Wendy was reading the last chapters of her book when she suddenly received a text message. She opened it and realized that it was from her book report partner, Yeongho, who just finished reading his book. He was asking when they could meet. During their conversation, he started including details from the story in his text messages so Wendy had to stop him from spoiling her.

Wendy: Hey! Don't talk about it too much, I have a few chapters left.

Yeongho: Really? Are you planning on finishing the book tonight?

Wendy: I think so.

Yeongho: Text me when you're done so we can talk about it.

Wendy: Really? Tonight?

Yeongho: Yeah, why not? It's better since we can discuss because it's still fresh in our memory.

Wendy: Okay, sure.

Wendy texted Yeongho right after she closed the book. She was surprised when her phone immediately rang seconds later with Yeongho on the other end. She answered the call. At first, their conversation was formal and they stuck to the topic of their meeting until he started to talk about the story.

"I can't believe we've been talking for hours. I think we should call it a night." Wendy said.

"Let's continue our discussion at school?" Yeongho asked.

"Sure. This time, let's stick to the story. Hahaha." she laughed.

"Agreed. Good night, Wendy." he said as he ended the call.

Wendy: How's your book report? I'll be working with Yeongho after classes to polish our report since the deadline's in two days.

Taeyong: Just you two?

Wendy: Yeah. The project is for pairs, right?

Taeyong: Okay...

Wendy: Why? Is something wrong?

Taeyong: None... yeah, you go ahead and finish yours. I'm still having trouble setting up a meeting with Yuta. He's kinda flaky.

Wendy: You should be straight with him and tell him what's going to happen if you don't work together. Maybe he'll wake up and cooperate with you.

Taeyong: I'll try. To be honest, I'm already kind of done with mine. I just want him to give me something that he made and I'll edit the paper so we can both put our names.

Wendy: Yeah, you can't let him take credit for something you worked alone.

Taeyong: You're right.

"Yuta..." Taeyong called his classmate from the other side of the classroom. "Have you finished reading Gatsby?" he asked waving the book in the air.

"Yes I did. Why?" his classmate answered casually.

"Why didn't you tell me?! Our deadline is coming up." Taeyong answered in dismay.

Yuta walked towards him and placed his arm over Taeyong's shoulder. "Relax, dude. Let's go to my house after class so we can start with that thing." he offered. He sensed that Taeyong was a little hesitant when he looked over at Wendy's seat. "If you're thinking about your girlfriend, you can bring her too."

"No need. Sure, let's go to your house after classes."

Yuta welcomed Taeyong in his room. He went to one of the dressers as Taeyong sat on the floor chair. He took out his laptop and placed it on his lap. "So, how are we going to start this, Yuta?"

Yuta opened one of the dressers and took out a plastic case and tossed it on the table. "Tadaaa!"

Taeyong: What's this? A DVD of The Great Gatsby?

Yuta: *nods proudly*

Taeyong: I thought you finished reading the book?

Yuta: Why would we need to read the book if we have this DVD?! At least I saved some time.

Taeyong: The movie does not accurately portray what's in the book... Anyways, you could've watched it in your own time. Oh my god. We'll fail this, won't we?

Yuta: Relax! We can always add some stuff from the internet. You take this too seriously when there's an obvious shortcut.

Yuta insisted that they watch the movie so he could keep up with Taeyong in their discussion. Taeyong wanted to leave but Yuta's mother had already prepared some food for them. After they watched the movie, they got to bond over stories about their teachers and their classmates over dinner.

When they got back to Yuta's bedroom, Taeyong thought that they were finally going to work with their report but Yuta received a text message from his friends asking to meet them up. Yuta wanted to go and show up for a bit but Taeyong insisted that they have to finish their report. He then promised that he would only meet them for a few minutes and come back but Taeyong refused to be left alone at his house so Yuta asked him to tag along.

"Don't bring your bag! Just leave them here." Yuta told him when he caught Taeyong placing his laptop inside his bag.

As they walked to the place Yuta mentioned, Taeyong was surprised to find out that it was a bar. He refused to enter and insisted on waiting outside. "Come on, Taeyong. Live a little." Yuta said. "They allow minors inside, don't worry. We'll get out soon enough. I'll introduce you to my friends." he said.

Taeyong sighed as he followed Yuta who seemed to be familiar with the security who welcomed them inside. He scanned the surroundings and it was filled with young people drinking, playing pool and darts. "Let's go over there." Yuta pointed at a table on the corner.

"Hi guys!" Yuta greeted the people at the table. "This is my friend, Taeyong. Taeyong, these are my friends, Donghyuk, Mark and and Taeil."

Mark: What took you so long? I thought you're going to ditch me on my birthday.

Yuta: Why are you celebrating on a weekday anyways. We're kinda working with something at my house. We just wanted to drop by.

Donghyuk: Here. *hands them shots* Let's toast!

Yuta handed Taeyong the other shot and signaled him to just go along so they could leave immediately. Taeyong hesitantly lifted the glass and clinked it with the others and downed the shot. He coughed a bit as he felt the alcohol scratch his throat. He suddenly noticed a familiar person few tables away from them.

Taeyong: *whispers* We have to go. *points at the table with his eyes*

Yuta: Wow. I didn't know Miss Bae is this cool! I can just stare at her face and never get bored as she teach. Bae Joohyun~ *sighs*

Taeyong: Don't be silly. She's our teacher. Why would you do that?

