"That's all?" She frowned when I finished explaining what happened earlier on in the fitting room. I nodded, gulping down one whole mouthful of ice water. "She really didn't kiss you or anything?" Irene narrowed her eyes as she watched me taking one big bite of the burger. 

Again, I nodded. 

"But did you see her ?" She asked, fiddling with the wrapper on her burger. 

I choked a little and quickly took a napkin to wipe the sauce off my mouth. I purposely left that out when I was telling her what went on in the fitting room. I knew she would get jealous and insecure. 

"Well?" She waited and I just couldn't lie to her so I nodded sheepishly. "I knew it." She mumbled and quietly ate her burger. 

"Hey..." I called out when she didn't say anything anymore. "It was just the top, I swear." 

"Just the top." She repeated as if there was something wrong with it. "It is so wrong." She said as if she could read my mind. Damn. 

"Okay. I didn't look. I swear." I raised my palm, like I was vowing. 

"But you saw." She said softly and sulked. 

"I don't like hers!" I quickly said and she raised an eyebrow at me. 

"What?" 

"I said I don't like her s." I said blantly and she blushed. "They're... just not my type." She reached over and knocked on my forehead with her knuckles. 

"Stop thinking about them." She scolded and stared at me. "Do you think that she will stop bugging you though?" 

"In school?" 

She nodded. 

"Hmm... hopefully not. She promised." 

"Can she be trusted?" 

I frowned. I really had no clue. "I don't know but she looked like she was really sincere when she apologised." 

"Well... if you say so." She shrugged. "But don't you let her seduce you again. Especially when your hormones are so raging." She warned meekly and I grinned, giving her a wink that made her blush again. 

"Can you stay over tonight?" I asked when we were walking home. She pondered for awhile and then looked at me suspiciously. 

"I told you I am on my period." She reminded me again and I flustered. 

"No no! I-I didn't think that way! I meant- I just want to sleep with you. Like, sleep." I quickly explained and she was stifling her laughter then she couldn't hold it anymore so she bursted out laughing. God damn it she was teasing me. "Joohyun!" 

"You're so cute when you're flustered." She pinched my cheeks which I pouted and blew air on her face. 

"You're so mean." I pushed her shoulder lightly and continued to walk ahead. 

"But anyway, how about you come over to my place instead? My father has been asking about you. I think... he wants to talk to you." Irene said carefully and I froze. 

I was so scared of Mr Bae that I didn't even think of stepping into their house again. Why did he want to talk to me? "Is he trying to warn me to stay away from you again?" I asked nervously. 

She shrugged. "He is more... okay now I guess. My mother talked to him and he just said he will talk to you. He kept asking me when can he see you again." 

"I have a bad feeling about this." I laughed nervously and walked away from her. She caught up with me and linked her arm with mine. 

"Seulgi, please?" She tilted her head to the right and said in a higher pitch. 

My heart softened at the sight and I contemplated for awhile before saying no again. "I cannot do this. I am scared as hell. What if he really beats me up this time?" 

"He won't. I won't let him do it. He can hit me instead." 

"That's even worse. I won't let you get hit." I stated. 

"Nobody is going to hit you or me okay? I am sure my father is not that violent. My mother will be there too. Maybe he just wants to know more about you because he has accepted the fact that you are my girlfriend." Irene persuaded and I heaved a deep sigh. "Baby, please?"

"Alright..." my shoulders drooped and I could feel adrenaline rushing all over me at the thought of going to her house again. I was scared as hell. 

"Let's go your house to pack some stuff first? Maybe you should bring your notes to revise too since you still have exam next week." She said and I could only nod. 

I told my mother that I would be staying over at Irene's house that night and she just warned me to not do funny stuffs again. I never understood why my mother always said that. 

"Don't be nervous. I am here with you." Irene held my hand and squeezed it. 

"If I don't make it back to my home alive, please tell my mother that I love her and my brother that it was me who threw away his airplane model 2 years ago. And I love you, okay?" I sighed and she pushed my head. 

