It was one sunny day. Rosie woke up early to prepare all the materials for her first day of tutoring. She was feeling a little bit nervous- knowing how Yoojung acted by the scene she caused the day before. Clearly, Rosie still needed to get to know the young soul better in order to understand her erratic behavior. And maybe it took more than just learning about who Yoojung genuinely was.
When Rosie arrived at the study that one afternoon, the sulky being was already reclining on the armchair positioned by the window. She was shutting her eyes the whole time. Apparently she was asleep. Rosie decided not to bother her, remembering the fact that it was Yoojung's first day in 8th grade and that she must be exhausted. So, Rosie just sat down at the two seated sofa across her and watched Yoojung in silence.
"If you're just here to lazy around and not teach me anything then might as well leave this place," Yoojung spoke up so suddenly. Her eyes are still shut.
"I thought you were sleeping," Rosie said in surprise. That was the first time she heard Yoojung's voice. She sounded more mature than her age.
Yoojung shook her head and slowly peeled her back from the armchair. "Let's just do this quickly so I can go back to my room," she said.
"Well, Yoojung, let me introduce myself first. I'm-" "I already know who you are," Yoojung cut off Rosie's words.
Rosie was left completely speechless. She couldn't fully grasp the fact that a 12 years old could intimidate her so much. True, she had met this kind of people in real life before. But none of them were 15 years younger than her. She didn't know whether to feel upset or concerned.
"Listen, I don't know what kind of bad mental picture that you have of me right now... but I can fully assure you that I'm here to help you. I don't mean no harm, and so do you. So, please, let me do my job properly," Rosie said carefully.
Yoojung laughed lightly. "You think I don't know what your real intention is?"
Rosie gazed confusedly at Yoojung. She wished she understood what Yoojung meant but she didn't. "Well, I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" Rosie asked.
"You're just like the others," Yoojung sniggered before proceeding to stand up and walk away from the study room.
When Yoojung opened the door; a tall figure was already standing there, crossing his arms and glaring at the smaller being in front of him. "Get back inside," he commanded sternly.
Rosie couldn't believe her own eyes. It was the man whom she met at the club days before. For a moment she wondered why he was there, but then it immediately hit her. Could he be the Mr. Park who hired her?
Yoojung stood still and even crossed her ams. "I don't want to," she said loudly. Her gaze pierced through the man's eyes. Her height was actually at the man's chest's level but she was definitely very bold. It was such an intense scene to look at.
"Get back inside and apologize to your tutor," the man repeated. He didn't raise his tone but the intonation was different this time.
As expected, Yoojung didn't move an inch. The man suddenly grabbed her little, slim arm and dragged her back inside the study. "Apologize," the man commanded to Yoojung again as he pointed out his finger to Rosie. Yoojung just looked away. No word seemed to escape her mouth.
"It's okay," Rosie finally spoke up. "I'm sure she's just tired. You must be Mr. Park?", she added as she stood up and reached out her hand.
"I am. Nice to meet you, Tutor Park," Chanyeol answered. The stern look on his face had softened. He was smiling shortly when he shook hands with Rosie. "I'm sorry for my daughter's behavior."
"It's not a big deal. Really," Rosie said calmly. "Today is supposed to be our first day but she seems exhausted. If you don't mind, please excuse your daughter to rest. I can start the lessons by tomorrow."
"She's clearly just acting up, Tutor Park. You can start the lesson today. I'll make sure she listen to you."
"But-"
"She will get her lesson today. Correct, Yoojung?"
Rosie couldn't argue more with Chanyeol. He seemed like a very assertive father and Rosie definitely didn't want to meddle in his family interests. She was paid to teach his daughter, after all. If he wanted Yoojung to start her lesson that day then it must necessarily be done. It was Rosie's first day and she wanted to make her first impression as good as possible.
"I don't want to!" Yoojung exclaimed, struggling to let go of her father's grasp on her arm.
"LISTEN TO ME!" Chanyeol shouted. It was so jarring to Yoojung that she finally went completely silent.
Rosie was also shocked to hear the sudden shouting. She could see how Yoojung was trying to hold her tears. There were apparent fear combined with shame in the little girl's expression.
"Finally you shut your mouth," Chanyeol said, letting go of Yoojung's arm. "Finish your lesson without acting up like that again. You know Tutor Park wouldn't be here without a reason."
Yoojung just bit her bottom lip, trying to suppress her own crying. She looked defeated and upset. She just stared at the floor the whole time.
"I leave her to you. Please do let me know if something happens," Chanyeol said to Rosie, which earned a nod. The tall man walked out the study. Silence filled the whole room.
"So, let's-" Yoojung stomped deliberately to her student desk and sat there looking all cross. She took out her books from under the table and slammed her pencil case to the table's surface. Rosie smiled watching all of it. Yoojung might look very upset but she was finally listening.
It might be hard at first, but Rosie firmly believed that she could soften Yoojung's heart. All she needed to do was to understand her background story. Maybe, as Kyungsoo always told her, Yoojung was really just misunderstood.
The first day of tutoring went quite well. The subject of the day was social science; meaning there were a lot of memorizing important history, places and so on. Thankfully it was Rosie's favorite subject in school. She was able to smoothly explain things without sounding nervous. Although she was elated towards the lesson, Yoojung showed zero interest.
