Great.

This Jongin guy is our new math teacher, and the entire class can't believe it. I've started to dislike him for two simple reasons.

One, I hate his aura. He seems so much stricter than Mr Lee, who always entered the room with light steps and a cheerful grin. He has an extremely intimating gaze, which sort of says “Anyone who disobeys me shall face my wrath.” Boy, there is no way in hell I want to be caught up in that mess! And this also means that it's going to be hard to skip lessons without getting into trouble.

Two, who in the world even uses the word ‘Mathematics’ anymore?

“God, why so serious?” I mutter to myself as the students sitting near me giggled at my comment.

“Mr Lee has left the school for personal reasons, therefore the school has arranged for me to take up his position,” Mr Kim states as he folds his arms, steps down from the podium and walks towards the centre of the stage.

“This may sound boring and familiar to all of you, but I need to make this clear,” he declares as he raises his voice. “I believe you've all heard of class rules, is that right?”

The boys in our class loudly shouted a “Yep, sir!”, and the girls started to laugh. Even Bess is amused and lets out a chuckle. I smirk as I increased the volume of the music from my earpieces to ignore the ruckus our class is currently making, glancing towards Mr Kim who, surprisingly, has a neutral expression on his face. The laughter dies down as everyone realises that Mr Kim is just standing there, leaning coolly against the wall, his arms crossed as he surveys us.

“Done?” He pushes himself off the wall and makes his way towards the front. “Now let's proceed.”

The class is obviously taken aback at the way Mr Kim brushes off the incident so easily. It was as if it didn't affect him in any way at all, and needless to say, it was both shocking and frightening for the class.

“I expect all of you to be ready for lessons before I step into this room. Even if you don't want to pay attention during class, the least you can do is keep quiet and not affect others who want to listen and learn,” Mr Kim points out as everyone gulps at the intensity of his words. “I don't care if you decide to do other things when seated in here during my lessons, but I believe the basic form of respect is to be present. I want all of you to be present during my lessons, have I made myself clear?”

“Yes,” the class replies as I sigh and close my eyes.

“Mr Kim!” Someone shouts from the back, and I open my eyes to find Chen, one of my ‘minions’ (he's a total troll), sniggering as he raises his hand, trying to act all obedient. We all know that he's mocking the new teacher by doing that.

However, Mr Kim seems to be the least bit affected by it. “What is it?”

“What if your math lessons are so boring that the whole class- oh I don't know, falls asleep or something? Will you continue your lessons then?” Chen asks innocently, and the boys sitting beside him are snorting loudly and obnoxiously.

“If that's the case,” Mr Kim stares long and hard at Chen. “Then I will have no choice but to inform the principal and your form teacher with regrets that there is no hope for you lot, and you can all go home and not attend school anymore. You won't have to take your finals, and you'll get a zero. If this is what you want, go ahead. Sleep.”

The whole class turns dead silent. Even Mr Kim's words left Chen's jaw hanging. All of us try to put up a tough front, acting as if we don't give a damn about our surroundings, but deep down we all know that we need to stay in school and continue to receive education.

“You're all seventeen,” Mr Kim continues with his blunt words, with no hint of a smile on his face. “I hope that all of you have at least a little bit of self-discipline, self-consciousness, a sense of urgency, and of course, responsibility. I'm here to facilitate your learning, but if you feel like I'm useless, go ahead and tell the principal that. In the end, the one who suffers the biggest loss is you.”

Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see Bess nodding her head at what he said. Was Mr Kim really that fluent in speaking? I cannot believe this! Why is the whole class so timid around him? I remembered the times with Mr Lee where the class seemed to think that he was easy to be bullied, and now the tables have turned. Great, this is the last thing I need on my list: a strict and controlling freak to order me around during math lessons.

I roll my eyes as I let out an angry sigh, feeling the bass drum its way into my soul. I close my eyes and drone out what everyone else is saying; there is only me and the music, and absolutely no one can interrupt us and break our bond.