"It is not that scary. You are over reacting." She pressed her lips tightly and I scoffed. 

"Did you see the way he grab me by my collar and almost send a punch here?" I pointed at my cheek and she looked guilty. 

"I am sorry..." she muttered as she thought I was angry. Her head was hanging low and I sighed again, lifting her head up by cupping her cheeks. 

"It's okay. Alright, I shall man up and face it. I will do it for you." I said as I looked determined enough to just take whatever that's going to throw at me. 

"Thank you." She giggled lightly and pecked on my lips. "Let's go up now." 

I was still quite reluctant even when I stepped into her house. I secretly cheered when her mother said that her father hadn't come home yet. Suzy waved at me and I waved back. She was cute, just like her sister. 

"Unnie, can you help me with this problem?" I was surprised when Suzy came and asked me when Irene and I were watching tv while waiting for her mother to finish cooking dinner. 

"Sure! What is it?" I agreed immediately and sat up, removing my arm from Irene's shoulders and she sat up too. Suzy went to sit on my left side while Irene was on the right. 

"This question. I don't get it." She pointed at the paper and I took it over to scan through the question. 

"Ahh... synthetic pathway." I nodded. It was chemistry. 

"How do you even derive this from this?" She said almost like a whine. 

I chuckled at her and took her pen over. "Right, you see. Organic chemistry is quite easy if you know the reagent and condition well. For this, it is a step-up reaction. That's why you cannot use this to synthesise this." I said as I circled on some of her structure, telling her that it was wrong. 

"But if I use this, I can also get the same product if I add ethanol." She rebutted. 

"You're right. But Suzy, did you read the question properly? They said in two steps. Not four. If you want to use ethanol at the end, you will need four steps." I looked at her until she finally nodded. 

"You're so smart, Unnie." Suzy grinned at me and I scratched my ear. "Since we are on this, can you help me with my math too?" She asked sheepishly. 

"Are you treating my girlfriend as a free tutor?" Irene joked and Suzy stuck out her tongue at Irene before she went to the room to retrieve her math paper. 

"You're so smart." Irene commented before Suzy came back. "I am so proud of you."

"It's nothing. I should know it anyway. We learnt it long ago." I shrugged and smiled at Suzy when she walked back. 

"This question. I can never understand this type of question." Suzy whined again and I laughed at her softly, Irene was laughing too at the sight of her frustrated sister. 

"Vectors?" I stopped laughing and processed the question in my mind. It was quite a challenging one but again, I should know my stuff well. "You see, two parallel lines will never meet unless they are the same line. Which is, not possible unless you are talking about collinear points." 

She blinked at me. 

"Okay. See this." I said as I drew some lines on her paper. "Can you tell me where will they meet?" 

Suzy shook her head. "Never?"

"Okay good. So if you want to see if they will ever intersect, you just have to equate this to this." I told her as I circled the equations on her paper. 

"That's it?" She asked, sounding surprised. "It is that easy? Why can't my teacher just say this?" 

"I guess teachers will teach you the more detailed ways which will confuse you slightly. So you just have to do more practices to have a sense of what you should do when you encouter this type of questions again." I smiled. 

When I turned to Irene, she was smiling proudly at me as she looked at Suzy and me. 

"You're too smart, unnie. I bet hyun unnie is more dumb than you." Suzy joked and Irene glared at her playfully. "I like you so much unnie!" She cheered and hugged me around my shoulders. 

"Excuse me, hands off my girlfriend." Irene said possessively and removed Suzy's arms from my shoulders. 

"Selfish. Seulgi-unnie is so perfect. How about we share a girlfriend, unnie?" Suzy joked and she threw her head back to laugh when Irene pretended to punch her. 

"Share what girlfriend?" I shivered when I heard the not so familiar manly voice again. 

"Appa!" Suzy greeted and I immediately stood up. Irene got up too and took my hand in hers. 

