Rex's Shadow and Jiyu's Quiet Storm
After the joint musical performance between Alton School and Astor School, the boys who had started dating began to appear one by one. Hunter had known this from the start because Rex, his childhood nickname, was quite popular among the girls.
He couldn't figure out why.
Hunter found girls annoying. Talking nonstop made his head throb and irritated him to no end. If they were boys, he could have shoved them away and told them to get lost. But since they were girls, he had no choice but to quietly slip away the moment they tried to cling.
Rex, just like him, didn't remember who he'd talked to after turning away. But since the girls at least gave him a response, they all believed his personality was good.
So that's why Jiyoo Parker ended up in Rex's group.
Come to think of it, Rex hadn't played any mean pranks on Jiyoo. In fact, he had been kinder to her than to the other girls. Even when they were kids, and still now, he treated her with much more familiarity than the other girls.
What the hell. Are those two really dating?
The disgusting question crawled up his throat like a cough, just about to burst out—
Someone suddenly slapped his shoulder a few times.
Hunter turned around with a fierce expression. It was Rex. He had forgotten that Rex was clinging to his back.
[Get lost.]
Hunter shook off Rex's hand on his shoulder and turned his head away coldly.
[It's my turn, you bastard.]
[Get lost.]
Hunter spat out without looking back.
Rex let out a mocking laugh, leaned in close beside Hunter's shoulder, and grinned wide.
[That's right, isn't it, man? If you don't believe me, ask her.]
Confused, Hunter furrowed his brow. For some reason, Jiyoo was staring at him with wide, shaking eyes.
Rex brushed his hand and moved to stand behind another kid. Then he immediately snatched up a partner.
Just before the final song began, Walter signaled another partner change. But Hunter gave a silent head nod toward the boy who had stepped up, silently telling him to go somewhere else. He still couldn't let Jiyoo go because he had something to ask.
But the skinny, rail-thin guy didn't get the hint and was hovering nearby, mumbling.
Hunter pushed out his lower lip and exhaled a short breath. A strand of hair fell over his forehead, then slid back down. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the skinny boy. Only then did the kid flinch and step back.
At that moment, the final song started. Hunter relaxed his shoulders, pulled Jiyoo close, and stepped in again.
What was he going to ask? If I ask straight out if he's dating Rex, would that be weird?
At that instant, the girl he had been dragging silently suddenly called out to him in a small voice.
[Hey, Hunter?]
[What.]
[Maybe... no, it's nothing.]
She shook her head and lowered it as if hiding her face.
Does Jiyoo feel hot too?
Her cheeks looked a little red.
[What's wrong? Why'd you stop mid-sentence?]
[It's nothing. Don't worry about it.]
[If it's nothing, just say it. Don't make me worry.]
Hunter snapped impatiently. Jiyoo bit her lip and seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then, with a face mixing bewilderment and curiosity, she spoke slowly.
[Hey, this is... just, in case, I'm asking...]
[What? Just say it!]
With a complicated expression, she swallowed hard.
[You... don't like me, do you?]
Hunter's foot slipped. His steps tangled up, and he stepped hard on Jiyoo's foot.
[Ah! It hurts, Hunter!]
Startled, he took a step back.
[Me? Like you? Are you crazy?]
He shouted, but his face burned and his heart raced wildly. It felt as if her slender fingers were squeezing his throat, cutting off his breath.
Two years ago, when he had foolishly challenged someone with a UTR score four points higher than his, he had also felt this way after losing the first set 6-0.
Realizing that such shock had come from just Jiyoo Parker made his mood plummet to the bottom.
[Th-that, so, Rex is-]
Jiyoo stammered, her face turning bright red, trying to make an excuse.
Hunter cut her off and ruthlessly shoved every word he spat out over the edge of a cliff.
[I don't like, this damn brat's class, and more than that, Jiyoo Parker. I like you, even less.]
Then, before the waltz even ended, he stepped away from the dance floor and left. Jiyoo's face on the empty dance floor sank into ash gray.
