The bell rang, and your teacher dismissed the class. While everyone scrambled to get their things together, you just sighed and dropped your head on your desk.

Your teacher had asked you to stay after class, and you had a really bad feeling about it. After your last math test, you knew you were on the verge of failing, and you were simply dreading the day you learned your grade. You were positive it was an F.

The teacher called your name, and you looked up at her, ready to get this over with. You stood from your desk and walked over to her.

"The reason I asked you to stay after class was your last test," she said. She placed your graded exam in front of you.

Your heart sank. A 59 glared at you from the top of the page. You didn’t even want to flip through it to see what you did wrong. It hurt to just look at it.

"I am going to need to meet with your parents because of this," she said.

Nodding, you folded the test and put it in your bag without a second glance. You didn’t say anything and wandered out of the classroom silently.

Even though you had felt it in your gut that you had failed, a small part of you had still hoped you were just being pessimistic and that you would pass. Wasn’t that how it was supposed to happen in the movies and dramas? You sighed and walked toward your locker to pick up your books.

"Hey!"

You turned toward Donghae. He leaned next to your locker. Ever the sweet, loyal boyfriend, he had obviously been waiting for you. You wordlessly opened your locker and transferred your things to your bag.

"Hey, is everything okay?" he asked as you walked out of the school building together.

You sighed, trying to find the words to express how you were feeling.

"I know your teacher yelled at you for no reason earlier, but that’s no reason to get down. It’ll be okay," he said, squeezing your shoulder affectionately. He dropped a kiss on top of your head.

Tears welled up in your eyes as you thought about everything that had happened today. It wasn’t just that you had failed, but earlier that morning you had gotten in trouble for no reason, which you had nearly forgotten, and now this.

"Sweetie, what’s wrong?" Donghae asked, concern in his voice. He stopped you in your tracks.

You gulped. “I failed my math test," you said, barely above a whisper.

"Wait, the one that was going to make or break your grade?" Donghae asked in shock.

You nodded, feeling your throat burn with more tears. “My parents are going to kill me, and I don’t know what I’m going to do," you said. Your voice quivered with each word. “If I fail this class, I fail the grade. And then I can’t take entrance exams and go to college, and my parents will think I’m a failure." You hiccuped.

Donghae sat you down on the steps as you couldn’t even walk with the tears clouding your vision. He said nothing, just held you to his chest as you cried and cried.

After what felt like hours, your tears began to slow, and you could feel yourself breathing more steadily. Donghae brushed your hair out of your face and kissed your cheek. “Do you feel any better?" he asked with a concerned smile.

You shrugged. “I still don’t know what I’m going to do," you said, voice scratchy.

"Look, it’s going to be okay. You’ve said before that this teacher likes you, right?" he said. “I’m sure you can ask her to give you a second chance to take the exam."

"She already did," you choked out, throat dry from the sobs.

"There you go!" Donghae said, wiping a last tear out of your eye. “I’ll help you study so that you don’t just pass this retake but you pass with an A, okay?"

You sighed. “That’s easy to say, but I’m terrible at math. You don’t know how hard I studied for this test!" you exclaimed. “And I still failed!" You felt a wail building in your chest.

"I know," he said, gazing at you earnestly. “You cancelled plans with me just to study. I know how hard you worked, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work together to prepare you even more. Two heads are better than one."

"You are better at math than I am," you acknowledged. “I mean, it’s easy for anyone to be better at math than me. I think I’m the only one failing. I’m so stupid."

Donghae squeezed your hand. “No, you’re not. Being good at math doesn’t make you smart or a better person. Not everyone is perfect, and it’s not fair to you to judge yourself based on math! I think you’re smart because you can wipe the floor with me when it comes to history and science. I look like an elementary student next to you."

You felt a smile tug at your lips.

"You can even dance better than I can!"

You laughed with a sniffle. You blushed, embarrassed, but you couldn’t stop the giggling.

"There you go! That’s what I want to see: a smile, because you are more than just some math test. But don’t worry. We’ll work together to study for the retake, and we don’t have to tell your parents in the meanwhile," he said with a grin.

You nodded. “That sounds good to me I guess," you said.

"Now how about I buy you some ramen?"

"I look terrible," you whined, rubbing your eyes. You knew your face was all red from the crying.

Donghae lifted your chin and brought his lips to yours in a sweet kiss. HIs fingers tangled in your hair as his mouth moved against yours, and you felt even more breathless than usual. He pulled away and breathed hard, his forehead against yours. “I think you look beautiful."

You swallowed hard and nodded. “Ramen sounds good," you mumbled.

He grinned. “And we can go over what’s going to be on the test and figure out what we need to focus on," he suggested.

"Ugh, it’s going to be everything," you groaned.

"Hey, one step at a time!" he exclaimed, intertwining his fingers with yours. “Now, let’s get some food, Miss Perfect."

You felt your cheeks burn. You already felt calmer than earlier. Of course, you knew there was no guarantee that you would get an A, but Donghae made you feel much better about how it was going to go. Actually, he made you feel better about everything.

"Donghae, I love you," you said softly.

He turned back with a bright smile. “I love you, too." He squeezed your hand reassuringly. “Now, let’s go. I’m hungry!"