“Still up for me to look at your paper after this? Or you want to rest a bit from our heavy lunch?” The girls return home after their grocery trip and collectively work to put the groceries in their respective spots. As they had such a good morning, Sakura did not want this fantastic vibe to end between them so she figured it is the perfect time to ask Eunbi to read through her work. Plus really, she can’t contain much of her usual habit of not wasting time knowing she still had room to improve in her studies - A is not just the goal, it’s the end.

“Now’s good!”

Eunbi brings an extra chair into Sakura’s room and they settle comfortably at the study table. While Sakura shifts things around to make space for them, Eunbi notices a piece of paper with some interesting words on them. “Is this the list you made after listening to my advice?” She swipes it in her hand.

Even though it is not some top secret list, especially seeing how Eunbi was the one who suggested to try new things, letting anyone read what she wrote is somewhat embarrassing to reveal. Needless to say, she tries to retrieve it back. However, Eunbi manages to escape Sakura’s attempts as she rushes to the corner of the room to read the contents out loud.

“Oh you cleared your first point with Yena! So cute, say Yes to Yena. Two, clubbing huh? Curiosity I see. Three, spontaneous road trip. Nice. Wow four, stargazing?”

By then, Sakura had given up. She releases her grip on Eunbi’s shoulders, walking away with a flushed face and returning to sit by her study table.

Without Sakura huddling her, Eunbi turns back. “Why are you so shy? This is a good start!” Eunbi hands the paper back to Sakura.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Shall I help with you the stargazing and road trip? Oh I know! We can do a road trip to stargaze! I know just the place!” Eunbi’s voice starts get higher and higher in pitch. The girl is visibly excited.

“You are crazier about this than me. But yes, I would love to!”

“Okay, it’s a date!”

Eunbi’s reply got Sakura conscious but she chooses to dismiss the line as a normal reply. C’mon Sakura, she likes girls and look at you really. How can you be sure you are anywhere close to her type?

Clearly Sakura doesn’t know.

The girls decide to get back to business. Sakura pulls up the assignment brief, the marking guideline and lastly, her paper. Eunbi begins to read through the papers earnestly with her eyes super focused on the task at hand. As she doesn’t want to be sitting around aimlessly, Sakura starts scrolling through social media on her phone. At times though, she can’t resist catching a glimpse at the silent girl beside her. I hope my writing is not too bad, what if she is stricter than Prof… A frowning Eunbi does not help to alleviate Sakura’s worries but Sakura guesses that is what Eunbi does when she is focused, she not only frowns but likes to do mindless stuff like fiddle with the papers.

“Do you have a piece of rough paper I can scribble on? Oh and a pencil or pen too.” Eunbi breaks the silence. Sakura immediately shoots up to fulfill her request. When she hands them over, Eunbi takes them without looking away from the text. Sakura meekly sits back down, finding the serious Eunbi even cooler than how she already is. How is this possible.

Using the tools Sakura had provided, Eunbi scribbles along quickly as she reads. Occasionally, she stops her writing, spinning the pen while she ponders.

After a great deal of silence, Eunbi announces, “I’m done looking through.” Sakura looks at her expectantly and Eunbi continues. “I agree with your Professor’s grading.” Although she had expected Eunbi to say that, it still hurts to be reminded.

Seeing a sulk form on the younger girl’s face does not make Eunbi feel good, so she scoots closer to the girl and smiles for the first time in awhile. “But I know where your problems are.”

“His comments did cover most of the architecture stuffs you guys do. But as he mentioned, it’s the explanation. To summarise, it is your Spanish that needs work.”

“Really?” Sakura’s eyes widen at Eunbi’s analysis. Based on what she gathered from the professor’s comments and Yena’s advice, she had inferred it to be merely her way of explanation that needs work which tends to be related to adapting one’s writing to an academic style. What Eunbi has pointed out here is the root cause, which is in fact her weak Spanish that leads to her failing to translate her intentions out, thus contributing to the odd writing style.

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