# Chapter 51
Even though I told him he didn’t have to, Maeng Moa gladly drove me all the way into my apartment complex. I said he could just drop me off at the main gate, but he was insistent.
“Thanks. This was good too.”
“Yes. Take care going in.”
It felt unnecessarily awkward since the elevator was just a few steps away.
In my hands, I held not just the hot dog but also the drinks he’d packed separately for me. I stuck my face through the open door to thank Song Jihoon, then casually waved to Maeng Moa. When he nodded and gestured for me to go inside, I couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“Okay. I’m going.”
As I turned away with my final goodbye, I heard him say he’d see me later. It stirred a strange feeling in me.
In the elevator, I sucked down the cold drink until my chest tingled. I felt better than expected. Not that I was particularly enjoying myself, but still.
In any case, I definitely felt lighter as I entered my apartment. Perhaps because it wasn’t a common occurrence, but whenever someone acknowledged my taste, I felt momentarily at ease.
I threw away the now-empty cup and changed into comfortable clothes. I’d just arrived home, but I planned to go out for some exercise before it got too dark. It felt strange, since for the past few days I’d come home, showered immediately, and sat down to study. But now it was time to implement a different plan.
* * *
Before Moon Seoheon and I could even enter the classroom through the hallway, my steps halted at the chaotic atmosphere.
“Oh? Hey, Yoon Taeho is here!”
A student who had been peeking at the classroom doorway spotted me and shouted loudly. Being suddenly pointed at was startling enough, but the situation became bewildering when students swarmed around me like a hive of bees.
Their reaction was even more frenzied than when they had rushed over after hearing I’d succeeded at the special meal challenge twice. I froze in place, just standing there blankly.
Before I could even ask what was happening, students grabbed my arms and dragged me into the classroom. As I was pulled along, I glanced back at Moon Seoheon, who was quietly following behind.
I sent him a look asking what this was all about, and if he knew anything, but he just tilted his head. He didn’t know either. Well, what could he know when he’d arrived with me? Still, seeing his relaxed attitude helped me calm down too.
“What’s all this about?”
Curious despite myself, I looked around at my classmates while speaking, and then they released my arms right in front of the bulletin board we’d just reached.
“Hey, how did you manage this?”
“Did you get some special tutoring or something?”
Thinking these were strange questions, a thought suddenly occurred to me, and I quickly examined the bulletin board. Without having to look around much, my eyes caught a new paper prominently posted next to the class announcements.
I inwardly sighed as soon as I saw it. On the crisp handout that hadn’t been there yesterday, names were listed from first to last place. It was the result of the monthly evaluation.
It showed the Class ranking, overall school ranking, class ranking, total score, and scores for each subject in order.
[Class 1 Yoon Taeho ✰✰✰ 61 6 424 93 82 84 79 86]
I checked my name on the sixth line with an expressionless gaze. I felt relieved that my efforts hadn’t been in vain. Unlike me, the students crowding around on both sides were shaking me vigorously.
“Hey, how did you get such good grades?”
“6th place? That doesn’t make sense!”
Feeling my head spinning, I quickly tapped the hands of the student holding me. When he let go and stepped back, the noisy crowd quieted down a bit.
In that moment, I briefly looked at the back of the room, which was eerily silent compared to the rowdy students in front. Students sitting at their desks with their heads down had clearly not done well on the test.
All of them staring blankly at their desks, devoid of energy, didn’t match the vibrancy one would expect from students their age. It was pitiful to see, but I didn’t need to concern myself too much with it.
However, it was quite shocking to see a ranking chart from first to last place casually posted on the bulletin board the day after the monthly evaluation.
I’d heard that grades would be made public, but I never imagined they would be displayed so openly, and I felt a tightness in my throat. Wondering if they always publicized grades like this, I calmly said to the students who were still making a fuss:
“Aren’t you all bothered by this?”
“By what?”
“By having rankings made public like this.”
At that, the students looked at me as if they couldn’t understand what I was talking about.
“They do this every month, what’s the big deal?”
“Why are you acting humble when you did so well?”
“More importantly, are these really your grades?”
I glanced at the name tags of the students speaking, checking the badges attached below. They were mostly Middle Class students with five stars. Unlike the students in the back, they seemed cheerful, probably because they’d done well, or perhaps because it didn’t matter much to them even if they hadn’t.
Of course, being at the top of the rankings, they probably wouldn’t have done poorly anyway. I responded halfheartedly to the students who kept asking how I studied.
“How did I study? I just solved workbooks, organized my notes, and memorized everything.”
“What, that’s it?”
“Yoon Taeho saying something like this? Has the sun risen from the west?”
Regardless of their reactions, I checked the ranking chart again and found myself skimming through how other students had performed. My eyes went there involuntarily, even though I didn’t want to look. There was one person in particular I wanted to check.
