Insomniac//KNJ

Chapter Eighteen//Phase One

Taehyung nervously waited in the restaurant for Yoongi and his companion to arrive. He was eager to see what his new tutor was like.

A few days prior, Taehyung had received a text from his older friend, asking if they could talk later that night. He had agreed and when they got the chance to chat, Yoongi had offered Taehyung something he couldn't pass up.

English lessons from a native speaker who could also communicate in fluent Korean.

It was a godsend, especially as Taehyung's grade seemed to be dipping lower and lower in that particular class.

He'd eagerly agreed and set a time to meet that weekend during the afternoon.

As he waited, Taehyung practiced a greeting in English, murmuring it quietly to himself in his corner table, keeping his eyes open for the familiar Yoongi and the strange American girl.

"Nice to meet, Sop-" Taehyung broke off his greeting to no one midsentence. He knew he was getting it wrong. He just shook his head at himself and shrugged. He'd just leave out the English greeting, after all, there was no reason to try and show off, she would soon know how much trouble he had with the language.

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Sophie immediately liked Taehyung.

Yoongi pointed him out as they entered the little cafe, and Sophie observed how young and innocent the young man looked.

His dark hair was a little messy, probably because he kept running his fingers through his hair in nervousness, or frustration, Sophie couldn't tell which. He had soft and gentle eyes, but a frown that gave a hint at the stress that he was in. She didn't doubt it had something to do with the backpack undoubtedly full of university textbooks and work.

When they reached the table he was sat at, he stood and smiled. It was a genuine, relieved smile. Sophie noticed how boxy and boyish it was and she immediately felt a sense of comradery with this young man.

"Hey, Taehyung," Yoongi greeted his friend.

"Hey, Yoongi," Taehyung's smile widened. "And you must be Sophie?" He phrased it in a polite question, and Sophie nodded.

"It's nice to meet you, Taehyung."

The three of them all sat down, and the waitress quickly rushed over and took their orders. The group engaged in small talk until they had their drinks, and then Sophie brought out a pad of paper from her bag.

"So, Taehyung, Yoongi said you'd be interested in some English tutoring?"

"Yes! I'm taking a class for university, but I also need to have better English skills for my drama program as a whole. I want to get good roles in the productions, but I might not get as many if I can't speak clear English."

"Ah, I see. So you are studying theatre at university?" Sophie's face scrunched in slight concentration, as she sat on the edge of her seat, intent on Taehyung's words.

Focusing was one of her strengths.

"Yes, and as I'm quickly becoming an upperclassman, things are getting more competitive and I want to make sure I'm at my best."

"That is understandable, so maybe, let's talk some specifics. How frequent do you want these sessions to be? I am available in the evenings every day except for Fridays, and of course, as you probably already know from Yoongi, things can be a little unpredictable because of our work. I may have to adjust times to meet quite often."

"I don't have classes in the evenings, and my part-time job is between classes, so I think our schedules would work out. I would really like if we could meet once or twice a week, but if that's too taxing for you, we can do it differently!" Taehyung spoke in a rush, and Sophie observed that his deep, slow, honey-like voice had gone up an octave.

"No! Twice a week would be just fine. Maybe we can do Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then we can adjust from there. If you decide you need more or less, or even just an extra session a certain week." Taehyung nodded and smiled and then a silence began to grow at the table, the conversation had progressed to a point that neither Sophie or Taehyung was comfortable with.

"So, for price, what would you want to charge?" Taehyung grew a little sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. Sophie bit the inside of her cheek, she'd always hated discussing money, it had always seemed so taboo to her.

"Well, what do you think," Sophie began, but Yoongi intervened. If it had been anyone else cutting her off, Sophie would've been upset. However, she knew Yoongi knew how much she hated haggling or discussing money at any depth. He'd learned this about her on all of the assignments when there'd been a fee in the photography or interviews. it had of course been the companies money then, but still, Yoongi knew she'd be even timider when it came to pricing her tutoring. He also knew Taehyung would want to cede the decision to Sophie to be polite.

"May I make a suggestion? I asked around with a couple of other tutors and found an average rate," Yoongi spoke genially and smiled slightly, hoping his friends wouldn't take offense at his brashness. Both Taehyung and Sophie nodded and looked relieved, and Yoongi's nervous heartbeat slowed. He gave his suggestion, and both Sophie and Taehyung seemed genuinely pleased with it. By this time, the food had come out and the group to each took a break from the turning tutoring discussion.

They chatted about their interests and soon, the feeling of the group was quite chummy. Yoongi smiled inwardly, pleased that Sophie and Taehyung were getting along so well.

At the end of the meal, Sophie and Taehyung began to iron out a few of the finer details. They decided to meet at the library for the first few sessions, so that they could become more comfortable with one another and so they'd have easy access to any extra materials they'd need. Sophie took a quick look at the textbook and prior assignments that Taehyung had brought so she'd know how to best approach their first few sessions. Soon, they were saying their goodbyes, all of the details worked out and their numbers exchanged.

Taehyung was extremely glad he'd found such a good-natured, native-speaking English tutor.

Sophie was glad that her pupil seemed so kind and eager to learn and that things had gone much more smoothly than she'd anticipated.

Yoongi was glad that the first phase of his plan had worked. He knew this was the easy part though, it was the next part that would be more challenging.

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A/N:

i hope you're all staying healthy and taking care of yourselves! please make sure you're eating well and being responsible. i also hope that this chapter was an enjoyable one!

*Novi*