Jihyo was about to enter the classroom when her eyes caught sight of Gary. The moment she saw him, she got reminded of how Gary called her by the term, 'mong ji' instead of her name.
She must have been so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't realised Hye Won walking up to her from behind. She felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped back slightly, letting out a soft gasp at the same time.
"Why are you standing here?" Hye Won questioned with her eyebrows furrowed.
"I was just thinking about something.." Jihyo replied softly.
"Whatever you're thinking of, doesn't seem to be of something good." Hye Won said, referring to the frown on Jihyo's face.
Jihyo gave her a half-smile and went inside.
They got back their design application assignment and upon seeing his result, Gary rested his head on the table and let out a deep sigh.
Rye Il took the paper in Gary's hand and took no effort to suppress his laughter. "I believed that it's your own work now." He remarked.
Hye Won grabbed the paper and slammed it down on his table. "An E grade?! Oppa! Shouldn't your result improve after studying it for a year?"
"At least I managed to score an 'E' instead of 'F'." Gary raised his head and rebutted.
"And you're proud of that? She drew her eyebrows together and stared at him.
Gary ignored her and kept the marked assignment into his bag. They turned to look at Jihyo who was sitting quietly at her desk. The three of them exchanged looks with one another.
"What's wrong with her?" Rye Il whispered.
Gary shrugged his shoulders and looked at Hye Won but she don't know what happened either. Hye Won walked over to her and placed one hand on her shoulder.
"You will do better next time." Hye Won comforted her. She thought she did badly for the assignment.
"Unnie, what are you talking about?" Jihyo turned behind and looked at her.
Hye Won blinked and turned to look at the guys, and then at Jihyo. "Aren't you feeling upset over your result?" She asked.
"Why would I feel upset?" Jihyo replied.
Hye Won picked up Jihyo's assignment on the table and looked at the score. Her eyes widened and she let out a loud gasp. "A+?!" She exclaimed and showed it to the guys.
"Yah! Why are you looking so down when you actually scored A+?" Rye Il shouted.
"I wasn't. I was just dazing out.. " Jihyo mumbled and looked at them. Hye Won shook her head and returned her the paper.
"Jihyo, since you're so good in this module, why not teach Gary? This guy is going to get expel if he fails to graduate for the second time." Rye Il wrapped his arm around Gary's neck and suggested.
Gary shot a glare at him. "It's only the first assignment." He muttered. He felt there was nothing that Rye Il should be worried about since it was only the first assignment.
"Including the ones that you failed last year, it's not exactly the first assignment." Rye Il replied, emphasizing on the word 'first'.
Gary wrapped his arm around Rye Il's neck and pulled him towards him, trying every means to torture him.
Hye Won noticed that Jihyo was starting to daze out again. She gave her a slight nudge and told her to make a decision. Jihyo looked at the guys and it seem as though Gary was trying to drill a hole in Rye Il's head as he continued to push his fist while twisting it left and right, against the top of Rye Il's head.
"I don't mind if he's fine with it." Jihyo interrupted. Both of them shifted their focus onto Jihyo. Gary slowly loosen his hold on Rye Il.
"Just agree to it!" Rye Il slapped his back and told him.
It didn't take long before he agreed to it. "Yea, sure. I'm fine with it." Gary replied.
Without explaining, Rye Il held out one of Gary's and one of Jihyo's hand, and placed them together. Jihyo felt herself blushing. Gary looked at Rye Il, with his eyebrows raised and questioned what was he doing.
"Don't they always seal a deal by doing a handshake?" He replied.
"Seriously, Rye Il? Seriously?" Gary was trying his best to suppress an eye-roll.
"Yes, seriously." He replied and press their hands firmly against each other, before letting go of their hands.
"Now everything is settled, let's go and get some ice-cream!" Rye Il exclaimed and slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the classroom. He looked like a hyperactive kid getting excited alone.
Hye Won went out, leaving Jihyo and Gary by themselves in the room. Jihyo packed her belongings into her bag and was preparing to leave when she turned and saw Gary standing behind her. They were standing so close that she could smell the deodorant that he was wearing. She took a step back, and bumped into the desk behind her but managed to maintain her footing on the carpeted floor.
"I thought you were waiting outside with them," she cleared her throat and said.
Gary rubbed the back of his neck and looked at her. "I was waiting for you. Actually, I just wanted to apologise. Sorry."
Puzzled, she drew her eyebrows together.
"What Rye Il did earlier.. I hope you won't mind. That guy can get a little weird sometimes." He explained.
She swung her left arm across her body to hold her right arm, just below the elbow. "Ah.. It's fine." She replied.
He was glad to hear that. "7pm at my house tomorrow?"
Jihyo was taken aback by his question. She stared at him wide-eyed, with her mouth slightly parted but she wasn't able to come up with the right words to reply him.
"For the tutoring," he added. Watching her getting all flustered, he let out an amused huff but swiftly apologized for doing so after that.
She silently nodded and suddenly felt more embarrassed than she had ever been.
"Are you dazing out again? We should get going now before they start to complain." He flashed her a smile, before heading towards the door.
When Gary was finally out of the room, she let out the air that she had been holding in a big huff. She closed her eyes and patted her cheeks lightly for a few times. Then, she heard a voice in her head saying, "Yah! Song Ji Hyo! What are you even thinking about? Pull yourself together!"
She opened her eyes and straightened her back. "Yes! Pull yourself together, Song Ji Hyo!" She mumbled to herself, before walking out of the classroom to join the rest.
***
Author's Note
Not implying that I'm gonna stop writing this book, it's just.. Perhaps it's due to the lack of ideas or I've yet to recover from the news of Gary leaving RM, I just don't feel the same way as before when I write a story? Like there's a lack of motivation to continue on.
But still, I promised that I'll complete this book so please bear with me while i try to join the ideas that are currently all clogged in my head, together. May take a few days(roughly ~3 days) to update a new chapter.
