Giddy with excitement, Hyerim raced around her apartment, trying to put together a decent outfit.
She was definitely excited just to learn new things. That was definitely it. It was definitely not because of a certain blonde boy.
Exiting the apartment lobby, she spotted Haechan's car parked outside. Walking towards it, she saw Haechan sitting in the driver's seat, window rolled down.
"Thought you were meeting me there."
He looked up from his phone at her voice. "Figured you would rather be picked up."
She smiled gratefully, racing around to slide into the passenger's seat and he smiled back, driving out from the parking spot.
❆
"Is this spot okay?" Haechan gestured to the empty cubicle, and Hyerim nodded, sliding into the chair and getting her stuff out of her bag.
"So here are my results from last term's exams, here's the syllabus, and here's the stuff I'm studying in class right now," she listed, spreading out the papers on the desk.
Haechan immediately took the previous exam paper, checking the score and flipping through it.
"Damn."
"Is it that bad?" Hyerim bit her nails, staring at his expression.
"Yeah, it's pretty shit." He laughed slightly, astounded at how bad the mark was, and the girl let out a dramatic gasp.
"Well that's why you're here to help me." She took out her pencil case, and Haechan took out his stuff too.
He didn't lie. Haechan was an excellent teacher. He spotted her mistakes quickly and realised where she went wrong, explaining it step by step, and if she didn't understand one of the steps, he would explain it in a different way. He was patient with her, never once showing any sign of frustration or annoyance.
By the end of the tutoring session, Hyerim was able to complete a mock paper and pass with a 60%.
"I literally love you," she said shockedly, staring at the red 60% circled on the front of the paper. He laughed at her reaction, packing up his stuff into his bag, and helping her pack up hers while she stared at the paper.
"Let's get lunch, I'm hungry."
❆
They arrived at the cafe, Haechan swinging the door open for Hyerim. She ducked under his arm, muttering a "thanks", and they weaved through the busy cafe trying to find a seat.
They eventually found a little table with two chairs and claimed it quickly. Hyerim observed the pictures of the menu items on the wall.
"Hey, look! They have the honey brick toast thing! I've been wanting to try that," she exclaimed, pointing at a picture of a dessert.
"You can get that then."
"The portion size looks huge though. I'm not sure if I can finish it," she said while frowning.
Haechan shook his head, standing up while pulling out his wallet. "We can share. I'll go pay."
Hyerim sat and waited for Haechan to come back, until she was made aware of a group of four girls sitting at a table near theirs. They were leaning towards each other, whispering while looking at Hyerim, and occasionally casting glances towards the counter where Haechan was stood.
He came back with the toast dessert, and Hyerim tried not to think about the girls, and focused on the toast.
"This is so good, bro," she commented, stabbing at the bread and shoving pieces into her mouth. Haechan laughed, picking up his phone to take a picture of her with her cheeks stuffed, whipped cream on her lips.
"You're so messy." He leaned forward, wiping the cream off her lips with his thumb and placing it in his mouth.
The action made her blush profusely, and she ducked her head down, stuffing her face with more toast and tried to act casual.
They ate in comfortable silence, until Hyerim caught inaudible whispers coming from the table of girls again. She looked over to see all four of them staring at the two teens, and they all immediately looked away when Hyerim looked over.
"Haechan, do you know those girls?"
He looked up from the food and followed Hyerim's gaze.
"Nope."
"Why do they keep staring at us and whispering?" Hyerim furrowed her eyebrows, feeling uncomfortable as she was being watched.
Haechan did his typical shrug. "Dunno. Probably just bored, ignore them."
They polished off the toast, Hyerim eating most of it even though she said she couldn't finish it all.
"I gotta use the bathroom, I'll be right back. Stay here." Haechan stood up from his seat, returning the plate to the counter and walking to the cafe bathroom. Hyerim sat in the spot, scrolling on her phone while waiting for him to come back before she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Sorry to bother, but are you dating him?"
Hyerim looked up to see one of the girls from the group. She glanced at the table to see the rest of them staring towards the two, anticipation written on their faces.
"Him? Who's him?" Hyerim tried to play dumb.
"Lee Haechan. Are you guys dating?" The girl clutched her phone tightly.
Hyerim shook his head. "No. We're just friends."
The girl nodded, about to race away, when Hyerim called out.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well...it's just because he looks at you like you guys are in love. And he never looks at anyone like this," the girl said hurriedly, noticing that Haechan was coming back from the bathroom. She bowed quickly, and ran back to her friends, animatedly telling them the gossip.
"What was that about? Did they bother you?" Haechan asked worriedly, searching Hyerim's expression. She shook her head quickly.
"Nah. Let's go."
❆
With Hyerim's permission, Haechan posted the picture he took of her to his Instagram story, making sure to tag her.
She looked at the story from her account, reposting it onto hers.
"It's cute."
"You're cute," he teased, and she gave him a hard shove, which he reacted dramatically to, even though Hyerim knew he wouldn't have actually budged because the man was as solid as a brick.
They continued to banter the way home, and Haechan dropped Hyerim off at her apartment with a smile, and a "see you on Monday!"
She didn't want to admit it, but she was starting to enjoy his company more than she would've liked to.
i have plans for this book that require a part 2. like another volume but i'll probably keep it all in this book and just separate it by part 1 and 2
and short chapter bc it's mostly just fluff rn before the juicy stuff. and i'm also tired so goodnight and goodbye