[3rd Person POV]

Last night was the first time Chaeyoung had ever pulled an all-nighter in her life – and it wasn’t even for her own personal benefit. Her eyes were burning, her arms were sore and her hair was greasy, but she thoroughly believed in the reward she would soon receive.

Chaeyoung shut her eyes and covered my ears as she continued to review every formula and arbitrary fact that floated around in her head. She never had this much information stored in one place before and was scared that some of it would come flying right out because she needed every single bit of it.

499th-ranked Son Chaeyoung would be moving up in the standings today, and there was absolutely no one could stop her from achieving her goal.

She arrived at the classroom bright and early that morning, to the surprise of a bewildered Mrs. Moon, but she just paid her no mind as she continued to mumble formulas under her breath. Tzuyu even showed up looking all disheveled and dirty as if she hadn’t taken a shower in ages, but Chaeyoung tried her absolute best to not show pity towards the younger. Dahyun also tried as hard as she could to get the small girl’s attention, but to no avail. She even resorted to stealing all her belongings, but material goods would no longer matter in this world once Chaeyoung successfully obtained the key to Mina’s heart.

The tests were being handed out one by one. With her hand hovering over the stapled pages in front of her, Chaeyoung took a deep breath and muttered a small prayer.

“If Mina and I are meant to be together, show me through the results of this test.”

She flipped over the paper in dramatic fashion and winced as she did so, in fear of what she was up against.

But as the corners of the paper settled down onto the desk, she took a closer inspection of the material. This was the easiest test Chaeyoung had ever seen in her life. Mrs. Moon was really a blessing on this day and Chaeyoung couldn’t help but smile the whole testing period – just as wide as God had smiled on her this day.

*****

It was the end of the day and Mina awaited her test score as she anxiously twisted and turned in her seat. This first test would decide how she lived out her new life after the move. That’s how her life has been ever since she was little.

When she was only five years old she had taken ballet classes at her uncle’s school of dance. She wished she could practice somewhere very far away from her father. Sadly for her, despite his busy work schedule, he had always managed to make it to every one of her recitals and practices. Any misstep, and there was a cane to her feet, every missed twirl would spell a swatting for her wrists. It didn’t take her long before she quit ballet entirely.

But even then, there was still no escape. Mina’s mother had managed to encourage her to put her musical talents to use by learning how to play piano. Despite picking up the complex instrument at an extremely fast pace for her age group, she still could not avoid her father’s watching eyes. There came a point where Mina had basically given up on pursuing anything besides academics…

After her move to Japan due to her father wanting to start up a new company, she dropped everything besides her studies. She was tired already tired enough trying to manage extracurriculars along with competing within her school, but the final straw was getting beat by her father because of it. Her choice proved fruitful however, as she topped the rankings of her entire grade consecutively with each test which allowed her to avoid punishment for over three years.

But those three years of comfort could soon come to an end. She wasn’t extremely confident about this test…

Mrs. Kim walked in and confidently taped the results sheet onto the front wall of the class.

“Some of you have made me very proud today. And others of you, not so much… But anyways feel free to leave after checking your score as there is no evening study today. And… thank you so much everyone! At least you all showed up!” She shot a glance in my direction and there were tears in her eyes as she finished her sentence. Mrs. Kim felt as if she had accomplished her goals and aspirations as a teacher in one mere week of schooling.

One of the students in this class must have made it to the top of this list. Yet, Mina was unsure. Her fate lied in the results posted on that sheet of paper. It wasn’t just a meaningless number. To her it was a number she would have to live with for the rest of her life and it would decide between her suffering or her continued peace.

Mina let out several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself as she walked up to the board. As the crowd started to clear up in the front of the room, Mina closed her eyes completely as she took a big step right in front of the poster. With great restraint, she ever-so-slowly raised one eyelid and took a tiny peek at the first place result.

.

.

.

It read:

1 – Minatozaki Sana (100%)

Mina’s spirit was crushed. Even the girl who barely paid attention in class every day and came in last minute with the craziest bedhead right before the test had placed higher than her. Her eyes immediately sank to the floor. On the way she caught sight of her own name on the list:

13 – Myoui Mina (98%)

She felt more helpless and vulnerable than ever before. Even during her adolescent years, at least she was used to the pain. But now, it would sting her raw, untouched skin. No amount of beauty product would be able to cover up the suffering she was about to receive. And those three years of peace had merely served as a gateway to an even sharper pain that would afflict her in the coming days.

The tears in her eyes didn’t even take the time to gather up before falling, they just fell, uncontrollably, in droves.

“MINA!!!” a voice roared from the outside hallway accompanied by the wild stomping of shoes against the wooden floor.

“I did it!! Just like you told me I could!” an excited Chaeyoung popped out from the side of the doorframe before Mina could wipe up the tear streaks from her face.

“Oh? I-Is that so?” Mina whimpers trying to mask her trembling voice as best as she can.

“Yup! Looks like you’ve gotta take this 99th place freshman on a date!” Chaeyoung bellowed, teeming with excitement.