I was at the park tutoring my student Park Yoochun. Ugh. 'Student' doesn't sound right at all, especially when he's the same age as me. We're both fourth-year college students. We've known each other since high school, but that didn't mean we were friends. In fact, I can't stand him. Not then. Not now. I thought I would never see him again after we graduated from high school, but…he ended up being at the same university as me. Thank goodness college is a lot bigger, so I've managed to not run into him for the past three years. This year, however, I was not so lucky.
[Flashback]
"Pleeeeeeease, Junsu! I'm begging you here!"
I stood with my arms across my chest, my feet tapping impatiently on the ground. My friend Jung Yunho and I have been standing in front of the university student union for more than ten minutes now with him begging me to do a favor for him and me refusing to do it for him.
"Please do this for me and I'll...I'll never ask anything from you again!"
I raised an eyebrow skeptically at him.
In which Yunho continued, "Okay, okay. I know; Never say 'never', but…you have to do this for me if I ever want approval from Yoochun-sshi to date his brother Changmin!"
I rolled my eyes at his formality of Yoochun's name. Yunho didn't attend the same high school as me, Yoochun, and Changmin. He and I met and became friends my first year in college when I was in the same calculus class as him. Last year was the year Changmin entered college. He and Yunho were classmates since they both major in electrical engineering and that was when Yunho developed a crush for the boy. But in order to date Park Changmin, one had to go through Yoochun first, who was very protective of his younger brother.
"Don't you want to see me happy?" Yunho asked in an attempt to guilt me into doing the favor.
I could use that same argument against him, too. He knows I can't stand Yoochun. How could he ask me to do such a thing in order to gain happiness? What about my happiness that will disappear as soon as I see that Park?!
"Please, please, pleeeease, Junsu! Just tutor Park Yoochun in math. That's all I ask!"
I remained silent, determined not to give in.
"Think of it this way, Su. If he passes his graduate requirement examination, then he'll be able to study abroad and you won't have to see him ever again!"
My ears perked up. That was enough to convince me.
"Deal!"
And like that I became Yoochun's math tutor...again.
[End of Flashback]
We sat under a tree on a plaid blanket. I worked on my math homework while Yoochun was busy working on his worksheet on slopes atop of his binder, using his left leg as a sort of ‘table’ or 'desk'.
Yoochun is an English major. Wishing to obtain a higher college degree, he needed to take and pass a graduate requirement examination. That exam tested you on your verbal and writing skills, which Yoochun should have absolutely no problem with. The exam also tested you on your math skills. Being an English major, Yoochun had not taken any math classes since his first semester of college and so, he needed to review his math concepts before taking the exam because those qualifying exams were not cheap.
And so that's where I come in. I'm a math major. That doesn't mean I'm smart. It means I want to teach math, which is almost like tutoring.
“Finished!” he exclaimed, waving the paper in front of my face.
