Life Lessons [Park Jimin]

Chapter 29

Yeji

"Noona?" I hear a small voice question, my eyes fluttering open.

"What's wrong Haein-ah? Did you have a nightmare?" I ask, wondering why he's waking me up in the middle of the night.

"No, it's just... it's time to leave," he mumbles awkwardly.

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"It's 5:45 am. Normally we leave for daycare now," he says again.

It takes a second for his words to process, but then I spring up in bed, grabbing my phone to check and see that he's telling the truth.

"Shit," I gasp, scrambling to get out of bed. I must have forgotten to set my alarms last night.

"Haein-ah, can you get ready by yourself?" I ask, grabbing my uniform from my closet.

"I already did. I brushed my teeth and packed my bag. And I had cereal for breakfast. I made you a bowl too. I didn't want to wake you up though because you looked sleepy," he says.

I look at him in surprise. Why is my 5 year old brother taking care of me? This is messed up.

"Thank you love. Just give me a few minutes to get ready," I tell him. He nods before scampering out of my room.

I get dressed and drag a brush through my hair before heading to the bathroom to wash up. I won't have time to do my makeup but oh well.

Back in my room, I shove all my things into my bag before inhaling the slightly soggy bowl of cereal in the kitchen.

5:57.

I guess that's not too bad. I'm just glad that our bus runs every 5 minutes.

The delay was enough to make me late for class though.

"Miss Yeji, detention after school," the grumpy old history teacher says when I stumble into the room.

"Mr. Choi, don't you think you're being a bit dramatic? She was only like 5 minutes late," Jungkook argues.

"Detention for you too Mr. Jeon," Mr. Choi says flatly.

Jungkook turns to me with a smirk, showing that he expected this to happen.

"Why did you do that?" I question.

"Detention together is our tradition," he smiles like he's actually excited about having to sit in silence for an hour.

I just roll my eyes with a quiet laugh, and look at the board so that it at least appears like I'm paying attention.

But a few minutes later, I realize something, muttering out a curse under my breath.

"What?" Jungkook asks.

"I have to cancel tutoring today because of detention but the 2nd years have an exam tomorrow," I frown.

"Oh shit, I didn't think about that," Jungkook says.

"Yeji, Jungkook! Why do you keep interrupting my class? Go stand in the hall with your arms above your head," Mr. Choi shouts. He must have noticed me and Jungkook whispering back and forth.

"Sorry Mr. Choi," I sigh, standing up and grabbing my things. I hear Jungkook's footsteps as he follows me out.

Jungkook starts our punishment right away, but I pull my phone out first, sending a text to Jimin.

Yeji: Hey I got detention so I won't be able to tutor today. Sorry, I know the 2nd years have an exam. You should just go through some more practice problems with them or something. I can write some up during lunch