Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock…

    The sound of the second needle of my watch moves past the dials with a steady rhythm. It’s been already 20 minutes past since I sat and waited at this new café just right outside my place. I’ve been checking my watch for every minute anxious and perplexed on what is going to happen soon.

         “Do you want me to take your order, miss?” The waiter asked beside me which brought me back out of dreamland.

         “It’s alright. I’ll order later,” I looked up at him and smiled.

         “You’re absolutely sure?” he asked with a worried concern.

         “It’s alright. Don’t worry about it!” I laughed. Gosh, he’s such a cute guy with those big eyes.

         “Serious? I could bring you a glass of water,” he pestered while showing a puppy face.

         “Okay fine. Just bring me a glass of water,” I finally gave in.

         “Arasso, miss! One glass of water will be coming your way!” He jumped excitedly with that cheeky grin of his.

         I smiled at his cuteness when he dashed clumsily towards the barista. It’s been a 3^rd time since he came to me asking for orders. He’s funny but at least he did a good job as a waiter. I looked around me and honestly, the place wasn’t that crowded which was unexpected to me. At least, me and Kris could concentrate without any distractions on this tutoring session here. I looked at my watch again.

          5 more minutes. I smiled. It’s not the fact that Kris was late but it’s just that I have decided to come early. Maybe because I was too excited to the fact that I’m going to see, gaze and talk to him face to face. Thank you, Mr Kang for this one of a kind opportunity to be with Kris!

       Suddenly, a voice called my name which brought me into consciousness. I looked up and right there in front of me stood that tall figure with that model-suited body and a hint of mysteriousness in his face.

          “Hey, there! Sit!” I smiled while ushering to him to sit opposite me with a hurried pace. Gosh, Hye Ri! Control yourself. Don’t make this so obvious that sunbae can even notice.

         At the same time, a glass of water was placed on the table. That cute smiling waiter was back again on the job. This time, his face is more cheerful while he was preparing a notepad on his hands preparing to order from the both of us.

         “So, miss, are you prepared to order?” He asked with his pen ready on his left hand.

         “I would like a cappuccino,” I answered. “What about you, Kris?” I turned to him.

         His eyes wandered to the ceiling trying to figure out what to order. Then, he answered, “I’ll have the same order as her.”

         “Okay, so 2 cappuccinos. Anything else?” He asked. We both answered no at the same time. When he left, Kris turned his attention to me with those piercing eyes. He was wearing a tank top with a hoodie and a khaki pants. He just reminds you of those models you would see in fashion magazines like Vogue. When we locked gazes, I didn’t know what should I say. My palms were glistening with sweat. All of a sudden, it didn’t felt like a tutoring session, it felt more like we’re on our first date minus the fact that we’re not dating.

         “Wow, it’s good to see that you’re early!” My mouth blurted out those words. What the heck, Hye Ri! It’s so cheesy. You sound like a complete noob in front of your crush. Kris chuckled in response. Okay, now what? Now he thinks I in conversations. Thanks, Hye Ri. You deserve a laugh from the most popular boy in your school.

        “Actually, I decided to turn up early. Don’t want to be late for my first tutoring session. Besides…” he paused. “I don’t want to make a bad impression on you,” he answered with those stares.

        Omo! Did he just said that? Aaaawww, he’s such a gentlemen and a… talker.

        “Oh gosh, you don’t have to do that sunbae!” I laughed out loud. Seriously, when was the last time that I laughed this loud?

       “How about you?” He asked.

      “Me? 20 minutes ago,” I answered. His eyes just went wide. “So early?!”

      “Nah. It’s just that I’ve got nothing to do at home. So why not come here early?”

      “Wow, I thought that I’ll be earlier than you. Guess I lost to you then,” He smirked.

      Soon, the smiling waiter returned to our table with those 2 cups of cappuccinos.

     “Here you go!” he smiled. We both said thanks to him. “So, are you guys a couple?” he asked.

     Both Kris and me looked shocked and I said back at him, “No no no! We’re not. We’re just friends, right Kris?” I looked at him. Kris nod his head at him.

      “I see. But you guys do look cute as a couple! So matching!” He gushed with excitedness.

      “Yah! We’re not dating? Arraseo?” Kris rebuked him.

      “Arasso arasso, ahjusshi!” He bowed down in apology towards Kris. After he stood up straight, he showed that cheeky grin and said, “Happy dating!” And he quickly ran off out of sight before me and Kris could do anything.

        “Aisssh!!! Jinja!” Kris ruffled his hair in a semi-furious state.

        “Just ignore him. He’s just a kid,” I told him. He looked at me with full attention and said, “So, shall we start?” I smiled back in reply.

        Soon, I took out my Biology textbook and placed it right in front of him. “Should we start with the chapter you’re having difficulty with?” I asked.

        His eyes wandered around searching the chapter he was most having a rough time with. “It’s that chapter with those green plants and this thing called chlorophyll.”

        “Oh! I know what you mean. It’s about photosynthesis is it?” I answered as my brain managed to register those bits of information when I studied that subject.

       “Yup! That’s the one! Gawd, I hate that chapter. I don’t even get the processes at all! Seriously, why do those biologists make it so hard for us to understand? It’s not like we’re going to major in Biology one day!” He let out his frustration.

       “Don’t worry. It’s easy if you look properly,” I smiled. He smiled back in reply.

