Sin ||KookV||

32

At 12.45 am in the middle of the night, I woke up sprawled out on the desk, an examination paper stuck to my face.

Since I got home, I still hadn't completed the multiple-choice questions of this general science paper. I really didn't procrastinate, I just seriously didn't understand how this particle increased in speed, how the chemical compounds were deduced, how come there was a big A and a small b, and how these diseases were inherited. Speaking of which, I wondered if liking my hyung had anything to do with a genetic mutation. I pondered over it for a while.

My hyung was on my right, furiously typing away. His bandaged left hand wasn't very flexible, but that didn't affect his efficiency. I saw that his coffee had gone cold, so I picked it up, intending to make him another cup.

My hyung suddenly leant against the back of his chair, rubbing his temples as he let out a long sigh. When he saw that I was beside him, he was quite surprised, "How come you haven't slept yet?"

The depth of his focus when working was unfathomable to me.

My hyung saw the general science paper on the table from the corner of his eye. He exclaimed 'aiyo' as he picked it up and flipped through it, "My God, you're studying? That's unlike you...you're not really planning on getting into the top fifty to do your hyung, are you? Courageous."

I hated it when he mocked me like this. I admitted that I wasn't as smart as my hyung; when my mum gave birth to us two, she had given all the brains to him. When it came to me, there wasn't enough left so some dough was mushed together to create half a brain. I hated studying. I didn't even know how to do these questions that used the knowledge that was useless after you finished learning it.

My hyung gave my answers a quick once-over. He rubbed his chin as he said, "Tsk, three wrong for just chemistry alone."

I grabbed his neck, "Fuck, I didn't ask you to help me grade my papers! Bloody hell!"

He laughed, making me want to yank his two smiling canine teeth out and shove them up his nose.

"Okay okay, calm down." My hyung hooked an arm around my neck and pulled me back to his side. He picked up a pencil and taught me how to do the questions, drawing as he explained.

I sprawled out on the study desk as I listened to him teach. He had one arm around my shoulder while his other hand scribbled on the paper. Only the lamp on the study desk was switched on. The pencil's shadow moved along with the walking of its nib, creating the rustling sound of its footsteps.

My hyung leant very close to me. His lashes were half lowered, and the creases of his double eyelids were sometimes deep and sometimes shallow. His gaze was fixed on the questions in concentration. In his eyes, only an exam paper was reflected. I impulsively squeezed myself into his line of sight.

"What are you doing?" The pencil in his hand paused.

"Hyung, I think you were a princess in your last life."

"Bullshit."

Perhaps my hyung's explanation was clearer than that of my school's teachers, or perhaps I only liked to listen to my hyung speak. After he explained the whole paper to me, I actually understood it.

"Rest for a while." I sat on the study desk and crossed one leg over the other.

My hyung stood up and stretched. He rested his hands on each side of the table and held a cigarette in his mouth, wanting me to help him light it up.

"Darling, give me a light."

"I don't have one. Don't fucking smoke so much, two or three a day is enough. Don't go overboard."