A few days rolled by and it was finally the day of the big assesment. It was a big deal for all of the students as it would decide their grades for the first semester. It was also the last big opportunity for students to earn points towards the selection prize.

Sera woke up early to get extra training in for the day. The field was filled with students and there wasn't much room for Sera to train, so she went inside to the weight lifting room. Inside the room, there wasn't as many students.

Sera recognized the boy who got stuck on the rock climbing wall, sitting on the weight bench. He was lifting really heavy weights and he didn't have a spotter. "Excuse me?" She said, trying not to scare him.

The boy lifted the bar and put it back on the pegs. His eyes widened when he saw her "Sera?"

"Do you need a spotter?" She pointed at the machine. 

"Sure, if you're not busy"

She stood behind him and watched as he lifted. "What's your name, by the way?"

"I.M"

Sera waited for him to finish his sentance "You are what?"

"I.M"

"Oh! I.M!" Sera realized he was saying his name, not 'I am'. "That's a strange name"

"It's a nickname"

"So what's your real name?" She asked.

"Changkyun"

"That's a cute name, why don't you go by that?"  Sera realized this guy wasn't much of a talker. Either that or he was really concentrated on lifting. 

He sighed and droped the weight to his chest "I just wanted to start over. New school, new name"

Sera helped him lift the weight back on the pegs "I should've done that"

"No, your name suits you" I.M picked up his towel and wipped his sweat. 

"Thanks. Now get up, it's your turn to spot for me"

"I never said..."

"It's only fair" Sera argued.

"Fine" He grumbled.

-

Sera showered and got dressed in time to meet up with Minhyuk so they could walk to class together. As they walked, Minhyuk was busily reading his textbook.

"You're going to run into something if you don't look up" Sera pointed out.

"That's what you're here for" Minhyuk still had his eyes glued to his book "Chemistry is hard!"

"Let me see" Sera looked at the problem "What are you having trouble with?"

"Chemical Equations" he whinned.

"You just have to make sure it's balanced on both sides" Sera simply stated.

Minhyuk frowned "How do you know? You're not even in Chemistry!"

"I took it once before at my old school" 

Minhyuk looked at the problem again. He slowly smiled "That's it! You're a genious Sera!"

-

After sitting through exam after exam in their acedemic classes they were finally able to take a break for lunch.

"My head hurts" Hyungwon complained "That was just too much"

Sera shrugged "It wasn't bad. The essays did trip me up though"

Minhyuk had his face on the table so his words came out muttered "Hmmmfamahhh!"

"What?" Sera asked

"Hmmmfamahhh!!" 

Sera lifted his head and let him repeat himself.

"So hard!" He cried "Chem is so hard!"

"It's okay, you had like four other tests other then chem right? Did you do well on those?" Sera tried taking his mind off it, but she just made it worse.

"Those were harder!"

-

Sera and Hyungwon went outside for their physical training assesments. All of the first year classes were being assessed at once, so there were many different classes out on the field. Sera could see Minhyuk sitting with his class a few feet from her. She wanted to go over to him, but the coach arrived and told them to line up with their classes.

"One at a time, you will go through this obstical course. I will be timing each person so go quickly. I will also be watching your technique so don't sacrifice skill just so you can do it faster." The coach instructed. 

This obsctabcle course was much more complicated than the one that Sera was used to. The coaches set it up just before hand so no one would be prepared for it. It had a everything you could imagine. Tires, rope walls, tunnels, you name it. 

Sera watched closely as the first person went through the course. She commended him for his bravery in going first. When he was at the end the coach stopped her stopwatch and scribbled the number by his name.

"What was my time coach?" He asked.

"You'll see when your scores are released" The coach called the next person to come forward.

Hyungwon sighed "This is going to take forever" 

Sera shrugged "At least we'll have the chance to see other people do it before we do"

Even though the coach never told anyone their times, Sera could tell the next kid did the course faster than the first. She sat there and watched her classmates go before her. Carefully, she examined what she could do to get through it faster and better.

"Alright, I'm tired of waiting" Hyungwon pushed through the crowd and volunteered to go next. 

Sera was amazed at how fast Hyungwon was. His strength wasn't impeckable, but he was speedy. His time probably beat everyone's before him. 

"Thank you Hyungwon, standby for the next activity" The coach told him without even looking up from her clipboard.

Hyungwon headed over to the bleachers and took a seat next to the other students who already completed the course.

Soon it was Minhyuk's turn. He wasn't quick on his feet, that Sera could tell, but he wasn't incredibly slow either. "Good job Minhyukie!"

When he finished he held his arms up in the air, feeling satisfied. Then he made his way over to the bleachers. 

Sera waited patiently for her turn. Everytime she wanted to go, someone else was already on the course. Then she finally got her window of opportunity. She waited for the coach to finish writing down the last person's score. Over on the bleachers, Sera expected to see her friends cheering her on. But it looked like Hyungwon had fallen asleep, and Minhyuk was busy playing a game on his phone. 

"You got this Sera!" Sera's eyes gravitated to the voice and she saw I.M. standing in the crowd. She smiled back at him, to let him know she appreciated it.

