I shut my laptop down and tidied up my stationery. It wasn’t even time for the class to end, but over the past few weeks all the classes have been ending early anyway. It was getting cloudy outside. I noticed a couple of students looking outside the window.

“So for next week, all of you should be ready for the group presentation. Make sure to be present since I will draw the number of the group that will be presenting. Any questions?”

As usual, the class captain raised his hand.

“Yes, Namjoon?”

“What if one of our members can’t come to class, Miss?”

I put my last pen inside my Ted Baker pouch and threw it in my handbag. “Well, it means your group is not allowed to present until all the members are present.”

“Classic word play. Of course. Thanks, Miss!” Namjoon tilted his cap downwards, signaling some sort of respect when the only respect I needed was for him to take his damn hat off when in class.

“Any other questions?” I asked the class one more time since my mentor always said that a teacher should ask for their students to ask questions at least three times and to wait for five seconds until one of them speaks up. None of them spoke up. I looked to the back of the class where three of the quietest and least active guys sat at the back.

Jungkook, Jimin, and Seokjin. I fear for their grades. Jungkook, especially. He scored 40 out of 100 on his midterm test, which is the lowest score in class. Jimin and Seokjin weren’t that bad, but if I had to split my class into two categories –flawless English and unbearable Somethinglish-- those three would be in the latter.

“If not then I will see you all next week. Thanks for coming in today, everyone.”

“Thank youuuu, Miss!!” The class said in unison. Adorable, but rather elementary school-ish.

The teacher’s lounge feels so far away when you’re heading there for the second time in a day. It’s 2016 and I wonder why the system isn’t hi-tech enough, meaning that we still have attendance lists written down or printed and submitted manually. It kinda gets tiring, you know, walking back and forth from the teacher’s lounge to the class.

The door creaked as I pushed it open and saw James tapping his pen to the table, staring at his class’ attendance list.

“You got someone you wanna blacklist?” I asked him.

James looked up. “Hey, you. Yeah, some girls.”

I handed over the attendance list to the academic staff. “Here you go. Thank you. Wait, what, some girls? I thought you have a soft spot for… well, girls in general?”

James gave me a ‘ please’ look and stared back at his list. “They’ve just been absent so many times.”

“So you miss seeing those pretty faces?” I pulled a chair beside him and sat down. James looked like he was concentrating, but it was just a face he makes whenever he gets teased.

“Miss America, I am just trying to play by the rules. What about you and your class? Any lovely boys need blacklisting?” James nudged my arm.

I chuckled. “Don’t call me Miss America when you sound more American than me. And no, nobody has been absent that many times. However…”

James looked up again. “However?”

“I’m concerned with their scores. The boys are just so bad at English. I don’t even know what can help them. Or motivate them. Other than candies. For some reason my class loves it when I bring them candies.”

“I’m sure they will begin to hate it once they have cavities. Well, about the score, just be as objective as possible. You know we’re not allowed to tamper with scores,” James closed his notepad and shoved it in his backpack. “How bad is it? How many students?”

I shrugged. “Most of them are average. The class captain, Namjoon, is surprisingly the best. I didn’t know how good he was before I chose him as captain. His friend, though, named Jungkook, is quite… I don’t know how to put this nicely.”

“Don’t put it nicely, you never succeed in doing so anyway.”

James laughed after I shot him a death glare. “Jungkook’s score is alarming. I don’t want anyone to fail this class but I don’t know if I could help in any way.”

James tapped his finger on the table. “Maybe you can ask his friends to help him? His presentation group, preferably? Ah, I’m sure you’ll find a way. You always do. That’s why you’ve been here for longer than I have been even though I am significantly older than you.”

“You are not ‘significantly older’ than me,” I did the quotation marks in the air while grinning at James. “If we were in the US, we would be flatmates and we would call each other ‘dude’.”

“Whatever you say, Miss America. Listen, I gotta go. Band practice. See you Wednesday?” James stood up and reached for his backpack.

“This is why you’re such a hit even though I have been here for longer than you have been. A lecturer who also plays in a band. Now what kind of student would skip a class—“

“I’ll say hi to Moon for you, okay, you don’t have to up to me like that.”

I stood up and walked with James to the door. “I was merely telling the truth.”

“I know another fact,” said James, opening the door for us. “You’re actually a big hit, too.”

---

Daehee took a sip of her bubble tea. I tapped my fingers impatiently, waiting for my latte to come. It was almost sunset, and the coffee shop we were in always gets crowded at dusk. Despite this, it was the only time Dae could meet up with me. Her work keeps her busier than mine does.

“So, how is V?” I asked as my latte finally arrived. I thank the waitress and started stirring in some sugar.

“Taetae and I are great. In general. It’s kinda weird, like, I am the one who gets off of work and picks him up. I’m kinda afraid people are gonna think I am his evil stepmother who is obligated to pick up her step son because her old rich husband is gonna scold her if she doesn’t.”

