"Mum, I'm home!" I call half-heartedly as I pull the jangling keys out of the lock and shut the door.

"Come in the living room," she replies. Wondering what she has to talk to me about, I walk into the room to find her seated on the lounge, deep in thought. I take a seat in the lounge opposite her and remember the last time I sat on this couch was three days ago - when I got grounded. I wrinkle my brow at the memory but nevertheless switch my attention to my mother.

"Mum? What's wrong?" She blinks hazily at me as if she just noticed my presence. She gives a half smile, something I recognise that proves she is preparing to tell me something big. Mum gets up and moves to sit next to me.

"Taeyeon," she says in a motherly tone, her big brown orbs staring intently into mine. "Do you know who Byun Baekhyun is?"

Baekhyun? How on earth does my mum know who he is? His popularity can't have reached to adults, can it? Now that's just weird. "Yes, he attends my school," I answer in a hesitant tone. "Why?" 

She glances down at her hands, takes a big breath and looks back up to me. "His mum and I are very good friends."

"What?" I squeak. My mum and Baekhyun's mum? Best of mates?

"This morning, we met up at a cafe to have a chat and she is worried about her son because his grades are dropping." I snort in my head. Of course his grades are dropping. He doesn't care about anything except his reputation, just like the rest of his group. "Well you see, Baekhyun's mother is really keen on Baekhyun to raise his grades and because we're really close, I offered her for you to tutor him."

"Whoa, what?!" My eyes bug out. Me? Tutor Baekhyun? The most popular guy in the school who flirts for a living and breaks every girl's heart? "I'm sorry Mum but I'm not going to tutor Baekhyun." It takes much of my self control to not hiss at his name.

"Why not? He's not a bad kid." Oh wouldn't she know. "You're smart enough to tutor anyone and the Byuns are willing to pay you a hundred thousand won for the two hours they want you at their place."

"Two hours?!" I have absolutely no words to describe my emotions at the moment. They are buzzing everywhere and many would desrcribe it as panic.

My mum frowns. "What do you have against him?"

I pause. What do I have against him? He hasn't done anything directly to me to make me think bad of him. But his actions and looks basically scream '' and 'jerk'. Unfortunately, Hyoyeon, Kai and I are the only ones in the school to see that, Tiffany not giving her opinion since it isn't about Sehun.

We know all the rumours about Baekhyun hooking up with the girls whom many guys would call 'hot' in the school. Hell I've even witnessed him skipping class with a girl. My bladder was stubborn at that time and so I had grabbed a bathroom pass and rushed down the hallways. When I entered the bathroom, the first thing I saw was Baekhyun's hands roaming all over the girl's back, their lips making horrible sounds that made me shiver. Both looked annoyed at my interruption and I had just scoffed at their backs when they walked out, no doubt to continue their business elsewhere. Who was he to scoff at me, besides our enormous gap on the social ladder? He wasn't allowed in the girl's bathroom in the first place.

The next day at school, I saw the same girl bawling her eyes out and it didn't take one long to figure out what had happened. It was obviously in Baekhyun's nature to lead girls on before snatching their heart and hammering it into pieces. It angered me - how could someone be so heartless? I was starting to feel sorry for the girl even though many went through the same experience before her. But at our lunch break that very day, I saw her among Baekhyun's flock of girls, trying her best to outflirt the others. After that, I named all of the girls idiots and never gave them a second look when they took their turn in crying tears of pain.

"It's. . . complicated." I try to sum it up to my mother who is giving me a confused look. "And I don't think I'm the one to tutor him anyway. I'm sure his mother can find another. Why doesn't she look for an actual, qualified tutor?"

"But that's the problem," she sighed. "Baekhyun doesn't want those tutors. His mum said he'll only endure. . . female students willing to teach him. Females around his age at that." Oh I wonder why? "Please, just tutor him until the half yearly's. All you have to do is bring him up to the standard where he achieves over eighty percent in his exams. That's it." Baekhyun scoring over eighty percent? I think that's too much to ask for. My mum recognises my unwavering look and tries another tactic. "Look, take him on and you're off the hook. You can go anywhere, do whatever you want and I'll even restart your budget."

I think for a second, really tempted by the offer, before narrowing my eyes at her. "Why are you so desperate for me to tutor him?"

She bites her lip. "It's. . . personal matters. Please Taeyeon. Do it for me."

There's something off about this and the fact that she is hiding the real reason doesn't encourage me to accept the offer. I mean, tutor Baekhyun for two hours a week. Maybe I'm better off with this two month punishment. But then again, what exactly am I scared of? That Baekhyun might do what he does to all the other girls? Break my heart? I don't have the unhealthily skinny legs, the luscious hair, the caked face people call attractive or the biggest s. Baekhyun wouldn't make a move on me. Even if he tries to, I'm not going to be an idiot and fall for it. And really, I have the upper hand here. I can get my freedom back and that guaranteed hundred thousand won a lesson. I just have to give up two hours for ten weeks. How bad can it be?

Knowing that I will probably regret this in the future, I sigh and look back into my mother's eyes. "Fine. I'll do it. But only for this term."

My mum exhales in relief and closes the gap between us to hug me. "Thank you Taeyeon," she breathes. "You have no idea how grateful Mrs Byun and I are."

I frown in her embrace. I think my mum's being a bit too overdramatic here. I mean, it's just tutoring lessons, right?