Nayeon’s Sunshin

-Mina-

of light attack the ever neatly permed eyelashes. The remains of last night’s enjoyment evident because of the pain she is feeling. The weight of the world was suddenly transferred in her head, making her feel dizzy. Her blood can be taken and mistaken as alcohol for she had drank more than what a human body is capable of. A mere sound coming from a smartphone sounded like a banging of a gong for her. It was the worst hangover she had ever gotten in her twenty-eight years of experience. All because her best friend decided to challenge her to a one on one for three days drinking, the one to pass out first will be the one to pay their bill. And Nayeon, no matter what happens, doesn’t want to pay. Not when she’s as poor as a mice living through scraps of whatever crumbs fall on the ground.

On the third day, thankfully, Jeongyeon passed out. Nayeon took the younger girl’s wallet and paid for everything. To make it less traumatizing, the bill was around twenty-three hundred dollars. Less the penalties that were due the broken glasses and tables. It was a good thing that the owner of the pub did not throw them out. Nayeon had no choice but to call Chaeyoung to hell Jeongyeon get home because she alone cannot do it for her best friend.

For the second time, her alarm rings and she grunts in frustration. All she could do was to sit up and stare at the wall clock ticking by the moment. Nayeon wasn’t ready but she has to be. Because the other purpose of their drink-to-death session was to celebrate Nayeon’s hiring. For the past eight months of her life, Nayeon was a freelance vocal teacher but she couldn’t make a living out of it because she was also supporting her family. So even though she doesn’t want to stop her dream profession, she had. She had to look for a proper job with a proper income and salary and proper benefits. So she did. She searched throughout the city, even the neighboring ones, for a job. She had gone through numerous interviews but none called back.

Maybe it was by pure luck that she had helped an old man cross the street that she was offered a job as a music teacher in one of the most exclusive schools in the country. It was the dream job. Good pay, good environment, and a good subject to teach for it was something she was an expert on. Just when she was about to give up, turns out that the old man she helped was the chairman of the school.

Although if there was one thing Nayeon wasn’t good at: it was waking up early. Being a teacher means she has to wake up at five and be at school by six-thirty because assembly starts at six-forty five. It was a small sacrifice, as Jeongyeon said once. But that sacrifice was big for her because she was accustomed to her nightlife. The alcohols, the smoke, the loud parties, and of course the girls. It wasn’t hard to snatch a girl she would dive into at night. Although she’s pretty picky with her, as she calls them, toys. She wants them wild and rough, something that will make her excitement rise up to the heavens. Because for Nayeon, simple is boring. Gentle is boring.

With much internal battle, she got up and took a shower. She took her newly delivered uniform and wore it. It was playing between the shade of pink and purple, something calming in the eyes. She liked it. As much as she hates getting up in the morning, the other thing she hates is the busy streets of morning rush hour. All the fast paced workers going to work, running after deadlines at such an early hour, it was making her stressed. But even though she did not like it, she had to accept the fact that it will be her new life. A life she did not want but will have to live.

“Good morning!” an old woman greeted her. Nayeon knew right away that it was a teacher due to the fact that the lady was also wearing the same uniform as her.

She plastered her perfect smile and said, “Good morning.”

“You must be Nayeon, right? The chairman told me to take care of you while you’re still getting used to the campus,” the lady held her arm, an action she wasn’t used to, yet. But she shrugged it off and followed.

Nayeon was introduced to thirty five faculty members, in which she had forgotten each and every single name. All she had were descriptions in her mind that will remind her of who is she talking to. For example is that one bearded teacher who talks like he’s the reincarnation of Gandolf from the Lord of the Rings. It was hilarious to even look at him. The other one was the girl who was around her early twenties who looks like Tweety bird. Nayeon cannot figure out why but when she looks at the girl, Tweety is the first thing she could think of. All in all, she had weird descriptions for every single one of the teachers.

“Ahh, you haven’t met the chairman’s granddaughter. She has her own room so you wouldn’t be able to meet her here,” the lady told her. Nayeon merely nodded and focused on writing her lesson plan, which is something she is not used to. She did ask help from the kind old lady but she still did not understand.

Nayeon decided to ditch the lesson making and start roaming around the building. Teaching kids as early as three years old was something she had never imagined but after her first private lesson for a certain rich daughter’s family, Nayeon realized that teaching kids is better than teaching adults. They are easier to manage and more obedient.

The vocal teacher was calmly walking around the third floor when she heard the song Part of Your World play. She halted her steps and looked for the source of the music. It was coming from the last door of the corridor. Being the nosy human being that she is, Nayeon walked towards the door and saw a bunch of kids dancing ballet. She snorted. She tried ballet before, did not work out. She watched as little girls dance on their own, movements almost gracious if they weren’t kids. For once, she smiled genuinely. Nayeon loved kids. She’d drop anything for kids. But of course, she wasn’t that lucky to study college to become a teacher.

