8TEEN. CHA JUNHO ✔️

TWENTY-ONE

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" YOUR COLLEGE ENTRANCE exam is getting near—and for that, the school has already planned and arranged several extra classes, seminars and academic workshops for all of you to attend, especially those who are in the college prep class; basically you guys." mr lim announced to bus students.

as per usual, whatever announcement that came out from that man's mouth will always result in frustrated groans and heavy sighs from the students. same old same old.

" do we have to take the exam? " one of them asked in a somehow playful tone— though the answer is pretty obvious.

" if you want to live well and successfull instead of becoming a jobless and useless person in the near future then yes— you have to take the exam kids." he shot a glare to the boy and cleared his throat. " now, let me announce your current class rankings based on your latest trials."

the whole class erupted into chatters and some of them let out yet another loud groan, signifying that they didn't even want to listen to what he's going to say—or perhaps you can say they're just not ready for the ranking announcement.

" silence at once! " mr lim strictly said and the groans and chatters immediately quieted down. " for first place—it is of course, none other than cha junho."

mr lim started to clap both of his hands together followed by the other students in the class. junho smiled and bowed lightly while mouthing a 'thank you' towards everyone who congratulated him.

the teacher continued the list by reading the names one by one. seunghee shifted uncomfortably on her seat and could feel her heart beating fast—nervous and scared of what her rank might be.

" number 13, cho seunghee."

hearing her name being announced as 13th place didn't make her glad nor worried. instead, she felt disappointed by herself. there were only 20 students inside her class, and being placed 13th is considered bad and perhaps even quite a shame to her.

once the teacher was done with the rankings, they continued their lessons as usual. junho turned behind him to congratulate seunghee, but instead he realised that her once bright cheerful smile has turned into a sad frown instead. she didn't even look at him like she always do. her focus was completely onto the book placed on top of her desk.

junho knew there was something going on.

" CLASS IS OVER. YOU MAY GO FOR YOUR RECESS NOW."

students started to swarm towards the exit of the room to get to the cafeteria as fast as possible, so that they wouldn't have to wait in line for so long just to get food.

as junho was about to head towards the library, he noticed that seunghee was still sitting at her desk, staring into space.

feeling a sense of worried, he went by her desk before slowly knocking onto the surface of the table gently. " seunghee? " he raised a brow, wondering what's bothering her.

the girl came back to her senses upon noticing junho's sudden appearance beside her desk. " oh— junho! aren't you going for recess? "

" i'm gonna go to the library. do you want to join me? "

she shook her head and smiled. " it's fine. i brought my own lunch. i'm just gonna sit in class for a while." seunghee kindly declined his offer.

junho grabbed a seat and sat across her, placing his books away as he leaned closer. " is there something going on? you didn't look like your usual self today."

" what do you mean? " she awkwardly laughed. " i'm okay— haha! see? "

" i know there's something bugging you." he said. " come on, you can tell me."

seunghee sigh and decided to give up. she knew she couldn't possibly fool junho. it's like he has a some sort of telepathic mind reading skills. so there's no way she could win in an argument or hide anything from him no matter how hard she tries.

" actually— i'm worried about my class rank. that's all." the girl chuckled. " placing 13th is like a big concern to me. i don't know what am i suppose to do. the fact that the college entrance exam is getting nearer is terrifying me." she continue to express her concern. " i feel so pressured. not to mention the fact that we're in college prep classes and i'm working."

" what do you mean? 13th place isn't actually that bad."

" says the one who placed 1st in class." she rolled her eyes. " what i'm trying to say is; i'm just concerned over my grades. that's all." she heaved out another sigh— clearly showing that she disappointed with herself.

" hey— don't worry." junho tried to comfort her as he tucked her hair that was falling onto her face behind her ears. " i can help you."

" how? "

" let's study together. " he suggested and smiled afterwards. " you know, like a study buddy. what are your weakest subjects? "

" mostly calculation based subjects."

" i can tutor you! and perhaps you can tutor me on some subjects as well! let's stay back after school for a few hours."

" are you sure? i mean, don't you usually have a curfew? won't your parents go ballistic if they find out about this? "

junho shook his head. " they won't find out if no one told them. plus, i really need to start studying anyways. "

seunghee thought about his idea. come to think of it, there are a few pros that she can obtain through his idea. but then again, one of the cons is thag he might get himself in trouble.

" i guess? " without any hesitation, she agreed.

" great." he smiled once again. " let's start tomorrow."

" JUNHO HASN'T BEEN QUITE HIMSELF LATELY, DON'T YOU THINK? " the woman said, interrogating the old man standing in front of her—junho's personal guard and driver. " recently he kept coming back late from school. perhaps is there something going on? "

" no, ma'am. not that i know of." the man replied to her. " the only thing that i've noticed is that junho has been studying very hard nowadays for the upcoming examinations. so maybe he's been staying back to study—"

" i don't think so." the woman peered behind her to face the large windowsill inside the room. " that boy tends to fall into all sorts of traps whenever he's not being watched properly. he's still weak and immature." she crossed her arms to her chest.

" i'm so sorry ma'am, but junho is still a teenager—" the man tried to defend for the boy, but only to receive an intimidating glare shot by his boss in the end.

he then let out a gulp before sighing. " what do you want me to do? "

" keep an eye on him, find out what's going on in his daily life and track his schedule." she simply instructed, turning back to face the windowsill. " we will get to the bottom of this."