Discipline 12. The Disciplinary Committee Leader Gets the Best Grades (2)
Oh Baek-seo began tying her hair back with the hair tie she kept on her wrist. It was a pretty little thing, decorated with a small butterfly charm.
Her bob only reached her shoulders, so the tied-back hair was short and neat.
Wait, what are we here to do…?
This was one of the private training rooms inside the school.
The only reason boys and girls could enter one together was the CCTV coverage. Whether it was illicit romance or school violence, any behavior that violated school regulations was detected by the AI, which immediately dispatched on-duty students to enforce discipline.
Not that there was the slightest chance of Baek-seo and me doing anything like that in the first place.
"Shall we begin?"
Baek-seo said, smoothing down her hair.
And then.
We sat down side by side at the desk provided in the training room and started studying.
…….
A training room was, by design, a place to drill combat techniques. Which was why various pieces of training equipment stood around us.
If this was the plan, why did we even come here…?
"Are you perhaps wondering why we're doing this here instead of in the library?"
Baek-seo asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Having her read my mind like that wasn't surprising anymore.
There was a partition between our desks.
To be precise, it was a wooden plank we'd scrounged up and wedged between us to serve as one.
We'd taken the precaution because watching each other might distract us from studying.
So Baek-seo's voice drifted over from the other side of the partition.
"Well, I did figure the library was too conspicuous to risk. Though I still don't see why we had to come all the way to a training room to study."
The committee office wasn't well suited to long study sessions either — the desks left much to be desired.
Baek-seo poked her head around the partition and looked at me.
"Empty classrooms are off-limits after dark, and I can't think of anywhere else to study either. Your house is an option, I suppose…."
"I hadn't even considered my place, but honestly, that doesn't sound bad."
If it were Baek-seo, she'd be welcome at my house any time.
Maybe we could have spread out our books at my place and studied together, and it would have been perfectly fine.
That kind of scene shows up in every academy youth drama, after all.
Studying at each other's houses.
It's a certified cliché.
"…I'm opposed to that idea, I'm afraid."
But Baek-seo turned her head back toward her book and answered firmly.
Why was she opposed?
This time it was me who leaned out past the partition to look at her.
"Why?"
"It would be awkward today. Even I might… get a little disheveled."
Baek-seo quietly stroked one of her ears.
The one I'd whispered into during the day.
She didn't elaborate any further.
"?"
What was that supposed to mean?
She's always so level-headed — why is she suddenly being evasive…?
Since joining the Disciplinary Committee, this was the first time Baek-seo had acted like this.
And I caught onto that fact with sharp attention.
Was there some other reason?
Nothing in particular came to mind.
…Ah.
Two clues: 'today' and 'might get a little disheveled.'
Call it quick on the uptake, but I figured out right away why Baek-seo was beating around the bush.
Could it be 'that time' of the month…?
The magical 'that time' that visits women once a month.
Once I thought of it, everything fell into place.
Because it was 'that time,' she wouldn't want to use the bathroom at my house.
Even someone as saintly as Baek-seo — a title she'd earned precisely because of how she handled even troublesome situations — might get irritable.
It was common knowledge that women were especially prone to short tempers during 'that time.'
That must be it.
Women generally preferred not to bring up 'that time' themselves.
That was basic etiquette.
Even I knew that much.
In any case, it wasn't something I could bring up out loud.
Truthfully, I could only feel admiration for Baek-seo, who acted as warm as ever despite it being 'that time.'
"Right…. Well, nothing to be done then."
"Nothing to be done, you say?"
"?"
Baek-seo looked at me again, tilting her head in confusion.
What now?
"Oh…, it's nothing."
Baek-seo backed off on her own and turned back to her book.
Perhaps she felt embarrassed inside, having realized I'd caught on about 'that time.'
Probably.
Even a paragon of perfection like Baek-seo was human, after all.
I'll be as considerate as I can.
And so the hours passed with the scratch-scratch of pens.
I was organizing my notes, compiling what I'd studied.
But then.
Huh…? I don't hear anything from beside me.
Not a single sound of a moving pen came from Baek-seo's side.
Did her study method just not involve a pen?
All I could see at the edge of my vision was the partition. I leaned back slightly, letting Baek-seo's figure blur into the periphery of my view.
She seemed to be studying with her back ramrod straight in an absolutely textbook posture.
So how did Baek-seo study, exactly?
The whole purpose of studying together today was to dig into the study method of the school's number one student, right here and now.
I slyly turned my gaze toward Baek-seo.
"……!"
Our eyes met instantly.
As if she'd known I'd do this from the start, Baek-seo had rolled only her eyes and was staring straight at me.
My heart plummeted at the unexpected turn of events.
Was she monitoring me to make sure I was actually focusing on my studies…?
"Why are you staring at me?"
I asked Baek-seo, glowering, out of sheer embarrassment.
It was a deliberate performance — the attitude of 'I knew you were watching me all along.'
It couldn't quite count as the pot calling the kettle black yet.
After all, she hadn't caught on that I'd briefly lost focus.
"Good question. My eyes just won't leave you…."
Baek-seo answered in a near-whisper, smiling faintly.
"Why?"
"Who knows?"
Was she waiting for the right moment to tease me?
Or did I look funny or impressive while studying?
…No point speculating. Given her 'who knows,' she clearly had no intention of answering. Judging by the tone, it was probably on the teasing side.
My energy deflated a little.
Maybe I should just ask her outright.
"…Hey, Baek-seo."
"Yes, Leader?"
"I usually go through everything once to grasp the basic concepts, then prefer to organize the key points into my notes. If there's too much to organize, I separate out just the confusing parts to save time."
