Chapter 1 - Balcony

 

Day 1 

 

Tightly gripping onto the clipboard in her hands, Sora walks down the hallway and takes note of some of the lingering students standing around. She waves her hand at them, urging them to head to their classes with a judging frown on her lips. Sora watches the third years walk off with grins and she sighs at them before turning around and heading down to her homeroom. Sora is honestly glad she was assigned to the second years especially since her experience with first years the year before was not something she very much enjoyed. The memory of the window incident still makes her shudder today. Thankfully, the school had managed to fix all the destroyed windows before a scandalous article was written. 

 

Sora stands in front of the sliding door, narrowing her eyes at the door when she hears a large bang from the other side. She had a feeling that the one who most likely caused it was her very own Oh Sehun. With a tired sigh she reaches over and slides the door open, catching some of the students inside by surprise. 

 

"Park seonsaeng-nim, good morning!" Some girls greeted. 

 

"Good morning," Sora moves to stand behind the teacher's desk, looking down at her clipboard. "Oh Sehun, phone away before I confiscate it." 

 

She can hear some giggles around the room as Sehun speaks up, pointing his smartphone at her. "Seonsaeng-nim, do you have some hidden ability or something?" He asks, curiously and in awe at the fact she so easily caught him. She shifts her weight to one foot and blankly looks at him. "Yah, do you think I'm an idiot? You do this in every class you have with me." Sora deadpans and another round of chuckles emerge from the class.

 

Sehun's hand drops as he slowly nods in agreement at her statement and remains quiet. She gives him a look before returning her gaze back onto the clipboard, "Alright, time for attendance-" 

 

The sound of the door sliding open interrupts her and she turns to find another one of her students, Kim Jongin, and her coworker there. Yifan drags the boy by the back of his collar and pushes him into the room. "Delivery for you, Park seonsaeng-nim," he announces blandly and gives Jongin a final push causing him to stumble in. Yifan scans the room of students before stopping at Sehun. He points a finger at the male and furrows his brows at him, "Yah, you've got detention after school, skip and you die." 

 

Sehun gives him an oblivious thumbs up and Sora pinches the bridge of her nose. "Kim Jongin, just take your seat." She motions for him and the brunet grins brightly, pulling of his backpack as he quickly moves to his seat beside Sehun. "Thanks, Park seonsaeng-nim~!"  Sora shakes her head at the two and looks back at Yifan, "Wu seonsaeng-nim, I really am sorry about these two." Sora gives him a small bow of her head. 

 

"Seonsaeng-nim, we're sitting right here, y'know!" Sehun calls out.

 

"Aish, just be quiet! How did you even get detention again?!" Sora scolds him, resisting the urge to throw something at him. 

 

Jongin lets out a laugh and Sora turns to him next, "Kim Jongin, is this really that funny to you? Your attendance is already terrible, stop showing up late!" 

 

He then sinks into his chair  bowing his head at her, "Ah... Sorry, seonsaeng-nim." Sehun repeats what he says with a little more enthusiastically then she expected. It's obvious the two don't really mean it. Sora sighs tiredly and Yifan looks at her in amusement, shoving a hand into the pocket of his jersey. "Well, I better get going. Sehun-ah, meet me at the staffroom after school." 

 

"Yes, sir~" 

 

Sora exhales and proceeds to pray for guidance before finally picking up her pen. 

 

"Alright, let's finally get attendance done." 

 

---

 

Sora exhales and breathes in deeply when she slumps her way into the staffroom, arms full of textbooks. Fourth period was finally over and that also meant all her classes for the day were done. She quickly moves towards her desk and drops the stack before making a mad dash to the coffee machine standing idly in the corner waiting for her. The staffroom is quiet and she can only hear the machine getting her coffee ready and the sound of fingers typing on a keyboard. As the machine finishes off her life-saving drink, she steps onto her toes to peek over the headboard and almost jumps in shock when she notices Kyungsoo silently working on the other side. The bags underneath his eyes make it obvious he had not gotten enough sleep. 

 

Sora glances over at her coffee and ponders for a bit. With a nod to herself, she picks up the cup and wanders over to Kyungsoo, placing it down on the side of his desk. Kyungsoo looks up at her with a thankful look on his face and she half-smiles back. 

 

“Isn’t it your break?” She asks. 

 

“I wanted to get everything finished so I could relax,” Kyungsoo’s gaze returns to the stacks of un-graded papers. “It doesn’t look like I’ll finish but I do want to get all of it done.” 

 

Sora nods slowly in a form of admiration. Kyungsoo is like a breath of fresh air in a way, somehow reminding her of nostalgic moment when she was just as energetic about working as he was. Now, after only a year she often finds herself dead tired with paperwork the amount of a flood. She pats him on the back.

 

“Kyungsoo-ah,” he turns to her and she gives him a toothy grin, “fighting!” 

