Emily Cai.

Cai.

That was it. He remembered. Cai was the last name of his teacher... his eyes widened - it couldn't be such a coincidence right? There was no way this king kong was going to be his teacher right? His teacher, Miss Cai, was probably some little old woman... right? Well that's what he hoped.

Slowly, Emily turned to face Jiro. She stared at him as he stared at her, both hoping that what they were thinking of wasn't true. Neither of them said anything.

Emily stared at his uniform and cursed herself for not noticing the clear Guava High School logo on his black blazer. She then cleared .

"H-Hey... you're not that new transfer student starting today... in my class right...?" she asked him nervously, breaking out into a cold sweat. She really didn't want to see this guy anymore, she wouldn't be so unlucky to have to see his face everyday right...? Right?

It was then when Jiro realised it: his unfortunate fate.

Slowly shaking his head to himself, he muttered to himself, "You've got to be kidding me, King Kong Jie Jie.... there's no way I could be so unlucky..."
"Are you saying that I'm going to have to see you everyday?" Emily questioned, already groaning.
"Sacrificing my high school diploma right now seems pretty worth it," he uttered.

Even though neither of them verbally confirmed their fears, they knew it all too well. Emily was Jiro's new teacher. Jiro was Emily's new student. They were teacher and student. Student and teacher.

Suddenly, Jiro's phone rang - it was Calvin.

"Hey Jiro, where are you? Mr Gao called me just now saying that you hadn't turned up to school," Calvin informed him, "But he also said he'll excuse it since its your first day and your teacher is also running like an hour late. He doesn't want it to happen again, but where are you? Cyndi said you left ages ago!"
"My teacher is also late?" Jiro asked slowly and in a low voice as he looked directly at Emily. Suddenly, he burst out into a frantic and continuous babble, "FATHER HELP ME! I DONT WANT TO GO SCHOOL ANYMORE! MY TEACHER IS AN INCOMPETENT AND IMPERTINENT KING KONG JIE JIE HELP ME SAVE ME! PICK ME PICK ME UP AND TAKE ME HOME!"

Calvin, on the other end, distanced his phone from his ear as Jiro's yelling and whining was so loud that he couldn't comprehend what he was even saying.

An angry tick mark formed on Emily's forehead, "IF I'M SUCH AN INCOMPETENT, IMPERTINENT KING KONG JIE JIE THEN GET OUT OF MY CAR YOU STUPID MONKEY!" she yelled, literally blowing him against the car door with the sheer force of her voice.

Calvin was laughing on the other end of the phone. "Don't tell me you're with your teacher bunking class," he said, "Who knew you'd be having so much fun on your first day, eh?"
"Fun my head! Calvin, pick me up right now!" Jiro barked into his phone.
"No way, bro," Calvin replied, "You need that diploma. Your future with Cyndi depends on it!"

Jiro fell silent and his face became blank. He then sighed, "Ugh, you're right," he said and sighed again. "I'll go to school but you have to drive me there," he added.
"What happened to your motorbike?" Calvin inquired and Jiro only glared at Emily as a response.
"A small accident," was his reply.
"An accident? What happened?" Calvin asked.
"Just hurry up and get yourself over here! I don't want to stay with this crazy lady anymore," urged Jiro, "You can't even call her a lady anyway, she's a king kong!" he added quietly.

"It doesn't matter how quietly you speak, I can still hear you," Emily spoke, "Now get out," she demanded, instantly kicking him out of her car. "In school we don't know each other!!!" she yelled as she drove off, leaving him on the ground.

...

Emily stomped her way into her classroom, now about 2 hours late. She had attempted to forcefully flatten her hair and tie it into a bun. At this point, she didn't care whether it looked presentable or not, she was more occupied by being annoyed because of that stupid monkey - she didn't even know his name and already hated him. He was trouble for sure.

"Miss Cai, what's wrong?" one of her students, Sylvia asked, "Usually you're early but today you were late and look really exhausted," she pointed out.

Emily sighed and showed her a small smile, "I just had an unpleasant encounter, that's all," she replied. She then hit her desk with her hand a few times to gain her class's attention, "Okay class, so today we'll be having a new classmate joining us," she announced, "He'll be here shortly," she added.

