Chapter 9

"A perfect score"

Na Ri looked at the clock on her phone for the hundredth time, whereafter she held her hand in front of her mouth as she let out a yawn. She was surrounded by people. People who all looked just as - or even more tired than Na Ri did. But even still, they were all here because no matter how warm and welcoming their bed and blanket felt, money didn't just grow on trees.

As time slowly passed by, more people filled the platform and during normal circumstances, Na Ri would've had a lot of trouble breathing by now, but not today. Today she was having trouble just staying awake. Her eyelids felt heavy and she kept yawning every second minute, starting to feel annoyed at herself, but at the same time too tired to do anything about it.

Finally, the train arrived and Na Ri took a step forward, but she was almost knocked over by the other commuters. In the end she was still able to get inside the train, but with a pulse twice as high as before.

The only thing positive about missing the early train and standing amidst the many people were that she wouldn't have to see Namjoon. Even if she had to see him during her lecture, she just needed a minute by herself this morning. Just a little while of peace and quiet, to collect her thoughts before a new day, before a new week would unfold.

"Good morning, Song Na Ri-ssi."

Na Ri nearly had a heart attack when she heard someone call out her name just as she was in the middle of another big yawn, and she turned her face to see exactly who she feared it was.

"Oh, someone isn't quite awake I see," Namjoon said and chuckled quietly, "I guess you had trouble getting out bed this morning as well, since we're both taking the late train today."

Na Ri didn't say anything but just kept looking at Namjoon who looked back at her with such a calm and gentle look. It was only then Na Ri realized she hadn't lowered her gaze and she quickly looked away.

"You know, I promised myself that the first thing I'd do when I saw you again was to thank you," Namjoon said and Na Ri gulped, knowing exactly where he was headed with his sentence, "so I'll do that now. Thank you, for the food and the medicine. It really helped me."

Na Ri looked up, trying to at least show some curtesy, but she wasn't able to keep her eyes on him for long before she could feel her throat closing up.

"You... you're welcome..." Na Ri said while keeping her eyes focused on her shoes.

As Namjoon felt satisfied with Na Ri's reply, there was nothing but silence between them for a while and Na Ri's heart was slowly becoming calm again and her body was able to relax.

The train ride felt longer than usual and Na Ri was having trouble staying awake, the buildings passing by outside the window only serving as a beautiful scenery to drift off to. Although she was able to keep her eyes open, her constant yawning was something she couldn't do anything about. 

When it came to her fifth yawn since the beginning of the train ride, Namjoon couldn't hold himself back anymore and he said:

"You seem distant today, did you not sleep well last night?" Na Ri was startled by the sudden approach and it seem to wake her up completely.

"No I... well..." Na Ri started and shifted her eyes to look at Namjoon, but when she was met by those hazel brown eyes again, she suddenly felt her heart racing and she quickly looked away, unable to finish her sentence.

"Is something wrong?" Namjoon asked but he only got a head shake as a response, while Na Ri made sure he wasn't able to make eye contact with her. But when Namjoon let out a sigh, she couldn't help but steal a glance, to find out if she was the reason for his sigh.

"And here I thought we had gotten just a little bit closer since that night," Namjoon said and Na Ri's eyes shot up in horror.

"L... let's not talk about... that night!" Na Ri said in a stuttering but still pretty firm voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I was just hoping things wouldn't have to be awkward between us," Namjoon said and waited for some kind of response but when he didn't get it, he continued, "are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," Na Ri said as she thought a nod wouldn't be enough to convince him.

"Really?" Namjoon said again, "because if something is wrong then-"

Namjoon was cut off when the doors opened and Na Ri fled the scene and disappeared in the midst of the many other commuters.

It wasn't until Na Ri was outside the train station she realized that she was practically running and she stopped for a minute to get her heart to calm down. She made sure she stood in a place not easily noticed since Namjoon probably would exit the train station soon. While Na Ri took a break and focused on her breathing, she quickly applied the hand sanitizer on both her hands.

After putting the hand sanitizer back in her bag, she looked around to make sure Namjoon wasn't in sight and then began the journey towards the University. As she kept putting one foot in front of the other, her anxiety grew with the speed of light and she started putting together a plan to put her mind more at ease.

Get inside. 

Move past the crowd of students. 

Get to the auditorium. 

Find my seat. 

Get through the lecture.

Get through the day.

She had a plan, a perfect plan that she would do anything to follow, but it was crushed into bits and pieces the minute she stepped through the doors and noticed the silhouette of a short brown haired girl leaning against the wall like she was waiting for someone.

"Na Ri-ya!" Min Ji yelled out and Na Ri stopped in her tracks, "good morning!"

