Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Placement Exam
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Early February, right after the Lunar New Year holidays ended.
Seol-i and I headed together to the high school we'd be attending.
"Whoa... so this is it..."
Seol-i let out a gasp of admiration as she looked up at the school we'd be going to.
It had only been built about six years ago, so the facilities had a pretty modern feel to them.
The middle school we'd attended before was a relatively old one, so its facilities hadn't been all that great.
Of course, we didn't have much time for sightseeing.
We were here to take a test today, after all.
Nothing big. Just the class placement exam, like the one we took back in middle school.
They said the results would come via message in a home notification two days after taking the placement exam today.
And that message would include which class we'd been assigned to.
I didn't plan to try too hard on the placement exam. Just do it half-heartedly, as much as I felt like.
But Seol-i seemed different.
"Haneul, I'm gonna do my absolute best...!"
"Yeah, you can do it."
There was no real need to go all out. It might even be better to take it easy and not overdo it.
"Even if teachers judge based on this stuff, they won't discriminate too much, so it's fine to just do okay. Got it?"
Seol-i shook her head right away at my words. Very firmly.
"Even if that's true, I'm still gonna give it my all. I'll pour everything into the test and walk out of the school feeling satisfied. Doesn't that sound better?"
So pure, and at the same time, so diligent.
That's why I didn't try to stop her. No reason to hold back someone who's motivated to try hard. It just made me want to cheer her on.
That said, it did light a little fire under me.
I'd planned to just roll my pencil or guess on the annoying problems, but if Seol-i was going all out, I'd have to step up too.
"...Fine, I'll do my best too."
"Heehee, I knew you'd say that, Haneul."
No way I would've if I hadn't seen Seol-i.
It's because of her that I'm acting like this.
Even if it's something meaningless, having Seol-i right there trying her hardest makes me want to try too.
It hit me that maybe I'm influenced by her way more than I thought.
And I don't hate that. Quite the opposite.
I think that's what friends are—rubbing off on each other, blending together.
In that sense, Seol-i and I are the perfect friends.
"Seol, let's meet back at the front gate after the exams. Okay?"
"Yeah...! Got it...!"
I headed inside with Seol-i, who nodded vigorously, and made my way to the temporary classroom.
As expected—or maybe naturally—Seol-i and I were separated. They didn't seem to put boys and girls together from the start. All the students in my room were guys, so that confirmed it.
I was a bit worried about Seol-i going off alone, but I shook it off and focused on what I had to do.
What I had to do—just like Seol-i said—solve the problems as best I could.
That was the only thing on my plate right now.
After that, I tackled the Korean, math, English, social studies, and science problems one by one.
Each test had 20 questions, and the difficulty was a notch easier than middle school midterms or finals.
Honestly, the questions didn't feel all that discriminating.
Our middle school had been on the higher level, so the difference was pretty noticeable.
Anyway, after finishing all 20 questions each, the time had gone from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
"Ughhhhh..."
I stretched out with a big yawn while waiting at the front gate, and Seol-i came bounding out.
"Haneul...!"
She ran up to me—dodo-do-do—with a beaming smile.
Considering Seol-i's personality where she can't hide her expressions well, she must've done great on the test.
"Good job. How'd the exam go?"
"Yeah! I think I did pretty well!"
"Pretty well? Feels like more than that."
"Heehee... honestly, maybe even better than you, Haneul...!"
"For real? That's impressive."
"Heeheehee."
I showered her giggling self with praise, and Seol-i went from laughing to blushing bright red and getting shy.
She must've realized I was teasing her a bit. Our Seol-i's getting sharper with noticing things.
A little disappointing, but I decided to stop teasing for now.
Something more important had come up.
"Seol, you hungry?"
"Yeah, a little..."
"Wanna grab something to eat?"
"Sure? Let's check around here...! We might end up coming here a lot from now on!"
True enough.
If we end up doing self-study sessions or whatever, we might eat dinner around here.
Call it reconnaissance. Not a bad idea.
Instead of the bus stop, Seol-i and I naturally headed to the bustling commercial area about five minutes from school.
How long had we walked? The moment the commercial district came into view, Seol-i and I were a bit surprised.
This neighborhood had only sprung up 6 or 7 years ago, so like the school, there were tons of new facilities.
Even a department store that acted like one.
"Haneul, um... wanna try there?"
Seol-i's finger pointed to the department store.
We crossed one crosswalk, walked a bit along the sidewalk blocks, and the entrance to the department store building appeared.
Passing through the entrance and walking a little further inside, we spotted a directory map on the wall.
And on that map, Seol-i and I discovered the food court on B1 of the department store.
"Haneul, wanna eat at the food court today?"
"Sounds good."
"Hmm... it might be kinda pricey..."
"If it's too expensive, we can just go somewhere else."
"Really...?"
I nodded firmly at Seol-i's question.
If the prices feel too steep, we just pick something else. It's the customer's right to choose.
Emboldened by my nod, Seol-i nodded too and said,
"O-okay then, let's go...!"
"Yeah."
True to the word "go," we only took a few steps before the escalator appeared.
The moment we rode it down to B1, Seol-i and I beheld a massively huge food court.
"Whoaaaaa...!"
There were tons of customers in the food court, so to not lose Seol-i in the crowd, I reached my hand toward hers.
"Hey, Seol."
"Yeah?"
"Should we hold hands?"
"Oh... yeah...! Let's... hands...!"
Seol-i looked flustered but smiled and took my hand.
And so we strolled through that giant food court together.
The food court had a ton of restaurants.
Starting with a pick-your-own sweet-and-spicy chicken place, there was pho, tonkatsu, Chinese food, you name it.
The problem was...
"Uwaaaaaah..."
The prices were high enough to make Seol-i let out a scream that wasn't quite a scream.
Overall, a bit pricey. Considering it was a department store, it actually felt reasonable.
But from Seol-i's perspective, it was definitely expensive.
"Ughhh... is it really okay to eat here...?"
I glanced at the menu board of the place Seol-i was staring at.
Hmm... pho was almost 15,000 won.
Yeah, pricey. But it looked like the taste was guaranteed.
They had some award plastered on there.
"Wanna eat somewhere else instead?"
"Ugh... yeah..."
Whether overwhelmed by the prices or tense from the growing crowd, Seol-i went from holding my hand to clinging tightly to my arm.
But Seol-i's amazing growth turned that simple action into something dangerously risky.
Her soft, squishy body was now pressed fully against my arm.
What do I do? Should I just shake her off? No, that might hurt her feelings.
Then what? Tell her? That feels awkward too...
Is enduring it the best option?
My head was getting more and more tangled, my heart pounding faster from the tension, when Seol-i's voice rang out.
"Haneul...! Over there, let's go there...!"
I looked where Seol-i pointed with "there."
"There" was arguably the most reasonably priced spot in the whole department store.
A street food joint.
The prices were a tad high, but compared to the others, it felt like good value.
"Let's eat here...!"
Normally, I'd suggest something else, but given the situation, I nodded right away.
This was the quickest way to escape the embarrassing press of Seol-i's arm and body against mine.