“What?!!!” Donghae exclaimed loudly.

“Shhhhhh!” Jihyo placed her finger on signaling Donghae to keep his volume down. She then pulled Donghae by the arm, away from the counter and nearer to the staircase leading down to the basement of Mouse Rabbit Café.

“This is a public place! Do you want everyone to hear you?!’ Jihyo reprimanded her junior angrily.

Donghae’s confused expression was too evident.

“Later.” She walked over the counter, made the payment and collected their orders. While carrying the tray, she signaled Donghae to follow her up the stairs.

When they were finally seated, Donghae could not wait to shoot her with all the questions lingering in his head. He thought that his senior was single and he had no idea that she was actually the wife of a popular café owner.

“You are married?” Donghae finally opens his mouth to ask despite Jihyo asking him to wait until she is more settled down. For some reason, he noticed that she was slightly flustered and nervous.

“Hmm….technically, not yet. We are going to be married and have kids but he doesn’t know it yet.”

Jihyo looked at Donghae who was too overwhelmed with confusion. He does not seem to understand what she just said and was still staring at her waiting for more explanation.

“Ok ok! I have the biggest crush on him for years ok! In my mind we are happily married and we live happily ever after!” Jihyo finally explained while throwing her arms in the air in exasperation.

At this point, Donghae burst out laughing. He was too tickled by what he just heard that his face turned red from the laughter and looking at Jihyo’s annoyed expression made him laugh even more. After a few minutes, he finally managed to catch his breath and stopped laughing. He felt bad for Jihyo but the image of his senior buddy teacher having such fantasies about a guy was hilarious to him. He did not mean to be rude but he just could not stop laughing.

“Yeah yeah…laugh all you want. Do you have any idea what it is like to be in love?” she was still looked annoyed at Donghae.

“Not really senior.”

“Then you have no idea what its like to be in love! You cannot control your feelings, its just there and it refuses to go away.” Jihyo explained to her junior who was still trying very hard not to laugh.

Apparently, the tall skinny man is Kim Jongwoon. He is not just the owner of Mouse Rabbit Café, he owns a chain of cafes in Korea and in Japan. At the age of 30 he was named one of the youngest and most successful business owners in Asia. Even though he owns a chain of cafes, he personally hangs out at Mouse Rabbit, where his younger brother and his parents assist him in running the café. The lady patrons of the café swoon at the sight of his presence. Even though he was really successful, he was humble and he will occasionally mend the counter himself. He was also voted as one of the most eligible bachelors in Seoul which explains why there are usually more lady patrons in the café.

Even though Donghae was still tickled by his senior’s infatuation, he was glad that she was sharing with him about her personal life. He listened attentively, nodding along signifying that he understood what she said. Jihyo must have felt so comfortable talking to Donghae that she did not realize she has been talking about Jongwoon for the past 15 minutes.

“Sorry Donghae. You must think I am silly. Having a crush on someone so successful and does not know I exist.” She sounded apologetic and looked down onto the table with embarrassment.

“Its ok Noona. I understand. Thank you for sharing with me a part of your life even though we just met today.” Donghae comforting words made Jihyo smile.

“You know, I do not usually go around telling people about this, so please keep this to yourself. I have no idea why I felt so comfortable talking to you. There is just something…..about your eyes.” Jihyo paused while examining Donghae’s eyes.

“Your eyes just gave me assurance that you can be trusted.” She continued.

“Thanks Noona. You CAN trust me. Your secret’s safe with me! I promise. By the way, what time does the café closes? Its getting late and we start work early tomorrow right?”

“Yes, let’s finish off this bingsoo and make our way home! You would not want to be late on the first day of work right?” she started scooping big spoonful of the dessert into .

Donghae was up by 6 am. He had to report in school by 7.30 am but he wanted to be in school early so that he can prepare himself before his first class starts at 8 am. He made sure his clothes were ironed and neat. He had packed all this things into his bag last night so that he will not spend too much time packing his bag.

As he walked to school this time, he was surrounded by students carrying backpacks. The walk to school was bustling. Some of the students were walking hand in hand with their parents; others were walking with their elder siblings. The scenario reminded Donghae of his brother Donghwa who used to held his hand tightly the minute the left the house until they reached school. Donghwa never let go of his younger brother’s hand even though he may have a lot of things to carry to school on certain days. He was thankful to have such a protective brother, which is why he has always looked up to his brother.

Donghae sped up walking when he suddenly recalled that he had to meet Mr Park in his office before going to class. He had no idea why but he does not want to be paranoid. Upon reaching the school, he went straight to principal’s office and knocked on the door.

“You wanted to see me Mr Park?” Donghae asked as soon as he opened the door to Mr Park’s office slightly.

“Yes Donghae! Come in! And call me Jungsoo! Please sit.” Jungsoo was pointing to the chair in front of him.

Once Donghae sat, Jungsoo passed him a stack of files. As Donghae received them, he looked at Jungsoo waiting for instructions.

“Here are the students’ profiles. I forgot to pass to you yesterday. It is absolutely vital to read these so that you roughly know the background and profile of your students. Most of them are not doing very well in school, some keep getting into trouble and others are simply un-interested in studies. I am not expecting you to create a miracle out of them, but I hope you can spark a little bit of their interest in studying.”

“Yes Sir. I will read them. Is there anything else?”

“No, you may go now. I wish you good luck and if you face any problems, do look for Miss Song right across the hall.” Mr Park was speaking really fast.

“Yes, thank you.” Donghae bowed and left the room.

As Donghae was walking out of the principal’s office, he adjusted the bag on his shoulders. He had brought a paper bag containing all his teaching materials and some of the decorations for his classroom. With that bag on his left hand and a stack of files on his right, he walked quickly out of the general office. Since he had no more hands available to open the glass door of the office, he turned around and pushed the glass door with his back.

Out of the blue, he felt a force against his back. A loud sound of things dropping onto the floor followed and caused him to panic. He turned around and right in front of him was a red haired guy frantically picking up a stack of cds that had dropped onto the floor. Some of the covers to the cds were cracked and broken.

“Oh my God! I am so sorry!” Donghae apologized as soon as he realized that he was the cause of this mess. He squatted down, placed the stack of files on the floor and started to help the red haired guy pick up the cds. However, as soon as he started to pick them up, the red haired guy grabbed the cd out of Donghae’s hands in force.

“I don’t need your help.” He said coldly while still looking down onto the floor. Even though Donghae could not see his face, he noticed the guy’s defined jawline and bony hands. He was still in shock by the red haired guy’s reaction to him wanting to help.

At a loss, Donghae remained in the same squatting position and helplessly starred at the red haired guy picking up the cds one after another.

‘Why would someone not want help? I have already apologized.’ He thought. He really hated it when someone is mad at him. As much as he hates to admit it, he is a people pleaser and he cannot stand anyone being angry at him.

“I am really sorry, it was an accident. I really did not see you coming.” Donghae tried to rectify the awkward situation.

Finally the red haired guy stood up after picking up all his cds and Donghae could finally get a clear view of his face. The stare from his single eyelid eyes were piercing straight into Donghae who was starting to feel nervous.

“Whatever. Thanks for nothing.” He said sarcastically and walked away.

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Can you guess who is the red haired guy? Kekekee... :D