“Okay, so you have the changes in x and the changes in y,” Minyoung said carefully, pointing at the equation with her pencil. “Now you – Seungcheol, are you paying attention?”

Seungcheol blinked, snapping out of his thoughts and Minyoung turned to him with a grumpy expression, eyes narrowing at him.

“Pay attention, please.” The girl sighed, pointing the eraser end of her pencil at the question on the worksheet. “I know math is boring but this is important.”

It had been going on for a while now ever since that day’s tutoring session started. Seungcheol had been staring holes at Minyoung intently instead of focusing on the math she was explaining. She tried to not let it get to her too much but as the review progressed, she found herself becoming exasperated since Seungcheol was the one who decided to go over the worksheet.

If he does it again, then I’ll have to resort to doing that, the girl thought as she continued the review. “Like I was saying, since you have both the changes in the x and y, what do you have to do now?”

Seungcheol didn’t respond and Minyoung turned to him, about to get his train of thought going when she noticed that he was staring at her once again. With another sigh, Minyoung set down her pencil and extended her right hand, pinching Seungcheol’s cheek.

The boy yelped loudly, making everyone in the tutoring room turn to their direction at the sudden noise. Seungcheol looked at Minyoung with sad puppy eyes as one hand nursed the aching spot on his face.

“What was that for?” Seungcheol whined, sticking out his lower lip in a pout.

“Why aren’t you paying attention?” Minyoung countered his sad look with a grumpy one. “Stop staring at me and focus on the math worksheet.”

Before Seungcheol could respond, snickers resounded throughout the room and second year Lee Jihoon spoke up loudly from a few desks away. “Take the bickering outside, you love birds. You’re being distracting.”

The snickers grew louder and Minyoung felt her ears turn red as she frowned at Seungcheol, who playfully stuck out his tongue at her in response. She picked up her pencil in her hand and inhaled as she resumed the lesson.

“Anyways – “

“I have to square the changes and then add them to get the r squared, right?” Seungcheol asked immediately, sparking hope in Minyoung that her partner was finally focusing at the task.

“Correct.”

With that, Seungcheol worked on the proceeding steps of the solution and wrote down the radius of the circle. Once he finished writing the standard equation of the circle, he pushed the paper with the final answer over to his tutor to examine.

Minyoung peered over the answer, examining the work he wrote down. As expected, Seungcheol showed the steps required for full marks and she returned the paper to him with a smile of approval.

“Perfect,” she gave him a thumbs up. “Why don’t you try doing the next question on your own and then I’ll have a look when you’re done.”

“Gotcha.”

To her relief, Seungcheol immediately focused on solving the following question without his tutor’s help and Minyoung reached into her backpack for her water bottle and the custard bread she had received during the last break of the day. Seungcheol had given it to her right before the start of biology but with the test running for the entire period, she didn’t get to eat it even though the boy intended it to give her a bit of energy to pull through until the end of tutoring.

But it was a bit of a silver lining – Minyoung felt herself starting to become hungry and she had a long time ahead of herself before she was able to eat dinner.

The crinkle of the bread’s plastic wrapper distracted Seungcheol from his worksheet and he looked at his tutor with a feigned hurt expression.

“You’re just eating that now?”

“I had a test, remember?” Minyoung replied, unwrapping the bread while simultaneously sticking out her tongue at him. Seungcheol mimicked the expression in response before resuming his work. Minyoung took a bite of the bread, her gaze wandering to the paper he was writing his responses on. As she enjoyed the sweet taste of the snack, her thoughts immediately flitted to how Seungcheol had been acting towards her recently.

One thing she noticed was that Seungcheol was caring; while she had assumed that Seungcheol was titled as the school prince because of his popularity and his tendency to be playful, it surprised her to see that he had thoughtful side to him. This side was clear to Minyoung when he offered to walk her home in the rain and how he went out of his way to bring her favorite snacks to her class during break.

But if Minyoung was being honest, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of Seungcheol’s kind actions towards her. Did it mean that they were friends?

Being friends with Seungcheol… Minyoung thought, savoring the taste of the custard bread. That would be nice.