"Start when your ready" the coach told her.

She took a deep breath and made her way onto the course. Kihyun's training and advice really came in handy. She jumped over the wall as if it was nothing. Her classmates watched in awe, suprised at how much she's improved. Then she came across something she hadn't seen before today. It was two podiums with nothing but a rope in between them. 

Sera knew what to do from watching the people before her. She jumped up and grabbed the rope and then edged her way across. Once she hit the ground she made a bolt to the end. 

When she finished, she noticed the coach was smiling. She hoped it was for good reasons. Then she made her way over to the bleachers. She plopped down in between Minhyuk and Hyungwon, still trying to catch her breath.

"How did you do?" Minhyuk asked.

"You didn't see?!" Sera pouted.

"Hey, well, at least I'm not asleep"

Hyungwon shifted in his sleep.

"I felt like it went by fast, but that could just be me." 

Minhyuk patted her shoulder "You did great, I don't worry about it!"

-

The second part of the physical assessment was on their close combat training. Unexpectedly, they were each going to be put in a 1on1 match. Sera wrapped tape around her knuckles and pulled up her hair to get ready. Every student pulled a number. That number corisponded with the match you were assigned to. Somewhere in the school, another student had the same number. If you had a matching number, it ment you were opponents. Sera pulled the number 45, which meant she was in the 45th match.

Then she joined the crowd. The students of the school were acting loud and rambunctious. They were cheering as if they were the crowd at a boxing match. Sera noticed Shownu, Jooheon, and Kihyun standing in the corner. She made her way over to join them.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to see first year matches" Jooheon explained 

"Why?" Sera asked "Don't the upperclassmen have their own matches to watch?"

"Sure we do, but that doesn't make these matches any less entertaining" Kihyun said.

Their was a ring set up in the middle of the gym. The two first contenders moved into the ring and the coach started the match. The two students looked evenly matched.

"How do you know who wins?" Sera asked.

Shownu laughed "Have you even been to a match before?"

"Basically, you can either win by knocking your opponent out, pushing them out of bounds, or knocking them to the floor" Kihyun explained.

"But a knockout is the most points" Jooheon added.

Sera kept her eyes on the match "I hope I don't get a big guy as my opponent"

-

Match after match went by. After a while, the upperclassmen boys got bored and went off to do their own thing. They promised Sera they'd be back to watch her match. Sera sat on the ground in the back of the gym, patiently waiting for her turn.

"Match 31! Get in the ring!" The coach shouted.

"Sera!" Minhyuk sat down next to her

"Where have you been?" She asked.

Minhyuk looked at his watch "I figured my match wouldn't start for a few hours so I went outside to train."

Sera wondered if she should go get some training in, but decided against it. "So what number do you have?"

"32, looks like I came just in time"

"I'll be sure to cheer you on" Sera told him.

Next it was Minhyuk's turn in the ring. His opponent was slightly bigger than him but twice as slow. Minhyuk was able to avoid his punches and the guy fell and landed on his face. After winning his match Minhyuk looked happier than ever.

Sera started growing nervous for her match. She was afraid of getting a tough opponent and loosing points because of it. Soon, it was her turn to fight. 

"Match 45!" The coach shouted "Get in the ring!"

Sera looked around for her friends. Her eyes first locked on Minhyuk, who was shouting on the top his lungs "Sera Fighting!!!". Then she spotted Kihyun, who was clapping his hands together wildly. 

"Sera" Shownu approached her to give her final words of advice "Just remember what we practiced and you'll do fine. None of your classmates have shown propper footwork up to this point"

Sera knew that her footwork was going to be an advatage, but she still wasn't confident in it. "Thanks Shownu" Then he left and joined Kihyun in the crowd.

She took a deep breath and stepped into the ring. She waited patiently for her opponent to appear. A few minutes had gone by and the crowd was starting loose their energy.

"If number 45 doesn't appear in the next few minutes, Sera will win due to defalt" Kihyun mumbled to Shownu. "She'll get an A"

"But she won't earn any points" Shownu watched as Sera waited desperately for her opponent to appear. "Something tells me she doesn't want to win by defalt."

Then Hyungwon walked into the gym "Sorry I'm late" he jumped into the ring.

Sera was suprised to see Hyungwon as her opponent. "Hyungwon?"

The coach looked irritated "Hyungwon, why are you late?"

"I was training and lost track of time, but I'm here now" 

Sera took a deep breath. She wasn't excited about going up against one of her friends, but she had no other choice. 

"Then let's start the match" The coach said. 

The crowd started cheering again. Sera was suprised to see that Hyungwon had his own cheering squad made up of all the girls in their class. "Nervous?" he asked.

Sera shook his head "More like, excited"

"Excited? To fight me?"

"With your arrogance, I've been waiting for an opportunity to punch you in the face." Sera joked.

He laughed.

The coach counted them off and blew her whistle. Giving them the que to start.

Sera knew that Hyungwon was quick, and that his punches were pretty powerful, but she also knew that he was terrible at blocking. He cared too much about his appearance and would tend to only focus on blocking his face, rather than anything else.

