THE LINE - YVESEUL

SIX

Jinsoul had been dreading this all day. At this point, she'd rather fail literature than have some new person come and make fun of her for being stupid. Jinsoul wasn't stupid! She was just...ditzy. She was good at science, at math, even humanities. She just wasn't able to pay attention in English. Her teacher's voice was very monotone, Jinsoul had even fallen asleep a couple times due to it. Those were totally valid reasons she was failing, she thought, and she'd rather just retake it than try to fix her terrible grades this semester.

"Where even is this," She muttered to herself, checking her phone for directions again. Jinsoul really wanted to just run away from the library right now, but she was already here and it would awkward if the tutor saw her leave. Jinsoul just prayed he didn't have a monotone voice.

"Um," Said a feminine voice. "Jung Jinsoul?"

Jinsoul turned in the direction of the voice, and was pleasantly surprised to be met with the sight of a slightly shorter girl, with faded blonde hair and a nervous smile on her face. Very, very nervous. She looked like she wanted to run just as much as Jinsoul did. That relaxed Jinsoul a little bit, but it made her feel kind of bad for this girl.

"That's me," Jinsoul tried to smile, hoping it would put this girl at ease, but if anything, the girl just looked even more nervous.

Oh. Thought Jinsoul. Is she nervous because of the tutoring, or nervous because of me?

Jinsoul really hoped it was the latter, because as the girl lead her to her spot at the library table, Jinsoul couldn't help but look her up and down in pleasant surprise. The girl was wearing a cute skirt and a big sweater, it made her look homey and in Jinsoul's opinion, soft. When she sat down, Jinsoul's attention went to her face and she admired the gentle slope of her nose, the fullness of her lips and the way her eyes nervously flitted over her supplies.

"Um, are you okay?" Jinsoul asked her gently, trying to gage how on edge this girl was.

"I'm Jungeun!" The blonde blurted, then blushed. "And yes, I'm fine. I'm great. I'm excited to work with you,"

Jinsoul could see that Jungeun was internally cringing at her own words, but she found it kind of cute. "Well, Jungeun, I'm happy one of us is excited,"

"Yeah well," Jungeun looked down at her pencil. "There are worse partners to get,"

"Were you surprised to see my name?" Jinsoul asked, genuinely curious.

"Moderately," Jungeun admitted.

"Well, I'm good at everything but English," Jinsoul laughed. "This is where I struggle,"

"Any particular reason?" Jungeun questioned.

"Is it mean to say my teacher is boring as hell?" Jinsoul giggled quietly.

"Not if it's true," Jungeun smiled. "What teacher do you have?"

"Mr. Park," Jinsoul replied.

"Ah, I totally understand," Jungeun assured her. "He used to put me to sleep last semester,"

"Right?" Jinsoul exclaimed. "Anyways, I'm more motivated now that I know that my tutor is an adorable girl like you,"

Jungeun nodded absentmindedly, then turned to her with huge eyes. "What?"

"I said I'm more motivated with you as my tutor," Jinsoul smiled.

"You didn't..." Jungeun blinked. "Maybe I'm hearing things,"

Jinsoul smiled to herself. Cute.

Jungeun was actually a pretty good tutor. She'd give Jinsoul things to work on at the end of each session and make little notes for her to study. Jinsoul, to her own surprise, was improving a lot, and she was really grateful to the girl.

Jinsoul couldn't believe she hadn't noticed Jungeun before. She was kind, nice, but she was also really pretty. Jinsoul considered herself well versed in pretty girls, but Jungeun stayed on her mind constantly throughout the day. Jinsoul liked hookups for the most part, but when she imagined herself with Jungeun she imagined a real relationship. One where Jinsoul got to make Jungeun blush furiously everyday.

Jinsoul was going to pursue her. She liked Jungeun. She was pretty sure Jungeun was into her too, but she had to make sure Jungeun wasn't just another straight girl who was weak to the charms of Jung Jinsoul.

"Jungeun?"

Jungeun looked up from her laptop. "Yeah? Are you done with the essay?"

"Ah," Jinsoul scratched the back of her head. "No, not yet. I actually had a question for you,"

"For me?" Jungeun asked timidly. "Oh, okay,"

"You're not...dating anyone, right?"

Jungeun laughed a little too loudly, then caught herself with a sheepish smile. "No. If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm like, super lame. No girls ever like me,"

Girls. Jinsoul made a mental note, but didn't comment on it.

"Huh," Jinsoul smiled back. "That's surprising,"

"Cause of my cousin?"

"Oh yeah, isn't your cousin Kim Hyunjin?"

Jungeun deadpanned in a way that reminded Jinsoul of the cat girl. "There is no resemblance between her and I,"

"That's not what I meant," Jinsoul shook her head with a giggle. "Although I've heard she's broken more than a few hearts,"

"Wait, then why does that surprise you?"

Jinsoul raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Jungeun looked away. "Why do you find it surprising that I'm single?"

"I'd just imagine that you'd have girls lining up to call you theirs," Jinsoul shrugged.

"Nope, not like you," Jungeun said quietly.

"Ah yes, my fan club, I'm aware," Jinsoul laughed. "That's what I get for being the star college basketball player,"

"That must be tough for you," Jungeun pretended to sympathize, playfulness in her eyes.

"What can I say? The girls have good taste,"

"Hmm,"

"You don't agree?"

"What?" Jungeun's eyes widened. "No, I didn't mean anything,"

"You think I'm not nice to look at?"

"No! I think you're...gorgeous," Jungeun refocused on her laptop. "I also think you should finish your essay,"

"Gorgeous?" Jinsoul repeated happily. "Wow, you're a smooth talker too-"

"Jinsoul," Jungeun said sternly, although she sounded more embarrassed than anything.

"Jungeun," Jinsoul smiled. "Has anyone ever told you you have the most beautiful of lips?"

Jungeun's eyes darted away. "Not many people spend this much time looking at them,"

"They should," Jinsoul hummed. "Pretty. Lip. That'll be your nickname,"

Jungeun's face was getting pinker by the second. "Jinsoul, please,"

"Sorryyy," Jinsoul went back to her work, then looked up at Jungeun once more. "I know you like it, though," She said more quietly, raising a brow when Jungeun looked at her in alarm.

"I...what?"

"I can be a little clueless but I'm not stupid," Jinsoul leaned on her arm. "For the record, I think you're pretty cute too,"

Jungeun choked on air. "We should, um, the lesson-"

"Alright," Jinsoul held her hands up in surrender. "Your wish is my command, Lip,"

Jungeun had no idea how she hadn't passed up due to the beating of her own heart.