>_____<;;

Chorong closed her laptop and looked up to see Victoria running into the kitchen.

“Someone slept well,” she said.

“Too well,” Victoria finished before running toward their toaster. “Namjoo, I thought I asked you to put something in for me!”

“Over there,” Namjoo lazily pointed to the counter where her bagels were sitting on a plate while gluing her eyes to the little screen of her phone. She was currently watching some morning talk show about the latest trends.

“Chorong, we’re out of grocery. Go buy some stuff after you’re done job hunting.” Victoria ordered spreading butter over her bagels.

“I have an interview,” Chorong expressionlessly told. “Namjoo, are you going to look for a job at all?”

“Waiting for a call, I applied for a few places,” Namjoo answered crossing her legs. “Does anybody know what country the brand 59^th Street is from?”

“On the other hand, what happened to your guardian angel?” Victoria asked.

“Hong Kong,” Chorong turned to Namjoo.

“Do they sell their stuff here?” Namjoo wondered then turned to Victoria, “He left.”

Chorong shrugged while pulling her hair out of a bun and shook it loose. “I don’t know. Victoria, are you done? We might as well share a cab and fetch the cars together.”

“What’d he say to you?”

“Stuff that I’m actually very confused about,” Namjoo replied.

“Right,” Victoria boringly commented. “I’m done, Chorong. Oh Namjoo, if you decide to leave the house, don’t forget to lock the door.” Then turned to Chorong, “Lets go.”

“I waited long enough,” Chorong said. She pointed to Namjoo while walking out, “If there’s anything, call.”

>_____<;;

“I won’t be done till 7,” Victoria explained, “but if anything happens or if anyone decides to suddenly pop up, call me at work.”

“Oh I’m sure everything will be fine.” Chorong said in the cab. “I think you’re starting to get a hang of your ‘thing.’ You see what you did last night at the police station. I was thinking someone might get hurt.” 

“Oh please,” Victoria snorted then quickly looked out the window and said to the driver, “you can stop here.”

They walked the rest of the way to the cars they left in front of the crest hill and Victoria couldn’t help, but look up the thin path that led to the top. It had looked kind of creepy last night. She didn’t expect that it’d look really friendly during the daytime, which made it hard to believe that some kind of thing wielding a scythe existed at the top. She wondered what it was and how it knew they were talking about their mom, the woman who’d been found there 14 years ago.

“What are you looking at?” Chorong asked opening her car door.

“Oh…nothing,” Victoria turned around and got into her car.

>_____<;;

A few minutes later Chorong was running from the school parking lot and through the long winding hallways. There were pictures of the previous principles and the proud teachers of the school hanging on the walls she ran pass. She was panting by the time she reached the principal’s office and had to bend over to catch her breath. Chorong cleared a few times, fixed her hair, and straightened out her outfit before adjusting her bag over her shoulder.

“Whew, lets do this, Chorong!” she encouraged herself before knocking on the almost orange door before she opened the door and poked her head in.

She walked into a large room and turned her head to see a sitting place in front of the large desk made from Maplewood. Binders, folders, and papers were stacked to one side while the other held little miniature cupboards.

“Come in,” the woman who seemed to be in her mid-forties invited her in. “Miss Park Chorong?”

“Ah…yes,” she slightly bowed awkwardly.

“Take a seat.”

Sliding her way to the front she sat down on a chair and smiled as cheerily as possible. She’d woken up early and even practiced facing the mirror.

“Mmm…I see here that you worked as a secretary for a law firm?” the principal looked at her application.

Chorong nodded.

“Then what brings you here? I see you went to business school.”

“Actually, I always had a passion for helping others. I only recalled it recently,” Chorong answered.

“Will you be able to get along with our students?” the principal questioned, eyes still on the application. Then she turned and placed her arm on the table while facing Chorong, “Being a teacher isn’t as relaxing or calming as you may think.”

“I’m aware of that,” Chorong nodded.

The principal kindly smiled before pressing a button and the door behind her opened. Chorong turned to see a handsome young man stride in politely.

“This is Teacher Kim,” the principal introduced, “you’ll be teaching the sophomore level with him.”

Chorong glanced at this Teacher Kim before turning to the principal, “Oh…but…I actually just applied for a student teaching position…not really an official teacher position.”

