A Different Person (Part 1)
All Along
Flashback: Kyura
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I tapped my fingers against the surface of my desk anxiously. My nails were making obnoxious sounds, earning myself glares and annoyed stares from my classmates, but I didn't care. I HAD to get my test back and get an excellent grade. I wasn't about to lose to him. I looked to Moon Jongup's direction; his desk was two desks in front of mine and diagonal from me. I had the perfect view of his humongous air-filled head.
The teacher handed back our math tests one by one. As soon as the paper touched my desk, I scanned the sheet for any marks then looked at the score. 97% I wasn't about to celebrate yet. I rushed to the front of the class where the top scores were posted. Jongup was standing in front of the paper with his finger looking for his name. It stopped almost immediately. I saw a smirk play on his lips. He turned around to face me.
"Beat you again Kyura." My eyes widened, filled with rage. I walked around him and examined the list.
"9th grade Algebra 2 Top Test Scores:
1. Moon Jongup 98%
2. Nam Kyura 97%"
I clenched my fist and bit my lip when I had seen the results. He beat me by 1%. What the hell is this? I turned around and faced Jongup. His ego was getting to his head yet again, from such a small victory.
"Congrats Jongup." I uttered bitterly. He chuckled at my plain response. As if you are gonna any sort of reaction out of me Moon Jongup.
"Thanks, but it was expected. Not anything to be surprised about." He said arrogantly lifting his shoulders. I bit the bottom of my lip as I nodded to him with a fake smile. Right then, the bell rang.
I walked out and head to my locker, throwing my books in. Someone came next to me and leaned on the lockers, as if I didn't know who it was.
"Let's see who gets the highest score in the next class." I heard Jongup say. I held my books against my chest, rubbing the wearing plastic on the cover.
"Yup. I'm actually pretty confident about my essay." I said pleased. I had always excelled in language arts, so I was ready to serve Jongup a slice of humble pie this time around. Jongup picked himself up from the lockers and walked alongside me to the next class.
"I have all your essays graded, class. I'll pass them back and your can review them yourselves. I need them back after you see them though." My teacher explained. She walked by each desk, murmuring something as she gave each student back their essay.
"Excellent job as usual, Kyura. Your best yet." She told me as she placed my essay face down. I smiled to her, feeling ecstatic from her comment.
"100%! I'll be putting this on the writing contest okay? :)" a comment read. I gave myself a pat on the back because I really did slave for hours on the essay.
Suddenly, another paper came crashing on my desk, leaving a loud slam to echo around the classroom. Jongup went down on his knees in front if me to meet my eye level as I sat in the desk. I gave him a triumphant smirk.
"What did you get?" I asked curiously. He grunted a little in frustration and flipped the top of his paper up for me to see. My eyes widened at the score. 78% My heart sank a bit, losing my desire to beat him.
"All it says is that I'm improving," he paused to scoff. "As if. This is disgusting!" He exclaimed in anger and rested his forehead on my desk. I couldn't help but feel pity for him and a tinge of guilt for wanting him to get a lower grade than me. Everything about Jongup's appearance was deflated, even his hair. I wanted to console him, but my pride wouldn't let me.
"Hey, I asked what you got." Jongup demanded. His head was up staring me in the face, waiting for me to answer him.
"Oh, uh. Same old." I replied. I must have been distracted and didn't hear him ask the first time. He furrowed his eyebrows at my vague answer. Suddenly he snatched my paper and saw my grade. His nostrils flared at the sight and he exhaled deeply.
"Good job." He said throwing the paper back. I flinched at his attitude as the paper landed on the desk lifelessly. Jongup stood up, took his essay, then walked away not saying another word or looking at anyone. I exhaled in relief. What a scary guy.. I thought. Didn't know he could be like that..
The teacher gave us free time the rest of the period and let everyone roam around the room. I remained in my seat and pulled out a manga to read, since I had no one to really talk to. In the middle of my reading, Jongup took the seat next to me and dropped his bag on the desk. I looked up to acknowledge his presence then returned to my book. Even though I was staring at my book, I couldn't help but wonder what Jongup was thinking about. As if he had read my mind thinking about him, he spoke up.
