Taehyung resurfaced by the edge of the pool where Jeongguk sat on the ledge. Taking his goggles off and wrapping them on his wrist, he shook his fringes off his face and looked up at Jeongguk. Seeing that his friend was not going to jump in the water with him, he sighed. Placing his hands on the ledge, Taehyung pushed himself up, sitting next to the younger.

“What’s up? You’re usually more animated than this,” Taehyung asked, patting Jeongguk on the back to get his attention.

Jeongguk inhaled deeply and turned his head to look at his hyung. “If I fail my history midterm they’re going to kick me out of the team, Tae.”

“Then study you bird brain. Is not like it’s English,” Taehyung smiled and got up to leave for the locker room, leaving Jeongguk annoyed and more frustrated than before. He knew his friend was only trying to help him in his own weird way by being blunt, but how could Jeongguk get mad at him when he flashed his rectangular smile? Impossible. Maybe if I jump in and drown myself I won’t have to face the consequences. Just as he was about to dive in the pool, someone tapped his shoulder. He turned his head to look at the hand. Jimin.

“If you need tutoring you know I – “ Before Jimin could finish, Jeongguk had already dived in and swam away. “Jerk! I just wanted to help you!”

The lunch bell rang and the swimmers dispersed the area to go find their friends. Jeongguk swam to the nearby ladder and climbed up, walking to the locker room to change. Passing by the office for the Physical Education department, he saw his coach talking to a female student who had her back facing the doorway. She had dark hair that surpassed her shoulders and blended with the school’s uniform. He stayed there, mesmerized by her presence.

“And he’s here right now! Come in Jeongguk,” his coach pointed at him, giving away his location, making the girl turn around in her chair to look at him.  She scoffed and put her attention back on the swim coach.

Jeongguk pointed a finger back at himself, asking if the coach was calling for him. The coach sighed and nodded his head, waving Jeongguk to come in and sit down on the couch against the wall since all the chairs were occupied. He threw himself on the faded couch, making both the people in the room to look at him. Growing conscious of his current attire, Jeongguk grab the cushion that rested on the armrest and placed it on his lap trying to cover what the red Speedos called attention to. His coach shook his head while the girl simply rolled her eyes.

“Jeongguk this is Iruwa, top 5 of your class. She’s agreed to tutor you for your history exam.”

 

Next day…

 

Jeongguk checked his phone again for the address of the library he was supposed to meet Iruwa in. Parking his rouge Camaro by the front of the library’s entrance, Jeongguk texted Iruwa asking for the number of the conference room she reserved. Room 102, right wall, behind Spanish Adult Fiction. Taking the keys out of the ignition, he picked up his backpack from the passenger seat and swung it over his shoulder. He entered the library only to be met by a short, elderly woman exiting. I almost trampled her what the hell. He shook his head to spur himself awake, looked up and saw a stand that read ‘Help’ and walked to it.

“Hello. Sorry to bother but I was wondering if…” Jeongguk trailed off when he noticed that the staff member was typing away furiously on her computer. “Excuse me?”

“Gimme a minute…and…done. How can I help you?” she finally looked up from her computer screen and gawked at Jeongguk.

“Could you tell me where room 102 is? I’ve never been to this library before,” he laughed nervously, touching the back of his neck.

“Follow me!”

And so he did. Giving her his thanks, he quietly opened the door and found himself in a miniature conference room with a rectangular table and six chairs. ‘Conference Room’ she said. More like a closed off dining area. He looked at Iruwa who was sitting on the last chair on the right side of the table, concentrated on the book on her lap. Her hair was tied up, revealing her fragile neck but the fringes covered her eyes. It all complemented the rest of her face; pale skin, round nose with a beauty mark on its tip, and rose lips. Innocent. He brought out the chair that was next to hers and sat down, placing his backpack beside him on the floor. Iruwa lifted her head up and looked to her side to find Jeongguk sitting too-close-for-comfort. She closed her book and took out her history notebook and workbook, nodding to Jeongguk to do the same.

