11.30AM Friday 3 March 2017

I spent the whole of last night trying to calm my jittery nerves. After two trips to Hyein’s room and being kicked out because she grumbled about needing her rest, I finally felt tired enough to give in to a rather restless sleep.

I took the bus to SM Entertainment alone as Hyein was needed in the morning. The solitude was calming and I felt serene as I walked towards the building, my lanyard and ID hanging visibly from my neck.

This was just another means to pay the bills. It was just another job. I could get through this.

After greeting and introducing myself to the security guard on duty for the day, I crossed the carpark just as a van stopped in front of the main entrance. The doors opened and one by one, the six active members of Super Junior stepped out of the vehicle. And just like that, all the preparation and reminders for me to keep calm was lost in an instant. I froze, not because of the wind but because the feeling of awe was hitting me again like a bullet being shot through my soul.

Heechul was the first to spot me and beamed. “Hey, it’s our English teacher!”

The other members all turned to look at me and I felt myself at a loss for words. I wasn’t ready to face them just yet. My legs felt like lead as I walked towards the group and tried to keep the straightest face possible. Just as I was about to open my mouth to greet them, Manager Kim appeared behind Leeteuk and ushered the boys into the building. He gave me a nod of acknowledgement before opening the door for me to let me in first. The Super Junior members then headed straight to the lifts while I veered towards the direction of Jieun’s desk. The receptionist’s table seemed to be my favourite place to hang out. Jieun offered me a dimpled smile when she saw me approach.

“Got any sleep last night?” She looked smug and I knew whatever antics I was up to with Hyein, she knew everything already.

“Aww, come on. Today will be a good day. Just keep your head, and all will be well.” She then reached out from her desk, stretching her arms as she pulled me in for a one-sided hug.

“Hey Jieun, I’m curious. What exactly do you do as a receptionist here?”

Feigning a look of offence, Jieun puffed her cheeks in fake exasperation. “I make sure no weird people get into the building.”

“Isn’t that was the security outside is for?”

She then pointed to two buttons that was on the underside of the countertop. “Fans can be creative and they can pose as couriers, food delivery men or whatever they can think of. I’ve been trained to smell a fake or a sasaeng so if anyone tries to sneak in when they’re not supposed to, I press either of these. One is for calling backup and the other is to temporarily lock the lifts so no one can get in until the dangerous person is dealt with.”

I was intrigued. “Lock the lifts?”

“No, I will not try it with you because each time I lock the lifts, an alarm blares throughout the building and nobody is allowed to go out. It’s too much of a hassle and I’ve only done it once.”

I faked a look of disappointment as she clasped the covers of the buttons back to position.

Before long, Manager Kim and Miran strolled out of the lift lobby and it was time for my orientation. It consisted of a tour around the premises and seeing the practice rooms and recording studios with my own eyes made me feel as though Christmas came early. These were places that I could only see on YouTube! They then brought me to the 6th floor where my office and classroom was located. Miran explained that there were also two other teachers working with them who were teaching Chinese and Japanese. The three of us would be sharing the office but we would have our own classroom to hold the lessons.

Classroom 607 was sparse. The room was well lit and the white walls looked too clean and bright. The whiteboard hanging off the wall was wide and there were 15 desks lined up neatly with their respective chairs in rows of five. The teacher’s table was wide and was equipped with a laptop and the various wires and cables needed for audio and visual presentations.

As the orientation tour wore on, I felt adrenaline coursing through my veins and I felt ready to start my class. It reminded me of my first day in the Canadian International School, when I was dying to see the children and gush in their adorableness.

“Do you have any questions for us?” It was now 3PM and I was to meet my students in a couple of hours for our first lesson.

I shook my head and after a final handshake with both senior staff, I was alone in the classroom. I set my bag on the plastic chair by the teacher’s desk and breathed in. This was it. It was really happening. The two hours passed quickly and by the time it was 5, I had the materials pasted on the whiteboard and worksheets distributed onto the student desks in front of me. Just slightly past the hour, I could hear the energetic chattering from the hallway and it was the telling sign that my students were coming. Back in the school, I would hear squeals and shrieks from the little ones as they raced each other to line up outside the classroom.

