Know Me

Chapter One

I frowned at the clock on the wall of the stuffy lecture hall, willing the hands to move faster. Sucking in a slow breath, I slid my glasses farther up my nose with my finger and tried to muster up any last remaining shreds of concentration from my extremely low reserves.

I was nearing the end of the last class of a very long day, my least favourite class at that. I had zero interest in the subject and longed to drop it. I would love to drop it. I bit my lip against a tiny smile, shaking my head a little as I quickly dismissed the thought. No point wasting time dreaming of the impossible.

My father would never allow me to drop a class.

Sighing quietly, I pushed my glasses up to rub at my eyes, listening as the professor assigned homework. An essay question. Wonderful. I quickly tapped out a note of the relevant material into my tablet before sliding it into my bag and heading out of the lecture hall.

-

Walking through the bustling hallways, I kept my head lowered slightly, tucking my thumbs into my fists and fiddling with my ring as I tried to make my way out of school unnoticed.
My heart clenched as I heard an unfamiliar deep voice call my name. My feet came to a stop, anxiety threading through me as I stole a bare glance in the direction the voice had come from. A guy who I vaguely recognised ran towards me, smiling widely and calling out my name with a laugh once more.

I picked at the sleeve of my hoodie, my eyes quickly flitting left and right as he got closer.

"Um . . ." I had barely opened my mouth when he blew right passed me, knocking his backpack into my shoulder as he went, his eyes focused on someone behind me.

I looked back to see the guy hugging a girl from the year below mine who had the same name as me, the two of them laughing loudly together.
My cheeks now warm with embarrassment, I readjusted my bag on my now tender shoulder before flipping my hood up over my head and scuttling out of the building as fast as possible.

Once outside, I breathed in the crisp early evening air before pulling out my phone to check the time. As if my day hadn't already been long enough, today I was attending the first tutoring session with a psychology professor. My father had arranged these extra lessons without my knowing, only having informed me this morning that I was booked in for an hour of tutoring four evenings a week from now on and that he naturally expected me to keep up the rest of my studies as usual.
I enjoyed psychology class, finding the workings of the mind utterly fascinating. But right now these tutoring lessons felt like an unwelcome addition to my already heavy workload.

I frowned and huffed out a sigh before heading towards the campus coffee shop, figuring I would need a hefty dose of caffeine to get me through the rest of the evening.
Knowing I would have just enough time to grab a drink before I had to catch the train that would take me to the professors house, I impatiently bounced on the balls of my feet as I waited in line.
Practicing in my head, I was ready to say the same six words I did every other day I came in here.

"Grande iced americano to go, please."

-

After rushing onto the train, I slid into a vacant seat by the window and sipped at my straw, shuddering as the ice cold coffee hit my system. My phones message alert sounded and I fished it out of my jeans pocket.

It was from my father.

>Dad: Reminder that your first psychology lesson starts in ten minutes. Your tutors name is Kim Namjoon. Don't be late.