Joshua and Vernon walked into their math class and sat at their desks. Vernon slumped down into his chair and began to tap his fingers on his desk. Joshua sat up straight and made sure the items on his desk were straight and organized.
"Pst," Vernon tried to get Joshua's attention.
Joshua looked over at his friend to see him nod his head in the direction of the door. Joshua redirected his eyes as Kyungmi entered the room. He could feel his heart skip a beat just at the sight of her.
"It's your girlfriend," Vernon whispered, teasingly. He followed it with a snicker.
Joshua felt his face heat up and glared at Vernon. "Shut up," he muttered.
Joshua peeked back in Kyungmi's direction as she sat down. She brushed her perfect curls over shoulder and turned to talk to her friends. The way she laughed and showed a beautiful smile made Joshua melt on the inside. Everything about her was amazing in his eyes.
"You're drooling," Vernon joked with a laugh.
Joshua shook his head to get himself out of the trance. He tried to focus on the teacher as they stood at the front of the class to begin the lesson; however, he noticed his eyes drifting over in to Kyungmi. She lightly tapped the end of her pencil against her notebook as she followed along with the teacher. Her other hand was propped under her chin to hold up her head.
"Kyungmi," the teacher, Mrs. Kang, called on her, "what will I get for the answer?"
Kyungmi straightened herself, dropping her hand from under her chin to review the problem over again in her notebook. She pursed her lips in thought, but eventually shook her head. "I'm not sure."
"Give it a try," Mrs Kang prompted her on.
Kyungmi wrote a couple of things in her notebook before bringing her head back up. "Is it supposed to be negative?"
Mrs. Kang pressed her lips together. "I'm afraid not."
Kyungmi sighed in disappointment and her back fell against the back of the chair.
"Joshua," the teacher turned her attention to him, "can you answer this?"
"127," Joshua answered effortlessly.
"Very good." Mrs. Kang nodded happily.
Joshua gave her a tight smile and slowly nodded back. He readjusted his glasses and glanced at Kyungmi. His eyes briefly locked with hers. She looked disappointed, but when she saw Joshua look at her, a small smile appeared on her face before she turned away.
Joshua's heart fluttered from the smile she gave him. Even if it was only there for a moment, the image replayed in his mind.
When there were ten minutes left in the class, the teacher assigned the homework and returned to her desk so everyone could work on it for a little bit.
"Kyungmi, may I speak to you for a second?" Mrs. Kang requested.
Kyungmi slowly stood up from her desk and walked to the teacher's. Joshua looked in their direction from the corner of his eye, curious about what Mrs. Kang had to talk to her about.
"Joshua," Mrs. Kang called next. "Can you join us?"
Joshua turned his head in their direction, staring blankly for a second. He nodded and stood up from his desk, nearly tripping on the leg of the chair.
"I've noticed that you have incredible grades in this math class, Joshua," Mrs. Kang began, looking at the class scores on her computer. "Ms. Yoo and I have been talking about setting her up with a tutor. I thought you would be a brilliant choice, seen as your scores are through the roof."
"You w-want me to be a tutor?" Joshua pushed up his glasses.
"If you don't mind, I could really use the help," Kyungmi added in a sweet voice. "My mom would freak if she saw my scores in this class."
Joshua let out a breathy laugh and felt his face grow warmer. "Of course, I would be more than happy to." He then mentally kicked himself for showing too much of his excitement. Vernon seemed to pop in his mind, reminding him to 'play it cool'.
"Thank you so much." Kyungmi flashed him a perfect smile. "Can you meet me in the library after school?"
"Sure, I can do that." Joshua gave her a casual shrug. Play it cool.
"You're a blessing, Joshua Hong." Kyungmi put a gentle hand on his shoulder as she walked passed him. "See you after school."
