After doing so poorly on her last paper, Ri Ah was determined to do better on the next one which counted for 30% of her final grade. It was a week before it was due and Ri Ah had already written a draft. After class was over, she quickly followed after Professor Park as he left the room.

“Professor Park, I was wondering if you would be willing to review my paper?” she asked, trying to keep up with his brisk pace.

“Did Mr. Lee say he was too busy?” he replied, not looking at her and continuing on his way.

“Uh, no. I actually didn’t ask him.”

“As I said at the beginning of this semester, please ask Mr. Lee any questions about this class before coming to me. As much as I value my students, I don’t really have much time. If you have a question that Mr. Lee can’t answer, then you can come and talk to me,” he said in a strict tone.

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry for disturbing you,” she replied in a defeated tone. “Have a good day, professor,” she said with a bow before rushing off to her next class.

Ri Ah sighed as she sat in class. I can’t fail like I did on the last paper, especially since this one counts for so much. And I really don’t want to ask Tae Sung Sunbae for help…but what choice do I have?

During her break, Ri Ah found Tae Sung’s office. It was located in the graduate student’s room of the Anyang building. She sighed before knocking. A woman opened the door and kindly asked, “Yes, can I help you?”

“Yes, I’m here to see Mr. Lee Tae Sung,” she replied.

“Oh, of course, come in,” she said as she opened the door. The room was filled with various cubicles. It was the office for anthropology graduate students who either taught at the school or were doing research for it. The woman led Ri Ah to Tae Sung and left the two.

“Oh, Ri Ah-ssi. What are you doing here?” Tae Sung asked surprised.

“Um, I actually came to you about class,” Ri Ah hesitantly started. “I was wondering if you would look over my paper?” she said as she held her paper out to him.

Tae Sung took the paper and looked at the front before looking back up at Ri Ah. “Hmm, I don’t know. I’ve been busy with my own research lately.”

“Is that so? It’s okay then,” Ri Ah said as she tried to take her paper back. She was hoping he would refuse so she could go back to Professor Park, but Tae Sung held onto Ri Ah’s paper.

“However, maybe if I get some coffee, I can read over your paper and stay up to work on my research,” he said with a mischievous smile.

“Eh? No, that’s okay. You don’t have to do that,” Ri Ah said as she tried to take her paper again.

“No, it’s fine. It’s my job to help my students no matter what. So Ri Ah-ssi, how about we go to a coffee shop to discuss your paper then?”

“Well, okay. If you’re okay with it,” Ri Ah responded with slight disappointment.

“Okay, then, let’s go,” he said as he grabbed his jacket and bag, putting Ri Ah’s paper in it. The two headed out, but Tae Sung was going in a different direction from the campus Starbucks.

“Starbucks is this way, Sunbae,” she said when she noticed Tae Sung going the wrong way.

“Oh, I don’t like Starbucks. We’re going to a real coffee shop. My favorite one,” he said as he continued walking. Ri Ah sighed and followed him. He stopped in front of a motorcycle and took out a helmet from under the seat.

“Sunbae! I didn’t know you drove a motorcycle!” Ri Ah exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Yes,” he laughed. “I prefer it over my car because it’s more efficient. Does it make me look cooler?”

“No,” she responded, curiously looking at the motorcycle and leaving Tae Sung shocked at her blunt response. “I mean, I just didn’t expect this from you,” Ri Ah quickly added when she noticed Tae Sung’s expression.

Tae Sung smiled and handed her a helmet. She looked at it not knowing what to do so he put it on her himself.

“Sunbae, I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before. I’m...kind of scared.” she said through the helmet as she tried taking it off but Tae Sung pushed it back on her.

“That’s perfect, I’m the best person to have your first ride with,” he said as he got on the bike and put his own helmet on.

He pat the seat behind him. Ri Ah reluctantly got on and delicately held onto the back of his jacket.

“You’re going to have to hold on tighter if you don’t want to fall off,” he remarked as her hands gently tugged on his jacket.

She moved her hands to his waist and held on lightly. He sighed and took her hands, pulling them around his torso.

“You have to do it like this,” he said as he let her hands go.

Ri Ah blushed in embarrassment at the idea of holding him like this. He was still considered her teacher.

“You might want to hold on tighter when we get on the highway,” he said with a smirk as he started driving to the coffee shop.

Ri Ah was startled by the loudness of the bike. The wind that blew against her made her shiver a little and she instinctively pressed her head against Tae Sung’s back, gripping his waist tighter. Tae Sung smiled to himself behind his helmet.

After 10 minutes, they arrived at the coffee shop.

“Java Lava?” Ri Ah read the sign on the shop as she took her helmet off.

“Yeah, the name might be lame but they make the best coffee in Seoul in my opinion,” Tae Sung said as he took his helmet off, took Ri Ah’s, and put them away.

They went in and found a table.

“What would you like, Ri Ah-ssi?” he asked her as she sat down.

