It all makes sense now. The undeniable attraction I feel towards him, the lessening hatred. Who am I kidding? I’m in love. I might not know much about him but the matter of the hearts is a funny thing. He has shown me who he is and he has proven his worth. And I’ve fallen too deep in this pit to say otherwise.

“I know I was being an for ignoring you just because I was jealous and stressed out from work. I’ll get my priorities straight and never do that again. I’ll be very busy for a period of time but call me whenever you need me.”

He said that at my doorstep after he sent me home last night. And we kissed again. Did I say he was an amazing kisser? Sigh, I can positively say that I’m addicted to his lips already

High-school crushing stuffs aside, I do think he has point regarding Seunghoon. He really does have done his best for him, and the rest are my responsibilities. It’s unfair to expect him to father Seunghoon whether the latter needs it or not. I should find another tactic to understand Seunghoon better, and make sure he graduates high school.

3.30 p.m.
Counseling Room

I mulled over the red marks on the stacks of paper in my hand. I sigh and shake my head. Then, I look up across me to see a rather nonchalant face as if these papers aren’t his to start with.

“I can’t believe you failed nine out of your ten subjects.”

Seunghoon simply shrugs it off.

“Do you hate exams that much, Kim Seunghoon?”

“Are those not enough proofs?”

“These marks look like you aren’t even trying.”

“I didn’t.”

“Don’t you want to graduate high school?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does. You might think otherwise but you will think differently five years later. I don’t want you to regret. I’m not asking much from you. I just want to see you graduate. You’re bright and talented, and I can see a bright future ahead of you in the music industry, but you’ll have to at least graduate high school so it won’t be as rough without it in the future.”

He avoids my eyes but for once, Seunghoon seems like he is considering my words. I really hope he does. Even though Intae can look out for him for the time being, but how long can it last? The world changes fast. If Seunghoon ever slips away from Intae or me…

“I don’t want to see you fall in the wrong crowd. I know that’s not the case right now, but it could happen, don’t you think?”

Seunghoon sighs. “But I hate studying.”

‘I’m not asking you to study your off so you could get into college. It would be great if you do so, but all I’m asking right now is to attend your classes and pay attention. Not for anyone, Seunghoon, but for yourself. Do it for yourself.”

Seunghoon throws his head back and grunts subtly. I pull out a notice which I had stuck at the announcement board just now. It’s a special class for students who score lower than average. It’s actually obligatory, a direct order from the principal, and Seunghoon is listed as one the students.

I push the notice towards him and pat the paper on the table. Seunghoon cringes as soon as he sees the bright yellow paper. To my delight, he takes the paper in his hand, as if giving in to my persuasion.

“At least treat me to pizza.” He waves the paper at me, looking annoyed.

I shrug. “Only if you attend the class.”

Seunghoon rolls his eyes and put on his sling bag.

“and try not to get into fights,” I tell him as he walks away from the room.

“Whatever.”

His response makes me smile. He responded to me. Now that’s a positive progress.

-

To my pleasant surprise, Seunghoon does shows up on the special class. It’s been three days since my talk with him, and he hasn’t skip school since then either. He sleeps in class most of the time, though. The class ends at ten, and I’m planning to drop by Intae’s workplace. We haven’t meet since, well, that, because he’s been very busy lately. These days I kind of want to see him, and this morning he suddenly says he would like to have a quick dinner together. Well, that works for me.

I stop a bus and get on it. I make my way to the back to find available seats, but fall backwards as the bus starts moving. Fortunately, I manage to save myself from a bigger embarassment as I simply bump to a stranger at the back. The stranger takes hold of my arms and helps me back to my position. I look back to thank him but forgot to do so when i found out that the stranger was none other than my own student, Kim Seunghoon.

“Hm? I thought you take the other bus?” I ask as he proceeds to take a seat at the farthest back, and I sit right next to him.

“I’m not going home,” he says nonchalantly.

“But it’s late!”

“’I’m not getting into trouble. Chill.”

And then it dawns upon me. “Oh, are you heading to Intae’s office too? You seem to be busy these days. Did you make new songs? Can I hear them?”

Seunghoon shoots me a lazy smirk. “you can buy the cd when it comes out.”

“Geez. Forget it. By the way, does Intae really let you use the studio whenever? Even in the middle of the night?”

“Yeah. As long as I clean the dance studio, polish his car, vacuum his office, reply e-mails and deliver office parcels, yes, I get to use the studio whenever.” He seems annoyed as he lists the tasks he did to earn the 'privilege' of using the facilities at Intae's company, and yet he seems very accepting about it, unlike when I nag at him about not skipping school.

I could have seen it coming, knowing how strict Intae could be in his work. But to know that Intae trust Seunghoon that much, and that Seunghoon works really hard for his dream, I feel warm and fuzzy inside. It’s really great that things are working out well for them.

“Since you work hard,” I rummage through my purse and take out a black forest chocolate bar and offer it to Seunghoon. “A gift for you.”

Seunghoon just blinks at me with distaste. “Am I a kid?” he looks away, looking at the scenery passing by.

Who is he thinking he is? Of course he is. Ugh, kids these days. I reach his hand and force the chocolate in his fist. He is startled, but he doesn’t throw the chocolate away.

“It’s not often that I gift my students, consider yourself lucky.”

Seunghoon scoffs subtly. “Whatever,” he says, but he keeps the chocolate in his pocket anyway.

I press the buzzer. We’re here.

I usually say hi to the receptionist, Shiyoung but it seems like she’s gone home already. I take the elevator with Seunghoon and drop by Intae’s office. He’s nowhere to be found. I walk around a bit, ask a few people in the studio and they all say that Intae has gone out. It’s weird because he didn’t tell me. Maybe I should have called him first, but he would never tell me to come if he’s not going to be there. I tried calling him on his phone, but there’s no answer.

I have a bad feeling about this.

I go down to the lobby again. I take a seat at the waiting area and try making calls numerous times. After a while, I think it’s better for me to leave and talk about this with him later. I leave the building and walk towards the bus stop, but then I see his car entering my sight and parks nearby the entrance of the building. I retract my steps and return towards the building. To my surprise, Intae isn’t the one driving it. He’s sitting at the passenger’s seat instead.

Intae leaves his car, along with a young, slender woman. Intae is walking towards the building, his steps are staggering a little bit. He’s probably a little drunk. The woman seems to be stopping him from going inside. I couldn’t hear the details of their conversation, but from the tone of her voice, she seems to be begging him for something. She is crying, and Intae hugs her there. They both got back into his car, Intae back at the passenger’s seat, and she drives him away.

I’m...

Speechless.

I couldn’t tell anything from what just happened, but I’m sure I dont’t feel good about it. I turn around to get back at the bus stop, but instead I just freeze to see Seunghoon standing in my way, looking just as confused. I see trash bags in his hand, he’s probably taking them out.

He probably saw everything too.

I feel my cheeks drastically turn warm.

“What’s going... Um,” Seunghoon seems unsure of what to say. Me either.

“Are you okay?” Seunghoon asks.

I force myself to put up a smile. “Yeah. I’m going home.”

“I’ll take you home.”

“No!” I surprised myself with my rejection. “I mean, I’ll be fine on my own. You have things to do here, right?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about me. See you tomorrow, Seunghoon.”

I walk away, as fast as I can.

I don’t know what to think. I don’t want to be suspicious yet. He had always been honest with me, I don’t think he’s been fooling around with other girls behind my back.

Or maybe I’m just too naïve? Maybe he really is a player.

I don’t know.