Monday, 2 January

Dear Appa,

Todae was my frist day of work in Seoul. I know you will probably think I canot live alone in this city but I want to asure you that I am doing great.

My next door neihbours are weird. They are men but yet they are a couple. I wonder how that works. Dad, I never knew that two men can be a couple. I have no idea why I am a little scared of them. They seem complicated and you know me, I like things to be simple.

My boss is a reelly nice man. He partnered me with a kind and prety teacher, Noona Jihyo. She takes care of me and I feel safe. My students are, how shuld I say it, different. They may look tough on the outside but I think most of them are simply lonely and lost. I know it will not be easy for me to taech them but I knw I can do it.

My only worry tooday is this skinny red haired guy that I met in schol. I am not sure who he is but I accidentally spoiled his stereo set and now I have to go get it fixed. Sigh. It was really an accident but this guy was so rude to me, I felt angry. I am going to stay away from him as much as I can. I will be patient and solve this. I will always reemmeber what you said to me, that everyone crosses your path for a reason. I am sure I will learn something from my encounters with this skiny guy but for now, please continue to bless me with your prayrs.

I love you.

Donghae put down his pen and closed the notebook. He was sitting at his study table in his room with only his table lamp being switched on. It was a ritual for him to write in his diary before he goes to bed. Even though he knows that most people nowadays will write in their ranting online, he still preferred to write it the old fashioned way.

He was still disturbed by the fact that he needs to get the stereo fixed by Wednesday. ‘What am I going to do? I have to pick up the stereo tomorrow and send it to the repair shop.’ That thought irks him because he really does not want to accidentally bump into the skinny guy again.

“Ahjusshi!! You can fix this right??!” Donghae pleaded.

He had rushed to the repair shop nearby with the spoiled stereo. Once the bell rang to mark the end of the second day of school, he quickly sneaked into the empty studio and packed the stereo into a big sack. He was glad that the problem was only the stereo so he need not carry the two huge speakers that came with it. He did not mean to sneak into the studio and rushed out of it like thief but he would prefer not to bump into the rude skinny guy.

“Sorry, this stereo is pretty old, repairing it will cost you a bomb. I suggest you buy a new set altogether. It will be more worth it.” The ahjusshi from the shop explained calmly.

Donghae sighed. What is he going to do? He can shop for a new stereo but how would he know what the rude skinny guy prefer?

“Gomawo ahjusshi.” Donghae said politely before leaving the shop. He felt his shoulders sunk in agony. ‘The rude guy is sure to be furious.’ He thought.

He started walking but he was not sure where he was going. Should he walk back to school and return the stereo to the studio or should he just bring the stereo home? They need it by tomorrow! Should he just go out and buy any stereo that comes to sight? Decisions!

“Donghae!! Donghae!!” A voice behind him withdrew Donghae from his thoughts. It was a lady’s voice.

Donghae turned around and found Jihyo waving frantically and shouting his name to get his attention. She was jogging towards him.

“Donghae ah…. Are you deaf or something? I have been calling you for the past few minutes but you kept walking straight!?” Jihyo said while still panting away.

“Mianhe (sorry) Noona, I was distracted. Where are you going?”

“I am going for early dinner with a friend, actually he is also a colleague, do you want to join me? I think it would be good for you to get to know more staffs from the school since our classrooms are pretty secluded.”

Donghae thought for a while. He was not trying to be anti-social but he really needs to solve the stereo problem.

“What is this?” Jihyo asked peeking into the huge sack that Donghae was lugging.

“Its nothing.” Donghae quickly replied pulling the sack away from her hands. Wait, why is he hiding this incident from her?

Jihyo starred at him suspiciously waiting for more explanation. Donghae felt guilty for lying but he really did not want people to know about this.

“Err…I need to get this fixed by tomorrow but the ahjusshi from the shop said that it was more worth it to buy a new one.” Donghae explained reluctantly.

Jihyo chuckled. “THAT is your problem?”

Donghae looked at Jihyo confused by her laughter.

“There is a departmental store a bus stop away. You can simply purchase it there later. Now, you still need to eat right?”

Donghae paused to digest her words. She is right. He was in such hurry to get this done and over with that he totally forgot to have lunch. No wonder he was tired and depress.

“Sure.” As soon as he said that, Jihyo grabbed his arms and started pulling him and urging him to walk quickly. Donghae was struggling to walk quickly because both the stereo and his bag were pretty heavy. He wanted to stop Jihyo from walking too fast but she seemed to be rushing to the restaurant.

‘She must really be hungry.’ He thought. He decided to abandon the idea and allowed her to continue pulling him.

“Why are we rushing? Are you THAT hungry?” Donghae finally asked. All the questioning thoughts in his head, now verbalized through his mouth unintentionally.

“I told you we are meeting a fellow colleague and we are running late. Damn. If not for that Gary holding me up, I would have left school earlier.” She complained while still on that speedy walk.

“Here we are!” Jihyo was still pulling Donghae by the arm into the restaurant.

