Midterms. Exams. Written evaluations.
Words that can never be separated from students in South Korea. Sihyeon never imagined he’d be seeing them even at Strongest High. No matter that it was Mir Military Academy High School, it seemed they couldn’t completely ignore the Korean education curriculum.
When he first transmigrated, he thought he could just wing it and get by somehow.
A sigh slipped from Sihyeon’s lips. Back then, it had been someone else’s life, so it didn’t matter—but now it was his own life, making it hard to slack off. The only consolation was that there were only four subjects to be tested.
Sihyeon reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a notebook. It was just one notebook, but there were more than four Post-its stuck inside—only on the days he’d dozed off and failed to take notes. If he’d known this would happen, he would’ve paid a bit more attention.
Just as he was about to make a study plan, Haeun’s voice came from beside him.
“I heard that if your written exam score falls below a certain level, something happens.”
“What happens?”
“Punishment cleaning!”
“Well, that’s nothing new—”
“They make you clean all the bathrooms in the dorm. Split between the boys’ dorm and the girls’ dorm!”
“….”
At the word “cleaning,” Sihyeon had initially thought it was no big deal, but his lips slowly parted. Strongest High’s dorm had five floors. Even one floor would have a considerable number of bathrooms—being told to clean all five floors wasn’t punishment, it was torture. Suddenly, Haru came to mind.
Haru, who diligently took notes during every class—but would fall asleep after ten minutes.
He couldn’t let Haru end up cleaning bathrooms.
Just then, as if on cue, Haru walked into the classroom.
Perfect timing.
Sihyeon stood up and grabbed his arm. As soon as he was caught, Haru turned his gaze toward him. Having been dragged around by Sihyeon so often, he no longer flinched like he used to when suddenly grabbed.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you good at studying?”
“…Ah.”
At the sigh that felt strangely familiar, Sihyeon pressed his lips together. Haru had a tendency to downplay things he was actually good at, so Sihyeon had held onto a small hope—but the answer didn’t meet his expectations. Quietly, Sihyeon took hold of Haru’s hand.
His palm was rough, calloused from holding a sword for so long. People often said that soft hands shouldn’t be overworked—but Sihyeon didn’t want to overwork rough hands either.
Because the rougher they were, the more they proved how hard someone had lived.
Thinking that all the studying he’d done in his previous life might finally be useful, Sihyeon led Haru back to his seat. Haru followed along without understanding why. Sitting down, Sihyeon pulled out a calendar and pointed at the 22nd with his index finger.
“This is the exam day.”
“Ah….”
“I heard that if your grades are below standard, you have to clean all the bathrooms in the dorm….”
“Hmm… should we practice cleaning bathrooms…?”
That wasn’t the answer he wanted.
At Haru’s completely offbeat response, Sihyeon shook his head. Instead, he took a pen out of his pencil case.
“Not that.”
“Then?”
“Want to study together?”
“Study?”
“A study group. I dozed off in class too, so I’ve got things to review. If we’re going to do it anyway, it’d be better to do it together.”
To be honest, even if Haru studied alone, it didn’t seem like he’d get a score high enough to avoid punishment cleaning. Keeping that thought to himself, Sihyeon spoke, and Haru let out a low, troubled groan as if thinking it over. Wondering if he didn’t want to, Sihyeon tilted his head slightly and looked up at him.
“Want to do it?”
“…Yeah.”
“Yeah!”
That was strange. Why did it sound like there were two responses?
Just as he wondered if he’d misheard, laughter came from beside him. He hadn’t misheard. With a bad feeling, Sihyeon turned his head—Haeun, grinning, had already walked over to the desk and was checking Sihyeon’s calendar. Seeing the neatly written words “Study” and Haru’s name, he quickly snatched the pen from Sihyeon’s hand—faster than a flying squirrel.
+ Kang Haeun
As the name was added beneath Haru’s, Sihyeon stared at Haeun in disbelief. Narrowing his eyes, he watched as Haeun whined that he wanted to join too, like a five-year-old throwing a tantrum. Sihyeon had just wanted a peaceful two-person study session—but now an uninvited guest had barged in.
“You’re doing a three-person study group?”
“No, two.”
“No, three!”
“….”
There were two voices answering Seowoo’s question. Watching Haeun double down on his denial, Sihyeon narrowed his eyes further. Then, as if nothing was wrong, Seowoo casually took the pen from Haeun and began writing.
Yoo Seowoo
He added a comma next to Kang Haeun’s name and neatly wrote his own. Only then did Sihyeon check the calendar and stare at him. Meeting his gaze, Seowoo simply shrugged.
Honestly, for someone who didn’t look like it, the way he acted was exactly the same as Haeun.
Since the names were already written, he couldn’t exactly cross them out. And even if he did, they were the type who would show up anyway and insist on studying together. Faced with a half-forced study group, Sihyeon looked at the three in front of him.
Three, he thought—but in reality, it would definitely be six including himself. If it was held in his room, Hamin wouldn’t stay out of it, and wherever the Four Heavenly Kings went, Geonwoo wouldn’t be absent either.
Letting out a sigh at how things had turned out like this when he’d only planned to study with Haru, Sihyeon pressed his forehead.
It was his mistake—bringing it up in front of the Four Heavenly Kings, especially Kang Haeun.