“Let’s start from the Neolithic Revolution and work our way through from there, sound okay?” Iruwa asked and Jeongguk nodded.

 

An hour later…

 

“Pay attention!” Iruwa screeched for the umpteenth time the past hour.

“I am! Is just hard to keep my eyes focused wh –“ Jungkook tried to tell Iruwa his reason behind his inattentiveness.

“When what, Jeongguk? I’m starting to think you’re not even trying. I could be studying for my AP Biology exam right now, you know?” She snapped back before he could finish.

“I’m so -“

“Forget it. Read this and answer the questions that follow it,” she pointed to the first three paragraphs in the workbook.

Jeongguk looked at Iruwa and sighed, looking down at his shabby excuse for a workbook and began reading what she told him. ‘The Greek were decentralized into polis due to the geopgrahy of…’ Blah blah blah. He sighed and his eyes wondered to the edges of the page. Is that a ing mud stain? How did this get so dirty! Side-eyeing Iruwa to his right, Jeongguk slowly brought his arm up and placed it besides hers on the table. He cautiously lifted his head up and read the title of the section Iruwa was reading in her Human Anatomy textbook. ‘The Male Reproductive System’ who in their right mind would WANT to read this? Is that a picture of a ? Where is your SHAME? Jeongguk’s eyes widened and looked at Iruwa’s face; she seemed expressionless besides the slight twitch made attempting to stifle her laughs. He smiled and tried to keep quiet not to disturb Iruwa. Cute.

 It did not go unnoticed.

“What are you smiling at?” asked Iruwa as she closed her book in a hurry, not calculating its weight and impact, causing a loud “SMACK” sound to resonate in the miniscule private study room they were in. Her eyes were narrow, as if deciphering his thoughts.

“At the male reproductive system, of course,” Jeongguk smirked seen Iruwa’s gaze falter, but before he could enjoy his small victory, Iruwa sprung up in her chair and pointed at him, making him turn in his seat to look at her.

“Fine. Is anatomy class. Big whoop. Besides, I’m supposed to like it so might as well get know how it works and how it looks! As unpleasant as it is to even GLANCE at it, at least I don’t have to be cramped with them in the same room, right, fish boy?” Iruwa was now looking down at him, chest heaving as she finished her rant, blush creeping up her cheeks.

“What are you getting at?” Jeongguk looked her up and down and turning his body back to lean in and read his workbook. Puffing her cheeks, she stomped her foot on the floor demanding his attention. And this is how I die…tell my mother I loved her…

“Jeongguk, you’re surrounded by swimmers most of the time! And you’re seriously laughing at me for looking at a ? You guys wear the tiniest Speedos in existence! Doesn’t it disturb you? One of their could pop out any minute.” Iruwa crossed her arms and sat back down on her chair, looking down at her lap to avoid eye contact with the athlete.

Jeongguk cleared his throat and stood up, towering over Iruwa. “What about me bothers you so much? I was laughing at the way you were trying not to laugh yourself. There’s nothing to blame on me here.” He closed his workbook and shoved it in his bookbag. “Oh, and they don’t bother me because if you haven’t noticed,” he leaned down to the same eye-level as Iruwa and brushed her fringes back with him hand, holding them in place, “I have one myself.” Iruwa’s somber eyes stared at Jeongguk’s, blushing at his statement.

He removed his hand from her head, pushed his chair in, walking towards the door. Iruwa looked over to the table and smiled to herself, picking up Jeongguk’s car keys. “Oh Jeongguk…I think you’re forgetting something.” Said boy turned to look at Iruwa, only to see her dangling his keys by her index finger.

“Look, Jeongguk…I’m sorry for lashing on you. I’m just stressed about the midterms,” she placed the keys back down on the table, pulled out the middle chair and motioned for Jeongguk to sit down again.

“Is okay,” Jeongguk took off his backpack and placed it on the table, sitting next to Iruwa again. “You weren’t completely wrong by the way. I live in constant fear of losing an eye due to those Speedos.”

Iruwa laughed; eyes closing, revealing her white teeth. Beautiful. Jeongguk laughed along with her.