"Appa." Irene did the same and Mr Bae looked at us. 

"G-good evening Mr Bae." I bowed more than 90° and didn't get up until he gave me a strong pat on the shoulder. 

"I am finally meeting you again." He said, sternly. 

I shuddered when he smiled at me, a not so happy smile. More like a smile that meant, you are gonna die. 

"Let's have dinner and then I will have a word with you, Seulgi." He said and I nodded quickly. Then he went to take a quick shower which I wished he would never come out. 

"Baby, I am scared." I whispered to Irene and she looked at me apologetically. 

"I am so sorry. But don't worry, I will protect you." She cupped my face and I just nodded reluctantly. 

"Hyun-ah! Dinner is ready." Mrs Bae said from the kitchen and Irene went to help her mother to bring out the dishes. I walked to the dining table with heavy footsteps and Suzy nudged me. 

"Don't be afraid. I will tell appa that I like you a lot and you are a really good person." Suzy said and I gave her a small smile. She smiled back and then plopped herself down on the chair. 

"Take a seat, Seulgi." Mrs Bae smiled at me when she and Irene came out from the kitchen with the food. I felt like puking because I was really very nervous. 

"Sit here." Irene said softly and pulled me to sit beside her. Suzy was seating opposite to me and Mr Bae was going to sit adjacent to Mrs Bae and Irene. "Don't be scared." Irene whispered and patted my lap. How easy to say that. 

My heart dropped when I heard the bathroom door click. I was praying so hard that he would not question me too much because I wouldn't be able to answer him properly since I was dead nervous. He cleared his throat after he sat down and I couldn't sit any straighter when he looked at me. 

"Let's eat." He said after he looked away from me and grabbed his chopsticks. I took my chopsticks with my trembling hand and Irene looked at me to check on me. 

I smiled at her when she looked worried. 

"Seulgi." I almost choked on my rice when he called my name. I quickly looked up and nodded at him. "Do you like the food?" 

"Yes, Mr Bae. Mrs Bae can cook really well." I answered and I saw Suzy smile at me. 

"Do you prefer hyun's cooking or my wife's cooking?" He asked again and I frowned. 

"Joohyun has never cooked for me before." I replied and looked at Irene who gave me a sheepish smile. 

"Pity. She can cook quite well too." Mr Bae only shrugged and then we continued to eat silently. I didn't even dare to reach for that plate near him and Irene noticed that I didn't touch that dish so she helped me with some. 

"I see that you're the dominant one." Mr Bae commented again and I became flustered again. 

"I-I am sorry." I bowed with my head and he chuckled briefly. 

"For what? For controlling my daughter?" 

"She doesn't control me, appa." Irene explained when she saw how I shift uncomfortably in my seat. 

"I am asking her, not you." Mr Bae said more gently to Irene. "So Seulgi, which school do you go to?"

"R-RV high. It is just around here." 

"That's a good school." He said, looking surprised. 

"Ya Appa, Seulgi unnie is so cool. She can just glance at my homework and know how to solve it immediately already." Suzy smiled brightly at her father. 

"Oh really?" Mr Bae looked at me. "What's your ranking in school?" 

"T-Top 3 percent." I said humbly. Irene was pretty shocked too. She knew that I was somewhere at the top but she didn't know I was in the top 3 percent in the school. 

"You're a smart girl, Seulgi." Mrs Bae beamed me a soft smile and I smiled back sheepishly. 

"How many students are there in your cohort?" Mr Bae questioned again. 

"1600." 

"And you're the top 3 percent?" He was surprised this time. "Do you have tuition classes?" 

"No. My mother doesn't allow me to have any." I replied. 

"And you achieved all these by yourself?" He couldn't hide his amusement in his voice. 

"Y-yes. With my teachers' and peers' help too." 

"You're humble." He smiled at me genuinely for the first time. "Does having a girlfriend pull down your grade?" 

I knew it started.