That Saturday So Eun spent her time painting mural at school with the other Art Club members. As usual the club members would chat and play around to avoid boredom while painting the mural. But So Eun was not listening or paying attention at them at all. She has gone into her own world. A world filled with adorable faces and sweet voices of Lee Junho.

Yesterday’s memory was still vivid in her mind. How Junho pretended he didn’t know how to ride bicycle, how Junho pretended to be injured and needed CPR and how she hit him hardly for lying at her.

“Aish that guy! I should’ve hit him harder! Aishh!” mumbled So Eun before laughing by herself.

“So Eun, are you okay? Why are talking and laughing on your own?” asked her senior suddenly.

“Err…n-nothing. I’m okay, don’t worry,” answered So Eun while grinning awkwardly.

“Are sure you’re okay? Then why are you painting a man riding bicycle when the theme for our mural is ‘Under the Sea’?”

So Eun quickly turned her head at the wall she was painting. She gasped in shock. Her senior was right. Indeed she was painting a man riding bicycle. So Eun tapped her forehead repeatedly and blame herself.

‘Kim So Eun, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind? Ah so embarrassing! Aniyo! This is all Junho Oppa’s fault! He keeps running through my mind until I paint him unknowingly. Ah, what should I do? So embarrassing!’

“I’m so sorry sunbae-nim. I didn’t realize it. I was thinking about something else. I’m sorry,”  apologized So Eun as she bowed at her senior.

Her senior could only chuckled and shook her head in amusement.

“It’s okay, So Eun. It’s not a serious mistake. It still can be corrected using white paint. You know how to do it, right?”

So Eun nodded repeatedly. “Yes, I know how to do it. Thanks for your understanding, sunbae-nim. I’m going to correct it right away,”

So Eun then asked her friend if they have white paint with them. Unfortunately, there was no more white paint left and she has to get one by herself at the store room.

On the way to the store room, So Eun felt something fishy. She felt like someone was following her but when she turned around, there was no one in sight. She was about to continue walking when a boy suddenly appeared and blocked her way.

“Long time no see, Kim So Eun,” said the boy with a smirk on his face.

It was the cocky head student.

******

Junho was busy doing his work when his phone suddenly rang. At first, he thought it was his friends who wanted to ask him to hang out as they usually do during weekend like that. He wanted to ignore the call since he has so many works to do but as soon as he saw So Eun’s father’s name on the phone screen, he picked up the call right away.

“Hello, good evening Mr. Kim,” he greeted.

“Hello, good evening. Sorry for interrupting you, Junho-ssi but there’s something important I need to talk with you,” said So Eun’s father from the other line.

“It’s okay, Mr. Kim. What is it that you want to talk about?”

“I don’t think it’s proper to talk about this on the phone. Can we meet now?”

Junho scratched his head. His works were far from finish but So Eun’s father sounded urgent. He has no choice but to agree.

They decided to meet at a Coffee House near his university. Junho kept on wondering what could be the thing that So Eun’s father wanted to talk about with him. Did he make any mistake or something?

When Junho arrived at the Coffee House, So Eun’s father was already there. He greeted the middle-aged man before taking his seat. They started their conversation with simple basic things like ‘how are you’, ‘are you busy these days’, etc. Only after they got their ordered drinks So Eun’s father finally started to get serious. The middle-aged man took out a white envelope from his pocket and placed it in front of Junho.

“What is this?” asked Junho as he took the envelope to see its content.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, Junho-ssi but… we can no longer hire you as So Eun’s tutor. This is your payment,” said So Eun’s father with apologetic look on his face.

It was so unexpected for Junho. He was shocked and confused.

“But why? We still have another three months. If I did anything wrong, please tell me Mr. Kim. I will try my best to correct my mistake,” he said.

So Eun’s father shook his head.

“No, Junho-ssi. You did not make any mistake. You are a good tutor and you have been a great help not only for So Eun but also for our family entirely. I sincerely thank you for your effort all this time,”

“Then, why? Is it because of financial problem? Don’t worry, Mr. Kim, I’m very flexible with my payment. We can discuss about my payment anytime. In fact, if you want, I’m willing to do it for free,” said Junho, tried to convince So Eun’s father.

“No, it’s not financial problem. It has nothing to do with your payment. If you are asking for the reason why we can no longer hire you, then I’m sorry because I can’t give you the answer. To be honest, I myself don’t even know the exact reason too,”

Junho frowned. He was even more confused.

“What do you mean?”

“Actually, this is So Eun own request. She doesn’t want you to tutor her anymore,”

Junho’s eyes fell wide open. “What?!”

*****

For the first time in her life, So Eun wished Junho would not be waiting for her after school. She didn’t know how to face him and what she supposed to say. She knew for sure that Junho would find her decision to stop having tutorial with him very suspicious and strange. He would definitely know that something was not right. He would not accept this thing easily and he would try everything he can to find out the real reason.

As she expected, her wish did not come true. From afar, So Eun could already see Junho standing in front of the school gate, waiting for her.Quickly she took out her phone and pretended to be busy texting someone. She kept pretending to text while walking past Junho. She could see from the corner of her eyes that Junho was watching her. Even though she felt very nervous, she continued to walk and act as if she didn’t see him.

“If you can’t take your eyes off your phone for even a second like that, then I’m sure you saw all my messages and calls,” said Junho suddenly.

