The next morning, the guys and I walked down the street together on our way to school.
Park Dong groaned, as he clutch his bag. "I'm totally screwed, that's what it is. Irina thinks I wrote that confession letter, but I didn't even have the guts to stay. I ran away. Now I just look like a complete loser."
We immediately burst into laughter, taking turns mocking him.
Jisung pointed at him. "HAHA! At this point, you're basically Sangji High's official clown!"
Seojin smirked. "You really ran away with your tail between your legs? HAHA."
Suwon added, "Why not just walk around with your pants off too while you're at it? HAHA."
Inseop shook his head. "You even left your bag there wide open."
Daegyu pointed at him and laughed. "That hyung basically saved you. At least buy him a cigarette or something! HAHAHA!"
Jisung wiped tears from his eyes. "You might as well just confess to Irina properly and get rejected like a man! HAHAHA!"
"SHUT UP, YOU MORONS!!" Park Dong suddenly snapped, swinging a punch at us.
I dodged easily.
In perfect comedic timing, his fist somehow flew past me and smacked all four of them on their right cheeks at once.
They staggered back dramatically, clutching their faces in sync.
Park Dong stood there fuming. "It's all funny when it's not happening to you, huh?!"
Jisung just shrugged with a grin. "That's how people end up dating anyway. As someone who's confessed ten times, I can confidently say Irina's a good girl. Wanna hear one of my stories? That day… that girl probably thought it was just a normal day…"
By the time he got into storytelling mode, we were already walking ahead, leaving him behind talking to himself.
Park Dong glanced at me. "Seojin, I heard Mr. Eyelids showed up yesterday. They said something happened, but looking at you now, you seem fine."
I chuckled lightly. "It's nothing big. Just a minor thing."
Daegyu immediately jumped in and told him what happened.
Park Dong raised an eyebrow at me. "You just let him be? He's basically stalking Seolhyo. If that happened to my girlfriend, I'd beat the crap out of him. You're embarrassing."
Suwon laughed. "Don't worry about Seojin. Worry about saving up for Grasshopper Hyung's cigarettes instead."
Park Dong shot back, "You want me to kill you, Chestnut?"
Suwon glared. "Don't call me that, Hooked Nose."
Inseop rolled his eyes, watching the two bicker. "Now I get why you two get along. You're both idiots."
We finally arrived at school and took our seats in the classroom.
The teacher handed out the test papers.
Soon, the room filled with the sound of pens scratching.
Suwon chewed on his finger nervously while answering.
Jisung was already almost done, shading in his answers in a neat X-pattern.
Park Dong had his head slumped on his desk, cheek pressed against his test paper not noticing Buchaekkol standing behind him furiously.
Meanwhile, I had finish half of it.
The questions were relatively easy.
After finishing the first exam, we were allowed to leave early to study for the next one tomorrow.
Despite that, almost no one went home.
Instead, students crowded into our classroom because the top students happened to be in our class.
"Hey, Mr. Top Student!!"
"Read your answers out loud!"
The so-called top student sat stiffly in his chair, clutching his exam paper while staring warily at the swarm of students surrounding him.
"They'll give us the answer sheet later anyway…" he muttered. "And I'm not the only top student here."
His eyes briefly flicked toward me at the back of the room, where I was leaning against the lockers.
The crowd ignored that part completely.
"Come on, just tell us roughly!"
"Some of the questions were super ambiguous!"
Im Yongjin, who was standing right next to him, glared down at him. "Hey. Stop being annoying and just say it already."
The top student gritted his teeth.
Bastards..!!
They normally don't even care..!!
Still, under pressure, he started reading them out.
"Number one… answer three. Number two is four. Number three is…"
At the back, Park Dong stood with his test paper in hand, Suwon beside him.
Park Dong had slept through half the exam, but he's oddly curious about the answers.
"Even kids from other classes came. It's chaos," he muttered.
Suwon shrugged. "Well, the top student's in our class. Nothing we can do. Oh nice start!"
Park Dong frowned glancing back at Seojin. "Then why are they only bothering him?"
Suwon glanced toward him too. "Well… no one seems to want to bother Seojin."
Up front, the top student continued reluctantly.
"…And the last three questions are all three."
Park Dong's eyes widened as he looked down at his paper.
"Whoa!!! I guessed three for all of them! Nice!!"
Suwon grabbed his own test paper in horror. "Nooo!! I had three and then changed it!!"
Park Dong grinned like he had just hit the jackpot.
Then he felt someone was looking at him.
He slowly turned his head
and locked eyes with Irina.
His face instantly turned bright red.
He froze, and in the next second his body blurred, already disappearing.
Suwon noticed immediately.
This technique…!!
Before anyone could react, Park Dong suddenly sprinted out of the classroom.
Irina blinked, then rushed after him.
"HEY, HOOK NOSE!! WE NEED TO TALK!!"
But by the time she reached the doorway, she only caught a glimpse of his back disappearing down the hallway.
Is he a track star or something?!
She leaned out the door and shouted again,
"YOU THINK RUNNING AWAY SOLVES EVERYTHING?! IF I CATCH YOU, YOU'RE DEAD!!"
After that, students began packing up and heading home.
On the girls' side of the hallway, Park Mijin and Sujeong caught up with Seol Hyorim, Irina, and Jinkyung.
Sujeong waved as they approached.
Park Mijin smiled. "You guys do well on the test?"
Seol Hyorim glanced back at her. "I think it went well."
Jinkyung, however, looked miserable dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks slightly sunken from dieting.
"I was fine… except for my stomach growling the whole time…" she muttered weakly.
Sujeong walked beside Hyorim. "Where are you going? The study room?"
"Yeah," Seolhyo replied. "You guys want to come too?"
Park Mijin lifted both hands in surrender. "I'll pass. I'll study at home."
Then she casually walked beside Hyorim and ask curiously.
"What about the boys?"
Seolhyo chuckled. "Haha, looks like it'll just be us girls. But Seojin might come."
Jinkyung glanced at her curiously. "You guys already made up?"
Park Mijin blinked. "What? You guys fought?"
"Of course," Seolhyo said lightly. "But it's nothing big anyway."
Jinkyung chuckled. "Well… I can't imagine Seojin staying mad at you for long."
Meanwhile, at the stairwell, the boys were heading down.
Suwon glanced at Park Dong. "You were fast as hell earlier. You should try athletics."
Park Dong casually said. "Yeah, that was the moment my hidden engine kicked in."
Seojin laughed. "You should've used that when we were playing football or basketball. That would've come in handy."
Suwon snorted. "That engine's name is Irina. HAHA."
Park Dong shot him a glare. "You've heard of suspicious deaths, right? Mention Irina one more time…"
Just as they reached the second floor
A face suddenly appeared right in front of Park Dong.
Irina stare at Park Dong eye to eye.
"You called me?"
"…."
Park Dong blinked once.
"…Nope."
In the next instant, he turned around and bolted.
Irina's eyes widened before she immediately chased after him.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!"
"HIIYAAAACK!!! GET LOST!!!"
The rest of the group watched them sprint down the hallway in disbelief.
From the girls' side, Mijin stared after them and muttered,
"…What the hell is that circus?"
Seolhyo shrugged casually.
"No idea."