“The holes in a parabola can be strictly measured by finding the zeros in the...?” The arithmetic teacher stopped speaking, scanning the room for any sign of raised hands as to what the ending of the sentence could be.

 

Dead silence.

 

As expected, Cha Jaerin is at it again, all smiles and soft brown locks as she answered in a straight tone.

 

“The holes can be found by factoring both the numerator and the denominator in the equation. If a common factor is shared between both, the x’s must be set equal to zero in order to find the missing point.”

 

Chanyeol groaned.

 

Jaerin thinks she’s so much smarter than she actually is.

 

She tries too hard, he thinks. Almost like she wants to annoy everyone around her.

 

The instructor scribbles the complex word algebra onto the board quite neatly, arranging Jaerin’s words and forming an equation out of them.

 

Chanyeol waited for his turn.

 

He doesn’t have to wait long for a ride to hitch.

 

“Park Chanyeol!” Mrs. Lee called from the front, waving her old and crusted finger side-to-side.

 

This teacher must have been about ninety-nine years old, if not, more. Her breath smelled like coffee and cigarettes every time she approached Chanyeol’s desk to check on his progressing work.

 

“Where is the axis of symmetry on a parent function parabola?” She asks, holding the Expo marker a little too far away from her fingers, as if already expecting Chanyeol to get the answer wrong.

 

Wide eyes glistening, Chanyeol watched the seconds tick by as the answer lies right on the tip of his tongue.

 

He won’t say it though.

 

Not yet.

 

That would only ruin the fun.

 

Chanyeol looks to the side and watches intently as Jaerin appears to be searching through her myriad of thoughts and recollections. She physically looks ill as she balls her fists and bangs her head on top of her classroom textbook, unable to come up with an answer that would knock Chanyeol out of the rink.

 

Chanyeol winked at her.

 

Jaerin fumed.

 

It seemed like Chanyeol had already beaten her at her own game.

 

“The axis of symmetry lies exactly on the origin, in exact terms, point zero-zero. It goes straight up and down, never once leaving or crossing the confines of that one line.”

 

Jaerin looked as if she were about to die.

 

Chanyeol begins to form a mischievous smirk on his face from what he knew would happen next.

 

“Check mate.” He states monotonously. “When will you ever beat me at this stupid death-match of yours, Jaerin?”

 

“Shut up!” Jaerin screamed, gaining a wide range of discerning looks from some of the classmates around her.

 

“Quit being so loud; noisy girls are so unattractive.” Chanyeol deadpans.

 

He means it.

 

“You’re an idiot Park Chanyeol!” Jaerin quickly escalates from angry to livid.

 

“Not as dumb as you.” Chanyeol smiles. He enjoys winding her up. “All of your so called knowledge comes from that SparkNotes website and shared study boards on Kakaotalk.”

 

“Park Chanyeol if you open your mouth one last-” Jaerin’s face turned a nice deep shade of red.

 

Chanyeol thought that the color suited her.

 

“Deafening, unintelligent, and unoriginal! Don’t we have quite the cutest Cha Jaerin in this class?” Chanyeol remarks.

 

The entire room breaks out in a roar of laughter, and all Jaerin sees is that playful smirk on Chanyeol’s face.

 

That face she wants to smash in so very badly.

 

The cards work in Chanyeol’s favor again as the bell rings just in time.

 

Mrs. Lee is still babbling on about something in relation to corn and the absolute value of two.

 

◊

 

The sounds of sneakers squeaking on bare hardwood, showers steaming in the distance, and shouts of “pass” are all too familiar to Chanyeol.

 

It’s been only about two hours since his last class with Jaerin.

 

Yet, here he is again back for more.

 

He never knew why he did it, but he seemed to be able to track the classes he and Jaerin shared together. Chanyeol also knew the hours that passed between the last time he saw her all the way until the next time he did during a school day.

 

Not that he was a crazy stalker or anything.

 

Chanyeol convinced himself that he was just biding his time until his next attack on Jaerin.

 

When she’s in the class, there’s always something to look forward to.

 

However horrible to admit, one of Chanyeol’s favorite pastimes have become winding her up and watching her detonate in front of all the people in school.

 

Chanyeol shook his head.

 

No self-control added to the list.

 

“Pass!” Chanyeol raised his head just in time to see Baekhyun fling the ball to someone else before that person chugged it over to Jongin.

 

Jongin weaved his way in and out of the open gymnasium, finding his path through the footsteps of the crowd and landing a perfect swish on the opponent’s hoop.

