~POV Jisung~

Monday, November 2.

It was 8 a.m to my watch when I arrived in front of Seoul SKZ high school's huge wrought-iron gate, a little more than 20 minutes walk from my flat in Hongdae district. As I walked as fast as I could not to be late, a light breeze swirled the dead leaves just above the courtyard ground, to the great displeasure of the gardener I could see in the distance, who sighed more than he swept, between two stretching.

The sky was a cloudless blue and the rays flooding the place predicted a warm and sunny day. It wasn't much, but I was relieved because I couldn't think of anything more depressing than a first day of work under the gray or rain. Even though I was sensitive to heat, I much preferred the good weather.

In the sunshine, worries seemed far away and I felt I could overcome everything, including the stress of a first job, in a new city, with new colleagues and for now, a first class to give. I was going to replace a literature teacher on maternity leave. I had everything to learn here and I really wanted to do my best. The high school was nothing fancy, but was welcoming and had a quite good reputation. So, I hoped to integrate quickly.

When I arrived in front of 3C-3 classroom, located on the west wing, 3rd floor of the building after a sprint down the stairs, I noticed the headmaster was in the middle of a speech. As I waited him to signal me to come in, I caught my breath by taking a look at my reflection in my pocket mirror, to not give a poor first impression. Immediately, my conversation with my neighbour last evening came to mind. Did I at least look like a teacher? Now, I was even more stressed.

Thinking back to how our conversation had ended, I sighed. Maybe I had gone too far asking him all those questions, but when I found out how old he was, I couldn't help it. Maybe it was because of my job, but I was really worried about him. Unfortunately, instead of win his trust, I had irritated him. He was gone and the mood between us had become heavy and awkward again. What if now I made the same mistakes with the students?

As I tried to calm down and tidy up a rebellious hair strand, the headmaster's voice brought me back to reality. Spotting his signal, I crossed the classroom threshold and stood next to him. What a mistake... Regret overwhelmed me the second the scent of his cheap Cologne reached my nostrils. Ugh... What had he sprayed himself with to have that old disinfectant smell?!

Trying to hide my disgust behind an enchanted smile, I realized the around twenty students were scanning me from head to toe with various facial expressions, some of which seemed downright curious. Most of the girls, who were in the front row, with huge smiles and odd little stars in their eyes. Some of the boys had the same starry eyes besides... Strange. As for the others, they looked at me, either like I were a coat rack, or with a superior look I didn't really like.

It was the class I was going to be the headroom teacher. So, I was hoping we would get along. But while I was trying to memorize their faces, my attention was suddenly caught by a student standing at the classroom back, near a window, whose gaze on me expressed nothing similar to the others. 

He seemed impassive, but didn't take his eyes off me. I recognised him instantly and was speechless, as if I had just been slapped in the face, unable to believe what was happening.

That was impossible...

But, it was a 3rd grade class. If he was 18, it was possible. It was even so much possible it was indeed the case, even if this totally unusual situation almost made me dizzy. Geez... We often said the world was small, but there were moments like that when you couldn't doubt it.

The. World. Was. Small. Even tiny.

Minho...

Minho, my front-door neighbour... was student at that highschool ? One of my students?! 

I had probably stopped blinking, so much I was stunned by the news. But when he suddenly turned his gaze away from mine to look out of the window without showing the slightest surprise or emotion - just that overwhelming indifference I had already experienced the day before - I suddenly came back to reality. At the same time, my superior' somewhat unpleasant voice resounded.

"Mr. Han?"

Turning towards me, he gave me an infuriate glance through his round glasses. Obviously, I had been pensive long enough for him to notice it... Pitiful. Confused and sorry, I immediately tried to redeem myself with a nod and an enthusiastic smile, before addressing the students, trying as much as possible to hide my confusion and above all, not to look in my impenetrable neighbour direction.

"Hello everyone! My name's Han Jisung." I said by greeting them, then writing my name on the board. "As the headmaster explained, I'm replacing Mrs. Park from today. So, I'm going to be your literature and your homeroom teacher. We're going to see each other almost every day, so I hope we can work well together in a good atmosphere. I count on you to be assiduous, curious and willing and you, you can count on me if you need help."

