Hello!
I had some problems with my computer,
so I could not update for some days... :(
Fortunately everything is alright now! :)
As for the story, Minhee is slowly getting to know the truth...
Tinywings

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“Shim Minhee, where are you coming from?! Do you know how late it is?!”

My mother yelled furiously as I stepped inside the house. My whole body instantly stiffened upon hearing her angry voice. Something must have happened, otherwise she would never snap like this in front of me.

“I am sor-”

I was instantly silent as I felt her hand harshly hitting my cheek. The pain was followed by a great sense of fright as I looked up to meet her raging eyes, full of building anger.

“Are you being just like your father, coming home so late all the time?! You think I did not notice? You think you can fool me, just like your father?!”

I shook my head frantically. My eyes are stinging because of the overflowing tears. What is happening here…

“Of course not! Of course not…”

I said in a pleading voice. The tears blurred my vision, but I do not have the courage to even move a finger right now. Not once in my life, was I so scared of what my mother would do to me. Not once was I this scared of being at home. Not once, did I want to disappear from this place as much as I want now.

“Oh no, what did I do?”

My mother said while covering , her eyes widened in horror.

“I… I am getting crazy…”

She lifted her hand up to gently touch my cheek. I tried to calm down, seeing that my mother was coming back to her senses again, but deep inside, I was still feeling scared.

“I am so sorry, sweetheart, I…”

Before she could even finish her sentence, she already broke into tears. I watched how she pitifully cried her eyes out, and my heart tightened at the sight. What can I do? There is nothing I can do right? I am frightened to death that this may happen again…

“Love between two persons, is strictly personal. Even though you are their child, does not mean you can fully understand them. Love, does not always has to make sense.”

Can someone please tell me what to do, because I am getting really tired already…

-

 “Shim Minhee, please come with me for a while.”

Our homeroom teacher said while gesturing me to follow her. We walked outside the classroom and she looked at me with full concern in her eyes.

“Your grades have been dropping incredibly this past few months, and I really want to know if something happened.”

I slightly shook my head. She sighed as she gave me a hug.

“As your homeroom teacher, it is my responsibility to help my students. You should not hesitate to tell me anything, because I will help you.”

I hesitated for a while, taking advantage of the comfort she was giving me.

“M-my parents are having problems. Mother wants to h-have a d-divorce.”

I stuttered. Having said the words with my own mouth, felt so painful yet so relieving. I tried my hardest not to break in tears. She patted my head gently.

“I understand how you feel.”

“Miss Ho, please tell me what to do… I am so scared right now, and I do not know what to do…”

“You cannot do anything to help them, Minhee. The problems your parents are facing, you cannot help them.”

Tears started to fall down again as I heard her words.

“Then what can I do?”

“Come with me, I will bring you to the teacher’s room where you can calm down.”

I simply nodded and followed her to the teacher’s room. Miss Ho looked around and fortunately, no one was around. She took place beside me and held my hand tight.

“First of all, we have to work on your grades.”

She said and reached for her bag. She picked out the class list and scanned through it for a while.

“Lee Sungyeol.”

She said with determination. My eyes widened at the name.

“Eh?”

“Lee Sungyeol has the highest grades in our class and I think he is capable of explaining everything to you.”

“But-”

After what happened in his house, I do not even have the courage to look at him, let aside having him tutor me.

“I will talk to him. Do not worry, everything is going to be alright.”

“T-thank you, but is it possible for someone else to help me?”

“Why?”

Her eyes flickered in surprise. I scratched the back of my head nervously, my sign of feeling uncomfortable.

“Because we… Do not get along so well.”

“I see, but who could help you then…”

She said with a frown, and I could not help but to feel guilty.

“T-thank you for wanting to help me so much, but I think I can handle it from now. Thank you for listening to me.”

I said as I bowed my head in gratitude. Before she could say anything more, I stood up and left the room. I felt bad for leaving just like that, but she helped me a lot already. I do not want to burden anyone, and most certainly not him.

-

“Minhee-sshi.”

I looked up in surprise as I heard his low, soothing voice.

