The sanitary smell accompanied with a faint smell of lavender filled the air. This place again, hospital. Looking at my mom from afar, she seems busy listening to the doctor's chatter and judging from her eyes, I'm pretty sure my health is getting better. After adjusting the position of my seat, I decide to stand up and drag myself to her direction. As her soft gaze lands on me, her brows raised, probably questioning why I can't sit still.
"Can I get inside the car first?"
"No, Hyeju, we've finished talking." She nods to the doctor once. "Thank you so much, doc."
I look at him too and bow a bit in respect, earning a smile from him.
All the way home, my mind is completely empty. I want to think about something but nothing passes through it and the fact that my phone died doesn't help at all. I glance at my mom whose eyes focusing on the road. "What did the doctor say, mom?"
"Hm? You're getting better each day."
"Great. Thank god."
"You know your final year exams are next week, right?" She looks at me from the corner of her eye.
"Ah...thanks for reminding me, mom," I reply sarcastically. It's really stressing me out whenever I hear the word 'exam'.
Once the car stops in front of the house, I grab several grocery bags while my other hand pulls the door handle before pushing it open.
"Give me one of those, Hyeju," my mom says.
"No, it's okay. These aren't heavy at all anyway." I smile, slipping out of the car. It's just that I've burdened her too much and as a grown up woman, I need to stop. Heck, I honestly think I've burdened everyone I know.
After getting inside, I place the grocery bags on the table and tie my hair into a low ponytail, heading upstairs just to continue my study again. However, I stop in my tracks as there's a knocking sound on the door. I whirl around and my mom is already there, standing by the door and about to open it. Shrugging, I decide to continue going upstairs.
"Good afternoon."
That voice.
For the second time, I stop in my tracks again and immediately turn to that voice's direction.
Why is he here?
I've been trying to forget what happened last night and now he decided to appear right in front of my house, facing my mom? Park Sungjin, you're unbelievable.
"Afternoon. May I know who are you?"
"He's my teacher!" Those words slip out of my mouth just like that, causing both of them to turn their attention to me. Who wouldn't panic? "I mean, he used to be my teacher and I always had extra classes with him," I divulge, slowly making my way to them when my eyes travel down to see what he's holding; my power bank. I left my stuff, again...? Right, It probably fell out when I was rummaging my purse. I seriously can't with my dumb self.
"Used to be your teacher?"
I nod. I was wondering why couldn't he just text me but then it hit me, my phone died already.
"She's correct. I come here to give back the powerbank she left," he says, eyes glimmering a bit.
"You should teach her again! Her final year exams are next week." That's what my mom said and I absolutely have no idea what to feel about that.
"No, I'm currently—"
"I think it's because of you, Hyeju's grades are getting better now," she cuts.
"Mom!" Why did she say that? Sungjin is busy with his studio that's under construction and I don't want to bother him at all. I stand behind her, giving him an apologetic look.
"Be her private teacher."
That sentence makes me wish to blend into the walls.
"Okay."
Huh? He's not helping at all. He didn't have to agree. "No, he can't." I look at him and shake my head, giving him a signal.
"Hyeju, he just said okay. So, you can teach her whenever you're free. Hyeju doesn't have that much activity and mostly at home, except school of course."
Thank you for making me feel like I have nothing to do, mom.
"Oh! Sorry, I forgot to ask but what's your name?"
"I'm Park Sungjin." A polite smile plasters on his face.
"Sungjin? Alright! Come inside, please."
"No, it's fine. I just want to give this back to Hyeju." He shows my power bank and my mom takes it before handing it to me.
"Alright...then, just come here whenever you want."
"Mom, he only teaches math."
"Sure, I will." He nods and bows. After that, he bids goodbye but I can't seem to look into his eyes, I keep avoiding it. No, I don't blame him and it's not his fault, it's just because of what happened last night. I'm screwed.
...
The next day, my mom let me go to spoil myself so that I don't stress out too much, she said. I'm thankful for that. It's like a reward for my hard work, sort of. Besides, I've always preferred to go alone.
"Here's your card, ma'am." The lady on the cashier smiles. "Thank you."
I take it from her and smile back, gripping the shopping bag in one hand. "Thank you too."
Honestly, this kinda feels odd since I haven't been to the mall for weeks and it's because of school. I'm not complaining though.
Now that I think about it, this is also a very useful way to distract myself from him, Sungjin. It's hilarious how I suddenly can't face that human just because he freaking smiled at me. I'm sure there must be something wrong—
"Holy!"
I cover my face in a flash slightly and slowly turn to walk the other direction when I see him stepping out of one of the stores. Out of all places, why did he have to come here today? I know I have no right to decide but what kind of sorcery is this?
No, no. Why am I even hiding from him? What did I do wrong? That's right, don't act weird and just act normal. Putting down my hand, I let out a breath to compose myself.
I decide to go to the nearest store because I don't want anyone to think I'm stalking him, or what if he finds out? That'd be even worse. Sighing in relief, I scan around the store before grabbing one of the shoes, pretending like I'm interested in it, which I'm not.
I put back the shoe on its place and about to leave the store when the shopping bag I'm holding suddenly hits the shoes, causing plenty of it to fall on the floor.
The lady's eyes widen but she does not seem angry. I quickly bend down to fix everything. "I'm so sorry!"
"Clumsy."
Just as I'm about to lift up my head to that voice, a hand helps me by placing the shoes on the shelf, arranging it back nicely.
Him, again.
