“Ugh, what is all this?”
Exactly 10 minutes later, I put down my pen and leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling.
My eyes met Red’s, who was flapping her wings above my head, watching me study.
“No, this can’t torment me.”
[Doesn’t look like it. Your face is grim!]
Bishap was sitting quietly on the bed, but Red was being mischievous.
When I sighed, Bishap immediately flew over, smacked Red with her tail, and said, [You shouldn’t interfere. Come here quickly.]
[Ow! Why did you hit me!]
Red didn’t seem to intend to quietly follow Bishap.
Red, who was so well-behaved in the dungeon, strangely became a troublemaker outside of it.
[Master! She hit me.]
[You hit first!]
My head throbbed.
I wanted to tell both of them to go into the shadows, but I wasn’t going to study for long, so it felt awkward to put them away, so I thought of another method.
“Sahin. Quiet them down a bit.”
I called Sahin, who had been sitting on the bed watching a drama on my phone.
Stone was too big to summon into the cramped room, but Sahin occasionally came out like this to enjoy dramas or movies.
As soon as I called, Sahin put down the phone, stood up, and walked toward the desk.
[You heard me, right? If you’re not quiet, I’ll drag you inside.]
It was a threat, knowing they much preferred being outside to being in the shadows.
The threat worked perfectly, and the room instantly fell silent.
Sahin grabbed Red and Bishap by their tails and led them to sit on the bed.
The two, who had been bickering earlier, still hadn’t reconciled, sitting with pouting faces turned away from each other.
Seeing them sitting with legs much shorter than their main bodies, they looked cute.
I picked up my pen again to try and concentrate on studying and glared at the textbook.
It must have been something I learned in class, but it felt unfamiliar, like seeing it for the first time.
As expected, my concentration didn’t last long this time either.
‘How on earth does Yeon Ha-yeon manage to study like that?’
Admiration surged as I recalled her concentrating on studying anytime, anywhere, whether during breaks or lunch.
Knock-knock- I was blankly staring at the textbook when I heard a knock.
“Is your studying going well?”
Mom came in carrying a tray with fruit.
As soon as the knock sounded, Sahin, Bishap, and Red swiftly hid themselves.
Mom placed the tray on my desk and sat where Sahin had been sitting a moment ago, saying, “You weren’t bad at studying before, you know? Do you know how worried I was when your grades suddenly dropped after the gates opened?”
I had nothing to say in response, so I just kept my mouth shut and listened quietly to Mom.
I knew that before I possessed this body, Dana had maintained a mid-range academic performance.
Since my grades suddenly dropped to the lower-middle range after I possessed her, it was understandable for her to be worried.
“Dad’s right. Don’t you think good grades are important first? I trust you’ll get at least average grades this final exam.”
It might be better if you didn’t trust that…
It was a big problem, with only about a week left until the final exams.
As soon as Mom left, I fell into deep thought.
‘How do I raise my grades?’
No matter how much I thought about it, no brilliant idea came to mind.
Studying for a week might lead to better grades than the midterms, but how could I know how to study if I’d never done it?
Simply attending classes was enough to get me average to below-average grades, so I hadn’t really felt the need to study beyond that.
‘Should I ask Yeon Ha-yeon to teach me?’
My grades would definitely go up, but I felt this wasn’t the right approach.
I couldn’t steal time from a friend who was so busy with her own studies that she even used bathroom breaks efficiently.
‘It would be better to ask someone who studies well enough but isn’t overly concerned with grades.’
Friends who didn’t study diligently were quickly narrowed down to three: Ban Eun-hyeol, Han Ji-bin, and Ji Gang-han.
Eun Ba-da was an exception because she had been studying competitively hard since she became Yeon Ha-yeon’s partner.
Han Ji-bin was definitely the best person to ask.
Among the three, only Han Ji-bin would kindly teach me.
‘Okay, I’ll ask tomorrow!’
I decided to ask Han Ji-bin to teach me as soon as I went to school on Monday.
***
In conclusion, learning from Han Ji-bin was a failure.
“I’m not good at teaching others. Dana, I’m sorry!”
Han Ji-bin, who had turned to look at me sitting blankly, apologized again.
“No, you have nothing to be sorry about.”
I smiled at Han Ji-bin, who kept apologizing, to show that it was okay.
But the corners of my mouth trembled slightly.
Seeing my poor complexion, Han Ji-bin furrowed her brows and looked between me and Ban Eun-hyeol.
That’s right.
I was currently receiving intensive tutoring for the exam scope from Ban Eun-hyeol.
“The answer comes out like that? Try solving it again.”
I couldn’t make a grim face in front of Ban Eun-hyeol, who was taking the time to teach me.
So, the corners of my mouth, which I had forced up and were trembling, drooped like a wet puppy’s tail at her single remark.
