Knights of the Night

Ch 3

The next day found Catalina following Jungkook to the campus library. They had gotten their tests back in French class that day and they both got Ds. Their professor set them up with a tutor, whom they were on the way to meet.

"I can't believe we got Ds," said Catalina. "We studied!"

"Yeah! We totally studied and it didn't help us at all," said Jungkook. Catalina thought back on their study session at her apartment; French textbooks open, bottles of wine scattered about, two full glasses, and the Twilight movies unironically playing on Catalina's laptop.

"Yeah we totally studied!" she said.

The campus library was a huge, old building with towering bookshelves and dark wood furniture. They went down one of the halls where there were tables and chairs set up between the aisles. At the first table was a ridiculously handsome man, who stood up when he spotted them.

"Well, well, well," he said. "Look who's failing his class already in the first week."

Jungkook frowned and stopped in his tracks. "You're our tutor?"

"Hey! Why are you saying it like that? You should be more like, 'Oh, Jin! Thank goodness you're helping me pass my French class, how can I ever repay you?'"

"I'm assuming you guys...know each other?" said Catalina.

Jungkook sighed and said, "Catalina, this is Jin. As you can see he's very old and his dementia is setting in, making him talk nonsense-"

Jin rounded the table and swatted at Jungkook, yelling, "Hey! I'm tutoring you out of the kindness of my heart and this is what I get?"

A librarian stuck her head around the corner and shushed them angrily. Jin apologized and gestured to the two chairs across from his.

"Yeah, I've known Jungkook since he was a child," said Jin. "I practically raised him."

"He used to live next door. He babysat me and my brother like, two times," said Jungkook.

"So, are you two dating?" asked Jin. "Because I have some wonderful childhood stories to tell."

Catalina laughed and said, "We're not dating, but I'd love to hear them."

"Jin," said Jungkook. "Jin."

"What?"

"I'll kill you."

Jin laughed for several seconds, then sobered up in an instant. "Anyway, let's get to work."

He flipped the French textbook open and began.

"So, what are you guys having trouble with?" he asked. "Let's see your tests."

Catalina left the tutoring session feeling a bit better about her French class. As they walked out of the library, Jungkook said, "So, I'm having a party at my house tonight and you're invited. My parents are out of town for this healthcare conference thing so everyone's gonna be there. It's gonna be awesome."

"And what do you mean by 'everyone'?" asked Catalina. She's always kind of wanted to go to one of those cliché house parties where a bunch of unwanted guests show up and the host is freaking out about their parents' china cabinet or whatever. Her friends back home were pretty boring, so she never got the party experience.