“Is something wrong, Sungyeol-sshi?”

I asked him as he sat on my desk casually.

“I heard you had some problems with school work, and our homeroom teacher asked me to talk to you.”

“I-I see. You do not have to bother, it is alright.”

He had his hands in his pockets while he pouted childishly.

“I see, well, I felt it coming already. After all, you were the one who said we do not get along so well.”

“I did not mean to be offensive, Sung-”

“If it is about that time at my house,” his playful expression turned into a serious look, “then I just want to say it was not your fault, it was mine. I apologize for my attitude that day.”

I looked at his face, trying to determine whether he meant it or not. He felt… Incredibly hard to read sometimes.

“Is it really okay for you to help me?”

I said cautiously, watching how the seriousness was replaced by a warm smile, and I could feel my heart unconsciously beating faster.

“Of course.”

“Thank you very much, Sungyeol-sshi.”

“Just call me Sungyeol.”

“Eh? But-”

I was once again defeated by his smiling face. How someone could ever has such a great impact on me.

“Sungyeol.”

I said nervously. He brightened upon hearing his name without any formalities.

“Minhee.”

He said with a smile, and once again, I was drawn to him. Once again, I could not take my eyes off of him, because he grabbed all my attention.

-

“Newton’s second law of motion deals with an object with net force, unlike his first law of motion. It means that when the net force acting on an object is not zero, the object will accelerate at the direction of the exerted force.”

Sungyeol read seriously as he sat on the opposite of me in his room. He looked up from his book as he finished reading the theory.

“Do you understand it?”

“A little.”

I said while rereading the theory quickly, hoping it will make me understand it more. I looked up to meet his serious look as he thought about how to explain it to me, and I could not help but to be mesmerized by his sudden seriousness. He is actually a really great tutor and whatever he explains, it seems so logic and easy when he says it.

“Look,” he said while showing me the drawing he just made, “when for example a car is getting faster constantly, then that means there is net force. We can say that the force is something that accelerates an object, so the link between force and acceleration is that the bigger the force, the more the acceleration.”

I nodded comprehensively. Once again, his choice of words, his way of speaking, he made everything sound so easy. Just like back then when he talked to me at the bus stop, he talked to me like he knew exactly what he was saying, it is unbelievable. He is the kind of person everyone would envy, the kind of person who will never be alone even when he is new, the kind of person who everyone loves to be with.

“Ya, do you really understand?”

I woke up from me thoughts and quickly straightened up.

“”Y-yes!”

A crooked smile formed on his lips as he gave me the pencil.

“Then explain it to me.”

I scratched my head before grabbing the pencil. I tried to explain it just like how he explained it, but no matter how hard I tried, it did not work. In the end I gave up and tried to explain it in my own words.

“So you do understand it. You explained it quite good.”

He said smiling while ruffling my hair. I could feel my cheeks burn as I felt his hand on my head and his compliment that, for some reason, meant a lot to me.

“You explained it much better, though.”

“But you are not me right?”

“T-that is true…”

The disappointment could be heard in my voice, and he seemed to have noticed it, because he patted my head comfortably.

“Do not get me wrong. I just want to say that pretending to be like someone is really hard. Instead, being yourself is so much better.”

“Then why are you pretending?”

I suddenly blurted, and I regretted it immediately as I saw his startled look.

“I am sor-”

“Why are you sorry again? Did you do something wrong?”

Again, his mood changed abruptly. Maybe I was really the one to blame for it, as he always changed when I said something. Or maybe he was like this to others to, but it never occurred to be that way. It was always when I was around, that he seemed to change so often.

“I thought you were angry at me again.”

“I am not.”

He said sternly and with so much authority, that it startled me.

“I am not pretending to be someone or pretending anything. This is just my way to live without getting hurt again.”

A sigh followed as he saw my puzzled expression.

“Someone innocent like you would never understand. The feeling of betrayal, regret, you will never understand.”

And that was when I finally noticed something, something crucial. As I looked him deep in the eyes, I finally found it. Deep inside his eyes, I could see a glimpse of death.