ripples. [girlgroups]

Kim Jiwon [LIZ] (IVE)

| the perfect pair

you really know how to break my heart the way no one does - the same way you know how to complete my day. falling in love is such a crime, and i am sentenced to life in jail.

"what's your answer?" i heard jiwon whisper in my ear, i raised my eyebrows as i looked at her with my peripheral vision. i see her looking at me with hope, but my head stayed still - trying my best not to turn my head to face her. i was quite worried our calculus teacher would notice us, it's drill time - he's giving us at least 2 minutes to answer the problem he has on the board, i gulped and moved my paper a bit for jiwon to see.

only a few seconds left, i noticed jiwon put her head low and started writing - luckily, jiwon is very fast at writing and was able to finish quickly.

"only 30 seconds left." mr. kang stated, standing behind his desk, eyes looking over everyone. i stood up and made my way to his desk to hand my paper, he checked it quickly and marked a perfect score.

"is there anyone else?" i was the first one to get the answer, there are students who started lining up and i saw jiwon make her way to the line, she even looked at me and smiled.

i usually try my best to get a full score on every drill, it's a good way to pull my marks up when i get a not-so-good score in my calculus test. i think i'm a good learner, i pick up topics easily and i try my best to participate.

i just have bad study habits, i don't really have lots of close friends in class - i only know jiwon, but we are not close, just friends. she's the person who always needed help in calculus and statistics, or anything related to math like physics and chemistry.

at this age, most students who do well in academics like me would be stingy when it comes to helping other students, school is now a war and a competition for them as soon as they hit 18 - and i agree that it really is the battle of the best.

i don't see it that way though, i'm just here to do well for myself, not to beat any kind of records but to get a good education that i could use in the future.

since i don't have a lot of friends, there is no way for me to learn a great strategy in studying for exams, i do well in other classes but i have a hard time maintaining a healthy study habit, and it is affecting my marks in my calculus and statistics tests.

jiwon thinks the opposite though, she praises me for maintaining a good grade even though i rarely make study notes for tests to use, even though my only way of studying is with my phone and even though i only rely on my notes in order to remember lessons.

she admires my scores, i usually get good marks in other classes but i always seem to have a hard time maintaining good marks in mathematics, it's truly my weakness.

but once jiwon told me.

"ah well, it really doesn't define your intelligence right? tests are just a way to see what you've learned by recalling past lessons and compiling them into one paper, in the end your other scores in activities will say otherwise."