“There he is!” she exclaimed while walking towards a table for four at the far corner of the restaurant.

Donghae simply continued to walk in obedience quickly but he felt his footsteps grew heavier when he saw who was sitting at the table waving back at the excited Noona.

It was the red haired skinny guy.

THE rude guy.

“Sorry dear dongsaeng, I was help up in school. Did you wait long?” she apologized as soon as she arrived at the table.

Donghae froze. This guy?? This guy is our colleague? How can he be teacher? He is so bloody rude! Donghae could see that he was shocked too.

“No, its ok Noona, I just arrived myself.” He answered, revealing his gums as he smiled.

‘This guy can actually smile?  He was like a monster yesterday.’ Donghae thought.

“Please sit.” He said, still flashing that gummy smile.

“This is Donghae, he is a new teacher and my buddy teacher as well. Donghae ah, this is Hyukjae but I call him Hyuk for short. He is our dance instructor.” Jihyo introduced them to each other.

Donghae could not stand looking at the red haired guy. Sure his gummy smile is cute but Donghae was still too hung up over his bad encounters with this Hyukjae guy yesterday that swore that he never want to see him again. Now that wish is one wish that he knows will not come true, since he now know that they work in the same school. However, he did not want Jihyo to know about his bad experience with this Hyukjae guy so he pretended to smile as if nothing was wrong.

“Annyeong-haseyo.” They both said at the same time and slightly bow.

Jihyo chortled looking at the two dongsaengs in front of her. “Such telepathy, its like you are you two are twins saying the same thing at the same time.”

Both Hyukjae and Donghae looked embarrassed by her remark. Hyukjae seemed to be playing along as well, pretending to smile and be pleasant. Inside, Donghae knew that Hyukjae will not be this nice if Jihyo was not around.

“Let’s order! I am famished and I need ramen now!’ she exclaimed while signaling to the waiter to come over. After placing their orders, the three of them was again engaged in an awkward silence. Seeing that her two dongsaengs might be quiet because they are unfamiliar with each other, she turned to Donghae who was sitting next to her.

“Donghae ah, if you have some free time tomorrow, do drop by the dance studio on the second floor. Hyuk will be there with some of your students.”

“My students?!” Donghae was surprised.

“Yes, didn’t you know? Tau and the rest of the boys are trained by Hyuk here. They made it to the finals for this hip hop dance competition happening next month!” Jihyo said in excitement.

Donghae had mixed reactions. On one hand he is proud of the boys and their success in this competition yet on the other hand, he doubt that such a rude guy would make a good teacher.

“So they train every day?” Donghae curiously asked.

“No silly, Hyuk is only here thrice a week. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. That was why he was not around today.” She explained. Donghae’s confused face was too adorable that she had to resist pinching his cheeks.

“Not sure if we are having practice tomorrow, our hi-fi set is currently spoiled thanks to someone.” Hyukjae finally broke his silence.

Jihyo turned to Hyukjae with a worried look on her face.

“What a coincidence! I was just telling Donghae here about the departmental store that sells stereos and hi-fi sets and the prices are reasonable. Donghae here is also having problems with his stereo. Why don’t we check out some new ones after dinner?” Jihyo sounded too excited for someone who is hungry. He began to wonder if his buddy teacher was just excited about everything.

Both Donghae’s and Hyukjae’s eyes widened at Jihyo, both their jaws dropped.

Before any of them could say anything, the phone on the table rang.

“Excuse me..” Hyukjae said and answered the phone while covering his mouth.

Jihyo was beaming with delight. How is Donghae going to tell her that this was a bad idea?

Hyukjae ended his photo conversation and looked at Jihyo. “Noona, where is your phone?”

“In my handbag of course.”

“Really?” Hyukjae questioned her again with his eyebrow raised. Jihyo grabbed her handbag from her side and placed it on her lap. She started digging into her handbag and when she could not find her phone she started to panic.

“Your phone is in school. You left it in your classroom just now.” Hyukjae placed his hands on Jihyo’s hands indicating that she stop digging into her bag.

“How did you know?”

“That was Gary. He said you left in such a hurry that you left your phone behind.” Hyukjae sounded assuring and even Donghae who slightly panicked, calmed down.

“Oh gosh. I have to go back to school now. Damn it. Its all that Gary’s fault I tell you! Always distracting me! Aishh..” she sighed. “Ahjusshi!! Please pack the ramen for me!” she shouted to the ahjusshi waiter who was serving dishes on the table next to theirs.

“Enjoy your dinner guys. Get to know each other better since you will be seeing each other a lot. Hyuk, please show Donghae the place to purchase the stereo? He is new and may lose his way. He was so worried about not being able to get a new one by tomorrow.” Jihyo placed her handbag on her shoulders and stood up from the chair.

“Thanks Hyuk, I know I can count on you.” she waved them goodbye and zoomed out of the restaurant.

The two guys sitting down were too stunned.

“What?!” they both exclaimed at the same time.