Minsik Scenarios

Tutoring Part 3

It was lunchtime on Thursday, and as I walked to my table, Minsik appeared next to me.

"Hey, Ara," he said cheerfully.

"Hey, Minsik. Are you here to ask for tutoring for tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

Minsik was still walking next to me, making me confused. What else did he want from me? I took a seat at the table, and Minsik stopped, standing there in front of me.

"Can I sit with you?" he asked.

Did Kwon Minsik just ask to sit at the same table as me? "Uh, yeah, sure," I responded. Minsik set his tray down and sat down across from me. I prayed that he couldn't see how nervous I was. Lunch seemed to fly by as I talked to Minsik. It had been a long while since I had talked that long with someone other than the ladies at work or my sister on the phone, and I felt like I could talk forever about anything and everything with him. For the first time, I left lunch with a smile on my face. 

As I exited my homeroom at the end of the day, Minsik and one of his friends were walking in front of me toward the doors to leave and go home. Neither of them noticed me, and they were talking quite loudly, so I unfortunately heard their conversation.

"Minsik, who dared you to sit with her at lunch?" his friend asked.

My stomach dropped. I should've known Minsik wouldn't voluntarily choose to sit with me at lunch. The idea of Minsik only eating lunch with me because of a dare definitely hurt.

"It wasn't a dare," Minsik scoffed, "my mom wants me to be friends with her." 

I anxiously bit the inside of my cheek, trying to tell myself that it was better this way. Minsik breaking my heart a little would help me realize that we could only ever be friends. I took a deep breath and walked slower to fall farther behind in the crowd of students going home, distancing myself from Minsik.

When I got home, I couldn't seem to concentrate on my homework because what I overheard earlier kept replaying in my head. I turned my music up, trying to drown out the unwanted thoughts. I finished one assignment that should have only taken fifteen minutes in an hour, but luckily I didn't have much to do today.

Work passed by slowly since there weren't many people shopping today. Near the end of my shift, I thought I saw Minsik. I wasn't completely sure though since I could only see the back of his head. Suddenly, he turned around, and I saw that it actually was Minsik. He saw me and smiled, walking toward me, a basket of groceries in hand. I hoped vehemently that this encounter wouldn't be awkward. Another thought crossed my mind. Was he here because his mom told him to, knowing I would be working? I gave a smile as he approached, but happy was the last emotion I was feeling right now.

"Hey," he said softly, placing his items down on the conveyor belt.

"Hi." I started scanning his items, trying to get checked out as soon as possible.

"I got a B on my test." The smile on Minsik's face showed that the grade he received was better than he had been expecting.

"That's great!" I exclaimed, genuinely happy for him.

"That was the last test for this unit."

My mind quickly put together what he was going to say next. He didn't need my tutoring anymore. I couldn't deny that I was disappointed. Soon we'd be practically strangers again. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that. "So you don't need me to tutor you anymore." I spoke the words for him.

"Yeah." Before I could respond, Minsik spoke again. "So when do you get off work?"

Thinking that he was just trying to make conversation, I answered without giving it too much thought. "In a few minutes I think?" I glanced at my phone to confirm the time. "Yeah."

Minsik nodded and pulled his wallet out to pay for his groceries. After he gave me the money and I gave his change back, he just stood there for a few seconds. I could tell by his body language that he was nervous, but I had no idea why he would be. Finally, he cleared his throat and looked at me. 

"Um, do you have any plans tonight?" He fiddled with the handle of the basket he was holding as he awaited my answer.

I didn't have any plans for dinner, but Minsik's mom must have been the one who was making him ask me. So, I had to debate my options: go have dinner with them because she had probably made extra just for me or not go because it wasn't Minsik that wanted me there. "It's fine, you can just tell your mom I have a lot of homework to work on tonight."

"My mom wasn't the one who told me to invite you," he looked up, "I wanted to ask you like a... date, " he whispered the last word softly.

I was shocked. If his mom wasn't the one making him ask me over for dinner, this must be a dare by one of his friends.

As if he were reading my mind, Minsik said, "It's not a dare, I really like you." His eyes widened, and I deduced that he hadn't meant to say that part out loud. "You can say no if you want." Minsik lowered his head.

"What're we gonna eat?" I asked, smiling.

Minsik's head snapped up, eyebrows raising while his mouth turned up in a grin. "I made bibimbap."

"Should I go back home and change first?" 

"No, it's fine, you can just come in what you're wearing now."

I checked my phone, and seeing that it was now past the time of the end of my shift, I closed my line. Minsik waited patiently for me to finish everything and walked me out to my car when I was done. He started driving home, and I followed behind him. When we arrived at his house, Minsik got out of his car first and came over to open the door for me. We both walked inside and I saw two places set at the table, with a few candles placed on the table and a bouquet of roses set next to plate closest to us. This is really happening. I pinched myself slightly just to make sure. I was too lost inside my thoughts to realize that Minsik had gone somewhere. I was shaken out of my thoughts when he reappeared next to me, holding something behind his back.

"I should probably wait until after we eat, but I really wanna do this now. And I know this is cheesy but please bear with me," Minsik rambled.

A small smile rested on my face as I wondered what he was talking about. He was cute when he was nervous.

Minsik brought his hands in front of him, holding out... a piece of paper?

I took it from him to examine it. On the top was a B written in red ink and circled, and I realized this must be his test. Next to the B was more writing, but the handwriting was different and a little messier. My eyes widened as I realized it said "B mine please?" Tiny hearts were doodled around the message and I looked up, nodding vigorously at Minsik, who's face lit up immediately.