Hyungwon threw the first punch. It hit Sera in the arm but she didn't flinch. She knew how hard he could punch from practice and knew what to expect. Then Sera saw an opening, she continuously threw punches towards his face. He blocked each one. Then she threw a punch to his gut, which was left open and unblocked. Hyungwon stood back and pain read on his face. "Where did you learn to punch?" he asked. Sera didn't respond, instead she kept going at him with full force. Hyungwon tried to retaliate by hitting her in the face, but she ducked and hit him in the gut a second time. "Ow" 

"Oh stop whinning!" Sera was getting cocky, but this was only making her punches stronger. Hyungwon did his best to make a comback and throw her off her feet, however, Sera's footwork was always on point. Her footwork kept her balanced and helped even to throw her opponent off balance. 

The final blow was a third jab to his gut. Hyungwon fell off his feet and landed on his . The coach blew her whistle to stop the match "Game, Sera wins" she announced. 

Hyungwon looked upset and humiliated. Sera held out her hand in front of him to help him up. At first he looked frusturated, but then he looked up at Sera and a smiled formed on his face. He took her hand and she helped him up. "I guess you really are top 20" He laughed.

-

During dinner that night, Sera was on cloud nine. She was so happy with her performance and that it was all over.

"It's been one day" Hyungwon sighed.

"I don't think I'll even be able to look at my grades tomorrow!" Minhyuk cried

Sera noticed I.M. looking for a place to sit. "I.M!"

"Don't call him over here" Hyungwon argued.

"Why not? He's really nice"

Hyungwon rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, I think you'll like him" Sera looked back at I.M "Hey, over here!"

I.M. reluctantly came over and sat down at their table. An awkward silence came over them. Minhyuk, decided to break it. "Hi, I'm Minhyuk"

"Hi" I.M responded.

"This is Hyungwon" Minhyuk continued.

"I know, we're in the same class" 

The awkward silence returned.

Sera felt like she had to be the one to break it. "So we finished the first semester, isn't that exciting?" She hoped the other boys would noitce her attempt to start conversation.

Minhyuk tried to help her out "Do you have any plans for the break?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot we get a break" Sera replied. 

"For a whole week! I'm going to eat so much junk food!" Minhyuk laughed.

The other two boys remained awkward. Sera didn't care if they became friends, she just hoped that the two of them would just get along.

Then Hyungwon stood up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Sera asked.

"I finished my food, now I'm going to my room" He acted like he wasn't leaving for any other obvious reasons "See you tomorrow"

"Ugh, that guy" Minhyuk sighed "He cares too much about what others think of him"

I.M shrugged "I don't know what I did to make him hate me so much"

"He'll get over it" Sera assured him. "I'm sure of it"

"He's so careless too, almost missed his match today because he wasn't paying attention" Minhyuk stated.

"That's not true" I.M retorted "I saw him standing outside the gym doors"

"Seriously? Why did he wait so long to walk in?" Sera asked.

I.M shrugged "I thought he was just trying to make a big entrance"

-

After dinner in the mess hall, Sera walked straight over to Hyungwon's dorm room. She diligently knocked on the door until he answered.

He finally opened the door "Sera? What are you doing here?" Hyungwon was wearing a t-shirt and Looney Tune pajama pants. His hair was messy as if he had been sleeping.

"I just wanted to ask you something"

"So ask" He waited for her reply.

Instead of beating around the bush, Sera just came out with it. "Why were you late to the match today?" 

"I told you" he defended himself "I lost track of time"

"Okay, it's just that...Someone sort of said you were waiting outside the door."

He stood perfectly still.

Sera thought he was going to get angry at her "It's okay if you wanted to make a big entrance, I understand that."

"I'm not that vain" he argued.

"Then why?" She asked "You weren't going to defult on purpose, were you?"

"I thought about it" he said honestly 

"What? Why?!"

"Because I saw that it was you"

"So, you thought I was going to loose and you didn't want me to get a bad grade?"

Hyungwon shook his head "Because I didn't want to hurt you"

"But if you defulted I wouldn't have gained any points. I probably would've fell on the leader board"

"I know that, that's why I didn't. I came in so you could earn your precious points" he was growing irritated for her. Mainly because he felt like what he did was a thoughtful act and she was getting so upset over it.

"Did you...did you let me win?" Sera hoped that wasn't the case.

"What? No, of course not. If I did that, I'd look like a fool"

Sera didn't believe him, she wanted to, but didn't.

"The fact that I lost is going to lower my grade. Why would I do that on purpose?"

"Because you wanted me to get points"

"Honestly Sera!" He was frusturated "No one else cares about the points. If you think you're going to take Shownu's spot at number one, you're deluding yourself"

His tone was very pointed. Sera was growing angry at him for saying those words, even if they were true. "Good night Hyungwon" 

She started walking away, but Hyungwon quickly grabbed her wrist "Sera wait" he didn't want her to leave angry "I'm sorry okay, but I promise you, I didn't let you win"

"I believe you" She pulled her arm away "Good night"

Then he just watched as Sera walked away.