As I was clocking in at the company and filling out the attendance sheet, the team leader called me over.
“Dohee, come here for a second.”
What is it? I don’t think I did anything wrong.
“Dohee, your midterms start tomorrow, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
“It’s the day before your exams, so go home and study.”
Our company paid attention to the trainees’ school grades, to the point that they had set academic guidelines and made trainees who didn’t fall within a certain percentile stop practicing and focus on schoolwork.
“Come on, have I ever skipped practice because of exams?”
“I know. I know you handle things well on your own. Still, this is your first exam since starting middle school.”
“I listen hard in class normally, so you don’t need to worry.”
“Really? Then can I expect you to be first in the whole school again this time?”
I feel like the company is more interested in my grades than my mom is.
“I’ll do my best!”
“Yeah. You’ll take care of it, Dohee. Still, if you need time, tell me anytime.”
“Yes~”
.
.
.
The next morning,
When I entered the classroom, the desks had been arranged in exam formation.
I guess yesterday’s cleaning duty students moved them.
‘Where’s my desk?’
I looked around to find my seat and spotted the back of Sohee’s head.
Sohee was number 25, and I was number 26, so the seat behind Sohee was mine.
I went over to Sohee, put my bag down at my seat, and tugged on Sohee’s cheek while she was solving problems in a workbook.
“Why are you studying only now? I told you to study ahead of time, didn’t I?”
As if it hurt, Sohee hit my arm and said,
“I diiid. I’m just reviewing right nooow...”
“Oh, really?”
Since it was Sohee, I naturally assumed she hadn’t.
Released from my grasp, Sohee looked at me with a tearful face.
“Hiiing...”
“Hah, sorry.”
I should review too.
I sat down and was skimming through my textbook when, not long after, our homeroom teacher came into the classroom.
“Kids, did you all study a lot?”
“““No~”””
The teacher sighed and said,
“How proud you must be. Very proud.”
“First of all, today is exam day, so you know you have to hand in your phones, right? Everyone, turn them in quickly.”
“““Yes~”””
“And as I said yesterday, numbers 16 through 31 will be taking the exam in second-year Class 1, so when the bell rings, numbers 16 through 31 go upstairs.”
Starting in middle school, grades are mixed together during exams to prevent cheating, so I also had to go upstairs.
The bell rang.
I packed my bag and headed to second-year Class 1 with Sohee.
When I arrived at the classroom, I sat down and started reviewing again.
Five minutes later, the warning bell before the exam rang, and the proctoring teacher came in.
“All right, everyone, put away what you were doing and leave only writing utensils on your desks.”
Once all the students were ready to take the exam, the teacher handed out the OMR cards and test papers.
“Now, the person in front, pass them back.”
The bell signaling the start of the exam rang.
The first period exam was Korean.
I began solving the questions.
After I finished all the questions and even checked them over, there were still thirty minutes left.
I’ve been tired lately anyway, so I should get some sleep.
I lay face-down on my desk and closed my eyes.
Just as my consciousness was growing distant, someone tapped my head.
Ah.
I was just about to fall asleep...
I had no choice but to lift my head.
The exam proctor was standing in front of me.
In a quiet voice, the teacher said to me,
“Student, wake up.”
I pointed to my completed test paper and OMR card and said softly,
“I finished everything...”
The teacher gave an awkward cough for no reason and said,
“Ahem, still, check your answers again.”
I already checked them, though.
I’ll just pretend to check them for a bit and then sleep again.
.
.
My eyes opened at the bell signaling the end of the exam.
“All right, everyone, hands above your heads, and the person at the very back, collect the OMR cards with the front person’s on top.”
Ugh, even sleeping for twenty minutes made me feel a little less tired.
The next exam was history.
Just in case they ask some obscure question about years, I should look at the chronology.
As I took my history textbook out of my bag to look at the chronology, Sohee held out her test paper to me and said,
“Dohee, what was the answer to number 14?”
“That one was 4. The rest were metaphors, but only number 4 was personification.”
“Ah... I got it wrong. Hing...”
“Did you do well on the others?”
“Probably...?”
“Let me see.”
I took Sohee’s test paper and compared her answers with mine.
What?
They’re almost the same as mine.
“For the multiple-choice, only two are different, and you wrote all the short-answer ones well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I thought Sohee was going to be a total blockhead.
“Hehe, Mom’s gonna praise me.”
.
.
.
After all the exams on the first day ended and I returned to class, I waited for the answer key so I could grade my paper.
A little while later, the class president came into the classroom with the answer key from the teachers’ office and shouted,
“Guys, I’ll call out Korean first!”
“““Okay~”””
“Okay, number one is 1. Number two is 3. Number three is...”
.
.
“Number twenty is 4. That’s it for the multiple-choice, and now I’ll call out the short-answer questions! Short-answer number 1: only pursuing financial gain...”
.
.
“... Short-answer number 4: A is a work that compares spring to a cat, and B is a work that compares the heart to a river ferryboat.”
For now, I got Korean all right.
“Now I’ll call out history!”
.
.
.
I might lose partial credit on the short-answer questions, but for now, I got everything on today’s exams right.
I was personally challenging myself to see how long my perfect-score record would last, so I’d been anxious I might get even one question wrong.
Did Sohee do well?
