It's not like I'm thinking this only because of that one time… Seulgi rapidly shook her head. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course that's the reason why I just thought of it now. Seulgi had been thinking about the idea that suddenly came into her during that short time she had with the council member in front of the cafeteria yesterday, even until now that a new day has come. She couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of it all. But why would she…right?

And as if to answer back, she was reminded of what the vice president told her before sprinting out of her sight. Yes, I know that but why—ah damn it. She's been repeating Irene's words until her last thought before she had fallen asleep and even in the first seconds of waking up. Maybe she's just being the generous council member. Yeah? That could be it.

Seulgi nodded.

Maybe she's given most of the students thoughtful gifts too out of concern. Right? Heck, maybe she's given all of the student body because that's how kind of an angel she is. I mean, why would I be special…right??

Seulgi heaved a deep sigh as she shook her head.

Look at me...it's not even confirmed that Rene really was the one who gave me that birthday gift yet and here I am.

She kept tapping her pen on the open book she's been mindlessly staring at as if it would give her the answers she needed for a different problem that clearly has nothing to do with integral equations. And the initial is not even close to 'Irene'…her surname is even Bae...where's the J-H-N in that??

She squeezed her eyelids shut. I'm going crazy, that's the only thing I'm sure of right now.

Her internal debate was disturbed when she felt a pen tip sinking through her uniform that successfully pushed her back to reality when she opened her eyes and looked straight ahead, almost instantly figuring out why Joy was drilling her back muscles with a stationary.

"Miss Kang", the balding professor—who seemed to have held favor upon her, and not in a good way by the way—called out with his usual authoritative voice.

Come to think of it, the professor must have assumed that Seulgi was asleep, or at the very least, on the verge of sinking into slumber with all the nodding and shaking of her head and closing of eyelids she's been unconsciously doing. I mean, I can't blame him but…geez, this old man…

"Y-yes, professor"

"I understand that you're tired from all the training Ms. Kwon has been giving your whole team, miss ace", Mr. Yang emphasized, "But I remember correctly that I have told everyone from this class to pay attention to my subject regardless of whatever matters you might have in the day first thing as soon as classes officially started, have I not?"

"Yes, sir. I apologize, sir", she answered as she hastily stood up from her seat. Everyone had a small smile patched on their faces and some were even chuckling lowly while subtly shaking their heads, not to ridicule their classmate but because this is not a rare scene in this section's Calculus class anymore. All of the students who had been in the same class as Seulgi knew very well about this certain relationship between the soccer ace and the strict math teacher since they had been like this since freshman year.

It all started from that one time the young soccer player had accidentally fallen asleep in his class while they were having a weekly quiz due to exhaustion from her first time experiencing a very spartan training—clearly different from how she was trained in her childhood and middle school—and since then, the professor had himself stuck around her neck.

"Seeing that you're now alive and already up on your feet, go answer all of the problems on the board"

Seulgi discreetly sighed.

"Yes sir", she answered and proceeded to complain under her breath as she walked closer to the board, observing the seven math problems that she did not notice were being written because her mind was busy flying somewhere else before she was woken up by her back seatmate's emerald pen.

It was to no surprise that she would be called upon to answer most of the problems the professor had in store for the day since it had become a tradition by now, and in most cases of their little educational contest, Seulgi would always come as the victor since she would still provide the correct answer for whatever question the professor would throw at her, as random as he could and as distracted as she was in some cases, and so everyone amusingly named this interaction the main event of the Math class of whatever section Seulgi was in.

Seulgi picked a marker that was left in the board's compartment and started solving number per number with no pause. It seemed to her that all of this madness started because of the professor's belief that if a student is an athlete, they're automatically lacking in intellect, so the soccer ace was determined to prove the math professor wrong. Athletes are not dumb. Seulgi is not stupid. She will make sure that she will never be looked down upon just because she was assumed a muscle head.

So with the final figure she had written on the board, Seulgi huffed and capped the marker close before proceeding to face her classmates and explained every figure and every formula she had used to correctly answer the problem, low-key teaching her fellow students the solution she had come up for every questionㅡbecause she knew that their professor would not do such a thing.

After that, she pursed her lips into a small smile and politely nodded over the professor who seemed very annoyed at the moment because Seulgi got all of the answers right and even explained in detailed perfection.

"Okay", the professor muttered, "You may take your seat, Kang"

And Seulgi won another round.

×××

"I just don't understand why he keeps contesting you each and every moment he can get", Joy was shaking her head with a face that could pass on as constipated, "Does he enjoy being talked about that much?! It's just embarrassing at this point, really"

"We can't do anything about it when he himself doesn't want to change"

Joy sighed as if she was the one that's kept being given the nauseous numeric questions to be solved. "May the force be ever in your favor, always"

Seulgi laughed and adjusted the way she was sitting to properly face her tall friend that was sitting behind her. "So.."

