Chap Two 

The next week.

“Boys and girls, settle down and pay attention!” LuHan shouted finally, unable to stand the lack of focus and on-going ruckus in the classroom anymore. What ill-behaved nine year olds! God, what I would give to tie them to their seats and tape their mouths shut! He thought to himself, cursing mentally at the lack of respect he was getting as an authoritative adult and teacher.

Soon, the elementary students settled down, beginning to pay attention to LuHan who was unlucky enough to get them as a class. It just so happened that their science teacher was on maternity leave, which led to him getting assigned to the class. It’s truly amazing how much little respect substitute teachers gets from the younger generation these days, often too many times, LuHan would be in front of the classroom and getting a headache. And it didn’t not help that the twenty two year old male had a baby face, looking a teenager who could be easily pushed aside. Pleading to the heavens, LuHan hopes that his little Hyeri would grow up to be a respectful girl who would be mindful of her teachers.     

“Take out your textbook and turn to page 37.” Began LuHan, who was officially starting the lesson after spending a whole ten minutes trying to get control of the rambunctious nine year old monsters. He sighs inwardly, turning around to write something about ecosystems and the interactions between living organisms on the whiteboard. It was just another day that his boring, a bit stressful and sometimes sleep-depriving job as an elementary school teacher offered.

He had learnt how to deal with the slack from inattentive students, the cheeky comments from childish students, the noise from disruptive students, the heavy workload when it comes to tests, tutoring and examinations – even the cheap- disgusting muck they passed off as coffee in the teacher’s lounge. But then, LuHan still hated his job. Not mentioning the long hours and the ‘just barely enough money to get by after paying bills’ salary, teaching was a mundane and involuntarily forced profession. LuHan only went into elementary teaching after numerous failed interviews, testament to how much he hated the job.

But for Hyeri and a secure future, he just had to deal with it.

Then a