6

TUTOR ME, PLEASE?

Monday's have never been on Gongchan's favorite days of the week list, neither will it be in the future. It's just one of those days that made him feel so tired and lazy, even though he actually had to stop with his weekend rest. It was always on a Monday when his teachers would yell at him for not doing anything or even sleep during class, calling him "rude." But it wasn't like he wanted to be called those things. It was more of a "I don't want to be here" type thing. Even so, he just couldn't help being lazy on a Monday, and today was no exception.

Gongchan rested his cheek calmly against his palm, eyes half-lidded as he watched the teacher go on and on about who knows what. It was math class, unfortunately, and he was even more bored than ever because he had to be there. Math was never one of his good subjects, so all the "x," "y's," and letters combined with graphs and formulas made absolutely no sense to him. So all he did was watch with boring eyes as the teacher went on and on with the boring lecture, his mind a blur of letters and numbers.

On the other hand, Jinyoung was more absorbed than ever into the endless words and numbers on the other side of the classroom. He was probably the only person who was actually enjoying the boring class. Jotting down all the notes on how to solve and graph equations, Jinyoung was happier than ever, tongue poking out of his lips.

Gongchan rolled his eyes. Jinyoung always seem to enjoy this class. But of course he would, he was some kind of math genius or whatever those are called. He on the other hand should be banned from the class and from the existence of math, if that was even possible. His last test was graded with a perfect red inked letter "F" printed down on the paper. His mother didn't deal that well with his test mark.

As class ended, Gongchan quickly shoved his torn math book into his bag and stuffed his half-doodled journal in too, as he was more than ready to leave. One hour may be short, but in this particular class it took all of his time. With a triumphant grin, he got up and pushed in his seat, then walked to the door afterwards. His smile, however, was replaced by a scowl when the teacher suddenly called him back inside. He graoned internally. This was never good.

"Gongchan, are you aware of your grade right now?" Here it goes. Gongchan nodded, letting his bag drop to the floor since he knew this was going to take longer than what predicted. "Good, then. So you do know that you're failing the course." Another nod. "You have to pass the class to get the credit. At least a 60. But your mark is at 53."

"I'll try to fix it. Just let me study more and I'll—"

"Gongchan, I would recommend to get yourself some help from one of your classmates. I want you to get help."

"I—" He tried to protest, but was cut off quickly. It wasn't that he hated the idea of getting some help, or getting a better mark, but it was just the idea of doing math in general.

"Jinyoung seems like the best option." Gongchan nodded, sighing a bit when the teacher gave him a smile. "I've already talked to him a bit before, and he seems to be okay with that. So go with him when you're free."

"Yes, sir. I'll be going now." He excused himself, picking up his bag and walking out the door for good this time. He released a heavy sigh and swung his bag around his shoulder. He wasn't looking forward for to having Jinyoung tutor him, especially when he was pretty stupid when it came to math and Jinyoung wasn't.

"Gongchan!" Jinyoung yelled from across the hall, hand waving in the air to get Gongchan's attention. Gongchan smiled and waved back tiredly. Maybe having him as a tutor won't be as bad as he thought. The younger didn't say a word as he walked pass him to got to the gym where the elder would be having his basketball practice as usual.

Jinyoung has liked basketball ever since 6th grade, and he's been in  the team ever since. Gongchan however, wasn't a real fan of any other sports except soccer, so he doesn't really enjoy watching Jinyoung practice or play at any events. But he still waits for him to finish practice so they can go home together.

Today is different, though, since the younger pushes the back door to the gym open and walks over to the benches with his bag lazily dragging behind him. He takes a seat, and pulls out his phone. Jinyoung doesn't bother asking any questions. Instead, he just takes his gym bag to the locker room and changes into his shorts.

A few people notice—from the basketball team—Gongchan's prescence, since it's definitely not normal to see anyone watching them during practice. A few of them yell a greeting, or wave, and the younger would do the same if he were actually paying attention. Instead he's on his phone, furiously typing away some message that would seem appropriate to ask Jinyoung about the entire tutoring deal. He's too nervous himself, and probably even embarassed to say that he needed help, so he thought planning something out would be better than anything.

The only reason he came inside the gym was to actually find a better approach towards Jinyoung