Ban Eun-hyeol, who had watched me ask Han Ji-bin to teach me and then get rejected, stepped forward and offered to teach me herself.
I was a little uneasy, but I thought it would be fine if I could raise my grades even a little.
After all, it seemed like a good idea to at least raise my grades from lower-middle to middle.
‘But… I didn’t expect her to teach like this.’
I fell into contemplation, re-checking the part Ban Eun-hyeol had just pointed out.
Ban Eun-hyeol taught me the most efficient study method to raise my grades in a short week.
That much was good.
But I hadn’t expected him to supervise me so closely and teach me in such a Spartan manner.
Thanks to the close supervision in class, the rumor that Ban Eun-hyeol was teaching me spread quickly.
The Four Heavenly Kings’ followers, who seemed to have barely accepted my existence, glared at me with eyes burning with jealousy.
By now, I was used to such stares, so it was fine, but I couldn’t properly concentrate with Ban Eun-hyeol stuck so close to me, teaching me.
My arm kept bumping his, which was incredibly distracting.
“Okay. Let’s move on to the next section.”
As soon as I barely got the problems right for the section I learned from Ban Eun-hyeol today, I had to move on to the next section without a break.
It was unavoidable since time was short.
Throughout the weekdays, I was practically inseparable from Ban Eun-hyeol.
At least when school was over and I went home, I had some free time, but I couldn’t just play around.
It was because of the immense amount of homework he’d given me.
I couldn’t tolerate being insincere after asking for help, so I cut down on sleep to finish the assignments.
After a week of this ordeal, time flew by, and soon it was Friday’s dismissal time.
I felt a sense of liberation and eagerly awaited the homeroom teacher’s dismissal to end.
Since I wouldn’t be at school over the weekend, seeing Ban Eun-hyeol was also on hold until Monday.
“I trust our class will definitely come in first. Everyone, study hard over the weekend.”
Finally, dismissal ended. I quickly packed my bag and was about to get up.
Just then, a thunderbolt of a suggestion came from beside me.
“Let’s meet separately to study on the weekend. Come to my place.”
“Huh?”
“Why, were you planning to play around a bit this weekend?”
“No? Of course, I was going to study.”
Damn it. I had been planning to take it easy on studying.
I denied it, feeling like he’d hit a nerve, but Ban Eun-hyeol didn’t seem to believe me.
“I’ll send you the address; it’s best if you come early in the morning.”
“Don’t you sleep in?”
“Not tomorrow, I won’t be.”
Han Ji-bin, who had been excitedly watching our conversation, raised his hand and shouted.
“Me too! I want to go to Eun-hyeol’s place to study too!”
“Why, when you have your own house?”
He seemed to want to study with us, but Han Ji-bin puffed out his cheeks and grumbled at Ban Eun-hyeol’s sharp refusal.
“I want to study with Dana too. And I haven’t been to Eun-hyeol’s house in a long time.”
Ban Eun-hyeol watched Han Ji-bin grumble without any change in expression, then pressed his hands against Han Ji-bin’s cheeks and said, “I’m calling her because she needs supervision. You can do it alone.”
“Right. You study with me.”
“Really? Then can I go to your house?”
Ji Gang-han, who had interjected, nodded readily.
Although it was a meeting for studying, Han Ji-bin, who now had weekend plans, smiled brightly as if he had never grumbled.
“Let’s just all get together and study!”
“No.”
Studying together was much better than just me and Ban Eun-hyeol studying alone at his house.
But my suggestion was quickly dismissed.
“It’s good when many people study together, isn’t it? Don’t you think?”
I didn’t give up and suggested it one more time.
Han Ji-bin, who had just been saying he wanted to study together, glanced at Ban Eun-hyeol, then whispered in my ear.
“Eun-hyeol is scary, so I can’t…”
“What?”
“No! I’m going to study with Gang-han. Hehe.”
Han Ji-bin, who deliberately let out a bright laugh, hurriedly left the classroom, saying goodbye until next week.
I didn’t lose hope.
Ji Gang-han seemed to notice my gaze, looked at me briefly, then looked at Ban Eun-hyeol and said, “Study hard with Ban Eun-hyeol. Have a good weekend.”
It was a refusal.
As Ji Gang-han also left, I unconsciously turned around.
Eun Ba-da and Yeon Ha-yeon, who had packed their backpacks until they were bulging with textbooks, were slinging them over their shoulders simultaneously.
‘No, not them.’
My instincts rejected them at the sight of their eyes burning with passion for studying.
Just then, my phone, which was in my pocket, vibrated.
The address Ban Eun-hyeol had sent was clearly displayed on the phone screen.
“If you don’t come, I’ll come pick you up.”
“Uh, yeah.”
In the end, I had no choice but to answer, swallowing my tears.
When I wished for the weekend to come, time seemed to crawl, but when I asked it to slow down, how quickly it approached.
The dawn of the much-anticipated Saturday arrived.