It was a quarter to 5. Why wasn’t she here yet? Junmyeon glanced down at his old and worn-out watch and then scanned the small library where he often spent many days and nights completing assignments. It was empty saved for three or four people, all of whom were not the face he was looking for. The only sounds came from the slight buzz of the radiator, pages being turned and the quiet tap, tap, tap from the buttons of laptops. Junmyeon stared with bewilderment as he caught sight of a person slumped over a table snoring quietly, drool falling onto a book which was splayed wide open beneath their face.

They were supposed to meet up at half 4 but he was held up at a student council meeting which overran, causing him to run through the entire building of the university to reach the library. By the time he arrived, he was out of breath and on the verge of needing his inhaler only to find the girl he was supposed to be meeting, wasn’t even there. Did she already come and go? Junmyeon sighed and waited for a few more minutes before he glanced down at his watch again for the umpteenth time.

Making the decision to leave after half an hour, he stood up only to hear the whoosh of material and a light thud across from the seat opposite him. She finally turned up. Her features were striking, exuding elegance and grace like that of a swan. Black silky hair framed a pale, small face with dark eyes. She was a natural beauty. Junmyeon could tell that much. He had seen her a few times around the college campus and had always thought she was beautiful from afar but seeing her up-close left him speechless and frankly embarrassed when they both made eye-contact and he realised he was staring at her like a creep for a few seconds without saying a word.

The new city girl was the talk of the school, just like every other student that came new to their town so Junmyeon was already familiar with her name and her rich background (thanks to his friends). He had heard several rumours about her but he never took much notice or even cared for that matter. Education was always his main priority. Not gossip or rumours.

“Sorry I’m late. I was in the middle of doing something important and I lost track of time” she smiled.

Junmyeon blinked. He wasn’t sure whether to show he was disappointed or let her off the hook but he decided on the latter. It was an easier choice to deal with since

1. They just met and he didn't want to get off to a rough start since they had to spend a whole term with one another.
2. He never liked confrontation
3. It had happened to him many times. He, too, would often get carried away with his books or homework, venturing into another world only to realise much time had passed and he had lost half the day.

“It’s OK” he mumbled back awkwardly. “Just try not to let it happen again. Since we must work together for the whole term, I’d prefer you be on time. That way we can just get this done with and maybe we can finish earlier than planned”

“Wow, easy there. No need to be that enthusiastic to tutor me. I can sense the excitment dripping off of you from all the way here.” she smirked. Her comment caused Junmyeon’s cheeks to tinge with red out of embarrassment. Why did it suddenly feel so hot? 

“I’m Irene” she held out one of her pale slender hands. 

“Junmyeon” he replied back taking her hand and shaking it a little before quickly dropping it. He wasn’t a fan of physical contact nor was he particularly fond of possessing her germs.

“Where are your books?” he asked staring at the empty table in front of them, more than willing to start as soon as possible so he could go back to his dorm to wash up and then maybe let himself have the freedom of watching a bit of news before heading to bed.

She stared at him blankly.

“Your math books” he sighed. “You know, the subject that I’m supposed to be tutoring you for?”

“Oh” she looked around exaggeratively. First down at the shared table between them, then beneath it. She turned her head back to look at the window shelf near her seat and even got up to walk around the library to look at different tables and ask others if they’ve seen a math book lying around somewhere while Junmyeon just stared with his mouth slightly open, trailing her every move with his eyes just to watch her come back with a hint of a smile that looked like one of mockery.

“I obviously didn’t bring it with me, genius, or it would have been on the table already”

Junmyeon simply gawked at the girl infront of him. Did she just really waste both of their time doing all that when she could have told him outright she didn’t bring her book?

No normal human would do this, would they? Is she sane? Maybe she’s on meds and she didn’t take it. Ahhh, that must be it. It’s odd that Professor Jae wouldn’t say anything beforehand but it’s OK, challenges were made to be overcome. I can do this. Nothing is impossi- Oh god, why is she smiling at me like that? I'm scared. Why did Professor Jae pair me up with a psycho? 

