Blog

Lord Lee Beom Sook returned to the school the next afternoon.  He planned to spend today and tomorrow tutoring the students.  Then he would have to find something else to occupy his time during the two days that Kim Jung Sook would be closing the school to prepare for her friends’ wedding.  In the meantime, he enjoyed basking in the glow of Ni Na’s smile and also endured Ae Ri’s ceaseless chatter.

The teacher had assigned him as the garrulous girl’s private tutor for the time being.  Apparently, Sung Ae Ri was the worst mathematics student in the class.  Kim Jung Sook was hoping that under Lord Lee’s excellent tutelage, the girl would begin to grasp more than just the simplest of sums.  Ae Ri’s first day under his guidance had proven promising.

As he entered the classroom on that third day, Ni Na glanced up to find his eyes on her.  She smiled shyly at him before casting her gaze down towards her parchment again.  The last thing she wanted to endure was wagging tongues.  And no one was more observant than a bunch of schoolgirls when a young man was in their midst.

Still, she recalled the previous evening when she’d enjoyed a flash of his jade eyes every time that they’d traveled her way over the dinner table.  He and his mother had left after consuming the delicious meal which her cook had lavished upon them all.  But Ni Na had entertained them for the better part of two hours.  Or, rather, his mother had entertained them.  The woman was uproariously amusing and a fabulous storyteller.  She had regaled them both with the latest tales of her friends, their servants, and several scrapes in which one or more of them had found themselves embroiled.  Ni Na snickered now as she recalled one particular incident involving a cow.

But then she sighed, for she was not to spend the afternoon with the handsome lord.  That honor fell to her best friend.  Who already seemed bent on throwing the two of them together as often as possible.

“Psst.  Ni Na!” Ae Ri called to her half an hour into her lesson with Lord Lee.  “Can you come here for a moment?  I want to see if you would explain this problem to me any different from him.”

Sighing, Ni Na stood up and crossed the few feet that separated them.  Thankfully, their teacher had given them all an assignment to complete quietly, and Ni Na was already finished with it.  She stood at her friend’s elbow and stared down at her paper.

“Which problem?”

“Here,” Ae Ri slid to the left, making room on the bench for Ni Na to sit down.  Right next to Lee Beom Sook.

Ni Na’s gaze sharpened on her friend.  “I’ll just look the problem over.”

“No, no,” gasped Ae Ri.  “You’re already done with the assignment, are you not?  Can’t you join us?  I think that I would learn so much better with two tutors.  Don’t you?  Two heads are better than one, and all that.”

Beom Sook bit back a chuckle as he watched the obvious antics of Ni Na’s best friend.  Apparently, the girl had already determined that he was her friend’s knight in shining armor.  And she was bent on drawing them together. 

In league with the cunning girl, he scooted down fractionally and patted the seat next to him.  “It’s quite all right.  I would love to have your input, Miss Choi.”

She cleared her throat and picked up her foot to slide it over the bench.  As the ball of her foot hit the floor, she sat down and pulled her other leg over.  Then she turned away from the man seated next to her.  A man of whom she was already all too conscious.  She could feel heat rolling off his hip where it grazed hers.  Was that normal?  Was the man a raging fire or something?

She could feel that blaze burning her cheeks now.  And silently rebuked them for their sensitivity to his presence.  Then she gazed down at Ae Ri’s parchment as she queried, “Which problem was it?”

Ae Ri grinned up at her as she bent towards the paper.  “Right here.  He explained the whole thing to me.  I just don’t get it.”

Patiently, Ni Na repeated his steps for her friend’s perusal. 

“Ah,” the slightly younger girl smiled finally, “I think I understand now.”

Ni Na leaned forward and began to stand up, but Ae Ri glanced sharply up at her as her hand snaked out and her fingers wrapped themselves strongly around her friend’s wrist as her voice hissed, “Where are you going?”

Ni Na stopped moving, slightly hunched over now.  Her eyes slid towards her friend.  “I’m going back to my seat.”

“No!” ejaculated Ae Ri a little too loudly.  She glanced up at the teacher and begged her pardon before turning her attention back on her friend.  “Please.  Stay.  I would like your help on the next problem.”

Overcome, Ni Na planted her bottom firmly on the bench once more.  Still overly conscious of the young man sitting next to her.  Why did she long to be alone with him?  It was scandalous!  And would such an opportunity ever arise?  Why did the unlikelihood of that ever occurring depress her spirits so?

“If you want us both to help you – and I must say, Ae Ri, you are quite greedy!  There are plenty of girls here who could use the lord’s help.  But if I’m to help you too, wouldn’t it make more sense for you to sit between us?”

Ae Ri’s eyes widened alarmingly.  “No.”  She shook her head fiercely.  “If I were stuck between you, I would,” she searched for an excuse, “feel terribly bullied.  His expectations on my right, and yours on my left.”  She shuddered.  “You’re both quite intimidating, you know.  Two brilliant minds!  It wasn’t enough that my best friend is centuries ahead of me in understanding the enigmatic ways of mathematics, but now I have to contend with him too!”  She pointed at the lord. 

“I mean,” she clarified as Ni Na gasped at her rudeness, “I get to enjoy his wonderful presence.  You truly are an excellent tutor, my lord.”  She bowed her head at him.

“Then why is his help not enough for you?” Ni Na challenged her instantly.

Her friend crumpled her brow in quizzical contemplation.  “I…do not…know,” Ae Ri replied, clearly stupefied herself.  “But…it is not.  I need you both.”  She glanced from one to the other.  “You make a wonderful team, you know.”

