❝JUSTCLOSEYOUREYES❞

“Class 1-A, you all understand that if you do not make a score any higher than 70% on this test, you will have to repeat this school year next year, right?”

“Yes, Teacher.”

The entire Class 1-A was shivering after Miss Min's taunting about the examination.  Some students were wondering why their district had to be such strict goblins, some silently panicked if they had the chance to pass the maximum passing score, and some were baffled if the punishment for not passsing the exam was true or not.  Whichever of those three the class was thinking, Vickie wasn't thinking about any of them.  She was worried—worried about what Jinkie's score would be more than she was worried about hers.

The worst part was Vickie was in the top class of the course she picked, which meant there were more expectations, and more questions if you had a score lower than 90%.  She didn't regret anything, though.

Miss Min began handing out the test catalogues, ten pages long with letters in a small font that had to be finished in five hours.  Every student in the campus, even the top classes, found it a joke that they only had five hours to complete the examination.  Another worst part was that they only had two snacks: chicken sandwich and orange juice for the first snack, and animal crackers and a bottle of water for the second snack.  The bottle of water was as tall as the measurement between your thumb and your index finger stretched out all the way.

The examination catalogue had a seal protecting it, so the students, as much as they wanted to, couldn't view what was inside the catalogue.  Vickie stared at the sealed catalogue in front of her as Miss Min handed out the scantrons.  A campus staff poked his head into the classroom.  Miss Min looked back, and the staff held a thumbs-up to her, signaling her to begin reading the district-wide math test instruction manual.

Vickie kept on staring at the catalogue in front of her.  She placed her pencil on her scantron, and continued reading the Korean symbols printed on the catalogue.  Her mind became blank, and she didn't know whether to listen to her homeroom teacher, or  to keep on eyeing the catalogue.

“...Do you understand, Class 1-A?”  Miss Min finished reading the instruction manual.  The class replied with a short “Yes” to her question.

Vickie didn't get the instructions, though, because she wasn't listening.  She was nonplussed about the catalogue and the scantron because they didn't have that last year.  Last year's math test was district-wide, yes, but it was only a practice test for students who were graduating the next year.  Vickie found the catalogue and the scantron strange to her eyes, not because they didn't use those materials the previous year, but because it looked to special that the questions might be beyond any of the graduating students' ability.

Another staff entered the classroom and whispered something to Miss Min.  Miss Min nodded her head and faced the class, just as the staff was ready to leave.

“You can rip the seal on your catalogue, but you cannot open the catalogue.  I will tell you when you will begin testing after everyone has finished unsealing their examination catalogues.”  Miss Min declared, and the sound of papers being ripped became louder and louder.

When Miss Min had noticed that everyone was finished, she set her phone to five hours and said, “You may now begin testing.”

For the next three hours, the flipping of papers and swifts of pencils on paper ruled the classroom.  The silence wasn't so bad, but it was enough to torture any and every student who was expecting to get a good grade on the test.  Vickie flipped to the last page of her catalogue, answered the questions on the page, and gave her catalogue and her scantron to Miss Min at exactly three hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-nine seconds.

Vickie had one more hour left, so she spent it on brainstorming about herself.  But she soon ended brainstorming when she remembered Jinki.  I wonder if he's finished with the test already, Vickie thought quietly to herself.  It was pin-drop silent in the classroom, so she couldn't afford being heard by Miss Min.  Not even her thoughts.

The examination was finished, finally, and the entire student body exited their homerooms, flooding the hallways and every other part of the school.  Jinki waited patiently by the currant bush by the staircase to the girls' dorm.  Vickie, eventually, was actually going there to return her tuner and her screw driver.

As she was nearing the heart of the campus, she brought out a white pouch from her backpack.  It wasn't see-through, so the tuner and the screw driver couldn't be seen.  And if it was see-through, they wouldn't have any proof she has any of those because by the time the campus police searches her room, the tuner and the driver wouldn't be there.

Vickie was checking if the tuner and the driver were in the pouch.  She didn't know the bush was right in front of her, and that Jinki was right in front of her as well.

