𝕎𝔸𝕐 𝔹𝔸ℂ𝕂 ℍ𝕆𝕄𝔼 ||𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋||

Chapter - 01

The classroom was silent except for the sound of pencils scratching against paper. The faint scent of eraser shavings filled the air as students focused intently on the math mock exam. Some were chewing their pencils, others tapping their feet anxiously against the floor. The sun streamed in through the window, casting shadows on the students' faces and illuminating the small dust particles floating in the air.

Shin Yeon-hwa sat at her desk, her body tense as she poured over the questions. She could feel her heart racing in her chest as she struggled to recall the various equations and formulas she had spent countless hours studying. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand, trying to focus.

As she worked, her mind kept drifting to the conversation she had with her parents the night before. Her mind was racing, her thoughts scattered and unfocused. She couldn't help but think about her parents and the pressure they put on her to excel in school.

Yeon-hwa had always been the second-best student in her class or maybe her school, and her parents never failed to remind her of that fact. It was always "Why can't you be more like Yeong-hoon?" or "Why can't you be the top student for once?" They've always called her a disappointment and a disgrace to their family.

The pressure had taken a toll on Yeon-hwa, and she had begun to doubt her own abilities. She felt like a failure, and the thought of disappointing her parents yet again filled her with dread.

Yeon-hwa shook her head, trying to push those thoughts aside. She knew she couldn't let her parents' demands distract her from the task at hand. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on the exam in front of her but she couldn't.

She looked around the classroom, taking in the different expressions on her classmates' faces. Some were lost in thought, their brows furrowed in concentration, while others were scribbling furiously, their pencils scratching across the page with frenzied speed. Some were even sleeping, not caring about anything in the world.

Outside, the sky was a brilliant shade of blue, and the strange purple spheres floated lazily in the air. They had appeared out of nowhere and it had already been a year since then. Yeon-hwa couldn't help but sneak a glance out the window every now and then, her eyes drawn to the mysterious orbs like a moth to a flame.

She couldn't shake the feeling that they held some sort of significance, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She was distracted by their mysterious beauty. What were they, exactly? Some kind of weather phenomenon? Or maybe some kind of secret military experiment? Or maybe aliens? She shook her head and forced herself to focus on the exam once again.

As she answered each question, she could feel her confidence growing. She knew this material like the back of her hand, and she was acing every problem with ease. The sound of her pen scratching on the paper was almost soothing, a steady rhythm that she could lose herself in.

The clock on the wall ticked away, the minutes slipping by faster than she would have liked. She checked her work over and over again, determined not to let any careless mistakes slip in. The sound of the other students scribbling furiously around her filled her ears, and the tension in the room was almost suffocating.

As the test wore on, Yeon-hwa's concentration wavered yet again. She found herself daydreaming about what it would be like to finally beat her rival and come in first place. She could imagine the look of pride on her parents' faces and the satisfaction of knowing she had finally achieved what they had always demanded of her.

But then she quickly snapped back to reality, berating herself for losing focus. She had worked too hard for too long to let her mind wander now. She took a deep breath and returned to the exam, determined to do her best.