Baek Hee was teaching her students some hiphop dance steps when Kang Kyung Jin knocked on the door.

"Joeseonghamnida, Yoon-seonsaengnim, I would like to have a word with you."

Baek Hee raised her eyebrows as she went towards the door. To her shock, she saw Jin Gook behind the Principal.

"Yoon-seonsaengnim, I would like to introduce to you your part-time partner, Hyun Shi Hyuk."

Baek Hee blinked her eyes and looked at her favorite ex-teacher.

"D..do I really need to have a partner?"

"Mm. Jin Gook-ah is on vacation. And he expressed his desire to teach part-time while killing time away."

"He could work somewhere else, but not here and especially not with me!"

"Mweoyo? Are you two having problems?"

Jin Gook remained silent. But Baek Hee was adamant.

"Shireo. I don't want him to be my partner. He can be Yang-seonsaengnim's partner, but not mine!"

Kyung Jin tilted her head. "What's this? You two were former group members in K. Why the sudden change, Baek Hee-ya?"

But Baek Hee didn't listen. She went inside the classroom and continued with her class. Jin Gook, meanwhile, went inside the classroom and sat on the bench at the back. When Baek Hee saw him, she fumed in anger and sighed. Some students who saw him began to go gaga and went to Jin Gook and tried to ask for his autograph.

"Go back to your places!" Baek Hee shouted. The students made sour faces as they went back to their positions.

"I didn't give you permission to goof around. Anyone I catch doing that again will get a demerit and will not be given a chance to perform in the showcase next month. Understood?"

"N.neee...."

"What are you? Are you even goats? Understood????"

"Ne!"

Jin Gook, meanwhile was observing Baek Hee. He was suddenly feeling out of place. He felt he was taking Baek Hee's domain away from her. And because of what he had said last night, Jin Gook felt guilty. He wanted to teach alongside Baek Hee, but it seems like the female teacher wanted to stand alone. So he just observed her teaching style. He noticed that she had been hotheaded earlier when she saw him, bit Baek Hee's attitude suddenly shifted. SHe began to teach her students systematically and with authority.

"Okay, let's begin from the top."

***

"Gook-ah, I've heard you were basically thrown out of the room by Baek Hee. What happened?" KAng Oh Hyuk asked.

Jin Gook sighed as he recounted to his teacher what happened at Baek Hee's house yesterday.

"Gook-ah, it seems like you've hit BAek Hee's sensitive spot. You knew very well her history with Hye Mi. Your rubbing salt to her wound, I wouldn't be surprised why she would be so angry at you right now. Baek Hee had been trying her very best even to be a good teacher. Many students don't like her because she is strict, but she means well. They respect her because the class she teaches always win in different contests here in Kirin and even outside Korea. Have you heard of Dal Shabet? (Jin Gook nodded) They were Baek Hee's students! And look where they are now! They're one of the famous K-Pop group in Korea. Kara, Brown Eyed Girls...even Hyorin of Sistar became her student! So you shouldn't have underestimated her. She may not have been a good composer, but she is a good teacher."

BAek Hee happened to pass by bringing her food tray. On her ears were the IPod's earpieces. Jin Gook sighed. He had taught that to Hye Mi, and perhaps, Hye Mi had taught her former bestfriend about curbing down noises. She knew that at the opposite table sat Jin Gook and Kang-ssaem. Yet she was acting as if she never even saw him.

"Aren't you even gonna apologize to her?" Kang-ssaem said.

"I..I'd rather lie low for a while. I know Baek Hee has difficulty forgiving another person's faults. But it's not my fault she fell in love with me."

"You probably had been so nice to her. Some girls mistook kindness for love." 

"I know. Yet, I cannot see her the way I see Hye Mi."

***

BAek Hee knew very well that the earpieces would never subdue the noises from the environment unless she played her IPod loudly. That's why she heard Jin Gook saying that he just didn't feel the way she did. Feigning hurt, she slightly bowed her head and continued forking on her vegetables. Yet was parch-dry. She swallowed hard as she tried fighting back her tears. She remembered what Jin Gook had said to her last night, and she felt really hurt. He was adding insult to the injury she had incurred from her eomma. 

She remembered lying in bed last night looking at Jin Gook's framed picture on her bedside table. It had been nine years already, and she still had his picture. He was wearing his Kirin uniform and coyly smiled at the camera. Baek Hee had hoped year after year that Jin Gook would come to notice her. Yes, she was a love-sick fool. She even considered herself a fangirl. On her Facebook and Twitter account, she subscribed and followed him. Everytime she saw news of Jin Gook being linked to Haruna Kojima, a member of the Japanese girl group AKB48, Baek Hee would feel jealous. Of course, Haruna looked like a Japanese doll, and her features look natural even without make-up. Baek Hee had once seen a y pictorial of Jin Gook and Haruna. In her jealousy, she immediately closed the window of the website.

Baek Hee's eyes moved to glance sideways. In her peripheral vision, she could see Jin Gook and Kang-ssaem stand up and take their lunch trays to the wash station. Then her eyes followed Jin Gook out the door. Bowing her head once more, she continued eating her lunch while nursing her wounded heart.

(A/N: Kojima Haruna played Nana in Ikemen Desu Ne and Fujimura Saki in Gokusen 3. Ikemen Desu Ne is the Japanese equivalent of the Korean He's Beautiful. Kojima's role in Ikemen is Uee's role In HB.)