11 Virtues A Hero's Civilian Friend Must Uphold - Chapter 36

It was winter break, just as the first year of high school was ending and the second year was about to begin.

She had been like this since middle school, but she seemed particularly sensitive at that time, having performed worse than expected on her final exam of her first year of high school.

She spent nearly a month like that, attending an academy where self-study and classes repeated from 10 AM to 10 PM, having almost all her lunches and dinners there.

This large academy, famous in Seoul, was notorious for its strict schedule management and she stopped attending around the start of her second year, but it was a precious space that kept Na Eun occupied throughout the break.

She signed up for all the special lectures recommended by the academy, and not satisfied with just that, she returned home and registered for online lectures.

Grades that didn’t reward her efforts as much as she tried pushed the young her to her limits, and Na Eun, who used to be elated or dejected by the monthly mock exam scores at the academy, now looks back and thinks she must have been a bit out of her mind then.

That’s why.

‘Han Jae Kyung?’

A week after the monthly exam ended, Na Eun was surprised to see the name that topped the ranking list posted in the academy corridor.

Though she wasn’t always first, Na Eun, who consistently stayed in the upper ranks, knew all the key figures who scored similarly to her.

So when a name she’d never seen before suddenly appeared above hers, it was only natural for her to be concerned.

A friend who attended the academy with her clicked her tongue and informed her.

‘He’s new to our class this time, and he’s already first. The academy teachers must have been surprised too.’

He was said to have scored so well on the academy’s notoriously difficult entrance exam, known for only accepting top students, that they initially wanted to place him in the highest class, but perhaps not wanting to upset the other students, he was assigned to the class just below Na Eun’s top class.

Now becoming second-year students and with college admissions approaching, the new student’s capture of first place naturally drew the attention of existing students, including Na Eun.

There was naturally some admiration and envy among them, but Na Eun tried not to pay too much attention.

I just need to work harder anyway.

Next time, I’ll be first.

Na Eun, who had great enthusiasm for grades and scores but wasn’t the type to envy others, only made such resolutions.

Even when she occasionally noticed a boy passing by in the corridor, and her friends told her, ‘That’s Han Jae Kyung,’ Na Eun didn’t think much of it.

Even when she knew that the girls in Jae Kyung’s class were secretly blushing and crushing on him, saying he was not only good at studying but also handsome, mature, and even had a good personality, she remained indifferent.

A month after coming to the academy, Jae Kyung was moved to the same class as Na Eun.

It was beyond impressive, almost an anomaly, considering many students couldn’t make it to the top class even after years at the academy.

This child named Han Jae Kyung was a model student and extremely neat type.

Unlike other boys his age, he wasn’t mischievous or talkative, but on the contrary, he surprisingly laughed a lot and had a good personality, often seen getting along well with the other boys in class.

Among the children whispering about how cool Jae Kyung was, Na Eun alone nursed a strange sense of competitiveness.

Next time, I’ll win.

She had always been quite intelligent since childhood, and her grades had always reflected her efforts.

So she believed it would be the same this time too.

Even if the results didn’t match her efforts, she could just try harder next time.

That’s what eighteen-year-old Na Eun always believed.

But math was always the problem.

While her efforts paid off in Korean, English, and other subjects, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t feel her skills improving in math.

She would understand when the teacher explained, but as soon as the problem type changed slightly, she couldn’t handle it.

Is this what it means to lack talent? It felt like hitting a wall for the first time.

With less than a week left until next month’s exam, Na Eun begged her parents for an additional tutoring session and bought extra workbooks to solve, but she still felt anxious.

Sitting in the same classroom, she felt even more pathetic compared to Jae Kyung, who always seemed relaxed and upright.

That’s why.

‘Hey, Yoon Na Eun. We’re going to buy something at the convenience store, want to come?’

Almost no students voluntarily stay for self-study until 10 PM.

Na Eun, who was studying alone after sending all her friends home, glanced at a male student who called out to her from afar while chatting with others.

Before Na Eun could answer, one of the group next to him snickered and said,

‘As if she’d come. She must be super sensitive with the exam next week.’

‘It’s amazing how she’s so dedicated to an academy exam, not even a school one.’

‘But you’re still first anyway, right Jae Kyung?’