"And?"
"So what about you? How do you study?"
I deployed the technique known as 'asking naturally.'
What method did Oh Baek-seo — who had never once lost her grip on the top rank in the entire school — use to study?
I lent my ear to whatever answer she'd produce.
"…I just read?"
?
"That's all I do, really."
"……."
I felt the strength drain right out of my shoulders.
Without my noticing, my neck creaked back around toward my book.
"Oh. I see…."
A creeping sense of disillusionment washed over me.
So that's how it is….
There are no royal roads to studying.
No — if anything, a perfectly ordinary study method is the royal road.
As long as you kept making progress, it didn't matter how you did it.
I felt pathetic for having secretly hoped she possessed some special secret technique.
"Whew…."
Somehow, my mind felt perfectly cleared out.
It was like opening a treasure chest brimming with anticipation, only to find a note inside reading 'the real treasure was your heart all along.'
Yes — it was anticlimax.
Without giving it much more thought, I refocused on my studies.
And once again, time trickled past.
Ah.
Come to think of it, what were you supposed to do for a girl during 'that time'?
This was absolutely not a thought born of my concentration breaking.
Who else was going to look after Baek-seo but me?
Besides, who besides me had even noticed it was 'that time' for her today?
"Baek-seo, I'm going to run to the bathroom."
"Go right ahead."
Pretending to head for the bathroom, I arrived at the school store and hopped online on my smartphone to do a quick search.
…So that's why she's craving something sweet.
Apparently, during 'that time,' a woman's blood sugar and serotonin levels drop significantly, raising stress and anxiety. As a result, they crave sweets. Thank you, speed-wiki scholar!
She's probably already taken her painkillers in secret, though.
It would have been easy enough to get medication on campus.
Besides, it was a topic Baek-seo herself was reluctant to bring up. We weren't close enough to share that kind of thing either.
So I didn't want to draw a picture where I went and fetched her medicine myself. That would be way too thoughtless.
I'll just take this, then.
I bought a few snacks at the store and headed back to the training room.
Before sitting down, I placed a chocolate bar, a banana milk, and a straw on Baek-seo's desk.
"Hm? What's this?"
Baek-seo's face filled with question marks.
"Picked it up on the way."
I set my own portion on my desk too. If she were the only one snacking, it might have gotten awkward.
"You need to replenish your sugar. It's exam season, after all."
I sat down and gave a different reason on purpose. It was my own little act of consideration.
As if trying to see through me, Baek-seo stared at me for a long moment before her face finally broke into a smile.
"Thank you."
Oh, think nothing of it.
Naturally, looking after you is my job.
I didn't want to toot my own horn over a mere snack run, so I just nodded.
"This is the 'Kindy' one, isn't it?"
Baek-seo said, looking at the chocolate.
Was it last April?
The chocolate I'd bought was the same product she'd eaten as a snack on the night we'd pulled an all-night shift together. It took its name, 'Kindy' chocolate, from the company that made it.
I remembered how Baek-seo had told me it was her favorite and split half of it with me back then.
"You like that one, don't you?"
It had happened only once, but I remembered.
After all, if I was going to become the Leader, it was self-evident that Baek-seo would become my right hand as Vice Leader.
I'd drawn that conclusion based on my knowledge of the game.
And so, while treating Baek-seo comfortably, I'd made a point of trying to remember everything about her.
"Mm…."
Baek-seo tore open the wrapper and took a bite.
I stole a glance at her over the partition.
Gazing at her book, a faint flush on both cheeks, smiling quietly — she looked thoroughly pleased. Must be tasty.
A warm sense of pride swelled in my chest.
And so, once again, time drifted by.
"Ah."
When it was time to move on to a different subject, I realized I'd made a mistake.
I didn't bring the textbooks for my other subjects…!
How could I commit such a bitterly frustrating blunder…!
"Leader?"
Apparently finding my endless rummaging through my bag strange, Baek-seo called out to me.
"I didn't bring anything to study for my other subjects. Total brain fart."
It wasn't a flattering look, but I confessed honestly anyway.
There was no point hiding it. Besides, would a thing like this really dent my image?
"Is it in your locker, maybe?"
"Left them at home."
"Hmm…. Then how about this?"
Baek-seo made a suggestion.
Afterwards, we stood facing each other in the middle of the training room.
"For Mana Practical Application and the combat courses, at least, studying together definitely makes sense."
If we couldn't bring the books for one subject, then we'd simply study a different one.
And since we happened to be in a training room, Baek-seo's proposal was to practice the practical subjects together.
Practical courses were my strong suit, but I couldn't very well walk into the exams having done nothing at all. So we agreed to master the exam material together with Baek-seo tonight.
"Mana handling should be no problem for you, Leader…. Shall we do martial arts, then?"
"Sounds good."
Martial arts.
One of the practical courses.
Baek-seo took off her uniform jacket and hung it over a chair.
Baek-seo's uniform skirt… looked fine, actually. It came down to her knees and fluttered softly. It didn't seem like it would hamper her movement much.
"Here."
Baek-seo came over holding a practice dagger from the display rack. The blade was blunt, and the material was flexible plastic — perfectly safe.
Whoosh, whoosh. Baek-seo spun the dagger nimbly between her fingers, like twirling a pen.
She was dazzlingly good at it. So cool it made me want to learn how to do it myself.
"Would you like to take the attacking role first, Leader?"
Baek-seo gripped the blade of the dagger and offered me the handle. I took it.
"I won't go easy on you."
"Mm. Come at me, then."
I swung the dagger.