Chapter 18

I've been home for a full hour now since finishing work, but I can't bring myself to get off of my bed. I lay sprawled out, eyes fixated on the ceiling. The amount of studying I had done at school this morning has exhausted my brain. A beep from my phone finally redirects my thoughts. JW: Can we study tonight? As much as I don't want to study right now, I do want to see him—it's been five days since our date. Plus, maybe studying easy material that I already know will refill my empty ego. D: Sure, I'll head over soon JW: No, I'll come over I stare at the text for a minute, worried about any messages hidden underneath. Why doesn't he let me in his house anymore? Maybe I'm just over thinking things. His mom probably just doesn't like me. She never did get my name right anyway. I stretch my limbs and drag my feet into the kitchen. I sit at the table, my head laying on it as I wait for him to come. Sure enough, the little brat doesn't even knock and instead just unlocks the door. "You better not make that a habit," I say with my head still against the cold surface. "Are you okay?" His expression quickly turns into one of worry as he looks at my tired posture. "I'm fine. Just stressed with school." "Oh, then we don't have to do this now—" "No, no. I want to." I force myself to bring my head upright. He walks towards me and places his backpack on the table. He sits down beside me, slightly dragging the chair so it's much closer to mine. He watches me for a moment as if making sure that I'm a fully functioning human being. "Why did you want to study here instead? Your place is so much nicer than this." I can't read the expression on his face. It's blank, covered, protective of whatever lays behind it. "I like it here more." I eye him a bit, but his expression doesn't falter. With a sigh, I brush it off and pat his backpack. He takes out some books and we start working. After a while, the beep of the door causes me to stop talking. "Oh? Jaewook's here?" Is the first thing my brother says as he walks in. "Hey hyung," Jaewook says. Damn it, why does it sound adorable when he says hyung? "I didn't know you were still tutoring," he places his stuff down on the floor and immediately heads to the fridge. His expression is one of disappointment as he looks at our sad fridge. "We started again." My brother closes the fridge and settles for a cup of ramen. He boils water and leans against the counter as he waits. "I see," he looks at us peculiarly for a moment. I clear my throat and look back down at the textbook. When his ramen is ready, he sits down in front of us and begins slurping his dinner—or rather, late night snack. Jaewook's fingers are fidgeting with the sleeve of my sweater. His fingers brush my hand every so often as he plays with the fabric. His other hand soon joins in the fidget play. I stop talking and look at his hands, then at his eyes. He's zoned out on the textbook, mind clearly off in dreamland. "Yah, student, pay attention. You asked me to help you for a reason right?" "Hmm? I'm listening." "What did I just say then?" "You're reading the question and talking about the independent and dependent variables." "Then what's the independent and dependent variable of the problem I just read aloud?" His eyes finally look at mine and his hands stop moving. "Huh?" "You little twerp, this is the easiest part of the question. Pay attention." A goofy smile forms on his lips as I lecture him. It's getting harder and harder to intimidate this boy. He then leans in and whispers in my ear. "Okay teacher, I'll be a good boy from now on," he says cheekily before chuckling. I slap his arm. "Hey! Behave!" He breaks out into full-blown giggles. The slurping noises in the background suddenly seize. "Okay, what did I miss," Zen suddenly says in English. "What do you mean?" I ask. "You two. Look at you, like two lovebirds, it's making it hard for me to enjoy my ramen." I can feel my body grow uncomfortable. "I don't know what you're talking about," I say as I look back down at the work. Jaewook looks at me in question, as if asking me what he's saying just by using his eyes. "Jaewook," my brother says bluntly. The boy's head snaps in his direction frantically, eyes wide in worry. "Are you two dating?" Jaewook stutters over is words cutely. I sigh. "Why do you say that?" I ask. "First of all, look at how close you're sitting together," we both look down to see that there's no space between our chairs anymore, "also, he's been playing with your sleeve like he's itching to touch your hand, and he whispered in your ear. It's so obvious that it's making me sick." "Maybe he just has a huge crush on me," I fire back. Jaewook watches us argue, unsure of how to intercept. "We both knew he had a crush on you like months ago, this is different." "Wait—" Jaewook tries to speak. He gets cut off. "How?" "Your body language. Your body is pointed towards him. Plus you're Destiny, there's no way you'd let a guy sit so close to you and whisper in your ear unless you liked them." I curl my mouth and scowl at him. Why is it so hard to lie to family members? "We're dating," Jaewook says. He smiles in defeat, like he's proud he finally was able to get a word in. I stare at him with wide eyes. "What? It's true," he looks at me, completely clueless. "It's about time," my brother says as he resumes eating. "What?" Jaewook asks this time. "Dude, you asked me for advice at the bar almost two months ago." "But I never said who I liked." My brother snorts in laughter. "It was so obvious. You came to me saying you had a crush on someone out of your league. Have you seen yourself in the mirror? There's no way any girl in high school is out of your league—I would know, I was and still am like you. You know, handsome and all." I grumble in disagreement. "The only way someone could be out of your league is if they were older. Plus you said she was smart and helping you in school. I'm not an idiot." Jaewook pouts in defeat as he finally realizes that he's been obvious to everyone all this time. "Leave him alone," I say defensively. "Woah, look at that! Destiny is being protective! Damn, how did you win her over Jaewook?" "Shut up!" My face grows red in annoyance. "Wait a second...that day when I brought you chicken. I knew it looked like your lips were swollen, plus the closet moved. I knew it!" He stands up and slams his palms on the table as his eyes light up in revelation. "Get out!" I stand up as well and shout at him. I point to the hallway and he laughs. Jaewook sits up straight in his chair, eyes round as he watches us bicker. "I was done anyway," my brother laughs as he throws out the cup and walks away with an evil smile. I stay standing for a moment, fuming from embarrassment. Jaewook stands up and holds onto my arms, moving me to face him. Despite being taller than me, he looks a lot smaller right now. "Relax Noona, it's not a big deal." "He pisses me off," I seethe. "I get it, but he's gone. Don't cause yourself more stress because of him." His eyebrows are turned upwards in concern. This kid worries way too much about me. I sigh, for his sake, and pull him into a hug. Taken aback, he doesn't reciprocate the hug for a moment, but once he does I feel so much better. I know I get angry fairly quickly, especially if my brother is the perpetrator. Jaewook's hold on me makes me feel relaxed, like I'm being grounded, floating back down from the high and mighty place I flew up to. I pull my head back to look up at him. He looks down with a sweet expression. His eyes are the softest, most comforting eyes I swear I've ever looked into. "I think we're done for today," I softly say. He nods. "I wish I could stay here." It's almost a whisper as his eyes look at his hand, which moves some of my hair away from my face. I feel my heart jump into protective mode again. "Why? What's wrong at home?" He winces a slight bit. "It's nothing." He continues to play with the curls of my hair before looking back at me with a plastered smile. He lets me go and packs up his stuff. I watch him, feeling bad about not offering him to stay; but the problem is he won't tell me why he wants to stay, why he seems to be uncomfortable at home. I can't help you if you don't meet me half way. "Text me if you need me okay?" I say a bit frantically before he walks out the door.