 

Baekhyun screamed a shout of victory.

 

The rest of the team was either way too sweaty and breathless to respond, or still too zoned-in on the game.

 

Six minutes to take.

 

Chanyeol gaped at their side of the gym, being used strenuously by a group of three players on two teams; a sort of miniature basketball game designed in order to allow room for the rest of the students.

 

“Pass!” Was the last thing Chanyeol had heard before a ball catapulted right into his face, ultimately knocking the wind out of him.

 

Baekhyun hid behind Jongin and almost started crying.

 

“I’m sorry!” Jongin shrieked in horror before running out over to the instructor. “Help Mr. Kim! Help!”

 

Chanyeol wished he could say it’s alright to Jongin, because although he was in pain, he could at least still see and hear. However, the fresh wound he attained on his nose was in no condition to be let go of. Chanyeol applied as much pressure as he could.

 

Jaerin’s hula-hoop dropped across the other side of the gym as she had just witnessed what had happened to Chanyeol.

 

The world seemed to stop for a fraction of a minute, but Jaerin didn’t let that get to her.

 

Something about seeing someone who constantly feeds off of your nerves and laughs at you on the brink of torture struck a nerve inside of her.

 

Jaerin had never seen Chanyeol suffer so much.

 

She ran over to where Chanyeol was collapsed on the sidelines and wrapped an arm around him. She was able to hoist him up, although not effortlessly as she closed in on where the coach was approaching them from his office.

 

“Are you alright, Park Chanyeol?” Mr. Kim voiced his concern as he tilted his head to take a peek at the student whose hand covered his mouth and nose. Chanyeol managed a weak nod. “Misses Cha?”

 

“Yes?” Jaerin responded.

 

“Take Chanyeol to the nurse immediately.” The coach instructed. “Don’t worry about the pass, I’ll send an email to the administrators.”

 

“Thank you.” Jaerin held Chanyeol closer to her, supporting him by wrapping one of his arms around her shoulders.

 

The two trudged out of the gymnasium in a merciless attempt to at least walk straight. Jaerin thought it was annoying how Chanyeol just had to break his nose.

 

“Are you stupid?” Jaerin blared once they were out of earshot from the students in the room. “Why were you standing there looking dumb? You could’ve at least gotten out of the way once that ball came.”

 

Chanyeol sighed inwardly.

 

Here we go.

 

“You didn’t have to help.” Chanyeol managed to breathe out from his immense pain.

 

That shut Jaerin up as they reached the entrance to the main campus nurse’s office.

 

Jaerin kicked the door open as she all but manhandled and hoisted Chanyeol inside.

 

The nurse had already laid out the resting station in accordance with the message she received from Mr. Kim. The pillow was fluffed, a glass of water resting still on the nightstand table beside the bed.

 

The nurse helped take some of the load off from Jaerin’s shoulders thankfully, as she hiked up Chanyeol’s body and sat him down on the bed.

 

“Let me see.” Nurse Ryu pried the younger boy’s fingers gently off of his face, causing a small-scale wince from the student.

 

Jaerin sat herself down and watched the nurse care for Chanyeol intently.

 

“It’s not that bad.” Ryu voiced, writing a notice on a memo pad before opening up a bottle of Ibuprofen close to her desk. “I’ll write down a report so your parents could know what happened today.”

 

Chanyeol took the pill eagerly, wanting nothing more than the pain to subside even just a little.

 

“There.” The nurse busied herself by cleaning up some of the surrounding blood from Chanyeol’s nose after he swallowed the medicine. She was currently applying antiseptic on a short gash right above his nose bridge.

 

The nurse handed Chanyeol a giant cotton ball in which she held up against his nose.

 

“Hold it there until the bleeding stops.” Ryu mentioned. “I’ll make the phone call to your family right now.”

 

The nurse made her way to the back room, dialing a number she found on the student database filing cabinet, closing the door behind her.

 

Chanyeol nodded, feeling suddenly embarrassed that Jaerin was in this room right now seeing him look like such a dimwit.

 

He didn’t even know why he was embarrassed.

 

Chanyeol shouldn’t give a care of the fact that Jaerin was here; it’s not like he’s trying to look good for her or anything.

 

No.

 

Of course not.

 

Sometimes, Chanyeol wished his feelings for Jaerin weren’t so confusing.

 

Sure she was annoying and crazy; but most of the time, she was intelligent and sweet and noticeably very pretty.

 

Chanyeol made a mental note of the last one.