Rosie kind of expected Yoojung to ask questions, even if the question was about when the tutoring would be over. But she expected too much. Yoojung just stayed quiet the whole session. She was pretty much passive; only spoke whenever Rosie asked her, and she did it half heartedly. Maybe it was because of what happened earlier.
"Yoojung, does your dad always yell at you?" Rosie asked carefully. The girl whom she was asking to was busy doing her exercise paper. She didn't even flinch hearing the question. "You know, it's okay to tell me what's been burdening you. I'm not only here to give you exercises. I'm here to help you become a better student," Rosie continued.
"I don't like your question," Yoojung said nonchalantly.
"Well. Maybe I worded it wrong. I just want you to know that you can always tell me everything. Consider me as your new friend. Let's make this tutoring session fun and relaxed!"
"I don't want friends and I don't need them."
"Ah... Don't say that. We can't live alone, can we? I'm sure you have such good friends at school."
Yoojung stopped writing and looked up to Rosie suddenly. She then stared at Rosie in an irritated manner. "Can you stop?", she asked sternly.
"I'm sorry. I just- I want to get to know you better."
"And I don't want to. Leave me alone," Yoojung said as she went back to doing her exercise.
Again, Rosie was left perplexed and out of words. She couldn't help but stop asking family matters to Yoojung for the rest of the session. It was definitely not a light topic. Rosie realized she should've just picked the correct timing for it. Maybe later, she thought.
After the tutoring session was done, which lasted for about one and a half hour, Rosie allowed Yoojung to go back to her room. And of course Yoojung accepted it gladly. She left the study room without bowing nor saying anything to Rosie. She just stormed off like that the moment Rosie said that the session had ended.
When Rosie was in the middle of tidying her stuff, Chanyeol knocked on the door and walked in to the study.
"Tutor Park, how was my daughter?" Chanyeol asked. His beaming face showed that he was expecting some good news coming from Rosie.
"I'm gonna be honest with you, Sir. Yoojung is difficult to handle. She's actually a very bright student... But she just refuses to act like one," Rosie answered.
"Of course. I'm aware of that. She's been like that ever since her mother died."
"May I know how did she pass away?"
There was some pause before Chanyeol answered. "She was sick. Terribly sick."
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."
"How is Yoojung difficult? Did she throw tantrum during the session?"
"No, no, no. In fact, she was actually very calm. It's just that... she was a little passive. She never tried to ask any questions. She just did what I told her to do. It's good to listen to me but I'm expecting her to be curious and just ask me anything..."
"I see then. Thank you for the review, Tutor Park."
"Um, actually we haven't properly discussed about Yoojung's tutoring session and such. When are you available to talk?"
Chanyeol darted a glance at his own watch. "Today is a busy day for me. I'll let you know when I'm available. Maybe you can just discuss it with Kyungsoo."
"Alright then...," Rosie said. She was a little confused. Chanyeol seemed to be a very tough and strong willed figure, but at the same time he was too occupied to even talk about his daughter's tutoring class.
When they were finished talking, Chanyeol excused himself and went upstairs. A moment later, he went down and headed outside where he parked his car. Later he drove away and didn't return hours later.
Just how busy is he?
Rosie spent the rest of the day by wandering around the mansion. Both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo had allowed her to take a look around the building, familiarizing herself since she was going to stay there for half a year.
The house was fearsomely clean and neat. There was no speck of dust seen on the surface of every furniture ever. Later Rosie found out that the housekeepers cleaned the house everyday, once a day in the morning. No wonder everything felt brand new. It looked like no one had ever laid their hands on all of these.
When Rosie arrived at the second floor, she stumbled upon a hall on the east side of the floor. There were two doors placed across one another, one of it was supposed to be the main room—in which Chanyeol stayed in. Rosie knew it because Kyungsoo had introduced them to her the day before during the small house tour. But Kyungsoo never specifically mentioned what the other room was for. He just simply called it 'an empty, unused room'.
Rosie felt the sudden urge to open the door and take a look at what was actually inside. She hesitated at first, but eventually she approached it and tried to open the door. As expected, it was locked.
"What do you think you're doing?" Yoojung asked suddenly. Her voice startled Rosie who thought no one was around.
"I'm- I'm just looking around," Rosie replied shortly.
"Don't go near this hallway or my father will snap at you," Yoojung said nonchalantly as she walked away, leaving Rosie relieved.
A moment later, Rosie went downstairs and found a fresh set of flower arrangement placed on the coffee table at the living room. Rosie remembered Kyungsoo telling her that they always had new fresh flowers every few days just because Sooyoung used to do it, and Chanyeol wanted to make the tradition alive even after her passing. Rosie thought it was extremely thoughtful.
"You love these acacia flowers?" A voice suddenly asked from behind. Rosie turned around and saw Kyungsoo was already standing there.
"Ah, yes... I love their striking yellow color. They give lively impression for the whole room. When did you arrive?" Rosie replied.
"Just now. I thought Chanyeol was still here but apparently he left earlier."
"He must be very busy."
"Well. Can't blame him... Anyway, let's have an afternoon tea together! Today is you and Yoojung's first day so there must be a lot you want to talk about."
Before Rosie could answer, her phone went ringing again. She suddenly gasped upon seeing who it was.
"What happened?" Kyungsoo asked, curious of Rosie's sudden expression change.
"Ah... This is very urgent. Please excuse me. I have to take this important call," Rosie said walking away.
It was Lisa.
Rosie had completely forgotten to call her the minute she arrived at the mansion.