Ch.170170. Control

In truth, this was inevitable. It was too far off for the future, and our grades were at stake.

Honestly, the other team members couldn’t speak up either.

I understand.

Those two had such overwhelming presence even among the advanced class.

No one dared to criticize those with the best grades and the most difficult temperaments.

That’s why I had to step up.

I’ve been doing this since freshman year anyway. Judging by their expressions, I could already guess how they’d react.

“Du Jonghyun, you’re being arrogant? When you’re just riding our coattails!”

“Jonghyun. It has nothing to do with being class representative. We did our best, so whoever didn’t notice is the fool.”

As expected, these two are formidable. At least when it comes to grades, they have nothing to be ashamed of.

“There’s no doubt about your abilities, but honestly, we need more communication.”

But I won’t back down either. I need to be able to control these bundles of pride and ambition.

“First, you need to understand that Koo Sangheon’s team got the best grades this time, followed by Han Minwoo’s team. We’re tied for 4th place. Third place went to the foreign combo team. Honestly, we didn’t do well.”

“What?”

Ariel’s reaction is immediate, and Seol Yuhwa’s gaze sharpens.

Sigh, what can I do? I have to endure this too.

Here, both logic and emotion are important.

“We’re in 4th place with you two on our team? I wanted first place.”

That was the emotional appeal. I’m asking why two people capable of getting first place ended up like this.

Anger clouds Ariel’s prideful face, while Seol Yuhwa looks disappointed.

Now for the logical approach.

“Basically, you two going too far ahead is part of the problem. It’s true that we can’t keep up. However, since this is a team game, both we and you need to adjust to each other. And most importantly, you two need to communicate. You chose different things earlier, right? It would be better if you both worked on the same structure. Fixing things like this…”

This time I explained with logic, but Ariel and Seol Yuhwa’s expressions grew even worse.

“Whatever. Just follow my lead.”

Ariel turned her head dismissively. What about Seol Yuhwa?

“…”

She doesn’t speak, but she’s clearly dissatisfied. This is really tough.

But this is necessary for a proper case study.

“So… if you have any complaints about me, speak up. Let’s all talk to each other.”

“You’re indecisive.”

Ariel fires back immediately. Seol Yuhwa, however, nods her head.

“I somewhat agree. Earlier, Ariel and I made our choices first, but you came in late, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. I’ll try to make decisions more quickly from now on. And one more thing.”

I looked around at the other team members.

Should I say this now? It’s something I noticed when I first joined the structure training.

“Your name is Seohee, right? Shouldn’t you be able to move better underwater? You should be faster than Ariel or Seol Yuhwa. Why are you so slow?”

“Huh?”

There’s one person in our team who can move freely underwater.

Yoon Seohee. But she’s always somewhere in the middle. In other words, she’s being cautious around those two.

“Let’s try centering around you. We can improve our time that way.”

“Me, all of a sudden?”

“If you can’t beat those two with your abilities, that’s a serious problem. Don’t be intimidated and step up boldly. We need to establish a clear strategy for our team.”

The afternoon classes continue with practice -> case study -> practice -> case study.

Which means we have one final practice session.

“This is just training anyway. We’re building fundamentals here and will be tested in April. Let’s try to maximize our grades now. What do you think?”

Fortunately, this approach worked. In the end, Seol Yuhwa cares about grades, and Ariel wants to be first.

Ariel is more perceptive than she appears, so she probably understood what I was saying.

Since this is a team mission, not an individual one, we need to support whoever performs best if we want to succeed.

“Fine. Let’s try it.”

Ariel nods.

“Good. Let’s go with this plan then.”

So in the next practice, we put Seohee at the forefront as I suggested. Thanks to her familiar spirit that could control air, we were able to surpass our previous record.

But I’m still just tagging along. Naturally, since I can’t do much underwater except swim.

But at least I can give signals.

When Seohee takes the lead and gets tense, I give directions.

The class involves rescuing structures and clearing obstacles. We give instructions by changing the color of signal batons.

Here, I thought of our teammate Park Sangyoon’s ability.

Sangyoon gives us buffs as a sidekick.

However, since his buff is simply physical strength, underwater it only increases our speed.

It helps us swim more powerfully, that’s about it?

I checked the remaining oxygen in my tank and waved my hand, propelling myself forward with swimming-champion-like distance.

It’s suitable for clearing obstacles. I just need to adapt my body to the unnaturalness of being underwater.

Then things will go more smoothly. The next part of the curriculum is dealing with monsters underwater anyway.

Ariel propels herself forward by exploding her magical power, but the problem is that it creates a lot of water vapor.

It momentarily obscures our vision and hinders our movement.

So Ariel should be at the very back…

“Mmm?”

When I signaled for her to go to the back, Ariel was saying something in frustration.

And she still wasn’t moving to the back.

“…”

We need a different method of communication. As we discussed, there are several means of communication.

I use the second method.

It’s a “ball” with text written on it. When activated, it glows and shows the text inside.

[Back!]

Keep the message short. Ariel moves back with a sullen expression.

