When she got the library at 7:00 PM to tutor Vernon, she found that he was already there, playing a game on his phone as he waited. She took a deep breath and sat down beside him.

“Hello there Frostbite,” Vernon said to her, immediately putting away his phone.

“Where do you want to go?” Jin asked. She couldn’t really tutor someone in the openness of the library because they could only talk so much.

“I reserved a study room for us on the third floor,” he said, pulling out a key he had. Jin was actually surprised that he had thought ahead. Maybe he was more serious about this exam than she thought he was.

Jin followed Vernon up two flights of stairs until they got to the small study room. Vernon opened the door and motioned her in. She went inside, realizing how uncomfortable it is being in a small space with a guy, especially with this particular guy.

She was glad that the doors were made of clear glass. She did not really trust Vernon, and so she was happy that she was not really completely alone with him.

“Teach me,” Vernon said, sitting down on the chair and crossing his arms and looked at her.

Jin also sat down and asked, “well, what units are you having trouble with?”

“All of them,” Vernon responded with a shrug.

“What units do you know the most about?”

“None of them.”

Jin felt like strangling him. Did he really expect her to teach him everything they learned in the semester?

“Do you believe in God?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Vernon shrugged.

“Are you a Christian?”

“Yes, but not a very good one. I think I’ve only ever entered a church like never.”

“You know the basics though, right?”

“More like the basics of the basics.”

Jin was not sure if he was trying to be funny, or if he was serious, but she decided to try her luck.

“Okay, who is the last prophet of Christianity?”

“Jesus!”

“Great. What about Islam?”

“I know this one!” Vernon said. He blinked for a moment as he tried to recall the name, “Ahmed? No. Mohammed. Score!”

“Yes. Who is the founder of Buddhism, then?”

“Buddha!”

“The Original Buddha, yes. What’s his name?”

“Umm, Buddha?”

Jin did everything in her power not to facepalm. She then calmly explained to him: “a Buddha is anyone who reached enlightenment. Do you know what this enlightenment is called in Buddhism?”

“Beats me.”

“Nirvana.”

“Ooo, I love that band!”

Jin felt like he wasn’t taking this seriously, and she didn’t want to waste her time with him. She stood up to leave, but he quickly grabbed her arm.

“Wait! I’m sorry. I promise I won’t make any more side comments. Teach me more. Nirvana is enlightenment. A Buddha is someone who reached nirvana. And what’s the name of the original Buddha?”

Jin sat back down. He processed more of what she had said than she thought he would. “Siddhartha Gautama,” she answered him.

Vernon nodded, “okay, teach me more.”

“Do you ever listen in class?”

“I prefer to play Candy Crush,” he responded raising his eyebows.

Jin rolled her eyes and then continued to ask him questions, “What religion believes that a specific people are in covenantal relationship with God?”

“What does covenantal mean?”

“Like in a contract. Kind of.”

“I don’t know.”

“Judaism.”

“Oh.”

“What is the dominant religion of India?”

“Er, Islam?”

“No.”

“Buddhism?”

“No.”

“Christianity?”

“No.”

“Judaism?”

“No.

“I can’t think of any more religions.”

“Hinduism,” Jin revealed, “the third largest religion in the world.”

“Oh. Right. I have heard of it.”

Jin asked him more basic questions about religion, information everyone should know. Vernon knew almost nothing. Jin was very surprised. She thought it was all common knowledge, but Vernon simply did not know anything. He was going to fail, she thought. He did not even know the basics: he was definitely not going to know about any of the actual content they actually studied in class.

Jin took a deep breath, and decided to just break it to him: “you don’t know anything. You won’t pass at this rate.”

“That why I need you to teach me what I need to pass.”

“I can give you my notes from the beginning of the semester,” Jin said, giving him her notebook, “but I can’t teach you everything.”

Vernon took the notebook and flipped through it. He had this kind of pout on his face. “I need motivation,” he told her, “give me motivation.”

“What about: this exam is 25% of your final grade.”