Just then, I felt an urgent nudge on my left, and I lazily lift my eyelids to find Bess looking at me in panic and Mr Kim staring at me. The rest of my classmates are giving me expectant looks, hoping that I would live up to my name and give Mr Kim a hard time with my answer.

The problem is, I didn't even know what he asked.

“What?” I drum my fingers on the table, not bothering to remove the earpieces. The class laughs at my short and annoyed response.

Pull those earpieces out, Bess mouths towards me as I sat there, not reacting for a moment. “Oh.”

I proceed to remove my earpieces slowly and deliberately, but Mr Kim seems absolutely patient as he waits for me to finish what I was doing at hand before giving my full attention.

I hate that.

“So, what now?” I prop my head on my hand as I stare back at him, our gazes not even faltering for a second.

“It seems like you have a tendency to skip school almost every week, is that right, Gianna?” He calls me by my name and I cannot help but feel intimidated by the way he's scrutinising me.

“And how does that concern you, Mr Kim?” I cross my legs as I lean slightly forward in my seat. “I remember you saying that we shouldn't affect others who want to study. I think it's better that I'm not present in class instead, because I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to know how much trouble I'm going to stir up.”

“Basic respect, Gianna,” Mr Kim smiles a little, and there's something about it that makes me feel irritated yet excited. “Let me repeat myself because you probably weren't listening, considering the fact that you had your earpieces plugged in all this while. I've made it very clear that you should be present in my classes at all times. Is that clear?”

I look away as I fumble with the stray strands of my hair.

“I said, is that clear?”

I turn back to glare at him before giving a half-hearted response. “Sure, Mr Kim. Whatever you say.”

“Problematic students,” we all heard Mr Kim sigh deliberately.

You can say that the class felt insulted. Including me.

“Now, let's get to introductions,” he rubbed his hands as he surveyed us once again.

The whole class positively groaned.

“I'll answer some questions that all of you may have right now. Go on, ask.”

Did Mr Kim just smirk?

“How old are you?” A male student, seated at the back, asked. The whole class nods and the students soon erupted into loud discussions.

I didn't know what to say; Mr Kim is definitely a strict and annoying teacher. I hate his guts, I really do. Yet, I can't deny that he's undeniably attractive. I remembered him walking towards the podium; I glance at his firm and toned legs who are currently clothed in black, skinny jeans. He looks like he can dance as well. I imagine him dancing to a jazz piece, and I'm in there, watching him from the side of the practice room, when he pulls me towards him and sneaks his arms around my waist-

“I'm twenty-one.”

His words snapped me out of my cringeworthy thoughts. God, my brain needs to stop!

“Oh my god, he's so young!”

“No wonder…”

“He looks really cool.”

“Can I date him then?”

The room was filled with even more chatters and I nearly laughed out loud at the last comment made.

“Mr Kim,” a girl called out shyly as her group of friends starts to giggle along with her. “Are you by chance, married?”

I groan as I roll my eyes. Count on the girls in my class to ask such an embarrassing question.

There's a small glint in Mr Kim's eyes as he holds up his left hand for the class to see. The girls instinctively craned their necks. There are no rings on any of his fingers. “No, I'm not married. Neither am I engaged.”

“Are you dating someone then?” Another girl called out as the class turned to look at him expectantly.

Mr Kim smiles. “Yes.”

I don't know what's going on with me right now, by I felt a pinch of disappointment. I am very sure that I'm not infatuated or in love with my teacher, because that is ridiculous. Am I attracted to him? I'm not sure. All I know is that I hate his guts. Yes, I do hate his guts.

“Although I don't see how that concerns any of you,” Mr Kim shrugs as the class bursts into laughter.

Yes, it doesn't. It certainly does not concern me either.

“Before we start on algebra,” Mr Kim turns serious and the class starts to complain about having to start so quickly. “I want to remind all of you that I will not tolerate anyone who disrupts my lessons. I think we've established the fact that I would not hesitate to punish students who are out of line.”

The class groans again and I feel a slight tingle travel down my spine.