Yongguk wished that he had listened to Su Kyung’s advice. He’d been so preoccupied with playing games at the arcade and flirting with random girls that he’d completely forgotten to study for the test today. And, to make matters worse, it was an English test! English was his worst subject! If no one was watching him, he’d probably break down into tears.

He walked down the hallways of his school with his head hung low in shame. His feet led themselves to the library where he subconsciously convinced himself he should go to study and he picked his head up only to glance at the titles of the books. “I’m sorry about what Minho said to you yesterday,” a voice quietly whispered in the aisle next to the one he was in. Normally he’d ignore random whispers in the library but as soon as he heard Minho’s name, Yongguk looked through an opening in the shelves to see who was talking. One of the boys in the group SHINee - nicknamed Onew - was leaning against one of the bookshelves with two books in his arms, talking to someone Yongguk couldn’t quite see.

“Oh, it’s fine,” a female voice whispered back to Onew. Yongguk furrowed his brows – he knew that voice. “He didn’t say anything strange or mean,” Su Kyung continued, “I just hope I didn’t hurt his feelings with my answer.” A smirk graced Yongguk’s lips as he remembered hearing Su Kyung reject Minho yesterday.

Onew took a step closer to Su Kyung and she took a step back. Yongguk could tell that Su Kyung felt uncomfortable but Onew continued talking. “So how about me?” he asked, “I know I’m not as handsome or athletic as Minho but, unlike him, I actually do like you.” Yongguk choked on his own saliva and starting coughing. The two people looked through the bookshelf and when Su Kyung saw who it was that was coughing, she smiled sheepishly. As soon as he regained his composure, he bowed apologetically and Onew fixated his attention back to Su Kyung.

“I’m sorry,” Su Kyung whispered to Onew, “you’re going to have to give me time to think about it.” Onew smiled awkwardly but nodded before bowing to Su Kyung and exiting the library. Once he was out of sight, Su Kyung sighed and placed a hand on her chest in exasperation. After a moment, she walked over to where Yongguk was standing and leaned against the bookshelf. “Where you spying on me?” she asked him after a moment.

Yongguk scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat. “N-No,” he stuttered, “I-I-I just came in here to study.”

Su Kyung giggled. “Why are you stuttering?” she asked him, “Do I make you nervous?”

“N-No,” he said again, “And stop laughing at me! I-I just wasn’t expecting to see you here, that’s all.” Su Kyung smiled and nodded her head. An awkward silence enveloped the two of them and Yongguk coughed to try to clear the strange atmosphere. “So, uh, are you ready for the test today?”

She nodded once more in response. “Unlike some people who were trying to pick up helpless girls in the arcade, I was actually studying diligently at home.”

“Trying?” Yongguk asked, surprised. The librarian shushed him and he bowed, apologizing. He then continued in a hushed tone, “I’ll have you know, I picked up three girls!” Su Kyung didn’t respond but instead tried to suppress a laugh as she walked away.

---

As soon as it was time to start the test, Yongguk’s mind went blank. It was a test on prepositions. “What the heck is a preposition?” Yongguk muttered silently to himself, “Is that some sort of dinosaur?” He glanced over at Su Kyung who was busy writing answers on her own paper and he sighed. She looked really cute when she was concentrating, he realized, and he soon had an image in his mind of them snuggling up together on a couch. Su Kyung sneezed and Yongguk snapped out of his fantasy. That was strange, he thought, I don't like her in that way. Right? Focus, Yongguk, focus! Now what was a preposition again? He tried to think back to the example their foreign teacher gave on prepositions. All he could remember about it was something about a rat and an airplane. Yongguk was royally screwed. He decided it would be better to guess than to leave it blank so he took a deep breath as he read the test.

Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions:

1.We stand _________ the umbrella when it rains so that we don't get wet.

Yongguk scratched his head. Umbrella? What’s that? Yongguk sighed and quickly scribbled in the word “chair” and prayed that was the correct answer.

"Okay, class,” the teacher announced, “you have five minutes to complete your test.”

Yongguk groaned. Five minutes? He'd only answered one question! Actually, he guessed at one question. How long had he been staring at Su Kyung that made him miss most of the class? He glanced over at her once more to see her head on her desk and her test paper upside down. Yongguk decided it was in his best interest to guess at the fill in the blanks and pray that the rest are even remotely close to being considered “somewhat right.”

When the teacher announced the end of the test, everyone quickly passed their tests to the front of the classroom and one student collected them to hand to the teacher. “Okay everyone,” the teacher announced, “you can quietly chat amongst yourselves until the end of the period.”

At once, half of the class started talking to one another and some students got up and walked around. Himchan was one of the latter. “How'd you do?” he asked Yongguk, leaning his back on the desk in front Yongguk.

Yongguk sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Terrible,” he replied, “I would have done better but I was a little distracted.” He snuck a peek at Su Kyung to see if she was listening to their conversation. Thankfully, she was reading a book. He then brought his attention back to Himchan. “How do you think you did?” he asked.

Himchan shrugged. “Passable,” he stated. Yongguk scowled at him. Himchan continued, noticing Yongguk’s anger. “But don’t worry,” he said, “I’m sure our teacher will find a way to help you improve your grade if you really need it. I mean, there’s always tutoring.”

Yongguk shook his head. “I can’t do that,” he stated, “If I get a tutor, my family will know I’m failing. I can’t let that happen. I guess I’ll just have to try harder next time.”

Himchan reached out and patted Yongguk supportively on the shoulder. First a girl refuses to give him her phone number (multiple times) and then he fails a test. This was turning out to be a really crummy year.

I updated. Wait, what? [Cue collective group gasp here] Anyway, I'm sorry if this isn't what you expected. In fact, I had left this story alone for so long (1 1/2 years) that I sort of lost the tone of the story if that makes any sense. Um...I don't really know what to say now except that I hope you liked it and thank you to everyone who stayed with me all this time. I love you!