The door opened and the members filtered into the room one by one, with Leeteuk in the lead and Yesung being the last to enter. They looked at the tables curiously and slotted themselves into the seats that had the worksheets. Leeteuk sat on my extreme left, with Heechul and Kyuhyun next to each other. Sungmin just had to sit right smack in the centre of the row while Shindong and Yesung sat on the remaining seats on my right.

“What’s this? Homework on the first day?” Heechul quipped, giving me a look of mock horror.

“How do you even know if it’s homework? You can understand what the papers say?”

That comment earned the youngest member a shove from the older one. Hyein and the Managers were right. This is indeed no different from my preschoolers.

“I’ll introduce myself again for the benefit of the members who have not met me yet.” I turned towards Shindong and Yesung and greeted them. Without warning, all six men suddenly stood up in their seats as Leeteuk yelled the group’s introductory tagline.

I felt my insides squirm with glee but I had to keep cool. Instead of the rabid fangirling that I would have done if I were at home, I clapped my hands politely as the boys took their seats again.

Before I could say anything, Heechul raised his hand and spoke without my acknowledgement, “This old man over here has been talking about you endlessly since yesterday.”

The comment caught me off guard and I felt my face grow warm. “Eh?”

It was Sungmin who then spoke up and that was when I started praying fervently to every god and deity for me to not make a fool of myself. He was talking to me and yet it felt like a dream.

“We kept saying you’re too young for him and that if tries any tricks on you, it would make him sleazy. Like a ert.”

“Oh.” Nope, those prayers were not being answered.

“In my defense, I don’t look my age.”

This was met with a round of protests from his group mates and violent banging on the tables. I shook my head in both disbelief and amusement. This was not how I pictured my first day would be like.

Leeteuk spoke up yet again, “And seeing Sungmin happily married has made me envious. I want to find someone too but how do I do it when I am stuck with you brats?”

This made me chuckle and I cleared my throat to speak. The protesting members quieted down and looked at me earnestly.

“I’m 24, born in January 1994 but I’m sorry Leeteuk Oppa, but I’m pretty sure that in those forms I signed, a relationship with one of my students is a no-no. Career over lovelife.”

“Yah, you see! You can be her uncle!”

“She just rejected you outright!”

All six members were speaking at the same time and I watched them bicker and banter for a few moments before I knocked the table to get their attention.

“We only have an hour and a half scheduled today and there are things I need to go through with you as an ice-breaker and an introduction. We start lessons proper tomorrow and we will have lessons four times a week from Thursdays to Sundays, two hours per session.”

The members listened attentively as I went through a poster listing the ground rules I expected them to uphold whilst in class.

“Rule Number 1, Limited Korean. From tomorrow onwards, all questions, conversations and even exclamations have to be tried to be said in English. There will be certain times when I will allow Korean conversations but if I hear anything else outside of those times, it's extra homework for the errant student.”

“Since you only mentioned Korean, we can speak in other languages right?”

I did not need to look up to know that that deep voice belonged to Kyuhyun.

I shrugged my shoulders, and feigned a detached demeanour as i answered. “You can try, just don’t complain if the homework gets too much. I don’t like late work.”

Shindong and Yesung snickered while the youngest member of the group shrugged in amusement, his mouth curved into a smirk.

After the rules were all agreed upon, I gave them their first assignment -  they had to write their introductions of themselves in ten sentences.

“I know. This might seem too easy but this will give me an indication of your individual skill level. As far as I know, your last proper English lesson was the one some of you did for Super Junior Full House, and that’s ten years ago.”

Surprisingly, no one grumbled and by 6.20PM, I had all six sheets placed on my desk. I was excited to read the contents but that was to be done at home. Unlike in my previous employment, checking of assignments cannot be done on public transport anymore.

“We still have ten minutes before class ends and this will be our last conversation in Korean before tomorrow so if anyone has any other questions, please ask them now.”

They took turns asking me more about myself and Heechul brought up Hyein so I spent a good deal of the ten minutes summarizing our friendship and our life in Korea.

“Alright, you’re dismissed-”

“One more question,” Kyuhyun had his hand raised and rolling my eyes, I asked for the question.

“Are you in a relationship right now?” He did not sound curious, in fact the way his eyes shone seemed to indicate an inordinate amount of interest in my relationship status. Was he flirting? The remaining members paused whatever they were doing and looked at me with playful eagerness. Heechul patted Kyunyun's back proudly.

