Frozen Heart

x. deals

Can almost cries the second he opens his Calculus book. There are so many numbers and unnecessary letters it's giving him a headache.

He tries opening it again but then he sees the elongated S sign. It's integration. Damn.

"Oh my goodness, I can't do this." He whispers to himself.

He closes it immediately. It brings trauma to him. Seeing the word integration brings a searing burn to his eyes. He already forgets all the things Vin had taught him. Nothing is registering on in his brain.

Can sighs. He's on the verge of calling Pete to ask for his help but then he imagines Tin's smirking face. Tin will probably tease him if that idiot learns he's not good at Calculus. He could just imagine how unbearable Tin would be.

Right. He can do this on his own. He doesn't need Pete's help and especially Tin's. Tin can choke but he won't ask for his help. Never.

He opens the book wide and picks what he thinks is the easiest problem. Then, he picks up a paper and a pen.

It's a basic integration problem. And the problem goes like,

∫ (1 + 2x - 4x³) dx

Pft. He can do it. It's just so easy.

Just joking. He can't. Can can't. He's just on the first step and he does nothing but stares. He remembers some of the steps but those steps are all in the latter part, he can't remember the first step.

"Bullshit. There is nothing basic about this!" He shouts at the book but gets no response. Can thinks, he's beginning to get crazy for real.

Can gives up. He can't do this on his own. He needs someone.

He thinks of his options and tries weighing them. First option, he reviews on his own and fails. The second option, he asks Pete or Tin to teach him Calculus. With the first option, if he's lucky, he only has a 0.8544% chance of having to be tutored by Tin but with the second chance, he has a 50-no 100% chance of being tutored by Tin.

The first option looks very promising for him. Although it will be very hard, at least, the percentage of getting away from that Tin is something he likes.

But then he remembers Tum. Of course. Hopefully, Tum's offers still stand. He messages Tum to ask him if he's available, almost immediately, he gets a response of 'Yes'.

/

"So we have x + x² - x^4 + c as our final answer," Tum says putting a box around their final answer.

Can smiles, he remembers it all. All the things Vin had taught him. He just needs a little push from someone. He thinks, there's still hope for him. He can pass the test without asking for Tin's help.

"Wait, so you put plus c here because of indefinite integrals, right?"

Tum nods, smiling. "Yes. Can, you know this, you're so good at it."

"Yeah. Maybe I just forgot some of the steps. I need to jog my memory a bit."

For the next few minutes, both of them solve the basic integration problems. Can is happy, he's solving it all and he's so relaxed. He doesn't feel any ache at all. He's so genius.

It's all easy for him now.

Or not. Because when they stumble upon a specific problem of ∫ √tanx dx, they both stop and just stare at it for minutes.

Can frowns, he doesn't even remember encountering this. He feels all the headache washing through him all of a sudden.

Can looks at Tum to ask him to teach it to him but he also sees Tum frowning and Can knows it's serious. Tum never frowns.