Junmyeon cleared his throat hoping his mind would clear out his negative thoughts too.

“It’s a good thing I got my old book then” he mumbled getting out his math book from his bag which was in pristine condition. He treated all his books with care and respect because it was through books that he got the knowledge in the first place. He handed the book to the crazy gi- Irene- but quickly decided against it after he winced thinking about the way she would handle the pages. Junmyeon took the book back and turned to the first topic's page carefully before setting it infront of her.

“Since you started college a term late, Professor Jae said to start off with the topics that you missed last term, so I think we should start off with Algebra first since it’s the biggest topic and it's best to get it out of the way. What do you think?” He asked, his politeness getting the best off him.

“I think you’re pretty handsome. You have this whole princely vibe going on. I like it” she stated dryly and blatantly ogled at his face, clearly delighting in the way his face contorted in different ways, first out of shock and then out of embarrassment.

Must speak to Professor Jae about her mental illness and inform the school nurse to give her a pep talk so she dosen't miss any dosage of her medication. He made a small mental note.

“Algebra, it is” his voice barely carried out into the air.

Algebra was always his favourite subject in school so teaching it was an easy feat for him. He had taught it several times including teaching his own classmates who would come to him when they never understood the teacher or when exams were close. Junmyeon believed he had a special talent in teaching and he was always confident but for some reason he couldn't quite pinpoint, today was different. He was flustered and his explanation was coming out all stumbled. Maybe it was the way Irene wasn’t even looking at the equation on the math book but at his face the entire time even though he was pointing down at the sum or maybe it was the way he could feel her leg so close to his that they were almost touching. He had to gulp several times during his explanation and force his brain to focus on the equation.

“To solve......question 1’s equation about.....uhhh..... expanding brackets, you would first need to..... take the plus 3 to the other si-

“So, are you dating?” Irene interrupted causing Junmyeon’s explanation to abruptly die down. She propped up her face with one hand under her chin like she was genuinely curious while her other hand was busy tapping slowly on the table. 

“No….…but that’s not on the.....math book so we shouldn’t-“

“Why aren’t you dating then?” she asked as if he hadn’t spoken. “Do you just not date or have you not been asked out yet?” Junmyeon leaned back to his seat and gazed at her. She had a little smirk on her face as if she enjoyed throwing him off. He took a deep breath and begged the heavens for an ounce of patience to be bestowed down his way.

How should he answer? Should he tell her the truth about how he had never gone on a proper date before because he was just plain awkward and always busy with his studies or should he lie? He never liked talking about his love life or lack thereof because he felt embarrassed. All of his friends had more than one or two relationships in the past and some were currently dating now. It was just him who had never gone on a date before. Well, none if you took away the 'dates' he would go on with his grandma every spring when the cherry blossoms would appear. He decided to go for another tactic avoiding the tragedy that was his love life and prepared himself with a deep breath.

“Listen, Irene, as you can probably tell, I’d rather get these tutor sessions over and done with as soon as possible so I can get the extra credits I need. I've been dreaming of getting into this university since I was a freshman in high school so this is pretty important to me. I need this. And you....you need this too. Maybe, right now, education isn’t the biggest priority in your life, since you're rich and probably won't need to ever work in your life but it would probably do you some good to actually pay attention. So since we’re both stuck with each other for 12 weeks, I’d just prefer it if we could get on with the work so we can both benefit from this and maybe....maybe you'd find the whole situation a little easier if you took your medication and spoke to a therapist every now and then. To be honest, I'm not really into small chit-chat or even big ta----w-where are you going?”

“Our time is up” a huge grin was on her face as she towered over him. “Thank you for the lecture, Senpai. My brain finally got the nap time it needed. See you next time”

Junmyeon watched with his eyebrows raised and utter disbelief written all over his face as he watched her petite body saunter out of the library. He thumped his head against the table and groaned. God, give him strength. This was not going to be easy on him at all.