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n

n.

nMy total score of the three major subjects was 264 out of 300, which was not bad compared to the rest of the standing of other students in my school. Especially, when considering that I didn’t do the prerequisite learning for the mock exam, the result I got was not bad overall. My parents seemed to, however, forget that my test scores were around average compared to how Ban Yeo Ryung had a perfect score on all subjects.

nI could barely eat dinner, so I stood up to leave the table and headed into my room, slamming the door. Soon, I opened the door back after hearing my dad yelling, ‘What an attitude for someone who had that score!’ Oh, who said that parents have a soft spot for their children?

nMy mom, who had a silent grin on her face during the dinner, began the second round as my dad came back from the supermarket with bottles of liquor.

nThat evening, we sat down in the living room to watch TV as we normally did after dinner. In the screen, there showed a retro-style action movie that starred a guy in a decent black suit, attacking his enemies only with a gun.

nNothing was eye-catching except for the guy’s brilliant acting that made me look at him blankly. It was then did my mom put down the shot glass with a thud. Holy Christ, I should have run away from her and run into my room immediately.

nMy mom gazed at me with sorrowful eyes. She was almost about to burst out into tears.

nThen she spoke, “Donnie, what should I do with you…?”

n“…”

n“Donnie, you must study hard. The world is now different from how the world was at our time. Look at the kids out there, everyone in your class goes to private institutes, right?”

n“Oh, come on, mom.”

n“Donnie, listen to me. Mom is talking about something serious.”

nI knew that it was a serious conversation but the reason why she was talking about this was that my scores were outstandingly lower than Ban Yeo Ryung’s. Weren’t my scores higher considering how I didn’t take any private tutoring? However, there was no way to avoid it since she was talking about the matter like that. Besides, my dad, who was sitting on the couch, would definitely scold me sternly for behaving disrespectfully if I ran away.

nThat was how my mom gave a 30-minute lecture about ‘the benefits of getting a good score in life.’ Meanwhile, the movie ended.

nThe next movie was my favorite, the Transformer series, but as soon as the film started, my mom gave her second lecture. It had the same point as her first speech and it sounded nothing different at all. Since the situation went like that, the voices inside my head began to torture me instead of my mom’s lecture.

nDid I suck in the exam that much? No, I did my best. In fact, I might have studied harder than Ban Yeo Ryung to prepare for the exam.

nWhen my mom tried to begin her third speech, I could no longer endure it all as I stamped out of the room.

n* * *

n“Womp, womp… I hate you, mom…”

nIf she saw me studying hard for the exam, she would not have spoken like that. As long as Ban Yeo Ryung lived next door, they would never credit me for all my efforts. I cried my eyes out inside the comforter then typed in a message to send a text.

nThe most comfortable person to open my heart in these situations was no one else but Eun Jiho.

nTo: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

nㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

nEun Jiho, who was a fast-thinker, replied within a few minutes.

nSent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

nWhat’s up lol Got in trouble again?

nTo: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

nO,,,,

nGeez, I smashed my head on the pillow after sending the text. It would not help me ease my stress. It would just build up more strains in my head. When thinking of my parents drinking out there, the splitting headache I was having grew even harder.

nWhy would I not want to get a higher score and do well on the exam? For the last three years, I realized it was impossible to be as good as Ban Yeo Ryung and Eun Jiho, the top tiers who were born smart.

nMy parents were not aware of their greatness since they would say such a thing like that to me. Although I knew they made their harsh remarks in consideration of bettering myself, I was still sobbing my heart out in sorrow.

nAs I scowled at the phone screen through the tearful sight, a new message arrived. Maybe it was a text from Eun Jiho. I opened my flip phone without a second thought but soon stiffened. What Eun Jiho sent me was an MMS photo message.

nSent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

nImage: YouthItsPainful.jpeg

nUnder the image of a bright blue sky, the words ‘Youth, It’s Painful’ were written in a brilliant font which forced a frown on my face. I heard that a famous professor wrote this best-selling book.

nHowever, youth, it’s painful? I moved my fingers nimbly to reply.

nTo: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

nYou’re an ass.

nSent by: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

nImage: YoullBecomeAnAdultAfterBeingShakenForAThousandTimes.jpeg

nTo: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

nㅡㅡ

nTo: Eun Ji-goddamn-ho

nLOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

nI was almost about to break my phone when I saw his messages. Yeah, since he only missed two questions from the entire exam, he might find this situation funny.

nOh, this damn web novel would be the end of me! Why did they find the need to make the protagonists so perfect!?

nWhy didn’t the author give me just one specialty instead of having this impudent jerk to console me!?

nI punched my pillow in anger then soon typed a new message to send to a different person.

nTo: Ban Yeo Ryung

nSleeping?

nThe reply arrived within a few seconds.

nSent by: Ban Yeo Ryung

nNno

nIt would be a ‘No.’ Ban Yeo Ryung was impatient at some point unlike her usual characteristics as the female protagonist. Her texts often had errors, which showed that it was okay for her to just deliver what she wanted to say.

nI typed back a response to her.

nTo: Ban Yeo Ryung

nI want to go to your house…

nSent by: Ban Yeo Ryung

nCmovr

nI wondered what it was but later thought the words she sent might have been ‘come over.’

nAfter scratching my head, I dropped my gaze to check my outfit. The blue jersey top I was wearing with a stretched neckline had a design of a doodle of Snoopy wearing a yellow helmet. Under the top, I wore deep blue Adidas track pants. The stripe on the side was red, which was a little outstanding, but this overall outfit was unbearably comfortable for me to use when I’m going to hang out next door.

nWhen I suddenly opened the door to leave my room, my parents, who were drinking in the living room, looked at me in surprise.

nI ignored their gaze to hide my puffy eyes.

n“Going to the next door.”

n“Get back soon.”

nAs if she noticed that I would see Ban Yeo Ryung, my mom replied like that while my dad remained silent. It looked as though he was still in a bad temper. I quietly put on my flip-flops and dragged my feet out of the door.

nThe nightscape over the balustrades was resplendent. The big supermarket chain near the intersection and the people walking around made me move to tears. I rubbed my nose and knocked next door.

nWhat I wanted was to get into Ban Yeo Ryung’s room quietly, so I tried to knock as carefully as possible, but the door opened before my fourth knock. Through the door, there stood a person under the orange light of the entrance. When the face came into my sight, I froze like ice.

n“Yeo… Yeo Dan… oppa.”

n“Hey.”

nI tried not to drop my gaze but since he was slightly over 180cm high, there was about 20cm difference in our height. As a result, I could not help myself but look at his broad chest without lowering my head.

nOh, god, please. I slowly covered my eyes despite myself and reminded of the happening in middle school.

nLast summer when I was a senior in middle school, I was out sleeping in Ban Yeo Ryung’s living room. That was when I heard some noise from the bathroom, I slowly rose after hearing whatever it was out there. Maybe it was Ban Yeo Ryung causing a ruckus while she was washing her face, but holy cow, the person who left the bathroom was none other than Yeo Dan oppa with a white towel around his neck.

nHis moist lashes, sharp eyes, delicate jawline, and masculine neck caught my eyes in a flash. However, what drew my attention the most was his perfectly engraved six-pack abs.

nThe image I had of him for the longest time I had known him was that he was quite lazy and hardly had the interest to work out. His abs were, however, unbelievably gorgeous that it would be totally valid for me to confuse him as a student-athlete. I convinced myself that I was not a pervert, but what I was seeing at that time was the body of a God.

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