“You’re not going to do it together? Hm?”
“…I said I’ll do it, so stop that ridiculous act.”
With his chin propped on his hand, Haeun puffed out his lips and acted cute. Sihyeon pushed his face away and wiped his hand on his sleeve. When he glanced at Haru as if to ask if this was okay, Haru nodded.
Lately, it felt like every time he tried to do something with Haru, someone else ended up joining in.
Watching Haru nod, Sihyeon felt his complicated mood ease a little. Since it would be Haru’s first time doing something like a study group, maybe it would be better for him to experience something lively with others.
However, Sihyeon would soon come to regret that thought.
“Who wants snacks!”
“Me.”
“Dawoon, did you bring your phone charger?”
“It should be in my bag.”
“Geonwoo looks sleepy—should we let him sleep first?”
“When does he not sleep?”
“Ah! Hamin stole my snacks!”
“….”
What is this situation?
He’d only stepped out to grab his bag, and somehow the number of people had increased.
“Oh, you’re back?”
Dawoon spoke as if she were the room’s owner and Sihyeon the guest. Sihyeon shifted his gaze to Jihye beside her. As their eyes met, Jihye gave an awkward grin.
One, two, three, four… six, seven. Including himself, that made eight.
No matter how spacious a four-person dorm room was, it wasn’t meant for eight people. Staring at Dawoon with half-lidded eyes, Sihyeon let out a sigh.
Thinking about it, there were eight of them crammed together in class anyway—what difference did it make? It was a kind of resignation.
“When did you get here?”
“Just a bit ago.”
“How’d you know?”
“Kang Haeun said on Friday that you guys were doing something fun and told us to come.”
“…Ha.”
He’d inserted himself uninvited and even went around inviting others. Shooting a glare at the main culprit who had turned his study session with Haru into an entire Class A gathering, Sihyeon saw Haeun flash a V sign with a bright grin.
He clearly had no idea what the problem was.
“Hmm, if we’re making you uncomfortable, should we leave?”
“It’s fine. You’re already here. It’s just two more people added to six—it’s not even noticeable.”
In truth, it was very noticeable. But knowing Jihye would feel bad if he said that, Sihyeon brushed it off and walked over to Haru, who had been waiting for him.
Haru stood there awkwardly, squeezed among the six others. Even without seeing it firsthand, Sihyeon could imagine how flustered he must have been as the group kept growing.
Sitting down, Sihyeon placed the workbook and textbooks he’d brought onto the round table. It was impressive they’d even managed to get a table big enough for this many people.
“For now, let’s each study on our own, and if there’s something we don’t understand, we can ask each other. Hyung, you too—if there’s something you don’t know, ask me.”
“What, what? Sihyeon, are you good at studying?”
“Judging by your attitude in class, Yoo Seowoo looks like he’d be good at studying too. Ask him.”
Ignoring him and answering something unrelated, Sihyeon opened his book as Haeun pouted in complaint. Since it wasn’t the first or second time he’d sulked, Sihyeon didn’t react.
Hesitating, Haru slowly leaned closer toward Sihyeon. Tap. His shoulder lightly touched Sihyeon’s. At the small contact, Sihyeon turned his head.
“Um… Sihyeon.”
“Yeah.”
“…If I don’t understand anything.”
“…Yeah?”
“…What should I do?”
“…Yeah?”
Blinking blankly, Sihyeon tried to piece together what Haru meant. “Really?” he asked—and Haru nodded. When asked how much he didn’t understand, Haru replied that he didn’t even know that.
After a few more exchanges, Sihyeon was finally able to gauge his level.
Even though he took notes diligently, it turned out he didn’t understand anything except memorization.
“…It’s your first time, so that makes sense.”
“…Mm.”
“I’ll just teach you. Let’s start with Korean.”
Haru had grown up in a lab. He’d said he’d never studied properly before, so in hindsight, it was only natural. As Sihyeon reached for the Korean textbook, he briefly wondered if it would be better to completely give up on teaching math—
“I’ve got a lot I don’t understand too, Sihyeon.”
“…If it’s okay, me too.”
“Oh! Then me too! Me too! I want to join!”
The voices interrupted just as Haru’s study session was about to begin.
Seowoo started it, Geonwoo followed, and even Haeun expressed his desire to join. Geonwoo was understandable—he slept through class every day—but Seowoo and Haeun didn’t seem like they’d have much they didn’t know. As Sihyeon eyed them suspiciously, Hamin—who had been sitting there the whole time, chin propped on his hand, looking uninterested—let out a scoff.
“What a load of bullshit.”
Hamin’s blunt insult confirmed Sihyeon’s suspicions. Just as Sihyeon was about to scold Seowoo and Haeun for messing around, Dawoon’s low voice cut in.
“That’s strange.”
“…Huh?”
At Dawoon’s remark—who had been quietly observing Sihyeon the whole time—everyone turned to look at her. Holding a pen, Dawoon tapped the table with its tip. The intermittent sound echoed in the space as Sihyeon met her brown eyes.
A bad feeling crept over him.
A short silence passed before Dawoon continued.
“You weren’t someone who had the brains to teach others, were you?”
Kang Sihyeon.
At Dawoon’s precise call-out, all eyes turned to Sihyeon.
This… was not something he had expected.