 

He smiles back and she goes back to her desk, falling onto the chair and pushing the stack of textbooks to the side. Sora rolls her shoulders back, trying to get rid of the stiff feeling lodged into her back. The memory of Yifan reminding Sehun about his detention flashes through her mind and she groans instantly, leaning forward and hitting her forehead against the wooden surface of her desk. She really had to have a talk with that boy. How is it even possible to be able get so many detention sessions in a week? 

 

“What’s up with you?” A deep voice asks and she moves her neck to glance at the individual. She drags herself back up to sit properly before furrowing her brows at him, “Wu seonsaeng-nim, you’re rather early. What happened to your class?” 

 

Sora takes note of his appearance. Nothing out of the usual. He still wears branded sports jerseys and exercise clothing on a daily basis. He’s wearing adidas today and his dark brown hair is slicked up like he usually has it during actual P.E days. Sora remembers how she passed some third year girls the other day who were swooning about it. 

 

Yifan shakes his head and strides over to his desk, lightly tapping her on the head with a clipboard. She frowns at this. “I’m only here since I forgot some papers,” Yifan informs her. “Oh, and try to find a way to control your students, because of them I’m stuck after school.” 

 

Sora face-palms and leans back on her chair groaning. Oh Sehun will be the death of her. “I really don’t know what to do with that kid.” She honestly replies, “He doesn’t really do bad at school and surprisingly attends every class he’s in but…” 

 

Yifan raises a brow, “He’s a pain?” 

 

Sora claps and gives him a joking grin, “Exactly!” 

 

Yifan lets out a scoff and pulls a folder out of his drawer before heading back towards the exit. “Don’t forget you’re on patrol after school,” He drawls out as he leaves. 

 

Sora stares at the door even after it closes and she decides she really wants to slam her head against the wall. How could she almost forget about it? She even wrote a note about it in her diary to make sure she did not forget. With a deep sigh, she spins back to face her desk and peers over to look at her ever so diligent coworker.

 

“Kyungsoo-ah…” She begins and catches his attention. He sends her a curious expression and before she can ask if he could possibly take her place on the roster, her brain effortlessly reminds her of that stacks of work on his desk. She sinks back into her chair. 

 

“Don’t worry about it,” she says. 

 

And he returns to work. 

 

---

 

Sora shifts the collar of her coat as she leaves the staffroom. She runs her hand through her dark locks, fixing her bangs and lazily tightening her messy bun. She pulls out her glasses from her trench coat and places them on her face, finding comfort in the fact she can see clearer now. She only really needs it when she has to look at things from a distance; and when it comes to catching students playing hooky it’s incredibly useful. 

 

She takes the stairs down to the ground level, strolling down the silent hallways. Sora peeks into some classrooms and finds Luhan teaching supplementary math lessons. She quickly moves out of vision before she can distract anyone and continues her journey down the walkway. Sora then remembers that Yifan had said that the detention sessions were going to be down in one of the classrooms there. An expression of absolute distaste appears and she scurries towards the exit. Sora breaks into a fast walk and heads towards the classroom from the outside. 

 

Sora freezes the moment she sees exactly what she had predicted. She stares at the boy who has his back turned towards her peeking into the classroom through the window. Of course, Jongin would try to break Sehun out when Yifan was still on his way. With a scratch of her neck she skulks towards the the male before grabbing the collar of his blazer and yanking him backwards. Jongin lets out a strangled cry and snaps his head in her direction ready to yell until he meets her furious expression. 

 

“Aish, you little brat!” 

 

“A-Ah— wait— Ouch!” 

 

She roughly drags him out of the garden and pulls him onto the concrete. He quickly stands up, dusting his clothes off and remains standing in front of her. Sora’s dark eyes look into his and he jolts a bit, a small grin hesitantly making its way onto his face. “P-Park seonsaeng-nim, I… I can explain! Like, I really can!” He stammers a bit but tries to remain confident. 

 

Sora places a hand on her hip, “Then explain.”

 

“You see… I was a bit worried since our Sehunnie seems to be getting into trouble a lot…” Jongin lies so obviously she has to close her eyes for a bit and try to stay calm. “So, I wanted to check up on him!”

 

Sora’s expression transforms into one of utter disbelief at how terrible the boy can lie. “If there’s anyone that should be worried, it should be me,” she mutters underneath her breath. Jongin looks at her curiously, having not caught what she said. Sora waves him off and focuses on the situation again. “Kim Jongin, tell me honestly what you were planning on doing and if it’s exactly what I thought you were going to do then the punishment won’t be as severe.” She baits him and the flicker in his eyes tells her she’s got him. 

 

He stares at the ground, “I was gonna sneak him out, Ssem.” 

 

Sora looks at him with a deadpan expression. It really was exactly what she thought he was going to do. Seriously, this is ridiculous. 

 

“Thanks for telling me, Jongin-ah,” she smiles and Jongin sends her one back. She struggles not to laugh at the relieved expression on his face. This kid actually thought she was just going to just let him off the hook. 

 

“But detention.”

“What?! But Ssem!” He complains, betrayal etched onto his face.

