Fifteen minutes have passed and Junmyeon is still nowhere to be seen. You know he hasn’t left the school compound because you have a clear view of the students’ parking lot from the library window. His car is still parked there, and most of his friends’ cars are already gone. You glance at your watch again, tapping your foot anxiously. He wouldn’t have bailed, right?

More and more people are entering the library, but he is not among them. You have chosen a nice small table, as not to take up the space where large study groups like to come in. Actually, there seem to be many more study groups today than usual. After more observation, you realise that most of them are from the social studies classes, discussing something about East Asian history. Perhaps they have a history project.

Another glance at your watch tells you that Junmyeon is now eighteen minutes late. You groan. You decide to leave if he doesn’t show up within the first half hour, and promptly take out a History book to revise in the meantime. It’s never been one of your strong subjects.

“Jaera.” You recognise that voice once you hear it, and apparently, so do most of the library go-ers. Their eyes automatically fall to your direction. It is not necessarily loud, but the quiet atmosphere in the library seems to amplify the sound.

You turn around, greeted by the sight of Junmyeon, with a pretty girl clinging on his arm. His face is masterfully kept neutral, but you can see the slight irritation bubbling off of him. You recognise the girl as one of the social studies students. You don’t know why you feel uncomfortable at the sight, a little annoyed even. Was this what he meant by ‘better things to do than studying’?

“Jaera,” he repeats your name between his gritted teeth.

“You’re late,” you tell him simply. You don’t care that your face and voice display your irritation. You have a right to be mad; he still didn’t take it seriously. “That’s twenty minutes wasted. I see you weren’t joking when you said you had something better to do.”

You decide to give the girl a reassuring smile, to let her know that the only person in trouble is Junmyeon. However, she looks confused.

“You weren’t lying?” she asks him, looking too afraid to acknowledge you properly. “I thought they were just rumours!”

So now people had an interest in his academic life and who he was getting tutored by? You are annoyed at how such a trivial thing could end up being the gossip of the students.

“They’re not rumours. It’s true,” Junmyeon explains, prying the girl’s hand off. “I told you, didn’t I?”

You nod, not knowing why it is so hard to believe that you are tutoring him. The girl lets out an anguished noise, and scampers off to one of the social studies groups on the other side of the room.

“Wow, I didn’t know you had that in you,” he chuckles, settling into his seat opposite you. “Your jealous vibes were all over the place.”

“Jealous?” You raise an eyebrow. “I’m not. I’m mad. Where did you go?”

He crosses his arms. “If you weren’t jealous, how come you didn’t say anything when I told her that we were a couple?”

“A couple?!”

“What else would the rumours be about?”

You pinch your nose, holding back the urge to shriek at him. “Why on earth would you tell her that? And you still didn’t answer my question! What did you do that made you so late?”

“As you can see,” he tilts his head in the general direction of the girl. “I was preoccupied. She kept harping on about how I and her would look great together, be an aesthetic couple, whatever. I was annoyed, so I got here as quickly as I could to prove that I actually had other plans. She wouldn’t believe me at all.”

“I don’t blame her,” you sniff. “You were probably flirting with her, making her think that you were actually interested. What a playboy.”

“Excuse me. Have you ever seen me changing girlfriends every week?”

You ponder for a while. Now that you think about it, he hasn’t actually had a proper girlfriend in quite a while. His last relationship lasted a few months, from what you’ve heard. It turns out that Kim Junmyeon might not be a playboy after all.

You sigh. “So what now? I’m not going to tell her that we’re dating. Pretending in front of your brother was more than enough.”

“It’s okay,” he snickers. “You’re good enough acting as a jealous girlfriend without even trying.”

Rolling your eyes, you slam your hand on the table. “Let’s get to work. We can pick up where we left off. Starting with piecewise functions…”

It takes a while, but Junmyeon manages to understand the whole first chapter of Math. It is not incredibly fast to be able to consider him a genius, but definitely fast enough to catch up. At this rate, he wouldn’t need a tutor by the end of two months. Hopefully he would cooperate to finish things up as quickly as possible. You have never spent so much time with Kim Junmyeon before this, and it has made your life a little more chaotic than you would like.

He looks positively drained after the two-hour session. After completing the final exercise, he flings his pen across the table and slumps into his seat.

“You did very well,” you compliment him, as how you do to your students after every session.

“Yeah, well, I am Kim Junmyeon.”

You start packing your things as Junmyeon watches. He only has a few pieces of paper with him, thanks to you, because in his haste of escaping the girl, he had come in empty-handed. Speaking of the girl, she is still in the library. You try not to glance at her.

“When do you want to meet next?” you ask, pushing yourself off of the chair.

“No, not again,” he laments as he throws you a look of despair. “You only caught me once because of Minseok hyung, but you won’t get to see me again.”

You groan. “Come on. Can’t you see how well these sessions are helping you? Why do you hate Math so much anyway? Your brother was a natural at it.”

“Exactly,” he mutters under his breath.

“What?”

There isn’t any answer as the both of you start walking out of the library into the carpark. There are no students around, and you let out a sigh of relief. The bus stop is about five minutes away, so you quickly wave your hand before heading towards the bus stop.

“Wait!” he stops you suddenly. “I can just drop you home.”

“It’s okay. I can just take the bus.”

“No, I insist,” he pulls your arm as he unlocks his car. “Just a small way of thanking you today.”

You can’t hide your smile. “The school’s resident gentleman strikes again, I see. But seriously, I’m fine with using the bus.”

“And I’m fine with driving you. Get in.”

He looks at you forcefully, and you can’t help but notice how hot he looks. With that poker face and captivating gaze, he could make anyone bend to his will. It looks like you are no exception as you find yourself getting into the front seat.

“I have to pick Minseok hyung up from the clinic first, though,” he says, revving up the engine. “It should be on the way to your house.”

“What happened? Is he okay?”

He gives you a wry smile. “He’s just helping out in my dad’s clinic. He wants to play some football in the evening though, so I have to fetch him home first.”

The thought of having Minseok in the car slightly excites you, but the thought of being able to get another tutoring session winds you up even more. Junmyeon, however, seems to read your mind.

“Don’t you dare act pitiful and ask for another date.”

“Watch me.”

He can’t blame you; he was the one who practically forced you into his car. If it weren’t for this situation, you would’ve had to pester him through text. You cackle internally. Things are playing out very well.

He doesn’t make a snarky comeback, too busy focusing on the road. You have to admit, he is a steady driver, unlike your assumption of him to be the opposite. You are embarrassed at yourself for judging him just like that. Judging a book by its cover is definitely not something to be proud of and Junmyeon is just a beautifully-written book that’s a little dog-eared.

The car pulls to a stop outside a dermatology clinic with a huge signboard reading ‘DR KIM DERMATOLOGY’. Minseok is already waiting outside the clinic, and when he gets closer, he is surprised to see you in the front seat.

“Hey Junmyeon. Hello again, Jaera. How have you been?” he greets the both of you as he enters the car.

Junmyeon grunts good-naturedly as you answer him. “I’ve been well, thank you. How are you, sunbae?”

“Enough with the sunbae nonsense,” he waves a hand. “I think any girl in a serious relationship with my brother can call me oppa.”

Your cheeks red