When I looked at Sohee, she was grinning while holding her test paper.
I went over to Sohee, hugged her tightly, and asked,
“Did you do well?”
Sohee smiled brightly and answered,
“Yeah!”
“How many did you get wrong?”
“Four total!”
Wow...
“Sohee, your personality might be dumb, but your head isn’t dumb, huh?”
“Is that a compliment?”
Maybe not.
Actually, both might be dumb.
“Of course it’s a compliment.”
“Hehe. Dohee, how many did you get wrong?”
“I got them all right.”
“Really?”
I showed Sohee the test papers on my desk.
“Isn’t that cool?”
Sohee nodded.
“Then say, ‘Thank you for being my friend.’”
“Thank you for being my friend!”
She really does it just because I told her to.
.
.
.
Midterms, day two.
Originally, subjects like ethics, technology and home economics, PE, and art were also exam subjects, but they had changed to 100 percent performance evaluations, so today’s exams were only English and science.
There was no need to review English, so I should look over science.
I took out my science textbook and was reviewing the concepts when the second-year boy sitting next to me tapped my desk.
“Yes?”
“Um, could I maybe borrow a mechanical pencil?”
“A mechanical pencil?”
“Yes, I left mine at home.”
Why is he borrowing one from me of all people?
I took a spare mechanical pencil out of my pencil case and handed it to the boy.
“Give it back after the exam.”
“Yes, thank you.”
When the boy took the mechanical pencil and returned to his seat, his friend sitting in front of him nudged him and made some fucking sound effect.
“Ohhh~”
What a shitshow.
.
.
.
The bell rang to end second period, and midterms were over.
Inside the classroom, the atmosphere was excited with the sense of liberation that came from exams being done.
Sohee was also bouncing around because the exams were over.
“Exams are over~”
Sohee came over to me and said,
“Dohee! What are you doing after school today?”
“I have to go to the company and practice.”
Sohee quickly became gloomy again.
Does she have bipolar disorder or something?
“Then we can’t hang out today...?”
“Yeah. Go hang out with Sujin, just the two of you.”
“Hing... I want to hang out with Dohee...”
Sigh, what am I going to do with this loser?
“Should I hang out with you?”
Color returned to Sohee’s face.
“Really?”
“Yeah. The exams ended early anyway, so I’ll hang out with you for about two hours before I go to the company.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really, so let’s hurry down, grade our tests, and go.”
“Okay!”
.
.
When I returned to class and finished grading, both English and science were 100 points.
Phew.
As I was packing my things, Hyeju came over and asked me,
“Dohee, did you do well on this exam?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Really? Then how many did you get wrong?”
“For now, I got everything right... but I don’t know what’ll happen with the short-answer questions.”
Hyeju shouted loudly in surprise,
“Really!? You got everything right?”
Drawn in by Hyeju’s voice, the kids started approaching one by one.
“She got everything right on the exam? Who?”
“I think they’re talking about Dohee?”
“Oh, really? Was Dohee always good at studying?”
“You didn’t know? Dohee was always first in the whole school in elementary school too.”
“We weren’t even at the same school, so how would I know?”
“The kids talked about it a lot.”
“Then is the other thing true too?”
“What other thing?”
“That she’s an idol trainee.”
“That’s probably true too.”
“Oh, really? I thought people just said that because she’s pretty.”
“There should be a video of Dohee dancing during the sixth-grade school trip. I’ll send it to you when I get home.”
Fuck, why do you have that?
Anyway, now that I had drawn attention properly, the kids surrounded me and began asking me questions.
“Dohee? Are you an idol trainee?”
“Dohee, then what celebrities have you seen?”
“What company are you with?”
“Are you debuting in a girl group?”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Hey, would a trainee have one?”
“She might.”
“Even if she doesn’t, it wouldn’t be you.”
“You talk like a fucking asshole.”
Ah.
My head hurts.
Only after the teacher came in for the end-of-day homeroom and made the kids sit down was I finally able to escape.
After homeroom ended.
Before the kids could grab me again, I quickly took Sohee and left the classroom.
But this time, someone grabbed my arm again.
‘Ah, who is it now?’
When I turned around, the second-year who had borrowed my mechanical pencil earlier was standing there.
Come to think of it, I’d forgotten to get the pencil back.
The second-year handed the mechanical pencil back to me and said,
“Thank you for lending me the mechanical pencil. I used it well.”
“Yes.”
I was about to just take the pencil and leave, but he held onto it and wouldn’t let go.
“I’m grateful, so could you maybe give me your number? I want to send you a gifticon.”
Ah.
I knew this would happen.
Meanwhile, the kids who seemed to be his second-year friends were making a fuss beside him.
“Ohhh~” “So cool!”
What a shitshow, seriously.
“It’s okay.”
“I really want to give you one.”
Since when do middle schoolers pull moves like this?
Fuck.
The curse words are right at the tip of my tongue.
Hoo...
“It’s fine.”
The second-year was still gripping the mechanical pencil and not letting go.
“Just keep the pencil.”
I gave up on the mechanical pencil and came out of the school.
Ah, I’m so stressed.
“Haa... Sohee, let’s just go to karaoke.”
“Okaaay!”
Ah.
I just want to take the equivalency exam already.
When am I going to debut?