04 | "We used to be such good friends. It's a shame that time makes such a deep wound."

These days, Heeseung has been looking more tired than normal. Sometimes, he'll be sleeping during our student council meetings and class. On some days, he'd miss class and sleep in the council room by himself, trying to catch up on all the hours he's missed. I find it concerning, but I don't know if Heeseung would want me to care about him in the first place.

If it isn't that serious, then I will use it against him. Today, we just finished our unit test for math. I have every intention of breaking the score and finally getting one win after many months of struggle.

But, if this fatigue is breaking him apart, then I won't count it. If the severity is high, I wouldn't use that against him. Who knows? Maybe he's hurting.

Maybe he deserves it. No, Hayoon, don't say that. Nobody deserves harm. Unless he truly deserves it- No, nobody.

"Alright class," The teacher announces, hands on her hips. "You'll get your test scores if you come by later today. For now, you're allowed to talk amongst yourselves until the lunch bell rings. Then, you may dismiss yourselves. Thank you."

I shoot up, giggling slightly. Raising my hands to the air as a way of stretching, Sunoo strolls over quickly. "So, how was it for you, Prez?"

"It wasn't that hard. I knew all the material, and I can proudly say I didn't struggle," I place my hands on my hips with a proud smile. However, noticing that Heeseung hasn't made his way over to me to pick at my every comment, I turn around. There he was, snoozing his life away. His glasses sit next to him, folded perfectly with the lenses sitting up. I try to not make it too noticeable to Sunoo that I was looking at Heeseung, so I play it off by stretching my hips. "How about you, Sunoo? How do you think you did?"

"I think this was the hardest unit yet, Hayoon," He rubs his brow, obviously stressed. Sunoo groans, remembering something. "On that note, I think I forgot to use the right formula. If the class continues to be this much of a struggle, I'm not sure if I'll pass!"

I shuffle his hair, chuckling. "It's okay, Sunoo. Don't worry about passing. Try your best, and if you need help, I'm here," I reassured, causing him to nod. His smile is as radiant as the sun, but his eyes are elsewhere. Feeling a presence, I turn, and inches from me, a girl my height is already looking at me. I widen my eyes at the surprise, moving back a few steps so that my rear end hits the desk. "Uh... Hello?"

"Hello, Prez!" Oh, a student council member. She sticks out her hand, eyes crinkling happily as her glasses slip down the bridge of her nose. This girl looks familiar, but I can't tell exactly who she reminds me of. It's an uncanny similarity, too. "I want to be friends with you. I'm new here."

Not a student council member. Oh-kay. I slip my hand into her hand despite not knowing her, and once our hands retract, she brings her hands together. I awkwardly chuckle, itching the crown of my head. "We can be friends. What's your name?"

"Yuri. Lee Yuri," The girl smiles beautifully as her teeth portray a magnificent white. "I transferred here from another school, and I heard from my brother that you were the one to go to about this kind of thing."

It's a surprise someone would recommend me with what's going on right now, but, the benefit of the doubt, he probably told her before this event went down. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Yuri. I am Moon Hayoon. We can be friends, of course, and I can show you around once we're both free. Who's your brother?"

"He's irrelevant," Yuri rolls her eyes, beckoning her hand so that he's basically of no thought. Sunoo's eyebrows raise, almost giggling at Yuri's carelessness. "Thank you, Hayoon- Oh. Can I call you that?"

Sunoo is the one to burst first, laughing to himself at the weariness of Yuri about the Council President. I stand awkwardly, unsure of what to say, so I nod. "Yes. You can call me Hayoon. No need to use formalities."

"Awesome!" She grabs my hand one more time. I don't know how I feel about this whole touch thing... maybe because we just met, and I'm not big on showing affection. It's kind of out of the ordinary for me to show this kind of thing. "I'll see you around, Hayoon. Thank you again!"

"Bye...?" I wave, watching her energetic body fly away with a skip. I turn to Sunoo, who's turned red with happiness in his heart. Mind my sarcasm. I hide my face in my palms as Sunoo can only pat my back, unintelligible words spouting from his mouth. "Can't you shut up, Sunoo? She's new here! Yuri was just being kind!"

"Y-Yuri..." He stammers due to his beam. "Are you sure she was being friendly? Or is she in love-"

I slam my palm against Sunoo's mouth, shaking my head as a threat. "Don't you say it," Pausing, Sunoo calms down as he limits himself to air. "Don't you try to make a scene."

Once I let go of him, Sunoo whines. "Oh please, Prez. It's funny that the girl came up to you so quickly. Don't you remember the last time you had such an encounter, you became their friend-nemesis? Of course, if you get what I'm laying down."

"Sadly, I do. Yuri seems nice enough not to become another nemesis among what used to be kindness," I beckon to a still-sleeping Heeseung, who, at the feeling of a duo of stares, opens his eyes. We look away immediately. I look down at my sneakers, clicking them together as a way to balance the silence and the sound. For a moment, I mumble, "I wish things were a little different, though."

Sunoo raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"We used to be such good friends. It's a shame that time makes such a deep wound."

"Maybe it's been time. Like the time you took off school to go abroad, remember?"

I went abroad, but for a different reason. One I hate talking about. My lips quiver for a moment to reciprocate an answer.

"I guess."

Like our teacher had promised, the results were posted outside her door after leaving. The moment the bell rang, I ran to her classroom with Sunoo following close behind me. I get there first with Sunoo trailing behind, huffing and puffing over the long sprint it took to get here. Although I am just as tired, I know where my priorities lie.

Sunoo slowly makes his way over as I search for my name starting from the bottom and my score beside it. "Nobody's going to run as quickly as us. I don't get why you always want to get here first- it won't change the outcome."

"Shut up," I snap, finger following each letter until it reaches mine. Moon Hayoon. I look at the score first. I got a ninety-nine. He definitely won't beat that! And, my suspicions were confirmed:

I was first place.

The victory starts to settle in. It causes a wave of relief to run over me, and my heart's acceleration starts to slow. Sunoo looks for his name after. "Stupid test. I got tenth. I guess that's not too bad, but it's low for my usual rank."

"I. Beat. Him," I whisper in excitement. I turn to Sunoo, laying my hands on his shoulders, and shaking him wild. "I beat Heeseung!"

"O-O-Kay!" But his hand at the moment points to his name. So, I stopped, turning to see what he got. "It's unfortunate for him, though. Look what he got."

I search for his name, then his rank.

Lee Heeseung: 20th place.

His final score? 62%.

My jaw drops, and when I turn around to Sunoo, Heeseung's standing there. We both flinch, moving out of our way for him to check his score. He's limping, taking erratic steps toward the door. I worry for him, but part of me knows it's not my place. We're not friends. Right?

Are we friends?

Do frenemies worry about each other?

After he takes a moment to stare at his name, inhaling it, analyzing it, and being disappointed by it, Heeseung spins to face me.

"Are you finally glad..." He trails off for a moment, eyes fluttering with a weak smile. "That you've won?"

And before I could reply, Heeseung's eyes closed. His body grows stiff before falling, Sunoo gasping as he starts to tilt and fall. My eyes widen when our bodies collide, my arms wrapping around his waist to keep him up.

This isn't fair.

I can't say checkmate.