Final Exams
Just as I had foreseen.
From a certain day onward, Oh Junsu shut himself away in the Black Horse Oh family’s villa and stopped coming to class.
Officially, it was said that he was staying there to recuperate because a chronic illness had worsened, but there was no way the students who knew how to read the situation would take that at face value.
“Obviously, he’s so humiliated after losing to a first-year that he can’t show his face, so he ran off to the villa.”
“Then won’t he come back next semester like nothing ever happened? Everyone’s done that. The timing’s just right, too. There’s not much of the semester left, so he doesn’t have to take a leave of absence. He can just call it sick leave.”
“Wow, kids with backing really are amazing. Taking sick leave or even a leave of absence just because they’re embarrassed. I’m jealous! I want to live that easy too!”
“There are people who take a leave of absence because they broke up and it’s awkward to see each other, so what’s the big deal? Though there was one case where both of them unluckily took a leave at the same time and got screwed over….”
“Who told him to go around acting like a thug? I knew this would happen someday, throwing his weight around just because of his family. Serves him right. It’s karma.”
“Well, if it were me, I’d be too ashamed and shut myself in a room like him too.”
“So can we trash-talk Oh Junsu now without watching our backs?”
The students delighted in Oh Junsu’s downfall and often brought it up as a topic of conversation.
In particular, those who had grudges against him took advantage of his absence to curse him with great enthusiasm.
Thanks to that, I could naturally hear the news without having to go out of my way.
Of course, unlike what they thought, I did know the truth behind why he had shut himself away in the Black Horse Oh family’s villa.
‘He’s probably decorating the villa as the stage where he’ll welcome Hanbyeol.’
The final exam episode would happen soon.
Sensing that the time was not far off, I had Noh Hyowon keep a close eye on the movements of Oh Junsu’s gang.
At the same time, with Yeon Haneul’s help, I paid attention to Lisa.
And as time passed, before we knew it, final exams were only a week away.
We threw ourselves into studying for the exams and often gathered at the library.
The library, which had once been wrecked by Min Arin, had now been restored spotless.
‘If the library had still been under construction, we could’ve comfortably play—no, studied at the Mado Min family’s hotel like last time. What a shame.’
An uncomfortable atmosphere had settled over the library, which was packed with students preparing for exams.
Keeping quiet was a given, and it was to the point where even moving your body for a moment made you conscious of the people around you.
‘This is suffocating.’
After sitting in the same posture for a long time, my body felt stiff.
In that state, there was no way my head would work or the words in the book would enter my eyes.
I was sick and tired of looking at letters.
I felt like stepping outside for a bit to get some air and loosen up.
When I looked around, a few others also seemed unable to focus on studying.
‘What a relief. I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to study for exams.’
Yong Haerang, who had crossed his arms and closed his eyes, saying he would clear his mind through meditation, only to end up dozing.
Cha Eunsol, who was sleeping in earnest beside him while wearing sleep gear.
Go Eunbi, who was diligently doodling in her notebook instead of solving the problems Yeon Haneul had told her to solve.
Kang Hanbyeol, whose initial determination to study hard was nowhere to be seen, half-reading his book and half-not.
The triplets, who had only roughly opened their books and were messing around on their smartphones.
‘No matter how badly I do on the exams, I’ll still do better than them.’
Thanks to my friends, I could go in with a certain floor to my grades.
After looking over the ones slacking off, I felt relieved inside.
As an aside, the reason Nam Yuri, who would have belonged to the same category as them, was nowhere to be seen was because she and the library were not compatible.
—It’s fun being with Gyeonu-Gyeonu, but you have to be quiet in the library, right? It’s a shame, but I’ll sit this one out!
That was the conclusion Nam Yuri reached after following us to the library a few times.
For us, for her, and from the library’s perspective as well, it could be called a wise decision for everyone involved.
‘Yuri has it nice, being smart…. Though considering the environment she grew up in, I can’t simply call it nice.’
Deep down, I was also jealous of Nam Yuri, who could easily rank near the top without studying.
Thinking of her, who was not in her seat, I gave a bitter smile.
Then I shifted my gaze to the friends who, unlike us, were earnestly devoting themselves to studying.
‘These guys are seriously admirable.’