“Come on, let’s try this again,” she stated. Jeongguk nodded, scooting his chair closer to Iruwa and rested his arm on her chair’s back.

Three hours later…

Iruwa looked at the history review sheet Jeongguk had taken out while they were studying, reading all of the topics and sub-topics that were going to be on the exam. A strand of hair kept tickling her eyelid as she tried to read and attempted to blow it away. Jeongguk gazed at her, smiling inwardly at how she tried to blow the hair away. Chuckling, Jeongguk brought up his hand and moved the strand of hair to the side as it was too short to reach behind her ear. She looked at him with an incredulous expression and Jeongguk smiled, showing his bunny-like front teeth which made Iruwa giggle. They stayed seated for a while as Iruwa finished reading the review. With a huff of air, she slammed the paper on the table and stood up.

“We’ve covered everything that should be on the exam, and you were able to answer 86% of the questions correctly. Good job!” she put her hand on his shoulder and patted it, congratulating him.

Jeongguk looked up at her, opening his mouth to say his ‘thank you’ until he heard a loud growl coming from Iruwa’s stomach. She retrieved her hand and placed it on her stomach, commanding it to stop its complaining, smiling anxiously.

“Are you hungry?” Jeongguk gave her a questioning look with his eyebrow raised and a side smile.

“HAHAHAHA…yes,” Iruwa stared at the ground, making her fringes cover her eyes again.

Looking around the table, Jeongguk got up and cleaned up all the papers and books they had used to study, placing them where they correspond. Iruwa’s Human Anatomy textbook in her satchel…that’s her review…her notebook… He placed all her books in her leather satchel and closed it, putting the strap over his shoulder while he stuffed his workbook inside his bookbag, carrying it by the hand-strap.

“There’s a McDonald’s nearby, I’ll pay,” Jeongguk grabbed Iruwa by her wrist, dragging her out of the library before she could process the situation.

Clicking the car remote on his key chain, he opened the passenger door and waited for Iruwa to sit down before closing the door. Opening the door for the back seats, Jeongguk put their bags on the floor and closed the door, going around the car from behind to reach the driver’s door. Making himself comfortable, he put on his seatbelt and looked over at Iruwa. “Put your seatbelt on.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I’m kind of zoning out,” she did as he told her, and steered her vision to the in-dash stereo, looking for the AUX hole. Spotting it, she looked back at Jeongguk innocently. “Can I use the AUX cord?”

“Yeah, go right ahead,” he smiled and the car.

Iruwa pulled out her phone from her back pocket and plugged in the AUX cord to the audio outlet. Unlocking her phone, she searched through her music before finding the perfect song.

“My sandpaper sigh engraves a line

Into the rust of your tongue

Girl I could've been someone to you

Would have painted the skies blue

 

Baby blue

If you knew

Baby blue…”

What. The. Hell. Jeongguk side-eyed Iruwa trying to pin-point a smile of some sort, but she genuinely looked like she was enjoying the song. She doesn’t seem like she would listen to this type of music. “You got a unique taste.”

“That’s what most say. Thank you, by the way,” Iruwa looked out the window, watching the street signs and the people that were walking to different destinations.

“Don’t mention it. After all, you did help me study. Tell you what,” Jeongguk slowed down as he approached the McDonald he saw on his way to the library, “if I pass my exam I’ll take you out to eat whatever you want, sounds good?”

“Oh, you’re going to regret that,” she giggled.

As long as I can see your face again. He parked his car, turned off the engine and looked at Iruwa get out of his car, letting her get a head start before leaving his car. Walking towards Iruwa, he admired her body, playfully looking her up and down like she had done when they first met.

Standing in front of the cashier, they each ordered what looked the most appetizing.

“I’ll have the sandwich in number 5, crispy… two large fries, a small soda, two apple pies and an Oreo shake.”

The cashier tapped on the machine everything Iruwa had mentioned and when he was done, he looked at Jeongguk with bored eyes. “And you, sir?”

