The rest of the open house goes by agonizingly slow. Yaebin tries to make small talk with her students and their parents, but her focus is almost completely derailed after her brief conversation with Minkyung.

The last parent leaves around 9:30PM. Absolutely exhausted, Yaebin wastes little time gathering her purse and other belongings to make her way out of Forest Meadow Elementary. The constant stream of visitors left little time for her to think about her encounter earlier in the evening, but now she has all the time in the world to replay their meeting over and over again in her head. And whether she likes it or not, that’s exactly what her mind does, analyzing every gesture and movement for even the smallest context clues.

Yaebin walks briskly down the dimly lit, winding hallways of Forest Meadow. It seems that most of her colleagues have left already, but as she reaches the far end of the hall, she notices the distinct shimmer of off-yellow incandescent lighting peeking through the open (open-ish) door of a classroom. Two voices cut through the low hum of the building’s air conditioning; Yaebin stops walking and holds her breath to listen.

“She’s incredibly talented.”

“Is she? Well you're incredibly dramatic so I don't believe you.”

Yaebin tiptoes forward, peeking through the crack of the door as best she can. The conversation is soft, but Yaebin immediately recognizes one of the voices from just a few hours earlier; her heart practically drops out of her just hearing it. Shifting on her heel to look at a different angle, Yaebin finally gets a glimpse of Minkyung, who’s sitting on top of one of the student’s desks with her left legs crossed into each other Indian style. She's pushed her suspenders off her shoulders so they lay limply around her waist, and Minkyung simply doesn’t seem to care, continuing her conversation with a laugh and an excited wave of her hand. Her guard is down in the comfort of a friend, but, to Yaebin’s amazement, Minkyung still looks as regal as ever.

“I swear,” the other voice in the room – Eunwoo, Yaebin eventually recognizes – says with a sigh, “if one more parent tries to flirt with me to get their kid a good grade.”

Minkyung chuckles. “It’s a little early in the year for that, isn’t it?”

“, that's what I'm thinking.” Eunwoo pauses. “I could say the same thing to you...”

Minkyung mocks her offense with a gasp. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

They laugh together, lighthearted and playful. Minkyung leans forward and touches Eunwoo’s elbow in a soft, friendly gesture, but the green-eyed monster unexpectedly rears its ugly head as Yaebin stands there watching. Her cheeks burn red and she feels her heart racing with jealousy. It’s absolutely ridiculous, Yaebin thinks, as she has absolutely no reason or right to feel even the slightest pang of jealousy; they’ve only met twice, and very briefly at that. But there’s an undeniable spark that Yaebin just can’t ignore, regardless of how one-sided it may be. Not realizing she's been on her tiptoes for too long than her feet feel necessary, she slips forward hitting her forehead on the slightly cracked door. The thud heard round the world forces Yaebin to internally panic, frozen in place.

I truly am the dumbest on Earth.

The rosy hue of Yaebin’s cheeks creeps up her neck and behind her ears. She wills herself to turn away and practically sprints out of the school and into the parking lot, where she jumps into her car and drives away without looking back.

Despite the day’s earlier excitement, Yaebin finds it nearly impossible to fall asleep. She takes a hot shower and tries some chamomile tea, but there’s a restlessness in her mind and body that she simply cannot shake. Frustrated, Yaebin leaves her bedroom and grabs some items from her collection of art supplies, as well as the unfinished canvas she had started only a few days earlier. Meetings with Minkyung seem to be a supreme source of artistic inspiration for Yaebin. While she can still remember all the details, she decides to paint, just long enough until she’s thoroughly exhausted.

The exact color red she’s been trying to replicate is clearer in her mind after the events of the open house. She adds a few of red onto the canvas followed by a very light streak of black watercolor to darken it slightly. She isn’t 100% satisfied with the results, but it’s definitely closer than before. The soft curves and swirls of pink, purple and red begin to form a feminine, flower-like shape, but it’s just abstract enough for her liking; Yaebin can’t help but wonder what Minkyung would think if she could see it, even in its unfinished state.

It’s almost 2am by the time she pries herself away from her work and into bed, knowing fully that the first day of school – a mere 4 ½ hours away – will be absolutely killer on almost no sleep. Yaebin considers it worth it in the pursuit of good art.

Yaebin is all genuine smiles and assuring words as her new students walk nervously into her classroom. She spends the half hour before the start of the day consoling scared, sobbing children, as well as their equally terrified parents. She ushers them gently into their seats and shows them the name tags taped to their desks, written in all caps in colorful bubble lettering; Therese knows that they can’t even read them, but the excitement in their eyes is well worth the hours she spent making them and the Carpal Tunnel she basically gave herself doing so.

She’s in the midst of writing her name on the chalkboard when a little girl with straight black hair and eyes that boarder on mischievous walks into the room. She shuffles in as only children do, the bottom of her bright pink dress swishing as she does so.

Yaebin smiles warmly at her. She’s about to welcome her to the class when Minkyung comes in behind her carrying a sparkly purple backpack with unicorns on it and a matching lunchbox.

“Xiyeon, sweetie, don’t forget your things.”

Yaebin internally smacks herself for not putting two and two together. The X necklace and the Xiyeon on her class roster. She sets down the chalk in her hand shakily and wipes the white residue from her palms on the side of her dress.

With a frustrated sigh, Xiyeon grabs the items from Minkyung's hands, then rushes into the classroom to greet Yaebin with an adorable, slightly toothless smile. “Good morning, Miss Kang.” Yaebin can't tell if the lisp is from being toothless or if it's just a charaacter trait, but it's adorable nonetheless.

Minkyung saunters over slowly, a sultry grin on her face. She stops a few inches short of Yaebin, then reaches into her purse to pull out a gift of sorts: a large, shining, Red Delicious apple.

Red. Minkyung Red.

“Happy first day, Miss Kang.”