Yonghwa’s PoV

“I’m only doing this because I don’t want you to fail this class.” He said as he sat us both down at the dinner table in our apartment.

“Yeah right. You’re just doing it because you’re jealous I’m spending more time with my books than you.” I raise my brow. I hated to admit it, but I was really struggling in this class. It’s embarrassing when your boyfriend is like an expert in the field you struggle in.

“Come on. I’m a history major. Why don’t you ever ask me for help? I’m always here.” What a tease. I roll my eyes and smile.

“I don’t know. I don’t want you to judge me.” I quietly confessed. I flipped to some pages in my book and opened my binder full of notes.

“Why would I judge my smart and beautiful girlfriend?” He suavely say as he grabs my hands.

I blush and push away. I chuckle at her innocence. “I’m not as smart as you think I am.”

He scoffs. “I don’t think you can just get into Stanford with a 3.0.”

“But it’s American government! How do you even know about this stuff?” I was scared of his expectations. I was really bad in this course.

“I study? I don’t know. We learned about this in my school in Korea.” He just brushes me off. I rest my foot on the seat and I lean on my knee. “Okay. Where do you want to start?”

He tutors me for about 2 hours. He spewed everything about the Constitution and the Confederation and all the branches of government and what each of the roles were. He attempted to compare Korea’s and the United States’ government, which slightly helped.

But I’ll admit, even with his great effort,

It wasn’t the best 2 hours.

“How are you not getting this? I’ve explained this to you about this a hundred times!” He was getting irritated.

“It’s really simple. Follow me again.”

I was embarrassed at how he was spoon-feeding me all the answers and explanations, yet I still didn’t understand a word he was saying.

“Hey. Let’s just continue tomorrow. I have a class in 10 minutes.”

I cover my face with both my hands and take a deep breath. I wanted to cry out of frustration and embarrassment, but I didn’t want to worry Yonghwa. “I’m really sorry.”

“Babe. It’s okay.” He stands up and kisses the top of my head. I drop my head and intensely stare at my notes. Were these even written in English? Did I suddenly learn Arabic?

He picks up his backpack. He leans in to kiss me on the lips. “Don’t stress.” He smiles.

“Be safe. It’s going to be dark soon.” I muster a smile back.

The tutoring sessions continued for the next few days, weeks; hours at a time. They don’t end as smooth or as clear as I’d like.

“Hey. Stay with me.” He snaps his fingers in front of my face.

“Sorry.” I rub my face. “I’m just thinking about my project for a communications class.” I look at the book. “What was the question?”

I look at him as he stares intently at me. It was making me feel uncomfortable.

“Do you ever listen to me?” He almost shouts.

“Of course I do.” I give a puzzled look.

“Do you want to stay in this school?” He asks me.

“Yes! I do!” I sit up straight.

“Then focus!” I am, you pabo, if only this class wasn’t so boring or complicated or weird or…

“Shin Hye!” I hear his scream. I sit up straight again. Did I really zone off again?

“Yeah?” I stare at him. I give him a few seconds. “Sorry.”

“Are you truly understanding what’s going on?” He leans his cheek on his hand.

“I’m trying.” It’s just this isn’t wrapping around head so easily.

“Let’s make a deal.” He speaks with his arrogant tone.

I roll my eyes. He’s been doing this since the third day of his tutoring. “You know, this isn’t going to work. Every time you challenge me to do something, I mess something up.”

“Oh, I will make it work this time.” He demands. My eyes shoot open. I was scared.

“What are your conditions?” I cross my arms. Dinner? A massage? What now?

“If you don’t get this answer right, I’m going to break up with you.” He says with a serious face. “If you can’t listen to me when I tutor you, what makes me think you will listen to me when I need you for something? Are you going to listen to me when I talk about getting a job or marriage plans?” His questions frightened me. We’ve only been officially dating for a couple months.

My eyes jolt surge to his eyes. I look for a hint of playfulness or flirtiness.

Nothing.

My heart dropped. It sounded stupid and immature, but this scared me.

“I presume that since you’re not responding that we can continue to the question.”

“Yong—” I tried to stop him.

“What is the role of the President?”

Why does that sound like such a simple question?

“I want a complete answer without any falsification.” He said sternly.

“The president is part of the executive branch and he has many roles for his countries.” He crossed his arms. I regained some confidence. “He is the Chief of State, the Chief Executive, the Chief Administrator, the Chief Diplomat, the Commander in Chief, the Chief Legislator, the Party Chief, and the Chief Citizen.”

“What is the importance of President as the Chief of State?” he retorts.

Hey, you said only one question. “As the President is the Chief of State, he is the symbol of all the people. He rules over the government, which differs himself from other Chief of States.”

He gives me a decent look. I was slightly discouraged. “What is the President’s job as the Chief Executive?”

“The President’s powers are used at home on domestic and can be used for foreign affairs.” I was feeling pretty good about myself. Yonghwa was tutoring me about the President and the Executive Branch yesterday and a little bit this morning.

He smirked. Was I doing well Yonghwa? “What does the President do as the Chief Administrator?”

I remembered this because this was linked to the role he asked me earlier. “The President is in charge of the Executive branch of the federal government.”

“What is the Chief Diplomat?”

“The Chief Diplomat is like the main author of American foreign policy.” I chuckle a little, remembering Yonghwa’s weird word choice. Main author? “Whatever he says that has come to agreement is to be followed, here and wherever else he a made foreign relations with.”

“What does the President do as the Chief Legislator?” Did he skip one?

“The President shapes public policies. The President may suggest, request, and insist that Congress enact laws he believes are needed. Of course, that rarely happen, so bills tend to be killed in the process or are constantly being reviewed or revised.” To be honest, I was surprised I remember all of this.

“What does it mean if the President is the Chief of Party?”