The Genius

Chapter Three

I got back home feeling stressed, confused and irritated. Ben didn't shut up about Ji-Hun solving the math problem. I had wanted to make him stop but I couldn't. I didn't want to come off as jealous.

I wanted to dislike Ji-Hun but I'd already gotten to know him and I can't find a non-selfish reason not to like him. Heck, I liked him so much that I'd invited him to sit with us. If only I'd known—

My thoughts were soon interrupted as the default ringtone of my phone filled the room. I groaned, rolling to the side of my bed so I could grab it from the bedside table. A frown formed on my face when I saw the unknown number but I answered it anyway.

"Hello?" I muttered into the receiver, sitting up on my bed before rubbing my tired eyes. I'd retreated into my room upstairs immediately I'd gotten home, switching the lights off and drawing the curtains closed before attempting to take a nap.

"Hey."

I frowned briefly at the sound of Ji-Hun's voice. How in the world did he get my number?

"Hey, it's Ji-Hun."

Ji-Hun said, probably trying to confirm that I knew he was the one speaking. I ran a hand through my hair, briefly contemplating whether I should hang up.

"Hey," I muttered, deciding against it. I didn't want him to read me as being stuck up or snobbish.

Ji-Hun chuckled slightly from the other end making a smile form on my lips. I wasn't sure why I was smiling. I was irritated because of him just a few minutes ago. Maybe it was the way he laughed. It had a pleasant ring to it.

"Sorry for calling you up like this. Ben gave me your number and I was wondering if you could scan your notes to my email," he said, making me frown slightly. "Not all, just some," he added quickly, erasing the frown that had formed on my face. I sighed in relief. I'd been wondering if he wanted me to spend the next eight hours in front of a scanner.

"Can you scan your chemistry notes first?" Ji-Hun asked as I got up from my bed.

"Sure," I muttered as I headed towards the light switch in my pale blue boxers. I flipped the switch so that the light bulb came on before heading to my closet to find something to wear.

"Thanks! Are you close to a piece of paper, or should I just text you my email address?"

"Send it in a text," I muttered as I balanced my phone between my chin and shoulder blade while searching my closet. It was a terrible habit seeing as my phone could tumble to its death any second. I just decided to ignore the possible outcomes, or I was just too confident in Ben's ability to fix it if anything happened.

"Okay then, thanks again!" Ji-Hun said before hanging up.

I finally settled on some pajama shorts and a tank top. I took my biology notes from my study table and heading down the stairs right after that. I got down, finding Ava scribbling into her drawing book at the dining table. I gave her an odd look, wondering why she was there and not in the art room. Letting her be, I wandered away to the study room, groaning when I turned the knob to find out the door was locked... Why in the world?

I sighed, running a hand through my hair in frustration before making my way to the art room. My nose twitched at the smell of acrylic paint and fixatives. I spotted my mum at the far end of the art room, her hair in a big bun on top of her head. She was working on a portrait, the apron she had on was already stained with paint. She was a messy painter, meaning everything around her would probably be covered in paint before she was done.

"Close the door," she finally muttered without turning to look at me. I let out a small 'oh' before shutting the door behind behind me and wondering into the room that was familiar yet foreign to me.

I looked about as I approached her, realizing everyone in the family sort of had their own unofficial corner... well, apart from me.

I went to stand beside my mum wondering if I should interrupt her as I watched her paint. My mind went back to the unofficial corners everyone had. My dad's had printing inks, mesh screens etc, while Caleb's and Candice's corners were littered with watercolor, poster and acrylic paints. Ava's corner was the neatest with arranged folders of her fashion portfolios.

I rubbed off the paint that had splattered at the corner of my eye due to my mum messily trying to dry her paintbrush by shaking it like a pompom.

"Sorry dear," she apologized, patting my shoulder briefly before returning her attention to her painting. I looked on as the smiling face of the little girl on the reference picture pinned at the top of the easel came alive on my mother's canvas.

"I suppose you're here for something other than looking around," my mother said, pulling me out of my thoughts. I blinked, rubbing my eyes before nodding numbly in agreement.

"The study room is locked," I complained, watching as she continued to paint again. "I need the key."

"You just got back from school, you want to lock yourself and read in there already?" my mother asked as her tone became firm. I blushed, remembering when she'd come downstairs for a glass of water only to find me creeping around the kitchen as well. She'd been angry at me and had scolded me concerning how it was unhealthy to skip sleeping hours.

