Warfare Augmented Intelligent Frame Unit
Chapter 124 – Playing It Cool

Chapter 124 - Playing It Cool

Today is the day—the day we face the final boss of the school year. 

And no, I’m not talking about some monstrous, fire-breathing Cosmic Beast from another reality. I’m talking about the real deal: Final Written Exams. When I say “today,” I mean the entire cursed week ahead of us—an academic gauntlet we students affectionately call Hell Week.

Everyone knows the drill. Hell Week is pure punishment wrapped in paper and ink. It’s not like the weekly practicals where at least something happens. No explosions. No experiments. No drama. Just hours of staring at book pages, eyes glazed, souls slowly leaving our bodies. But I’m not complaining—my practical grades this finals are trash anyway.

The days blur into one another, caught in a mind-numbing loop: wake up, eat a sad excuse for breakfast, drag yourself to the exam hall, survive the test, crawl to the library, study until your brain throbs, eat dinner in silence, then collapse into bed. Rinse and repeat. It’s a boring, soul-crushing cycle we’ve all learned to endure. And it doesn’t let up—not until Friday, the grand finale. The final boss of final bosses: Advanced Calculus.

Doctor Remus—our unholy gatekeeper—has a reputation. He’s the reason first-year students cry in stairwells and rethink their life choices. It’s almost comical how this seemingly pointless subject has become the downfall of so many bright minds. That’s exactly why Myrrh, my ever-diligent classmate, treated her review for this subject like a military operation.

Thankfully, my WAIFU partner, Fei, is a beast when it comes to written exams. Her specialty. And I’m no slouch either. Together, we tore through the tests like seasoned raid party members. The monotonous rhythm of the week continued, pages turning, pens scribbling, nights getting shorter—until we finally stood at the end of the line, battle-worn but ready.

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The university bell rang—loud, metallic, and liberating. It echoed through the halls like a warhorn announcing the end of a long, bloody battle. The Final Exams were over.

As soon as we submitted our papers, the proctor silently exited the room without so much as a word, leaving behind an atmosphere heavy with exhaustion and muted celebration. A collective sigh escaped from the classroom, a strange mix of relief and lingering anxiety.

“Haaah…” I heard my WAIFU partner, Fei, exhale beside me, the kind of sigh that felt like it came from her soul. When she caught me looking, she turned and gave me a soft smile, the kind that sparkled with tired pride.

“Finals is finally over,” she whispered, almost like she didn’t believe it herself.

“We can finally breathe.” I smiled back, my shoulders relaxing for the first time in days.

She hesitated a moment, then turned to me more directly. “Hey, Zaft… um, how many items are you sure about?”

“Thirty-eight out of fifty,” I said after a short pause. “You?”

Fei’s face brightened. “I think around forty! The passing score’s seventy-five. So if we combine our scores, that’s seventy-eight. If teamwork counted, we’d pass for sure!”

“Good work.” I grinned and held out a fist. “I’m really glad you were my partner for these exams.”

“M-Me too!” she stammered, blushing slightly as she bumped her fist against mine. “It’s nice being your WAIFU, Zaft. I… I’m sorry if I didn’t meet your expectations in the practical exams. But I tried to make it up to you during the written ones. Also, um… sorry again about the whole… tteokbokki incident. I know it kind of threw off our rhythm.”

“Tteokbokki?” I tilted my head, puzzled—until it clicked. 

Our little code word for something far more chaotic: terrorism.

“Oh, right. That.” I chuckled dryly. “Don’t worry about it. Everything’s fine now. The storm’s passed. We can finally take it easy.”

“Speaking of tteokbokki, now I’m craving some,” Fei said, placing a hand over her stomach with an exaggerated groan. She gave me a sly, wry smile. “How about we grab a bite? You, me, Myrrh, and Neil.”

“Sure,” I replied casually, trying to play it cool even though I knew where this was going.

Fei lit up like a light bulb. “Awesome! That makes it a double date! I’ll even help you confess your feelings to Myrr—”

Before she could finish that treacherous sentence, I lunged forward and clamped my hand over her mouth.

“Shut it! Myrrh’s coming this way!” I hissed in a panic.

Fei’s eyes widened as her muffled voice squealed beneath my palm. “Mmmph! Mmmph!”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Myrrh approaching—calm, composed, and walking right into the danger zone of this conversation. I tightened my grip on Fei's mouth to make sure she didn't accidentally spill the most humiliating truth of my life.

“Don’t. You. Dare,” I whispered urgently, glaring at Fei. Her skin turned a pale bluish tint, and she frantically nodded. That’s when I realized—oh crap—I was accidentally suffocating her.

I quickly pulled my hand away. “Sorry,” I muttered.

Fei gasped for air like she just survived drowning.

Just then, Myrrh stepped into the scene, her presence like a gentle breeze after a storm.

“Haaah…” she sighed wearily as she reached our table, her long hair swaying slightly with each step. The exhaustion in her eyes told me everything I needed to know: Advanced Calculus had drained her soul.

I, on the other hand, was still burning red in the face. The second she looked at me, I went stiff like a malfunctioning android.

Trying to smooth things over, Fei straightened up and flashed her usual sunshine smile. “Oh, hey, Myrrh! How’d Advanced Calculus go?” she asked in a chirpy, way-too-normal voice that tried to cover the chaos from seconds ago.