“Vickie!”  Jinki called out.

Vickie screamed really loudly after hearing Jinki.  Everybody's eyes turned to her but she wasn't embarrassed.  She would only be embarrassed if she had let go of the white pouch and the tuner and the driver flew out of her reach.

“My goodness, Jinki.  Don't you ever suprise me like that again, okay?”  Vickie was a bit annoyed.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to.”  Jinki apologized.  He wouldn't want Vickie to be angry at him.

Vickie glared at Jinki, her stare slowly softening after she heard Jinki apologize.  “It's alright.”

While checking the tuner and the screw driver inside the white pouch, the light bulb above Vickie's head went off.  Bright idea! Said the bulb.  Vickie grabbed Jinki's hand and led him up the staircase to her dorm.  I think it's time, Vickie thought again.

“Why— What are you doing?”  Jinki asked Vickie as they ran up the stairs.

Vickie responded after a minute.  “We have the rest of the day off, right?”

After that, Jinki didn't say anything more.  And he knows Vickie weren't looking for an answer anyway.  The two reached Vickie's dorm.  Immediately, Vickie grabbed her guitar and laid the white pouch on her bed.

“Oh, look, it's my glass.”  Jinki pointed at the glass on the cabinet by the door.  “Oh, that's right!  I forgot to bring this back to my dorm.”

“That's alright.  I actually drank the leftover juice from that before I went to sleep.”  Vickie said, laying the guitar on her bed and began removing her shoes.

Indirect... kiss?  Jinki thought, giddy on the inside.

“Sit down.”  Vickie patted the empty space beside her on the bed.  “I'll show you something.”

Jinki placed his backpack on the vanity table's chair.  “What is it?”

Vickie grabbed her white pouch and ped it.  She brought out the tuner and the screw driver and raised it for Jinki to see.  “These.”

Jinki snatched the tuner and the driver from Vickie's grasp.  “Wow!  You have a tuner?!  And a screw driver?!  Wait.  You can't have a screw driver—”

Vickie covered Jinki's mouth with her hand, stopping him from his amazement.  “Don't be so loud.  Others might hear, and you know how hot they are with tuners and sparkly things.”

“Alright then, sorry.”  Jinki apologized again and continued being amazed at the tuner and the driver.

“But,” Jinki suddenly became curious, “how did you manage to get these in here?”

“Remember this morning?  By the alpine bush?”  Vickie tried to awaken Jinki's memory.

Jinki looked up, down, and around before he remembered.  “Oh, so you stuff these inside the bush and— Ah, that's smart.  Really smart.”

“Yeah, and I thought it's time for you to know about those since it's been my secret for about three years now.”  Vickie explained.

“Three years?!  How could you—”

Vickie cut Jinki off mid-sentence.  “I told myself had to know you fully first before I would tell you about that tuner and the driver.  And you're the first one to know about these, too, so I guess you would know how important these things are to me.”

“Yeah, I understand.”  Jinki nodded.

Vickie picked up her guitar and started playing.  She started humming, and Jinki began humming as well.  Their humming, surprisingly, were in perfect synchronization.  A couple of hours of humming, singing, and talking, Jinki stopped humming.  Vickie noticed this, so she turned around and found a soundly sleeping Jinki on her bed.  Vickie smiled.

The Awake One continued staring at the Sleeping One, admiring the Sleeping One's features.  The Awake One suddenly felt something tingle in her stomach, or was it her back?  She didn't know, and she didn't mind.  The tingle was new, but she liked it somehow.

Vickie placed a blanket on Jinki, careful not to wake Jinki up.  She was very meticulous about having not even any of Jinki's nails exposed; it was very cold, and Vickie didn't want Jinki shivering.  Vickie couldn't help but smile at the sight of an adorable being in front of her.  She checked her phone for the time: 10:30 P.M.

“And I didn't even notice,” Vickie sighed, frowning.  

She remembered Jinki, and her frown faded away.  “Good night, Jinki.”