7989 - Taeyeon & Kangta

Curiosity

It felt weird, holding a red pen while marking wrong answers on various papers; more so seeing Korean characters on exam sheets rather than English letters—ones of which she was used of seeing. Silently seated beside the summer classes adviser, Cheon Seongim, Aerin found herself acting like how the other teacher’s pets back in her school act like. Checking answer sheets, sorting out exam papers, assisting the adviser, and observing the whole room—everything that she was doing was so out of what she usually does. It felt strange to be doing such things, especially since she normally either just wastes time by answering her paper slowly or just sleeps on it; never has she really been one to help out or even associate with the teachers, but acting like such wasn’t really discomforting. It would be though, if Amber were to see her in action, for the girl would most likely about it.

However, being reminded of her best friend made Aerin sigh. I miss Amber really bad.

“Why you little—Kim Jongin!” Seongim’s shrill but loud voice suddenly boomed, causing for Aerin to flinch in surprise. Abruptly standing up from her seat, the older female then dashed through the room, stopping just right in front of the said male. “Wake up, you punk!” Seongim yelled, pinching the sleeping figure’s ear, causing for him to shriek incoherent noises. “You’re supposed to answer the exam, not sleep on it!”

“I was just taking a short break!” Kai answered back, trying his best to remove Seongim’s hold on his ear which was rendered futile for the pain he felt overshadowed his strength. Seeing as he was finally wake up though, Seongim finally let go of him and flicked his forehead, earning her another low groan. “You could at least be a little gentler, noona—“

“That’s Ms. Cheon for you, young man.” Seongim suddenly interrupted, giving Kai a nasty look before walking back to her desk at the front of the room.

Seeing Aerin’s surprised gaze, Kai then stuck his tongue out towards Seongim’s back before giving the younger female a foolish grin. The action seemed childish for Aerin, but that was one of the traits that he liked about Kai—his easygoing nature. Putting on a small smile, she then gestured for the male to continue as he nodded, taking hold of his mechanical pencil and looking back at his paper. The uneasiness towards the exam wasn’t missed by Aerin though, for she saw him scratching the back of his head roughly, causing for her to chuckle.

“That kid can be so carefree at times, seriously.” Seongim spoke, regaining her place in front of the whole room as Aerin turned to her with a small smile. “I always need to go rough on him.”

Aerin just nodded, hiding the fact that until now, she was still a tad surprised with how the female handles her students. For a small and petite girl, Seongim sure knows how to hold her ground, granting her respect from the students. Her techniques and ways were surprising for Aerin though, for back in California, the teachers were usually old and calm, individuals who didn’t give a even though they were already being made fun of.

Being in the room as well, gave her a bit of culture shock, for the students acted like nothing out of the ordinary has happened; more so since they continued answering their exam papers without even giving a slight glance towards Kai nor Seongim. For the past few days that she has been sitting in their class, whenever Seongim’s rough nature comes out, the students didn’t seem to make a big deal out of it; it’s like they were so used to it that it already became a norm for them.

It seemed odd for Aerin at first, how they always seemed so unfazed by the loudness of Seongim who possessed such a cherubic face; however, she wasn’t going to question them. She knew that she was the one who has a difference, the one who has always spoke and been spoken with a soft and composed nature, and she’s slowly getting used to the new atmosphere anyway. Aerin has always loved serenity and quietude, but even so, Seongim’s loud nature really isn’t that bad.

Albeit, seeing another sleeping figure right beside the back door made Aerin’s eyebrow shot up. It was odd how Kai was the only one who got scolded when another student was also sleeping on his exam; especially since judging from where Seongim stood awhile ago, she would surely have seen the other student.

Confirming the identity of the student once he shuffled on his seat, Aerin took a glance towards Seongim and saw her concentrated on the various papers on her desk. She wasn’t favouring Sehun just because he’s her younger cousin, is she?

Noticing the stare she was receiving from Aerin, Seongim then smiled at her in query. “Is there something wrong, Aerin?”

“Uh no, it’s just…” Aerin trailed off, not really sure whether to go forth with her question. However, seeing as she can’t stay put while not being able to be cleared off of the uncertainty in her mind, Aerin paused for a while and recollected her thoughts. “Seongim-unni, you see,” Aerin then constructed a sentence in her head, one of which didn’t show any underlying implications. “Sehun’s asleep as well.”

“Oh him,” Seongim spoke, looking at the back to see Sehun’s Chestnut brown head brushing against his wooden desk. “He always does that.” She then smiled at Aerin afterwards, finding nothing wrong with the situation. “Don’t mind him.”

Her words didn’t give any answer towards Aerin’s question though; it only heightened the doubt she had of the older female. “You… you’re not going to scold him?”

Seeing the questioning look of Aerin, Seongim put her pen down and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not favouring him or anything. It’s just, unlike Jongin, Sehun doesn’t need to be scolded anymore.” Aerin’s eyebrows creased in confusion, but she didn’t speak and just waited for Seongim to continue. “I’m perfectly sure that he’s already done with the exam since awhile ago.”

A flash of surprise appeared on Aerin’s eyes as she looked at Seongim in disbelief. “How can you be so sure?”

“Sehun may not look like it, but that kid’s darn smart.” Seongim said, feeling a bit proud as she looked over towards her cousin’s figure. “The only reason why he had to attend the summer classes is because he was late in enrolling for the first semester. He had to catch up with the lessons, but truth to be told,” Seongim shrugged, putting on a contented smile as she crossed her arms. “He’s already ahead of his classmates.”

It was something that Aerin found to be really dumbfounding, a discovery that she didn’t really expect, especially one about Sehun. It may sound awful, but Aerin never really thought that the male would be someone who does well in class, judging from all the mischief and trouble that he always gets himself into, being that of cutting classes and recklessness. He looked like someone who is much like Kai, happy-go-lucky and carefree; a person who doesn’t look like someone who would take life seriously.

Although, one may not always be what he seems to be. Thinking about how he spoke before, Aerin found herself ridding of the doubt inside of her. She may have underestimated Sehun before, but once she stared at his sleeping figure, remembered his words and everything that he did before, she began to consider the fact that the male really does look like someone who would be intellectual. And wise.

“Pretty impressive, right?” Seongim added, gaining back the attention of Aerin as the girl just nodded with a small smile. She then gnawed on her bottom lip and looked at her students, only to see them still busy answering t