Nocturnal Buddies ✩ Yang Jeongin

Chapter 55

(English in bold)

Hyunjoo stared at the younger girl sitting across from her, who was whacking her head to recall an answer to the question asked.

"I don't remember." Areum let out a sigh of defeat, before holding out her hand for the sheet of paper her friend had, dropping her head a little in disappointment. "What other questions did I miss?"

"You only missed two, eleven and twenty."

Once the paper returned to the younger girl's hands, she frantically scanned over the questions that she failed to retain. The stress visibly displayed on her face was hard to miss.

"Stop stressing so much," Jaehyun decided to speak up, leaning against the table. "You're going to do fine on the exam."

"I wish it was that simple," Areum whined, falling onto the table out of pure exhaustion. Her eyes continued to fixate on the paper adorned with questions and answers. "After getting tested, I'm starting to lose confidence in myself."

"You only missed one or two questions on each quiz." Hyunjoo reached over to tap her friend's shoulder reassuringly. Her eyes fell onto the rest of the papers laid out in front of her as she withdrew herself. "You're going to do fine, it's just the test anxiety speaking right now."

"If it was me, I would have missed all twenty," Jaehyun joked, hoping to bring the younger girl's mood up.

Areum groaned in response, kicking her feet childishly under the table. "I don't know," she drawled out dramatically.

"What's going on here?" Taeyoung inquired as he approached the table with drinks displayed on a tray.

"Areum is having an existential crisis two days before her exam," Jaehyun answered while eying his favorite beverage.

The younger boy hummed in response before placing each drink in their designated spot, receiving a thank you from his friends.

"Here." Taeyoung carefully placed a generous slice of cake onto the wooden surface of the table, right next to Areum's preferred beverage. "Good luck for your exam."

Areum hadn't fully processed the boy's words as she turned her attention towards him. She furrowed her eyebrows ever so slightly, unsure what he said to her since the exam was the only thing occupying her mind at the moment. A breathy chuckle fell from his lips before he cocked his head to the dessert. Her eyes moved slowly towards the delicacy in front of her, before her expression lit up at the sight. A bright smile pulled at her lips before she turned to thank him.

"You're the best, Tae, I love you," she hummed happily, as she accepted the fork the boy was holding out to her- her stress being pushed aside for her favorite cake.

Taeyoung ruffled the girl's hair, quietly chuckling, before going to join his friends at the table. The three friends started to converse with one another, while Areum busied herself with savoring the dessert. Their laughter rang through the calming atmosphere of the café, one that wasn't as busy due to the early hour.

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