Brand new day.

Donghae’s first thought of the day as the sunshine peeks though his bedroom blinds. He wanted to forget the drama he was into the night before. After Ryeowook demanded to know why Sungmin was hugging Donghae, Donghae managed to free himself from Sungmin’s strong arms, started running towards the door while bowing and mouthing ‘sorry’ to Ryeowook.

He did not even care that he was hungry; he just wanted no more misunderstandings.

After all, it was an impromptu invitation; he had no idea that he would be caught in the middle of a lover’s quarrel. Perhaps this is Seoul, he thought. People are bolder here and maybe gay couples living together are not uncommon here. Back in Mokpo, this would have been unacceptable and frowned upon.

‘I need to be more open minded.’ He reminded himself.

He got up and got ready to go to school. The good thing is that the school was a 15 minutes’ walk from his apartment. Since it was his first day in school, the principal had requested that he meet with him first. Donghae wanted to create a good first impression so he took slightly longer to get ready and made sure that the shirt he is wearing is ironed and his hair is combed neatly.

“Donghae ah, you are a good person and you will do well. You are kind, and you will always be loved by people. Hwaiting!”

These are familiar words spoken to the mirror every morning. Donghae feels that this daily routine always gives him the energy boost to start each morning on a positive note. He feels that he needs to be the biggest cheerleader for himself

As he locked the door to his apartment, he walked past the gay couple’s apartment quickly so as not to bump into them. He figured that he needed some time to digest the fact that he is living next to a gay couple. The idea of two men being together still baffles him. He cannot understand why they would choose to be with someone from the same gender.

It was a cloudy day and the walk was a like a breath of fresh air. With his sling bag on his right shoulder, he noticed that people around him were in formal office attire, all walking briskly to the nearby subway station. Perhaps this is city life; all the adults were fully absorbed in their phones and tablet while walking. They all seemed to look straight ahead, not even stealing any glances to their left and right.

“I am here!” exclaimed the excited Donghae when he saw a school building. The school looks huge, mainly because there were no students around. As Donghae started to walk in, he felt slightly twitchy. He felt his footsteps get heavier with each step. He headed for the general office.

“Excuse me….I am here to see the principal?” Donghae has no idea why he was stuttering talking to the clerk sitting at the counter.

The lady at the counter looked up at Donghae and smiled. Somehow, her smile was comforting and it made Donghae feel slightly re-assured.

“Are you a transfer student?” she asked politely.

“Of course he is not a student!” yelled a voice from behind the lady. “He is our new teacher!”

Donghae looked up, and there was a man in a white shirt and black pants. His hair was light brown and when he smiles his dimple was clearly seen. Donghae was stunned to see him. Who is this guy?

The man with the dimple walked towards Donghae who stayed rooted to the ground. As he walks, he stretched out his hand.

“I am Jungsoo. The students call me Mr Park.”

“You are the principal?!” Donghae was confused at how the principal was so much younger than what he pictured him to be.

“Haha…yes yes. You mean its not obvious?” chuckling at Donghae’s question.

““Annyeong-haseyo. I am Lee Donghae. You just look really young to be a principal.” Donghae was quick to bow down in formality before any misunderstanding arises.

 “Oh well, I am not THAT young. I just happened to use really good skincare products and I eat healthily. You should too! Just because you are young now, doesn’t mean you should take your health lightly.”

The principal’s smile was welcoming. Donghae started to relax. He was glad that his boss is not an old grumpy man like how they always depict in movies.

“Yes Sir, I am pretty health conscious myself.”

“Please, call me Jungsoo hyung.” Still smiling and he started to pat Donghae’s shoulders.

Donghae nodded in obedience.

“Let’s walk, I will show you where your classroom is and I will introduce you to your buddy teacher as well.”

“Buddy teacher?” a confused Donghae asked.

“Yes, we usually assign a more senior teacher to new teachers, to guide them and assist them whenever possible. It’s the school’s culture.”

Donghae started to worry. What if the senior teacher is an old, grumpy teacher? What if the senior teacher does not like him? What if the senior teacher assigns him a lot of work? What if? What if? What if?

“Don’t worry, she is a pretty nice lady and she very popular among the kids here.” Jungsoo said, as if he could read Donghae’s worried expression.

As Donghae walked next to the principal along the empty hallway, he could see that the hall was brightly decorated with students’ artwork on the walls. Some of the drawings were so life like that he has a hard time believing that they were drawn by 12 year old students.

The two men walked till the end of the hallway.

“Here is your classroom on the right. As mentioned in the email, you will be teaching 6 graders English. Your buddy teacher is in the classroom right opposite you on the left. She is teaching 6 graders math.” Jungsoo explained while pointing to the classrooms.

“Come on, let’s see if she is in.” Jungsoo said while grabbing Donghae by the arm and walking towards the classroom.

Two knocks on the door and the principal just walked in without waiting for any response.

Sitting on the desk was a lady in red sweater. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and she was busily typing away on her laptop. Seeing the two men walked into the classroom, she looked up, smiled and started to stand up.

“This is Miss Song.” Jungsoo introduced her to the newer staff.

“Annyeong-haseyo. Please, call me Jihyo.” The lady bowed. She does not look like a senior teacher at all. She has flawless fair skin and sparkling eyes. The sun rays from the classroom windows looked like it formed an orb around her. Even though her hair was messy, Donghae thought she was really pretty mesmerizing.

“Donghae?” Jihyo and Jungsoo were both staring at Donghae. It was at this moment that Donghae realized that he had been staring a little bit too long at Jihyo.