The Genius

Chapter Eleven

My eyes moved warily from Ji-Hun to the tripods in front of us. We were paired for physics class, and at the moment I was watching him tie the string containing the pendulum ball to the edge of both stands.

"How long is the distance between the tripods supposed to be?"

"Thirty-five centimeters," I answered, looking down at the piece of paper we'd used to jot down our reading. We were halfway through the experiment and we would probably way ahead of the rest of the class. I watched Ji-Hun adjust the length as he did a quick measurement with the meter rule before dropping it on the table's surface and taking a hold of the suspended pendulum ball.

"Okay then," he started, making me pick up the stopwatch. He counted down, releasing the pendulum ball at three as I started the timer. I watched him count each back and forth motion, stopping the timer when he said twenty.

"23.43 seconds," I muttered, watching Ji-Hun nod in approval before he scribbled down on his sheet.

We finished ahead of the class as I assumed, drawing up our graphs before sitting idling and talking about nothing in particular.

"Hurry up. Ji-Hun and Wyatt are already done," our physics teacher, Mr. Philip said as he clapped his hands together as he strolled about the lab. Some partners threw us curious looks after his statement, before turning their focus back to their experiments.

"Let me see your graphs," I heard Mr. Philip say, turning to find him walking up to our table. He hummed when he got to us, pointing at Ji-Hun's graph sheet.

"Change your scale, it's too far apart," he said, pointing at the numbers on Ji-Hun's work. He looked up, before turning his attention to mine. "Take a look at Wyatt's," he said, standing up straight before walking away to another table. I watched Ji-Hun's gaze move to my paper, examining it for a bit before he reached out to grab it.

"You didn't even ask—"

"Oh shut up," Ji-Hun chuckled, cutting me off halfway. I cast a glare his way but he just laughed, making the side of my lips curve upwards in a smile. Why couldn't I stay mad at him?

I watched him look through my graph, creating a similar scale on his own graph sheet with a pencil before returning it to me.

The class ended soon after, and we then headed to the study room to meet up with Aiyana. Ben was probably there already since he went straight to the study room without changing his books at his locker. We still had our critical thinking project to work on, and Aiyana had been insistent on working on it today.

We spotted them at the far end of the study room when we walked in. As we approached them I noticed that Aiyana was working on a word document on her laptop while Ben was trying to create a slide.

We headed to the table, taking the empty seats. Ji-Hun sat close to Ben, watching him make the slide, while I helped Aiyana prepare the report since I was the one that sourced out the references she was using.

Thirty minutes in and we started to get bored. Aiyana abandoned the word document to mess with her phone underneath the table, while Ji-Hun and Ben were focused on the laptop in front of them, and I was sure they'd abandoned the slide a long time ago.

Unlike the librarian, the lady that handled the study room wasn't strict. She usually spent her time watching videos online or playing a puzzle game on her phone. She didn't pay attention to any of us, and I doubt she knew any of our names even though she'd been an employee here for over a year.

"What are you guys doing?" I finally asked, drumming my fingers on the table to catch both Ben and Ji-Hun's attention. Ben looked up at me before turning his laptop a bit so I could see the screen. I rolled my eyes at the sight of the fantasy character displayed on the screen. They were playing that virtual world game again, weren't they?

"Don't do that, it's actually fun," Ji-Hun said, making me let out an unconvinced hum.

"Don't pay him any attention. He barely has social media, what makes you think he'll play a social game?" Ben asked. I sent a glare his way. I guess I looked funny since we all burst into hushed laughter. Aiyana raised her head from the table to look at us, clearly confused as to why we were laughing.

"What's happening?" she asked, placing her phone on the table's wooden surface.

"Don't worry, you won't understand," Ben said, waving her off.

"No, I want to talk to you guys," Aiyana insisted, folding her hands over her small chest. She looked from one person to the other before her gaze landed on me. "Let's talk about something else then."

Ben shrugged at her suggestion, turning his laptop back to himself. "Sure, if you have anything to talk about."