As I was speaking, I tried to appear both serious and friendly, but the second I finished my sentence, my throat tightened. At the classroom back, for a split second, Minho had turned to me to give me a dark look. My words sounded so much like the ones I had said to him last evening I felt I had upset him again. At the same time, the students voices echoed in chorus in the classroom.

"Welcome, Mr. Han!"

~☀~

A few moments later, the headmaster being gone, I found myself alone with the students sitting at their desks, who could easily be divided into two groups : the glittering eyes club that kept staring at me with a smile and the lost souls staring at the wall clock like dying people waiting for redemption. Only one student was distinguishing himself once again from his classmates - the only one who hadn't greeted to me, for whom I probably wasn't welcome or who simply didn't care.

He had remained mute, cold and distant, preferring to stare at his desk while waiting for this to pass, as if he was impervious to everything that was going on around him, like he didn't live in the same world as the rest of his class. I couldn't tell if he didn't give a damn about anything or not. He wasn't like those who were waiting for the hour to end. He was different.

Seeing him in that uniform, among other boys his age, made me realize he was indeed 18. Yet, the contrast was striking. He wasn't taller or more athletic than the others. He wasn't build like some. What set him apart wasn't his appearance, but his expressions, his gaze, his attitude, this kind of unattainable aura that was constantly around him. Minho didn't have that brat look that characterized many high school students. On the contrary. He had a mature side that even some so-called "adult" men didn't have.

When I called the roll, arriving at his name, a short shiver came over me.

"Lee Minho?"

Nonchalantly, he raised his hand without looking up.

For my part, I decided not to give him so much importance anymore. He was my neighbour, but now the surprise was over, I had to put this detail aside and concentrate on the lesson. The headmaster's speech had taken quite a bit of time. Therefore, I reviewed with the students what they had already studied with Mrs Park, then the books under study, before conclude by offering to answer their questions about the programme.

In the second, a wave of female hands rose in the classroom. Seeing them waving impatiently on their seats, I had the vague impression I had gave the stick to be beaten. So it was almost regretting my democratic impulse, that I gave the floor to one of the girls.

"Sir, you're so young and already a teacher... Are you gifted?"

"I've skipped a few years, but I don't think I'm gifted..."

"Can we know your age, Sir?"

It wasn't possible... Did the whole class just wanted to ask about my age? I was trying not to look in Minho's direction, who must have been thinking he had been right last night, when he had told me everybody would have been wrong about me. Fortunately, the saving sound of the bell resounded in the highschool every corner, putting an end to my torment.

Immediately, as the students relaxed, starting to chat amongst themselves while waiting for their next teacher to arrive, I put my things away a little awkwardly. Before leaving their classroom, I glanced furtively at Minho, curious to see if during interclasses he mingled with other students and seemed less distant, but this wasn't the case.

With his chin resting on his hand, his face turned towards the window, he was yet and always in his bubble. Nobody spoke to him. He wasn't talking to anyone. Just before I left, I wondered if he had any friends. I hoped he wasn't like that all the time, alone and isolated. I was scared and saddened by that thought.

While I walked down the corridor, passing a few students from other classes who were all looking at me curiously, I was juggling between my timetable and the highschool map to find out where to go, when a hand suddenly landed on my shoulder, making me startle.

"Mr. Han!" The maths teacher, Mr. Shin, exclaimed. It was the only colleague I had met during my interview with the headmaster last week. With a tight-lipped smile, he winked at me somewhat embarrassingly. "How was your first lesson? Come on, I'll take you to your next classroom. The highschool is big and there are lots of little things to know. You'll need a guide during this first week."

Without waiting for my answer, he put a hand behind my back and led me in his wake through the corridors and alleys of my new work place, far from the classroom where my neighbour, now my student was, this so singular and solitary boy who, for some inexplicable reason, often occupied my thoughts since we met...

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Hello! I hope you enjoyed this 6th chapter! Tell me what you think about it! In the next chapter, we'll learn a bit more about the school by following Jisung! I hope you like it! Thank you very much for your support! Take care of yourself! Love you!  <3