5:45PM

It was a cold day.

The wind whipped bitterly at your nose and cheeks and you wrapped your red scarf more closely around your neck as you approached your destination.

A few minutes later, you opened the door of a café on the first floor of a department store. It was a quite high maintenance building and you didn’t need to go into the stores to know this wasn’t a place remotely in your budget. Being a college student living alone was difficult, especially for your wallet. But still, it was still nice to have a reason to come into such a nice building, even if it was the first floor café.

You inhaled the aroma of warm coffee. Something about coffee just always made you feel good. It was fairly inexpensive, yet it had such a rich and expensive scent. After paying for a vanilla latte, you chose a seat closest to the window. You loved to watch the streets light up as the sun went down.

 

6:15PM

He was late.

You weren’t surprised, high school boys were late to everything.

 

6:45

Someone sat in front of you and you looked up from your book.

“Hey,” You smiled. You were irritated at how late they were, but you decided that the first meeting should go mellow, for future’s sake.

A boy stared blankly back at you. He looked surprisingly mature. Even when he was sitting, you could tell he was tall and fit. His skin was very fair and you though he would actually be quite good looking if he wasnt wearing such a perpetual scowl.

“You’re __________ Kim? My tutor?”

Well looks like some one else is also in a bad mood, you thought. Something told you this was not going to be a smooth tutor session.

“Yes I am. You’re Cha Moonbin, right? Studying for your college exams?” you said as friendly as you can. He was definitely going to be a brat, which must be why his mother was offering such a large pay for tutoring sessions. But you were determined to make this work. You needed that money.

Moonbin rolled his eyes and slouched back on his chair.

“I’m not going to college. So you can just tell Mother to stop wasting your time.”

Rude.

You desperately wanted to smack the back of his head.

“What will you do if you don’t go to college? You need to work for a living you know.” You said, with an edge to your voice this time.

Moonbin smiled (in a ridiculously good looking way).

“Darling, I don’t need to work for a living. I’m rich.”

You narrowed your eyes.

“I don’t know how financially stable you are, but going to college is definitely going to improve your life, not just money wise.” And I really need that money.

Moonbin leaned forward.

“I’m 21 years old. I flunked out of high school ages ago, and I can barely remember the periodic time table.”

So he wasn’t in high school. He was only three years younger than you.

“And that’s why I’m here.“ you said, a little more coldly this time. “I can help you.”

“And that’s why I don’t need you. College is for poor people who want a shot at getting rich.” he threw a napkin towards you and raised an eyebrow.

You felt your cheeks flush. He was directly insulting you.

“Listen, you might be so rich, you hundred dollar bills every morning, but your mother is actually paying me a good amount of money to get you into college and I, unlike you, really need that money. And I, unlike you, need to go to college so I can get a shot at getting rich. So unless your mother fires me herself, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You got up and stormed out, not even bothering to put on your jacket and scarf. You were too angry to feel the cold. You couldn’t even recall the look on Moonbin’s face clearly, it was a cross between shock, and even hurt? But you could care less. You decided to walk home, despite it being a 30 minute walk. You needed to cool off. You’ve felt bad about being poor before, and you knew it wasn’t your fault that you were so broke, but it was different to be humiliated by a rich snob, especially someone younger than you. You sighed as you pulled your scarf back on. You were supposed to tutor him for four days a week, but your path looked pretty bleak to be honest. At this rate, you felt like you would even quit it first.

No, you shook your head. You really needed that money.

You regretted not bringing your unfinished coffee with you.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.