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember that gift with a pink note?"

Joy nodded as she grinned. "Of course. The kind and considerate one who also gave me a chocolate"

"Yeah, that", Seulgi chuckled. "Do you think you can figure out the initial?"

"Oh, you're still trying to find that person?"

Seulgi nodded.

"Hmm....well, that person was the first to not write her name down", the goalkeeper paused, "Or his name down?", she shook her head, "Nah, it's a pink note. No guy in this academy owns something like that cause 'that would be gay'", Joy imitated in a mocking tone the words of one of their teammates from the boys' team once paraded and her face fell in disgust from the prejudice. "It's probably from a girl and oh I damn hope it is from a girl"

"The writing is pretty too", Seulgi chipped in another reason in which Joy wholly and happily agreed to.

"Anyway, given as that, I can understand why you want to know who it was... cause I do, too", Joy smirked, "Okay. J-H-N…", the soccer team's defense muttered as she jotted down on the farthest part of her opened notebook page, "Hmmm...could be her whole name since it's three letters"

She doodled bullets below the capitalized three letters with dashes in between and listed down the names that she could think of that belonged to students in their academy.

"Jung Hani….Jo Hyuna….Jong Hyonee….Jung Hina….Jang Hyonae....the two Hana, Jo and Jang….", she stopped and paused for a good three seconds before letting out a groan and throwing her pen down, "Ugh! That's all I can think of! J-H-N is certainly not a popular name initial, I see now"

Seulgi, who was patiently waiting for her friend to finish brainstorming, finally spoke while she remained unmoving from the comfortable posture of her head leaning on her crossed arms over the chair backrest. "Even so, that's seven names…a lot to take into consideration already"

"Yeah but we're gonna have to cross people out of this for sure"

The soccer players started crossing out every name that they could find a reason not to be the one to have given Seulgi the gift, naming as some have already graduated and the others aren't the type to give presents in such manner.

"Well…that leaves us with Jung Hani, Jo Hyuna, and Jang Hyonae, then", Joy threw her pen again as she stood up from her seat, "I'll go and ask them right now"

"Wait, wha—", Seulgi didn't even get to finish that one word as her giant friend already bolted out of their room to only the heavens know where. "…what the?"

She knew Joy had to be quick though since it'll only be a few minutes before their next class would start so she fixed herself to sit properly like how a person normally would on a school chair as she waited, fishing out the pink note that was securely kept in between the pages of her favorite journal.

It didn't take much longer before Joy came back plopping right onto her seat, breathing in and out like she was just commanded by their coach to run ten laps in a span of ten minutesㅡjust exhaustingly dumb and utterly impossible.

"So, what was that?", Seulgi faced her goalkeeper friend again.

"They didn't…give you the…gift", Joy answered in between huffs and puffs.

"What are yoㅡwait…you really went to them and asked?!"

Joy could only nod, seeing as she was really out of breath. Well, obviously so, since what the giant just pulled off could actually be compared to the impossible and dumb situation Seulgi just described her into right after she came falling back down on her seat.

"They're scattered in this building?? Heck, I even remember Hani's room is on the first floor??"

No one can blame Seulgi's utter disbelief since their classroom is situated at the very far end of the east wing of the enormous U-shaped academic building, and they were even on the third floor. Just imagine the number of steps one should travel up and down to just to get to a level. It had always been an exercise for the ace, each day.

"You seriously make me very sad sometimes, Kang", Joy said in between her low panting, "I am this academy's soccer team's goalkeeper", she huffed again, "God knows just how hard coach trains the ones on defense", Joy swallowed and puffed out, seeming to have her breathing finally clearing up, "This is nothing compared to those training"

The panting giantess then brushed her hand through her hair and composed herself with a last puff of air she breathed out.

"The important thing is that I managed to do the job and come back right on time..for the next class", Joy exhaled again, "Oh God you owe me a bottle of water or something. I'm freakin exhausted, Hani didn't even want to cooperate at first!"

"I'll give this to you, then", Seulgi handed her exhausted friend the extra water bottle she always brings with her, not failing to pat her friend's shoulder as gratitude.

Joy thanked her as she hastily twisted the cap and drank almost half of the beverage before groaning. "I mean it was only a matter of yes or no, right? Why in the world was it so hard for her to just straight up answer and not play around??"

"Maybe she likes you"

"Well sorry to say but I don't"

"Ouch, that's harsh", Seulgi cheekily said as Joy only shrugged in response.

The bell for the next class then started to ring and all were rushing back to their seats to prepare for their next professor who was already by the door.

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