Park Sagun, Min Arin, Lisa, and Yeon Haneul, who were focused without taking their eyes off their books for even a moment.
Taking in their figures, I admired them silently.
Just then, Kang Hanbyeol called me.
“Gyeonu, I’m thinking of taking Haerang and the others outside to get some air. Want to come with us?”
“…Oh, dear. I ended up dozing off. Yes, I should get some fresh air while I’m at it.”
“Hanbyeol, I’ll go with you too. I was just about to go to the restroom anyway.”
Without touching Cha Eunsol, who was sleeping soundly.
After waking Yong Haerang, Kang Hanbyeol drew the attention of the friends who had been playing around.
Including them, Park Sagun also reacted favorably to his suggestion.
At that, I asked Yeon Haneul what she wanted to do.
“Haneul, what are you going to do? Don’t you think you should take a short break too?”
“Mm… then after I finish this unit. I’m fine, so go rest with the others.”
Yeon Haneul answered while glancing sideways at me.
With that, my answer was decided.
I said to Kang Hanbyeol,
“I’m fine, so you guys go. I’ll go with Haneul later.”
“Yeah? If that’s the case, it can’t be helped. Then we’ll go by ourselves.”
“Have a good one.”
Yeon Haneul was studying beside me, so I couldn’t get up and leave her there.
After seeing Kang Hanbyeol and the others off, I decided to wait until she finished what she was studying.
“You didn’t have to do that….”
“Then should I get up now?”
“…The others already left. Just sit next to me and watch until I’m done.”
“Got it. Take your time.”
“Okay.”
Yeon Haneul, who had glanced at me with a slightly pouty face, soon erased her expression.
Resting my chin on my hand, I quietly watched her from beside her.
‘She’s pretty.’
Just looking at Yeon Haneul made me feel like my drowsiness was fading on its own.
My gaze kept going to her red lips, cutely protruding, to her chest resting on the desk, and to the hand moving her pen.
In the end, the tail that was showing off its plump presence in the space below the chair’s backrest began to bother me.
Whenever she moved even slightly, her white, round tail swayed gently.
“…”
The tail looked defenseless, so wasn’t it only natural that I should grab it?
After weighing emotion and reason on a scale, I abruptly seized the rabbit tail.
“…!”
Yeon Haneul’s reaction was immediate.
Her red eyes opened wide, and she straightened her back.
Because of that, Lisa and Min Arin, who were sitting across from us, raised their heads and looked puzzled.
“Haneul, did something happen all of a sudden? You looked startled….”
“You startled me too because of you. Don’t disturb my studying.”
“N-no, it’s nothing. Sorry….”
Perhaps she couldn’t bring herself to say that I was touching her tail.
Suppressing her flinch, Yeon Haneul glossed over Lisa and Min Arin’s questions.
Soon, she glared at me and stealthily tried to remove my hand.
‘Sorry, but I can’t let that happen.’
Mischief needlessly welling up in me, I quickly tightened the hand holding her tail.
Yeon Haneul, who had been trying to stop me, ended up flinching again.
“Eek!”
“Haneul? What happened again?”
“Hey, seriously, what’s wrong with you? Are you sick or something?”
“N-no, it’s nothing… I’m not sick… so I’m fine….”
Responding to the hand kneading her tail, Yeon Haneul couldn’t use her strength properly.
Before she knew it, she was sitting in her chair, curling up as much as she could while constantly twitching her hips.
“Mm…”
Now she covered her mouth with her hand so no sounds would leak out.
She could have used that hand to knock my hand away, but it seemed the sensation had swept through her body so much that normal judgment had become impossible.
‘Why is she so sensitive today?’
Was it because there were so many people around?
I thought while looking down at her, who was practically lying on the desk.
Just then, with her red eyes moist as if she were about to cry, she silently moved her lips.
‘Gyeonu, stop now, please….’
Yeon Haneul pleaded.
If I kept touching her tail any longer, I might get scolded badly later.
After secretly grabbing her tail, stretching it out, and folding it back, I judged it was time to retreat and let go.
Only then did she slowly come back to her senses and shoot up from her seat.
“I-I’m going to the restroom!”
