𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 | sim jaeyun

2

chapter two ;; the assignment

"Well, look who it is!" Jungwon said, nudging Sunoo beside him. "It's the Little Miss Perfect."

Jake looked at the girl who was now in front of them, glancing at each of them with no expression..

"Hey, Inah!" Heeseung called out, his voice dripping with mockery as she look at him. "Why don't you take a break from all those books? Might do you some good to join the real world."

Jake watched her, smirking as he decided to stay silent and let his friends do their thing as they usually do.

Inah quietly scoffs, ignoring how they're trying to make fun of her as she was about to walk away from them when one of Jake's friends spoke more.

"Oh and Inah! Nice clothes by the way... especially your sweater." Jay joined in and plastered a grin.

Inah looks down a bit to see her clothes, lifting her face up back to look at them again as she fakely smiles.

"Thank you," she said, eventually walking away from them.

As she went away from them, they burst into laughter to how Inah responded to Jay as well as how she liked being complimented.

"She was like 'thank you~'" Sunoo spoke through imitating Inah's tone in a teasing way as they kept on laughing.

"Bet she doesn't even know what fun is. All work and no play. Right, Jake?" Sunghoon nudged on him while grinning.

Jake chuckles, agreeing to Sunghoon. "For real."

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of their break. The group dispersed, heading to their respective classes. Jake walked slowly as his mind was occupied with thoughts of his impending punishment.

The classroom buzzed with the usual pre-class chatter. The students took their seats as their Calculus professor, Mr. Nam stood at the front and sorted through a stack of papers. Jake slumped into his chair with his mind still lingered by the Dean's words.

Before the professor could start, Jake's eyes landed on Inah who was sitting near the front row. His stern eyes filled with curiosity yet interest. Since the first day, he wasn't that much close to her and to anyone but his friends. All he knows is that Inah's one of the smartest in their class and it kinda annoys him to see her that made them mock her at some times.

Well... that's what they are...

Right after their professor greeted them, he started the discussion about their new topic for about 30 minutes. Moments after, Mr. Nam distributed back their recent quiz papers. As Jake took the paper from him, he glanced at his score and grimaced. Not terrible, but far from good.

"Mr. Sim," the professor quietly called out, his voice stern, "stay after class. We need to talk."

Jake sighed before responding. "Tch fine."

His stomach knotted with dread right after that very short talk with Mr. Nam.

The class finally ended as Jake approached the professor, bracing himself for another reprimand.

As he was now in front of the desk, he quickly turned his face sideways to see Inah beside him who was now looking back at him.

"Mr. Sim," the professor started, "you're capable of much more than this." Mr. Nam tapped Jake's written score on the record paper. "Your performance on other subjects... has been very disappointing too. When will you come to your senses?" The professor spoke to Jake who's avoiding eye contact and plastering a poker look as if he doesn't care. "With your conduct, you need to improve your performances. If you're wondering why Ms. Bae is with us right now, I assigned her to tutor you for this subject and for others too."