"It was just one time..." I stressed. That was partially true. It was the only time she'd caught me.

"I'm not going to give you the key until eight PM, go and do something productive first," my mother said, turning to point the wide end paint brush that was soaked in yellow paint at me. "Go along and chat with your friends, you can do your reading from eight to ten, not before and definitely not after."

"I'm not asking for the study room to study..." I trailed, internally rolling my eyes; her policy was ridiculous, to say the least. I could study as much as I wanted to in my bedroom anyway.

"I need to use the scanner to scan some notes to a classmate," I finally said, making my mum give me a reluctant frown.

"Can't that wait till eight?"

"Mum!" I groaned, earning a defeated sigh from her.

"The key's in the cupboard above the sink. Return it immediately after you're done scanning your notes," she said as I turned to the messy sink beside her. I nodded at her words, heading over to search the small cabinet above the sink for the key.

I found it soon after, voicing a barely audible 'thank you' before leaving the art room. I soon got to the study room, unlocking the door and entering into one of the true spaces that truly belonged to me. Apart from a random novella or magazine here and there, every other thing in the study room belonged to me. Even the family computer was practically mine. My siblings didn't use it that much and my parents preferred to use their laptops instead of the restrictive desktop.

I turned on the lights in the study room before heading over to the desktop to turn it on. I set up the scanner before checking the texts on my phone to see if Ji-Hun had sent me his email address yet. I smiled lightly when I saw it, and after a little internal battle decided to add his number.

Logging into the computer, I signed into my email before setting the scanner up. I started scanning the pages of my notes one by one, occasionally pausing to play the color switch game on my phone.

I sent Ji-Hun the scanned notes in batches. I sighed in relief when I scanned the last few pages before proceeding to send it as an email.

I raised a bow at the little green button that was glowing at the corner of my inbox. Ji-Hun had sent me a message, and I couldn't help clicking it.

Thank you, it means a lot. :-)

6:49 PM.

I smiled. I tapped the side of my right cheek lightly, wondering why I was smiling in the first place.

You're welcome.

6:55 PM.

I eventually sent before closing the discussion tab. Curiosity took the best of me and I somehow found myself looking through his Google plus page. It was weird, to say the least. I'd never used the platform although I owned an account, and the only time I'd heard of Google plus was when Aiyana mentioned it in regards to YouTube.

It was clear that Ji-Hun used his page. It was bustling with activity, unlike mine that was basically a ghost town. I'd found myself chuckling at his about me and going through his posts as well as the ones he'd liked. They ranged from serious posts concerning school work to funny memes.

As I went through his page I contemplated clicking the follow button for a brief minute. It wouldn't hurt, would it? It's not like I used my profile all that much.

I bit my lip before moving my mouse to hover over his profile picture. The picture was of him smiling brightly as he cradled a little puppy in his hands. I clicked on it so I could see it in its full size. After staring and using my mouse to hover over his dimple for an unhealthy amount of time my brain finally started working and I realized how creepy I was being.

I returned to my mail's inbox with a red face, a feeling of disappointment hit me when the button that showed if someone was online or not was now a pale gray for Ji-Hun. I shook my head, wondering why I was so bothered by it.

I headed to my own Google plus page out of curiosity and raised a brow at the plus one next to the follow button.

Someone was following me? I mean there's nothing to follow.

I let my mouse hover over the plus one and found myself smiling when Ji-Hun's profile picture popped up.

So he's the one following me. That's interesting.

I wasn't sure why, but I soon found myself messing around with my Google plus page. I changed the default background and added a profile picture before searching for Aiyana and following her. I gave up on following Ben when I couldn't find his page. I closed all the internet tabs afterward, shutting down the desktop.

Staring at the now blank screen of the computer I wondered what on earth had come over me. I didn't do social media apart and somehow I'd found myself setting up a Google plus page because Ji-Hun found me interesting enough to follow.

Sighing, I got up from the study chair before picking up my notes. I turned the lights off, leaving the study room before shutting the door behind me. I made sure to lock the doors before returning the key to my mum and waiting for it to be eight so I could head back again.

I wasn't so sure why I was feeling excited my mind wandered to Ji-Hun before I pushed the thought to the back of my mind as I got into my room. It wasn't anything special, doing something new tended to get people excited, and my excitement definitely had nothing to do with him.