HIDDEN

Chapter 32

Mia was a bit dumbfounded because his expression was especially cold.
"I just need your help with a Maths question."

"Go ask someone else."

"If I could, I would have done that by now.... The question is based on what your eighth grade teacher taught you guys."

"I'm busy", he said then faced his books again.

"PLEASE!"

Dale looked up once again because the sudden outburst startled him.

"...It's already Friday and the exam is on Monday. I've been asking for quite some time now. I have no one else I can turn to.... If you want me to say it, I will— please, I really need your help."

Dale saw the desperate look on Mia's face. He let out a sigh then said, "Ten minutes."

"What?" Mia raised her head slightly, trying to understand what he said.

"I'll teach you for ten minutes. That's all the time I have to spare."

Mia's face brightened up. She honestly thought that after all that begging, he would still refuse.

Dale noticed. "Give me the book, so I can take a look at the question."

Mia gave it to him and showed him the question. On seeing it, Dale immediately regretted agreeing to this.

"You know this will probably not come out in the exam", he pointed out.

"You can't be sure. Better safe than sorry, right?"

He let out a sigh then began.
"This question is quite tricky. The mistake people make is that they start solving the equation with the numerator instead of the denominator. From that point, we...."

"I know I was the one that insisted on him teaching me...", Mia thought, "... but now he's actually doing it, it feels weird."

"Hey, are you listening?" he asked as he noticed she wasn't paying attention.

"Oh— yeah."

He seemed unconvinced. "Your wasting your time not mine", he said then continued.

~■~
"Oh I get it now", Mia attempted to solve the question. "I just needed help in the beginning part."

"Don't get ahead of yourself", Dale warned, "We still have four more minutes. People usually get confused when they keep going."

Mia disregarded his words and continued regardless.

"Like— this, right?" she showed him her solution.

"Don't be disappointed if you didn't get it on your first try", he said while glancing through her work. As he glanced through, he had a confused expression on his face. Mia was demoralized.

He finally spoke up, "You... actually got this right."

"(Phew) You scared me for a second.... Like I said before, once you helped me in the beginning part, everything began to fall into place. I'm smarter than I look, you know."

"Hmm. I would have never guessed."

"What?! Are you saying that you thought I was dumb?"

"Considering the fact that you jump into danger without thinking reasonably. Forgive me for implying otherwise."

"Th-that... was just out of curiosity.... Though, you should watch your back. I may just take the first position from you."

"Hmph. That would be interesting."