"Yeo Ri-ah~! How did you do?"
As soon as the first paper ended, Min Chae rushed to Yeo Ri's side, snivelling.
"I did the best I could do right now," Yeo Ri replied with a distant smile. She had the look of a monk who had cut all ties with the mundane world. Clearly, she hadn't performed as good as she wanted.
"Yeo Ri? Yeo Ri-ah, come back~!" Seeing Yeo Ri's 'zen' look, Min Chae shook her friend's shoulders and tried to bring her back to reality. "Yeo Ri-ah, don't do this to me! If you think it was hard, then I might fail this time. What should I do? My mom will kill me!" She wailed.
"It's all in the hands of fate," Yeo Ri placed a hand on Min Chae's arm, continuing her act.
"Yeo Ri-ah~!" Min Chae hugged Yeo Ri closely, weeping for her botched test.
"What the heck are you two doing?" Jang Mi crossed her arms on her chest, looking at her two friends incredulously. How can they shamelessly act so dramatic in the middle of the hallways? So embarrassing.
"Jang Mi-ah," Yeo Ri snapped out of her act, greeting the other girl. "How did you do on your paper?"
"It was fine." Jang Mi replied. She held a slight sense of satisfaction in her eyes. Added with her relaxed gait, she had clearly aced the paper. "I thought it was easier than the mock exam the teacher gave us to practice the other day."
Yeo Ri and Min Chae shared a look, "seriously?"
"Mm," Jang Mi nodded seriously. She honestly thought so.
"Geniuses like you sure are on a whole other level, huh," Min Chae shook her head with a dispirited sigh.
"It's not 'genius', it's hard work," Jang Mi rolled her eyes. "You'd be as good as me at studying if only you'd give half as much effort into your studies as you do with your family's farm."
"Whatever you say, genius," Min Chae snubbed her friend, ignoring the advice. She believed that she shouldn't push herself to do something she didn't like so she never really studied much unless Yeo Ri or Jang Mi forced her to join them.
"Speaking of which, Gun-oppa told me that he'd tutor me. Min Chae-ah, Jang Mi-ah, do you want to join me?"
The two perked up at the mention of Gun.
"Sure!" Jang Mi eagerly agreed. Noticing her eagerness, she blushed and coughed awkwardly. "I mean, sure," she repeated her answer in a more level manner.
Min Chae leered at Jang Mi, grinning. While Yeo Ri wasn't paying attention to her, she mouthed, "someone's got a little crush," towards Jang Mi.
Jang Mi shot her a dirty glare, her face reddening down to her neck.
"It's decided, then! Jang Mi—Jang Mi-ah? Why is your face so red? Do you feel unwell?"
"Ah, n-no. Don't you guys think it's kind of hot in here?" Jang Mi turned away awkwardly, fanning herself.
Yeo Ri scrunched her face with confusion, "It's pretty cold, though?"
"A-anyways, w-when is he going to tutor us?" Jang Mi coughed, changing the subject.
"I think he'll be free for the next few days. His exams just ended."
"Great! Then, should we start after school?" Min Chae intervened with a playful grin. With Gun around, there were plenty of ways she could tease Jang Mi, she thought.
"Mm!" Yeo Ri nodded. "Min Chae-ah, can I borrow your phone? I'll call him to let him know."
"Here," Min Chae didn't hesitate to give her phone to Yeo Ri.
"Thanks," Yeo Ri smiled at the girl. She was familiar with Gun's number so it only took a few seconds for her to call him.
After a few rings, Gun answered.
"Oppa?" Yeo Ri greeted him lightly.
"Oh, Yeo Ri-ah. Is something the matter?" He replied on the other side. His tone was light and she could imagine his face curving into a slight smile. "Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to go home?"
"No," Yeo Ri smiled slightly at his words. "It's about the tutoring. Oppa, is today okay?"
"Mm. Are you done with your tests for the day?"
"Not yet. There's still the Social Studies paper later."
"Then, I'll see you after school? Oppa will be waiting at the public library." Since Hyuk insisted on picking Yeo Ri up from school himself, he'd just head over to the library first by himself.
"Mm!"
"Alright," Gun hung up. As part of his preparations, he took out his old workbooks that he used in middle school and dumped them inside his bag. Later, he'll pick out some questions for the girls to practice with.
Just as Gun was about to put his phone into the bag, it rang again.
He had thought that Yeo Ri had forgotten to tell him something so he didn't bother to check the caller ID and answered the call mindlessly.
"What is it, Yeo Ri-ah?"
"Ah! um..."
Much to his surprise, a different girl's voice came out from the phone's speaker. He frowned, taking back his phone and checking the caller ID.
It was actually his classmate, Choi Da Na.
"Sorry, I thought someone else called," Gun immediately apologised to the girl for his mistake.
"Ah, no... it was my fault for calling so suddenly," Choi Da Na nervously said. "I'm calling about today... did something happen? Why didn't you come to school?" On the other side of the call, Choi Da Na was leaning by the staircase, biting her nail anxiously. She had been waiting to see him the whole morning but he didn't show up. She wondered if something had happened to him and became worried. As soon as it was break time, she whipped out her phone and tried to call him, but it took some time to muster her courage.
"Oh," Gun replied stoically. "There's some family matters that I need to attend to. Don't mind it. Please tell Teacher Lee for me."
"I see... okay," sensing Gun's distant tone, Choi Da Na did not dare to push forward. Although she was curious, she kept her mouth shut and nodded her head. Gun had asked her a favour and she was very willing to do it. "Then, will you be coming tomorrow?" She asked with a hopeful tone.
"Yes." Gun simply replied. He wasn't planning to skip another day anyways. It was just that he had something to do today that he didn't bother going to school.
"T-that's great!" Choi Da Na almost heaved an audible sigh of relief. She feared that she might suffer from withdrawals if she didn't see Gun for another day.
"Is that all?"
"Um—yeah. I-I'll see you tomorrow... Gun-ah," she bade him farewell bashfully. "Also, it's fine if you talk casually with me, okay? Since we're f-friends."
Gun cracked a small smile, "okay," he replied with a chuckle.
"T-then, goodbye!" Without waiting for Gun's reply, she hung up instantaneously.
Gun stared at his phone with an amused gaze. He shook his head, thinking that she was somewhat interesting.
Afterwards, Gun decided to get some studying done. He had been neglecting his studies far too much and he didn't want to make it into a habit.