8 Triumph
1 month later:
"What happens to ionisation energy as you go down a group of elements?" Taeyeon demanded with razor sharp eyes.
"Ionisation energy decreases as the atomic radius increases and it becomes easier to discharge an electron," Taehyung answered fluently.
Taeyeon nodded and moved on to another area of science.
"Here is an NMR spectrum, draw the molecule."
This one took a while longer to answer, but he managed it. He passed over his molecule drawing for her inspection. She looked over it and nodded.
"Well done," Taeyeon said. "I think you're ready for the exams."
It had been the longest month of his life. He went to meet his real family at night, went to school during the day and Taeyeon tutored him when he got home from school. It was the most schoolwork and exam preparation he had ever done to date.
Had it paid off?
The most obvious payoff was the fact that he could answer any of the questions fired at him no matter the technical difficulty.
He just needed to match the mark scheme of the exam. Taeyeon had explained to him what the examiners would be looking for in precise detail so he had more confidence that he could do well.
"Do you think I could rank in the top five?" he asked softly.
Taeyeon glanced at him over her sheet of questions with an expression he couldn't decipher.
"Depends," she answered cryptically.
***
Taehyung sat down at his desk at school with trepidation. Today was the first day of his end of year exams. If he didn't get into the top five, all would be wasted. They would have to find a new approach.
Suga had held his hand just before he'd left the night before and told him he could only do his best and that he wouldn't hate him for not succeeding.
The younger members of the Bulletproof Boy Scouts had made him a key ring which was now on his bag.
RM had given him a brotherly hug and Jin had said his face alone was enough of a good luck charm. Considering how vain Jin was about his own face, Taehyung knew that meant a lot from Jin. J-Hope had settled for a good luck dance.
The exam officer began passing out the exam sheets and Taehyung spent the minute before the first exam making sure he was calm. He wrote his name on the front and tried to control his breathing.
"Your time starts now," the leading exam officer at the front of the room stated.
Taehyung opened the question paper and read through the questions first like his stepsister had advised. The good news was that he knew he could answer all of them, the less sure part was the time limit. His handwriting was never neat when he was in a rush.
He took in a calming breath and let it out before starting to write. The words to write came to him easily and he breezed through the writing. By the end of the two hours he didn't feel anywhere near as bad as he usually did at the end of an exam.
That was Literature out of the way.
The Mathematics paper was reassuringly easier as he had previously had a good grasp on algebra. The exam seemed to pass by quickly because of that.
The afternoon started with the Science paper. Taehyung didn't like the look of a structural question and left it until the end. He knew there was a trick in it somewhere.
He found it in the last minute of the exam and scrawled down an answer. He hoped it would be legible to whoever marked his exam.
The final exam of the day was History, the government approved version. Taehyung had a feeling their version of history wasn't quite correct, but today he was here to get in the top five, not make a point.
He finished the last line of his five page essay with a line straight out of their propaganda and a compliment about Bang Si Hyuk. It was four exams down and two more to go.
***
Taeyeon was the first person he saw when he returned home. She was sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of raspberry sorbet, looking like she had been anticipating his return.
"Was everything answerable?" she asked.
"It was," Taehyung confirmed.
"Good," Taeyeon commented and gestured to her sorbet. "Would you like some?"
Taehyung blinked. His stepsister had never shared her food or offered to get him anything. She must really like him for her to start offering him food.
"Please," he replied.
Taeyeon stood up and pulled out the container from the freezer and a bowl from their stepmother's vast collection of crockery. It was handmade and patterned with orchids painted in gold paint.
"Would you like gold leaf on it?" she asked. "Mother said that luxury sorbet must be with eaten gold leaf."
All Taehyung could think of was what Suga would say if he heard this conversation.
"...Did you eat with gold leaf?" was his eventual response.
"There's no point," she replied and handed him his bowl.
He sat down at the table and took a bite. As expected it was mouthwatering and he needed the hydration and coolness after a day of exams.
"Thanks," he said. "For everything."
Taeyeon smirked. "Don't thank me yet. You still have a day of exams left and you don't even have your results yet."
She had a point there. Taehyung smiled.
"I meant for the sorbet."
Her smirk didn't fade. "You look like you needed it. I'll get you something even better tomorrow."
Taehyung wondered what that could be. Taeyeon was still surprising him. At least he had something to look forward at the end of day. He was dreading the last exam for a good reason.
***
The second day of exams had its challenges. He had never been good at the creative arts apart from drama and that wasn't part of the exam. One of the exam tasks had been to write a story that advocated the blood type segregation and hit all marking criteria.
That had been a struggle to write. Everytime he felt like giving up and throwing in the towel, he thought about his mission and how much he wanted to improve the lives of his other family. He was doing this for them. He eventually managed to hammer out a story that went on about how wonderful Type ABs were and how handsome Bang Si Hyuk was.
The final exam was a physical exam which he hadn't been looking for. All the late nights and stress had made him quite tired mentally and physically. What he did have to help him was a sugary energy drink Taeyeon had put into his water bottle.
He managed the mile run on adrenaline and sugar and came in tenth place. That wasn't the most reassuring placing for their plan, but he knew that the people that placed higher were better athletes than they were scholars.
Taehyung knew he had a chance at placing in the top five overall and he went home with a lighter heart.
What was waiting for him at home was a selection of cupcakes on the dining room table. Each had been decorated with a hangul character and spelt out 'Good Work Taehyung'. From the messy outlines of each fondant character he knew it had been handmade and he could guess who had done it.
"I spent my afternoon making these," a voice behind him said. "You'd better have done well today."
He turned around to see Tayeon behind him. Her normally perfectly arranged hair was a little frazzled and she was wearing an apron streaked with cocoa powder.
"Thank you for your help, noona," he said sincerely.
"You'd better taste them first," she warned. "You might not want to thank me then."
Taehyung had sampled many sweet delicacies over his lifetime and they had all been expensive and fairly delicious. The homemade cupcakes put them all to shame and he ended up eating half of them before he realised how much he had eaten.
"They're wonderful," he told her and wiped his mouth.
"You'd better get into the top five to make my work worth it," she said warningly.
Taehyung's stomach turned at the thought of finding out he wasn't in the top five. He would have disappointed a lot more people than his stepsister.
***
"You said you would get your results today…" RM said and trailed off.
The implications were clear, but Taehyung remained silent with a poker face.
"Just tell us," Suga ordered.
Instead of speaking Taehyung pushed over the letter that he had been given by his teacher. RM opened it silently and turned it away so Jungkook couldn't read it over his shoulder.
"What did he get?" Jimin asked worriedly.
"I came in second," Taehyung announced triumphantly. "I've also been invited on a school trip to the government office. It's all gone to plan."
