part 1 ♡ pages 23-32

‘Ding ding!’ The bell for lunch rang through the classroom and Wendy was surprised that the day had progressed so quickly. She hadn’t expected teaching to be this fun but it actually was! She had introduced herself to the class and they all seemed really well behaved, well, as well behaved as a group of high schoolers could be. And she had even learned most of their names. She had told them to stand up and say something about themselves at the beginning of class so she could get to know them better and she had learned some pretty interesting things about them. One boy had said that he was practicing to become an idol, another said he wanted to join the military, and one of the girls had said that her older sister was a famous idol. 

Wendy had wanted to share her interest in singing with them, but decided against it. She was their teacher after all. 

Since the lunch bell had just rang, Wendy dismissed her class to the lunchroom while she stayed behind to grab her lunch bag. 

Wendy smiled at the childish design printed on her bag. It was really colorful with pink and purple squiggles accompanied by glittery stars and music notes. It was Wendy‘s old lunch bag that she used in elementary school but never had the chance to purchase a new one. She was fine with this one though. She thought it was cute.

As she walked down the halls towards the lunchroom, she saw Heechul talking with a student about something. Wendy couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying but they looked like they were friends with how adamantly they were talking with one another. Wendy giggled a little at the smile stretched across the students face as he looked up at Heechul excitedly. Soon one of the student’s friends called him over so Wendy decided she would jog over to walk next to Heechul.

“Heechul!” Wendy waved as she fell into place next to him. 

“Ah well if it isn’t Ms. Shon. Hello again Wendy how are you enjoying your first day teaching?”

Wendy smiled, looking straight ahead, “Honestly, its been surprisingly good. Not sure if that’s a good or bad sign, but I’m trying to be more positive sooo lets go with a good sign hah!”

Heechul nodded at her enthusiasm and held open the door to the cafeteria for Wendy to walk through first.

The cafeteria was large and shaped like a rectangle, all four of the walls were a stark white color and one of the walls was lined with windows. A sliding door was on that same wall which led to outdoor seating. There were already a bunch of students seated at the matching white lunch tables and the room was alive with gossip. 

Heechul led Wendy over to a group of tables towards the windows that seemed to be sectioned off as staff seating. There were some teachers there already that Wendy didn’t have the chance to meet yet, along with the principal who had been rude to her earlier. They seemed to be discussing their plans for after school.

Wendy bowed at them and took a seat next to one of the female teachers. She pretended she hadn’t noticed the look that the principal was giving her. The teacher Wendy had sat down next to was young, maybe a few years older than Wendy, and she had long brown hair. Heechul sat across from Wendy.

“You must be the new English teacher! Wendy Shon, was it?” The pretty brown hair asked, reaching her hand out towards Wendy to shake.

“Yes, hello, it’s very nice to meet you miss...uh”

“You’re cute,” she laughed, “Kim Jisoo.” She said with wink and turned back towards one of the other teachers to continue their previous conversation. Her brown hair was radiant in the light. Wendy was blushing a little and when she turned back to face Heechul, he was quirking an eyebrow at her.

“What..” Wendy asked, feeling the need to fix her bangs with her fingers all of a sudden. When Heechul just laughed at her in response, Wendy leaned forward to lightly hit him on the shoulder. The principal noticed this.

“Sooo Wendy,” Heechul started, rubbing a hand on the spot where she had playfully hit him. “I’ve been wondering this since I first saw you. Tell me, why did you decide to become an English teacher here?”

Wendy pretended like she was thinking of an answer and then, with a raise of her brow, said, “You first!! Why did yooouu decide to become a teacher here?~” 

“Wooowww ok I see how it is. Well... the dream was- wait, you have to promise not to laugh.”

Wendy gasped, “I’d never.” and feigned a shocked expression at the accusation.

“You still have to promise~” Heechul sounded like a child who was about to confess to their friends that they had superpowers or something crazy.

“I promise.” Wendy said, sternly, and made a motion of doing a crossing movement with her finger against her heart.

“Good.” Heechul grinned and then exhaled. “Growing up, my dream was always... to become a baker.” He looked up, probably expecting Wendy to laugh, but she just stared at him, taking in everything he was saying with wide eyes. 

“A baker! That’s so cool Heechul! I love baking too, even though i’m not that great at it.. it’s still really fun!” Wendy beamed and clapped her hands together.

Wendy was always a selfless person and loved to make other people feel happy to the point where she tended to put others before herself. It was just the way she was, and she really enjoyed listening to people talk about what they were passionate about. She loved to hear people go on and on about their dreams and ambitions so adamantly, because it gave her hope that her dreams could come true as well.

Heechul continued, leaning back, “Yep, a baker. Hah, shocking right? It doesn’t really sound like something I’d enjoy, I know, but I do. Well, I did. I fell in love with creating my own pastries and recipes ever since I was young. I remember my sister got one of those easy bake ovens as a gift and I probably ended up using it more than she did.”

Wendy giggled as she imagined him playing with the little pink oven.

“As the years progressed, however, and reality started to weigh down on me, the whole ‘baking thing’ didn’t really work out.... sooo, becoming a teacher was my next option. It turned out alright in the end. Teaching is fun.”

Wendy frowned and was about to tell him to quit and become a baker, when he spoke up.

“Alright now it’s your turn~ Spill it.”

Wendy huffed, “Finnnee. I moved to Korea to become a singer. I didn’t have enough money to find an agency, train, and debut let alone afford the plane ticket to get here because of student loans, plus i have an apartment now so i have rent to pay, so i need to save up money first. That’s why i’m teaching English here. But unlike youuu,” Wendy jabbed her finger at him, “I’m not giving up on my dreams so easily! And you shouldn’t either! We need to both quit and just do it! Alright, screw it, let’s go!”

Heechul laughed, “It’s literally your first day here.”

Wendy crossed her arms. “Okay you’re right but still. One day. You and me. We’re breaking outta here!”

“We aren’t trapped here, you know” Heechul said, loudly sipping his water, “we can quit whenever we want to..well, kinda...”

“You’re missing the poin- never mind.” Wendy huffed and she noticed the principal shooting daggers at her out of the corner of her eye. It made her uncomfortable but Wendy decided not to comment on it. 

Soon the bell rang for lunch dismissal so Wendy gathered her lunch and packed what she hadn’t finished back into her bag. She wasn’t about to waste food that was for sure.

When Wendy made it back to her class, Heechul and her stopped in front of the door to say their goodbyes for now. 

“Back to paradise.” Heechul said, leaning against the wall. Wendy nodded.

“Good luck with your class.”

“You too. Oh, before I go, promise me one thing.” 

Wendy looked up at him, curious, “What is it?”

“Promise me that you’ll sing for me one day?”

Wendy laughed, “Only if you promise to cook me something one day too.”

“It’s a deal.” Heechul said before walking off towards his classroom.

Wendy blew her bangs out of her eyes and then spun around, determined to teach these students something today. 

“Alright class, tell me, what do you know about American culture? It could be a stereotype, something you saw on tv, anything.”

A few hands rose up and Wendy smiled, catching a glance at the sun shining through the branches of that plum blossom tree swaying outside. She was determined to do her best so she could become a singer soon.