"A transfer student?" Wes asked and Emily nodded.
"I wonder if he's nice," Sylvia commented, which suddenly lit up a light bulb in Emily's head. A smirk spread across her lips as she devised a mischievous plan.

"Actually class, there is something I must inform you about," Emily said, "He is a bit ill," she began, "He has this disease called Insanehallucinitis. He often sees things and has symptoms of insanity but please be patient with him especially after his pet sock died last week - he's really emotionally unstable at the moment," she explained, sounding very confident about her made-up illness.

"Insan-what?" another student, Pets asked, "I've never heard of such an illness."
"Me neither," Brent added, "It sounds too bizarre to be real."
"Well it is real," Emily replied, "And this guy has it."
"Aww, he must be sufferring a lot," Sylvia muttered in sympathy, "We should all try and be his friend and help him settle in."
Wayne nodded in agreement, "It must be tough to be living from such an illness."
"Hey, Miss Cai said he's insane not lonely," Sam pointed out.
"He could be both," Cosmos replied.

Before they could continue their conversation, there was a knock at the door and instantly the class hushed down. Mr Gao stepped in with Jiro behind him.

"Mr Gao," Emily greeted with a small bow of her head. She then looked over at Jiro and showed him a smile, "Ah, you must be our new classmate," she said, obviously putting on an act. Jiro ignored her comment.

"Our new classmate is an adult?" Sylvia asked in a low voice to Wes and Wayne.
Wes nodded, "I thought he'd be our age," he mumbled, slightly disappointed but surprised.

"Miss Cai, I'll leave Jiro with you now," the principal said and Emily nodded before watching him leave.

"So, Jiro was it?" Emily asked and Jiro nodded. "Come over and introduce yourself to the class," she said and then Jiro walked over to the front of the class.

Jiro looked around the classroom, feeling a wave of nostalgia hit him. This classroom was the very classroom he had studied in 10 years ago. He remembered everything clearly and the room was practically the same apart from the newer furniture and the freshly painted walls. It was the very classroom in which he'd had the conversation with Miss Melody about dropping school and now here he was again 10 years later.

The class stared at the silent Jiro who reminisced about the past and then began chattering amongst themselves.

"Is he okay?" Cosmos asked Pets and she shrugged.
"Is his illness acting up?" she muttered.

Emily cleared , pulling Jiro out of his trance. "Please introduce yourself, classmate!" she exclaimed, a bit louder than usual.

Jiro flinched as she yelled right beside his ear and he scowled, "I'm not deaf," he remarked, almost glaring at her.
"Your moment of silence really proves that, doesn't it?" Emily retorted sarcastically.
Jiro held back a reply, deciding it was best not to mess up his first day back at school.

He sighed, stepped forwards and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He stared with a bored expression at his new classmates, "The name's Jiro Wang," he began before he bowed slightly and lazily, "Please look after me," he grumbled.
"Okay, Jiro you can go sit at any empty seat," Emily told him before turning back to her other students, "There's only 10 minutes until this class ends so you guys can spend this time just talking between yourselves," she informed them before going back to her desk and sitting down.

Jiro spotted an empty chair beside the window and sat down. When he looked up, he noticed that all eyes (except those of Emily) were glued to him. He cast them a confused looked, "What? Have you never seen an adult going back to school?" he questioned.
"No, that's not it," Cosmos denied, "We're just worried about you, Jiro."
"Worried?" Jiro repeated, "Why would you be worried, you've never even met me before."

Cosmos' eyes flickered from Jiro to her friends and then back to Jiro, hesitating.
"Because of your Insanehallu-" Sylvia burst out only to be nudged by Pets, silently telling her not to mention it.
"Don't bring it up," she whispered in a low voice, "He might find it uncomfortable."
Nodding, Sylvia mouthed her a quick apology.

"Did you just say I'm insane?" Jiro asked with a raised brow.
Pets face palmed and Cosmos quickly interjected, "You're insanely handsome!" she blurted out in correction without thinking.
Everyone just stared at her and she chuckled sheepishly with a growing blush of embarassment.
Blinking, Jiro stared at the classmates that had surrounded his desk before a small smile surfaced on his lips though it was a bit cocky. "Thanks, I really am, aren't I?" he responded, laughing to himself.

