The Prodigy Series

We eventually ended up in the small restaurant on the way to our homes. I watched Ji-Hun order for the both of us, shaking my head at his childish excitement before raising my phone to text Candice, telling her that she should inform mum that I'd be coming home a little later than expected.

"Wow. I bring you out on a date and you ignore me?" Ji-Hun tsked as he laughed, making me lift my eyes from my phone to look up at him.

"I was just texting to say that I won't be home early," I chuckled, making Ji-Hun shrug before he reached out to take my free hand in his. He then proceeded to try and talk to me about the game he and Ben were always playing. I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying, but rather, I stared at our joint hands as he talked. I had to insist time and time again that I was listening to him- even if I wasn't.

The lady that had taken our order came over with two cups of smoothies and a plate of ch.i.p.s Ji-Hun had said we'd share.

He let go of my had to attend to his smoothie, much to my disappointment, but I decided to get over it and drink from the awkwardly shaped straw in my orange smoothie cup. I've never understood why the straws were always complex for no reason what so ever apart from aesthetic p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

I frowned when I found out that Ji-Hun had already devoured half the plate of ch.i.p.s when I looked up to take a piece. He gave me an apologetic smile as he continued to pick from the plate. I sighed, laughing lightly before reaching out to take some as well.

We started talking again when the ch.i.p.s were finished. I let myself smile as I listened to him talk about his sister. He seemed to adore and look up to her telling from the way he spoke about her. She attended the same school as we did, but since she was a senior we didn't see her around often.

"It's as if he planned for it to look that way."

I shook my head as I suddenly remembered Aiyana's words concerning Ji-Hun's grades. It had been bothering me since we started practicing after school when he was intentionally letting me win, and it still bothered me now. I'd tried to put it aside and just spend time with Ji-Hun but Aiyana's words kept playing in my mind like a tape on rewind.

"Ji-Hun," I started, cutting him off. I watched him stop talking abruptly, before he looked up at me with curious eyes, his smile still playing on his face.

"What?" he asked as his smile faded, maybe he noticed the stressed look on my face.

I sighed, using both my hands to play with the empty smoothie cup in front of me before I looked over at him.

How am I supposed to ask him?

"Is something wrong?" Ji-Hun asked as his brows moved inwards in a frown. I shook my head, frowning lightly as I thought about it before shaking it again with a loud groan.

"No-yes. I mean-yes, something's wrong," I finally got out as I traced the side of the smoothie cup with my index finger.

I looked up at his worried face, sighing before I decided to go ahead and ask him. "Ji-Hun, have you been letting me win?" I asked, watching as he looked away with a guilty look on his face. He muttered something inaudible that I couldn't catch, but it was probably something in line with a confession or an excuse.

"Why were you doing that?" I asked, hurt clear in my tone. I thought I could be civil about it, but my emotions were starting to give way. If Ji-Hun was taking it easy on me, it indirectly meant that he thought I couldn't do better than him - he was pitying me, and not in a good way.

"So you don't think I could beat you on my own?" I asked, watching as his eyes flew open in bewilderment as he looked up at me.

"No, that's definitely not the case!" he said, reaching out to take my free hand. I tried to wrestle it from his grip, but he only tightened his hold, making me look down at the plastic table's surface with a stubborn glare. I heard him sigh as he squeezed my hand.

"Come on Wyatt, look at me," he pleaded. I ignored him, tracing stains that had probably been on the table for ages with the index finger of my free hand instead.

"I didn't want you to get upset—"

"Well, I'm upset now," I said in a spiteful tone, making Ji-Hun pause mid-sentence. I looked up to find him with a lost look. He ran his free hand through his hair as he muttered an apology.

"I'm sorry," he said more clearly this time as he looked up at me with his dark eyes. I still had a frown on my face, but Ji-Hun's look of guilt as he took his hand away to fidget with his fingers succeeded in compromising my mood.

"I'm not a baby. I can handle not winning," I said, moving my hand to reach and take Ji-Hun's. He looked down at our joined hands for a while, before giving me hand a squeeze. He smiled a little, turning his gaze back to the desk.

"You said it yourself, remember? I shouldn't compare myself to anyone other than myself," I said as a slight smile played on my lips.

