Ch#72
Monday morning. A new paper was posted on the dorm bulletin board.
It was the schedule announcing the start of midterms.
The exam period lasted two weeks.
During that time, regular classes were all suspended, with one exam per subject.
Looking at the paper listing the exam times and locations for each subject, the children all jotted down their own schedules in their notebooks.
"What do I do? I really didn't study...."
Among the younger students, some teared up upon checking their exam schedules.
But their friends couldn't even comfort them by saying it would be okay.
Because once exams began, the atmosphere at Yeongjae Academy changed drastically.
Even though noble influence played a big role in admissions and some had shortcomings, all the students had at least the minimum qualities to enter Yeongjae Academy.
They might not excel in every subject, but each had at least one area they could boast about in terms of grades or ability.
Naturally, they had been called geniuses outside. Their talents were outstanding compared to those around them.
But upon entering Yeongjae Academy, they realized just how arrogant they had been.
Everyone here had talent.
Thus, the children praised as geniuses outside were just ordinary students here.
I'm not special.
That was a tremendous shock to the students.
Still, they had managed to hold on until now.
But as exams started and grades came out, fear began to creep in—what if their ranking was low?
Yeongjae Academy didn't expel students for poor grades.
Instead, the bottom 20% were deemed to need more learning and required to attend supplementary classes later.
The children feared ending up in those classes.
It would prove their grades were at the bottom.
'The other students will definitely mock me as stupid.'
So all the students became desperate.
Ibi was also feeling the changed atmosphere.
Above all, Ruska—the one who had listened to classes most carelessly among the four—had started taking things seriously.
He was the one who always draped his jacket over his shoulders, left a couple shirt buttons undone for easy play with friends, and ran around like that.
Even during class, his constant pranks had gotten his ears yanked by Professor Males multiple times, with scoldings like "Can't you focus?!"
But none of that playful demeanor was visible in Ruska now.
Dressed neatly in his uniform, he sat with perfect posture, concentrating solely on solving problems.
Ibi couldn't take her eyes off Ruska's serious side, which she was seeing for the first time, watching him in fascination.
After working on math problems for a long while, he wrote down his answer and held out his notebook to Ibi.
"Ibi, can you check this?"
"Sure. Hmm...."
Ibi examined the notebook from top to bottom.
"This one's correct. But this part, the solution went wrong here. It should have a square...."
Ibi explained his mistake in detail.
Ruska took notes without missing a word of her explanation and double-checked all his wrong answers from the start.
"Then, is this solved right?"
Having listened intently to Ibi's explanation, Ruska grinned and showed her a new solution.
"Yes! Perfect!"
As Ibi clapped softly, Ruska laughed and replied,
"As expected, it's easy to understand when you teach me, Ibi."
"Professor Males teaches well too, doesn't he?"
As Ibi tilted her head in confusion, Ruska gave a wry smile.
"That's only for you and Arcel.... Ordinary people can't keep up with his occasional rampages."
"But you study well too, Ruska."
Ruska was always pretending to cry that he studied the worst among the four.
But Ibi thought that was a lie.
Ruska understood quickly when explained.
He could solve problems he hadn't been able to just moments before in an instant.
Then he'd go play again, which was the problem.
That was why Professor Males would grumble, "That kid has a good head, but strangely won't put in more effort...."
Each time, Ruska would glance at Arcel with a complicated expression.
"No matter how well I do, I can't match Arcel."
His response lacked the usual energy, somehow different from normal.
"You know it too when you see Arcel. He's really good at everything, right?"
"Yeah...."
As Ruska said, Arcel was scary good at every subject.
Even Professor Males, who had initially jumped around unhappy about other students, started eyeing Arcel greedily after teaching him, saying, "You, no thoughts on focusing on math?"
"I can't reach that level no matter how hard I try. It's not easy to beat Arcel at anything."
At Ruska's words, Ibi thought for a moment before replying,
"But you're taller than Arcel."
"That's...."
"And you run faster."
"Maybe because I'm a bit taller, like you said."
"And you're better at ball games."
"That's because I skip studying and play with other friends during that time."
"You sing well too."
Ibi kept listing his strengths.
Ruska said he had nothing over Arcel, but Ibi saw it differently.
Ruska was a really great person.
That was why he always had people around him.
Professors shook their heads at his pranks but no one truly disliked him.
Proof was that whenever Ruska appeared or his voice was heard, people smiled and greeted him warmly.
"I've never seen someone everyone likes as much as you before, Ruska."
That was truly enviable to Ibi.
Everyone liked him, and Ruska liked everyone.
Being around him always put her at ease.
"That's why I want to be like you when I grow up."
"......"
At Ibi's words, Ruska looked down for a moment.
His nape flushed red.
Avoiding her gaze by staring at the floor in embarrassment, he finally looked up at Ibi.
Then, in a quiet voice, he said,
"......Thanks."
He held her gaze for a long while before reaching out to ruffle her hair.
Then, in his usual playful tone,
"But I'm not that much older than you, you know? What do you mean 'when I grow up'? To the teachers, we're the same age already."
"But you're suuuper tall compared to me!"
"That's because you're small! Once you grow more, the difference won't be that big. Well, surpassing me might be tough."
It did seem tough. Still, maybe until she reached his chin.
"And how long are you going to keep calling me 'Ruska sir'? Airin calls me by name just fine."
"Um, that's...."
"Try it now. Ruska."
He propped his chin, looking at Ibi expectantly.
Ibi hesitated and glanced around.
Just hanging out together drew tons of stares already—what if calling his name made even more glare at her?
But if she kept saying 'Ruska sir,' he might get upset.
People's stares versus Ruska's expectation.
After agonizing, Ibi finally chose.
"Ru...... Ruska?"
Ruska's eyes curved softly at her.
"Good job. Once more."
"Ru...... Ruska."
"Still a bit awkward. Try again."
"......Ruska."
At first, calling him without 'sir' was hard, but after repeating a few times, it became natural, as if she'd always done it.
After making her say his name dozens of times, he finally said it was enough.
"By the way, where's Airin today? She wouldn't leave you wandering alone."
"Airin said...... she wanted to study alone today."
Since exams started, Airin had been wanting to be alone more.
Even when Ibi suggested studying together in an empty classroom, she'd looked troubled and said she'd study in her room alone today.
Seeing Airin, who always stuck with her, not holding on felt strangely anxious and lonely.
"Hmm."
Ruska nodded as if he understood.
"That's why you looked so down when you came earlier."
As Ibi moped thinking of Airin, Ruska seized the chance without her and grabbed her cheeks with both hands.
He pulled gently so it didn't hurt.
"Look at this. You're about to cry."
"Auuu." (I'm not crying)
As Ibi glared sharply, Ruska chuckled and said,
"Gotta indulge a bit while Airin's away."
With that, he held out his hand to Ibi.
"Looks like I can treat you today. Let's go eat!"