From the other side of the classroom, Emily scoffed, "Insanely handsome?" she repeated in disbelief, "More like insanely hideous," she muttered, "He looks more like a golden monkey," she added to herself.

Having good hearing, Jiro picked up on her words; her words weren't that quiet though anyway. Jiro averted his gaze from his classmates and looked over at his teacher, "And you look like a king kong, Teacher Cai," he replied to her in a loud enough voice for her to hear him.

Emily smiled daggers at him, "You're very humorous, Classmate Jiro," she said, "But please refrain from such comments in the classroom - I'll let you off this time."


Jiro rolled his eyes and turned back to his classmates who remained surrounding him.
"No one is brave enough to say such a thing to Miss Cai," Wes told him, "You have some guts," he commented in a tone that seemed to be congratulating him for an achievement.
"Is she scary?" Jiro asked him before remembering their first encounter and the way he had screamed when he first saw her - okay, maybe she was.
"She can be, if you get on her bad side," Wayne answered.

Well Jiro was already on her bad side and he knew it. He smirked, "Then let's see how scary she can get," he said, glancing over at her mischievously.
"You want to challenge her?" Brent asked, "But you just got here."
"We'll see," was Jiro's reply, "Besides I don't have time for childish games, I'm here to get my diploma."

Suddenly, the bell rang signalling the end of the class and the beginning of break time. As if on cue, Jiro stood up to leave. "Hey Jiro, do you want us to show you around?" Wes suggested as he too stood up.
"It's fine, it's not my first time here," he told him as he walked over to the door with them.

"Jiro, stay back," Emily suddenly commanded, causing him to stop in his tracks. Jiro looked back at her, "What do you need?" he asked her.
"I need to talk to you for a few minutes," she said, "In private," she added for emphasis.

"Two adults talking in private?" Wes spoke before smirking, "I wonder how that'll end up," he said before walking out with Sylvia and Wayne.
"Don't be so immature," Emily replied to her younger students as Jiro walked over to her desk.

Once the two were alone, Emily walked over to the door and closed it.

"Woah, King Kong Jie Jie, are you getting ready to murder me?" he asked, before picking up his bag to leave, "Sorry but I need my life right now."
Emily glared at him, "Sorry but I don't want stupid monkey blood on my hands," she retorted as she walked over to him.
"Well you nearly did this morning," Jiro shot back.
"Clearly you would have deserved it," she responded casually before clearing , "Hold your tongue," she said when she noticed that he was about to reply. "I don't plan to argue with you right now because we need to get some rules straight," she said.

"What rules?" Jiro asked, "I already know the school rules."
"Not the school rules, my rules," Emily replied, "Especially my rules for you."
"Wow, King Kong Jie Jie, I didn't know I was that special to you, I'm really flattered," Jiro commented sarcastically with a smiling face. "I even get my own special set of rules!"

"Yeah, really special aren't you?" she muttered with the same sarcasm. "Anyway, the most important classroom rule I have for you is to not let anyone else know that we have met before and that you must treat me like any other teacher," she explained.
"What, blow up your car and prank you everyday?" he asked jokingly, "Sure, if that's what you want."
Emily's mouth gaped open, "Is that how you treated your teachers the first time you were in high school?" she exclaimed in shock, "Is that why you're here? Because you were kicked out?"

Jiro laughed at her gull, "No, I was joking," he admitted, "But your face was priceless."
"Then why didn't you get your diploma the first time around?" she asked, curiously with a small scowl.
Jiro just smiled at her, "That's none of your business, King Kong Jie Jie."
Her face then fell into a frown, "Hey, don't call me King Kong Jie Jie either! That's another of my rules for you, stupid golden monkey!" she spat.
"Sure thing, Emily," he replied before hanging his bag over his shoulder.
"Don't call me by my name, either," she told him, "In school, I'm Miss Cai or Teacher Cai to you," she told him.

Jiro nodded and waved her off as he walked over to the door, "Okay okay, is that all?" he asked.
Emily sighed and nodded, "For now it is," she said, "But you better behave in class," she added.
"I'm a good student, don't worry," Jiro reassured her with an innocent smile before leaving the classroom.
 

A deep exhale left Emily's lips as she watched him leave.