Jimin pressed the button with an arrow sign on the keyboard and the slide changed. It was the last slide. He looked around the tutorial room and secretly smiled. No matter how good he was, he would never hook his audience like how she did. That’s Yoo Yaerin, he whispered.

“And through GET, we will be able to identify the prey and predators. In this case, it is going to help the school and any institution in curbing bully cases which are getting out of control,” Yaerin said, confidently. “GET will be a new solution.” She smiled. “That’s all from us. We will have a Q&A session now.”

As soon as the slot of asking questions was opened, more than half of the students in the class raised up their hands. It showed that they were really listening to the whole presentation.

The audience response was surprising. Yaerin blinked and hesitated of whom she should pick. She threw an uneasy look at Jimin. The other guy, who understood her, immediately walked towards her and stood proudly next to her. He looked around the classroom and randomly pointed towards a lady who was sitting in the third row.

“Regarding GET, I think it is a very good test and I absolutely want to take it to know how grudgeful I am,” she began with a little joke. “However, as you have mentioned that you planned to get school kids to answer GET as well before they enter school. But don’t you think the questions are a little bit irrelevant for them? I mean, their level. Could you please explain that?”

Yaerin smiled. “Thank you for pointing that out.” Without any further elaboration, Yaerin went back to the second slide she presented just now. “Regarding that matter, after evaluating school children capabilities in answering questions, we have come up with two sets of GET questions; which are GET Junior and GET Advanced.” Yaerin glanced at Jimin.

And their eyes met. Jimin nodded. “For GET Junior, the questions have been simplified and revolved around their daily activities. For instance, we will use scenarios that fit their ages well. I hope we’ve given you a clear answer.” He ended it with a bright smile which simply made the lady flustered.

“Yes.” Yaerin nodded while pointing towards another female classmate.

“What if honesty isn’t presented while students are answering GET?” she asked.

Again, Yaerin gave her a smile. “Thank you for your good question,” she said, “well, that is one of our limitations. When it comes to personality, emotions and other mental or metaphysical matters, we can either assume or try to prove it. This is the reason of why we have suggested that GET will be complemented with an interview. The interview is going to be a ‘recap session’ where their answers will be questioned back to them by interviewers.”

“So, it will take a long time and very inconvenient.” A male student interrupted.

This time, Jimin came into the picture. “Interviews will be held for GET Advanced only as we have mentioned earlier. And according to the Minister of Education for tertiary studies, murderous bully cases frequently happen in universities or institutions which have senior superiority culture.” His forehead slightly furrowed, in irritant. Park Jimin hated it the most when people cut off someone’s sentence. They should not simply in, especially not when Yaerin was talking.

The male student nodded, satisfied with the answer given.

“Okay!” Professor Kang voiced out, turning down some of the students who were very eager to ask questions. The middle-aged lady with her classy outfit stood up. A smile was drawn on her face, forming some aging lines all over her cheeks. “A very creative and brilliant idea.”

That one sentence was enough to light up some fireworks in Yaerin’s heart. She bit her bottom lip and glanced at Jimin. Jimin winked at her and held himself from smiling widely. They both looked down, trying their best not to shout in happiness.

Professor Kang wrote down the marks in several boxes at the bottom of the page. She nodded, feeling satisfied with the number of marks she has written on it. “Yoo Yaerin. Park Jimin,” she called them, “Both of you are the best pair I’ve ever encountered after years. An A+ for both of you.” The students automatically gave them a big round of applause, and Prof. Kang did not hesitate to join.

This time, Yaerin and Jimin could not hold their wide smiles anymore. They both bowed and uttered, “Kamsahamnida, Prof. Kang!” in unison.

.    .   .   .   .

“But you are going to learn about that in the second semester,” Jungkook chuckled and patted the junior’s shoulder, “so, chill.”

Seokjin did not immediately respond. His mind was wildly imagining how that huge amount of people suffered and died together. “But what if Black Death happens in our country, Sunbae-nim? Don’t you think South Korea will not exist anymore? I mean, our population isn’t even 70 million, and that pandemic caused more than 100 million people to die.”

Jungkook’s smile faded away and he slowly felt irritated with this guy. He tilted his head and shot him a death glare, demanding him to stop worrying. And seeing the senior’s straight face, Seokjin immediately shut his mouth and continued his reading. “Yah, death is something that is promised by God to happen. So, why should we worry about death? We all will die one day. It’s just, we won’t know when, how and where. Just do your best, saekki-yah.”

Those words startled Seokjin. He couldn’t agree more. The only person who was on his mind right now was his late father who has passed away a few years ago. No matter how far time has flown, he would always feel as if his father left him yesterday. The moment when Mr. Kim held Seokjin’s hand tightly and whispered to him that a person who he must cherish was his mother. Even if he fell head over heels for a girl, Mr. Kim said,

“Never abandon a woman who has lost the other half of herself,” he whispered softly.

Jungkook looked up and stared at Seokjin, confused. “Did you say something?”

Seokjin smiled. “Nothing, sunbae-nim,” he answered and grabbed his pen back, leading his way to continue reading. He should not let his grief and sorrow spread all over his sanity space.

The study room was very cozy with soft couches everywhere, lazy chairs, sets of common wooden tables and chairs. There were several mattresses and Japanese-folded tables provided as well. This was the reason why the library had very few students unless it was during study weeks. In the library, food and drinks weren’t allowed, however, not in this study room. Fewer rules, more efficient. The air-conditioner worked wonderfully that once in a while, Seokjin and Jungkook would turn their heads towards a guy who had passed out on a lazy chair, not too far from them. That guy was snoring while hugging a thick hardcover medical book.

