freeze | bang junhyuk

eight

The entrance exam finally came again and we are now back at the exam venue. Obviously, Junhyuk and I are the only ones in the room because we're just the students who are intended to retake. This time, it's impossible to cheat since our seats are far away from each other. While waiting for the proctor to arrive, I clasped my hands and prayed desperately.

Lord, I really studied hard for this so please help me pass the exam.

After a few minutes of staring at the blackboard, the proctor arrived.

"I'm glad that you two arrived early." He said as he walked inside the room. "There are still fifteen minutes until seven. But if you want to start already, just tell me."

I glanced at Junhyuk. He glanced back at me and nodded.

"Okay, let's start." The proctor said, giving us the test questions and answer sheet. "I'm sure that you already know what will happen if you cheat again."

"Yes, sir." We answered.

"I hope you'll be honest this time, then."

🐰

The exam ended after three hours and I swear my mind is dead-tired right now. I felt like all of my brain cells left.

"How was the exam?"

Oh wait, why did I even bother asking? I think the entrance exam was just a piece of cake for him, I thought.

"I think I did pretty well. How about you?" Junhyuk replied.

"There were questions that I found difficult. But I remembered your advice--that I should skip them for the meantime, answer the easy questions first, and then, get back to the difficult items."

"Wow, you remembered it well." He said. "Open your palm."

"Why?" I asked, confused.

I opened my palm and he began to put something.

"A clover? Why are you giving me this?" I asked, curious.

"It's... for good luck."

"Oh, thanks." I muttered. "Wait, shouldn't you have given me this before the exam?"

"Well, yeah." He said and scratched his head. "I forgot."

That was cute, I thought. Oh wait, what did I just say in my thought?

"I was just thinking," I said. "You told me the reason why you suddenly helped me to review—that is you realized it's your partially fault that I'm going to retake. May I... know the reason why you let me copy your answers that day? I mean, you're good at studying. I feel like you would never do something like that, but you did."

"It's because of what you said that time."

"Huh? What did I say?" I started to think. "That I fell asleep while reviewing?"

"Nope." He said. "You said that your mom would always compare you to someone else and because of it, you lost your motivation to study."

"Oh, that? What about it?"

"I don't think we're close enough to make me tell you that." He firmly said.

I sighed out of frustration. I'm the curious type, but he just left my question unanswered. After a while, I realized that we were already in front of our house.

"By the way, thank you." I said.

"You're welcome."

"Should I treat you if I pass the exam?"

"Uhh, no, it's fine. If you pass the exam, just study hard from then on."

"You're right, I should... study hard." I said, letting out an awkward smile. "Bye!"

"Okay, bye."