The School Idol's Roommate [BL]

Aware

Aki stared hard at the piece of paper in front of him. It was his quiz paper and at the top right corner was his score written and encircled with red ink. He stared and stared as if he could tattoo what was written to his mind before pressing his eyes shut.

He failed the quiz earlier. Even after studying non-stop, barely getting any sleep, he still flunked that quiz. To be fair, no one from their class passed. Out of 10 points, most of them got either 0 or 2 points. The class top got 5. Aki was lucky enough to be in the group who got 2 points. As one of his classmates pointed out, at least they had a score.

But that was not a consolation. A failing grade was still a fail. It was a heavier slap in the face for someone like him who was trying his hardest to get all the highest grades he could get. Now, that red mark was staring at his face, taunting him, jeering at his efforts. A taint like this would still have an impact on his overall grade, no matter if he was part of the majority of the class who got a low score or not.

"A 2. Unbelievable." Aki ran a hand over his face. No matter how many times he stared at his paper or uttered his score out loud, that stab in his chest never dulled. It got sharper as ever.

Across him, Jun also sighed, lamenting over the same thing. "That professor is really ruthless. Imagine, just leaving all those theories for us to self-study without the barest explanation and then gives a completely different problem to solve. What kind of learning is that?"

"You can say that. But I'm getting more worried about my grades. I can't have something like this. Not even from a quiz." Aki could not afford to sit back and rest. This kind of result was harrowing.

"Maybe she'll let us retake the quiz? I mean, even the boy genius Ike only got 5. There's clearly something wrong with the way she taught us. It would be a reflection of her teaching. In the meantime, we should find what book she got those questions. So cheer up. I'll message the other guys first and see if they already found it."

Aki could only sigh and bury his head once more in his notes and books. But not having enough sleep and tirelessly studying all day and night, his brain gave up on him and his concentration slipped.

His hand reached for his phone and opened his messages. Liam texted him, telling Aki that his grandmother was alright, that he got to his shift on time, and asked Aki about his quiz.

"Should we take a break? How about eating at the cafe?" Aki told Jun as he swiped absentmindedly at the other messages.

Jun finished typing his message first before replying. "We should have done that earlier. If seeing Liam would make you that happy, then let's go," Jun said nonchalantly as he picked up his bag.

Aki raised his head from his phone and gaped at his friend. "I'm not--not happy. And how did you know that I was texting Liam?"

"You just said so. Besides, the only other thing that worried you this morning was about Liam's grandmother. 'Would his grandmother be okay? What do you think?'" Jun copied Aki's voice in an exaggerated way. "You asked that every minute. Well, you looked happy so I guess everything worked out alright."

Aki scowled at his friend. He thought of what happened this morning as they got out of the library. Liam got a call that his grandmother was hospitalized. He was usually composed but he paled after hearing the news. Aki was in a hurry because of his class so he could not stay behind and console his roommate. But he kept on worrying about Liam, knowing how important she was to him. Also because of that, Liam was late for his shift in the cafe. He seemed to have waited for the news from his parents who rushed to the countryside after hearing the news.

"Welc-- Aki."

Aki replayed and mulled over the events that happened earlier that he did not realize that they had already arrived at the cafe. Liam was wearing his waiter's uniform, looking impossibly handsome despite the haggard face, always the impeccable waiter. Aki felt like all of his worries drained away as he beamed at his roommate.