The Genius

Chapter Five

"Hey, have you seen a little bottle of paint anywhere?" Caleb asked, turning the knob of my bedroom door.

I looked up from the book I was reading to find him standing awkwardly at the door. He looked around my room and then at me.

"Well?" he asked again, slipping into my room without permission. I sighed, shaking my head before dropping my book beside me on my bed. "No, I haven't seen anything. Ask Candice."

"I have," he sighed, biting his bottom lip in distress. I watched him walk over to my bed before taking a seat at the edge. The mattress sunk with his weight, making me look towards him. What in the world did he think he was doing? We barely went into each other's rooms, why was he acting as if sitting on my bed was the most normal thing in the world?

"Mum always nags to me about how tidy you are," Caleb muttered as a ghost of a smile played on his lips. I watched my twin's eyes move from one inch of my bedroom to another as I wondered what was amusing him.

"I never knew it was this bad. Jesus Christ Wyatt, you label your drawers!" Caleb said as he burst out into a laugh. I threw him a dirty look, only succeeding in making him laugh harder. I looked away as my face warmed up in embarrassment.

"I just like things being organized, okay?" I said, trying to explain myself. I folded my arms across my chest as Caleb laughed harder at my words. He fell over on his side, landing on the mattress with a throb. He didn't stop laughing; he just proceeded to continue doing it sprawled on my bed.

"This feels weird," Caleb started as his laughter died down, "Just hanging around casually in your room that is."

I didn't reply, but I couldn't but help feel that Caleb had taken the words right out of my mouth. It did feel weird. My attention was soon called upon when I felt the bed rise. I turned to find that Caleb had gotten up.

"See you later," he muttered when he noticed I was looking at him.

"Yeah, sure," I mumbled, watching as he left my room through the door before shutting it behind him.

I hadn't checked the Google hangout chat to see what the others were up to, but we'd had a video call last night and we'd already settled on who was doing what. Aiyana was going to edit and write the paper, Ben was going to get the prompts and arrange for the tech, I was going to source out things like useful links, books, and sites, while Ji-Hun was going to do the main presentation in class. We'd decided to look over the finished project together as a group a day before the class so that we all had a general idea.

Rolling over on my bed, I looked over at the wall clock that was hanging just above my bookshelf. It was almost noon and I hadn't done anything productive this Saturday apart from taking a shower and eating breakfast.

Forcing myself into a sitting position, I tried waking my brain to remind it that I had to go to the library. I was soon on my feet, searching the drawers that Caleb had mocked not too long ago for being labeled with masking tape.

I knew my room was unbearably tidy with the labels and stickers plastered everywhere from left to right. Apart from the clock, the mirror hanging at the corner and my framed certificates, the walls of my room were partially n***d and plain. No posters, no fancy wallpaper, just pale baby blue walls.

I was soon in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of converses. I rushed downstairs with my laptop bag, poking my head into the art room to tell my mom that I was heading out.

The library wasn't too far from where I lived. It was of walking distance and I couldn't count the number of times Ben and Aiyana have begged me to help them either borrow or return books because it was so close by.

A smile formed on the librarian's face when I walked through the door. I smiled back at Mrs. Sanders, giving her a little wave. She was a nice red-haired lady in her late forties.

"Good Afternoon," I greeted, watching her nod in reply before I headed into the main library. The library was huge. It had an upper floor that was strictly for reading, and a basement that was used to store old magazines and newspapers.

I wandered about the library for a while, picking books that were in relation to our topic. We had to discuss the learning and education patterns in another high-class animal. Aiyana had suggested that we base our research on chimpanzees, but Ji-Hun had chirped in, suggesting that we researched on dolphins instead.

After picking out the books I felt I needed, I headed up the stairs to the reading section of the library. My eyes widened in shock when I spotted someone familiar at the far end of the room, humming as they jotted down in a notepad.

People usually didn't visit the library so early in the day, and a lot of people preferred to borrow books rather than read them here.

I tightened the grip I had on the stack of books I was holding when the person looked up. I wasn't sure why I was surprised that it was Ji-Hun. He smiled at me before returning his attention back to the notepad he'd been jotting into. He was soon humming again, filling the void of silence in the room.

I looked about, wondering whether I should pick one of the tables around, or if I should sit with him.

"Hey, aren't you coming over?" I mentally jumped at the sound of Ji-Hun's voice. I blinked, turning to find him looking at me with an expectant stare. He had an earbud in one hand, showing me that he was waiting for my answer.

"Well?" he asked, making me fidget on the spot.

"I'm coming," I muttered, moving to join him on the table. I settled down across from him, my eyes moving to his notebook and wondering what on earth he was doing.

"I'm trying to catch up," he said, answering my unasked question. "You know, I'm a whole semester late."

