Do Seon-woo (200/200)
A perfect score, achieved almost too easily.
Second place was Seong Ha-yeon, third was Bae Seong-hyeon, and from fourth to seventh the other freshman representatives took every slot.
"You said you hadn't studied. Weren't you going to guess number two all the way down?"
"I told you I would solve the problems. Honestly, I was just lucky this time."
"Still… a perfect score? Seriously?"
Gu Jun-hyeok laughed in disbelief.
Even so, he himself was twenty-ninth, which was high. He had bragged before the test that he would mark number two for everything, yet once the exam began he had worked hard.
Without Legba's help my grade would have been lower than Gu Jun-hyeok's. I had taken first place with unfair assistance, and I felt ashamed. I did not deserve the rank at all.
"Oh, there you are. I was looking for you."
While I was sinking into self-reproach, Jeong In-ah came over, smiling from ear to ear. Gu Jun-hyeok scowled when he saw her cheerful face.
"Why do you look so happy? It's annoying."
"Hush. How did you two do on the test?"
Ignoring him, she spoke in a bright voice.
"I'm twenty-ninth," Gu Jun-hyeok answered, still displeased.
"That's good."
"What about you?"
"Twelfth. Considering how little I studied, that's great. I was lucky too."
She hummed as she spoke. Twelfth was certainly top tier.
"What about you, Do Seon-woo?"
"Just so-so."
"Right, you didn't even know the test was today."
I was first, but it was nothing to boast about, so I tried to brush it off. Gu Jun-hyeok let out a snort.
"Hey, he's first. After saying he didn't study."
"First? Really?"
Jeong In-ah stared at the bulletin. Right at the top was written "First place, Do Seon-woo." Embarrassed, I lowered my head. She was speechless.
"And he claims it was luck."
"Luck gave you first place… uh-huh."
Still stunned, she kept staring at the board.
"Traitor." She looked at me with mock resentment. "You said you didn't study, yet you're first with a perfect score?"
"It really was luck this time."
"Yeah, right."
She puffed her cheeks playfully. Gu Jun-hyeok watched, amused.
Not only he but many other students were staring at us, their eyes filled with admiration, longing, jealousy, and envy.
"Let's go back to the classroom," I said. The stares were prickly.
***
"Did everyone do well on the diagnostic exam? Our class results were exceptional. First, third, and twelfth are all in this room. I'm proud of you."
Soon after we reached the room, the homeroom teacher Ha Ye-jin began homeroom. She spoke a little about the exam, gave several announcements, and then left.
The classroom turned noisy at once, the source being none other than Bae Seong-hyeon. Surrounded by his friends, he shrieked, laughed, and wrecked any study atmosphere.
Everyone was annoyed, yet no one spoke up. I was the same.
"So loud," Jeong In-ah muttered, frowning at the group.
She finally stood, about to yell, but I stopped her.
"Just ignore them."
Getting involved with that kind of trash only hurts you. It was better to study.
"Fine." She sighed and sat down.
***
After school an unlit, narrow alley lay in deep shade. A group of large boys were smoking, one hand in their pockets, leaning against walls. In the middle, Bae Seong-hyeon sat on a ventilation shaft, exhaling smoke with a gloomy face.
"Rough day?" one asked.
"Rough? I already had her and threw her away," he replied.
"What, in a week? Introduce me then."
"With that face?" he sneered.
The gang exchanged filthy jokes, gauging his mood. Normally he would laugh along, but today he only smoked in silence. They all thought the same thing.
Better not poke him today.
"Hey, you like the punching machine. Want to play?"
Trying to brighten him up, one brought forward the "punching machine."
Another boy slammed his fist into the stomach of the "machine."
Thud.
A choked groan came out as the boy playing the part of the machine crumpled, clutching his solar plexus.
"Broken? No score?"
"E… eighty-nine," the boy gasped.
"Eighty-nine's decent."
The gang howled with laughter and kicked him lightly. Curled on the ground, trembling, he alone could not laugh.
If it ended here that would be fine, the boy thought. The gang's punches were nothing; Bae Seong-hyeon's fists were the real terror. One punch from him left you unable to eat all day. If he hit the solar plexus directly your guts felt twisted and torn apart. The boy almost wished to die, so he would not have to be hit again.
Still imagining himself vomiting from a punch, he slowly stood.
"Move. I'm not in the mood today," Bae Seong-hyeon said.
Relief washed over the boy. No beating today. If only every day were like this.
Just then Bae Seong-hyeon jumped down from the vent.
"S-sorry!" the boy blurted, but Bae Seong-hyeon ignored him. His eyes focused beyond the alley, on three Florence students approaching.
"Hey, you three, come here," he called with a cold smile and beckoned them into the smoky alley.
Do Seon-woo, Jeong In-ah, and Gu Jun-hyeok entered hesitantly. Jeong In-ah coughed at the smoke.
"You're from our class, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, so?" Jeong In-ah answered, pinching her nose. Gu Jun-hyeok scanned him warily. I simply observed the alley.
Bae Seong-hyeon stepped up and offered a handshake, aimed at me.
"You're Do Seon-woo? Relax, I didn't bring you here to fight. I just want us to be friendly."
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. The saying the successful businessman's son loved.
Do Seon-woo might someday threaten his position. His physical ability was genius level, beyond what Bae Seong-hyeon, once called a genius himself, could match. There was no point trying to suppress such a talent. Better to win him over before that brilliance fully bloomed.
"Sure, that's good," I said, taking the handshake. His grip was powerful, but mine surpassed even the Blessing of Monstrous Strength he carried.
"By the way, what's with that guy?" I nodded toward the boy curled on the ground.
Bae Seong-hyeon tapped the boy's head with his shoe.
"He's our entertainment. You want to join? He has an amazing trick."
At his signal the boy dropped to all fours and barked like a dog, eerily realistic.
Jeong In-ah recoiled a few steps, shocked. Gu Jun-hyeok's brow knotted in disgust.
"See? Just like a puppy, right?"
I looked on calmly.
"Still playing like this? It's childish and pathetic, that's all," I said with a casual smile, glancing at him. His face hardened.
Childish, pathetic, me?
He tried to force a grin, but his lips twitched instead. Sensing his anger, the gang squared their shoulders and approached.
"Pathetic? Are you crazy?"
"Showing off in front of a girl?"
A fight could break out any second. Yet I kept smiling.
"Stop," Bae Seong-hyeon said.
Even if he could handle Gu Jun-hyeok, Do Seon-woo was another matter. His hand still ached from the earlier handshake, and Do Seon-woo was smiling, sure he could win.
"Sorry for holding you up. See you at school."
"Fine, just remember smoking's bad for you," I replied ingenuously.
He was sure I was not provoking on purpose, which made it worse.
After we left, the gang muttered.
"What's with them? Calling us pathetic, damn it."
"They look like they'd drop with one punch, where'd they get the nerve?"
A vein pulsed on Bae Seong-hyeon's forehead.
"Shut up," he snapped. The alley fell silent.
"Ugh… I want to kill him." His inferiority complex, once sleeping quietly, began to swell. Threatened in the fitness test, beaten in the exam by that same guy, and now lectured on smoking.
Curled on the ground, the trembling boy thought only one thing.
I'm jealous.
That unflinching confidence, that courage not to bend before power, Do Seon-woo had it. Someday, I wish I could be like that, the boy hoped vaguely.