______

Third Year Ranks of Last Exam

1. Lee Mark 

2. Huang Renjun

3. Yoo Hana

4. Kwon Eunju

5. Na Jaemin

...

The board was overwhelmed by a large crowd of anxious students scanning for their name. Amongst the students, stood Kwon Eunju. None can tell if she was satisfied nor disappointed with her ranking.  People take things seriously in this school. Underneath the facade, there's a strong competition between each student.  There were  no 'however's' for Eunju for the fact that she was no different from these people. 

If someone were to blink, they wouldn't have caught Eunju who discreetly left the crowd. Reaching her classroom, she dumped her bag on the floor, waiting for her classmates to arrive. As expected, students came piling in to their respective classroom minutes before the bell rings. 

Her seat mate, Lee Jeno, whom she rarely spoke to, plopped down beside her with a sigh but greeted her with a smile. Behind her was Kim Hyerin, one of Eunju's few close friends who was also captain of the Girl's Soccer Club. This gave her a position in the upper half of the pyramid, though not dominating it considering her average grades.

The spot in front of Eunju sat Na Jaemin. Ah yes, Jaemin. The boy who accidentally spilt hot soup all over her notes. Though they never spoke to each other before or after the incident, Jaemin agreed to buy her, her favorite strawberry milk for an entire month in exchange for her forgiveness. That day was stressful for Eunju and all she could do was nod. It was usually just Jaemin dropping the strawberry milk off on her desk and nothing more. This deal ended today. 

Unfortunately, Eunju had forgotten her lunch at home today. In addition to that, no strawberry milk will be waiting for her at her desk. 

"You want some?" Hyerin tore her curry bread in half and offered a side to her. She noticed her friend blatantly watching her as she devoured her food. 

Eunju simply spun around in her seat and began revising her notes, "No thanks." 

Hyerin shrugged and returned to her lunch. "You know, you're one of the top 5 in this school. That's already amazing, so why do you keep pushing yourself even more?" 

The lead of Eunju's pencil snapped off just as a group of boys entered the classroom. She didn't spare them another glance as she swiftly took out another pencil from her pouch. Rule #1: never lose your focus. 

"What's the point if I don't get first even though I study this much?"

Eunju was never the one to care much about sports. Her number one priority was always academics first, unlike Hyerin who preferred sports over her education. But in this school, it was required to join a club. For Eunju it was the soccer team. She exited the girls locker room in her jersey and made her way to the soccer fields.

Her stomach growled and she clutched the fabric of her shirt hoping to get something to eat when practice ends. "Eunju! Hurry it up! I need my vice captain to introduce to the newcomers!" The voice belonged to Kim Hyerin.

She didn't care about the prestige from other people that she had such a position on the team. This happened in middle school, grade 6 when Eunju was a starter with soccer whilst Hyerin already had 6 years of experience. Nonetheless, they both qualified as one of the best in their soccer team at that time. They played through the seventh grade until Eunju moved away. For a year and a half, the girls were separated. 

When Hyerin became the first freshman captain, she had been secretly reserving the vice captain spot for Eunju believing that she would move back and she did. The team members protested that it wasn't fair to let Eunju in but it died down once she stepped on the field.

Eunju walked past the baseball fields, her hands still clutching her stomach. She hadn't eaten a large breakfast and she was feeling quite dizzy. A hand reached out to steady her. 

"Are you okay?" She looked up to see No. 5 Na Jaemin staring down at her. Just like Eunju, he was in his baseball uniform ready for practice.