"Don't worry. I'll get better at this class and beat you Kyura." He said reassuringly but still not facing me. He stared blankly at the board. I laughed at his declaration, feeling a bit more at ease knowing that he was back to normal. He turned to look at me, wondering why I was laughing. I caught his eye and immediately shut my mouth, covering it with my hand.
"Tch. Well aren't you just a ball of sunshine now, Nam Kyura. Knowing that you beat the Moon Jongup."
I uncapped my mouth and raised an eyebrow.
"I could beat you in any class, of any subject, any day." I stated. He chuckled at my response, probably happy he brought out my competitive edge again.
"How are you so good in this class?" He asked hesitantly. I pursed my lips at his question, not sure how to answer him.
"Um, I don't know. It just..comes easily to me." I scratched my cheek timidly. Jongup remained silent for a bit, trying to read my expression.
"Well, that helped a lot." He said sarcastically. I ignored his comment and picked up my book again.
"How about you help me?" He suggested. I paused for a bit, wondering if I heard him right.
"What?" I asked tilting my book forward to see his face.
"Yeah. I mean, it's not fair if you always beat me in this one class right? You'd always have the advantage." He explained to me. Honestly, I didn't even think about our rivalry when he first asked. I was more surprised at the fact he would even consider asking anyone to help him, and out of all people, me.
"The Moon Jongup needs me to help him?!" I teased. I saw his ears turn red from embarrassment. I wet my lips. He's serious.
"I'll help you." I agreed. His eyes met mine filled with excitement.
"Good. You better." He said.
"Tch forget it. You egotistical blockhead." I said. His attitude suddenly changed at my response.
"Ah wait, mianhae.." He begged. My eyes widened in shock that he took my joke so seriously.
"Calm down." I put him at ease and shut my book to put it back in my bag. He sighed in relief and smiled at me genuinely for a moment. I gave him a weird look then stood up to walk out of class.
Jongup and I met each other every weekend to sharpen his writing skills. I gave him tasks like reading a different book every week then writing a response on it and a list of vocabulary words used in the books for him to get familiar with. Because he came over so often, my family took a liking to him, which was pretty annoying because he irritated me along with my brothers about almost everything. Why they like him is beyond me...
"So, how was the book?" I asked Jongup. He tapped his chin with his pen as he pondered.
"Well, the book has too much of symbolism. It's pretty cliche actually." He said. I nodded my head understandingly but clarified his confusion.
"The symbols are meant to bring depth to the book. So they're more than they seem. Piece the symbols together with the events in the story and you'll understand why it's not cliche and the author's style of writing as well." Jongup looked at me and nodded, absorbing every word I said. I felt my face heat up as he gave me his undivided attention. I looked at the clock as an excuse to turn away from him.
"U-um, let's call it a day." I managed to say. Jongup closed the book in front of him and twisted his back.
"Sounds good." He said as he stretched. He started to pack his things and stood up from his seat.
"Thanks Kyura. I think I'm getting better at this." He said to me with an innocent smile. I kept my cool and replied.
"Yeah. Your mock essays are getting better." I gave him a thumbs up encouragingly. He smiled and suddenly hugged me. My eyes widened at his actions. I shut my eyes, feelinga blush come on. Jongup let go quickly after he realized what he had done and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Uh. Yeah. See you later." He said quickly then left. I blinked once, trying to comprehend the situation.
"Oh, Jongup left?" I heard my mom ask as she came out of the kitchen with snacks on a tray. I snapped out of my daze and turned to her.
"Ah yeah. We decided to call it a day." My mom shrugged and walked to my brothers in disappointment.
I sighed, grabbed my books, and walked to my room. I threw my bag on the floor and dropped my books on my desk. I crashed on my bed, laying on my back. I stared at the ceiling of my room, blew a raspberry, and laid my hand on my forehead. "How annoying..."
hi everyone! So I decided to do the past about Kyura and Jongup in two parts to avoid the chapter from being too long, don't fret!
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