Sweet Tooth
Walk Next To MeChapter 4: Sweet Tooth
“Sorry……….. I am Donghae, looking forward to your guidance.” Donghae was slightly embarrassed. He hoped that his staring was not too obvious.
“Oh, you are such a cute boy. Its probably a good thing that we are in an all-boys school. If not, I am pretty sure there will be students who will have crushes on you.” Jihyo chuckled.
By this time, Jungsoo had excused himself from the two new friends. He explained that he had a lot of work to do since tomorrow was going to be the first day of school. After Jihyo explained to Donghae some of the rules for the teachers in the school, they exchanged numbers. Jihyo was nice enough to allow him to keep her mobile number in case Donghae has any further questions.
“Call Noona anytime if you have any problems with work!” Jihyo reminded Donghae once again before he leaves her classroom.
Donghae nodded and bowed in gratitude.
Since Donghae has only a day to prepare for the first day of school, he started preparing his teaching materials. He had wanted to arrive in Seoul earlier but his Mum was reluctant to allow him to leave earlier. His classroom was pretty clean but bare, with no posters on the wall. He looked around the classroom and thought that the room needed more colours. The classroom looked huge compared to his classroom in Mokpo. Of course the class size is smaller and it was easier to maintain the cleanliness. He vowed to decorate the classroom so that it will look more cheerful and welcoming for the students.
Prior to this, he had specially requested to teach students who are not doing well in math. His students will consist of students who barely passed or failed math altogether. Donghae is determined to help the weaker students.
He was so engrossed in typing his lesson plan furiously in his classroom when Jihyo’s head appeared behind the classroom door.
“Donghae ah! Let’s go! The janitor is going to lock up the school, its almost 6 pm!”
‘”Oh…what time is it now again?” Donghae did not realize that he had just spent 6 straight hours in the classroom. He is sure a workaholic.
“Its 5 minutes to six! Aren’t you hungry? Kajaaa…I will bring you a nice restaurant for a meal.” Jihyo said while signaling him to hurry.
Donghae hurriedly packed his bag and jogged out of his classroom to Jihyo. He was trailing behind her when Jihyo, suddenly stopped walked and turned to him.
“Walk next to me my dear dongsaeng, you are not my student!”
Donghae blushed and quickly walked to catch up with her. Part of him wanted to continue walking behind her. He felt comforted following her. She was like an elder sister, guiding him and somehow that feeling of anxiety he had in the morning had disappeared when Jihyo appeared. As they quickly walked out of the school, Jihyo apologized to the janitor. She was so polite to him that Donghae understood why this lady was loved by the principal. She was pretty, polite and she respect everyone she meets, regardless of their social status.
While walking, Jihyo voiced, “You know what? I am too tired to eat dinner; I will probably just go home and crash on my bed. But I have a sweet tooth and I think I can do with dessert instead. What say you?” Jihyo looked at Donghae hopefully.
“Erm…I don’t really have a sweet tooth but I am ok! It would be good to sit and have a drink or something before heading back home.”
“Great!!” Jihyo’s enthusiastic response shocked Donghae slightly. “I will bring you to this really great café where they serve the best bingsoo. Come with me!” Jihyo grabbed Donghae’s arm and dragged him along next to her.
Seeing the worried look on Donghae’s face, Jihyo assured Donghae “Don’t worry, if you are hungry there are some food available at the street stalls along the way. You can grab them and eat it for dinner.”
Donghae figured that nothing can go wrong with going for dessert since his senior was so excited about it. He continued walking next to her while she leads the way. The walk to the cafe was eye opening to Donghae. He learned that there are a lot of street stalls on the roadside and everyone was rushing to buy food. Some chose to sit on the stools provided so that they can enjoy the food while it was still hot and some chose to stand and eat. The smell of the food was making Donghae hungrier than he already was.
‘I cannot be hungry like this every day.’ Donghae thought to himself.
With that thought, he stopped at a nearby stall and bought some bread before catching up with Jihyo who was walking impatiently to the café.
‘They must really sell delicious desserts there.’ Donghae wonders on the severity of Jihyo’s sweet cravings.
“We are here!” Jihyo exclaimed in excitement while pointing to the café. “This is Mouse Rabbit and they are pretty popular here in Seoul! Come on in!”
Following her like an obedient puppy, Donghae did not want to ask anything. Perhaps this café can satisfy Jihyo’s sweet cravings and if that makes her happy, she should do it. The café consisted of 3 levels. There were seats available in the basement. Level one had limited seating as the counter and the restroom were on the same floor. There was a smoking area outside and there were also stairs leading up the second floor.
Jihyo and Donghae finally chose to sit on the second floor. Once they were settled down, Donghae could not help but notice that Jihyo’s eyes were scanning the area, as if searching for something, or someone.
“Are you looking for anything?” Donghae finally found enough courage to ask her. He had started his friendship with Jihyo well so he most definitely did not want to offend her.
“Not really, just looking around for any familiar faces.” She said while slightly blushing. Donghae realized that her hair was no longer in a messy bun. It was now tied neatly to the back. Her ponytail was let down and it shines under the bright lights in the Mouse Rabbit café.
“Let’s go and order together, we can take a look at the menu when we are at the counter.”
“Ok.”
On the first floor, the queue was long. The café was noisy with chatters from all corners of the café. There were customers who came and left because there were no more seats. It was almost full which is probably why Jihyo was in hurry to come here. Any later, they would not have gotten any seats.
While Donghae was squinting his eyes to look at what is available to order, a boyish looking boy from behind the counter started waving in their direction.
Jihyo, who was standing next to him waved back. The boy behind the counter signaled to the two of them to come forward. Jihyo started walking forward and Donghae followed suit.
“Noona!” the boy from behind the counter smiled both Jihyo and Donghae.
“The usual?” he asked, looking at Jihyo with his round eyes.
“Yes please. Can we get something for my colleague here too? He is new in town.” She answered him.
“Hi! You can call me Jongjin!” the boy from behind the counter waved and flashed his boyish smile.
“What do you want?” he continued. “Shall I get you our special dessert? Ice snowflakes mango bingsoo?”
“Sure.” Donghae was actually relieved he did not have to choose.
Donghae turned to Jihyo and out of curiosity, he asked, “We don’t have to queue?”
“Let’s just say that I am a regular customer here. Don’t worry about it. “
As soon as she finished saying that, a tall, skinny man entered the café. All eyes were fixed on him walking towards the counter. The noise level suddenly went down too and everyone stopped talking. It was as if time stopped and everyone froze.
While Donghae was examining the situation, the tall man walked passed him and Jihyo and smiled at the two of them. He was fair and his smile was different from Jongjin’s. His smile seems to radiate charisma making his walk appeared cool.
Donghae stood closer to Jihyo, who also seemed to be mesmerized by the skinny man’s presence. He moved his face closer to Jihyo’s ear and whispered “Who is that?”
Jihyo turned to face Donghae, cupped both his cheeks with her palm and whispered to him, “That is my husband.”
------------------------------------------------------
Comments