The Final Exam
The grounds around the research institute looked like a jungle.
They said the plants hadn't grown this fast before I arrived. Now the street trees were in full bloom, and the boxwoods that usually lined the sidewalk had already shot up past my height.
The gardeners in charge of them claimed they were dying inside. They were out pruning nearly every day. It wasn't like this everywhere—only the plants around our institute grew at such a ridiculous pace.
Maybe it was because of me. The plants in my own garden fruited or flowered every other day, and everything raised at the institute, they said, grew at a bizarre speed.
I wanted to help, but unfortunately the institute wouldn't let me outside. I rode in Maru's car and watched the scenery slide past. People had gathered out there and were deep in a pruning session. Summer was on its way, and the plants were racing upward. As if the typhoon that had swept them all away last time had been a lie, they were showing an almost uncanny will to live.
"Hana, isn't today the final exam?"
Maru said it as if the thought had just struck her. She was right—today was finals. The words final exam made it sound like some grand ordeal, but from where I stood it was nothing more than a little dessert after a meal. I'd studied hard for the memorization subjects and only covered the basics in Korean, English, and math. Even that was more than enough to handle the questions.
"Yeah."
"You're going to come in first again, aren't you, Hana? You're so good at studying!"
Maru fussed over me so warmly that I got embarrassed. Wasn't this exactly like a grown adult entering a children's boxing tournament? I didn't even need to go all out. One punch and those kids would drop. In weight class and skill, they weren't opponents at all.
There was no way children could withstand my decades of exam-taking skill. The only reason I wasn't one of those people who hid their strength and refused first place was the prizes on the line. Every time I came in first, Bora, Haru, and Maru bought me something nice, so I had no choice but to take the top spot.
"I'm gonna get first again!"
"If it's you, Hana, you can definitely do it!"
Maru's cheer put strength in me. It didn't last. A thirty- to forty-minute ride in a private car—that was far. If I'd taken the bus or the subway, the commute would have run past an hour. The thought of more than two hours round trip gave me chills.
If they'd told me to go to school and back by bus or subway instead of a private car, the future would have looked bleak. Thankfully, going by car made it bearable. Thirty minutes was nothing if you just talked the whole way there.
If anything, Maru, Bora, and Haru had it harder than I did. They had to drop me off and then come pick me up again. They didn't linger around the school after bringing me, either. They drove back to the institute, did their work, and set out once more in time for dismissal.
So I wasn't the only one having a hard time. I was an adult, after all. A commute like this was something I could endure without complaint. These days, though, I was starving for vacation. Once finals were over, break would start soon, and I could sleep in as late as I wanted or lounge in my room with the air conditioner blasting.
Chattering away with Maru like that, we reached the school before I knew it. I got out in front of the main gate, checked that I hadn't forgotten anything, and waved goodbye to her. Last time I'd left my bag behind and suffered for it, so I checked two or three times that I hadn't left something.
"Thanks, Maru! Bye!"
I waved my arms as I called out to her. Maru returned the greeting.
"I'll be here when school lets out! Good luck on the test!"
Kind words really were better the more you shared them. Badmouthing soured both people's moods, but good wishes lifted them, so there was no reason not to offer them. After sending Maru off, I shouldered my backpack again and headed for the main gate. Maybe because it was test day, the kids walking the streets looked gloomy.
Once vacation started, wouldn't that mood brighten? I pulled myself together and walked into my classroom.
"You're here, Hana?"
"Hi!"
Yumi greeted me warmly, and I greeted her back. If you wanted a close bond, greetings were essential. Wasn't a hello the first step of getting along in the world? Jiyu, though, looked as limp and ragged as a day-old fish-shaped pastry.
Even lively Jiyu couldn't manage a greeting. That alone told me how dangerous a final exam was—a terrifying, vicious dark art that stole a person's vitality. I sat down and opened my backpack. There should have been books and writing tools inside, but...
"Ta-da!"
I pulled snacks out of a hidden pocket in the bag. The staff didn't like it when I ate snacks first thing in the morning, so I hid them and ate them once I got to school. Sharing with friends made them taste better, too. Eating alone, I never noticed, but talking and splitting them seemed to double the flavor.
"Snacks!"
Even dying Jiyu revived the moment she caught the smell. Snacks really were incredible. They had the magical charm to raise the dead. I took them out and shared them with Jiyu and Yumi. With the test coming up, topping off our sugar was, in a way, the correct strategy.
If you wanted your brain running at full speed, all kinds of nutrients mattered, but the most important of them was sweet sugar. Wasn't there a saying about your blood sugar crashing?
Nom nom!
We were in the middle of massacring the snacks when class time crept up on us.
With a creak, the door opened and the teacher walked into the classroom.
"We're busted! Busted!"
"Pack it in for today!"
The boys who'd been playing cards in the corner scrambled out of their seats.
"Hide them!"
"Aww! I wanted to eat more!"
We were no exception. We hurriedly stuffed the snacks into the desk drawer. They didn't smell, so we'd probably be fine. It was a shame we hadn't finished them, though.
The teacher watched the kids bustling this way and that and stood quietly at the podium until everyone was back in their seats. Normally you'd expect a scolding to sit down quickly. Maybe she was worried they'd hurt themselves rushing. Once the kids were firmly seated, she opened her mouth.
"You all know today's the final exam, right?"
"Yes!"
"Then do your best on the test today!"
With that, the teacher left. A few minutes later, another teacher came in carrying an envelope stuffed with exam papers and set it down on the podium with a firm thump.
"All right, everyone change seats! Sit in the order written on the screen!"
We moved according to the numbers on the screen. Something felt off, though. Had I left the stove on? Or forgotten to turn off the faucet?
I was about to find out exactly what that uneasy feeling was.
"Teacher—there are snacks in the drawer!"
"Ah!"
I'd forgotten I'd put the snacks in there earlier. You weren't supposed to have anything in the drawer during a test. The teacher looked straight at me.
"As far as I know, there's only one person who puts snacks in a drawer..."
I had no choice but to stay silent.
Ding-dong!
"Good work, everyone. You'll be taking plenty more tests from here on, so you'd better get used to it~"
The bell rang, and the exam was over. My head was buzzing from wringing my brain for the first time in a while. They were elementary school problems, but one or two of them jumped sharply in difficulty, as if they were there to prevent a perfect score. Not that they amounted to anything beyond third-grade level.
I got up and went over to Jiyu, who had planted her face on the desk and died. Then I raised my hands and moved them, chanting a magic spell so she could rise again.
Tickle, tickle!
"Hahahaha!"
Jiyu burst out laughing and lifted her head off the desk. Tickling really was the best medicine for a gloomy person. My fingers could even make Jiyu laugh after bombing a test. Yumi was walking over from the side. Her expression wasn't bad, so it seemed she'd done well.
"Yumi, did you do well on the test?"
"Yeah. I think I did even better than I usually do."
Ooh!
It was rare to see a student admit that about themselves. Normally you'd say, Ah, I bombed it! and hide your strength. Then came the real fun, the subtle war of reading each other's faces—but maybe because they were so honest, there was no such fight. Everyone just told the truth.