“Oh, I don’t like coffee.”

“They sell other drinks too. Tea, hot chocolate. They actually just added smoothies to their menu.”

“I’m fine. I really don’t want anything,” she insisted.

“Suit yourself,” he said before going to order his drink.

He came back and sat down. “So, let’s take a look at your paper,” he said as he pulled it out from his bag.

He silently read through it while Ri Ah looked around the coffee shop. “Hmm…” Tae Sung said as he was almost through reading the paper. Ri Ah looked at him in anticipation.

“Ri Ah-ssi, you said you wanted to be a doctor right?” he asked her.

“Yes.”

“Well, I can see that you’re more left-brained in your paper,” he remarked.

“Eh? How?” she asked in surprise.

“You’re too objective in your arguments. You need to approach the topic from a different angle. Try just writing what you think and then organize your thoughts.”

Ri Ah furrowed her eyebrows, not quite understanding what he was saying.

Tae Sung noticed this and sighed. “I don’t know much about medicine, but I’ll try my best to explain it differently. When a doctor diagnoses a patient, they don’t always know immediately what’s wrong with them, right?”

“Yes,” Ri Ah said as she nodded.

“If someone comes to their doctor about frequent headaches, they could just be prescribed aspirin and considered cured. However, sometimes just taking something at their face value isn’t enough. Those frequent headaches could be signs of brain cancer. And in order to come to that conclusion, multiple tests are performed as well as looking at the family history and the patient’s lifestyle. Then the doctor takes all that information and tries to make sense of it, like piecing a puzzle together.”

Ri Ah continued nodding as he explained.

“So, just as the doctor collects his data before making his diagnosis, you need to just write whatever comes to you and then try to make sense of what you’re trying to say. Don’t constrain yourself to trying to write in a specific format. Does that make more sense?”

Ri Ah nodded again, “Yes, actually, that does.”

“Good. So why don’t you try just writing out some thoughts on the topic and then we can meet up again to look at it,” he said with a smile.

“Okay,” Ri Ah said with a smile. “But Tae Sung Sunbae, I’m really surprised at how well you were able to make that analogy. You seem like you really know what you’re talking about.”

“That’s because I have first-hand experience with brain cancer,” he answered seriously.

Ri Ah looked at him with a confused expression.

“I have brain cancer,” he said with a solemn face.

Ri Ah’s eyes widened. “Sunbae,” she whispered.

Tae Sung gave her a small smile. “I bet you’re regretting the way you’ve been ignoring me now.”

“I’m so sorry, Sunbae. I didn’t know and I acted like that towards you,” she said looking down with a troubled expression.

Tae Sung couldn’t keep a straight face anymore and laughed. Ri Ah looked up at him, shocked.

“Ri Ah-ssi, you’re so quick to believe people’s words,” he said as he continued to smile.

“Sunbae!” Ri Ah whined.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it. You’re so fun to tease, Ri Ah-ssi,” he said with a big grin.

Ri Ah sighed in irritation. “Well, since we’re done, I think I’m going to go now,” she said as she started to get up. “Thank you for your help,” Ri Ah reluctantly added.

“Oh, but we’re not done.”

“Huh?” Ri Ah looked surprised.

“I’m not done with my coffee and it would be rude for you to leave me before I’m done when I came here especially to help you.”

Ri Ah sighed and sat back down.

“So Ri Ah-ssi, have you enjoyed the class like you thought you would on the first day?” Tae Sung asked, recalling the first day when they talked in the hallway.

“Well, if I’m being honest, then I guess I’m not liking it as much as I thought I would. Humanities classes are harder than I thought, and the last paper really hurt my self-esteem.”

“You should have come to me for the last paper.”

Ri Ah looked down in embarrassment, “I didn’t want to come to you for help.”

“Why?”

“Since the first day, I’ve always been embarrassed around you. So I tried to avoid you as much as possible.”

“Why would you be embarrassed around me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I didn’t know you were a teacher when I first met you and I’m not used to being so informal with a teacher.”

Tae Sung laughed. “Even though I am a teacher’s assistant, I’m a student like you, too. I mean this job is just temporary. I took it to get a recommendation from Professor Park.”

“Recommendation? For what?”

“Well, I’m an anthropologist. I like studying cultures and learning about different ethnicities. I’m trying to go to New Zealand to learn about the Maori people. Actually, that’s what my research is on, so I’ve been working on my proposal to present to the department.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you were so ambitious, Sunbae.”

Tae Sung chuckled, “That’s because you were too busy trying to avoid me to even get to know me.”

Ri Ah awkwardly laughed, “Sorry about that.” Ri Ah’s phone buzzed then with a text message from Chan Yeol.

Ri Ah, I’m done with class. Did you already go home?

No, I’m at Java Lava with a friend. I’ll see you at home.

“Sorry about that Sunbae. Tell me more about your research.”

“Well, if my proposal gets passed, I’ll get to go to New Zealand for 2 years and study the culture as I live with the Maori people.”

