A whole month passed just like that.
Mugging, mugging and more mugging. Everything was peaceful for a while. Everyone was so busy studying they didn't have time to care about anything else. Everything seemed to be on standstill - Seokjin and Jisoo's relationship, Jimin and Yoojung's awkwardness, Taehyung not knowing what to do around Jungkook and Jieun. The poor guy.
The exams came and went.
It had passed by so fast no one was even ready, but when we're talking about exams, when is anyone ever sufficiently prepared, no?
But apparently some people were, because the results came back a week later.
"Class, quieten down!" Mr Kim yelled, announcing his presence.
Everyone scurried back to their seats.
Mr Kim smiled, holding up a stack of result slips. "Guess what? The results are back."
The class let out a collective groan.
"Before I hand out the result slips, I would like to do a short debrief," Mr Kim looked at the class. "For this exam, the people who usually do well did well and the people who usually don't didn't..." Mr Kim pursed his lips. "But we have some exceptions this time."
The class began talking amongst each other.
"Shh," Mr Kim continued. "Top student in the exam this time is... Hwang Minhyun."
Minhyun beamed.
"Minhyun," Mr Kim smiled. "I'm very proud of you. Please come up and take your results slip."
Minhyun stood up and received his result slip from Mr Kim, his eyes lit up when he saw his grades.
"I'll now announce the top 4 students in class this time," Mr Kim carried on. "Please come to the front and collect your results slip when I call your name. First, I've said it, it's Minhyun. And the next 3 students in no particular order..."
"Ah, it's gonna be Sejeong, Heeyeon, Jisoo. Why bother?"
"Yeah, it's always them. It's kinda boring."
"They're always topping the class. The rest of us have no chance against them."
"Shh," Mr Kim glanced at the few people who were making a ruckus. "Okay. In no particular order... Sejeong... Heeyeon and-"
"Jisoo," The class collectively said.
"Jungkook," Mr Kim beamed proudly.
The class let out a collective gasp, turning to look at Jungkook. Jungkook stood up, looking unfazed.
"I'm proud of you, Jungkook," Mr Kim smiled. "You did well, this time. I mean, you always do well, but congrats on getting into the top 5% in school this time. Yes, our top 4 students got into the top 5% in school. Keep working hard."
Jungkook smiled.
Jieun stared at him, her mouth hanging open. Jungkook... top 5%? He was always good at his grades, but knowing how little he had studied while searching for evidence to help her... he wasn't human.
But what was more alarming was that Jisoo didn't make it. She had always topped the class, according to Yoojung. It was always the four of them, who made it into the top 5% in school - they weren't called the geeks for nothing. But this time it wasn't her.
"Okay," Mr Kim continued. "I'm gonna call you up now one by one, in no particular order..."
The class clapped as each person went forward to get their result slips.
"Kim Jisoo!"
Jieun glanced at Jisoo. Her face was buried in her hands after receiving her results slip - obviously upset. Seokjin looked at her, but didn't say a word.
"Choi Yoojung!"
Yoojung went up nervously, letting out a huge sigh of relief when she looked at her results slip.
"Not bad, Yoojung," Mr Kim smiled at her. "A huge improvement."
"Thank you, sir. At least I can go to prom tonight with good spirits."
Mr Kim laughed. "I'm happy for you, Yoojung."
Yoojung skipped back to her seat happily.
"Kim Taehyung!"
"Kim Seokjin!"
"Park Jimin!"
"Moon Byulyi!"
"Min Yoongi!"
"Jung Hoseok!"
Finally... "Lee Jieun!"
Jieun looked up. She trudged to the front of the class, receiving the results slip with both hands...
"Good job, Lee Jieun," Mr Kim smiled. "A very good first attempt."
Jieun looked down at the slip.
"3.68", it read.
She smiled. 4.0 was the maximum GPA, the top 5% usually got 3.95 and above - Jungkook had gotten 3.95 on the dot - but a GPA above 3.6 was considered good, especially for her first exam. She was satisfied.
"I'm very proud of you," Mr Kim lowered his voice. "For all that you've been through this whole semester... You did amazing."
Jieun smiled. "Thanks, sir."
She walked back to her seat and sat down, staring at her results slip. It was rare for her to feel this happy. She was always used to comparing herself to others, never feeling like she was enough, always striving for perfection.
This was not perfection, but for the first time in her life, she was satisfied.
And satisfaction was an amazing feeling.
"I guess I've really changed."