TNT Oneshots

Breaking Barriers ~ Yan Haoxiang

I sipped on my banana milk as I swayed my legs freely while sitting on my desk. "Aiya, today's lesson was kind of confusing for me!"

"Its was confusing to you because you didn't pay enough attention on the discussion. You were secretly playing Soul Knight." My friend said.

"At least I defeated the boss on the second phase!"

"But now you're troubled because there's pair work tomorrow."

"I'll just pair up with the smartest kid in class then." I grinned mischievously.

"You mean that quiet guy over there?" She asked and nodded her head towards his direction. There he was, still scribbling down notes even though it's already breaktime.

"Yeah."

"So you're literally going to hope he'll do anything on that pair work while you just sit there and do nothing?"

"Come on. He's grade-conscious. Pretty sure he won't let me do it."

. . . . .

"Hey," I called out and handed him a small carton box of strawberry milk. "Can you pair up with me later?"

He looked up at me then looked at the strawberry milk in my hand. He just stared at me. He's not saying anything. Is he deaf?!

I placed down the strawberry milk on his desk. "Your my pair for later." I walked back to my desk and slumped down on my seat.

"What's the matter?"

"Is that guy deaf?"

"No. Why?"

"He literally just stared at me! You know how much I hate it when people ignore me like that."

"Because there's barrier between the two of you! You should break that."

"Why break the barrier when I can just break his nose?" I gritted my teeth and squeezed the empty milk box.

"Calm down. It's your fault anyway for not paying attention."

"But the teacher was boring!"

"Still your fault." She shrugged. "Just be friendly to him. Make him express his emotions."

Emotions, huh. 

"I have a plan." I grinned.

Next class came and it's time for pair work. I rushed to him and sat next to him. He just looked at me and went back to getting his pen. The teacher went to the front and started giving out papers to the front row before saying, "Get one and pass."

I started writing my name on the paper after he did and started scribbling on a scratch paper, acting like I'm solving the problem. "Class, I'll be back. There's an urgent meeting at the Math Department."

As soon as the teacher went out the room, I placed my pen down and decided to take a nap but I feelt a tip of the pen being poked at me. I looked up and said, "What?"

"You do the ones with the encircled numbers."

"But I don't wanna."

"Do it."

"Ugh, fine." I groaned and started to solve it, which means I'm just staring at it.

I tried to proceed to the next problem but I couldn't solve it either. I tried the next one but it just keeps getting harder and harder.

A few minutes have passed and I still haven't started yet so I just guessed some numbers that would best fit the problem.

"Are you done?" Haoxiang asked. I slowly nodded and slid my scratch paper to his desk. "What is this? You're doing it wrong."

"I don't know how to solve it."

"It's almost time and you're just horsing around."

"I told you, I don't know how to solve it!"

He sighed frustratingly and mentally solved the problems given to me. Just as he wrote the last answer, the teacher then came in and said, "Pass your papers forward."

. . . . .

Lunch time came so I placed a chocolate flavored milk on his desk. "Teach me yesterday's lesson."

"I'm busy."

"No you're not."

"I am."

"You're just eating lunch."

"That's why I'm busy."

"You're teaching me later after class in the school library! No buts!" I then stomped my way back to my seat and huffed as I slumped down.

"You seem stressed. Iuess your plan didn't work on the Ice Prince." My friend joked.

"Oh, shut up." I rolled my eyes at her.

I saw Haoxiang stand up with the chocolate milk in his hand. He gracefully put it down on my desk. "Meet me in the library later. I'll be at the non-fiction section." As soon as he finished his sentence, he walked back to his seat with his hands in his front pockets.

"Well at least accept my offering!" I shouted.

"Hey, at least he'll teach you."

"I hate him. He was so mad at me a while ago because I couldn't answer anything on the pair work!"

"He was mad? He's never been mad before."

"Well now he is."

"You just broke the ice. He barely talks and tutors his classmates."

"Well now he's tutoring me."

"Yup, you just broke the ice that Haoxiang has built over the years."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't know? He's been bullied like two years ago and they abused his kindness. That's why he's like that now."

I looked at Haoxiang who was eating lunch all alone. I can break that barrier you've built, Yan Haoxiang. Just wait.