“Uh…” Jeongguk looked over the menu again, debating whether he should pig out and embarrass himself while Iruwa was here, or not, “Can I have two chicken and bacon McWraps, crispy, along with two large fries and a large soda. Oh, and one apple pie and an Oreo shake, also.”

“Will that be all?” he marked Jeongguk’s order slowly, eyeing the pair.

“Actually, what kid toys’ do you have?” Iruwa asked, eyeing the display box of toys.

“We have the Ninja Turtles or if you’ll like we also have Strawberry Shortcake & Friends.”

“Add Michelangelo to the order, please and thank you!” Iruwa said before storming off to the soda fountain with both of their cups.

Jeongguk took out his wallet from his jean’s pocket, searching for his debit card, and swiping to pay for their meal. Iruwa came back and handed him his drink while sipping on her straw. He put his move on the straw and tasted the drink. Ah, not a big fan of Mt.Dew. Putting his drink down on the counter, he tapped Iruwa on the shoulder and she looked up. “What?”

He grabbed hold of her cup below where her hand held it, and Iruwa let the cup go into his hold. Bringing up the drink to his mouth, Jeongguk held the straw with his other hand and sipped. Yes, Coca Cola. “Switch with me?”

“No way,” she laughed, taking her drink back and storming off down the hallway that led to the bathrooms and the indoors playground.

“Your order,” a voice from behind the counter made Jeongguk turn around and picked up the trays of their food.

“Thank you,” and with that he walked down the hallway too, trying to find Iruwa. Turning the door that led to the playground he found Iruwa’s cup on a table near the slide and saw some shoes by the shoe rack. No kids… “Iruwa!” he called out.

“Here!” Jeongguk set the trays down on the table before twirling his head to look at the red slide’s exit. From the curve of the slide, he saw Iruwa’s feet stick out from inside the slide, slipping due to her socks. She finally slipped, giving up on trying to climb up. Huffing, she stood up and walked towards the trays of food. “Come on, take your shoes off and carry your food. We’re going to space.” Her eyes shined with childish desire, making him laugh at her statement. Top 5? Are you sure that isn’t her age?

Jeongguk didn’t bother questioning her and began to take off his shoes with the heel of his foot, kicking them to the green shoe rack. Iruwa had already grabbed her fries and spilled them inside the box that held her sandwich, closing it before storming off into the purple triangular steps that towered to the different floors of the playground. Following her lead, Jeongguk took his McWrap in one hand and placed the fry holder Iruwa left on the table to cover his own fries so they don’t spill over. Iruwa started climbing, and Jeongguk waited until her whole body was a few steps above his so they didn’t trip.

Reaching the last step, Iruwa entered the space shuttle that lingered above the entire playground, sitting by the very tip of it to stretch out her legs and sit crisscross. Jeongguk stayed by the shuttle’s entrance and looked at Iruwa. Her smile, her laugh, her voice, her body, her brains… Beautiful.

“What?” she looked at Jeongguk and waved her hand for him to hurry in. “We’re about to take off.”

He finally entered and sat parallel to Iruwa, crossing his legs and placing his food in the middle. Looking outside the shuttle’s window he was able to look outside the playground’s colossal window that covered the entire wall. The sun was setting, manipulating the sky to appear like a gradient of soft purple and midnight blue. Shifting his position to sit against the wall that allowed him to look outside, he patted the space next to him and grabbed his food. Iruwa followed his hand and sat next to him. Their knees brushed against eachother, but neither of them moved.

“Wow,” Iruwa gaped at the scene that was in front of her, “is so beautiful.”

The sky can’t compare to you. She took out her phone to take a picture of the sunset. Placing her phone back, she grabbed the box that held her burger and opened it. As she was about to bite into her sandwich, she noticed Jeongguk staring at her from the corner of her eye. Closing , she turned her head to him. “Yeah?”

Jeongguk took out his own phone and swiped for the camera app, already displaying the front camera, and leaned towards Iruwa. “Take a picture with me.” She leaned in closer to him and smiled. Jeongguk clicked the camera’s button and snapped several pictures of them together. He went to his gallery and looked at the pictures, smiling.

“You’re beautiful, Iruwa.”