Yuta: Come on, admit it. She's the most beautiful in our school.

Taeyong: No, my girlfriend is.

Yuta: Pshh... she's not around. You can be honest.

Taeyong: Fine... she's the best looking teacher. But student-wise, it's Wendy.

As they continued talking about their teacher, people started to panic. They heard whispers that there were inspectors approaching tables, checking IDs. Yuta tried to protect Taeyong but with the people running around, they eventually got separated.

Taeyong suddenly felt someone pulled him through the kitchen to the backdoor. "Miss Bae?" he called her.

"Hurry." Joohyun said as they walked through the dark alley until they reached a hidden spot wherein no one can see them.

"Thank you, Miss Bae. How did you know I was there?" he asked.

"I was on my way to the toilet when people started to panic and then you suddenly appeared right in front of me. You looked alone and confused so I tried to save you from the commotion. What are you even doing here?"

"I got tagged along with... my friend. We were supposed to drop by for a few minutes but then the inspectors arrived." he decided to not mention Yuta's name to conceal his identity. "Miss Bae, thank you so much for saving me back in there. I don't know what I'd do if I got caught in there."

"It's not that I'm not taking this seriously but I know you're a good kid so I thought I'll save you this one time. Don't do this again, okay? Few more months and you can drink freely so just wait a bit and focus on your studies." she said.

Before Taeyong could respond, they suddenly heard a footstep moving closer to them, they tried to squeeze themselves further to the smaller space so they wouldn't get caught. He suddenly felt like there was no air getting inside his body so he tried to breathe in and out quickly.

Joohyun held his hands and asked him to meet her eyes. "Taeyong, relax. You're having a panic attack."

Taeyong continued to breathe short breaths and beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead. Joohyun felt like he wasn't listening to her so she held his cheeks and made him look at her eyes. "Taeyong... Look at me. Look at my eyes. You're going to be okay. Just follow. Breathe in... breathe out..." she whispered.

Taeyong followed her instructions until his breathing normalized but he got startled by a phone ringing. Joohyun apologized and answered her phone. Her friends were looking for her because the inspectors have already left and she suddenly disappeared. "I'm going to call it a night. Let's just meet up again next time." she said and ended the call.

"Come on, I'll drive you to your house." she smiled.

The whole way to Taeyong's house, Joohyun tried to make Taeyong feel at ease again. She told him stories about her as a student and why she decided to be a teacher. He then told her that he didn't know what he wants to be and he's sometimes worried that he'll never figure it out.

"It's fine if you haven't figured it out yet. Believe it or not, there are older people who don't have a clue as well. Just take time and get to know yourself better... your likes, hobbies and dreams. You'll figure it out one day." she said as she parked the car and looked at the map on her phone. "Looks like we're here."

"Thanks, Miss Bae." he said as he stepped out of the car. He peeked through the window and waved at her.

"Okay, see you at school tomorrow. Have a good night." she said before driving away.

Taeyong sighed as he entered his room. He lied down immediately on his bed thinking it was a really long day. He took his phone out of his pocket and saw numerous texts from Yuta asking where he was.

To: Yuta

I'm home. Just bring my stuff at school tomorrow. You owe me a big one.

He then suddenly remembered what happened earlier at the dark alley. He touched his face as he recalled how close his and his teacher's face was as she tried to make him recover from the panic attack. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his phone ring.

Wendy: Babe, how are you? Are you home?

Taeyong: Yeah, just got home.

Wendy: How's working with Yuta? Did you finish or was there any progress?

Taeyong: I honestly don't know. It's been a long night. We'll have to work again tomorrow for sure.

Wendy: Aw that's too bad. You're probably really tired since it's late. I just called to check up on you. Good night! See you tomorrow.

Taeyong: Okay, night.

Wendy: Love you, babe.

Taeyong: Love you too bae... babe. 

The next day, Taeyong and Yuta divided the parts of the paper that they would make. When Yuta gave Taeyong the file containing his parts, Taeyong didn't have time to check since it was already the deadline. He only scanned some parts and just by looking at his classmate's work, he knew that they were only going to get an average score at best. He considered just submitting the one he made earlier but he didn't want to waste Yuta's effort so he just accepted his fate and submitted it.

Wendy: You don't look happy.

Taeyong: I guess I have to find another way to pull up my grades.

Wendy: Don't worry, you can do it. I believe you did well in the parts that you made so you might still get a high grade.

Taeyong: I highly doubt it.

Wendy: Let's go to the mall after classes? I want to buy something.

Taeyong: Oh. Is it okay that you go with Seulgi for now? Or maybe Tao? I promised Yuta earlier that I'll teach him Advanced Algebra after classes.

Wendy: Okay...

Wendy was strolling alone at the mall when suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder and called her name. She flinched and looked at the person behind her.

Wendy: OMG Yeongho?! You startled me!

Yeongho: *laughs* Sorry. You can relax now though. Unclench your fists. You look like you're going to punch me.

Wendy: Sorry... what is it?

Yeongho: Nothing really. I just saw you wandering around looking almost lost? Are you okay?

Wendy: Yeah...

Yeongho: Are you sure? You don't really lo