Chapter 28
Tutor WarsMirae nervously looks at the new flyer hanging up on the wall.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she mutters in Suyeon’s ear.
Suyeon shrugs, chewing on her lip. “It’s a smart idea, that’s for sure.”
“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this,” Jongin breathes, shaking his head. “This had better work.”
“Relax,” Sehun urges. “Everything will be fine.”
Skyline Tutors, the flyer reads. Previously known as the Sunset Tutoring Group and the Daegu Tutoring Service, the two groups have combined to create the most efficient, reliable tutoring group in the area. Call now to schedule your appointment! A picture of the four of them is centered in the middle of the paper.
At first, Jongin was a little uncertain about Sehun’s idea of combining tutoring groups. Would their community service officers let them do that? Technically, Sehun and Jongin were supposed to tutor kids by themselves, and not for profit.
But after calling the officers to inquire if this would be allowed, Jongin was informed that, “Yeah, you two exceeded your required number of hours weeks ago. We thought you just continued out of good will.”
“Wha- but we were required to do 6 months!” Jongin claimed.
“No, you were required to do 100 hours, which we said might take 6 months,” the officer enunciated. “You finished your required time ages ago!”
“Okay, Suyeon’s right,” Jongin asserts. “This is a smart idea. Which is why it’s going to work.”
“Are we done hanging up flyers?” Mirae asks. “I ran out of all of mine. You guys?”
Sehun nods. “Yup, I finished putting up flyers on my side of town. I guess all we need to do is sit back and-,”
Suyeon’s phone starts ringing. She pulls it out, and, with an apprehensive glance at her friends, picks up.
“Hello? Yes, this is Lee Suyeon from Skyline Tutors. How may I help you?” The four exchange a look of astonishment. They’re getting calls already?! “Yes, we do have an empty spot today! Which tutor would you like? Sehun?” Suyeon playfully rolls her eyes in Sehun’s direction, and he sticks her tongue out at her. “Alright. See you then, and thank you so much!”
She hangs up. “Skyline’s first customer!” she screams, jumping up and down, and the others cheer along with her.
One week later and Skyline Tutors has made twice as much profit as Daegu Tutoring Service and the Sunset Tutoring Group ever did. The four decide to go out for dinner to celebrate their success.
“To Skyline!” Mirae announces, holding up her glass, and the other three clink their drinks against her’s.
“We’ve done so well,” Sehun smiles. “I can’t believe- hey, stop stealing my food, thief!”
Suyeon gives him a cheeky grin and pops a piece of his fettucini alfredo in . “Sharing is caring.”
“Come here, you,” Sehun growls playfully, and Suyeon squeals as he pulls her plate from her and takes a bite out of her spaghetti.
“Get a room, you two,” Jongin grumbles, but he is hopefully looking out of the corner of his eye at Mirae. A second later, he jerks his head away from her. Something’s wrong with me, Jongin thinks. I haven’t stopped thinking about Mirae. At all. I don’t know why. And that’s a problem.
“Can you pass me the breadsticks?” Mirae asks Jongin, who jumps up from his seat, startled. “Uh, are you okay?” she says slowly, giving him a weird look. Why is he so jumpy lately? What’s wrong with him?
As Jongin is handing her the breadbasket, she pulls him close to her. “Hey, let’s ditch the two lovebirds and give them some alone time,” she whispers in his ear. Jongin looks at her, wide-eyed.
“And go where?” he questions.
“Anywhere you want to go,” she shrugs.
Jongin beams. “I know just the place.”
“Hey, I have to go to the bathroom.” Mirae declares loudly. She dramatically throws down her napkin. “I’ll be right back.”
“Oh no!” Jongin cries, checking his phone. “My mom wants me to get milk from the grocery store. How sad. I have to go. Bye!”
“What’s up with him?” Sehun mutters, narrowing his eyes.
Several minutes pass. Mirae has still not returned from “the bathroom”. Suyeon and Sehun are becoming increasingly aware of what their friends have done.
“They ditched us,” Suyeon remarks in disbelief. “Wow.”
“Guess it’s just you and me, then.”
“I don’t mind that.”
They dine, making amiable chatter through the night. Sehun suddenly realizes how easily his smile comes to him when she’s around.
Tonight’s going to be the night, he tells himself. I’m really going to make a move.
After the two finish eating, Sehun offers Suyeon his hand, and escorts her out of the restaurant.
“Well, this was fun,” Suyeon laughs. “Though I don’t know where Mirae and Jongin went.”
Sehun shrugs. “Their loss.”
They stand in silence for a bit, not wanting to leave each other. The butterflies in Suyeon’s stomach bat their wings harder and harder. She can feel that something is about to happen. You know what?, she tells herself. If he doesn’t make a move, I will.
“Suyeon, I-,” Sehun says at the same time as Suyeon utters, “I think-,”. Both of their faces turn red.
