Aiden sat on his legs to keep them from shaking.
“Lang, if you’re in trouble, remember, don’t show any weakness—it means you’re hiding something. Don’t show any defiance either—it’ll also just mean you’re hiding something,” Hui Ye repeated like a mantra so often that Aiden began to wonder if his brother was trying to teach him or if his brother was only reminding himself of such mafia facts.
Mr. Zhou tsked. “You’re only on the second task.”
“I apologize, sir.”
“I gave you the easiest tasks.”
“I am doing my best.”
“This is your best?”
Sweat formed against his forehead, and he lowered his head more in an attempt to hide it. “Yes, sir.”
Silence ticked on.
I can’t keep my head lowered any longer. The time period of showing defiance has passed.Slowly, he lifted his head, freezing upon meeting Mr. Zhou’s beady eyes. The man’s pupils looked him up and down, stopped at his face, and remained there without blinking. The fingers of his crossed hands placed upon his desk tapped each other, grasping for something Mr. Zhou couldn’t reach.
Wait a minute…he’s testing me,Aiden realized, setting his mouth into a straight line.Not for my competency. It’s like he’s looking for something from me. Some other kind of reaction. Why? I followed Ge’s lessons. He shouldn’t think I’m hiding something.
Mr. Zhou dismissed him to finish the rest of the tasks—but Aiden continued to wonder.
• • •
“Aiden, are you listening to us?”
Aiden snapped to attention at Javier’s insistent voice. Alarmed, he glanced around the cafeteria table only to see Christina and Javier looking back at him curiously and a distracted Brendan bent over his math textbook.
“I’m sorry, what did you say? I didn’t catch it.”
“I was saying that Christina and Brendan are in desperate need of tutoring because they bombed their last exam in their math class.”
“Uh huh.”Mr. Zhou keeps his group under a tight grip. No emotions, no weaknesses, and no sense of bonds between him or his employees or even with his family. This means he expects results and professionalism above all else.
“And I was saying that it might be too much for me to tutor these two by myself,” Javier continued.
“Uh huh.”I didn’t finish everything he wanted me to do, so I’ll have to do better. It’s good that the assignments he’s giving me are more secretarial work.
“And I’m asking if you’d be interested in tutoring Brendan and Christina with me.”
“Sure.”
“Great! Then tomorrow night, we meet at the library. I'll text you where to meet, and we’ll just use that spot every week. And hopefully, they won’t fail next time.”
“Wait—what?” Aiden looked up from his tray of food.
Javier stared, unamused. “You said you’d help me tutor these two idiots. We have to do it every week. They’ll just fall more and more behind otherwise.”
“Honestly, why am I even learning calculus?” Christina groaned. “I’m a marketing major for crying out loud.”
“I agree, but unfortunately, I definitely need to do well in this class if I ever want to be a doctor,” Brendan mumbled. He turned the page of the textbook, his brows furrowed, and his mouth pressed to a stressed line.
For a second, Aiden sat in his chair, blinking. Why he was sitting in an open space with a group of students who complained about homework and grades?There’s work to be done. You’re going to Mr. Yang today.
The sounds of the cafeteria buzzed around him. Aiden looked around at the other students gathered at the tables. The cafeteria was large with a high ceiling, and strangers roamed with backpacks and plates of food.Oh.He relaxed against his chair.I’m with friends right now.
Aiden smiled. “Yeah, I can help. I’m doing well with my math class.” He looked at Brendan. The charming, confident president of the photography club hadn't lifted his head once since sitting down at the table. The stress lines on Brendan’s face grew ever deeper with each passing example his eyes inspected in the math textbook.