       “So, this is how it goes,” I said as I managed to find the page for that chapter.

       “Wait!” He stopped. I looked up. Don’t tell me he decided to change his mind.

      “Eeeerr.. I think I should change seats,” he answered. “I mean, it’s going to be difficult for you to tutor me if we both have to twist our bodies to look at the textbook. I’ll sit beside you.” He stood up and made his way to the seat beside me.

      Omo! He’s sitting beside me which means there is a possibility for skinship! Yah, Hye Ri! Stop it with those immature thinking of yours. He just wants to study. Stop mentally harassing him like those sasaeng fans you see these days!

        “Are you ready?” he interrupted my immature thoughts in my mind. When I turned to face him, my heart was beating like a drum just because his face was just a few inches away from mine.

        “Sure!” I smiled in reply. For the next two hours, we were fully engrossed in our tutoring session. As I explained to him every step of the light-independent reaction, I could see that he could understand every single word that I had explained. He was being serious as he jotted down some notes making sure that every single detail is not to be missed.

         “So, do you understand everything?” I asked once we were finished with our lesson.

         “Yeap! Now I do get it… thanks to you,” he smiled with those pearly white teeth at me. Immediately, my face was flushed with hot blood seeing that smile.

         “You’re sure,” I asked him one more time.

       “Absolutely sure,” he nodded.

       “Okay, so I’m giving you a quiz to see how much you understand,” I turned to the page to where those review questions were there.

        “You’ve got to be joking,” he looked stunned.

        “I’m serious. You paid full attention so I guess those information would have been in your brain by now,” I teased when I showed him the page and I gave him a piece of paper to write his answers.

        “Wow. Just wow!” He looks flustered as he took the piece of paper from me.

        “Your time starts now!” I said. “I’ll give you twenty minutes.”

        While the clock ticks by, I was staring out of the window looking at the passer-by’s. Sometimes, it’s interesting to observe people while not realizing that they’ve been observed.

        All of a sudden, my phone rang. I fished it out of my pocket and Suho’s smiling face was on my home screen. Without haste, I answered it.

       “Oppa!” I said. Kris looked up at me. I gave him a glare to continue on his quiz. He gave a surrendered look and soon got back to his work.

       “Hye Ri ah! Will it be alright if I come over to your house this evening?” Suho asked.

       “Why, oppa? Is there something going on?” I asked.

       “Nope. It’s just that I bought this new horror movie and I don’t want to watch it alone. So do you want to watch with me?” he explained.

        “Gosh, oppa. You’re such a sissy! When are you going to man up, huh?”

       “Sorry ah, Hye Ri! You’re the only one that I know who watches horror movies with me,” I felt him smiling through the phone.

       “Alright alright. I get it. So, why not you stay over for dinner? I can ask my mum to cook extra for you,” I said.

       “Oh really? That would be great! But… would it be troublesome for her?” he asked with a worried concern.

       “Nah. She won’t mind. Besides, she wants to see you,” I said.

       “Oh, really? Tell your mum thanks… or never mind I’ll tell her myself. So, see you this evening like 6?”

       “Sure. See you oppa!” I took the phone and place it back into my pocket.

       “Is that your boyfriend?” Kris asked. Gosh, I didn’t realized that I got so comfortable with Suho on the phone that Kris was there.

       “Nope. He’s my best friend,” I corrected.

       “I see. It sounds like you both are,” he added.

       “Nah. I don’t think we’ll be that on that level,” I said. I’m waiting for you to be yours, Kris.

       Without getting this conversation into something deep, I quickly changed the subject. “So, are you done?”

        He handed the paper to me and I marked it carefully and it was Kris’ turn to look out at the window.

       “Woah!” I blurted out after the marking was done.

      “What? Did I fail all of them?” I asked in a terrified tone. I hold out the paper in front of him. Right on top of the paper, a ‘10/10’ was marked on it with bright red ink.

      “You did… stunningly awesome!” I grinned.

      “Aissh! You scared me. I thought I’m going to fail,” He sighed in relief.

      “You did fine. I have a feeling that you’re going to ace this subject,” I cheered him up.

      “I’ll definitely ace it… if you tutor me for the rest of the year,” he smiled.

      “Do you want to go now?” he asked.

      “Sure,” I answered. Soon, Kris called another waitress for the bill. Honestly, I can guess that he doesn’t want to see that cheeky waiter’s face teasing him that we’re a couple. When the waitress arrived with the bill, Kris took out a set of money and placed it on the tab.

      “I should pay you back,” I said as I took my purse out of my pocket.

      A hand reached out to touch my hand. Electricity shot from that touch and I swore my heart was beating fast.

       “You don’t have to. After all, I owe you a lot,” He smiled.

        Dumbstruck, I placed the purse into my pocket. “Thank you,” I mumbled.

           “No. I should be the one thanking you,” He answered. When Kris got his change back, we were walking out of the café when that cheeky waiter wished us goodbye. Kris gave him that death stare and the waiter quickly retreated to his post.

        “I’ll see you in school, then,” he spoke up. I nodded in reply.

        “Anyway, if there is any chapter that I’m having problem, I’ll text you,” he smiled.

        “Sure,” I smiled back in reply. We both said our goodbyes and I walked back home. Now, it’s time to see my best friend in an hour, though.

Ever wonder who's the mystery waiter? Try to take a guess...