episode_0040

After meeting Yoon Jia, I had quite a leisurely time.

Well, technically, it was because I was lazy and kept postponing my promises.

Going out with girls really drains your mental energy. Actually, going out in general is quite an exhausting event.

So, I used the upcoming midterm exams as an excuse to focus on studying and didn’t attend many after-school activities.

I did study at home, so it wasn’t a complete excuse.

Thanks to that, after the midterm exams, my schedule was packed with appointments.

First up, it was Lee So-yoon’s birthday.

May 5th. Lee So-yoon, whose birthday falls on Children’s Day, which suits her petite figure. After discussing various options, we decided to go to an amusement park to celebrate.

Amusement park on Children’s Day… It’s going to be tiring, but my opinion was just one vote anyway.

Fortunately, some of my suggestions were taken into account, and with Seong Yurin’s help, we were able to buy the most expensive tickets.

She said I could pay her back later and just put the money in our group fund.

Thanks to Seong Yurin, we avoided the unfortunate event of waiting in long lines all day to enjoy the rides.

So, Lee So-yoon’s birthday went like that.

And I had to keep up with appointments with the girls…

And attend cosplay events…

Argh! Stop bothering me!

Thinking about the future drains my energy.

I pushed thoughts of the future aside. Future me will take care of future matters.

“Alright. Landlord Seo Yujin! It’s the 2nd Friendship Study Group, so let’s show up.”

Wasn’t it supposed to be a dawn high school friendship study group?

As Hong Yeonseo said that, I muttered my discomfort with the shortened name of the event and scratched my head.

Yes. Today, we were having another study group at our house.

“Why are we always at your place when others have homes too…?”

“Oh, come on. Jin’s house is the only empty one.”

Ise-ah covered her mouth and chuckled. She was definitely doing it on purpose.

After some small talk, everyone started taking out their books one by one.

“Let’s study properly today. The midterm exams are next week.”

Seong Yurin said as she took out her book.

As Seong Yurin said, the midterm exams were just around the corner. It was time to cram.

I hate to admit it, but I think I studied quite hard to prepare for the midterm exams.

It felt like I had become a different person compared to my elementary and middle school days. I started off wanting to stick to the basics, but ended up picking up speed and working hard.

I checked how the other kids were doing by flipping through my notes with a pen in hand.

“Jiwoo, let’s focus on memorization subjects.”

“Ugh…”

Ise-ah was feeding Jiwoo knowledge.

Next to them, Hong Yeonseo looked like she was dying…

“Yeonseo, what are you doing?”

I spoke up to wake up the struggling Hong Yeonseo.

“Ugh… Can’t I sit in a massage chair for a bit before studying?”

“Just study while sitting.”

“Ugh.”

After reviving Hong Yeonseo, I saw Seong Yurin teaching English to Lee So-yoon.

It was amusing to see Lee So-yoon’s eyes spinning as Seong Yurin taught her diligently.

Returning to my studies, I couldn’t help but admire the history memorization notes I borrowed from Seong Yurin.

The font looked like it was printed from a computer, and important parts were emphasized to catch your eye.

It felt like a one-shot tutor’s all-in-one notebook.

When it comes to studying, asking Seong Yurin for help is as effective as it gets.

After studying hard for a while, we took a break by sitting on the sofa to cool our tired heads.

“Ah… I feel like I’m going to die.”

“If someone saw us, they would think we studied all day.”

“It was a lethal dose for me.”

Even though it was only a mere two hours, Hong Yeonseo settled into the massage chair, groaning in pain.

“Ah… feels so good~”

Yeonseo wriggled on the chair.

Turning away from Yeonseo, I started thinking about dinner. Since we had some time to spare, I decided to order delivery while taking a break.

“What should we order for dinner?”

I asked everyone as I picked up my phone.

“Um… how about sushi?”

“Sushi. Is everyone okay with that? I’m fine.”

“I’m good too.”

“Me too….”

With Isae’s opinion, including mine, Seong Yurin, and Lee Soyun, we all agreed on sushi for dinner. Yeonseo didn’t respond, but since I’ve never seen him refuse food, I assumed he agreed.

“Jiwoo, is sushi okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

Finally, with Yoon Jiwoo’s opinion, we unanimously decided on sushi for dinner.

