She had been chosen as his tutor, that incredibly intelligent brain of hers that could calculate through math as if it wasn't such a puzzle to him. It had been an awkward start, him being annoyed at his failing grade, her trying to be as friendly as can be without triggering the boy even further. Honestly speaking, he kind of intimidated her, his serious gaze and deep voice. All of him, really.

 

Even her introduction had failed. "I'm-" she had started when he settled down in the seat beside her, the time after school hours had passed. 

 

"Jung Yerin, I know." He had cut her off, returning his gaze to the sheet of paper he needed to correct. He seemed to be focused on that, and only that, so she didn't disturb him for the rest of the time he stayed. 

 

He ended the day with a blank slip of paper and an exhale of a breath he had unknowingly held from the beginning.

 

-

 

He returned to the classroom, another test to correct in his hands. 

 

"At least you improved the score." she mused, comparing his original score of 6 to his new score of 52. "But it's still a failing grade, nonetheless." she gave him a sympathetic smile, unable to relate to the poor boy's misfortune.

 

"I guess." was his reply before taking his regular seat beside her, his fingers clenching the wooden pencil. Another thirty minutes of silence passed and that day, he had actually managed to write something down.

 

A simple 'Y' was caligraphed in the middle of  the multiple 'X's'.

 

Another zero for his test correction grade.

 

-

 

"You know, I'm curious." he had said aloud one day, interuppting the silence the two pairs of ears were used to. "How wide is your smile?" 

 

The question came out without much thought and he had ultimately regretted the decision to let his mind linger on her for that long. She hadn't responded in a couple seconds, letting him believe it was all an illusion and he hadn't actually brought the nerve up to say anything.

 

But then she laughed. "Do you want to measure it?" her eyes were now crescents when he turned to her, her cheeks stretched from the grin that enveloped her face.

 

"Am I allowed to?" 

 

"If ya want to." she chuckles, brushing her bangs to the side. 

 

It was approximately 6.7 centimeters long.

 

-

 

And things had resumed as previously, but he couldn't hide the fact that he sometimes stared at her when she worked. She grew all serious-like, different from her image. And sometimes she would look up and catch him gazing at her. 

 

He was lucky that he was so good at pretending to day-dream.

 

-

 

He kissed her. Not like a deep, meaningful kiss or anything. More of a peck, not even intimate. But he kissed her and then went back to working, as if she had just thought of the whole scenario in her head. But the small upturn of his lips as he corrected his mistakes was undeniable. 

 

-

 

"Kim Taehyung, you're a storm." he read the red markings on his paper, the familiar ink of the pen Jung Yerin used to grade his calculus sheets. 

 

-

 

"Jung Yerin, you're the flowers blooming in the spring rain." she read the pencil markings on his paper he had handed over. There were no corrections, just those few words in the corner. "Call me, sometime." And he had scribbled down his number in boyish handwriting. 

 

She punched in the digits on her phone with a smile. Her 6.7 centimeter one, that is.