“You first,” Suyeon coughs.
“No, you,” Sehun offers.
“Okay,” Suyeon takes a deep breath. “I, uh, I think you’re a really cool guy. And... I kinda- I mean, we should- uh- oh, screw it!” She yanks him by his jacket towards her and kisses him on the lips.
Their kiss either lasts several seconds or several centuries; they feel the same to Sehun. He wraps his arms around her waist and presses Suyeon to him, so close that they can feel each other’s heartbeats. Sehun has kissed his fair share of girls, but none of them made his chest explode like this, or his head feel so dizzy and numb, or his stomach feel this light. It is amazingly ridiculous. Ridiculously amazing. In that moment, Sehun thinks he is actually in love with her-
“Stop your public display of affection!” a crabby old voice gnarls from behind them. Suyeon and Sehun whirl around. A cranky old grandmother, clutching onto her rocker, is giving the two the evil eye.
“Sorry!” Suyeon apologizes breathily, her face hot and red. However, the next thing she knows, someone is tugging her to the back of his car.
“Sehun,” Suyeon exhales, but she barely has time to take another breath before Sehun is on top of her again, kissing her and weaving his fingers through her hair and hugging her close.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs, trailing butterfly kisses down her jawline.
This is the dirtiest thing Suyeon’s ever done. Making out in the backseat of his car? Sounds like something from a Paul McCartney song.
But it does feel pretty fantastic.
“Why didn’t we do this earlier?” Suyeon giggles, trailing her hands up Sehun's shirt.
“It’s been an hour since we left,” Mirae notes. “My guess is that they’ve made it to Sehun’s car already.”
Jongin wrinkles his nose. “Great to know.”
“So, why did you want to come here? I didn’t think you were one for cake.”
He rubs his nose self-consciously. “I dunno, I thought you liked this place.”
The two are sitting in the Autumn Cafe. There is no one else there, save for the cashier. Mirae drums her fingers on the table impatiently. Jongin tries to stop staring at her.
An idea pops into his mind. “I challenge you to a cake eating contest,” he boldly proclaims. Mirae quirks an eyebrow.
“Please. We all know how this is going to go down. Plus, I have no more money after paying for dinner.”
“That’s fine.” Jongin pulls out his platinum Amex card. “It’s on me.”
Mirae and Jongin walk up to the cash register and proceed to buy 2 heaping plates of chocolate, gingerbread, peppermint, mocha, red velvet, and strawberry cake.
“Winner gets anything from the loser,” Mirae suggests.
Jongin nods. “Whoever finishes first wins. Ready? Go!”
The following minutes are a blur to Jongin. All he knows is that he feels like he is in some sort of cake hell. The sweetness of the pastries are overwhelming his senses in an absolutely unpleasant way. His stomach feels like it is about to explode.
When he is on his 5th bite of mocha cake, Jongin tells himself to give up. There’s no way he can finish this without puking all over the ground. But I can’t, he thinks. I have to win this. I have to keep going. Clenching his fists, Jongin wills himself to keep going-
Suddenly, it hits Jongin. A wave of tranquil omniscience washes over him, bathes him in its goodness. Jongin sees the light. He has reached cake nirvana.
Mirae looks up from her plate and gasps. Jongin, who was faltering in the previous moments, has now turned into a steady cake-eating machine. He systematically shovels food into his mouth. Jongin is unstoppable. Mirae blinks. He must have reached cake nirvana.
4 minutes later, Jongin throws down his fork. “I’m done,” he states in a low voice.
Mirae puts down her fork, eyes wide. “Well. Looks like you won.”
He closes this eyes. “Let me savor this moment. I just won against the cake-eating queen Hwang Mirae. I’m quite proud of myself.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mirae grumbles. “You won. So what do you want from me?”
Jongin rests his head on his hands, coolly appraising Mirae across the table. She cannot help but shrink away a little at his intense gaze.
“I just remembered something,” Jongin says, leaning closer and closer to Mirae. “You made me miss that shot at that basketball game.”
“What basketball game?” Mirae stammers.
“The one where we first met.” Jongin stops mere inches from her face. She tries not to gulp. “I was pretty mad at you for that.”
“No kidding,” she mutters.
“I think it’s time I got some payback for that.”
“What kind of payback?”
“Well...,” Jongin murmurs. “This kind of payback.”
He pecks her on the lips.
Mirae gapes at him, half in disbelief, half in indignation.
“What the hell?!” she finally squawks.
Jongin winks. “Payback.”
A/N: Yeah jk this isn't the last chapter (the next one probably will be)
BTW sorry i was supposed to update this a few days ago, but I found this show called Agents of SHIELD which is freaking AMAZING and WONDERFUL and I marathoned the entire show in a day. WATCH IT IT IS SO GOOD!!! AGENT GRANT WARD IS SO HOT LMAO HELP ME....
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