Gold | Park Sunghoon

14

"Hey, don't cry! If anything, you should be proud of yourself! You told me that your training was more rigorous and that you barely got to study, right? So, you should be proud of yourself for still getting a high ranking," he told her with a smile. He mouthed a little 'fighting' to her, changing her frown into a smile in a few seconds.

"Now," he interrupted her train of thoughts to talk about something else, which felt good to Jangmi. She just didn't want to talk about her grades at the moment, and Beomgyu took notice in it quickly. "To lighten the mood, I finally heard the music teacher meow!" Although it was nonsensical, at least Jangmi was distracted. 

"People made that up, Beomgyu! She doesn't meow!"

"Yes, she does! I was walking behind her this morning when she dropped the music sheets and meowed! She really meows, Jangmi! It's so weird," he said before imitating the sound of a high-pitched kitten-like meow. The girl laughed before the adviser called the class' attention to tell them that he was leaving.

Once their homeroom adviser left, Jangmi's acquaintance smiled at her teasingly and started to meow again. After succumbing to him, she rolled her eyes and started to snicker at him. "Why would she even meow?"

"Right? That's also my question!"

---

When lunch time came, Sunoo ran to Jangmi's table quickly. She was fixing her things when her best friend clung his arm around hers. "Did you get fifth place?" He asked her, concern laced in her voice. All the girl did was sigh and nod.

Sunoo knew how much of a perfectionist his best friend was. He remembered all the times Jangmi would beat herself up over a score of 95/100. Although he would try to reassure her that it was still a really good score, she always thought otherwise. She would tell herself to work harder the next time, and it broke his heart to see his best friend overworking all the time. 

When he heard the news from his seatmate, who said she overheard her and Beomgyu's conversation, his mouth dropped. He couldn't imagine how much more Jangmi would beat herself up for it. But now she seemed okay? He would like to think that it was a good thing, though.

"Yeah, unexpected. But, I should still be happy about my results," Jangmi told Sunoo with a bittersweet smile and tone. "My training schedule was more rigorous, and I wasn't able to study much so—"

"But you still got fifth place! High five!" Sunoo interrupted her and raised his hand. His assumption of his best friend being okay with her score was slightly correct. Jangmi did the same and gave him the high five. "Congratulations, Jangmi! I'm proud of you!" The girl smiled and clapped alongside him.

"Thank you, Sunoo!"

A part of her still blamed herself for not being able to study much, but she did the best she could even if her schedule became stricter and longer. She even remembered falling asleep on the floor once because she was studying for a test. It wasn't until the early in the morning when Jay had woken her up for school.

Still, it was the best she could do.

Her arm clung around her best friend's, making her move closer to him. "Anyways! What rank did you get?" He instantly scratched the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly.  "I don't think I should tell you..." His voice faded, making Jangmi confused. It was highly unlikely for him to get a low ranking, but did he?

"C'mon! I'm your best friend and you want to keep this a secret from me? I'm offended," she whined jokingly as she removed her arm from his, which made him grab her arm and place it back.  "No! Fine, I'll tell you," he said before breathing deeply.

"I got third place."

Jangmi's eyes widened as she heard the news and squealed. She jumped up and down in excitement. "Really? Congratulations, Sunoo! I'm so proud of you," she said in a high-pitched tone.