“Wow, will you be able to communicate with them? Do you know their language?”

“I’ve been studying it, and I’m decent but not fluent. That’s something I’ll get to improve on when I’m there.”

“You suddenly seem really cool now Sunbae,” Ri Ah said with a genuine smile.

Tae Sung smiled at her compliment. “I’m glad you can finally see my true charms,” he said with a smirk.

Ri Ah shook her head but continued to smile, “Sunbae, this is one of your traits that made me want to avoid you. You can be so cocky sometimes.”

Tae Sung laughed. “But girls usually like the cocky bad boy types.”

“Well then maybe you should save that cockiness for when you’re trying to attract girls,” Ri Ah pointed out. Tae Sung smiled at her obliviousness.

At that moment, Chan Yeol walked into Java Lava and looked around the shop for Ri Ah. He grinned when he spotted her, but furrowed his eyebrows at the man she was sitting with. I thought she said she was with a friend. Is this guy a friend of hers? He looks older than me.

“Ri Ah!” he called to her. Ri Ah looked up at hearing her name and her eyes widened, surprised to see Chan Yeol..

“Chan Yeol-ssi, what are you doing here?” she asked as she stood up

“I wanted to join you,” he said before turning to Tae Sung. “And you are?”

“I’m Lee Tae Sung,” he said with a smile as he stood up and held out his hand to him.

Chan Yeol looked at it and put his arm around Ri Ah’s shoulder before taking his other hand and shaking Tae Sung’s. “I’m Park Chan Yeol. I live with Ri Ah.”

Tae Sung’s eyes widened and he looked at Ri Ah. Ri Ah noticed that Tae Sung had misunderstood what Chan Yeol said. “Oh, he means that I’m staying with him and his parents while going to college,” she quickly corrected him.

“Ahh,” Tae Sung said as he nodded in understanding. Chan Yeol looked away and made a face.

“So what were you two doing?” Chan Yeol asked Ri Ah as he sat down next to her.

“Uh, Sunbae was helping me with my paper for class and now we’re talking about his research,” she answered.

“Sunbae?” Chan Yeol questioned, raising his eyebrow.

“Oh, right. Tae Sung Sunbae is actually the teacher’s assistant for my Korean Myth and Folklore class. But he doesn’t like being called Mr. Lee so I call him Sunbae.”

“Hm,” Chan Yeol said as he looked at Tae Sung with a slightly bitter expression.

Tae Sung and Ri Ah continued to talk about his research and previous travel experiences. Chan Yeol took out his homework and pretended to do work while listening to their conversation. He couldn’t help but feel irritated at the way Ri Ah would call him Sunbae when he should really be his teacher. For some reason it seemed more affectionate than the way she called him Chan Yeol-ssi.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, he took out his phone from underneath the table and started texting:

Ri Ah, I’m hungry. Let’s go somewhere and eat.

Ri Ah checked her phone when it beeped and gave a sideways glance to Chan Yeol, who pretended to do his homework.

I’m not hungry. You can go ahead. She quickly texted and went back to talking to Tae Sung.

Chan Yeol pouted at her response.

I’ll count it as a favor. 20,000 won.

Ri Ah looked at him, slightly irritated.

I’m sorry. I’m talking to Sunbae right now.

But Chan Yeol wouldn’t give up: Please? I don’t want to eat by myself :(

Ri Ah sighed. “I’m sorry Sunbae. I think I have to go now.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I guess I’ll see you in class then. Don’t forget to show me your paper when you’ve rewritten it,” he reminded her.

“Of course. Thank you so much for your help,” she said with a smile.

“I’ll give you a ride to where you’re going,” Tae Sung offered.

“Actually, we’re going to the same place. I can take her,” Chan Yeol interjected as he stood up, giving him a tight smile.

“Really? Okay, well, good bye Ri Ah-ssi,” he said with a smile to Ri Ah. “It was nice meeting you, Chan Yeol-ssi,” he said with a nod to Chan Yeol.

“Goodbye Sunbae,” Ri Ah said with a small bow.

“Yes, goodbye, Mr. Lee,” Chan Yeol said, stressing the Mr. Lee that Tae Sung disliked being called.

Chan Yeol and Ri Ah left the shop as Tae Sung shook his head and smiled to himself.

Author's Note

Tae Sung is back! :) What do you guys think of Tae Sung now? More likeable? And what is this I’m seeing, Chan Yeol? Could it be…jealousy? Lol, the little puppy is getting ignored by his owner.

So, I have some bad news for my 19 subscribers. I will be busy with some personal things the next few days and probably won’t be able to update during that time, hence why I wrote a little bit longer chapter this time.

I know, I know. Why do I have to get a life now, of all times? Lol, well, I hope you guys can wait for me, or if not me, then for Chan Yeol, the adorkable happy puppy :) Until the next update (which hopefully won’t be too long from now) – 6/27/12 11:48 PM