𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ˢᵛᵗ

ten ♬

The canteen was turned into an exam room, desks all lined up in four neat column with three other desks behind them. All 16 of us were expected to take the exams at the same time, so that we finish together. The exams began at 8 am sharp - we were warned that any latecomers will be turned away.

There were three simple rules:

1. Don't be late

2. Don't look at anyone else's answers

3. An answer must be provided for every question

I showed up ten minutes early, taking a seat in the third row. Seokmin sat on my left, Jeonghan on my right with Seungcheol sitting in front of me. The boys were cramming in some revision time by scanning over their notes, making sure not to miss any details. After watching them, I thought I should do the same so I whipped out my notes too. The last people to enter the place were Minghao and Jun, who had just finished up their early morning dance test with Yoona. They took the two remaining seats at the front as the invigilator began handing out the question papers.

There were three papers in total, each containing 20 questions. The limit was 4 hours, giving us 1hr and 20 minutes for each paper. I quickly skimmed over some questions on the first paper, which was Fine arts. I felt relieved, as all the questions were about things I already knew. The final paper was handed out, and the invigilator made his way back to the front of the hall.

"You may begin now."

I breezed through the first paper, answering each question with ease. To me, the questions were everything I already knew. It was child's play.

1. In what year was The Temptation of St. Anthony created?

That's easy. It's 1941.

2. In the poem,The Raven, what themes are highlighted?

Simple, it's grief and loss.

3. Jackson Pollack created a piece which sold for $200 million. What was the name of that piece?

Piece of cake. The name was Number 17A,

These seemed more like art trivia questions rather than fine arts questions. Nonetheless, I answered them all with 20 minutes to spare.

The next paper was Korean Lit. Majority of the questions were fairly simple, just required some further thinking. That was until the final question.

1. Create your own sijo poem. A minimum of 36-46 syllables must be achieved.

I'm sorry, what? Create a sijo poem? Like right now? Sijo poetry was covered as a topic during revision with Mingyu, but no way did we even think for a second that we had to actually create our own poem.

Alright, let's try this. My heavily stressed brain thought and thought and thought, before coming up with this absolute masterpiece.

The moon swam swiftly amongst the scattered clouds,

It was the lone sailor of the sky's vast raging sea,

Waiting for the day in which he can return to his home.

This single-handedly had to be the best piece of writing I ever produced. Just scraped 36 syllables though which might deck some marks but oh well. I switched my attention to the final paper, English. Like the previous two papers, most question were straightforward. However, the last question made me rethink all my life decisions.

1. Describe the past participle for the word "ongoing".

The only thing going through my head was ; wtf is a past participle?

I assumed it meant past tense but in a more formal/fancier way, so I wrote down the word occurred and it's definition to answer. Hopefully I got that right.

Following the long fours hours spent in there, we all were let out to spend the rest of the Friday doing whatever we wanted. I didn't know who to hang out with as everyone basically had plans.

Seungcheol, Jihoon, Jeonghan and Joshua had booked movie tickets to see this new zombie apocalypse film starring this upcoming new actor named Lee Tae-ho. Apparently he was someone Jihoon knew from middle school, so they were watching in support for him.

Mingyu and Chan already left to go play at the arcade. By the time I remembered them telling me, they were long gone.

Wonwoo, Soonyoung, JJ and Bo-ri were headed to play badminton at the sports court three blocks away. They asked if I wanted to join them, but I refused knowing that one of us wouldn't have a partner to play with.

That left Seungkwan, Vernon and Seokmin.

I saw Vernon and Seokmin talking to each other just out side the hall, probably about what answers they put down. As I was about to head over to them, a hand shot out of no where and pulled me aside.

It was Seungkwan.

"So I have an idea," He proposed, a mischievous glint forming in his eyes.

"Since it's Seokmin and Vernon's birthday in four days, I say let's get them gifts."

It still baffles me how the pair have the same birthday. To think that they are exactly one year apart.

"Okay, let's do it."

Both of us marched past the pair, who were immersed in talking about the test. It was only when we reached the elevators, Seokmin called out.

"Where are you guys going?"

"To your mum!" Seungkwan yelled back. What is he, twelve? We heard the scuffle of feet and some hushed swears as we watched the elevator door close, causing us to burst into a fit of laughter.

So we are buying gifts huh? I never bought gifts for anyone before, so this will be an interesting and new experience.

I wonder what Seokmin likes.

Oh, and Vernon too.