It was one of those very much dreaded days for him; a long exam in Math. Kris said that Fei will help him, but then the lady didn’t show up after that night. ‘I thought I made myself clear that I accept whatever tutor she will give me,’ he thought after a three-hour brain wrecking Math test.

“I asked Kris to postpone the tutor after this long quiz. I need to see the results first, if you don’t mind,” a female voice startled him when he got out of his classroom. There stand two of his bodyguards on near the door.

“Next time, don’t startle me like that,” he said and let out a sigh.

“Can I have you address so I can get there after I get to know the results, and include the number as well,” she smiled, handing him a small notebook. He gave a sigh and scribbled down the necessary information she needs.

“When you get the results, text me right away so we can remedy that before the quarters,” the she left him.

“Yo Tao!” Luhan tapped his shoulder, startling him again.

“What’s with you people that you love startling me?” he asked, letting out a shaky breath of fear.

“Why are you jumpy? Scared of the math results?” the doe eyed man grinned at him.

“Not as scared as you when it comes to public speaking,” the younger one rolled his eyes, a smirk forming on his lips.

“I am not scared of that subject,” Luhan defended.

“Then explain that D- you got on our subject,” he grinned wider, enjoying the pretty boy getting fidgety on his phone.

“Quit it, you would not answer anyways,” then he left Luhan, followed by his guards.

“Sir, there will be a charity event tomorrow which your father requires you to attend. Then by afternoon, there will be a dinner with some cabinet members and their family so you are only free by Sunday only,” the head of his security team seated in the front seat of his service car relayed when he finally got inside the car.

“Ok,” came his bored reply and plugged on his earphones to wind out.

**********

Saturday came and he was not really on the mood to be very excited and all about attending those events, nor meeting some cabinet members. When his father was first elected as the President, he was very happy and excited to attend and participate on any events his father would allow him to go. The flash of the cameras, the noisy reporters and the massive attention and fame he garnered was new for him at that time that he took every moment as something worth it. But that feeling did not last long. He soon got bored and annoyed on those events; those public appearances; those get together with cabinet members and their flirty daughters who tries to get his attention.

By evening he is already back to his condominium unit. The boys had given him a call before, congratulating him from another successful appearance in the charity event. He immediately slumped on his bed when there was a knock on his door. He ignored it, thinking it’s one of those annoying paparazzi who always give him surprise visit. The knock persisted till he pulled himself out of his bed, groaning and mumbling incomprehensible words.

“What?” he yelled on whoever is standing at his doorstep.

“A hello would have been nice,” Fei looked at him.

He paused, momentarily shocked of what could be this lady doing in his unit. ‘Where did she get my unit number?’ he thought. He blinked his eyes in confusion, trying to think of why she would be here.

Fei let out a tired sigh and raised a paper with a large red mark of D-. Tao’s eyes widened when he recognized his handwriting. “I am here because of Kris and you did say you would accept tutoring right?” she smiled at his reaction. She was shocked when he pulled her inside, slamming the door behind her.

“How did you have my paper?” he asked, grabbing the paper from her grasp, going through it again.

“I have connections and besides I am our Math instructor’s student assistant so I got hold of that,” she pulled the paper from him.

“Am I really that bad in numbers?” he asked more to himself than on her.

“Well, we can still remedy that before the quarters, so I came here so we can start right away. No more buts or else your father will get hold of this if you will argue on me,” she looked at him.

“But I am so tired,” he whined.

“Well then, I will just leave and fax this to his office. Anyways, I already have the fax number of his office and as far as I can remember, he is still in his office as of right now right?” she grinned much to his horror.

He groaned in frustration and gave in. he don’t want his father going about his relationship with numbers.

**********

“Now all you have to do is subtract this from this then you will get the answer. Any questions?” she asked, looking at him.

They sat down the floor and used the low table for comfort. They sat opposite each other for convenience.

Tao blinked at her, “Can I have one more example?” he gave her a sheepish smile.

She let out a tired sigh, “Thank Heavens that I went over tutoring before or else I might strangle you,” the she copied one more problem. She went over the process for the nth time as he listens carefully.

“Now, these are the simple ones. Do the first then we will call it a day,” she pushed him a sheet of paper with five problems.

Tao’s mind went wild with numbers and formulas. His confused expression somehow alarmed her so she took the paper.

“You will not be able if you let fear take over you. Relax and think of these nothing but just plain numbers. Don’t let it bother you much. Take a deep breath and clear your mind,” she held his hand and coaxed him to do it. Her warm squeeze on his hand made him relax as he took a deep breath. He exhaled and grabbed the pen and went over the equations and started solving them.

It was after twenty minutes when he handed her back the paper.

“This set is usually set for ten minutes only, but since you are a beginner, then it will be fine to have it twice the allotted time,” then scanned the paper.

After five minutes, her face broke into a grin, “You got it all right!”

“Really? I got it all right?” he grabbed the paper and the real answers on her grasp and compared it. He started punching in the air and looked at the papers again with that smile that resembled a kid who got his first gold star.

Something about his joyous expression caught her in a momentary daze. She suddenly became aware of his looks setting her heart in an erratic beating. She was just shaken back to reality when his voice rung again on her ears.

“Fei? Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, I spaced out. So I guess that will be all for tonight. I will comeback by Monday night, will that be fine?” she asked, gathering her books as he helps her.

“Weekdays tutorial will be fine. So how can I repay you?” he asked.

“We’ll talk about that after the quarters. Your score will depend if I am worth of that repay or not,” then she stood up as he escorts her to the front door.

When she is already on the elevator, she felt her cheeks get warm all of the sudden upon remembering his face when he got it all right.

**********

When Fei was out, he checked the paper again, the stupid grin never leaving his face.

‘Math is not a monster you panda. You just have to feel brave in facing them. The reason why you are always behind the class during Math is because of that fear.’

‘Same thought but delivered differently,’ he thought, putting down the paper. A sad smile made its way to his lips as the face of the girl he had been dying to see this past three years suddenly crossed his mind. His eyes lay on a picture of him and her on the shelves.

‘I wonder if you miss me and if you are thinking of me too … Jia,’ he sadly thought, a tear falling down his eyes.