"Oh," I muttered, watching him jot down. I highly doubted that he had to do any form of intense study. I mean, he got a solid ninety-eight without even being in class in the first place.

"So, what are you doing?" he asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked over at him, watching his dark eyes look at me through his bangs. He was wearing a small smile as he poked his right dimple with the end of his pen.

"I'm getting the sources and references for our project," I answered, lifting the first book from the pile before opening it.

"Ah," he muttered, nodding before plugging his earphones back on. I watched him fumble with his android phone for a while before tucking it back into his pocket. He soon returned to jotting things in his notebook as he hummed.

I flipped through each textbook, checking if they to see if they were of any use. I'd brought my laptop with me, and was soon using it to search up the sites the books stated as places to carry out further research. The room was quiet apart from the hums Ji-Hun was making, and the sound of the footsteps of the two other people that had slipped into the reading corner a while ago.

I pulled my hand away sharply when I felt something cool press against it. I looked up, only to find Ji-Hun struggling to contain his laughter.

"I'm sorry," he managed through chuckles as I stared on at him in horror.

"What did you do?" I asked, biting my bottom lip as I rubbed my hand with the thumb of the non-affected one. My face warmed up, wondering what in the world he had done.

"Calm down," he said, pushing something across the table towards me. My eyes fell to the pair of heads phones without a plug. It reminded me of the one Ava used while she worked on one of her projects. She connected it via Bluetooth so she could listen to music without worrying how far she was wandering away from her computer. You couldn't go too far though because I remember Candice snatching her laptop and running up the stairs just to disrupt the connection and piss Ava off.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to listen to some music," Ji-Hun mumbled before chuckling lightly. "My humming must have been annoying."

"Oh," I said, taking the headphones from him before putting them on. I frowned at the sound that came through almost immediately. "This isn't English."

"So?" Ji-Hun asked, giving me an amused smile.

I fumbled with the right side of the headphones, frowning. I wasn't sure why I was feeling flustered, I wasn't used to people answering me with questions. Ji-Hun's whole attitude made me feel flustered.

"I won't understand the lyrics," I mumbled, realizing my answer sounded slightly ridiculous. I soon heard him laugh at the other end, causing my already flustered self to turn beet red.

"Don't worry, there are some English songs on my playlist too. You know, if you're still bothered about not knowing what the lyrics mean, I can explain them to you later."

I nodded, looking away from him as we continued to mind our businesses. My phone soon vibrated in my pocket, reminding me that I'd set an alarm for two in the afternoon. I sighed, realizing that I had to leave.

"Hey," I mumbled, taking the headphones off my ears before looking over at Ji-Hun. He'd heard me, pulling out an earplug.

"I'm leaving," I said, sliding them across the table. "Thanks," I added, as I watched Ji-Hun reach for them.

"I have to leave too. We can go together," he suddenly said, making me raise a brow at him in surprise. It was then it occurred to me that he probably lived nearby. There was no way he would have stayed so long in the library otherwise.

I nodded, not knowing what to say. I couldn't tell him that I wanted to walk home alone. That would be rude and uncalled for.

When we were done packing up Ji-Hun gave me a toothy grin before muttering, "Race you." I soon found myself jogging after him. I, Wyatt Wilson, who would have probably gotten mad at anyone running in the library — speed walking even, was here engaging someone by running down the stairs while actually enjoying myself.

Ji-Hun stuck out his tongue in victory when he got down the stairs. I rolled my eyes at him when I finally got down. He chuckled, walking up to me. He used his fingers to push the hair that had gotten in my face away, a small smile forming on his lips before he left me for the reception desk. I stared blankly into thin air before my mind processed what just happened. I touched my forehead, mentally scolding myself for reading too much into the simple action before heading for the main desk too.

Ji-Hun was already there talking to Mrs. Sanders animatedly. I dropped the books I'd been holding on the desk, before calling on Mrs. Sanders to tell her I'd like to borrow them. My eyes flickered to Ji-Hun from time to time as I fumbled with the strap of my laptop bag. He didn't seem bothered at all and just continued to talk to Mrs. Sanders as she went ahead with the due process.

We soon left the library together, walking in silence until Ji-Hun started humming. I looked over at him, rolling my eyes when I realized it was obviously not an English song.

"That's my stop," he muttered, gesturing towards the street sigh board up ahead. I hummed, noting that he lived on the street just a road from mine.

We soon parted, and I walked the rest of the distance home by myself.

"Why is your face red?" Candice asked when we'd bumped into each other in the hallway when I got home.

"It is?" I asked, feeling my face with my free hand. A confused smile made its way to my face when my mind wandered to how Ji-Hun had casually brushed my hair.

"You're redder now."

"Shut up," I sighed in frustration, hurrying away before Candice could say anything else. I wasn't sure why I was acting so oddly. It felt weird — extremely weird.