Her eyes briefly glanced to her right, watching Seungcheol pout while he furiously scribbled out solutions. She got along with Seungcheol surprisingly well and he was thoughtful towards her. One of the things Minyoung discovered in the past weeks was that Seungcheol radiated a warm aura that made it easy to interact with him. This made it easy, almost comfortable, to exchange cordial interactions that she never would have imagined to happen with others.

But what if he didn’t feel the same way? As much as Minyoung started to see Seungcheol as someone she was friendly with, it made her nervous to take that extra step to call it as “friendship.”

She ate the small remaining piece of the bread but for some reason, it didn't taste as sweet as she remembered.  

For the first time in weeks, each tutoring pair concluded their study sessions at the same time. Just as five o’clock hit, everyone closed their books at the same time and they filed out of the classroom. Seungcheol stepped aside for Minyoung to leave before him and he closed the door shut behind him.

Iseul immediately found Minyoung amongst the group, concern adorning her features. “How do you feel?”

There was a gentle smile on Minyoung’s face upon her friend’s worry. “I’m still doing fine.”

Iseul examined Minyoung for a moment and narrowed her eyes, not quite believing her friend’s words. She turned to Seungcheol, who was conversing with Seungkwan and Mingyu. “Wait, Seungcheol, can you walk Minyoung home?”

Minyoung’s eyes widened as she hissed at her friend. “Lee Iseul!”

Seungcheol, who turned his head to the two girls upon hearing his name, cracked a smile. “Well, if Minyoung’s fine with it, then sure.“

Iseul and Seungcheol turned to Minyoung and the said girl looked like a deer in headlights as she tried to process the turn of events.

“Whoa, what's happening?" Minyoung looked at the both of them.

Iseul looked worried. “Well…I would walk you home but I can’t carry you if you get tired. At the very least Seungcheol can watch out for you.”

“That's…true, but –“ Minyoung began but paused to mull over her thoughts. While she was sure that she was able to make the twenty-minute walk home just fine, she didn’t want to speak too soon. The girl felt exhausted and the quick nap she got during lunch clearly wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of sleep she had been experiencing.

She could stay at school and wait for one of her relatives to pick her up. However it was Friday and it meant that Minhyuk and Minseok were both at school until six and her parents weren’t arriving home until seven. Plus she was in charge of dinner that night and if she waited for her brothers to pick her up, dinner wouldn't be done until later in the evening.

Judging by the way her options looked, walking home with Seungcheol was the only choice there was. Minyoung looked up at the said boy, who tilted his head to the left.

Minyoung inhaled before nodding. “Okay.”  

The walk to Minyoung’s house was mostly quiet except for the sound of their footsteps on the pavement and the zoom of passing cars on the road. Minyoung stole a glance at him; Seungcheol was busily running his fingers through his messy hair, attempting to keep it away from his forehead. Just as he moved an unruly strand of hair away from his eyes, Seungcheol noticed Minyoung looking at him and he grinned, raising a brow.

“Remember, I don’t charge if you look.” Seungcheol winked and Minyoung made a face at him.

“I was going to say something but you went and ruined it,” the girl sighed, pretending to be miffed and Seungcheol laughed.

“What is it?”

Minyoung’s fingers fiddled with the ends of her hair, her gaze on the road ahead of them. “Well…I just wanted to say sorry that I’m bothering you again.”

“It’s nothing at all,” Seungcheol replied with warmth in his voice. “Don’t think that you’re bothering me. Besides, Iseul has a point.”

Upon the mention of her best friend’s name, Minyoung looked up at him curiously and Seungcheol continued. “What if you fall asleep right here? It’s better to have someone walk with you.”

Minyoung lowered her gaze to the ground. “I know.”

“I’m worried about you too,” the boy added quietly and Minyoung turned to him once again, startled.

“What?”

Concern was on Seungcheol’s face and he gave her a tiny smile. “I heard from Iseul that you don’t sleep much. You have to take care of yourself too, you know. School just started.”

“Seungcheol…” Minyoung felt herself warm up at his words and the boy cracked a grin.

“And I have no one to help me with my homework if you’re unwell.”

Minyoung stopped in her tracks, glared at Seungcheol, and started to hit him on the arm repeatedly. “Oh, so you’re just worried about me because I’m just a homework helper for you?”

Seungcheol’s laughter rang in the air as he dodged Minyoung’s attacks. “I’m worried about you because you’re my friend!”