“Terrible,” Myrrh muttered, plopping herself down on the bench beside us. “I honestly don’t know if I’ll pass or not. Even Kian said he wasn’t sure about that exam.” She sounded genuinely defeated, her voice trailing off like the last breath of someone who had just fought a losing battle.

“You shouldn’t worry too much, Myrrh! Cheer up!” Fei beamed, ever the cheerleader of our group. “Zaft tutored you for days, didn’t he? He practically lived and breathed Advanced Calculus for your sake!”

Myrrh placed her hands on her hips and let out a small laugh, her lips curling into a smile as she glanced between the two of us. “I guess I should be more confident, huh…”

“Hey,” I grumbled, leaning back with a fake scowl, “if you flunk Advanced Calculus after all that, it’s on you. I already emptied my brain teaching you everything I know.”

“Fine, fine, Professor Zaft,” Myrrh replied in a teasing singsong voice, giving me a mock bow. “I guess I owe you one.”

Fei’s eyes lit up like she had been waiting for this cue all along. She raised her index finger like she was about to give a grand revelation. “Um, hey, Myrrh… how about you owe him one date?”

There was a split-second pause—and then, as if a switch was flipped, Myrrh’s face turned pink.

“O-One date?” she stammered, blinking rapidly.

I wasn’t immune either. The heat rushed to my cheeks, and I had to look away for a moment. It wasn’t like the idea was foreign to us—“owing dates” was kind of a running joke between Myrrh and me. What caught us off guard was Fei, boldly suggesting it out loud, completely unaware of our little history.

Trying to save face, I leaned on the table and rested my cheek against my hand, feigning nonchalance. “Oh yeah, that’s right. You still owe me three dates from before. Better prepare your wallet. Again.”

Myrrh pouted in flustered defeat, while Fei blinked in surprise, realizing she may have stumbled onto something juicier than she expected.

Myrrh stared at me with those piercing blue eyes of hers, unblinking and unreadable. Her lips quivered—trembling in a zigzag motion, as if unsure how to shape the words she was about to say.

“F-Fine,” she muttered at last. “But… nothing too grand, okay? I’m saving up for a space shuttle ticket. Planning to head back to Earth this break.”

I blinked. The words didn’t register at first. Back to Earth? That caught me off guard. Just months ago, she had firmly said there was nothing for her there—no family, no home, not even a couch to crash on.

The smile I had carefully painted on my face cracked.

And then it hit me. Like a sharp splinter driven through the chest—I remembered my recent chat with Ephraim.

Myrrh’s ex.

My breath caught. My spine turned ice cold. My chest tightened with a quiet kind of panic that didn’t show on the outside but screamed in my lungs.

Is she… going back to see him?

Fei, blissfully unaware of the silent war unfolding inside me, clapped her hands together like she had just finalized a dream vacation. “Yay! Then it’s a double date! I’ll go tell Neil!”

She spun around, looking toward Neil’s usual seat—only to find it empty.

“Huh? Wait… where’s Neil?” she asked with a puzzled frown.

“I noticed him earlier,” Myrrh said, her voice softer now. “His face looked really pale. He left the classroom right after the proctor walked out. Kinda looked like he was about to throw up, honestly.”

The worry in her tone pulled me back to reality.

Without thinking, I pushed myself up from the bench. “I’ll go look for him.”

I didn’t wait for a reply. The WAIFUs said nothing as I strode toward the door, my thoughts a haze of questions and sinking doubt. My footsteps echoed outside the classroom, swallowed quickly by the sterile corridor.

I left behind the laughter, the blushes, and the awkward flirting—all drowned out by one lingering, suffocating thought:

Is Myrrh going to meet up with Ephraim?

I thought the end of Final Exams would bring peace. But no—the moment one weight lifted, another settled on my shoulders. Now, a different anxiety gnawed at my mind: Why is Myrrh going back to Earth during break?

Still, that question had to wait. First, I had to check on Neil.

My legs moved on instinct, my thoughts too noisy to give directions. Before I knew it, I was already at the restroom door. I pushed it open, and there he was—Neil—leaning against the lavatory sink.

His reflection met mine in the mirror. I froze.

Crimson roots pulsed faintly beneath the skin of his neck like veins corrupted by something unnatural. They weren’t spreading, but they definitely weren’t fading either. What alarmed me more, though, was the blood-soaked handkerchief he held—pink fabric stained deep red.

“Oh, Zaft.” Neil spotted me through the mirror. He gave a casual nod, then quickly wiped his nose and tossed the handkerchief into the trash beside him with practiced discretion. When he turned around, he had already slipped on his usual smile—tired, but intact. “What’s up?”

I tried to match his energy, pretending I didn’t just see evidence of something seriously wrong. “Myrrh and Fei are asking for a double date,” I said lightly. “You in?”

Neil gave a small laugh, a sound too hollow to be genuine. “Sure,” he said, leaning on my shoulder in that overly familiar way, as if nothing in the world was wrong. “So? Are you finally going to confess, huh? Huh?”

I forced a chuckle in return. "Shush."

The truth was obvious between us: we both sucked at pretending.

He masked his pain behind that teasing grin, and I tried to bury my growing panic beneath a thin layer of humor. We were two guys wearing broken smiles—both too stubborn to ask for help, too proud to admit we needed it.

We have to play it cool.

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