I raised an eyebrow while picking up my cup. “That is very descriptive.”

Daehee shrugged. “But Tae is really supportive. He is also so confident. He doesn’t feel emasculated at all with this whole relationship.”

“That’s really nice to know. To be honest I almost choked on my gum when you told me you were dating a younger boy,” I took a sip of my latte and burned my tongue. “Dammit. Everytime.”

“Be patient, Sun,” said Daehee while she played with the little droplets of water on her glass of tea.

“I am. Wait, patient in what?” I looked at Daehee in the eye. “What do you mean be patient?”

Daehee blinked. “I meant in drinking. Just let your drink cool off for a while. What do you think I meant?”

Now it was me blinking. “I thought… Nevermind.”

“Sun, I am your maid of honor to be whenever you get married. That is, if you ever get married. Just tell me.”

I took another sip of my drink, this time blowing it ten times to make sure it was cool enough to chug down.

“Oh wait,” Daehee tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You thought I was referring to your status? Like, be patient because you will later have your own young boyfriend?”

“When did I say I wanted a young boyfriend?” I realized I had raised my voice.

Daehee started chuckling. “Whenever you say ‘I’m happy for you’ or ‘that’s nice to know’ after I share a story about Taehyung and I.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “That’s such a normal thing to say, isn’t it?”

“Yes. If it wasn’t said by someone like you.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Sunhee, look. I know you, okay. Even without you telling me, I just know,” Daehee patted me lightly on my shoulder.

“I have been patient my whole life, Dae. Except in class. I’m patient love-life wise but not class-wise. Did you know I snapped in one of my classes?” I started stirring my latte again.

Daehee’s eyes widened. “You snapped? In which class? The class with Taehyung’s friends?”

I nodded. “They were just… Well, one time I was giving them some materials and none of them were listening except the front row. I’ve told you before about this class, right? The only students who listen to me are Namjoon, Hoseok, Yoongi, and two other guys who I forgot their names but I remember because they always sit at the front. I snapped because the girls were gossiping with other girls and even some boys.”

“I can’t say that I’m surprised,” said Daehee.

“You literally looked surprised when I told you I snapped.”

“I mean, I knew you would snap eventually but I thought it would happen quicker. You lasted longer than I thought you would,” Daehee smiled and checked on her phone.

“Please tell me you didn’t bet on me with V. About how long I can go until I snap. Did you?” I started peeking at her phone while she slowly tilted it downwards and put it upside down on the table.

Daehee exhaled. “Yes, Sunhee, I made another bet on you with Taehyung. He wins now.”

I scrunched my nose and Daehee started laughing. The door swung open and a familiar figure entered the coffee shop.

“Tae, over here!” Daehee waved at the approaching figure. Taehyung waved back and threw a wide smile.

“Hi, Sun Noona!” he said as he grabbed his own chair and sat down in front of Daehee.

I smiled back. “You really don’t have to call me that, V. We were just talking about you. About how you made a bet again. On me. With Dae.”

Taehyung’s smile faded and he looked at Daehee. Daehee mouthed “it’s fine”.

“Sorry, Nuna. It’s just too fun. As long as it’s not hurting anyone, right?” Taehyung reached out his hand towards Daehee.

Daehee scoffed and took some money out of her purse, handing it over to Taehyung. “How did you know you won this time?”

Taehyung smiled a smile that made me knew why Daehee fell for this little bugger. “I just know things. It’s what I do.”

I rolled my eyes before the two of them started laughing. “I suppose you are doing well in your class? Despite being separated from your boyband?”

Taehyung straightened his jacket. “Nuna, we’re not a boyband. But yes, I am doing well, thank you.”

There was a split second of silence before I asked Taehyung, “Do you think you can give your friend a hand?”

---

It was finally the end of the semester. I did not know how my class did on their finals because my teaching partner was the one who scored their tests. I was just glad to finally be free of work, essays, scores, and all the other things that come with teaching.

Except for one thing.

My phone buzzed and it showed that I got a text message from an unknown number.

“Miss Song, thank you for teaching us this semester. I have learned so much and tried so hard to pass this class and I did. Thanks to you. However, I do need some help for further studies. I remember you mentioned in class that you give private IELTS classes. Is there any way I can sign up for that? –JK”

If I were reading that while driving, I thought the sender said “Can I sign up? LOLJK”. But I realized the JK there were initials. I have always been bad with names but for some reason I could associate those letters with just one name in my class: Jungkook.

I quickly opened up the online database for scores and saw that Jungkook indeed had passed the class, but barely. He scored just enough on his finals to get a C+. I unlocked my phone and typed a reply.

“Sure, add me on Line and I’ll hook you up with my supervisor who is in charge of assigning private classes to me. This is Jungkook, isn’t it?”