Minyoung paused, staring at him with wide eyes in surprise. I’m worried about you because you’re my friend. The boy’s words echoed in her mind as she tried to process what he just said to her.

“You…”

Seungcheol rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. “Well…I hope it’s okay, you know, like I hope I’m not jumping ahead or burdening you by saying that I think of you as a friend since I –“

The boy’s babbling was interrupted as giggles bubbled from Minyoung, hiding her expression behind her hand. Seungcheol’s words made a warm feeling blossom in her chest, a mixture of surprise and amusement. If she was being honest, Minyoung didn’t expect for their tutoring interactions to evolve into something that might be seen as friendship – really, the most she expected was to tutor him after school every other day and that would be the extent of it.

But over the course of several weeks, their exchanges became friendlier, familiar, and extended beyond the tutoring. It was hard not to become amicable with Seungcheol since he was bright, outgoing, and seemed to show interest in getting to know her better.

It was hard, really, to not let him in the small circle she lived in.  

Minyoung’s earlier doubts of where they currently stood dissipated. Seungcheol saw her as a friend and that warm, fluttery feeling in her chest rece again as she looked up at him with a smile.

Seungcheol watched her with a bewildered look, which transformed into a beam once he noticed the happy expression on the girl’s face.  

“You know,” Minyoung began. “You sounded really cool just now.”

“Really?” Seungcheol asked, tilting his head slightly. “But was it cool enough for me to become your friend?”

His expression reminded Minyoung of a curious puppy and a giggle escaped her lips at the image. “Yes. Though I thought you said that we were friends already…?”

Seungcheol blinked and slowly, a delighted expression its way across his face.

“So…” he breathed, somewhat nervous. “Friends…?”

Minyoung gave a nod of affirmation. “Yeah. Friends.”

She didn’t think it was possible but the grin on Seungcheol’s face grew wider at her words and she couldn’t help but grin back.

–

“Wah!” Seungcheol flopped down face first into his bed, hiding the goofy grin present on his face. That turned out better than I expected, he thought as he rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

He didn’t expect the words to roll out of his mouth earlier but they did – he had told Minyoung that he saw her as a friend. Seungcheol initially thought that Minyoung was going to be wary after the words came out. But to his surprise, the girl also shared his sentiments.

The affirmation made Seungcheol glad and relieved. He found his tutor to be nice, helpful, and that they got along well. However he felt anxious to call her his friend.

Friends. The word made Seungcheol grab a pillow and hide his face to stifle the laughter about to bubble from him. I’m friends with Minyoung.

Pretty much everyone in the senior year knew Minyoung, whether personally or by name. Seungcheol had belonged in the latter category. Minyoung’s name was a familiar sight to him since she was always part of the top five rankings and competed with Jeonghan’s for the top spot in their grade. For the last two years, he never really had the chance to properly interact with her as they were never in the same classes and he was too involved with basketball.

However word travelled around in and out of classrooms easily and he heard stories about class 3-1’s Jung Minyoung. She was said to be quiet and only studied, only fuelling Seungcheol’s worries about how the tutoring set-up was going to work. They were opposites if the stories were right – Seungcheol was sociable while Minyoung kept to herself.

Not to mention Jeonghan and Jisoo’s laments made him nervous. The two boys were always part of the top five, thus they were much more familiar with Minyoung and Seungcheol believed his friends. They each gave Seungcheol pats on his shoulder while wearing grim expressions before they entered the room for the first tutoring session.

But to Seungcheol’s surprise, tutoring went well. Even though Jeonghan and Jisoo made it seem like he was being fed to a wolf (“we were kidding lol shes nice” Jeonghan had typed in the group chat), Minyoung was surprisingly patient with him and made the material much easier to understand. He expected someone who was always in the top five to be mean and maybe snappy because she was tutoring someone who was usually ranked in the lower 50s. 

From that point forward, Seungcheol found himself warming up to Minyoung and sharing friendly interactions that he didn’t imagine to go beyond their brief meetings. But it made him hesitant to take that extra step to call her a friend. What if she didn’t feel the same way? It was one of the worries he had and it was uncharacteristic of him to worry about befriending people when he knew that he was outgoing by nature.