“Sushi… I want to eat cold buckwheat noodles too….”

Yeonseo raised his hand and voiced his opinion.

“You eat a whole set by yourself.”

Yeonseo replied with just a wave of his hand.

“Since we’ve ordered, let’s take a break until it arrives, eat, and then start studying again.”

I said, looking at the various postures of the guys lying around.

Yoon Jiwoo was sitting alone on the sofa, looking at his phone, Lee Soyun was snuggled up to Seong Yurin, and Isae was playing around with Soyun next to her.

I was sitting on the floor, leaning against the sofa.

“Jina.”

At that moment, a soft hand rested on my shoulder, and gently, legs slid down on both sides of me.

“….Huh?”

Isae’s voice sounded close to my ear, and the position of her legs felt like they were trapping me.

“Uh, no, it’s nothing.”

Isae silently straightened her waist again, but her legs didn’t move.

I awkwardly bent my waist for no reason.

…Why is she trapping me?

I don’t really understand Isae’s intentions. The warmth feels nice, though.

A faint, nameless floral scent lingered at the tip of my nose. I wonder what flower’s fragrance this is.

* * *

Ring ring-

“It’s here!”

It feels like it was the same as last time.

With the doorbell, Hong Yeonseo jumped up.

I also quietly got up in front of Isae and followed Yeonseo.

Seeing the delivery guy staring blankly at Yeonseo as if he were the same person as last time, I sent him off and came back with Yeonseo, holding a plastic container full of sushi in both hands.

The ordered menu was a set menu, which included sushi, fried foods, and salmon salad all packed together.

“The composition here looks good.”

And the price wasn’t that expensive either.

I handed Yeonseo a portion of cold buckwheat noodles and a two-person set, while I, Yoon Jiwoo, Seong Yurin, Isae, and Soyun each had a two-person set.

The sushi was decent in taste and reasonably priced. This place is also added to my list…

After quickly finishing our meal, we once again entered study mode for the midterm exams.

…It doesn’t seem like two people are missing.

* * *

“If you get caught looking up, you’ll get a zero, so keep your head down and focus on your own test. The teacher won’t help you.”

…Teachers like that tend to be strict.

Anyway, it was the long-awaited first day of exams.

With the strict supervisor’s words, the test papers were handed out.

Soon after the bell signaling the start of the exam rang, I looked over the test paper.

Upon skimming through it, the questions seemed surprisingly easy.

I checked them off without hesitation, but just to be sure, I went back and re-solved them from the beginning, but they were the same.

I felt the satisfaction of studying hard.

Finishing each problem meticulously, Yoon Jiwoo doodled on the desk with time left.

Shortly after, the paper signaling the end of the exam was clapped.

After successfully finishing the first exam, Yoon Jiwoo turned around.

“Hey, Lee Jin. Can you give me the test paper? I want to check my answers.”

“Well, I’m not sure if I got everything right either.”

This guy, Yoon Jiwoo. He seemed to be studying and not studying at the same time, but now that the exam was over, he wanted to check his score.

Lee Saeah and Lee Soyun were also watching from the side.

Hong Yeonseo and Sung Yurin were surrounded by classmates separately.

Although we are both top students, it seems that Sung Yurin has a higher popularity in the class than me, so she must be going over there.

“Ugh, I got three wrong with Jin….”

Lee Soyun, who checked her answers against her test paper, despaired. Lee Saeah patted her back and comforted her.

Lee Saeah was happy that her checked answers were exactly the same as mine.

“This, this is strange.”

Yoon Jiwoo looked back and forth between his test paper and mine, showing disbelief.

Well, study a bit more next time.

“Go memorize for the next subject.”

Giving a jab to Yoon Jiwoo, I folded the test paper and put it in the drawer.

Then, I comforted Lee Soyun, who was looking at the test paper with a gloomy expression.

“If you did that well, you did great. Don’t be too hard on yourself and do well on the next subject.”

“Yeah….”

The way they treat the two of them is so different.

Well…. Yoon Jiwoo is a scruffy guy and Lee Soyun is a pretty girl.

Of course, it should be different.

Ahem.

Anyway, you can’t rewind the past exams.

It’s more constructive to prepare for the future rather than blame yourself for the past.

Now that the first exam is over, there’s no need to despair over the past exam.