As the gazes of the people around us all gathered on Yeon Haneul.
Her face red, she paid them no mind and hurriedly ran to the restroom.
Watching her receding back.
‘…I’m dead.’
I instinctively realized that, without even knowing it, I had angered Yeon Haneul.
As if proving that intuition, when she returned from the restroom a little later, she was wearing an icy smile.
“…Haneul?”
“Just so you know, I’m not talking to you for a while.”
“…”
Yeon Haneul had become thoroughly angry.
For several days, I had to devote myself wholeheartedly to lifting her mood.
* * *
“If you ever knead my tail like that in front of other people again, just try it. When that happens, I’ll make sure you can never touch it again.”
After that incident in the library, whenever it suddenly came to mind, Yeon Haneul would warn me.
It seemed that, for her, it had been that shocking and unforgettable an experience.
As for me, I could only reflect on whether I had perhaps wounded her feelings.
“Got it, I won’t. I’m sorry. I won’t touch it like that from now on.”
“Really?”
“Really, really.”
I had only just barely managed to improve Yeon Haneul’s mood enough to breathe again.
Not wanting to receive her cold treatment, I said words I had already uttered several times by now.
Then, narrowing her eyes, she said in a deliberately stern voice,
“I’ll be watching. Hurry up, let’s go. At this rate, we’ll be late for the exam.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Looking back, I think I had gotten carried away lately as my physical contact with Yeon Haneul increased.
Then the thought that it was all right to touch her without hesitation grew too strong, and without realizing it, I ended up crossing the line.
It was my fault for forgetting the mindset that I had to treat Yeon Haneul dearly.
Taking this incident as an opportunity, I decided to return to my original intentions.
‘I want to hold it, but let’s endure….’
So I couldn’t carelessly hold her hand.
Time had passed, and final exams had begun. On the way to take the Dice Game exam.
Walking with the backs of our hands brushing, I suppressed the feelings welling up inside me.
Just then, she jutted out her lips and spoke in a subtle tone.
“There’s no one here.”
“…”
“…Aren’t you going to hold it?”
…It couldn’t be helped.
My resolve collapsed in an instant.
Faithful to my desires, I carefully held her hand.
Then she clasped mine back, putting strength into it so our hands wouldn’t come apart.
“…”
The time we spent looking at each other awkwardly lasted only a brief moment.
After adjusting to the sensation of holding hands, we chattered as if nothing had happened and headed to the Culture Hall.
So Gukjin, the instructor in charge of Dice Game, saw us and asked,
“What’s this? Are you two finally dating?”
“We’re not dating yet.”
“Then why are you holding hands?”
“We’re just holding hands because we wanted to. Right, Haneul?”
“Yeah… that’s right, Instructor….”
After being asked questions by people so many times, I no longer even felt flustered.
Wasn’t it only natural for childhood friends of five years to hold hands?
I calmly replied to So Gukjin, who was frowning with bloodshot eyes.
He seemed about to say something, but then clicked his tongue, passed us, and went up onto the stage.
“I’ll now explain the exam. There’s really nothing special about this exam. You’ll be doing a treasure hunt.”
So Gukjin took several cards out of his breast pocket and raised them above his head.
On the cards, whose fronts were painted white, the grades were written in bold letters.
“The cards have my seal on them, along with letter grades from E- to A+. F will be given to those who do not have enough days of attendance and cannot complete the class, so I didn’t make separate cards for it. So from now on, you will….”
“…”
“Within the two hours of the exam, you must find the cards hidden on academy grounds and bring them to me. When you do, you must write your name and student number on the card. Your final grade will be recorded as the letter grade written on that card. That is all. The exam begins now!”
No matter how I thought about it, that man really seemed to have it easy as an instructor.
Even though I had long since given up on expecting anything, I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
After hearing the explanation, all of us looked troubled.
“Is he seriously insane?”
He’d been going on about our consciences earlier.
But it seemed certain he was the one without a conscience.
* * *
Anyone who found a card with a high grade would immediately write their name on it, so trying to steal it would be pointless.
In the end, we had no choice but to rely purely on luck and scour the grounds.
“Don’t you think Instructor So Gukjin is phoning his classes in way too much? It wouldn’t be strange at all if the students filed complaints.”