“Teacher Kim will show you around now.” the principal’s smile this time was a signal of dismissal and Chorong had no choice, but to leave.

Her mind blanked as she walked out. She had thought the interview would take longer, but it seemed like there were other things on the principal’s mind. Chorong raised her brows appalled and turned when Teacher Kim closed the door.

“Whew, she’s scary,” he commented pointing to the principal’s door then childishly smiled and held out his hand, “you can just refer to me as Suho. My classroom’s pretty nice, I think the kids will like you.”

“Ah…Chorong, Park Chorong,” Chorong happily shook his hand before they started down the hallway.

“What subject do you teach?”

“Oh…uh…” Chorong’s mind blurred. She hadn’t been given the time to figure anything out other than being kicked out from the principal’s office.

“This is my room,” he pointed to an open door and Chorong stepped forward to peek in.

Her eyes slightly widened and she felt her mind spin. The twenty or so students who filled up the classroom were currently chattering loudly, some throwing paper planes around while others played games on their cellphones. And she had really thought this Suho’s classroom was really full of tender loving students.

>_____<;;

Namjoo had just finished cleaning up after herself after eating breakfast. She had planned a book for the day’s reading and was just heading toward the sitting room when she heard a slight thud. Her head shot up toward the ceiling. The noise had come from upstairs and it suddenly sounded like someone was moving around in their rooms.

“Chorong?” Namjoo called turning around to face the stairs. “Victoria?”

No one replied, but the movement still continued. It was as if someone was walking back and forth looking for something.

Stepping toward the stairs Namjoo looked up, “Victoria? Are you up there?”

Again, no one answered. She turned to look around her and was confident that she was alone downstairs. Namjoo started up the stairs slowly. The palms of her hands were becoming sweaty from paranoia.

“Chorong? Victoria?” Namjoo called when she reached the top and peered down the hallway. “Hey, are you home?”

It was silent, very quiet, and suddenly the movement had stopped. Namjoo nervously peered around. They kept all their doors closed; it had always been that way. Chorong’s door was adjacent to the stairway and Namjoo decided to head for it first. She quietly reached for the doorknob and pushed the door open. Peeking into the room Namjoo saw nothing. She closed the door and quickly spun around to glance down the stairs when she heard dishes clatter in the kitchen.

Her heart started racing and she unconsciously started flexing her fingers. If something were to jump out at her she’d throw a fireball at it just as she’d thrown one toward the Shadow that had attacked Woohyun.

“Looking for me?”

Namjoo turned around to see someone she’d never seen before and saw something bright jut out from his hand. It instantly hit her forcing her down the stairs. Each step painfully jutted itself against her body as she flipped over and felt her head thud against the wooden stairs before she hit the wall and fell the rest of the way down.

She vividly heard a, “Hey!” at the top of the stairs and saw a bright orb before someone crashed into the wall with a scream.

Namjoo could feel her mind slipping away when she reached the foot of the stairs, but before she landed on the floor something with a blinding light cushioned her fall. When she opened her eyes a crack she saw someone familiar leaning over her before she completely knocked out.

>_____<;;

“Ugh…” Victoria groaned in her car. “Why isn’t she picking up!?”

She looked up to see students walking by all in their own world and completely dismissive of her. Victoria was sitting in her car after realizing she’d forgotten her notebooks and she didn’t even have a piece of paper to write with. There were empty binders in her backpack she had forgotten to unpack Saturday and she was nothing, but screwed.

Victoria almost thought of driving back home, but then the drive back to campus would take too much time and she’d have nowhere to park when she returned. She’d spent the last five minutes calling Namjoo, but she wasn’t picking up. Frustration was sinking in much faster than she’d anticipated.

Victoria grunted and resorted to calling Chanyeol who, thankfully, picked up on the second ring. After explaining to him her situation she hung up and lightly banged her head against the wheel.

>_____<;;

“Namjoo?” Chanyeol knocked on the door. “Are you home?”

He pressed his ear against the door and thought he heard some incomprehensible noises before furiously knocking on the door.

“What’s going on in there? Namjoo!” he shouted.

