Has it been a while since I studied something?
Maybe it’s because some information from my student days is unexpectedly sticking in my head.
After the exam, we gathered with friends to grade our answers, and the scores came out okay. It wasn’t something to cheers about, but at least I heard things like, “You worked harder than last semester!” since it was just below average.
If it were in the past, I would have scored above average regardless of whether I studied for the exam or not.
…But then again, why am I studying?
It’s not like I’m receiving scores under my real name anyway. I’m basically taking the exam for Sara. This was supposed to be Sara’s study time in the first place.
I did get a few right.
That’s true. Sara must have had a bit of a guilty conscience because she claimed in my head at times what the answer to some question was.
But in the end, that only amounted to three questions across all subjects.
Sara didn’t say a word after that.
…I was about to ask my friends to do all sorts of things until I actually lose my mind, but I figured if I did that, I wouldn’t survive either.
*
Once grading was done, I found myself walking alone with Son Ah-reum behind the school building. That doesn’t happen often. No matter how bad I was, it was usually with Ha Neul, Sua, or Sohee.
Strangely enough, it seemed everyone had their own business today.
Thanks to that, I finally got the chance to talk alone with someone other than those three after a long time.
“Looks like my grades haven’t gone up.”
Son Ah-reum said with a bitter smile.
I remember saying that if my grades went up, I’d have something to ask.
If you only look at the numbers, my scores dropped from above average to below average, so she wasn’t wrong.
Actually, the situation after the midterms was really vague. So I thought the teachers might not have adjusted the scores, but it seemed like Choi Na-kyung’s bribery was still working its magic back then. Considering my scores came out above average at that time, I wasn’t even paying attention to the exam itself.
But now, all those teachers who took a lot of bribes have switched jobs.
“…About that.”
I wanted to keep quiet since I didn’t know what Son Ah-reum would say. I didn’t want her to resent me.
So cocky.
Sara, who had been silent during our test talks, finally reacted.
But it wasn’t being cocky; it was the truth.
If I were someone who was popular and confident since I was very young, I’d probably take this love for granted and brush it off, but… I already knew it was hard to receive such attention and love.
So, well, I wanted to be a little careful. I was afraid I might really lose control if I received too much attention.
But why do I want to talk about this now?
Sara asked.
It didn’t seem like she was interrogating me. No, it looked like there was a hint of amusement in her expression.
You’ve become very mischievous.
…That’s not for you to say.
I wasn’t being mischievous. If I had been mischievous, that would be a different story.
How impressive you are.
Yet, Sara wasn’t responding irritably, which I guess meant she considered Son Ah-reum a friend too.
So I decided to say to Son Ah-reum, “Those scores weren’t my actual skill.”
“Really?”
“When I was in Hwayang Elementary and Middle School… You see, my mother was paying various amounts of money to the school.”
“…….”
“If I had skipped school entirely without taking an exam, I probably would have gotten those scores.”
“…….”
Son Ah-reum stopped in her tracks after hearing my words.
She lowered her head and seemed to be trembling a bit, as if she was very angry.
She had every reason to be angry. No matter how much she liked studying, it was natural to be upset when someone gets high scores without much effort. Especially someone like Son Ah-reum, who had a strong sense of justice, since she was a lead committee member.
“So—”
I wanted to say sorry, but suddenly something blue covered my vision.
It was Son Ah-reum’s hair.
“Uh, heh?”
“Were you struggling a lot?”
“…Huh?”
Son Ah-reum dashed toward me and hugged me. The blue covering my vision was indeed her hair.
“…You’ve been… tormented by that person.”
That person probably meant Choi Na-kyung. It had become awkward to refer to her as “mother” now.
“…School scores and attendance checks are to determine how hard students are coming to school. It becomes an indicator of how safe a student really is.”
So, Choi Na-kyung was using that money to maintain scores and get perfect attendance awards as evidence that Sara was attending school properly.
I had thought about that myself.
But usually, when talking about this, people would respond with how great it must be to have rich parents.
…For me, at least, I thought having a lot of money would simply make one happy.
“I’m just glad you could break free from that.”
Son Ah-reum said that.
…I’m thankful to be able to break free from it.
I remembered Yang Hye-in’s words a little while ago. Yang Hye-in said it wasn’t over yet.
Right, it hasn’t been wrapped up definitively. Until it’s thoroughly concluded, it’s not over.
Of course, I didn’t want to trouble my friend by telling her such things.
“That’s true. I can finally go back to my daily life.”
I mumbled that while still being hugged by Son Ah-reum.
Yeah, this is what a friendship hug is like.
Pretending to hug and then pushing her over, or sneakily burying my face in her chest, or scrunching up against her—whatever it is, I couldn’t help but think that didn’t feel like a friendship hug.
In reality, I hardly remembered receiving anything like a hug even in my previous life. Why would guys do a friendship hug anyway?
“So,”
I continued speaking.
“As promised, if you have something you want to ask, you can do so. I made it from 0 points to this.”
“Can I really?”
“Of course. You taught me so diligently.”
At my words, Son Ah-reum released the hug. Then she stepped back a little.
On her innocent face, which seemed completely clueless, a blush rose. It seemed she was a bit embarrassed about the request.
Oh, here we go again.
Suddenly, an unpleasant feeling rose from deep within my chest.
Sara’s emotion.
Why? Just a moment ago, she was acting like it was fine.
Is now different from then?
…Hasn’t it only been a few minutes?
Ah, that was before I looked at the info chart, so that’s why!
What a mess.
I momentarily ignored Sara’s clicking words and looked at Son Ah-reum.
Son Ah-reum took a step back and started to fidget with her hands. She looked incredibly anxious. Was she perhaps worried that I might refuse her request?
“Go on, I’ll listen.”
“Okay.”
Oh, seriously.
“So, um…”
Son Ah-reum pondered for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.
“In the future, I’d like you to call me by my name more often.”
“Okay?”
Huh?
“When you call me. I’d prefer if you dropped the family name and just called me ‘Areum’…”
And Son Ah-reum, or rather Areum, was blushing so much you couldn’t handle it.
“Er, Areum, like this?”
“Yes.”
…
Make an excuse or something. The Queen of Jealousy.
Oh, it’s not like that! It definitely had that kind of atmosphere before!
What is that kind of atmosphere? It’s just a request that can be made between friends. I thought it might feel a bit distant if a friend I’ve gotten close with keeps using their last name.
Well, to be honest, I didn’t strictly use her full name all the time. We’ve called each other by our names a few times, but usually, I think I used ‘you’ or something when they called me.
“Areum, should I call you like that from now on?”
“Uh, uh.”
She asked to be called like that, yet now that I called her that, she looked super embarrassed.
“Areum, Areum, Areum.”
“No, no, I think you can stop now.”
That reaction was pretty funny.
“Why, Areum? You asked me to call you by your name, so I’m calling you Areum, right? Areum?”
As I stepped in closer and continued to call her name, Areum suddenly shot her head up.
And then, she headbutted me.
With her lips.
“Peck.”
On my lips.
“…Huh?”
“……Ah.”
We froze like that.
A moment that felt like eternity… after a brief time passed,
“Ah, ahhhh! I’m sorry!”
Areum jumped up.
I mean, she literally jumped. Her feet must’ve left the ground at least fifteen centimeters.
“I’m so sorryyyyy!”
And then Areum left, leaving that echo behind as she sprinted away from me.
“…….”
I was left standing there, mouth agape like I was stuck in place.
…What did I even say?
Sara asked in a scolding tone.
Make an excuse or something? The King of Trouble?
……
I had no excuses.