"Good morning," Na Ri said and started walking forward again, but Min Ji just followed along next to her.

"Let's walk together, the first class is Professor Kim's anyway." Na Ri didn't accept but she didn't decline either and just hoped that they would be able to quietly walk to the class together.

"Oh Min Ji-ya, good morning!" Na Ri looked up and saw the tall candy-loving boy running towards them in the crowd.

"Oh Taehyung-a, good morning," Min Ji said, "did you leave Jungkook behind today?"

"No he's right behind-" Taehyung turned around but stopped talking when he realized he was all alone, "I guess he had something to do."

"Oh is that-"

"I'm right here you doofus!" Jungkook said as she ran up to the group, "thanks for leaving me behind back there."

"What does it matter, you're here now," Taehyung said and swung his arm around Jungkook's shoulder, "now let's go to class. The sooner we get this day started, the sooner it'll end."

"Such positive energy you have, Taehyung-a," Min Ji said with a raised brow.

"Hey it's Monday. Everyone hates Mondays," Taehyung said while they all walked together, Na Ri staying in the back of the group, "I bet even a top student like Na Ri-ssi hates Mondays." Everyone turned they heads and looked at Na Ri who just stopped walking and shifted her eyes between the three friends.

"So," Min Ji said with a smile, "is he right?" Na Ri just shrugged her shoulders, not knowing how to respond elsewise.

"Bah..." Taehyung said, "she hates Mondays she just doesn't want to say it out loud or it'll ruin her image of the perfect top student."

"Don't put words in her mouth," Jungkook said before they all started walking again.

"Alright alright," Taehyung then said.

When they finally entered the auditorium, they weren't early like Na Ri normally was and her usual spot in the far right corner was already taken. Her eyes were already searching for the second best spot but she didn't search for long before Min Ji grabbed her hand and looked her deep in the eyes.

"Come sit with us," she said and when she saw the fear in Na Ri's eyes she made sure to sound even more gentle as she continued, "please."

Na Ri gave a quick nod and tried to smile as she followed Min Ji to sit next to Jungkook and Taehyung. 

While the others kept talking, Na Ri started taking out her notebooks and textbooks, her highlighters and her pens and pencils, only until she realized she was taking up more space than she had available. She really wasn't used to sitting next to others.

"S... sorry!" Na Ri said as she started gathering her things while Taehyung just looked at all the stuff in awe.

"Woah you really are no joke," he said and took a closer look, "but please, feel free to take up more space, I mostly follow in my textbook and write stuff on post-it's so I don't need a lot of space."

Na Ri looked at Taehyung, trying to figure out if it really was okay of her to use his side of the table, but his calm look gave her some sort of confirmation.

"Thank you," Na Ri said a bit hesitant but then suddenly, her eyes lit up like a fire and she bend down to grab something from her bag, "here," she said and handed a candy bar to Taehyung.

"Woah! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Taehyung said and didn't hesitate for even a second before accepting it, "I knew I did well in sitting next to you today."

Na Ri flashed him a quick smile before turning her head to the books again, and she didn't even notice how Min Ji was watching them from the background, her smile reaching all the way up to her ears after seeing how well they got along.

"So, are you nervous about getting back the assignment?" Jungkook suddenly asked Min Ji and Na Ri's eyes shot up again. She had completely forgotten that they were getting it back today.

"No, I did my best on it so I'm satisfied with myself," Min Ji said while looking as calm as ever.

"I'm a little nervous though. I don't think I did very well on this one," Jungkook then said but Min Ji quickly added;

"No don't be nervous, I'm sure you did just fine."

"Well no matter how great any of you did I think we all know that no one can beat 'Little Miss A' over here," Taehyung said and pointed at Na Ri who hadn't been able to follow the conversation since her insides were screaming and drowning out almost every other sound.

"W...what?" Na Ri said and looked at Taehyung.

"No I'm just saying you have nothing to worry about," Taehyung added, "I mean, you always do great, right?"

"Taehyung-a, just because you are a top student, that doesn't mean you can't be nervous," Min Ji said and sent him a glare.

"Alright I understand!" Taehyung said and threw his hand up in the air in defeat, "I was only trying to be nice."

"Well..." Min Ji said, "try harder."

"Good morning everyone!" The voice of their well articulated and punctual professor filled the auditorium, and everyone turned their eyes to him, ready to follow along in the lecture of the day.

The minutes felt like hours and the hours felt like days while Na Ri waited for the class to finish so she could finally put and end to her suffering, and it sent a wave of relief through her body when she heard the bell ring loud and clear.

