I do admit that my teaching methods are very much different from other teachers in the school I’m currently working in.

I allow my students to call me by my name, but only in class though. I believe that by treating everyone equally, you will be able to bond and are more likely to share problems with each other. As a form teacher, I think this method is good so I’m able to help my students not only academically but in other aspects of their lives as well.

So far, no one has abused the use of my name in class, so I’m thankful. It was a mutual agreement that my form class must be capable of switching the way they addressed me in the presence of a third party.

Also, because I was an English teacher, I encouraged my class to speak the language instead of Korean whenever they could because the 4-hour curriculum every week was hardly enough to improve fluency. I also found that the lack of use of English caused the students to forget a fair amount of knowledge taught in the syllabus so far.

‘Jaejoong, the class committee has decided to hold a hold a garage sale for the school’s annual fundraiser. What do you think about it?’ the class chairman told me during homeroom.

‘It sounds feasible. Everyone’s okay with it?’ I asked the class.

They all agreed.

‘So everyone’s going to contribute items to the sale?’ I asked my chairman.

‘Yes, of course. You could also chip in if you want to,’ he grinned.

‘Sure, why not,’ I nodded.

‘Jaejoong, there’s something I want to get off my chest,’ my class’ treasurer began.

I signaled for him to go on.

‘I heard the students from the class next door that you’re going to fail at your winning streak this year.’

‘What winning streak?’ I questioned, getting curious myself.

‘You know… every class you’ve taught so far, they’ll always emerge top performing class in English in their respective levels.’

‘It’s not solely because I’m the one teaching, it’s the effort my students put in too!’ I defended, ‘Look, you guys could hardly form a sentence at the beginning of the year without wrecking your brains for a couple of minutes but now, you can rattle off as naturally as you do when you speak Korean.’

I earned some grins from the class and I went on, ‘ Believe me, I don’t have any magic teaching powers, it’s just that you guys need to use the language more. I sincerely encourage you guys to even speak in English after school hours. Don’t bother about the looks thrown at you by other students, because at the end of the day, they’re the ones at the losing end.

‘And about my winning streak, don’t worry about it. This class is my best one yet, so I know I won’t lose. I can assure you, just follow my lead and pay attention in class and you’ll be looking at at least a B+ at the end of the year.’

‘But I’ve never even gotten a C at the end of year examinations before…’ a student frowned.

‘Just trust me.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Jaejoong, please go to bed,’ Yoochunnie urged me as he found me sitting at the coffee table planning next week’s lessons.

‘Just half an hour more,’ I patted Yoochunnie’s head before focusing on my work before me.

‘I’ll come back in 30 minutes then. No more extensions!’ Yoochunnie stomped off.

Because I suffered from insomnia during my high school days, Yoochunnie had been constantly monitoring my sleeping habits so I won’t fall prey to my old illness once more.

Time check: 1.28am.

I decided to put off the planning and started to mark the vocabulary worksheets handed in by my class this morning.

Time check: 1.40am.

My red pen ran out of ink. Desperate to save time, I marked with my pencil instead.

Time check: 1.51am.

Yoochunnie was going to appear anytime now. Just a handful more to mark…

Time check: 2.02am.

Strange, I thought Yoochunnie was going to pounce on me a few minutes ago. Shrugging, I reached for another pile of work to mark: Spelling.

To be brutally honest, I enjoyed laughing at the mistakes my students made - not that I would ever reveal this to them, but it was seriously hilarious.

Time check: 2:15am.

I could go on forever. Was Yoochunnie asleep? If so, it was good because –

‘JAEJOONG! GO AND SLEEP NOW!’ a fuming Yoochunnie dragged me onto my feet, forcefully carried me bridal style across the apartment and dropped me at the entrance of my bedroom.

‘Okay, okay, chill Yoochunnie!’ I stumbled as I tried to break the fall and adjusted my attire.

‘DON’T YOU DARE SNEAK AND GO BACK TO MARKING! I’LL ING RIP THEM TO SHREDS! GOOD NIGHT!’ Yoochunnie went back into his bedroom.

I was left chuckling heartedly to myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘I’m sorry for yelling at you like that yesterday night,’ I apologised.

‘I forgive you.’

‘It’s just that I had to wake up in a cranky mood to force you to sleep.’

‘I forgive you.’

‘Jae, I’m sorry for stealing the magazine from you.’

‘I forgive - ’ Jaejoong paused when he realised that Yunho was the one who said that previous statement, ‘Okay, fine, since I’m in a very forgiving mood this morning.’

‘Thank you, Jae.’

Jaejoong nodded and served breakfast for all of us.

‘Yunho has a special muesli mix with blueberries while I have a regular bowl of corn flakes with milk. Why is that?’ I asked.

‘Because I’m still sore over the fact that I only had 3 more spelling tests to mark before you hauled me to bed. Yunho gets a ‘special treatment’ because I had been cruel to him for the past 2 days.’

‘Reasoning accepted,’ I tucked into my now semi-soggy cornflakes.

‘And why do you get cornflakes as well?’ Yunho asked Jaejoong.

‘Because I blamed Yoochunnie for coming in between completing my marking.’

‘You don’t have to punish yourself for that!’ I pulled Jaejoong into a side hug.

He was seriously too cute for words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was surprised that I managed to get an invite to display my works at a gallery for a competition to showcase works from new artists on the scene. It was coming up in 9 months, which was more than enough time for me to complete a whole collection of works.

‘Any inspiration for it?’ Jaejoong asked during our ‘lunch date’.

‘Nope. I’ll probably run around the city to get some ideas, so don’t panic when I don’t come home on certain nights.’

‘Be safe okay?’ Jaejoong sighed and continued eating his lasagna.

‘I’m an adult, Jaejoong, so don’t worry too much about me.’

‘But you’ll always be my Yoochunnie and I’ll watch over you until either one of us dies.’

‘You’re turning lunch morbid,’ I sulked.

‘Sorry, Yoochunnie,’ Jaejoong pouted adorably.

A sudden spark of inspiration flashed through me and I slammed the table excitedly.

Jaejoong quickly grabbed the napkin to cover his mouth as my sudden action caused him to splutter out his food.

‘What happened!?’ Jaejoong panicked.

‘I GOT IT! THANKS JAEJOONG!’ with that I ran out of the Italian restaurant, leaving a very confused brother of mine behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Yoochunnie, dinner’s ready!’ I knocked on his workroom door.

‘You go ahead, I want to finish the painting the foreground first,’ Yoochunnie shouted from inside the room.

I sighed. I knew nothing could get him moving until he finished his artwork.

Sitting at the table alone, I took the chopsticks in my hand and was about to tuck in when I stopped.

I should wait for Yoochunnie.

I placed my utensils back on top of the bowl and went to the living room to continue marking the test scripts.

Time check: 7.35pm.

If Yoochunnie doesn’t come out at 8, I’ll just eat alone.

Time check: 8.08pm.

I can’t eat alone, that’s just inconsiderate.

Time check: 8.42pm.

My stomach can’t take it no more. Err…just hang in there.

Time check: 9.13pm.

I’ll just pop the food into the oven to warm them up.

Time check: 9.35pm.

‘JUST HOW BIG IS THAT FOREGROUND!? WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG TO COMPLETE!?’ I found myself banging hard on the workroom door.

A flustered Yoochunnie opened the door.

I relaxed.

‘Let’s eat, now.’

Yoochunnie nodded timidly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~