So Eun was shocked. Her fingers froze on the phone. Junho was right. There’s no way she didn’t see see all his messages and calls if she keep staring at her phone like that. Now that Junho has known that she purposely ignored his calls and messages, he must be very furious, So Eun thought.

“Oh, Oppa.. I didn’t know you’d be here today,” lied So Eun.

Junho smiled bitterly.

“Yeah, in fact, not only for today but I will always be here waiting for you everyday until you give me a legit reason why I should stop tutoring you,” replied Junho.

So Eun bit her lips. She already expected this to happen.

‘I’m sorry, Oppa. I wish I can tell you everything but I can't. I do this because of you. This is for your own sake,’

“Oppa, actually I have no particular reason why I don’t want to have tutorial with you anymore. It’s just I think it’s already time for me to stop having home-tutor. These days the school is doing extra classes for senior students so I don’t think I need home-tutor anymore. With homework, co-curricular activities, tuition and tutorial, it would be too much for me to handle in one day,” explained So Eun. She hoped Junho would buy it.

Junho smirked cynically.

“It was a good answer, Kim So Eun. It’s a good answer unfortunately it’s not honest. Even though I know you only for a short period of time, you are a type of person who would not make such decision without discussing with your parents and sister first. Plus, you made that decision in just one minute literally. You came home from painting mural at school yesterday and suddenly went to your parents, saying you don’t want to have tutor with me anymore. It’s too obvious, Kim So Eun. Something was not right and you're hiding it from me,”

So Eun sighed. It’s really not easy to fool that genius tutor of hers. Back then, he was able to find out her secret about being bullied at school because of the head student. But this time she really needed to hide her secret. No matter what happen she must not let the cat out of the bag. She must not tell him anything. Thus, she knew it’s better not to make more excuses as it would make everything even more suspicious to Junho. The futher she drags the matter, the more difficult it would be for her. So, she decided to just leave it as it is.

“I already told you what you want to know, Oppa. It’s up to you to believe it or not. Now please excuse me. I have to go home. I got so much homework to do,” she said before turning away.

Junho quickly grabbed her hand.

“No, we are not finish talking and you’re not going anywhere,” he said firmly.

So Eun struggled to get her hand off Junho’s grip but Junho was holding her very tightly.

“Oppa, why are you like this? Shouldn’t you be happy that you have more time to focus on your research now?”

“Don’t make my research as an excuse. You know you have never been a burden to me no matter how busy I am,”

So Eun didn’t reply anything. She was touched to hear what Junho said but at the same time she couldn’t be lenient at that moment. She needed to show that she really wanted to stop having tutorial with him. So she kept on struggling to make Junho let go of her hand.

“You know, to be honest I’m fine if you don’t want to have tutorial with me anymore but I’m not fine with the fact that you fired me with no plausible reason. Even couples need a good reason to break-up,” said Junho.

So Eun snorted.

“Well then I’m sorry that we’re not couples. You’re not my boyfriend and I’m not your girlfriend. I don’t need to have a good reason for not wanting to see you anymore. You are not my family either. Whatever I do, whenever I go, I don't need to inform you. You are not a special person in my life, you’re just my tutor,”

Junho couldn’t believe what he just heard. He was dumbfounded. He felt a stinging pain in his heart. He felt like he had just being slapped by thousands of people. Without he realize, he let go of So Eun’s hand.

So Eun herself was shocked with what she just said. She was also worried with Junho’s reaction but she has no choice. She continued to pull a cold expression on her face.

“You are right, Kim So Eun. You are not wrong at all,” he said after a long silence between them.

“I’m just your tutor. Guardian angel or protector or reliable man whatever you call it…it’s all just a sweet metaphor. In reality, I’m just your tutor. I’m just a person who is obliged to teach you Math, Science and Literature. Nothing more nothing less. Yes, you were right. Every single word you said was right. I'm the one who forgot my place,” he added.

He could feel his eyes started to get teary. He cursed himself and quickly turn around to wipe his tears. He doesn't even know why he cried. He's not a type of person who would shed tears easily like that. Maybe because the feeling he developed for So Eun has became too deep that he could get sensitive very easily. Maybe because he already loves her too much.

So Eun was so worried and nervous. Junho has never acted that way before. She swore she saw tears in Junho eyes when he was turning around.

Seconds later, after making sure his eyes has dried, Junho turned around and smiled at So Eun.

“Alright, if you don’t want to see me anymore, I understand. As your tutor, I mean, as your ex-tutor, I wish you all the best in your studies and hope you get good result in exam. Don't sleep to late, study smart and enter a good university later, okay?” he said as he tapped So Eun’s head lovingly.

Then, without turning back, he walked away, leaving So Eun in front of the school alone. He glad that he managed to control his feeling and was able to give a warm goodbye to So Eun. But he didn’t know that the moment he walk away So Eun started to weep very hard.

Author's Note:

Hi~!

Sorry I couldn't keep my promise I made early this year. I don't have enough time to update and when I do have time, I got no mood to write fanfic. Now the mood has come again so here I am, with a new chapter. Yay! 

But this chapter is a sad chapter though hurhurhur~

The next update would be the ending. The last chapter has finished, but I think I need to make some changes since I'm not really satisfied with the ending. 

And if you were reading my fic from the beginning, you would know that this fic is actually my birthday gift to my friend. Well, guess what? Today is her birthday again, after one year~! XD Hihihihihi. And I'm still not finish writing this Hihihihihihi! Happy birthday dear!

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