[Push!]

After my consecutive instructions, Ariel explodes her magical power with an angry expression.

Fortunately, that force gives us momentum.

This is how we utilize it. We were able to complete the test at a fast pace.

Our grade?

Joint second place after Koo Sangheon’s team. We tied with Minwoo.

“When Kim Dohyun returns, who knows how high we’ll climb, but we’ve already improved.”

Case study time isn’t just about criticism and consensus.

It also includes praise for things done well. They praised us for improving our grade with what we’d prepared before.

“Everyone did well. We’re only 10 seconds behind first place? Looking at them, they have a composition that thoroughly supports Koo Sangheon. We’ll get there too as we become more cohesive.”

“You’re surprisingly not all over the place. Jonghyun, you’re better than I thought.”

Seohee gave me a compliment.

She probably found the most efficient way to move, both for herself and the team.

I turned my head toward our two problem children.

“How was it? Pretty good, right?”

“Better grades, so I’m satisfied.”

While Seol Yuhwa nodded easily, Ariel still showed some dissatisfaction.

“Ariel. What do you think? If you have other suggestions, feel free to share.”

“I didn’t say anything, Du Jonghyun.”

“Then good work everyone!”

We ended with harmonious applause. Fortunately, I was able to temporarily push aside the competition between those two and focus them on grades.

After the case study, Eun Serin told us about the vote that would take place next week.

“As you know, we’ll be selecting a student to represent our entire sophomore class. The voting period is one week, and two students each from the advanced, intermediate, and lower classes will be selected for the final round. Not just anyone can do it. You decide and report to me. Understood?”

That’s how our class ended.

But in the face of the enormous task of selecting representatives, the nerve war between the two people that I had barely patched up was about to begin.

“I’m running.”

Ariel declares very proudly. At the same time, Yu Jia stood up.

“Our ‘Eri’ is running. Everyone, help her! But of course, you all know Eri’s personality, right?”

With Jia’s support, who would refuse?

Everyone knows Ariel’s personality after a year together.

Naturally, there were no objections.

Well, even setting aside her personality, she is outstanding in external aspects.

So who would take the remaining spot?

Usually, most people are shy about running for representative positions, aren’t they?

Seol Yuhwa was looking a bit hesitant.

I know her personality too. She’ll probably stay quiet.

I could recommend her, but that might worsen the relationship between those two.

While I was contemplating, Seol Yuhwa raised her hand.

“I want to run too.”

“Ohhh~”

Exclamations of surprise from all around. Seol Yuhwa volunteering herself?

I had definitely noticed she’d become more proactive, but now?

Anyway, the advanced class seems to have decided on these two. The other girls are all refusing.

While consensus was forming around these two outstanding candidates, the issue was on the boys’ side.

I could raise my hand here, I suppose.

“Who’s going to run for the boys? Kim Dohyun was shouting for people to vote for him.”

Now attention shifts to the boys. Yes, there are several strong candidates among the boys.

Not just Kim Dohyun, but Koo Sangheon and Han Minwoo have good grades too.

“Who else besides Kim Dohyun? Sangheon, what about you?”

“Not interested. Being a representative sounds stifling.”

The independent-minded Koo Sangheon immediately declined. Next is Minwoo…

“…”

He just shakes his head. That means no one else needs to step up.

By the way, our class group chat is buzzing right now.

“What is Kim Dohyun sending all the time?”

“Something about him running. So annoying.”

Complaints are heard from all around, but Kim Dohyun is undeniably talented, so he’s a reasonable candidate. So who will be the last one to advance to the final vote?

“Who’s next? Let’s finish this quickly so we can go play League.”

The boys were typically impatient, urging someone to step up.

“Can’t we just send one person?”

“Just send Kim Dohyun.”

Just as everyone’s opinion was converging, Ariel suddenly came up to me.

“Du Jonghyun. You.”

“????”

Ariel raised my hand high. Why me?

“If it’s a class representative, someone more symbolic should run, right? You should run too!”

When Ariel chose me, voices erupted from everywhere.

“You’re symbolic too. The idiot without a familiar spirit.”

“Right. You’ve been famous since freshman year.”

Yu Jia chimed in from the side.

No, I don’t want to do something so embarrassing.

As I desperately shook my head, the expressions of my male classmates turned quite mischievous.

“You don’t want to? Then you definitely should.”

“No, guys.”

“Look at that expression. We should force him if we have to.”

Look at these guys, banding together for someone else’s misfortune?

“Jonghyun, you’re the most famous in our year. My parents saw your face on three or four public broadcasts and asked me about you.”

“That’s right. Among us, you’ve appeared on TV the most and your face is the most recognized.”

“You’re qualified! Everyone, applause!”

At someone’s direction, they unanimously pushed me to be a representative.

In the end, I ended up in a position where I was running for sophomore representative along with Kim Dohyun.

And at that moment, my phone buzzed with a KakaoTalk message.

-Kim Dohyun: Jonghyun is running for sophomore representative? Really?

Recalling Kim Dohyun’s style, I felt a slight unease.