 

She jerks her chin at him, “Yah! You should be glad! For what you were planning I should be giving you at least three detention sessions!” 

 

He looks ready to retort until the last thing she says finally registers. “Eh? So, just one?” Jongin holds up his index finger questionably. She nods and a bright grin bursts onto his face. “Thanks so much, Ssem!” Jongin bows enthusiastically and she shakes her head at him tiredly. “If you’re really thankful, just leave and go home.” She tells the boy and he follows her orders, bidding her a farewell before running off. 

 

Sora ruffles up her own hair after he leaves and looks towards the classroom Jongin had tried to sneak into before. Yifan is there now, sitting on the desk reading a novel with a stern look on his face with students at desks in front of him, with confused and frustrated expressions on their faces. She tilts her head to the side in wonder. 

 

So, when all the students leave and her patrol duty is done she steps into the classroom, watching Yifan collect papers from the desks. “What exactly did you make them do?” She questions him. He doesn’t even spare a glance. 

 

“English grammar sheets with questions written entirely out in English.” 

 

Jongin should definitely have been glad that it was her who caught him. 

 

---

 

By the time she gets back to her apartment complex the sun is almost setting. Sora pulls up the strap of her workbag and heads into the building, climbing into the elevator and pressing the number three button. When the elevator stops, she has to drag herself out to continue walking. As she draws closer to her apartment, she notices a figure standing in front of the one next to her, holding a phone to his ear and a worried expression dancing on his face. So, that was her neighbour. She always did wonder who lived beside her ever since he moved in two years ago. Surprisingly, they never met despite having lived next to each other for so long. 

 

Sora stops in front of her door and reaches into her black trench coat, searching for the familiar shape of her keys. She catches them in her hand and pulls them out, putting her bag down beside her to make things easier. The moment she unlocks the door a cool yet soft voice rings through her ears. It takes a second for her to realise it is her neighbour talking to her.

 

“Uh, excuse me?” He calls out to her. She turns to meet black eyes and a man in a rather fashionable ensemble consisting of black dress pants and a maroon dress shirt with a matching tie. Her neighbour’s hair is also styled in a complimenting way, side-swept bangs and a short cut in the back. It looks like he dyed it darkish brown. 

 

“Ah, yes?” She tries to sound as polite as possible, hoping that her unenthusiastic and introverted appearance does not offend him in anyway. 

 

“Actually, I forgot the keys to my apartment at work…” The man trails off a bit and a look of embarrassment appears on his face, “If it’s alright, can I use your balcony?” 

 

Sora jaw drops at the question and she cannot help but stare at the man like he’s crazy. “We’re on the third floor.” She states as if he does not know. He breaks into a flustered chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know but our balconies aren’t that far apart and I think I can jump onto mine.” He replies and Sora continues to stare at him as if there’s something wrong with him. 

 

“That’s really dangerous, y’know.” She warns him.

 

He laughs. “I wouldn’t worry about it,”

 

Sora narrows her eyes at him, “How will you even get in through the sliding door if you don’t have your keys?”

“I usually keep the sliding door open.” 

 

Her eyes widen, “That’s even more dangerous! What if someone tried to break in?” 

 

“They haven’t yet, haven’t they?” He smiles at her, obviously finding the whole situation humorous. It’s at the moment Sora realises fighting is useless and motions for her neighbour to follow her into her home. He says an ‘excuse me’ as he takes off his shoes and carries them, following her towards the balcony. Sora thinks the man despite his manners is still crazy but opens the door to her balcony. 

 

The teacher notices that the man is right. Their balconies are not really that far apart but then she looks down and sees the concrete ground below them and gives the man a pleading glance to really rethink what he was going to attempt to do. However, that does not stop him from asking her to hold his workbag as he throws his shoes onto his balcony. 

 

“This is a really bad idea,” she comments from the side.

 

“Just trust me.” He says but she really can’t. 

 

Moving to the side, her neighbour grips onto the railing tightly and begins to lift himself up, putting a foot up onto the metal, preparing for the jump. Sora doesn’t notice her grip on his bag grow tighter as the suspense builds in her. In an instant, he leaps and Sora tries not to close her eyes and watches how her neighbour successfully lands on his balcony. 

 

She stares at him in awe as he rubs his hands together. Sora steps closer to the other balcony when he sends her a look of reassurance that he is alright. She holds out his workbag and he takes it.

 

“Thank you for letting me use your balcony.” It’s awkward and they both know it.

 

“Ah… Well… Try not to forget your keys again.” Sora avoids eye contact because she does not understand how to properly react after the whole scene. Her neighbour chuckles at her response, “I’ll try not to. Thanks again!” 

 

He then disappears into his own apartment. Sora stands there and the sound of his chuckling runs through her mind again. She cannot help but relate it to the sun. A bright and warm laugh that is everything but negative. A smile that is everything energetic and supportive is what he possesses. 

 

Sora slithers back into her own home. She is everything but an optimist.