“I don’t understand why you hate him so much. Practically every girl in the school would kill to be you right now.”

“They can take my place anytime. It’s easy. Just tell them to start failing math.”

Words can’t fully describe how much I hate Jeon Jungkook.

I hate his arrogance, I hate his signature cocky smirk, I hate his straight As, and I hate how damn talented he is. I hate how he’ll try and show off to me whenever he aces his tests, shoving his perfect paper in my face. Talk about rubbing salt into a wound.

I hate everything about him and try to avoid him as much as possible, at all costs.

When we get back our recent math test, I don’t even have to look at Jungkook to know that he’d got full marks again- the swoon of the girls at the back of the classroom are a clear indication. And the sickening way in which Mrs Lee beams down at him like he’s the best thing since sliced bread says it all.

I sigh and slump forward, looking at my own test paper. An angry red ‘F’ is scrawled across the top of it, along with an infinite number of ‘X’s and a ‘SEE ME!” right at the bottom of the cursed sheet.

The only thing I detest more than Jeon Jungkook is math. And that says a lot.

After class, I trudge wearily to Mrs Lee’s desk, where she’s frowning disdainfully at me through her thickly framed horn-rimmed glasses.

“Kim Eunmi, you’ve failed math again,” she says matter-of-factly, like it’s not obvious enough.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Don’t ‘yeah’ me, miss. Do you know that at this rate, you might not even get a pass for your overall grade at the end of the year? This is serious!”

I look down and fidget awkwardly. I can’t help being horrible in math, can I?

Mrs Lee looks about ready to launch into a lecture about the importance of math when a voice suddenly interjects.

“Excuse me, Mrs Lee.”
 

Immediately, her attention turns towards Jeon Jungkook, who somehow appeared at my side. The previously dour expression on her face morphs into one of utter delight and her voice rises by an octave, “Yes, Jungkook, dear?”

“I’d just like to inform you that you’ve marked this question wrongly. It should be x, not x square, but you still gave me the mark.”

Mrs Lee narrows her eyes and shrieks, “You’re right, Jungkook! Oh my, not only are you such a bright boy, you’re also honest and truthful. What a model student you are.”

I want to puke at Mrs Lee’s unctuous tone. Jungkook simply smiles and bows his head modestly.

“Jungkook, I have a favour to ask of you.”

“Yes, Mrs Lee?”

“You see, there are some people who aren’t quite as… intellectually able as you are. Take Kim Eunmi here for example.”

Mrs Lee gestures towards me and my jaw drops. ‘Intellectually able’? Who does she think she is?

“Would you mind tutoring her in math? She really needs extra help, and my hands are tied with other students. You’ll get credit for this in your appraisals, of course. Consider this a charity case.”

‘Charity case’? Now I’m fuming mad. I turn to the side to look at Jungkook. There’s no way he’ll agree to this. We hate each other’s guts.

But Jungkook simply smirks and says, “Sure. It’d be my pleasure.”

“Oh, you’re such a sweet boy! I knew I could count on you.” Any chummier and she’d be flinging her arms around him and planting a wet kiss on his lips.

“Mrs Lee, it’s okay, I wouldn't want to trouble Jungkook. I promise I’ll work doubly hard and put in extra effort and-,”

“That’s what you said the last time, Eunmi. You should be grateful that Jungkook is willing to tutor you. Do you know how smart he is? He gets an A in all his classes, not just in math. You have a lot to learn from him, young lady. You’d better do everything he says. Jungkook, if she causes any trouble for you, feel free to let me know and I’ll deal with her.”

I open my mouth to protest again but Mrs Lee gives me a withering look and I close it, casting my gaze downwards.

Beside me, I can hear Jungkook scoff slightly, but not loud enough for Mrs Les to hear. As she returns to her desk, he whispers close to my ear, “Kim Eunmi, you idiot. If you hadn’t failed your math test I wouldn’t have to do this.”

I glare angrily at him and prepare to fire back a snarky remark, but he turns on his heel and walks back to his seat before I can say anything.

