9 months ago...

hat do you think of our new homeroom teacher?"

Eunseok sets her head down on her desk and faces me, a huge grin on her face. I just shrug.

"I don't know, he seems pretty informed," I reply, putting down my pencil and looking at my friend.

"You know that's not what I meant," she says, reaching over and hitting me playfully.

I laugh and rest my head on my arms, turning to my friend. "I don't know, I was taking notes."

Eunseok signs and props her head up on her hands. "How did you get anything done? He was so dreamy."

Typical Eunseok, I think with a smile. We've been friends since the first day of kindergarten, and Eunseok has always been the one to fall in love fast and hard. Of course, she falls out of love just as quickly, but not before she does everything in her power to get closer to him or die trying. As the right-hand man, I've been the unfortunate accomplice in too many of her crazy schemes.

"He's, like, thirty or something!"

"So? Won Bin is thirty-six, and he still looks flawless."

"But he might be married."

"Minor detail."

"'Minor'? I don't call a legally-binding status minor!"

"Sohee, you've got to dream big if you ever want to get anywhere. I'm not gonna be held back by the possibility of some tiny little paper existing!"

I open my mouth to respond when somebody pops their head into the classroom and calls for me.

"Hm?" I look up to see who it is.

"Mr. Cha wants to see you in the teachers' office," an unfamiliar second-year says before leaving.

"Cool, go ask and see if he's married," Eunseok comments, earning herself a light smack on the top of her head as I rise from my seat.

"Right and get kicked out of school for 'inappropriate conduct' immediately after," I say sarcastically, buttoning up my blazer. "See ya later, I guess."

"Yup, see ya."

2 months later...

 "Mr. Cha wants to see you in the teachers' office."

I stiffen. Eunseok looks up from her lunch at the sound of my chopsticks hitting the desk, rolling to the side, and clattering to the ground.

 "Sohee, are you okay?"

I don't react.

"You know, you've been going to see him a lot recently. If it's about me liking him, then you can forget about that; I've got my eye on Zhang Yixing these days. I swear, whoever thought of becoming sister schools with that place in China was a genius."

I shake my head as I stand.

"No, not that. He's been concerned about my 'atypical home life'," I say, making air quotes with my fingers.

I neglect to mention the other reason I suspect.  A reason that I've mulled over for a while now but have had no idea what to do. And so I've done nothing. But this is what happens when one does nothing.

I pack my food up and bid my friend good-bye. It's only a two-minutes walk to the teachers' office, but I manage to dread every second of it. My stomach sinks deeper and deeper with every step I take. And all too soon, I'm there.

"Ah, Sohee, it's good to see you."

I flinch at the uncomfortably familiar tone Mr. Cha speaks to me with. Fidgeting with my sleeve as I stand at his corner desk, I wait.

"Why don't you take a seat?"

I shake my head. "Was there something you needed? I was eating lunch with my friends, so..."

"I was just hoping we could talk," he says. "I'm worried about your home life. The divorce must be difficult."

"I'm fine. My grandmother is taking care of me so that I'm not affected by it too much."

Mr. Cha reaches over and places a hand on mine. I stop fidgeting.

"It's okay; you can tell me."

He places his other hand on my arm and rubs up and down slowly. The way he looks at me makes me want to puke.

"I don't have anything to say," I repeat, pulling out of his grasp. "Now if you'll excuse me."

I dash out of there, but not before bumping into someone. Muttering a harried apology, I leave the office. But I can't go back to the classroom. Not like this. I'm dirtied, soiled. I can't face them now.

The rooftop.

Turning, I stumble up the stairs - all three stories - until I reach the top. Opening the door, I inhale the fresh air. No one else comes up here at this time, so it's the perfect getaway. Just what I need.

4 days later...

"Someone saw you with Mr. Cha in the teachers' office."

"What were you two doing in there?"

"All alone?"

I'm speechless as I look at the angered faces of my classmates. What is going on?

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Eunseok entering the class.

"Eunseok!" I call out, waving my arm.

She looks up, and for a moment, I think she's going to wave back and head my way. But she turns away and quietly goes to her seat. Suddenly, I feel like a thousand tiny needles are stabbed through my heart.

"Ya! Look at me!"

I stumble back as one of the girls shoves me.

"I-I-"

But I have nothing to say. What can I say? That Mr. Cha has been pushing his attraction to me for months already? That I was too scared to say anything? Like anyone would believe that. In a more likely scenario, I'll be kicked out of school for 'inappropriate conduct'.

Déjà vu.

"At your seats! Homeroom is starting now!"

"Oh good, he's here."

Frightened, I timidly move to my window seat in the middle row. Every second that passes feels like an eternity as I await the nuclear fallout.

"Mr. Cha, I have a question!"

Here it is, I think, bracing myself.

"Yes, Miss Lee Haerin?"

"What exactly is your relationship with Jung Sohee?"

At that moment, the room becomes so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

"I-I don't understand what you mean. She's one of my students, so of course I care for her very much."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, of course. What else could I possibly feel for her?"

"Well you see, sir, someone saw you two in the teachers' office a few days ago. And I hear she went to your house, too."

We all know the latter is a lie, but what about the former? Mr. Cha's eyes widen as he looks to me, then to the other student.

"Lying is not tolerated at this school, Miss Lee," he says sternly. But his voice wavers, and the others can tell.

"Nor are inappropriate relationships with students, Mr. Cha," she retorts. "What business does a student have at a teachers' home?"

Please tell them the truth. Please, I beg in my head, squeezing my eyes shut and praying with all my might.

"I'm sorry," he begins slowly, "But you are all mistaken. I didn't have the heart to let her down so easily, but she's obsessed. She would always come to me. There's nothing I could do."

My heart plummets, and I feel like I need to throw up. I can't seem to comprehend his words. "Obsessed"? Who is he talking about? That definitely can't be me. It can't be.

Mr. Cha glances at the faces around the room, avoiding my own, as he searches for an ally. He finds none.

"I beg that you refrain from spreading rumors," he says, "So that I quietly leave this school and go somewhere else. I admit that it's my fault for not stopping her advances sooner, but I cannot control the feelings of others. So please, I ask this one thing of you all. Homeroom is dismissed."

With his head hung low, Mr. Cha collects his notebook and ducks out of the room quietly. And I'm left alone with my peers.

The look in their eyes is murderous.