heal

삼

she was silent for the entire walk to his house. occasionally she would notice jaebum stealing some glances at her. he couldn't help it.

they reached his neighborhood and her eyes slightly widened. she knew he was wealthy, but the houses were huge compared to her humble home. he chuckled at her reaction. he knew the houses were quite big and of course, he had to have the largest house of the block.

he opened the door for her and she walked in, immediately examining his house. it had a large corridor and a grand spiral staircase leading upstairs. there was a long hallway from the corridor leading to the kitchen and the living room.

"let's go to the kitchen."

he smiled, taking her hand. he led her to their large kitchen and they sat at the island.

"do you want anything?"

"just water."

he nodded, standing up and moving to the fridge. she took of her backpack, dropping it onto the floor. he handed her a glass of water.

"thanks."

she took it into her hands and took a long sip. she gently placed it on the counter before rummaging through her backpack. she took out her homework and began working.

jaebum admired her. he knew she was a smart and a good student. and so was he, but he had to work hard. she made it seem almost effortless to be smart.

he took a seat next to her and started on his homework as well. he was doing his math homework and he frowned. he didn't understand the lesson at all. he thought long and hard, but he still couldn't solve the problem.

"having trouble?"

he looked up to see her staring at him. he shyly smiled and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"kind of, yeah."

she scooted closer to him to see what problem he was working on and he slightly turned red because of how close she was to him. he also picked up the fact that she smells like strawberries.

she explained to him on how to solve the problem, helping him understand the math concept better than he had all year.

"wow, you should be a teacher."

"thank you."

she had a small smile. she always wanted to be a teacher. a kindergarten teacher. she loved playing with little kids and watching their cute confused faces. she used to volunteer at the local library to read to little kids, but she was forbidden after her parents found out.

they never supported her dream of becoming a teacher, saying she could never make it in life if she became a measly teacher.

"hey, you there?"

his voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"sorry, just zoning out."

he chuckled.

"well, I was just saying you're a better teacher than mr. park."

"i wouldn't say i'm that good."

"i think you are."

she smiled to herself, looking down. he stared at her. it was on very rare occasions where he saw her smile. and every time he did, he felt blessed. she had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. her smile could light up the whole world in his opinion.

he was gonna say something when he heard the front door open. he froze when he heard his mother's voice.

"jaebum-ah, are you home?"

"uh, ne."

he heard his mother's footsteps coming and he glanced the girl besides him. she looked at him with slight worry. he whispered to her not to worry.

"there you are, jae--who is this?"

"uh, umma, don't freak out, she's-"

"did you finally have the courage to bring a girl home? he never brings anyone here."

his mother told the girl, chuckling a little. she nervously smiled in reply.

"and my my, you're so beautiful. what's your name, sweetie?"

she glanced at jaebum before turning back to his mother.

"k-kim dahyun."

"a beautiful name to match a beautiful face. welcome to our home."

she smiled at the shy girl. she was proud of her son; he had told her all about this girl that he had shown interest in and he finally had brought her to her.

"if you need anything, just let me know."

she patted her son's back.

"treat her right, jaebum-ah."

and with that, his mother exited the room. he glanced at the girl still sitting at the countertop.

"your mother seems...nice."