"I'm upset about what you did during practice today, and I'm more upset that you went about compromising your test scores."

Ji-Hun didn't look up at me as his eyes darted from one corner of the table to the order in obvious uneasiness.

So, Aiyana was right about his grades.

"I can't believe that you went as far as compromising your grades. I know you were trying to come from a good place, but that just made things worse if everything," I said as I tightened my hold on his hand. "Please don't do something like that ever again."

He nodded as the conversation faded into silence. The waiter came soon after with the bill and when I made to pay Ji-Hun spoke up before me and paid instead. We left the restaurant soon after, walking side by side on the pavement as we headed home.

"Wyatt," Ji-Hun's voice said as we got close to his stop. I stopped in my tracks like he did, turning to find him with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hmm?" I hummed, looking away from him and towards the path ahead of us. The sun had already gone halfway through setting and it was probably a little past seven thirty in the evening.

"I'm sorry about what I've been doing. I won't do it again. I guess I thought I was trying to help, but I was just making things worse," he said as I watched his hands slip into his Jean pockets.

I smiled a little, using a hand to snake around Ji-Hun's neck before pulling him to myself. Ji-Hun's eyes widened in obvious shock, but he settled into me, resting his head on my shoulder. I soon started to move, and he adapted to my walking pace. We staggered a little because of the awkward position, but Ji-Hun wrapped his hand around my waist to steady us a bit.

"It's okay," I said, looking down at our feet as we continued on our way.

"Would you like to come to my place on Friday for dinner?" I asked out of the blue. Ji-Hun raised his head, nodding as a grin made its way to his lips. I smiled, taking my hand away from his shoulders to run it through his hair instead. Asking him to come over was something I'd been thinking about for a while. We spent most of our time at his place, and even though my parents knew I was dating him (thanks to Candice) I'd never actually brought him home as my boyfriend.

We eventually got to Ji-Hun's stop. He paused, taking his hand away from my waist before starting at me.

"Why are you staring at me? Shouldn't you be going home?" I teased, watching Ji-Hun blush.

"I..." he trailed before looking down at the granite floor with a shy look on his face. "Can I kiss you?"

I chuckled, muttering a small approval before taking his face in both my hands and pulling him in for a small peck. I pulled away soon after, only to be met with a disappointed pout from Ji-Hun. I laughed, shaking my head. "We're in the middle of the road I can't kiss you for long."

He seemed to give it a thought before sighing in defeat. "See you tomorrow Wyatt," he said before turning around and walking into his estate's street.

I stayed there and watched until he was out of sight before making my own way home. When I got home, I walked into the living room to find Ava and Candice sitting on the largest sofa as they watched TV.

Ava raised her hand to say hello before Candice looked up and did the same. I smiled at them before heading into the hallway to look for my mum.

I found her in the kitchen dicing carrots with a look of concentration on her face.

"Good evening," I said, heading to sit on one of the high stools by the kitchen counter. My mother turned, giving me a surprised look before nodding in acknowledgment. I smiled, tracing the colors on the marble counter.

My mum's dark hair was under a hair net, and she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that was stained with smears of blue that was probably a result of her painting sometime in the afternoon like she always did.

"I want to bring my boyfriend over on Friday. Is that okay with you?" I asked, watching as she switched from cutting carrots to cutting green peppers.

I wonder what she's making. I thought as she stopped cutting the green pepper under her left hand before looking up to give me a smile.

"Of course it is," she said as the corner of her eyes wrinkled as her smile widened. She then turned her attention back to the cutting board before she started talking.

"I never thought you'd talk about him with me. Candice has been my only source of information," she chuckled as I felt my face warm up in embarrassment.

"What's his name? Candice always leaves it out when she talks," my mum said as she moved all the chopped pieces of carrots and peppers into a small ceramic bowl before she looked my way.

"Ji-Hun," I mumbled, fidgeting in my sit.

"That's nice, tell me about him," my mother said earning a grin from me before I started rambling on about my boyfriend as she cooked. She cut in from time to time to ask me questions, and she didn't seem bored when I switched from talking about Ji-Hun to talking about my school work when she asked about the contest I was taking part in.

Was it always this easy to talk to her? I wasn't sure, but what I did know was sitting at the marble counter and just being able to have my mum take interest in an aspect of my life was refreshing.