"You," Jinki points an accusatory finger at Jonghyun, face schooled into a disapproving expression.

Jonghyun pauses in the act of drinking water. "Me?" he ventures warily after he swallows.

"Yes, you." Jinki pokes his chest sternly. "You got a C for Math, a D for Biology, another C for Chemistry and a S for Economics. The only B you got was for English." he continues, rattling off glibly as he counts off his fingers.

Jonghyun gapes, "How do you know all that?"

"You sit right in front of me."

"You peek at my results?"

"I do not peek. It's just that you hold up the papers and the red ink is really bright and I happen to have perfect eyesight--" Jinki stops in the middle of a heated defense and shakes his head as if trying to get rid of stray thoughts, "No. Those aren't important. What's important is that you are failing all your subjects."

"I didn't fail any subjects!"

"You got a S." Jinki points out.

"That's a sub-pass." Jonghyun denies.

"It's a sub-fail too."

"But I passed the rest of my subjects!"

"And the end of year exams are coming up."

"We still have a month."

"And that's a really long time for you to improve by leaps and bounds and get straight As."

Jonghyun goggles at Jinki slightly, "Straight As?"

"Straight As." Jinki repeats firmly.

"I want to get straight As?"

"Yes, you want to get straight As."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Since when?"

"Since now."

"Why?"

"Because you want to go to the same university as I do."

Jonghyun's eyes slide off Jinki's face and he develops a sudden interest in the swirls of the wooden grain. "Oh. Right." he fiddles with his thumbs, "Well."

"Jonghyun," Jinki begins when Jonghyun seems content to spend the rest of the break time tracing the patterns on the table, "Don't you want to?"

"It's not a matter of want." Jonghyun responds quietly after a few seconds, "It's a matter of ability."

Jinki tilts his head quizzically to the side. A faint smile lingers on the corner of his lips and he moves forward to hold Jonghyun's head, urging him gently to look up. Unwillingly, Jonghyun does so and Jinki speaks in a tone of voice as if he is uttering an indisputable world truth. "It's all about effort," he states quietly.

Jonghyun nearly believes him, but he catches himself in time, remembering the Cs and Ds he got and how people like Jinki seem to get things instantly when they are taught, while people like him will still be left wallowing in the mazes of confusion when the lecture is over. He shakes his head slightly and breaks eye contact.

Jinki's brows furrow in the littlest of degrees. "It is," he convinces, "All the intelligence in the world will not help a guy in his math exams should he not even remember the most basic of formulae."

"You get things easier, you do things faster."

"And the reason for that is none other than consistent effort."

"You get things easier. You understand concepts better. That has nothing to do with hard work."

"It has. It's about hard work and virtuous cycles."

Jonghyun begins drawing tight concentric circles on the gravel ground with his shoes. "See, I don't get that either."

"I work hard from the start, so my foundation is strong. And when schools begin building up on our existing knowledge by teaching us advanced concepts, I get it easier because my basics are there." Jinki explains. He pauses and comments a second later, "Your shoes aren't going to last long at this rate."

"They are black."

"That just means they won't get dirty as fast. Nothing about wear and tear."

Jonghyun stills his foot. He turns to his left and notes the tiny yellow flowers dotting the bushes surrounding the campus. They are asters, he knows that. He turns back and looks at Jinki, whose gaze holds steady.

Jonghyun says, "You really think so?"

"Yes."

"I am tired of being compared to my sister."

"I can tutor you."

"My house?"

"Ok. Do you have any activities after school today?"

"My Wednesdays are always free."

"Great. Let's go over biology today. We can finish that viruses tutorial together." Jinki then takes Jonghyun's hands and starts pulling the two of them back to the school buildings, "Come, we better head back now. Let's not be late for the lecture."

Jonghyun follows along obligingly. He asks after a moment, "We are really going to start today?"

"Yup."

"You are a geek, you know that?"

"But you love me for it anyway." Jinki squeezes Jonghyun’s hand affectionately.

Let's all indulge in nostalgia :) Be it you were the one being tutored or the one doing the tutoring, let's all think back of the times fondly and wonder at how simple it all was.