Screw you, Jeon Jungkook.

meet me at busy bean after school, DON’T  be late or i'm telling mrs lee

Rolling my eyes, I crumple the note and toss it into the bin. I can’t believe Jungkook’s taking this whole tutoring thing seriously.

Looks like I don’t really have a choice though.

After school, I drag my feet to the little cafe just across the road from our school. I like going there; it’s a quaint, quiet little coffee house with a nice homely feel to it.

But the thought of being in the cafe with Jungkook and only Jungkook makes me feel uneasy.

I inhale sharply as I push open the glass door, the soothing tinkle of the bells hanging on the door welcoming me.

I spot Jungkook immediately. He’s sitting in a quiet corner of the cafe, tapping his pen thoughtfully against his chin as he frowns over his homework.

He doesn’t see me, so I head to the counter to buy an iced coffee. Even as I wait for my drink and tap my foot experimentally, he still doesn’t notice me. He must be really focused on his work.

He begins writing furiously as I grab my drink, head over to his table and slide into the seat opposite him. It is only then that he looks up and sees me, seemingly, for the first time. I begin to take my earphones out from my backpack.

“Look, I know you don’t want to do this, and neither do I. Let’s just forget this whole tutoring thing, okay? I’ll do my own work and you’ll do yours. If Mrs Lee asks I’ll say that you did tutor me.”

I plug my earphones into my ears and take a sip of my drink. But before my eyes can fully skim over the first offending problem of the pile of homework, my earphones are yanked forcibly out of my ears.

My head snaps up immediately in irritation and I see that Jungkook has my earphones in his hand, and he’s dangling them in front of my face.

“What the hell what that for? Give it back.”

To my surprise, he places them in the pocket of his jacket and smirks, folding his arms on the table and leaning forward.

“Rule #1: no listening to music while studying. It’s distracting.”

“What the-,”

“And I’m not going to sit and watch you fail your next math test. You’re right. I don’t want to do this. You dragged me into this. But I don’t have a choice. I need my hours. Helping a classmate achieve an A on a subject she’s been failing badly would look good on my appraisals.”

See, another reason why I hate Jeon Jungkook. All he cares about is his grades, appraisals, getting into his dream college, dream job, and buying a mansion for himself in Gangnam.

“And anyway, after I’m done with tutoring you, don’t think I’ll just write you off. You’ll be owing me a favor.”

I open my mouth to protest but he continues before I can say anything.

“The next test is going to be on logarithms, so I’ll cover that with you. Let me test you on the basics first. I need to see how bad you really are.”

Guy really needs to learn some tact.

“What are the four laws of logarithms?”

“Uh… there’s the power law...”

“And?”

“The product law?”

“Yes. Two more to go.”

“I can't remember.”

“Try.”

“Just tell me already. I hate guessing games.”

Jungkook looks at me with something like amusement dancing across his features. “It starts with a Q.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now. Quotient law… and change-of-base law.”

Jungkook smiles, which greatly surprises me. I’ve never really seen him smile up close before. I have to admit, it makes his whole face look lighter and years younger.

“That’s right. That wasn’t so difficult, was it? Treat these four laws as your friends. They’ll stick with you no matter what and help you get through logarithms. Here. Do this, and if you have any questions feel free to ask me.”

“You should smile more often.”

“What?”

“Uh, nothing. I’ll get to work.”

“Jungkook, help me… please…” I whine, feeling like I’m on the brink of death. My eyelids are beginning to get heavy, and they’re drooping whenever I allow them to.

“Focus, Eunmi! Do you want that A or not?” Jungkook barks, tossing a small stuffed bean bag in my face.

“Just give it up, Jungkook. I can’t even get a B, and you want me to try for an A? Fat hope, honestly.” I stretch my arms and yawn.

It’s been a month since the first tutoring session, and Jungkook books me twice every week to tutor me. He is an absolute nightmare, the way he drills me with practice worksheet after practice worksheet. It’s already 9.30pm and yet I’m still at his house killing myself with what seems to be the thirty-fifth serving of logarithms.

“It’s already nine t