Seungcheol removed his face from the pillow, tossing it to the side. Those worries are gone now.  

The sound of Mrs. Choi’s voice repeatedly calling his name drew Seungcheol away from his thoughts. “Seungcheol! Come and set the table, please!”

He immediately sat up and turned his head to the direction of the door. “Okay!”

With a bounce in his steps, Seungcheol descended down the stairs and entered the kitchen with a smile. Mrs. Choi looked up from her task of cutting apples for dessert and gave her son a curious look.

“What’s with the goofy smile?” she asked.

Seungcheol shrugged nonchalantly, resisting the urge to smile harder as he gathered place mats for the table. “I just had a good day today, that’s all.”  

Saturdays were double-edged swords for students in SVT High. While many enjoyed the fact that classes only ran till noon, many wanted to catch some sleep on a weekend. Seungcheol usually disliked the half-day of lessons scheduled for that day, but there was delight radiating from him first thing in the morning as he walked to school with Jeonghan and Jisoo.

The two boys exchanged looks before the former spoke up. “So, how did your walk home with Minyoung turn out yesterday?”

Seungcheol turned to his friends with a smile. “It was good! She got home without any problems.”

“Oh, that’s a relief. She didn’t seem too well yesterday.” Jisoo said.

Seungcheol nodded in agreement and then added eagerly. “By the way, Minyoung and I are friends now!”

Jeonghan and Jisoo stopped in their tracks as they stared at Seungcheol and the latter blinked curiously.

“What?” Seungcheol asked.

“You asked Minyoung to be friends?” Jisoo clarified.

“…Yeah?”

“Are you sure you didn’t ask Minyoung to be your friend so you could easily mooch off homework from her?” Jeonghan asked seriously and Seungcheol turned to him in shock.

“Hey, I’m not that kind of person!” The boy protested, his lips forming a pout and Jisoo laughed.

“Right, right.”

“I’m serious!” Seungcheol almost whined. “I just thought it would be nice to be friends because we get along.”

Jisoo let out a hum of agreement. “Oh, that’s true…I think you and Minyoung have been getting along pretty well after tutoring started…but I gathered that you guys were already friends though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Jisoo exchanged knowing looks with Jeonghan. “Just a thought since you guys seemed really close whenever you’re together.”

Jeonghan nodded in agreement as he muttered to Jisoo under his breath. “Like making pinky promises…running laps together…buying her strawberry milk…”

“Hm? What did you say?” Seungcheol asked curiously.

The two boys shook their heads, biting back snickers. “Nothing.”

Seungcheol gave his friends an inquisitive look but Jeonghan pointed ahead of them. “Ah, speak of the devil. Look who it is over there.”

Just as the three boys passed the school gates, they noticed Minyoung walking just a few feet ahead and reading from a stack of flashcards. Her dark hair was braided to the side and she seemed focused on reading from the square piece of paper.

A grin appeared on Seungcheol’s face as he jogged up to his tutor with his two friends trailing after him. “Hi, best friend!”

Minyoung froze in her tracks, looking up from her flashcards when she registered Seungcheol’s voice. She turned around and her eyes widened slightly when she saw Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Jisoo approaching her.

Jeonghan raised a brow teasingly, feigning hurt by clutching his chest. “Whoa, you guys are best friends already? Have Jisoo and I been demoted to ‘just friends’ status?”

Seungcheol nodded solemnly. “Yeah, Minyoung took over your spots.”

“Oh, no! It’s nothing like that!” Minyoung briefly looked panicked and then scrunched her nose at Seungcheol’s direction, making the said boy gasp loudly.

“Aww, but I thought we were best friends?” Seungcheol sighed sadly in an exaggerated manner.

Minyoung turned to Jisoo and Jeonghan in alarm as Seungcheol stared at her with puppy eyes. “How do you deal with him?”

The two boys simply chuckled. “This is what we’ve been dealing with since middle school. Welcome to the club, Minyoung.”

Apologies for how long this took ;_; I wasn't content with how the outline and the drafts turned out. Anyways this chapter marks change since Minyoung and Seungcheol are officially friends now! What will go on from here....hmm.... As always, thank you for reading and for the subs and I hope to see you soon! P.S. I hope the math was correct, I haven't done pre-calc in years;;