pied piper

47 | Jeongguk

Once and for all, all of the noise coming from all around me ceased to an end but simply faded into white noise. I took a deep breath, my heartbeat rising and falling from the rushing adrenalin when Jungkook twirled me around, careful in his actions with minimal skin-contact, looking into my eyes with so much trust and adoration that it automatically inflated my chest, "You got it, my bug."

"I'm not a bug!" I whined but he smirked, pointing at the competitors taking their places and making me realize he just had disappeared all my apprehension into thin air.

Here goes nothing.

"Which Apollo moon mission was the first to carry a lunar rover?"

I smiled at the easy start, my nerves calming a little as I pushed the perked up switch to turn on the microphone, my smile widening as I answered the question in one precise sentence.

"Apollo 15"

"Right! 4 points to Jeonsan high!"

I watched the boy at the section beside mine scowl, the same loser who was shamelessly ogling at my boyfriend. It was now his turn and my eyebrows furrowed once hearing the question that he had received.

"What is the heaviest organ in the human body?"

That was a second grade question!

What the—

This went on for a while, all the questions getting relatively tougher for the subsequent rounds all the while his questions remained the same, as if dropping towards a kindergartner.

"An angle measuring 60 degrees is measured as 62 degrees. What is the percentage error correct to 3 significant figures?"

I blinked, the gears of my mind moving but rushing to grab for the answer. Since there was no paper around, I had to do it all mentally but that's exactly where I lacked. Mental math was my lacking point.

No options were provided for the questions but only the chance of a hint— which would undeniably not only deduct half the points but more if the answer turns out to be wrong.

I sighed, a few seconds already having passed while everyone stared at me, thus adding fuel to my growing anxiety. "3.23%?" I breathed, really reluctant and did my heart throb violently when the questioner frowned, responding with sad sympathizing eyes as he shook his head, screeching a loud "Wrong!" in the microphone.

"I'm afraid the answer is 3.33%, Miss."

My heart dropped and I couldn't help but uncomfortably shift my attention to Jungkook who was sitting amongst the crowd, his soft eyes looking back at me all while I stood there drowning in a puddle of my embarrassment. Okay, it was just a question!

Don't beat yourself over a single question. You're much more than just that, Y/n.

5 rounds passed in a whirlwind and I stared at the scoreboard, my teeth gritting upon seeing myself in second place, the first position easily going to the jerk beside me.

Hello? Who tf asks what's the capital of Australia after asking me the name of the first man-made satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957?!

25- Summer valley

20- Jeonsa high

There was a short break before the second round of the quiz had to start and I couldn't be more thankful. The relief, however, was short-lived as my gaze fell over my teacher nearing me, dread piling up inside of me seeing his pristine features getting close. He rolled up his sleeves but urged me to sit beside him, passing me a bottle of water which I took with a slow mutter of thanks, gulping down the cool liquid immediately.