Chapter 200: A preview of their upcoming days

[Cortez Household]

"Nina?" Yuri slowed down on the stairs when she saw Nina seated right outside her room. She and Yugi furrowed their brows, watching Nina look up at them. "What are you doing outside your room with your door open?"

Yugi snorted. "Don’t tell me you can’t take your room anymore? So, you’d rather stay out of your room?"

"Mhm." Nina nodded and didn’t deny it, making Yugi frown. However, Yuri was more open-minded than her brother.

"Nina, is there’s something wrong?"

Nina shook her head and smiled at her. "Everything is okay."

"Then, why are you here...?" Yuri’s eyes glossed over to the notes and study materials on the floor with Nina. "Are you studying outside? Can’t study inside?"

"I can, but I just want to study outside my room." Nina turned her head to the open door of her room, her lips curling up. "I’m looking at it so I can remind myself of what I’m going to focus on in the summer."

"Huh?" Yuri’s brows rose while Nina looked back at her. "I saw a glimpse of your room and Yugi’s. Compared to mine, they look cute. I want to make my room aesthetically pleasing to the eye. So I’m taking a good look at it before that."

Was it a surprise?

It would be a lie if Yuri said she wasn’t. However, hearing this from Nina brought this bubble of excitement to her heart.

"Nina, that’s a great idea!" said Yuri, jumping to Nina’s side. "Do you know that our rooms look like that at first?"

Surprise washed over Nina’s face. "Really?"

"Mhm!"

"Hah! Yuri, don’t lie!" Yugi snorted. "What do you mean, it looks like her room? I would love to have her room if this was before! Her room is ten times better than ours years ago!"

The corners of Yuri’s lips stretched. "Well, Yugi is right. Our rooms before are just one with a divider."

Nina slowly furrowed her brows, a little surprised at this. "You didn’t have rooms before?"

"We’re really struggling back then. Thanks to Penny, we sort of resolved our financial problems," Yuri chuckled. "But well, even when we had our rooms, it’s bare at first. Yugi, Penny, and I have to save up our allowances to make them as it is."

"Ohh..." Nina’s lips formed an o-shape. "How long did you save up?"

"For a year or maybe a year and a few more months. We had to do some side gigs too, so that helped us a lot." Yuri grinned proudly. "We can start slow, Nina. If you need anything, Yugi and I will help you!"

Nina pursed her lips as reluctance shone in her eyes. Seeing this, Yuri’s excited grin faded.

"Right." Yuri awkwardly chuckled. "I’m sorry. You might not want help. I got a little excited and got ahead of myself."

"Ah, no, it’s not like that." Nina panicked. "I’m just a little embarrassed, but if you are willing to help me, then I’d love to. I really need it."

Slowly, Yuri’s lips stretched from ear to ear until her eyes squinted. "Of course! Yugi and I can help with this one!"

"What? Me? No way I’m helping that girl!" Yugi refused adamantly, only to see Yuri give him a quick death glare before she smiled like an angel again.

"That’s his means of saying yes," Yuri chuckled, facing Nina again. "Then we now have a plan for our summer break! I’ll let Mom know, so she doesn’t think of anything else."

"Mhm!" Nina nodded and set her attention back to the open door of her bedroom. She could already imagine how busy her summer break would be this year.

"Anyway, Nina, how’s your exam?"

Yuri’s question stole Nina’s attention.

"Well." Thinking about it, she couldn’t help but smile. "It’s bad."

"Huh?"

"The questions in the exams are very hard and I got too little time to study," explained Nina, sparing them the shameful details of why she couldn’t review properly before the exam. One reason was because of the bullying, but the main reason was because Nina spent a lot of energy scheming behind Penny.

It only proved that it was truly a loss.

Yuri hummed and pressed her lips. "Do you need a study buddy?"

"Hmm?"

"It’s also our exam week," explained Yuri. "Even though we’re not really pressured to hit high grades, we also do not want to be bottom feeders. Don’t worry. Penny usually studies with me in the past. Or more like, she often makes me ask questions, and she answers them. Do you want to give that a try?"

For a moment, Nina could only stare at Yuri and felt a little bitter in her heart. Initially, she didn’t like Yuri and often thought the latter was jealous of her. Turned out Yuri was a very considerate person. Nina felt ashamed.

"Yes," Nina whispered with a smile. "If you don’t mind, then I’ll take you up on your offer."

"Hehe. No problem." Yuri smiled back at her warmly.

While the two exchanged warm and appreciative smiles, they heard Yugi’s door slam closed. They flinched and intuitively set their eyes on Yugi’s bedroom.

"Is he angry?" Nina frowned slightly, but before she could even suggest to Yuri to change the plan, Yuri spoke.

"Did he think I’d ask him to study with us?" Yuri clicked her tongue and glared at the door. "As if. Asking him to study as a group will only hold everyone down."

She shook her head and faced Nina. "Don’t mind him. He probably thinks we’ll need his help."

"What do you mean, need his help?" Nina’s words escaped her mouth before she knew it.

"Oh, you don’t know?" Yuri chuckled. "Yugi is actually in our class’s top ranking!"

Surprise once again took over Nina’s face, in disbelief at what she heard. Or did she hear her incorrectly?

"It doesn’t look like it, but Penny beat him with books and lessons when we were younger." Yuri chuckled, not surprised at Nina’s reaction because Yugi didn’t look smart. Nothing about Yugi’s face looked smart — in Yuri’s eyes. "And by beating him with books and lessons, I mean Penny drags him with her when she needs to study."

It wasn’t just Yugi, but Yuri as well. There were even times when Jessa and their father, Lester, had to study with Penny. After all, Penny joined a lot of academic competitions.

"Anyway, let me take a look at your lessons."

Nina nodded and welcomed Yuri into this session with an open heart.

And this was how it was in the Cortez Household at the start of the final exam and also a preview of their upcoming days.

It may not be as chaotic as the one that the Bennets had, but it was definitely a lot more peaceful than before.