In less than five minutes, I got a reply.

“I knew you would remember me ;)”

At this point in my life, I already know that a winky face emoji signals that something else is going on.

---

Things fell into place quite faster than I had expected. I was scheduled for eight meetings to tutor Jungkook with IELTS lessons. I was already overwhelmed. I knew his skill in class and I was sure it would take a long way to get this boy from a 5.5 to a whopping 8.

The first meeting was, as per usual, a diagnostic test. Each new student is given a topic to write on and his writing should be scored and analyzed when the time is up. Easy for me, hard for the student. It also means I have to wait for two hours until he finishes the tasks.

Jungkook and I were sitting face to face. As he readied his pen and his book, he looked up at me.

“So I have two hours to finish writing these?” he asked while tilting his head. I found it rather cute.

“Yep. Shall I set the timer?” I picked up my phone.

“All good, I’ll just look at my watch,” he said while rolling up his sleeves up to his elbows. Every woman’s weakness is a man – or guy – in rolled up sleeves.

I set the timer anyway and told him to start. Those two hours felt like overnight. I tried to keep myself busy by using my laptop. My laptop was also a way for me to hide from his suspicious glares. Jungkook would once in a while look up, stare blankly at me, as if he is thinking, and then go back to writing. It felt uncomfortable, but I guess a lot of people do that when writing.

Jungkook finished early. When he put his pen down and tapped on my laptop, he was smiling. I checked my phone.

“You still have ten minutes left. Do you want to check your writings one more time?” I asked.

He was still smiling while he shook his head. “I’m good. Please give me feedback.”

“Let’s see,” I reached for his paper but it was too far. Even though we were face to face, the table in between us was abnormally wide. Jungkook stood up.

“I’ll move over closer if you don’t mind?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

He made his way to the chair beside me and sat down. He smelled like a gentleman. Like a businessman who wears perfume but not the over the top kind.

“So?” he asked as he caught me off guard.

I readied my pen and started marking his essays.

It turned out I didn’t have to mark as much. His English was flawless. There were minor mistakes, nothing too fatal. I gave him my overview on his writing before reaching a conclusion.

“Jungkook, you did a great job here. There are some parts that can be improved but there is nothing much to worry about. I don’t think you even need my help—“

“No, I do.”

I looked up at him and realized he was looking straight into my eyes with that… I don’t know if those are contacts but his eyes look so huge and puppy-like.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“I feel that with this level I won’t be able to reach a score as high as yours. I actually really need you.”

That sounded more romantic than academic. “Well…”

“Well?” he asked with another tilt of the head.

“I didn’t expect you to be this good. This is almost flawless. I mean, in class you didn’t show much… enthusiasm. Or skill,” I was finding the right words to say but I realized it didn’t bother him at all.

Jungkook straightened up his position and cleared his throat. “I may have to confess something.”

I raised my eyebrows. Jungkook let out a cheeky smile.

“I could have done better in class. Heck, maybe I could have gotten a B+. I was just… dumbing it down,” Jungkook looked down and tapped his pen to his paper.

I scratched my nose and sniffed. “Dumbing it down? For?”

Jungkook started playing pen Olympics. You know, that thing people do where they twirl and flip their pen in between their fingers, movements so mesmerizing it distracts you from the now. (Yes, I got this reference from Lilly Singh’s video).

“For you.”

“Me?”

“I wanted to get your attention.”

I scoffed. “My attention.”

Jungkook proceeded with his penlympics. “I know for sure that to get a teacher’s attention was by being really good in class or being really really bad. Namjoon is already good at being good so I went for being really bad.”

“But Jungkook… why do you need my attention? I pay attention to all of my students.”

Jungkook gave me a look.

“Okay most of my students.”

He stared deep into my eyes.

“Okay. Only a few of them.”

“Exactly.”

I looked around and noticed other people were busy with their own conversations.

“Did I do it?” asked Jungkook all of a sudden.

“Do what? You did great on this diagnostic test, Jungkook, the only—“

“I mean did I get your attention?” he asked again. This time he looked serious.

I started feeling squeamish, in a good way. I cleared my throat.

“You did.”

My answer brought a wide smile to his face. “Well, thank you for the feedback, Miss Song. I guess I still have seven meetings left with you?”

I smiled back. He didn’t have to explain to let me know his true intentions. To be completely honest, I actually liked it.

“Seven meetings, yes. And maybe for the next meeting we could go to a different place,” I suggested.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

“I don’t know, maybe, somewhere we can get coffee and hang out for a bit. So I could… further diagnose your weakness or anything,” I regretted the last phrase I said as soon as it came out.

Jungkook smiled a triumphant smile. “I’d love to.”

“So, I’ll see you then?” I picked up my bag and handed him over his paper.

“See you then, Miss Song.”

Jungkook stood up as I stood up.

“You know what? You can call me noona.”