He Who Never Liked A Girl Before

CHAPTER 10

"Mali 'yung ginamit mo na sign. That should be positive." I bit my lips mentally while erasing what he's been pertaining to.

"You forgot to include the radical sign." I sighed when he interjected again. He reached for my paper and pointed it out. Kumurap-kurap ako at napagtanto ang tinutukoy niya. Kinuha ko ang pambura at marahan itong ikiniskis sa papel.

Eiji is watching me carefully. Nasa gilid ko lamang siya at pinagmamasdan kung paano ko sasagutan ang isang mathematical problem na ibinigay niya. I licked my lower lip when I finally arrived at the final answer. Hinawi ko ang buhok ko at inayos ang salamin. Pagkatapos ay bumaling ako sa kaniya at iniabot sa nag-aabang na si Eiji ang papel ko.

He put down the glass of juice after drinking on it. Nang lumunok siya ay nakita ko kung papaanong pumuslit paitaas ang bukol sa kaniyang lalamunan pagkatapos ay ang agaran nitong pagbaba. I noticed how some extracts of the juice stayed on the sides of his lips. I bit my lips inwardly and peel my eyes off him.

Kinuha niya ang papel sa kamay ko. He examined my paper thoroughly keeping his potent gazes on it. Maya-maya ay tumaas ang isang kilay niya at pinakatitigan pang maigi ang nakasulat doon. Tumikhim siya at inawat ang tingin sa papel.

"Good."

I get the glass of juice beside me and drink from it, too. Napako ang tingin ko kay Eiji na sinusuri pa rin ang papel kahit pa sinabing tama na iyon.

"How were you able to get this one?" Oh? He's not yet done checking it? He said it's good already, didn't he? Bumaling ako sa kaniya at naabutan ko siyang kunot ang noong nakatingin sa akin.

He then diverted his gaze. His fixed intent look remained on the paper. I idly stood up to see what he is talking about. His eyebrows were almost meeting, creating thin lines between it. Dahan-dahan akong umupo sa tabi niya at itinuon na rin ang tingin sa papel. Eiji didn't move nor divert his gaze to me. Hindi yata namalayan ang pagtabi ko sa kaniya.

"Alin d'yan, Eiji?" Napapitlag siya. He looked at me with such ridiculous expression. Halos mabitawan niya ang papel kong hawak niya. I saw another reaction from him. He got shocked!

Si Eiji nagulat. Oo. Nagulat.

Gusto kong matawa sa ekspresyong ipinakita niya. When a hint of foolish smile escaped from me, I folded my lips into a thin line. I arched my eyebrow to obscure the amusement. He cleared his throat before returning his apathetic expression.

"T-this one." Did his voice just shake? Iniangat niya ang kamay at itinuro ang tinutukoy niya. Umisog ako papalapit sa kaniya. Gusto ko lalong matawa nang bahagya pang nanginig ang kamay niya nang itinuro ang itinutukoy. Itinikom ko nang mariin ang bibig nang matantong hindi naaayon ang kilos sa sitwasyon. Sa huli ay nagtaas na lamang ako ng kilay.

He's been very active in sports lately that he's not in the class often. He missed this lesson. But he gained a lot of extra points because of those activities he joined. Ako naman ay sumasali rin madalas sa mga extracurricular activies ngunit mas nagpo-pokus sa acads. Kaya naman, kapag kino-compute na ang grado namin ay dikit, halos walang pinagkaiba ang average namin.

"I simply get the square of one-half the coefficient of x. Same as the coefficient of y."

I tilted my head and moved closer to him to point my finger on the paper. Naging matunog ang pagtikhim niya.

"I-i see. Then?" tanong niya nang hindi bumabaling sa akin. On my peripheral vison, I saw the prominent lump on his throat slipped upward then slowly returned to its place.

"You're going to add the result on both sides of the equation." Tumango-tango siya sa sinabi ko. He licked his lower lip and brushed his hair using his fingers. Napansin ko ang iilang butil ng pawis sa kaniyang noo. I smirked inwardly.