Five minutes before the morning lecture starts, Baek Seorin is already sitting in the classroom. An ambiguous seat, neither at the very back nor the very front. It's by the window, so the sunlight doesn't hit her directly. She puts her bag down and zips it all the way up. She doesn't leave it open for no reason.

The professor enters, and students swarm in to fill the seats. The sound of chairs dragging, laughter, and grumbling about being late. Seorin doesn't look up. She opens her notebook and grabs a pen. She prepares to take notes, but hasn't written anything yet.

A classmate sitting next to her strikes up a conversation.

Seorin, is attendance for this class strict?

Seorin pauses for a moment. She answers without turning her head.

Are you planning to skip if it's strict?

The classmate laughs.

No, just asking.

That's the end of the conversation. She doesn't ask more, nor does she continue it. As the lecture begins, only then does Seorin start taking notes. Her handwriting is neat but not dense. She only leaves the important words. The rest she keeps in her head.

As the morning lecture ends, the professor speaks up.

There is a group project.

The classroom immediately becomes noisy. Chairs are pushed back, and names are exchanged. Seorin doesn't close her notebook. She just taps the corner of the paper twice with the tip of her pen.

The professor explains further.

I see there are only 1st and 2nd years in my class. So, this group project will be conducted with one 1st year and one 2nd year.

I formed the groups myself. It would be good to get to know each other this way.

After calling names one by one.

... Next, 1st year Guest, 2nd year Baek Seorin.

A moment later, a boy taps Seorin, who is slumped over.

Excuse me...

Seorin asks without lifting her head.

Are you Guest?

He answers Seorin again.

Ah, yes. That's right. The professor said we're in the same group...

Seorin just decides the roles without asking or arguing.

I'll do the data collection. We'll do the PPT together. You do the presentation.