from the start | jake sim

13

Seoyun's POV

"Noona, why do we have to find alphabets in maths? Isn't maths just numbers?" I scratched my head while looking over at Jungwon.

I shot him a smile, "Jungwon, if I am that good at Maths I wouldn't be sitting next to you. I'd be in Harvard."

"Alright, back to this question." I pointed at one of the question, and I pursed my lips.

"You know what? Let's ask Chatgpt. With the advancement in technology, we really should adapt to it." I said, as I took my phone out and started keying in the question.

Jungwon eyed me, "I think you just don't know how to do this question." I scoffed, "I can do it while closing my eyes."

He crossed his arms, "Then do it."

I pursed my lips, "I'm not feeling it."

"You're not feeling it, or you can't do it?" He smirked, and instantly the competitiveness in me was awaken.

I slammed my phone on the table as I shot him a forced smile, "Watch me." He grinned, "I'm watching."

I stared at the question intensively, before writing down some solutions. I slammed the pen on the table, "The answer is 42."

Jungwon eyed me, "Noona, the answer is 5x-26."

I pursed my lips, as Jungwon laid his head on the table. "I guess I'm never going to attend dance training." He whined.

Just then, my phone vibrated and I looked over at the screen to see it was a message from Jake.

My face lit up, "Jungwon, I may know someone who's good at maths."

After an hour, Jake appeared right before us. He glanced between Jungwon and I, "This is my cousin, Jungwon. He's struggling with maths and you're the best at maths."

"I thought you said it's an emergency." I nodded, "It is. His exams are in," I glanced over at Jungwon, "2 days." He replied.

Jake but his lips as he sat down facing us, "Seoyun, I thought it was an actual emergency. I came from work thinking that you're in trouble or something." I pursed my lips.

"I'm sorry." He lets out a sigh before sliding the paper towards him, "Let's not waste anymore time." As he looked over at Jungwon.

While he was tutoring Jungwon, I was scrolling through my phone looking at new items that I should get.

A new bag?

A new bracelet?

Oh!

Maybe a new sweater!

"Wow, Jake you're really good at maths!" Jungwon said, "Better than noona." He glared at me and I rolled my eyes.

"I told you I'm struggling myself, but you insisted that I tutor you." He scoffed, "I didn't expect a B grade student to be worse at maths than a C grade student."

I sneered, "Hey! Yang Jungwon!" He stuck his tongue out at me.

Jake eyed me, and I cleared my throat. "I don't have work tomorrow, so I can tutor you before your exams." Jungwon grinned.

"Do you have anything that you want? Maybe outerwear? I can get it for you in exchange for more lessons." Jungwon's eyes glistened.

Jake shook his head, "It's fine, there's nothing that I really want. Plus, tutoring you is beneficial for myself too." He shrugged.

"Wait, you don't even want money?" Jake thought for a bit, "How does 500,000 won per lesson sounds?" Jungwon asked.

Jake's eyes widened as he shook his head while waving his hands, "No, no. That's even higher than the average tuition cost in the market."

"But you're better than the teachers in the market." Jungwon said, "500,000 won it is then!"

Jake eyed me, and I just shrugged.

"Noona, look. I can solve for x now." Jungwon proudly showed me his working, "And I did it myself without Jake's help."

"Bougie, want to treat us to dinner Mr Einstein?" I teased and he scoffed, "I have my dance training after this."

He looked over at his watch and his eyes widened. He quickly packed up his things, "Thanks for today Jake! See you tomorrow!" He grabbed his bag, before running off.

I pursed my lips as I glanced over at Jake, "Hey, I'm really sorry for making you rush here. As a form of my apology, I'd like to treat you to a meal." I grinned.

Jake stood up, "What are you waiting for?"

"Oh, I was expecting a it's fine, there's nothing that I want." I mimicked him, and he rolled his eyes.

"That's only to Jungwon because I just met him. If he were to ask me the same question in a month, I'd be sending him my wish list." I chuckled as I stood up.

I was about to call Mr Park when he stopped me, "Actually there's a place that I want to bring you to, it's really near our school so we can just walk over." I nodded, as I shoved my phone back into my pocket.

Jake's POV

We walked out of the school gates, and the sky was getting gloomier. "If we can rush there in 10 minutes, we should be able to escape the rain." Seoyun nodded.

"So how are you so good at maths?" She suddenly asked, "I don't know, maybe I'm the reincarnated version of Einstein." She scoffed.

"No but really, I don't know. I just enjoy doing maths since I was young." She nodded. "So how are you so good at art?"

She eyed me, "Art? Since when was I good at art?"

"Your answer for the duck question was pretty philosophical." She thought for a bit and her eyes lit up, "Oh! That!"

"I just smoked through honestly. I was testing whether you liked me at that time." My face heat up, "With the wikihow tests?" I asked and she chuckled while nodding.

She scrunched her nose, "But I guess I do like art. I like anything that's pretty." I nodded, "Pretty obvious from how you bedazzled your uniform."

She looked down at her uniform, "I didn't bedazzle it, I just added a pin." She took it out and showed me, "I got it after my first competition."

"Do you actually enjoy swimming and violin, or do you just do it for the money?" She nodded, "I do like it, but if I have the choice, I wouldn't attend that many competitions."

Seoyun pursed her lips, "It's very time consuming, so I barely have any time to myself."

"What do you like to do when you have time for yourself?" I asked, while walking backwards.

She thought for a bit, "I like shopping, and going to museums." I nodded, "What about you?" I thought for a bit.

"I like playing the soccer, and taking photos." Her eyes lit up, "I've been wanting to update my SNS but no one takes pictures for me. Do you want to do the honour?"

"Am I paid?" She looked offended, "To be able to take picture of this masterpiece for your portfolio is your payment."

I laughed, "Hey, you're taking self love to another level." She chuckled, "I'm kidding. What do you want in return?"

I shook my head, "I'm kidding too."

Just then, we heard a loud thunder clap. Before we could react, the drizzles from the sky became heavy rain.

I took off my blazer and covered over us, as we ran towards the restaurant.

Unconsciously, I glanced over at Seoyun who was focused on running and a smile grew on my face.

I think,

I think I like her.

12 December 2023