The 1 Rule - haobin

help you study

"Yes! That's it! You see, at least you can understand that!" Hao says, face lighting up. I smile back, satisfied with myself. Math has never seemed so easy in my whole entire life

"I guess I'm not dumb then, right?" I say. Hao stops jumping around and looks at me

"I never said that"

"That I was dumb?"

"No, I never said that you weren't dumb. i'm just saying that at least you have a few brain cells left to understand some simple maths" he replies, face serious. I roll my eyes at him, but proceed to put my maths stuff to the side

"At least I'll pass the test" I mutter. Hao nods in agreement without saying anything, taking his chemistry notebooks out

"It's your turn to help me," he says. I nod, glad to be able to be any help at all, after all that the boy has done for me

"Yeah, just show me what you need help with," I say. Hao nods, opening his notebook and shoving it toward me

"Just that. Formulas are kinda mixing me up" he says. I look through the problems, seeing things that I am greatly familiar with

"Ok, this is pretty easy. First off, you should probably-" as I'm about to finish my sentence, my phone starts to vibrate, Cho's name popping up on the screen. I look at Hao, who's staring back at me, shrugging. I take my phone and put it to my ear, a feeling of unwanted guilt rising in my stomach

"H-hey Cho!" I say

"hey! I just finished studying. Do you wanna hang out at my house?" I hear her cheery voice from the other side. I look at Hao, who seems to be studying his notebook, unattentive of what I'm saying

"Uh- you're on your way to your house right now?" I ask. That's when Hao looks up from his book, eyes wide, stressed.

"Yeah, I'm a few minutes away. So? You wanna come or not?"

"I- wait, give me a sec" I say, and then put myself on mute, looking up at Hao "Cho's gonna be here in a few minutes. What do you want to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I still need to help you with Chemistry" I say. Hao seems scared, not knowing how near his sister probably is to the house

"I know, but we can't study at my house if she's going to be here," Hao says. I hesitate a bit before answering

"You could always come to my house...?" I reply. Hao freezes, but immediately recovers

"Sure, I guess" he answers. I nod and immediately unmute myself, putting my phone close to my right ear

"Sorry, I can't. I still have a lot to study"

"You're... studying? Where did that miracle come from?" Cho asks, surprised. I grimace, but stop myself from fully frowning

"Since today. I'm surprised as well. Anyways, gotta go!" I say

"Wait! What if I help you study? I can come over?" Cho asks. I shake my head, feeling bad and stressed

"No thanks, I'm good. Bye Cho, talk to you tomorrow" I say, and immediately hang up. Hao's already off of the ground, putting his books in a school bag. I place my computer and maths notebook into my bag as well, and we both head out of the front door. Hao looks outside first, checking if Cho is already here, but luckily she is taking her time to get home. We walk into the cool air in silence

"You're a shitty boyfriend," Hao says. I turn around to look at him, eyebrows raised

"Huh? I'm not dating anyone though"