?"
"...Yeah."
"Yeah!"
Odd. Why did the answer seem to echo twice?
When a laugh came from beside them, he realized he hadn't misheard. It wasn't an ominous feeling. Glancing to his side due to the unease, he saw Haewoon approaching and checking Sihyun's calendar. Neatly written in the calendar was the word "Study" and Haewoon's name. He snatched the pen from Sihyun's hand faster than a squirrel.
'+Kang Haewoon'
Looking at the bold letters next to Haewoon's name, Sihyun gave a bold look back. Haewoon whined as if he were five years old, insisting he wanted to join. Just when they planned to study together, an uninvited guest interrupted.
"Three of us for the study?"
"No, two."
"No, three!"
"…."
There were two voices answering Seowoo's question. As Seowoo added a negative to another negative, Sihyun squinted at Haewoon, who was trying to add cuteness. Slightly tilting his head, Sihyun looked at Haewoon.
"Are you going to stop with the unnecessary cuteness?"
Raising his hand to his chin, Haewoon pouted, trying to be cute. Sihyun pushed his face away and wiped his hand on his clothes. Looking at Haewoon, he asked if he'd be fine. Haewoon nodded, and it seemed lately, whenever he tried to do something with Haewoon, someone else always intervened.
Watching Haewoon, who seemed to waver, Sihyun felt a bit relieved. Since it was their first time studying together, maybe it would be better to join in the bustling activity with friends.
But Sihyun had to revoke that thought soon.
"Snacks!"
"Me."
"Daun, did you bring the phone charger?"
"It should be in the bag."
"Geonu seems sleepy, should we let him sleep first?"
"Does he even sleep once or twice?"
"Argh! Hamin took the snacks!"
"...What's going on?"
The number of people carrying bags increased.
"Oh, you're here?"
He talks as if he's the host and I'm the guest. Sihyun looked at Daun that way and then glanced at Jihye next to her. He grinned when their eyes met.
One, two, three, four... six, seven. Including me, that's eight in total.
Even if it's quiet for a dorm room with only four people, it wasn't meant for eight. Sihyun sighed as he looked at Daun with wide eyes.
Thinking about it, even in class, when there were eight of us, it didn't feel any different.
"When did you come?"
"Just a while ago."
"How did you know?"
"Didn't Kang Haewoon mention something fun you guys were planning for Fridays?"
"...Oh."
He just decided to invite anyone and everyone. When Sihyun looked at Haewoon, who had turned their study session into a class-wide event, Haewoon made a V-sign with his fingers. His bright smile was contagious.
It was pretty clear what the problem was.
"Um, should we leave if we're uncomfortable?"
"Forget it, you're already here. It won't be obvious anyway since we've added two to the six."
Actually, it was quite obvious. But since Jihye would keep feeling sorry if they said it like that, Sihyun, who had been observing Haru waiting patiently, approached him. Haru, who had been sitting quietly among the six, must have been surprised by the increasing number of people. Even without seeing the situation at the time, it felt like I could guess his expression.
Sihyun put down the problem books and textbooks he had brought to the round table. It was impressive how he managed to find a table big enough for all of us.
"Let's study individually first, and if there's something we don't know, we can ask each other. Also, let me know if there's anything you're unsure about."
"Hey, hey, is Sihyun good at studying?"
"Judging from his class attitude, Yoo Seowoo seems to be good at studying too. You should ask her."
Ignoring Haewoon's comment, Sihyun started studying without a reaction. Haru, who didn't react to Haewoon's behavior either, leaned subtly towards Sihyun. Tap, Haru's shoulder touched Sihyun's. Sihyun turned his head at the slight contact.
"Um... Sihyun."
"Yes?"
"If you don't understand something..."
"Yes?"
"...What should we do?"
"...Yes?"
Sihyun blinked blankly, trying to piece together what Haru was saying. Really? He asked, tilting his head. Seeing Haru, who didn't even know from where to where he didn't understand, Sihyun was at a loss for words. It took a few more conversations to gauge Haru's skill level.
Even though he seemed diligent in note-taking, apart from memorization, he didn't know anything else.
"...It's probably because it's the first time."
"...Yeah."
"Let me just explain. Shall we start with Korean?"
Haru, who grew up in a research lab, had never studied separately during his time there, so it was natural that he didn't know much. Sihyun wondered whether it would be better to give up teaching math altogether and focus on Korean, reaching out for the Korean textbook.
"I don't know much either, Sihyun."
"...It's okay, me neither."
"Oh, then me too! Me too! I want to join!"
The voices interrupted Haru, who had just begun studying.
After Seowoo, Geonu also hinted that he wanted to join, and even Haewoon seemed like he might have a lot to learn. It might be understandable for Geonu, who slept with his head on the desk every day, but Seowoo and Haewoon didn't seem like they'd have much to learn. With a doubtful look, Hamin, who had been silently observing with his chin resting on his hand from the beginning of the study session, chuckled.
"Are you guys serious?"
Hamin's blatant words made Sihyun more certain about his suspicion. It was precisely when Sihyun was about to warn Seowoo and Haewoon not to fool around that the low voice of Daun was heard, warning Sihyun not to play around with Seowoo and Haewoon.
"That's odd."
"...Huh?"
At Daun's unexpected comment, everyone's gaze turned towards him. Tap, tap, Daun, who was holding a pen, tapped the table with its tip. In the intermittent sound echoing in the space, Sihyun met Daun's brown eyes. Somehow, a foreboding feeling crept in.
After a brief silence, Daun continued.
"You're not the one to teach others, right?"
Kang Sihyun.
Daun's words directly pointed towards Sihyun, and everyone's attention shifted to him.
This was unexpected.
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