Ni Na happened to take a peek at Lord Lee then.  She found the corners of his lips trembling, and her heart sank.  She knew that he fully understood what her friend was attempting to do. 

She cleared her throat again and stood up.  “Ae Ri, I need to finish my own assignments.  Get as much help as you can from Lord Lee right now.  If you’re still struggling, then I will help you tonight.  At my house.  Remember, you’re coming for dinner.”

Instantly, Lord Lee Beom Sook was jealous.  “Is she?  Lucky girl,” he murmured with a sidelong glance at her.

Ni Na felt her cheeks blossoming again and groaned internally.  Why couldn’t she hide her feelings around this man?  It was most concerning. 

She stepped over the bench and went back to her usual table.  But if her eyes kept drifting towards a certain young man over the next two hours, none present could have blamed her.

––

Ni Na enjoyed every moment in the young lord’s presence.  Whether it had been spent at her house, privately in his company at the school, or simply from a distance as she observed him tutoring her friend.  But for Beom Sook, the most delightful part of both days was when he walked the girls home at the end of classes.  On his third day in their classroom, he bowed gallantly to them both a few minutes after Kim Jung Sook dismissed her students.  He had waited until the classroom had emptied out before approaching them.

“May I walk you ladies home?” he queried kindly.

Ni Na’s face flushed again as her eyes met his in surprise.  “Umm…”

But where she was reticent, her friend was not about to miss an opportunity to throw Ni Na together with the noble lord.  “Absolutely!  And you should stay for dinner too!  Her cook is just fabulous!”

“Oh, I know,” he began to remark.

“Because I let him taste a bite of my lunch a few days ago,” Ni Na quickly interposed as her eyes frantically found his and begged him not to give away the details of last night’s dinner with his mother.

He coughed, smiled mischievously at Ni Na, and asserted, “I would love to taste some freshly prepared food by that marvelous cook.”

“Yes, you would!” Ae Ri agreed.  “And you should.”

“Ae Ri,” hissed Ni Na.  She was about out of patience.  Was her friend bent on embarrassing her? 

Ni Na was not in the habit of throwing herself at men.  Though her friend did have a little experience in that department.   Just then, their teacher called Ae Ri to her side for a moment.

As she watched her friend walk across the room, the flustered girl turned towards the gentleman now standing in front of her.  “Please do not feel like you have to stay for dinner, my lord.”

“Oh, but I have nothing better to do,” he leaned towards her and whispered, “and you do intrigue me.”

Her eyes flew wide as she stared up at him in consternation.

She intrigued him?  After a mere three days in his company?

She was at a loss.  She possessed no words that would do justice to this encounter. 

And she was losing herself in the depths of those glorious jade eyes again.  How could a man’s eyes be so beautiful?  They were each crowned by a glowing golden ring too.  Making him all the more attractive.

She sighed deeply.  Then she seemed to come to herself as he spoke again.

“And I would delight in eating another meal at your table.”

Perhaps he was only coming for the food.  They did say that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach.  Lord Lee Beom Sook was probably no different from other men in that respect.

“You are welcome at my table, my lord,” she bowed her head to him graciously.  “Anytime.”

His eyebrows flew sky-high.  “Do you mean that?” he murmured in surprise.

She held his gaze for several silent seconds.  But then Ae Ri interrupted them before she could respond. 

“Are you two ready to go?  Oh, Ni Na!  Do you think dinner will be ready when we arrive?  I am simply famished!”  She pouted.  “Our cook packed me the barest of lunches today.”

“Is that why you ate half of mine?” Ni Na queried dryly. 

“No.  I ate half of yours because it was delicious,” her friend replied frankly.

And Lee Beom Sook burst out laughing.  Then he escorted the ladies outside after bowing to their teacher.

They walked home in an amiable atmosphere.  Ae Ri chattered enough to keep any awkwardness at bay.  She entertained them both throughout dinner too.  But Lee Beom Sook found himself at his leisure to drink in the beauty of Ni Na’s countenance.  He glanced into her eyes several times too.  He found himself quite happy in her presence.  He could even cheerfully endure Ae Ri’s incessant prattle. 

After a while, he realized too that it relieved much of Ni Na’s anxiety.  She wasn’t forced to find a safe topic for them all to discuss.  Instead, Ae Ri regaled the bachelor with stories of her twerpy twin sisters.  He found himself relaxing too. 

He thoroughly enjoyed that dinner.  As well as their walk home.  Reluctantly, he left Ni Na’s house after their meal.  And found himself wondering what a life with her might be like.  If he didn’t have to leave her after dinner.  But were instead free to pull her into his arms and delight in her simple conversation.  Without Ae Ri in attendance.

Such thoughts deserved further contemplation.

So he might have indulged in another vision of such a marvelous future.  After bidding them farewell.

Unfortunately, he had already made plans for the following night.  And the next time they met, Ni Na seemed to be a little better armored against her friend’s attempts to throw them together.  Even before he began tutoring Ae Ri on the fourth day, Ni Na informed her that she would have to make do with his help alone.  The older girl had several projects to finish before the end of the day.  Everyone knew that they were going to enjoy a two-day break from school, so she was attempting to finish all her current assignments before that little vacation began.

Still, he did get to spend a few delightful moments with Ni Na that day, for the noble lord joined them for their walk home again.  But this time, he left them at Ae Ri’s house.  And was disappointed to leave their company.  Especially the presence of a certain quiet girl with a shy smile.