“I don’t know whether I should laugh or get mad,” Seokjin commented, smiling widely.

“Just laugh if you want to.”

Both of them froze. Jungkook looked up, “Oh, Taehyung,” he spontaneously called the other guy. “What are you doing here?”

Taehyung, on the other hand, was looking down at Seokjin who pretended to be very immersed in his reading until Taehyung himself was ignored.

“Ani,” he answered, “I was just walking around, searching for my mentee. I called him for more than five times, but I guess, he was drowned in your textbook, Jungkook-ah.”

His fingers finally gave up, and that small pen he was holding fell down. Seokjin’s hands started to shake, as if every word from Taehyung was pieces of snowflakes which touched his delicate skin. The last thing he knew, he got frostbite.

“Yah, Kim Seokjin. Meet me at the RTS Gym Room tonight.” Taehyung commanded snobbishly and walked away, without waiting for Seokjin’s answer; which simply meant, Kim Seokjin had no choice.

As fast as lightning, Seokjin stood up, pushing the wooden chair a little too hard and it fell down. “Taehyung Sunbae-nim!”

Taehyung’s steps were halted. He spun around and gave an empty gaze towards his junior. Even before the younger spilled out his words, Taehyung could already guess that Seokjin would try to avoid being with him alone badly. “What?” he asked, coldly.

Defeated. That empty gaze from Taehyung was more than enough to warn him that if he refused, things would get worse. He forced a smile and bent down his body, picking the chair up and his blue pen. Standing up straight, he could only stare at his own pen, comparing its blueness with his blues. Seokjin released a soft sigh, only audible to himself.

“Nothing,” Seokjin said and packed all his scattering stationery into his pencil case. “I will see you soon, Sunbae-nim.”

.    .   .   .   .

Yaerin handed a sheet of A4 paper, with both of her hands towards Professor Kang. Her smile was as wide as the sky and as bright as the sunshine.

“So, this is the list of schools and institutions you would like to conduct your GET?” Professor Kang asked while skimming through the list of high schools and institutions which had been separated into two tables. A smile crept across her face, simply felt delighted with their neat work. Yoo Yaerin and Park Jimin are never a disappointment.

Without uttering a word, Yaerin nodded eagerly. Although she and Jimin listed more than ten schools and institutions on the paper, Yaerin knew too well, which of those she would want to hold their GET.

Meanwhile, Jimin was gazing emptily at the piece of paper on Professor Kang’s hand. How he wished he could snatch and rip it up into pieces; and replace it with a new list. A list where MMI did not get any space and consideration.

Professor Kang pursed her lips into a thin line and gave them a small nod. “Out of these schools, which one would you like me to consider?”

Jimin was startled. “My apology, madam. Does that mean we can choose any of them?”

The middle-aged woman raised her brows and nodded. This time, her nod was a clear sign of approval. “Sure, why not? Both you have invented such a brilliant personality test!”

“Thank you, Prof,” Yaerin said, “may I highlight the top three schools and institutions of our preference?”

Professor Kang handed the paper back and Yaerin quickly received it, politely. Taking out her hardcover file and pen in her bag, her fingers were impatient to do their job. Without sparing a glance at her devoted partner, Yaerin happily highlighted two high schools and one institution with her bright pink highlighter.

Taking a quick glimpse at Yaerin’s choices, Jimin knew he should not have seen them. The first place she highlighted was MMI, as expected. He clenched his jaw secretly, imagining Kim Seokjin’s loser smile. He had made up his mind; if they were to go to MMI to conduct their GET Advanced, the first thing he would do was to give Seokjin a one-in-a-lifetime fatal punch.

“Here!” Yaerin beamed happily, returning the paper to Professor Kang. The professor took it and re-read the list.

The huge room was getting colder and colder. There were four tall racks, two of them were placed behind Professor Kang’s table and another two were at her right side. They formed an L shape. By observing the racks, Yaerin could guess that Professor Kang was a book lover. She arranged her books according to the colours and genre. One of the racks were full of fictional books which some of them, Yaerin herself had read. Shifting her gaze towards Professor Kang’s table, it still amazed her. Once again, there was a document organizer stand rack with seven compartments and different colours. One of the compartments had the name of the course which Yaerin was taking.

Professor Kang tilted her head a little. Unlike a few minutes ago, now, she looked dissatisfied with the new choices they made. “May I know why do you choose MMI?”

Yaerin froze. Seokjin’s face greeted her sanity. Now or never. “Because I think, there are some bully cases there, at MMI.”

“No,” Professor Kang said, “you can’t assume things, Yoo Yaerin. I have done several studies and research there, and MMI does not have any bully history for this past two decades.” The professor gave them both a smile. “So, why would you waste your test on students who live in a peaceful environment, where prey and predators don’t exist?”

Jimin blinked. “That means, we can’t choose MMI, Prof?”

“I recommend you not to choose MMI, but if you insist,” she said, “there’s nothing I can do. The other two high schools you highlighted are good as well. Why not proceed with one of the highlighted high schools?”

Jimin finally got his smile back. “Yaerin-ah, I think we should proceed with one of the-” And his smile died when he saw Yaerin’s expression darkened. She might look expressionless to people who did not know her well, but it was more than that for Jimin. He could feel how she despised Professor Kang’s decision with her whole heart.

“Does a two-decades report or reference still eligible for today’s study?”