She watched as the girls wearing tutu dresses tried to twirl around, hopelessly failing because they all looked like beginners.

“Lovely, aren’t they?” she jumped when a soft voice spoke beside her. She turned around and found one of the most, wait. No. The most beautiful face she had ever seen in her life. Unlike the little girls, the woman was wearing a leotard with her hair pulled into a neat and firm bun. Her smile could light up even the lands beyond the boarders of the pride lands from the movie Lion King.

Nayeon scoffed, “They look like struggling gremlins.” It’s bad enough that she was caught snooping around the kids where her emotions are raw and bare so she wouldn’t want the stranger to see her completely. To be able to read her easily. No. Nayeon wouldn’t dream for that to happen.

To her surprise, the stranger chuckled, “That’s an interesting description you’ve given.” A smile stayed along the full pinkish lips of the stranger, almost looking like she was amused by Nayeon’s words. It didn’t take long for the music teacher to observe(and actually) stare at the lady’s face. The way her eyes are round yet chinky, the pale flawless skin, full lips, and of course, the moles she had on her face. It almost looked like constellations and Nayeon, no matter how strong she perceives herself, is weak under the stars.

She noticed the girl’s amused stare at her, “What?” she asked.

Again, the girl smiled, “Do you want to have a seat and watch them dance properly?”

She thought about it. There was no harm in watching the girls. Although she had denied it, she is a fan of ballet and she loved kids. Nayeon slowly shook her head, “It’s okay. I should really be working right now.” The piles of lesson plans she has to make by the end of the week returned to her mind. Besides, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with someone who smiles like there is has no problem in the world. For Nayeon, the world is a problematic one. Negativity is always lingering around each and every person, waiting for a chance to strike. It has always been like that and it will always be like that in the future. No one can change it.

Turning to her heels, Nayeon starts to walk back to the stairs. She was by the second door when the girl called her out, “Hey, what’s your name?”

She turned her head, a small smile etched on her lips, “Nayeon. Im Nayeon.” She didn’t even wait for the girl to speak again for she continued walking. Not minding the overwhelming throb on her chest.

Nayeon wasn’t the type to feel certain things on first meetings. She was never the type to feel annoyance for someone nor does she ever feel extreme heart throbbing but for some reason, that leotard girl made her feel both.

And she did not like it. Not one bit.

~

The second time Nayeon meets the leotard girl was in a faculty meeting. All of the teachers, including those who teach minor subjects were present. The aim of the meeting was to talk about the upcoming sports festival for the entire high school department. Nayeon doesn’t pretty much associate herself with her colleagues. She gets to school, does her work, goes out of school to hang with her best friend. That was pretty much it. For Nayeon, it’s a hassle to build more friendships which are likely to disintegrate or vanish when they find out that she’s not really meant to be a teacher. That she was merely lucky she helped the chairman.

The leotard girl came in last, although not late, and took the vacant seat beside the chairman. Nayeon was just observing the girl who again, had a bright smile plastered on her perfectly carved face.

“Mina, nice of you to join us,” the chairman greeted. Nayeon’s ears perked as she heard the voice of the old man.

So Mina is the name of the leotard girl.

Nayeon’s lips curved into a small smile, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” her soft voice resounded loudly in Nayeon’s ears, making it sound like her voice is the only thing she could focus on. It was melodic, almost hypnotizing. It sent Nayeon thousands of alerts to her brain, making her stop thinking about the girl called Mina.

“I see that everyone is here. Let us begin,” the chairman said. Nayeon did not say a thing nor did she react. She was busy memorizing Mina’s soft and perfect features.

Nothing went unnoticed under Nayeon’s gaze, even the way Mina parted and her lips did not escape her scrutinizing eyes. But once Mina looked at her way, Nayeon’s heart roared as if a whole parade happened. They held each other’s gaze for a long time and for her, it was as if they were the only ones inside the room. Everything was a blur except for Mina. Everything didn’t matter except the fact that she’s looking at Mina’s eyes and Mina was looking back at her. Slowly, Mina’s lips turned into a smile. Nayeon’s heart chest and she looked away from the girl’s gaze.

“The sports fest is not until the next two months but of course, like our tradition, we will not just think about the sports but also the musical side of it. The dances, choirs, and everything,” Nayeon tried to focus on the person talking but she can feel the intensity of someone’s eyes on her. Hiding behind her fingers, she stole a glance on Mina but their eyes met fo