“What about a kiss on the cheek if I pass?”

Jin rolled her eyes: “no.”

“What about if I get over 60%”

“No.”

“70%?”

“No.”

“Damn girl, what do I need to get for you to give me a kiss on the cheek?”

“Stop asking me for that,” Jin told him with a frown.

“I could easily blackmail you into giving it to me, you know,” he replied, raising his eyebrows.

“But you won’t,” Jin told him, although she only half-believed it.

“You’re right. I prefer to earn my kisses fair and square,” Vernon said with a wink.

“So obnoxious.”

“So, how much do I need to get for that kiss?”

“I said no.”

“What about if I get 100%?”

“You won’t get 100%.”

“Is that an agreement, then? Full marks, I get a kiss?”

“No.”

“Come on, be a good tutor and give me some motivation.”

Jin found his commitment to getting this kiss very weird. Why does he want her to agree so badly? He’s been asking her for this kiss on the cheek ever since he had first talked to her, and he’s still asking for it. How much of a flirt is he that he keeps asking for it so relentlessly.

He would not get 100%. Jin knew he wouldn’t. It was basically impossible given how little her knows and how little time he had to study.

“Okay,” Jin conceded, rolling her eyes.

Vernon tightened his fist in an expression of triumph. “Score!” he added. He then immediately flipped to the first page of Jin’s notebook and began to study.

Jin stayed there, working on a research paper as Vernon studied. Jin was quite surprised at how diligently he read the notes, even taking out his own notebook and writing down his own notes. He was actually taking this seriously.

At some moments, he would ask her questions about thing he didn’t understand from her notes. He would listen to her attentively, and nod in understanding before going back into the notes. This is the most serious she had ever seen him. Ever.

She was finished writing her paper at about 1:00 AM. Vernon was still studying.

“I’m going to go home,” she announced when she was done.

He looked up from his notes, “want me to walk you?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “There are dangerous people lurking about at this time of night. They’re just searching for defenseless girls walking around campus alone.”

“I’ll call a friend of mine to walk me.”

“Is that friend on that list of yours?” he said, raising his eyebrows and grinning.

Jin suppressed her irritation. Just when she had thought she would go on for an entire night without hearing about that stupid list, he finally brought it up.

“Goodbye,” she ignored his question, and started to leave, “give me my notes back tomorrow after the exam.”

“Alrighty. Goodnight Frostbite,” he told her.

She went down. She thought of calling Wonwoo or Seokmin to walk her back to her dorm, but she didn’t want to bother them at this time of the night. She knew that it was true that walking alone at night was dangerous; she had heard the stories. She figured they weren’t as common as people believed, and so she decided to try her luck and walk alone.

She walked quickly, not really paying attention to her surroundings and just wanting to get home. The threat of someone spotting girls walking alone scared her, and so she focused all of her energy on avoiding her surroundings. She heard voices and footsteps around her, but she blocked them all out and dashed to her dorm room.

She thanked God when she arrived safely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Diary,

I just came from tutoring Vernon. I don’t know if he’s an idiot or just doesn’t care enough, but he knew literally nothing about any of the religions we studied in class. I also learned that he’s a Christian, and he didn’t know anything besides the fact we believe in this guy called Jesus that died on a cross for all our sins. That’s literally all he knew.

I don’t even know how he even got into college…

Anyways, I gave him my notes and he looked like he was serious about studying them.

He coerced me into promising him a kiss (on his cheek) if he got 100% on the test. I’m pretty sure he won’t get 100% though. To be honest though, I don’t know why I agreed to it. There was literally nothing forcing me to agree. He just has this talent where he can tempt people into agreeing to his terms, even if they aren’t in your favor.

He’s such a flirt. I hate him.

A/N: Guess what exam I have tomorrow? THEOLOGY. My exam is the inspiration for this chapter.

((You know what else inspired me? THE THREE ADORABLE GUYS STUDYING DILIGENTLY FOR EXAMS IN THIS VIDEO))