Art of Deceit

XI

CHAPTER ELEVEN
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"Hey," Annora whispered from beside me, snapping back to reality. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I looked at her, gaze drooping back to my textbook again.

"You've been staring at your biology textbook for the past hour and it's art class now." She stated and I looked up, slightly surprised.

I quickly put away the textbook, pulling out my notes on art the next second as I stared at the table.

I couldn't help but think of the night before and how I left things with Taehyung. I couldn't reach him, having lost his contact and I hated that I couldn't apologise.

"Pay attention." I whispered back to Annora as her gaze remained on me. With a sigh, she faced the front of the class.

I nibbled on the tip of my pen as I stared blankly at the board. From the corner of my eye, I catch someone staring at me intently. My eyes meet his gaze as I frown at him.

Jungkook's eyes don't leave mine so I looked back to the board, ending the awkward staring contest we had.

Our teacher was going through the Greek sculptures of Eros, explaining his history and his Roman counterpart, but everything that he was saying went right over my head as I slowly felt the weights of my eyelids.

Struggling to keep them open, I rub my eyes. A yawn escaped my lips and I ended up dozing off.

After what felt like an hour I felt a light tap on my shoulder. My head sprung up as I was greeted by my art teacher.

"Good afternoon, Jina." He gave me a wry smile.

"I'm so sorry, Mr Choi. I must've dozed off." I said, eyes darting around the room and I noticed that the class was empty. I mentally cussed at Annora for not waking me up for lunch break.

"It's okay." He gave me a nod. "I don't want you missing out on important class lessons, especially since you're one of the more promising students in this class." He said and my face lit up.

"Really?" I let out, wide eyed.

"Yes, you're very talented. I went through your recent submissions and they were honestly," he paused as he adjusted his glasses, "remarkable." He continued.

A smile painted on my lips as I waited for him to continue.

"There's an internship at Mona Ophelia's art gallery that's going to be available at the end of the year." Mr Choi said and I nearly jumped from my seat.

"You mean the artist? Mona Ophelia?" I asked, my eyes bright and full of anticipation.

Mona Ophelia was one of the most well known artists in our country. Interning for her at her gallery would be a huge honour, which would also help me with pursuing art in the future.

"Yes," he chuckled, "and I was planning to put in a word for you, and Annora. I didn't get the chance to tell her, she sort of raced out the moment the bell sounded." He chortled, the corners of his mouth crinkling with faint wrinkles. "But the both of you would need to start showing me that you're serious about this." He said and I stood up.

"We will, I promise." I assured him and he simply smiled in response.

"We'll see. Go for your break now." And with that he left the classroom.