Hatred: Nomin

A Grey Truth: 14

5 years Prior

It was exam season. Jeno hated exam season. Hated it with a burning passion that would boil his blood like jets of napalm coursing through his body.

Jeno was smart; he knew he was even if no one else did. Well, there was someone else who knew Jeno was smart. But just the one. And right in this period of time it seemed Jeno was too smart, like he'd outsmarted everyone into believing his childish facade, his instinct to contain and to repress, and now his intelligence and sense in escaping the notice of others had become his biggest weakness.

Jeno liked exams. Exams didn't try to pretend to be something they weren't. They didn't try to look fun or simple or interesting. They were black and white, words and shapes on a page, and they asked you exactly what they wanted of you and from then it was all up to you. Jeno liked that. He liked the silence. He liked knowing what to do. He liked that he could be asked a question and know he was prepared to answer it, even if it seemed hard or infinitely complicated he just knew, that there was a simple, singular correct answer, and no confusion as to whether or not a specific thing was right or wrong, and there was no grey area, and there was no web of truths mixed in with fabricated stories or hidden information. Right or wrong; Yes or No; True or False. No Maybe, no perhaps, no "well that depends,"

He liked the peace. He liked that he was good at them. He liked that he could enter a hall, get lost in a paper for an hour or so, and then have all that left over time of silence and peace without interruptions to rest, to have a clear head space and no pressures or expectations, and to be able to sleep.

He hated exam season.

No one would shut up about it. It plagued everybody's minds with worry; made every student at school highly strung and deprived of sleep. Frequently teachers would be frustrated at lack of improvement, lack of concentration. Everyone was tired. It was always during this period that people loved to give Jeno a hard time. "You're not special; everybody's tired." or "Where is your work? Where is your revision?" or "You're not trying hard enough." or "It'll only be your own fault when you fail."

"Make sure you revise every topic." but also "Make sure you spend enough time on staying healthy and getting a full nights sleep."

Well, Jeno didn't do any of that. Failure wasn't all that likely; Jeno knew the extent of his knowledge was passable. He wasn't a star student, or the best, nor did he try the hardest. That was much more Jaemin's thing. Veritably, for a number of people it frustrated them to no end. It wasn't fair that he didn't have to try to pass, he didn't deserve the grades he had. But the key was: if you don't care, you cant be disappointed. And if you cant be disappointed you have nothing to worry about.

It was a concept that Jeno had struggled to parse; to Jaemin it didn't make any sense. He'd always been the type to put his all into what he did, whereas Jeno found it much easier to learn things- and quickly- and with this knowledge he then never felt the need to spend hours and hours so he could get the best result, when he could instead do nothing and continue on with his life in a normal fashion.

As normal as his life could get anyway.

However, it was exam season, and so normal was out of the question and Jeno was in a foul mood. He was mad at Jaemin and his perfect life with his perfect family. He was mad that Jaemin kept putting school work above spending time with Jeno, as selfish as that may sound. But Jeno wasn't mad exclusively with Jaemin, oh no. He chose not to discriminate, he could quite confidently say he was mad with every living being that had graced the earth.