 

“Here.” Jaerin sighed, moving herself over in the seat and procuring a cotton ball from one of the mason jars on nurse Ryu’s desk. “That one is already soaked.”

 

Chanyeol looked down and became aware of the round mass of fluff that was already enveloped in the Red Sea.

 

Before Chanyeol could do anything about it, Jaerin gingerly pressed her fingers against Chanyeol’s wound cautiously, taking heed to not hurt the other.

 

Chanyeol visibly flinched.

 

“Sorry!” Jaerin closed her eyes shut, almost dropping the cotton ball.

 

Saving it just in time, Chanyeol held onto her wrist before she could lose her grip on it.

 

The contact made Jaerin blush.

 

“Let’s try this again.” She pushed Chanyeol’s hair out of the way and continued to press the fluff against the male’s wound.

 

Chanyeol relaxed. It dawned on him that Jaerin really didn’t have to do this, which caused the beating of his heart to quicken at the thought that this girl he didn’t even know how to feel about was actually helping him.

 

Jaerin giggled a bit as she saw how deformed Chanyeol appeared with fingers and cotton balls shoved up his nose.

 

Looking around, Chanyeol reached his hand across an expanse of counter space and managed to obtain a tiny piece of invisible tape.

 

He reached back to his face and smoothed the edges across his nose over the cotton balls, effectively removing Jaerin’s hands.

 

“There.” Chanyeol replied, sounding as sick as a dog with his nose plugged up the way it was. “Ahl bh-etter nh-aw.”

 

Jaerin laughed, almost crying at how ridiculous the situation was.

 

Chanyeol smiled, enjoying the way Jaerin’s hair seemed to be so perfect all the time and how her eyes lit up when she was happy.

 

Maybe Chanyeol’s not that bad, Jaerin thinks.

 

◊

 

A week has passed by since the incident at the gymnasium occurred, and Chanyeol hasn’t spoken to Jaerin since then.

 

The little arguments that used to exist in their earlier shared classes; arithmetic, chemistry, world history, language arts and even Spanish seemed to dwindle down into small remarks to the side until, eventually, nothing anymore.

 

Chanyeol was a little sad that he and Jaerin have been keeping distant for a bit, but he knew that the majority of it was his fault.

 

He used to initiate all the teasing and smart-mouthing, the rolling wads of paper and chucking them against her back, and the mentions of the word “stupid” every time Jaerin did something that wasn’t very bright.

 

Ever since she took him to the clinic those few days ago, things seemed to change ever so slowly, but nonetheless, they were happening.

 

The fights just seemed to not transpire any longer.

 

Simple as that.

 

There is also something Chanyeol discovered that he quite new all along, but was just too afraid to say anything about it.

 

Some days it wasn’t very clear, but when it made itself apparent, it was extensively observable; almost palpable.

 

Along with the swirling smiles and the adorable laughs, curly brown hair and sharp-witted retorts, Chanyeol realized that he might have a small crush on Jaerin.

 

Okay maybe not might, but very well does.

 

The emotions were all conflicting at first, but it was safe to say that Chanyeol grew tired of hiding and found it easier to just admit it to himself rather than to anyone else beforehand.

 

He really liked her.

 

Not just that; he found himself dying inside as the days passed by in which they haven’t spoken one word to each other; almost crying as he admired her from a distance.

 

She was once so close; just a little beyond the bend.

 

That thought killed Chanyeol the most.

 

Those two weeks ago when they were still in their prime of argumentation, at least he still had chances to speak to Jaerin.

 

Now it was all just so awkward.

 

Chanyeol wasn’t the only one who noticed anything though; all of his friends have already picked up on the fact that something was way off.

 

“Why don’t you two get into fights and talk anymore?” Baekhyun once asked during dismissal as the cars and busses piled up outside. Chanyeol did nothing but stare at the window that overlooked the school bus line.

 

“I don’t know.” Chanyeol knew the real answer to that question, but he didn’t want to risk anyone knowing but himself in fear of it getting around too quickly.

 

He just needed some time to think.

 

“Yes you do.” Baekhyun smiled, egging him on, recalling Chanyeol’s recent behavior of watching Jaerin like she was a television in arithmetic class. “You like her don’t you?”

 

“I have to go.” Chanyeol bid, opening the entrance to the school building and feeling the fresh wind crawl up to his face. He just had to get away for awhile.

 

◊

 

“What if I told you that Chanyeol liked you?” Jongin whims, clicking the computer mouse once in order to place the image in its correct spot. Graphic design was one of the only classes Jaerin didn’t have with Chanyeol.