Chanyeol glanced around just to make sure no one was watching before stepping back. When he and Namjoo started dating back in high school he remembered her telling him a story about how Chorong’s father had broken the door. Instead of calling a professional to repair it he’d done it himself and had done a pretty poor job with the nailing. Upon his memory the door was a weak one to begin with and it wouldn’t take much to kick it open. With two quick steps he kicked the door and almost tripped in when it flew open.

Regaining his balance he thought he saw a glow before it quickly faded. He looked around confused before running over to Namjoo who was out cold on the floor.

Namjoo awoke approximately 5 minutes later in the living room. As she pulled herself up she glanced around in a manner as if someone had been in the house with her.

“Are you ok?” he asked worried. “What happened?”

She turned to look at him looking a little appalled and confused, but didn’t answer.

“What are you doing here?” she pushed her hair back.

“Oh yea…Victoria called me. She forgot her notebooks and needs you to bring them to her.”

Namjoo quickly nodded and got up to start toward the stairs, but stopped and turned around. “When you came in, no one else was here, right?”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?” He got up to walk toward her. “Was someone here with you? Or did someone break in?”

Namjoo turned away with a roll her eyes before he circled her.

“Is that how you got hurt?”

Ignoring him she started up the stairs. Chanyeol was quick to follow. “You have to tell me what happened!”

“Can you leave now?” Namjoo walked into Victoria’s room and searched from dresser to table before Chanyeol turned and picked up the notebooks stacked atop each other by the door.

“These?” he asked holding them up.

Namjoo spun around and walked over to grab them, but he held them up into the air. “Chanyeol!”

“Not until you tell me what happened.” He his heels and walked out with her shouting after him. Namjoo swatted her hands around him, but he wouldn’t let her get them unless she gave him the story he knew he wasn’t going to get.

“Seriously!” she scolded. “Didn’t you say Victoria needs them quick?”

“I think you’re the one she’s going to get angry with. If you stop putting up a fight we’d save some precious time here,” he pointed to his watch.

Namjoo glared at him, but in the end he won out. He drove around campus until he spotted Victoria by her car.

“What took you so long!?” she scolded stomping toward them.

“Ask your sister who was out cold when I got there,” Chanyeol turned to look at Namjoo who followed him out.

“What?” Victoria asked.

“Cause seems like someone broke into the house, but she didn’t bother to call the cops,” Chanyeol grounded his teeth.

“No one broke in!” Namjoo fought then turned to Victoria. “I’ll explain to you when you get home.”

“Better,” Victoria muttered then eyed Chanyeol really quickly before looking at Namjoo, “you should take this opportunity to clean up after yourself.”

Namjoo frowned as she watched Victoria walk away.

“What’s she talking about?” Chanyeol wondered.

“Apparently none of your business,” Namjoo spat before walking to the car.

>_____<;;

After a long 5 minutes of trying to persuade Suho, Chorong was finally able to just sit in the back and watch. There was a reason why she’d asked for a student teaching position. It was because she knew nothing about teaching. She didn’t major in Education so she had no real experience. She was suddenly definitely sure the school was crazy because the principal hired her on spot and Suho didn’t seem that great a teacher as she thought he’d seemed. Maybe he loved his students and had over exaggerated to her earlier about how good they were, because she felt like the classroom was a disaster.

Students were drawing in their notebooks instead of copying the notes he was writing on the board. She had to really wonder if he knew what he was doing. If he couldn’t get things under control, her life would lose its center of gravity really, really soon.

When the bell finally signaled for lunch Chorong felt like dropping onto the floor and playing dead. If this was supposed to be her first day of school, she’d rather it be her last.

“How you holding up?” he walked over to her and took one of the desk chairs in front of her.

“I’m sure you know, but your students aren’t as attentive as you think they are.”

Suho smiled kindly, “Kids are kids. We were all like that when we were still in school.”

“Well then, boy, have kids evolved,” Chorong said sarcastically before shaking her head, “I wasn’t that bad.”

He only smiled in reply.

“How long have you been here?” Chorong wondered. “You don’t look like you’ve been teaching very long.”

“It’s my first year.”

“Really?” Chorong asked out of surprise.

He nodded, “I’m sure you’ll like it here. The kids are nicer than you think they are.” Then he said proudly, “I get a lot of love notes.”

Chorong slightly frowned, but smiled out of amusement then laughed. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad there after all. This Teacher Kim seemed brighter than she thought he’d be.