Four

Kris’ new job was the new instructor at the martial arts school in town. He was apparently a pro at hapkido and a variety of other martial arts. We ate breakfast together in the morning, before my first day of school and his first day of work.

“Didn’t you do some hapkido too?” Kris asked. “Your father instructed for you to learn self-defense for a reason.”

“It was a hobby I picked up from Minseok,” I frowned.

Kris just looked at me. “No, Jung, you didn’t,” he replied with a pitying look and softened his voice slightly. “Minseok’s mom was told to get you trained, so she enrolled Minseok in hapkido first hoping you would also get into it since you idolized your brother.”

I was speechless. Finding out that my childhood hobby was actually a orchestrated ploy shook me. What other parts of myself were not even of my own free will?

“Come by once in a while and I’ll teach you a thing or two about hapkido,” Kris teased, chugging down the last of his orange juice and sticking his dishes in the sink. He tossed my backpack onto my lap and took my empty plates to the sink as well. “Let me give you a ride to school,” he said, pushing me to my feet. “You can do the dishes when you get home later.”

The seaside town I was living in had only one high school, population 3,000. Most people who lived here were born and raised here, and I hated the feeling of being the only new kid around people who'd all known each other since they were two feet tall.

“Just make some friends, blend in, and don’t cause trouble,” Kris told me as he pulled up to the curb in front of the school gates. Students wearing uniforms similar to my new navy one were milling around, some sitting in the courtyard just on the other side of the gates, chatting and laughing. A fountain sat in the middle, spurting water two yards up into the air.

“Okay,” I replied. Kris was hunched over, fingers tightly clenched around the wheel. In fact, he looked more nervous than me. “Oppa, it’s going to be okay,” I said, reaching over and patting him on the arm. “I can take care of myself.”

Kris let out a long sigh. “I feel like a 24 year old single father,” he breathed, slumping in his seat. “It’s my job to keep you safe but I can’t watch you when you’re in there and I don’t like that.” He sat up suddenly, turning to face me. “Hey, if there is an emergency of any sort when you’re at school and you need to talk to an adult, your Calculus teacher is the one to go to.”

At that, my brows shot up. “He knows?” I asked, surprised. “Is he an agent?”

Kris just shook his head. “Don’t ask questions, Jung. Just treat him like any other teacher unless there is an absolute emergency. Remember that I have a tracker in your new cell-phone, and any incoming calls or texts you received are being recorded. I’m not going to be in your business 24/7 so don’t worry, and the records are just precautionary.”

“Okay?” By now, the girls lingering by the gates had noticed the parked car and were peering through the windows at Kris’ handsome face, giggling and pushing each other. “Well I’m going to go now,” I said, opening the car doors.

“Have a great first day!” Kris called back instinctively. I could see his face getting a little red as I turned and started into the school, shouldering my backpack. Kris would made a great dad one day, that was for sure.

My calculus teacher was a very regular and forgettable guy in his late 30s. He did not seem in any way associated with the NIS and gave no indication of knowing anything about me other than my name and the information on my transfer sheet.

The girl who I was told to sit next to had long, wavy hair and perfectly manicured nails. She gave me a quick glance over, pursed her lip-glossed lips, and turned back to giggling with her friends who were sitting behind us.

“Did you see the guy in that shiny black car outside the school this morning?” she asked, voice lowered. “Ohmygod, he was so hot. Was he waiting for somebody? He was just parked outside all by himself.”

They were definitely talking about Kris.

“Oh my god, yes,” one of her friends gushed back. “I saw him just as he was pulling away. So hot, right? I would have thought he was waiting for you since you are our school flower.”

The girl sitting next to me preened, flipping her hair over her shoulders.

“He left by himself though, so not waiting for someone,” her friend continued. “Maybe he was dropping someone off.”

“Lucky ,” the third friend commented, and they all burst into fresh giggles, leaving me to feel extremely uncomfortable with my unintentional eavesdropping.

“Okay class, we’re going to start today’s lesson!” Professor Kim called. For once, I was glad for class to start.

That was, until one minute into class I remembered that this was calculus and calculus was… not my favorite subject.

Second period was gym class. As I changed into my gym uniform in the girls locker roo