♥Mi-Young POV♥

The sun came early the next day. It crept through my curtains and danced playfully on my face. I rubbed my eyes, trying to shoo them away, but without any luck. I sat up and glanced over my room - everything was as it should have been.

I made my way to the bathroom and glared at my miserable state in the mirror. I had become sickly looking, pale and drained. My pink cheeks had drowned behind all my tears, now replaced with dull and hollow cheek bones. I hated myself for letting go as much as I had. I used to remember telling my friends how foolish they were for getting so hung up over a guy. Look at me now.
I turned the tap and watched the water gush out and run down the drain, a bit like how love would gush out so strongly at first, only to run down some dirty, dusty pipe. I cupped my hands together, letting it overflow before bringing it up to my face. I allowed myself a few seconds to take a deep breath before the water enveloped my features. After a couple of minutes I looked up again. The mask of water made no difference to my pale and dead complexion. I looked pathetic. I gave up, brushed my teeth and got changed for work.

I slid the wooden doors open and as usual, there was breakfast on the table and a small note telling me that my parents had already started hauling in their first catch of fish for today. I ate silently, turning the pages of the newspaper but never comprehending a single word. The rice and seaweed tasted strange in my mouth as I chewed because I had to, not because I wanted to.

My short walks to work were always something that gave me a small piece of mind. It was on these short walks that I found myself relaxed, calm and sometimes happy. Dust encircled my shoes as I acknowledged the trees either side of my path and they too responded when the wind made them bow. I looked at the small building in front of me. The school housed all of the town’s school children and teenagers, and it was here that I made a living. It was also here, that my happiest memories stayed, locked away in my heart. The front doors were wide open, as if it was a mother, opening her arms to her children.

I walked in and made my way to the staff room where all the teachers were supposed to gather each morning. I smiled as I turned the cold brass handle, trying to put on a brave face like I had been for the past two and a half years.

“Good morning Mi-Young sshi” everyone chorused.

I gave a small smile as I made my way to the desk at the far end of the office, the only one next to a window. It was a place I could day dream and pretend that I was watching the happy faces outside. I placed my bag near the old computer that occupied 60% of my desk. It was old and slow, something that I had learned to deal with, a good whack most of the time got it buzzing again.

“Mi-Young sshi, can you see Mr Lee after classes please?”

I looked up with a small nod as I recognised the raspy voice that belonged to the headmaster’s assistant.
Mrs Kim was a plump old lady with rosey apple cheeks that radiated against her dark skin. Her hair was short and cropped the same way every month by the local hairdresser. She nodded happily and began humming an old folk song as she walked away, ticking the to-do list she so diligently carried everywhere.

When the bell rang for class, I made my way to the classroom at the far end of the hall. The hallway had come alive with the shuffling of busy feet and chatter of excited students. I could see myself again, in their eyes, in their smiles and in their actions. Inside these students, I found a happier me. It probably explained why I had chosen to become a teacher. I didn’t need to listen the conversations to understand what was going on in their minds.
The girls in the far end of the hallway were talking about the new boy, discussing their likes, dislikes and who would call dibs.

♥FLASHBACK♥

“Mi-Young ah, what do you think of the new boy?” Yuri asked, pointing a delicate finger at the back of someone I had never seen before.

“She doesn’t need a new boy. Mi-Young’s already got “Flaming Charisma.”" Yoona teased, as she flicked her hair, trying to get more attention from the boys walking past.

I giggled, hugging my books closer to my chest as I looked around the hallways, wondering why he was late. I saw him then, staring at me, smiling contently to himself. With a bag slung carelessly over his shoulder and his hands tucked into his pockets, he looked more dashing than yesterday. He played with his hair as he waited for me to follow him, his foot was tapping against the hardwood floor. He was getting impatient now.

“I have to go now.” I said, as I tried my best to compress the smile that was about to engulf my face.

“Yah! Where. Never mind! Have fun!” Yuri giggled as she and Yoona went about talking to some boys who had approached after my departure.

Nothing else mattered now. I was focused on him. The only person I could see, in a hallway crowded with other faces. His smile grew wider as he held out his hand. I took it eagerly, the warmth overflowing through my fingers, spilling all across the floor, drowning me in happiness. I smiled.

♥END OF FLASHBACK♥

As I sat down in my chair at the front of the class, I came hurtling back into reality. The reality that I wasn’t going to see him again. That pain, hurt me more than anything else in the world…

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