 

Jaerin froze midway, palms sweating as she considered the plausibility of it over and over again in her mind.

 

She knew something was up with Chanyeol.

 

If she took a wild guess, she might’ve been able to come to the conclusion that Jongin was at right now. Jaerin had thought about this circumstance, but quickly waved it off as being too far-fetched.

 

As far as she knew, Chanyeol hated her.

 

It was just as hard for Jaerin as it was for Chanyeol to admit it, but she had actually missed Chanyeol picking on her.

 

The school days were no fun if nothing out of the ordinary ever happened; Chanyeol was that one spark in her life that seemed to ignite any emotion at all; although not being quite positive ones at that sometimes.

 

Jaerin’s been in over her head for the beginning half of the year; she knew she liked Chanyeol.

 

She just didn’t know how to go about it or what to say.

 

“Caught you!” Jongin hollered, gaining frightened stares from the silent class around him as Jaerin swore her heart almost skipped a beat. “You’re blushing.” He whispered.

 

“Shut up!” She screeched, eyes turning from Jongin to her computer screen instantly.

 

She couldn’t deny it.

 

He was right and there was nothing she could do to control any of it.

 

Jaerin really liked Chanyeol.

 

“Well, that’s good.” Jongin smiled, continuing with the PowerPoint presentation that was in front of him on the screen. “Chanyeol likes you. I know this because Baekhyun told me.”

 

Still, Jaerin didn’t know whether to believe if it was true or not.

 

◊

 

There was this one rare occasion that happened the following week.

 

Jaerin was running errands for her office-aid class, a selected 45-minute period of the day in which she sits at the school’s attendance division and completes assignments for the day.

 

It was her way out of a technical credit that was required for graduation.

 

She opened the door to the printing room and froze in her steps.

 

Chanyeol was also in there, generating multiple pieces of copies for a classroom assignment.

 

Looking up, the male was just about to grab what was done and dash out of the tight space before Jaerin blocked the door.

 

“Listen, Park Chanyeol!” Jaerin surprised herself. She never knew she could speak to him with such force. “I know you like me, so stop being stupid and fess up already!”

 

Chanyeol blushed a crimson shade.

 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chanyeol managed to say before stretching out an arm and reaching for the doorknob, which Jaerin successfully prevented from happening.

 

“Yes I do.” She sighed, setting her clipboard and pen down on an empty table. “Jongin and Baekhyun have already told me.”

 

“Fine.” Chanyeol uttered weakly. “I like you. Are you happy now? Can you go away now? It’s not like you’ll ever give me a chance anyway so why don’t you just forget about it?!”

 

“Idiot!” Jaerin screamed, all but restraining herself from knocking over the pile of papers carried by Chanyeol. “Did you not even consider that I liked you back?”

 

For the second time in three weeks, time froze.

 

Except this time; both Chanyeol and Jaerin felt it.

 

“You don’t get it.” Chanyeol breathed out, collecting himself from what he was going to say next. “I don’t just like you. I love you.”

 

“Chanyeol don’t-” Jaerin began.

 

“I love you because you’re smart. I love you because you’re sweet and when you laugh you look beautiful.” The words just poured straight out of the male, there was no way he could stop now. “I love you because you didn’t even have to take care of me when I got hurt, and back then, all I ever did was wind you up.”

 

Jaerin felt all her senses go numb.

 

Park Chanyeol was actually confessing to her.

 

Whether it was the butterflies in her stomach or the droning of the printing machines; she suddenly felt her knees buckle under her.

 

Chanyeol came through just in time to hold her.

 

“I love you too, idiot.” Jaerin managed to smile.

 

“Stupid.” Chanyeol rolled his eyes before he kissed the tip of her nose.

 

◊

 

The following Monday rolled by and the first class of the day nearly lost their marbles.

 

Chanyeol and Jaerin were holding hands while walking in; a sight that no one had ever expected to see in the entire history of the cosmos.

 

Jongin and Baekhyun high-fived each other, respectively with bandages ornamenting their faces.

 

Chanyeol had a little talk with them after the steam blew over about how not to spill secrets to people that didn’t need to know.

 

A silent male student from behind passed out immediately, dramatically falling onto the ground as if a major catastrophe had just fallen through.

 

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Call the ambulance!” A young redhead named Hyuna fanned herself as she wrapped the other’s arms around her shoulders.

 

Here we go.

 

Chanyeol thought as he giggled, watching Jaerin’s eyes light up from the scene that unfolded right in front of them.

 

It was then that he thought, Jaerin was perfect.