Gold | Park Sunghoon

14

Back to school

"Welcome back to school, class! How was your winter break?" The homeroom adviser's voice echoed in the classroom in the morning. Even if a chorus of groans and "too short!" were heard, Jangmi felt great and well rested. It was her first winter vacation in South Korea, and she couldn't imagine spending it any other way than with her brother and her friends. Although she still had training during the break, she was happy that she didn't have school—so she could rest and have fun after training.

The adviser chuckled at his students' reactions before calling their attention again. "Okay, class! I'll be handing out your reports cards! Your class standing was high. You guys did well, don't worry!" He reassured them before calling the students' names one by one.

"Park Jangmi!"

The adviser called her name, making her run to the front of the classroom. When the older man gave her report card, her smile was weird. It was as if it was a little sad. "I know your schedule must be hard considering that you're an athlete, so good job on the scores! It's still a high ranking!"

Jangmi bowed and thanked her adviser before going back to her seat. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she approached her seat. Sitting down and opening her report card quickly, she saw the one thing she feared the most. 

She moved down from 3rd to 5th place.

"Jangmi, what did you get?" A classmate of hers, Choi Beomgyu, asked her with a soft nudge. He sat on her left side during class; so naturally, they were partnered together many times. Though they weren't as close as her and Sunoo, he was still a good acquaintance. The more they worked together, she realized that he was not an admirer or a fan. He always considered her as a classmate—not like some celebrity.

He took a peek at the paper in her hands and gasped. "What? How could you move down when you're super smart? I thought you would actually move and take first place this time!"

Jangmi ran her hands through her hair in frustration. Hearing it from a classmate of hers just made her feel way worse. She felt like her image of perfection started to crack and crumble. She wanted to run to the bathroom and cry the feeling of failure away but stopped herself from thinking that of it as such. She could hear Sunghoon's voice telling her "No one's forcing you to be on top all the time." all over again.

So, this should be okay, right?

"Beomgyu?"

"Yeah?"

She couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth; and honestly, so did her classmate. "Fifth place is still high, right?" Jangmi looked at Beomgyu as she asked. She tried to blink the tears away but failed to do so as he still noticed her glassy eyes.

"Yeah! Of course, it's—are you crying over your ranking?" His voice was suddenly laced with concern. The girl sighed shakily and nodded. The boy reached over to pat her shoulder reassuringly.