‘……’

From the group of chattering boys, Han Jae Kyung at the center just silently cast a glance at her.

Na Eun pretended not to care, sharply turning her head and focusing on the open book in front of her.

There were quite a few students at the academy who looked unfavorably upon Na Eun’s attitude of working hard to the point of obsessing over test scores.

Na Eun knew there were mocking glances at her, who worked so hard yet couldn’t always be first, and moreover, kept getting pushed to second place since Han Jae Kyung arrived.

So what? Did you contribute anything to my effort to work hard?

Feeling upset but also feeling like she’d lose if she showed her upset feelings, Na Eun tightly closed her mouth and forced herself to focus on studying.

She could feel Han Jae Kyung, whom she had never properly conversed with, briefly looking at her, but she just pretended not to notice.

If he had teased her or acted arrogantly saying she couldn’t beat him, she might have secretly hated him, but instead, he was the type to quietly calm down the rowdy boys around him first, which made her even more upset.

He doesn’t need to have a good personality on top of being good at studying.

She felt an unreasonable jealousy. It was the first time in her life she had felt envy, jealousy.

She often thought it was a bit annoying how she alone was burning with inferiority complex, while Han Jae Kyung seemed uninterested, always looking at her with indifferent eyes without saying a word.

After all that determination and preparation, the result of the February mock exam was 4th place in the entire grade.

‘Look at her face, like she ate something bad.’

‘Honestly, 4th is still good, but she’s acting like this which is a bit ridiculous.’

‘Isn’t her family super rich too? Why is she trying so hard? If it were me, I’d just inherit a building and live an easy life.’

Even amidst her friends’ consolations, she could clearly hear the gossip from other students she wasn’t close with in the distance.

Na Eun gritted her teeth, not wanting to cry. She knew well that crying here would make her look even more pathetic.

Lunchtime during the special lecture period was free time for students, so everyone was going out to eat.

Not feeling like eating anything, Na Eun sent her friends off and headed to the study room alone.

Instead of not eating, she planned to study, feeling it would be a waste to throw away this time.

Holding a caffeinated drink she had bought at the convenience store earlier, she unpacked her things at her assigned seat in the study room.

Since eating or drinking wasn’t allowed inside the study room, Na Eun briefly stepped out into the corridor.

Click. She opened the can lid and took a sip of the drink in her hand.

Na Eun quietly looked down at the drink in her hand.

She had been warned several times not to drink more than one a day due to its high caffeine content, but she had been drinking three or four of these every day for nearly a week now.

If Seung Joo and Sun Jin saw this, they would have been shocked and stopped her from drinking it, but fortunately or unfortunately, Na Eun’s closest friends didn’t attend this academy.

It was very natural that they couldn’t attend this academy, which had a system of forced expulsion after a certain number of absences.

The friends who attended the academy with Na Eun also seemed to want to stop her abnormal overuse of high-caffeine drinks, but knowing how desperate Na Eun was and somewhat sympathizing with her, they couldn’t bring themselves to take direct action.

If it were Seung Joo or Sun Jin, they would have scolded her, asking if she wanted to die early, but the academy friends didn’t treat Na Eun that intimately.

I can’t eat, so I need to drink this to keep going.

Na Eun, who hadn’t been able to sleep for days and had barely been holding on with the power of caffeine, pouted her lips.

I should quickly finish drinking this and go back inside.

As she was thinking this, looking at the still full can of drink in both her hands, it happened.

‘Ah.’

Na Eun, who was leaning against the right wall of the study room entrance, stiffened as she noticed someone approaching the entrance.

The other person also seemed to notice Na Eun as their steps briefly paused.

Despite already being a bit away from the entrance, Na Eun felt like she should move aside and slowly shifted her body further to the right.

Jae Kyung, who had gone out for lunch, seemed to have forgotten something as he came out of the study room after finding something. Looking at what he held in his hand, it was his wallet.

‘Excuse me!’

What kind of courage was it?

As Jae Kyung was about to pass by Na Eun with his usual impassive face as if nothing had happened, she suddenly mustered up the courage to stop him.

The academy students’ reputation of him not showing off despite being good at studying, and always being mature and kind to those around him, was true to fact.

Jae Kyung kindly stopped when Na Eun, who wasn’t close to him, suddenly called out.

‘……’