Rex, who had been dancing the waltz nearby, noticed Jiyoo standing alone and walked over, glancing around.
[Where did the troublemaker go?]
Jiyoo stood there blankly. Then, with teary eyes, she glanced at Rex and quietly shook her head.
[I don't even like him. He said he likes you more than the cotillion class. So don't even ask such ridiculous questions from now on.]
He clicked his tongue.
[Sigh, that's not it... that idiot. He only knows how to play tennis and somehow only muscles are in his head instead of a brain. Even if I give him a seat, he can't sit down.]
At that moment, a loud gangster hip-hop beat poured from the speakers.
While Walter and Megan were startled and confused, the kids burst into laughter and cheers. The kids who had been dancing the waltz with bored faces started shaking their hips slowly to the hip-hop music.
Among them, Jiyoo, who had been the coolest, wilted like a dried flower missing all its moisture. She hadn't felt this way while dancing with Hunter. Her heels behind her shoes throbbed unbearably. So tears kept falling.
Her head lowered, surrounded by the Upper East Side private school kids who were singing the lyrics about the rough and poor ghetto life in loud voices. Her eyes, red and bloodshot, blinked quietly.
***
Once a week, after school, in the playroom, Jiyoo took math tutoring with Hunter.
Loren had chosen Jiyoo as Hunter's math pacesetter because she was the boy's math guide. In reality, Rex would have been a better rival for Hunter to grow through competition.
But Loren judged that her son had not yet entered the puberty influence. He wasn't prone to big emotional swings anyway, and since he spent ninety percent of his awake time on tennis, puberty was arriving later for him.
On the other hand, Rex seemed to be in full puberty now. He was openly rebellious against his father, got into fights everywhere, and the rumors said he was causing accidents left and right.
At an age when he was easily influenced by friends, they worried that pairing Hunter with Rex might corrupt him too.
Compared to him, Jiyoo was quiet, obedient, and good at studies. Unlike other girls her age, she didn't focus on grooming her appearance or pretend to be an adult in some silly way. Even if Jiyoo was better at math than Hunter, since they went to different schools, it wouldn't threaten his grades.
Actually, it wasn't bad that Jiyoo was better at studies than Hunter. It could even stimulate Hunter's reluctant son to try harder.
Based on that calculation, the two kids received two hours of tutoring from Dr. Shreya Patel, a PhD in Ivy League math, every Wednesday. She was one of the hottest tutors in the Upper East Side, and the rate was $400 for one hour, $500 for two. Thanks to Loren's consideration, Jiyoo paid only $100.
And as Loren had predicted, at first Jiyoo had been ahead of Hunter. But the gap was gradually shrinking over time.
The playroom had also changed quite dynamically over the past few years.
The monkey bars and jungle gym had been removed, and the empty space was now occupied by large exercise equipment. Instead of toys, there were mats and foam rollers scattered on the floor, and in one corner, a weight tower with dumbbells sorted by weight stood.
The library was still full of books, but Jiyoo's designated beanbag chair was gone, replaced by a large conference table.
[Tell me something.]
As soon as class ended and the tutor left the room, Hunter suddenly spoke up.
[......]
Jiyoo took the scattered notebooks and math problem books on the wide table and neatly stacked them. Then, using them like a shield, she hugged them to her chest and stood up.
The two had been in a cold war for about two months since the first cotillion class. They didn't even talk; even in the same space, they didn't glance at each other as if they were strangers.
Come to think of it, since they had never been close, calling this a cold war was also ridiculous.
Jiyoo thought Hunter was about to ask something he wanted to say. It seemed like the right time, but he was strangely quiet. But she didn't want to listen to his request at all, and she didn't even want to mix in any words.
Since Hunter hated her as much as she hated him, she had no reason to listen to his request.
She lowered her head as if not hearing anything, pushed in her chair, and turned around. Her long hair swayed coldly and settled lightly on her slim back.
[Jiyoo Parker, I have something to say.]
Hunter grabbed her with a voice that was a bit urgent but still high and authoritative.