Ketto thought to himself, Fine. Okay. It's my destiny to meet you. He felt desperate and speechless.
History was a strange subject. If you said it was easy, you wouldn't be entirely wrong—because there were no subjective questions, only objective ones. As everyone knew, subjective questions required writing long answers, memorizing dates, names, and events. Multiple-choice questions were much simpler. That was amazing and good.
But at the same time, even with only multiple-choice questions, you still had to make choices. If you didn't know the answers, it was still awful—you would make errors, and your score would suffer.
In Ketto's opinion, Hanky hadn't studied at all. So whatever score he got, it didn't really matter. What was the big deal? Besides, Ketto thought that the only thing Hanky needed to do was select answers randomly. He didn't even have to think.
But Hanky was lazy. He probably didn't even know the exam format or the question arrangement.
Fortunately, the invigilator for this exam was the history teacher, who was known for being not very strict. So Ketto wouldn't be harshly punished if he got caught. Still, he was nervous.
Ketto was not particularly good at history. That didn't mean he performed badly—it only meant that compared with his other subjects, he did better in math and science. He didn't like memorizing historical events, especially the timelines of each dynasty, the renowned figures, and the famous emperors. He found it dull and boring.
He much preferred math and science. They were more logical. You just needed to understand the concepts, not repeat facts. If you repeated facts without grasping the core ideas, you would still get a bad score.
Ketto was not confident in history.
He wrote each answer slowly, thinking for a while before marking his choice. I hope every answer is right, he thought to himself.
Hanky was bored with nothing to do. He lay on his desk, spinning his pen lazily. His lack of effort caught the invigilator's attention.
The history teacher walked over to Hanky's desk and looked at him. Hanky lifted his head and stared back.
The teacher spoke warmly, "Don't leave any blanks on the sheet."
Hanky shrugged. "I don't know the answers."
The teacher tried again, still kind. "Just read the questions carefully. Maybe you'll remember something. Please try your best."
Hanky shook his head. "No."
The teacher sighed. "Please."
Then he walked away.
Hanky waited for Ketto's answers.
Ketto finished his sheet. He wasn't sure about many of his answers, so he had crossed out and rewritten several times. Some of his bubbles were blurry and hard to read.
When he placed his answer sheet in the usual spot for Hanky to copy, Hanky squinted at it.
"I'm not sure," Hanky whispered. "What's this?"
Ketto looked at him, then checked his own answer. He asked which question, and Hanky pointed with his finger. Ketto answered him one by one, explaining which bubble he had filled.
After answering all of Hanky's questions, Ketto returned to his own sheet and continued working.
The invigilator noticed their quiet conversation. But he didn't seem to think it was serious cheating. He just said, mildly, "Don't chat with each other. And don't copy anyone's answers."
Hanky ignored the warning. He just became more careful.
After he finished copying all of Ketto's answers, he put down his pen and waited for the exam to end. He didn't even pretend to work on his own.
The bell rang. Everyone submitted their papers. The history teacher collected the sheets, piled them neatly, and left the classroom without another word.
Hanky stretched and smiled.
Ketto exhaled deeply. Another exam was over.