I watched as Aiyana's face lit up like a light bulb, her lips widening until she was grinning fully. "Well, Wyatt has a crush—"

"Shut up!" I cut in, pushing Aiyana's shoulder roughly. She whined, rubbing her nonexistent bruise before throwing a glare my way.

"I was just joking, sheesh," she mumbled with a frown. I gave her a look over before returning my gaze to the book I'd opened a while ago in an attempt to read.

"I was actually scared," Ben laughed, making me look towards him.

"Shut up," I spat as Ben tried to hold his laughter in with his left hand. I looked over to Ji-Hun, my face flushing as I found him staring straight at me. He didn't seem as amused as the rest. His lips curled into a small smile when he realized I was looking at him before he returned his attention back to the screen of Ben's computer.

I felt my stomach sink a little. I just hoped he wasn't assuming anything — not like there was anything to assume that is.

The rest of the study period went by quickly, and we left immediately the siren went off. The rest of the school hours went by just as fast, and the four of us decided to walk home together when we met each other in the hallway after the last bell.

I walked in front with Aiyana, while Ji-Hun and Ben lagged behind us as they discussed the game they were playing earlier today. Ji-Hun didn't sound as enthusiastic as Ben, his voice was low, and he was more or less just listening to Ben talk. I found myself wondering if it had anything to do with what Aiyana said, but I shook my head, deciding it was a ridiculous assumption.

Ben and Aiyana soon stopped at their respective junctions, leaving Ji-Hun and me to continue on our own.

We walked silently side by side for a while before Ji-Hun spoke up.

"Was what Aiyana saying true...? I mean, do you like someone?" he asked, making me turn to look at him. He had his head hanging low, watching his feet trek on the pavement. I looked away from him, concentrating my gaze on the path up ahead of us. The street was silent, and the sun painted the whole scenery in a tones orange color as the sun made preparations to set.

"No," I found myself mumbling. It came out quiet — dragged, like I wasn't sure of what I was saying.

"Oh," I heard Ji-Hun mutter, I turned to find him looking up at me, not failing to see the small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Yeah, Aiyana just likes to terrorize me." I shrugged, making Ji-Hun fall into a fit of chuckles.

I tried to keep my mind from wondering why he sounded so relieved. Did he think it was him? The thought alone was embarrassing.

"Hey," he muttered, bringing me out of my thoughts. I turned to look at him, watching him give me a small smile. "Are you free after school tomorrow? I was wondering if we could go to the arcade together."

I looked down at the floor, not knowing what to say.

"I've not been there before," he added hurriedly after my elongated period of silence. "I was just wondering if you'd go with me — you know, since you've been living here for a while and you've probably been there before..."

"Okay, I'm free," I muttered, uncomfortable with how uneasy Ji-Hun sounded.

"Err... after school then. I'm really sorry if it's a bother," Ji-Hun stuttered under his voice as he ran a hand through his dark hair. His voice was a lot more tense than usual.

"It's not a bother," I said in assurance, looking towards him to find his face fixed in a tensed expression. He nodded, looking at anything but me as his fingers tightened and loosened their hold on the straps on his backpack.

That's weird. I thought, looking away from him. I looked up ahead, noticing that we were soon nearing his stop.

He was about to turn at his stop when I took a hold of his hand to stop him. He paused, turning to look down at our hands with a surprised expression. I felt my face warm up as I muttered an inaudible apology before letting go of his hand.

"I just wanted to say that hanging out with you won't be a bother. I'm just - I was just shocked when you asked, that's all. That's why I didn't answer you immediately," I explained, looking straight at him. I watched his uneasiness from before disperse a little. He was still avoiding looking at me full on, but he'd stopped fidgeting.

I'd never seen Ji-Hun act this way. It was odd.

"Oh," he muttered before looking straight at me, finally. "I don't just want to bother you—"

"You're not bothering me," I said, cutting in.

I watched him nod, adjusting his hold on his bag. "Well, see you later then."

"See you too," I said in response, watching him walk away. He paused awkwardly, turning to wave my way. I returned the wave, watching as he walked away until he disappeared out of sight.

I smiled, before continuing on my way home.