[Class 1 Moon Seoheon ✰✰✰✰ 193 22 286 48 87 57 63 31]
I took a deep breath when I saw Moon Seoheon’s name further down the list. As expected, it was ambiguous whether his grades could be called good, and I felt strange. I thought grades shouldn’t matter for someone athletic like him, but feeling his presence approach from the side, I pretended not to have seen anything out of awkwardness.
Moon Seoheon stared at the ranking chart with an indifferent expression, then turned his head toward me.
With no words spoken, I glanced at his face and saw surprise there. His eyes, which already gave a strong impression, were wide open.
I chewed the inside of my lip, then quickly turned away. I pushed through the crowd and sat down at my desk. The students who had been making a fuss also began to shuffle back to their seats, following quietly behind Moon Seoheon.
That didn’t mean it became quiet, though. Amidst the noisy classroom filled with chattering students, a low voice whispered near my ear.
“We can do seat selection quickly this time.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
My heart skipped a beat when he didn’t say anything about the grades when I thought he might. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved that he was letting it go.
I just fiddled with the bag I’d placed on the desk. Neither of us opened our textbooks; we just sat quietly. There was no reason to unpack since we’d be changing seats soon.
There were only about 5 minutes left until the time when the homeroom teacher had asked us to come. The students who had mostly arrived all looked at the ranking chart first, then either placed their hands on their chests as if relieved or sat down with pale faces.
We would be changing seats now, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be determined simply by drawing lots.
Based on what Moon Seoheon had said, it seemed seat selection was related to rankings. It was somewhat unexpected that we were suddenly changing seats.
Although I had pretended to know when Moon Seoheon mentioned it, I felt anxious because I didn’t know what would happen. I wondered how the seating arrangement would work if it was really based on rankings.
Could I finally distance myself from Moon Seoheon this time? Being able to become closer to him was because we sat next to each other, but if we were separated, I wouldn’t have to worry about The Four barging in.
Though Moon Seoheon still made me uncomfortable, I felt we had become somewhat closer lately. If we ended up sitting apart, I could maintain a proper distance. So this seat change was a big opportunity for me.
“Everyone quiet!”
The door opened and the homeroom teacher entered. Before changing seats, there was an explanation about the monthly evaluation results, and my name came up.
“Yoon Taeho’s ranking is based on the retest results. He took a newly created test fairly, so be aware of that. His original result was 8th place.”
Even the teacher seemed bewildered as he looked at me with an awkward expression. Students began to stir at the teacher’s words. I touched my forehead, not sure whether to be happy about my surprisingly good results. The piercing gazes felt uncomfortable.
“Quiet down, and if you don’t want to be embarrassed, study hard and escape from the lower classes. You’ve just witnessed an example that it can be done if you try.”
While I had achieved a good score, my Class ranking hadn’t increased. I didn’t meet the requirements. Moreover, seeing the students quiet down at the teacher’s words made me feel bad.
Why say something like that? It just makes them feel intimidated.
The teacher continued speaking, and soon the seat change began. As expected, seats were assigned based on rankings, with students choosing where they wanted to sit. Those who were friends were already discussing sitting together.
Everyone stood up and moved to the corner. While students were selecting seats in order of ranking, Moon Seoheon, who was standing next to me, spoke.
“This time, I should go to your side.”
“What?”
“Last month, you came and sat next to me.”
Not knowing what to say, I kept my mouth shut.
“Even if you say you sat next to me because you had no choice as the last person, you seemed happy about it, so I was happy too.”
At those words, a deflating sound escaped my lips.
Yoon Taeho, so you were in last place last month. I couldn’t manage my expression.
Setting aside the claim that Yoon Taeho was happy sitting next to Moon Seoheon—let’s assume that was part of some scheme—did it mean that no one sat next to Moon Seoheon until the very end?
Only then did I immediately understand, remembering the main characters who came looking for him at every opportunity. If even I don’t want to sit with him now, other students probably feel the same way.
I swallowed dryly and, still clinging to hope, managed to say:
“…We don’t know if someone will sit next to me first.”
My turn was coming up soon. I adjusted my bag strap and scanned the empty seats, wondering which would be best. I wanted to sit somewhere as inconspicuous as possible.
“Being left alone until the end doesn’t feel great.”
Amidst my confusion, Moon Seoheon answered my comment as if it wasn’t a big deal. And his additional remark left me standing still, even though my turn had come.
“So this time, I’ll go to the seat next to you.”
The embarrassing expression made the back of my neck prickle. I was about to say he didn’t need to do that, when the homeroom teacher called my name. As I turned my attention to the now-quiet classroom atmosphere, I saw all the students staring at us.