“So I actually asked Sister Sieun about that before, and apparently complaints do come in every semester.”
“And yet nothing changes, and he’s still perfectly fine as an instructor? Does he have some incredible backing or something…?”
“I’m not sure about that much either…. But according to Sister Sieun, people are really split on the instructor. The people who hate him really hate him, and the people who like him like him enough to take his class again…. Maybe that’s why he’s still an instructor? And she said he’s gotten better than before. Apparently, it was even worse when she was a first-year.”
“…I think I’m going to be on the side that hates him. I’m not taking this instructor’s class next semester.”
“Me neither.”
Yeon Haneul and I grumbled nonstop as we went around searching for cards.
Then all our complaints vanished the moment we found them.
“…Haneul, what did you get?”
“…What about you?”
“Mine came out pretty well.”
“Really? Mine too.”
“Then should we reveal them to each other?”
“Yeah.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three!”
With our heads together, we flipped over the cards we had placed face down at the signal.
My card had an A written on it, and Yeon Haneul’s card had an A+.
Right then and there, unable to contain our excitement, we hugged each other tightly.
“Waaah! How did this happen!? My luck is usually really terrible! I think I used up all my luck for today!”
“I think I need to take back what I said earlier. I definitely have to take his class next semester too. Instructor, you’re the best.”
“Me too. Let’s take it together next semester. I think I understand why the people who like him like him.”
When I came to my senses, we were so close that our bodies were pressed tightly together.
Feeling awkward for no reason, we let go of each other and quietly put some distance between us.
Then, after writing our names on the cards, we went to submit them to So Gukjin.
“Do Gyeonwoo, Yeon Haneul, I’ve confirmed your scores. Good work taking the exam. You also did well attending class for the semester.”
“Thank you, Instructor!”
As long as it wasn’t me.
We bowed cheerfully and left the Culture Hall.
In a good mood after getting a high grade, Yeon Haneul grabbed my arm and shook it.
“What’s your next exam?”
“Instructor Su Hoguk’s Villain Response Training. What about you?”
“That’s the class you take with Hanbyeol and the others, right? Mine is the class Master is in charge of.”
“If it’s the Witch’s exam, it must be really hard. Come on, I’ll walk you to your classroom.”
“Yeah! Thanks, Gyeonwoo.”
Since the dice game exam had ended early, there was still some time left.
Wanting to spend a little more time with Yeon Haneul, I used seeing her off as an excuse and followed her to the Training Hall.
After that, I also left for the Dimension Hall to take my exam.
By the time I arrived, it was just about time for the exam to begin.
Su Hoguk, who was in charge of the Villain Response Training class, explained to us.
“The exam will divide you into hunters and villains, and each side will accomplish missions according to their role. You’ve done this several times in class by now, so I suppose there’s no need for a detailed explanation.”
“…”
“Then I’ll explain the scenario.”
Villains with a secret base in a certain downtown area create a bomb capable of blowing up the surrounding area in an instant.
Having obtained information about this, the hunters decide to infiltrate the secret base in order to destroy the bomb.
That was the scenario for the exam.
“Therefore, the hunters’ objective is to stop the villains’ scheme and destroy the detonation switch they possess. They must also safely rescue the hostages kidnapped and held at the base. Conversely, the villains must prepare for the hunters’ infiltration, make sure the hostages are not taken from them, and protect the detonation switch until the time limit is up.”
“…”
“That concludes the explanation. Now, we will decide each role! Those who will be hunters, stand to the left based on where I am standing. Those who will be villains, stand to the right.”
Just as Su Hoguk had said, the exam content was not that different from what we had experienced in class so far.
Because of that, we moved to choose our roles without panicking, as if we were used to it.
I, Kang Hanbyeol, Bak Sagun, Yong Haerang, the triplets, and the majority of the class headed to one side.
“Why….”
Seeing us, Su Hoguk couldn’t bring himself to continue.
Unable to wipe the reluctant expression from his face, he muttered as if he couldn’t understand.
“You’re all trying to be villains…?”
“…”
I mean, wasn’t it obvious?
Unlike hunters, who had to act justly, villains could act comparatively comfortably and freely.
All of us smiled bitterly.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss