07 | "We can't get along for once?"

The two tests sit in front of me. Both of them wear a proud smile, one that the teacher curved a little higher for the sake of her sanity. One hundred. Both of them were hundreds. My hands slam on the desk, comparing the two to see if there's a flaw to be found on his test. Heeseung is as baffled as I am, searching the paper with a soft grip on his in case I wanted to rip it to shreds. How could we have gotten the same score?

"There's nothing," Heeseung sighs in disappointment. "We got the same score. There's no way to find the flaws if there are none."

"I swear there's one. It just depends on who got it wrong," I bite my lip in anger, my eyes switching almost immediately at a question I was confused at. It's funny, however, because, on a question that I hesitated on and erased my answers, he did the same. I guess we think alike sometimes. Before I could turn the page, Heeseung grabbed my wrist, stopping my focus on the tests. "Heeseung."

"Hayoon," He warns, taking back his paper before I continue to stress over it. "I know you want to get back at me for it all, but enough already. We have the same answers. We solve it the same way."

"But the way you solve the problems is quite similar to mine," For a solution that can piss him off, I click my tongue. "I'm starting to think you've cheated off of me, Vice President Lee."

And I was right. It does. "Now, Hayoon, you can accuse me of anything else, but don't try to BS me," He scoffs, hands on his hips. His words are genuine, swift when they leave his lips, but I can't let him catch a break.  "I didn't cheat. I don't know why that's the only thing you think of when we get the same score."

"I don't know how this happens Heeseung other than that you cheated off of me somehow. Did you see my notes? Did I not block you out of my sight enough?" I question while Heeseung just laughs hopelessly at my words. "Look here–" I point to the question that we both erased. "–We got the same answer the first time and then we erased it. What more is there to say?"

"I didn't cheat!" He grits his teeth, looking up at the ceiling for an inch of sovereignty over me. It won't work. I know his tricks and I've seen them before. The past can only repeat itself. "What's going on in your head that you think I'm cheating-"

"It's because any test we've had in the past has ended up with you taking first place or me. Even when your feelings faltered, there was a clear winner!" I complain, mocking his posture by putting my hands on my hips. "There's no reason for us to tie somehow. It's disrespectful to me."

He's baffled, eyes wide at my words. "Disrespectful? Hayoon, what's disrespectful about getting a tie for once? Why are you so keen on winning all the time!?"

I fell silent, his hand slowly leaving my wrist. "We can't get along for once?" Heeseung whispers, obviously hurt. "Why?"

"Why?" I restate, scoffing. "Because we just don't, Heeseung. Why? Does that bother you?"

And as if my emotions weren't conveyed to him enough, he crumples his test. It was a show of feeling–more than anything, pain–and I chose to pretend like it didn't affect me more than it already did. Throwing his 100 to the ground, all he does is breathe heavily. I stand quietly in his presence, waiting for him to say something.

"You're so immature, Hayoon," He scowls, inhaling sharply before letting go of a frustrated exhale. "You are really... really... immature."

I can't tell what had happened that made my stomach drop, whether it was caused by his crumbled test right by my feet or that he might've cared enough to finally let our grudge go. My hands fight against each other as they sit right in front of my stomach, trying to hold back the butterflies in my stomach that scream for freedom. They no longer want to fly.

And I-

I think I no longer want to fight.

"This is so exhausting, Prez!" Sunoo groans, threading the red and white string through the banner as Heeseung sits quietly. I awkwardly itch the nape of my neck, blinking quickly to distract myself from staring at the quiet Vice President. Sunoo sits in distress although he isn't even sweating, I won't mistake his emotional hard work for physical work. "Can't we switch?"

"I have to set up the columns since uh..." Trailing off, I beckon to the rest of the student council, all of which sit on the other side of the lobby decorating and giggling amongst themselves. We were the true outsiders, and although it should've only been me, at least Sunoo and Heeseung stuck to their words. (Even though I feel Heeseung is only here because he's in our group, not for anything else.) "You get the message. I have to put up the ladder later, so-"

"Ah, Prez," Sunoo whines, placing his hands together. Heeseung looks up for a moment, only glancing at Sunoo, before going back down to decorating the banners with stencils and pretty letters. "My hands hurt so much and I keep getting pricked by this darn needle! Can't we switch, even for a-"

Heeseung suddenly grabs the needle and the thread from Sunoo's hands, startling him. I watched in interest, Heeseung's dull eyes soon starting to glare at him. That's probably due to Sunoo's mediocre whining, as per usual.

"Move over."

Sunoo obliges instantly, picking up the stray paintbrush and immediately resuming what Heeseung did. Heeseung doesn't make another peep after that and threads the string with no complaints despite getting pricked a few times. It's nice to have silence when everyone else is loud.

I don't want to force anybody to talk to me, so once the two are done with the banner, I make two passersby hold it from its hangers and begin to tie it to the upper railings. While they do that, I'd make sure the banner is equally hung, my feet making shaky steps as I hold on tight to the ladder. Once I got to the top, it became silent, and I could hear brief murmurs that were unintelligible.

"Could you move that to the right a little bit? Yes, exactly like that, thank you," As one fixes it, I place the last few bits of decoration with the little bits of glue Sunoo stuck on before we hang it. If only I could move back on this ladder, I think it would've looked stunning.

"Hey, Prez, catch!"

Hearing the sound of my title, I briefly turn- but knowing there's no other way to go but down, my foot misses the step, and seeing nothing being thrown in the air, the milliseconds I'm still at my peak I become confused. The feeling ends as soon as it comes, however, because due to stupid-

Ahem. Sorry, I shouldn't say that fifteen to twenty feet in the air.

Because of my council members, My body falls back, and I'm just as good as an object going freefall. Okay, awkward moment, let's think about this for a second. Just for a second!

What if I die, guys?

Yo... will my spine just... fold? Like how do free-falling humans even work? Should I break my legs instead or will gravity keep me in this position? Will I become an asteroid, formed like a ball? It's only a few seconds, but god, this falling thing... It feels like minutes. Maybe because my eyes are closed. Wait, am I still falling? I don't feel the air anymore.

Oh god, I died?! Already?! I haven't even gotten to college, damn it. I was just joking with the heavens when I made that 'What if', so-

"Hayoon!?" The urgency in the male's voice wakes me up, and as arms shake me softly, I look around. Sunoo is stunned, knees buckling while his arm is the only thing keeping him from collapsing. If Sunoo is over there, then... "Hayoon, are you okay? Hayoon, say something!"

"Huh?" I whisper, turning to the man cradling me in his arms. He seems to have fallen trying to catch me, but he's relieved that I've said something. At closer inspection, it's Heeseung. Maybe my near-death experience clouded my vision the first time. I didn't know he was the one holding me. "I'm okay. Did you catch me?"

Heeseung ignores my question, beginning to stand up. I wobble in his grasp, but he holds me tight to his chest. "You all never LEARN, do you?" Heeseung begins to yell, and while it stuns the council crowd, it makes my eardrums ache. "Sure, you can have your opinions- but trying to KILL someone?! ARE YOU CRAZY?"

"We didn't mean it like that..."

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! YOU ALMOST KILLED MOON HAYOON!"

"Heeseung, relax," I grab his shoulder comfortingly, wincing the moment his head snaps in my direction. "My ankle hurts, like, a lot. Can't we just reprimand them next time?"

He sighs out of frustration, maybe because he's tired of me butting in. Nevertheless, Heeseung obliges, glaring at the formed crowd. "You're all horrible. You never learn."

And before I could jump in, Heeseung spins around, walking away from them in anger.

What a goddamn day.