"I guess that's all for today," Namjoon said and closed his book, "don't forget to pick up your assignment on your way out."

The students were all rushing to pack up their things so they could get to the desk where Namjoon gladly handed out the graded assignments.

Na Ri stood with her bag swung over one shoulder, patiently waiting for the students to leave the auditorium.

"Song Na Ri-ssi," Namjoon said when Na Ri finally reached his desk, "here's your assignment. You did a great job." 

Na Ri already felt better after hearing those words and gladly accepted the paper, but when her eyes fell on the grade, she froze.

"Hey Na Ri-ya," Min Ji said after coming up from behind, "how did it go? I got a 88% on my paper."

Na Ri didn't say a single thing but just stared at the red numbers written on the paper, no sound able to leave her mouth. Min Ji took the freedom to stretch her legs and look over Na Ri's shoulder, getting a quick glance of her grade.

"Wow, you did so well and way better than I did!" Min Ji said and gave Na Ri an encouraging pad on her shoulder, "but you do work really hard and-" Min Ji never got to finish her sentence as Na Ri just walked off without showing any sign that she had even noticed Min Ji's appearance.

"Professor Kim..." Na Ri said in a low voice, while following behind Namjoon who was on his way to the teacher's office, but the many students in the hallway made too much noise for him to be able to hear Na Ri.

"Professor... Professor Kim!" Na Ri said louder and when there was still no response she ran up to him and blocked his way before shouting out; "Professor Kim!"

Namjoon looked shocked when he saw Na Ri standing in front of him, holding onto the assignment for her dear life. She was clenching it so hard it was getting all crumbled up and it made it impossible for Namjoon to not see how much she was shaking.

"Na Ri-ssi!" Namjoon said, still in shock, "what is wrong?"

"Why... why..." Na Ri stuttered, not knowing how to even say they words out loud without breaking apart, "why did you give me this score?"

"What do you mean?" Namjoon said in confusion, "You got 95% It's a great score, one you should be very proud of."

"What did I do wrong?" Na Ri asked, not seeming even the least bit satisfied with his answer.

"You didn't do anything wrong-"

"Then why didn't I get 100%?" Na Ri said before Namjoon could even finish his sentence.

"Well..." Namjoon said and gestured for Na Ri to move a bit to the side where there weren't as many people around, "as I said, you didn't do anything wrong but... there was just something missing."

"S...something missing?" Na Ri asked in a fragile voice while she tried to remain calm.

"Yes, something was missing. I mean, you explained everything well and you were very detailed, but where do I find you in this assignment?"

"I... I don't think I understand," Na Ri said and was starting to get restless.

"Song Na Ri-ssi, this isn't like making a math assignment where there's a problem and an answer. It's way more complex than that. There's not one definite correct answer, but you wrote it like there is. You never showed where your stand in all this is. Even when you explain your opinion on it, you just mention the pros and cons, but I never found out what your thoughts on it was."

"Then let me do it again," Na Ri said in desperation, "just tell me what to change and I'll change it!"

"But that's it, I can't tell you what to change."

"BUT YOU HAVE TO!" Na Ri yelled and fire lit up in her eyes, "you... you have to let me do the assignment again... you have to!"

"Woah take it easy," Namjoon said and tried to get her to calm down, "even if you didn't get 100% it's still a great score and maybe next time you'll get 100%."

"Maybe..." Na Ri whispered to herself.

"I'm sorry," Namjoon said and moved a bit closer, "what did you say?"

But Na Ri didn't reply, she didn't look at Namjoon, in fact she didn't look at anything anymore. Her eyes wavered and her limbs became numb and made her drop the paper that was all crumbled from her clenching fist. Her heart rate increased and so did her breathing. Her vision became blurry, before everything turned completely white. She felt something. It felt like a hand on her shoulder, but she was already too far away to comprehend anything besides her heavy breathing and head that felt as cold as ice.

She felt something again. Something on both her shoulders and more aggressive than before, like someone was shaking her, but she couldn't speak. The sounds were all too blurry, but she thought she was able to piece it together into a sentence. A name.

"Na Ri."

"Na Ri say something!"

Namjoon looked at Na Ri who still stared into the nothing, but then she suddenly lifted her eyes and looked directly at him before opening her mouth, taking in a deep breath and said:

"Great... isn't perfect."

And then everything turned black.

ACT 1 END

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter which marked the ending of Act 1 - The introduction, and therefor we will now enter Act 2 which is the longest Act. It will be filled with a lot of emotional rollercoasters plus some fluff attacks here and there so I hope you're ready!

But before we move on, remember to leave a comment down below.

Love, Annalise~