“You sent for me, Professor?” She made a warning knock through the open door and the occupants of the room turned to her.

“Oh, it’s you. Come in, Ms. Kim. I’ll introduce you to this very gracious lady.” A woman in her late forties was sitting in front of Yixing-seonsaeng’s desk. She had a genial smile, very stylish bob, twinkling almond eyes and fair skin. Her rather conservative pale purple ensemble reminded Joonmyeon of British royalty sans the wide-rimmed hat.

Joonmyeon bowed in greeting and occupied an empty seat like directed. “Ms. Kim, this is Ella Chen. Mrs. Chen, this is our top student, Kim Joonmyeon.”

“Nice to meet you, Ma’am.”

“Oh, the pleasure is mine, sweetie!” It was followed by a cultured chuckle.

“You see, Mrs. Chen is the major sponsor for our in-house museum. She paid us a visit before the construction starts in a month. It’s her first time in Korea and our principal suggested that you give her a tour around.”

“Is that okay though?” The older lady asked. “I hope I’m not imposing too much.”

“Not at all, Mrs. Chen.” If anything, she’s thankful for this time off. She can’t even concentrate in her classes and anything that will distract her from thinking about a certain tall blond boy was better.

“Great! I’ll let your teachers know.”

They were already driving around in Mrs. Chen’s limo when she ended the relative silence in the car. “Actually, I lied. This isn’t my first time in Korea. I’ve been here many times but I thought shopping alone is no fun. So, will you join me, Joonmyeon-ssi?”

Joonmyeon grinned. “Just Joonmyeon is fine, Mrs. Chen.” For some reason, she liked this lady already.

They were in the perfumery section of the mall, trying out scents. “Aside from being the prettiest nerd ever, what are your other interests, honey?” She didn’t even find the word nerd insulting. They’ve been together for almost half-a-day and Auntie Ella, as she’d like to be called, was the sweetest!

“I’m studying ballet, Auntie. But school and dance pretty much occupy my time nowadays.”

“No boyfriend?” She raised a dainty eyebrow. She smiled sheepishly and shook her head. But she might have misheard her mutter such a slowpoke, that boy.

“How about you, Auntie? You know, aside from shopping?” Her raucous laughter earned them some curious glances and a few smiles. An elderly woman even told Ella that they made a gorgeous mother and daughter pair. She didn’t bother to correct her and just thanked the old lady graciously.

“Well, I’m a plain housewife to a very busy man and mother to a very stubborn son.” Joonmyeon had to smile at that even if Ella was in no way plain to her eyes. Even in normal conversations, she can sense that she’s very intelligent. She’s adept even in topics that were usually for much younger people. “I’m also the chairperson of our company’s charity foundation.” She turned to the salesperson following them around, pushing their cart. “Please give me twelve bottles of Chanel Antaeus body wash.” Joonmyeon bit her lip. Yifan smelt the same body wash when he carried her yesterday. Too much for distracting myself! “But you see, my boys won’t even accompany me into my shopping trips anymore.” She feigned sadness and Joonmyeon chuckled in glee.

She can’t even remember the last time she smiled so much. She can’t even remember the last time she went out with her mother like this. Her smile was wiped off by the thought. “Joonie-ah, you look pale. Are you okay?” Joonie?

“Neh. It’s almost lunch time; are you hungry, Auntie?” It didn’t matter that she didn’t reserve a table at N Grill. When the maitre’d realized that she’s Kim Jaejoong’s niece, she was given the best table overlooking the whole Seoul.

“I’m impressed with the connections you have this early.” She hummed in appreciation after taking a bite of the herbed Chevre.

“Oh. No, Auntie. The owner is my father’s sister.” She had the audacity to look sheepish. Her name alone was as influential as it could get in her seventeen years.

“I heard that you’re from the family of K&K Bank, is that true?” Ella ate with gusto and she didn’t even want to think how much butter and duck fat and cream went to all the dishes laid out for them to devour. She cringed inwardly.

“Yes.” She picked up her fork gingerly and picked out the shards of black truffle from the polenta.

“Your parents must be really proud of you.” She beamed. Are they? “So, are you taking over the company someday or you’re going to be a ballerina?” Come to think of it, not even my own parents asked me this.

“Being a dancer isn’t forever so I wanted to become a ballerina first.”  Although I know I’ll never be half the dancer that my mom is, I just want to make her happy. Now, Kim Joonmyeon, don’t say these things to someone you just met. Don’t make it a habit! She berated herself. “After that, I can takeover my dad’s company.” She stated nonchalantly, almost cockily.

“I have this feeling you’ll do just great with both so good luck.”

***************************************

Yifan lost sight of Joonmyeon after second period. She was called to Professor Zhang’s office and never came back. Luhan already told him the Chinese teacher had hots for her. But for the life of him, he didn’t know why it had to bother him. He approached Joonmyeon to teach her a lesson and not to compete with Yixing-seonsaeng for her undying love or whatever. If anything, they should be dating each other. A nerd in designer clothing and a spaced-out nut that sprouts mitochondria and commensalism in regular conversations. He thought bitterly. He didn’t even know how many times he killed the poor teacher in his thoughts.

He pulled out his phone, careful not to let Chanyeol-seonsaeng see him. Despite his creepy huge smiles and corny jokes, he didn’t bat an eyelash when he sent Sehun to a three-hour detention for talking to Sullli to borrow her notes. He can’t afford detention if he wanted to send Joonmyeon home. If she’ll show up, that is. He didn’t even see a glimpse of her during lunch. He was tempted to ask the wide-eyed girl she always ate her lunch with but the boy she was with looked like he would kill anyone who would approach her. He typed a message while Chanyeol was interrogating another student on the other side of the hall.

********************************************

They were concluding their meal when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She already told Kyungsoo where she was so she was not surprised when she saw that it was a message from Yifan.

You’re not sick, are you? It’s not good for a nerd like you to skip class. There was a mind-boggling, sickeningly sweet emoticon after that and she wanted to save a screen capture for blackmail purposes. She didn’t even know she was sporting a smile until Ella called her out to it.

“You already said you don’t have a boyfriend so a suitor perhaps?” Usually, nosiness was not something she was able to tolerate but for some reason, the older lady was different. She was breath of fresh air. She can only imagine her relationship with her son and secretly hoped she can be this open to her own mother.

Her eyes crinkled when she smiled. “You can say that.” Ella squealed in delight much to her amusement. Hankyung will never be caught dead raising her voice in public.

“Oh my god! Young love!” She held her hand. “Tell me, what do you look for in a guy?” She was taken aback by the question. Ella must have thought she took offense in her rather personal question. “Sorry, it’s just that these are the things my son won’t discuss with me so—“

“Aniyo, Auntie! It’s not like that at all.” She was waving her hands in front of her face to emphasize her point. “It’s just that I didn’t think about it before.” She ducked her head.

“Aiyo! You’re so adorable!” She even pinched her cheek. “If only my son is worthy or someone like you, I’ll play a matchmaker.” Cue excessive blushing here.

She busied herself by typing a short reply. Shut up. I’m doing our school a huge favor.

Tell me where you are and I’ll pick you up.

Just pay attention to class. Chanyeol-seonsaeng is a PMS-ing buffoon. She slapped her forehead when she realized what she just sent to Yifan. She just indirectly told him she pulled out his class schedule from the school portal! How else would she know he had class with Park Chanyeol this moment?