Joohyun kept telling herself that it was all the same – the school she went to, the faces she met, the roads she took, heck, even the birds that flew by were the same. Nothing had changed; nothing.

Joohyun still smiled when she passed by the group of teachers a little above her age, or met up with kids like Jungkook and Sohye – the smart and hardworking kids. Yerim still managed to piss her off and take her phone back. Joohyun had spared her another warning, which she didn’t heed too, as always. She had also met up with a few of her admirers and a few who didn’t like her – the few who deemed her under qualified, still. She impressed the Principal again with her skills in spotting a kid that was out of place – like most of the time it was Donghyuck. He had forgotten which shirt he had to wear for the day again. She had scolded him, but he only gave her a cheeky grin and left. She knew what was inside his head, but didn’t mind, like always.

It was all the same.

She avoided Kim Jongdae whenever he tried to speak to her.

He greeted her with a hi and she passed by him with a short bye, because she didn’t want to engage herself in useless conversations.

She didn’t face him, and even if she did, she only gave him her signature blank face, to which he responded with that damn grin of his. She remained unfazed by that though, or she made it seem like she was unfazed, as always.

It was normal, usual and very much the way Joohyun wanted it to be, except this time, she found herself stealing glances whenever Mr. Kim was around. She found herself taking extra note of those who were head over heels for Mr. Kim. Also, this time she felt even more flustered – her cheeks felt warmer than usual and her temper rose rather quickly than the other days.

Her feelings were a mess. Not that they were not supposed to be, but it wasn’t normal.

But, she wanted it to be normal.

“Kim Jongdae, you’re a jerk!”

“What? Why?”

Joohyun’s eyes grew wide when she realized where she was at – her desk, surrounded by the teachers who were either doing their job or playing around. She was supposed to be scrolling through her Facebook page, searching for illogical mathematical jokes her students might use at her later, but she had to slip into an unconscious state again and splutter out nonsense about Jongdae in front of Jongdae.

What have you done, Joohyun? Joohyun cried internally.

Externally however, she (thankfully) managed to compose herself. She blinked at him, face devoid of any emotion; “What, what? What why?”

She cleared , ignoring the smirk that was dangling on Mr. Kim’s lips; “I was just reading something on my phone.”

“Something about me? Because I clearly heard my name –“

“Yes,” she replied hurriedly, fingers swiping and bringing her to the gallery. She shoved her phone in front of his face. “This.”

It was a screenshot from Yerim’s phone she had transferred just the day before for blackmailing purpose. A screenshot of their private group chat where they discussed mostly about Kim Jongdae and how offensive – Joohyun finally understood why kids these days preferred to use words as ‘attack’ and ‘offend’ – his existence was. Not exactly what she was unconsciously blabbering, but close to that.

She hoped she wouldn’t get caught.

Joohyun crossed her fingers and prayed again.

This time, they were heard (thankfully).

Jongdae’s face pinked as his eyes skimmed over what was presented on the screen and he let out an embarrassed laughter, muttering something like I’m guessing Yerim’s phone. Joohyun wanted to nod and join him, because that’s what she would’ve done if she was with Hani and others but this was Jongdae, she reminded herself.

And normally, Joohyun didn’t bother acting properly with Jongdae.

But seeing Jongdae be embarrassed, that too, because of her wasn’t normal either.  

Joohyun chuckled, ignoring the wild beating of her heart; “Be careful, Mr. Idol.” And proceeded to take her leave, this time, receiving a ‘see you tomorrow’ from Jongdae.

Joohyun, you’re doomed.