“He doesn’t usually do this. All he cares about is singing and Starcraft.”

Biting my lower lip as I contemplated my answer, I cocked my head to the side and gave my students a look of bored indifference. “It depends on who’s asking.”

Heechul was the first to react and cackled the loudest as though I told the funniest joke in the world.

“Kyuhyun ah, you’ve met your match.” Leeteuk looked at Kyuhyun with amused sympathy and gestured for the members to follow him out of the classroom.

Yesung, Shindong and Sungmin followed the Leader while Heechul stalled with Kyuhyun still in his seat. He then stood up, startling the still-laughing Heechul who was standing too close to his seat and walked towards my desk.

He locked his eyes on mine as he took wide strides towards the table, a look of determination inked on his pretty features. I must have gasped because he looked rather ethereal as the bright lights shone behind him, casting a dark shadow on those aforementioned features. Slowly, he leant forward until his face was levelled with mine.

“It’s a pity you didn’t take an interest in Math because I’m telling you, you’re one significant figure.”

He left as quickly as he came and headed straight to the door. I was unable to react and simply stared after him, the last I saw of his face was the smirk that made him famous in the first place. Dumbfounded and still in shock, I found myself looking at the only remaining member in class for an explanation.

Heechul was massaging his cheeks, his eyes still bright and twinkling from his laughing session. What he found so funny, I still did not know but he was always known to be the one who had a quirky sense of humour. Shaking his head, he helped remove the papers from the whiteboard and handed them back to me and waited by the door. I gathered my belongings and he walked with me towards the elevator. Though it was silent between us, it was comfortable and relaxed. Even I was amazed at how approachable Heechul was and this was just our second meeting.

“So will you finally tell me what’s so funny?”

His eyes creased again as he began sniggering and my mouth began to smile despite the increasing annoyance I was feeling.

“You will need to forgive our youngest. He debuted when he was a teen and hasn’t had much practice with courting girls. He tends to come across as strong and pushy.”

“Wait- What?” I knew I was spluttering incoherently but this seemed too much like a prank for it to be real. “But wasn’t it Leeteuk Oppa…”

“It was Cho Kyuhyun who would not stop talking about you last night and Leeteuk was just trying to get a reaction out of him earlier. It’s how we work. We like to tease each other. You’ll get used to it.”

While I was relieved that the Leader of Super Junior had no designs on me, I was not sure if the other matter was of any comfort.

“I’m sorry I have to burden you with this but the ball is in your court now. You decide how you want to treat this piece of information. I’m pretty sure Management will want to have you replaced but Leeteuk and I really like you already. Kyuhyun won’t be the only one sad to see you go.”

Heechul was evidently enjoying himself and reached out to ruffle my hair, making me feel as though I was 10 years old again.

“Yah! Oppa…” I knew I was feeling a myriad of conflicting emotions but my body could not pick one to focus on feeling.

Heechul then pushed me towards the elevator, his grin never leaving his face as he watched me.

“You know, we have worked with so many female dancers, makeup artists, managers and yet this is the first time ever Kyu reacted to someone so quickly.”

I chose to ignore him and focused on the buttons of the lift, concentrating on breathing in order to calm the erratic drumming of my heart. The ride down to the first floor felt excruciatingly long and I began to feel giddy, not from happiness but from the emotions of the day’s events.

“Oh don’t look so put out.” Clearly, I was incapable of walking on my own and was steered again by Heechul as we exited the lift.

We walked towards the main lobby and saw the four members gathered by the main doors, with Jieun and Hyein waiting beside them. Upon catching sight of me, my two friends waved excitedly while Leeteuk gestured for the man beside me to hurry up.

“And maybe, with Kyuhyun’s growing interest in you, you can stop pining for our married member already. Don’t worry. Sungmin doesn't know of it.” With that, Heechul gave my hair a final ruffle and ran past me to join his group.

Did he just say what I thought he did? I felt my blood run cold and my hands began to turn clammy. It’s barely been a day and I’ve already been found out, and by Kim Heechul, of all people.

I stared at the said man, gobsmacked and unable to speak or move. He turned around and gave me a wink before looking away and walking towards the doors, reaching for his phone in his pocket as though everything that just transpired was not worth the fuss I was making.

“Yah! What took you guys forever to come down?”

It was going to be a long night.