“Mali.”

Nico crosses out your answer with a single, sharp stroke before moving to the next number.

“Wrong. Again. Tsk, tsk.”

He clicks his tongue, shaking his head as he looks up from your mock test paper, his thin-rimmed glasses nearly slipping down the bridge of his nose. The red ink from his ballpoint pen sears into the fragile sheet on your shared desk, marking mistake after mistake. He crosses his legs under the table, shifting in his seat with an audible sigh—one laced with unmistakable disappointment.

Sabi nga nila, if you can survive a tutoring session with Nico Mendoza, you can survive anything.

It hasn’t even been a week, yet Nico is already at his limit. His last advisee tested his patience. And now you? From the way you're barely keeping up, he wonders if you’ll even last another session.

He scoffs. You were the one who had the audacity to enroll in his tutoring. He should go easy on you—you're a transferee, after all—but that’s a weak excuse. You said you’d do better this time. Where is the “better”?

Mas terror pa sa teacher mong regular.

“You clearly didn’t study last night.”

He slides the paper toward you, making sure you get a good look at the 2/10 scrawled in red at the top.

At least may score.

“Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?” His eyes bore into yours, his voice firm. “Listen attentively.”

This is going to be a long day.