12:25

Her eyes flickering back towards the clock on her desk for the tenth time in the past minute. She hoped for a distraction but the finger idly tapping against the morning paper told of her dwindling patience. 

 5 more minutes before class starts. 

For anyone else, the start of the semester is super chill but for Mina she was experiencing a very tense “first day of class anxiety.” Her body was buzzing with a mix caffeine and impatience and that slight nausea she gets when she’s nervous. The finger that had been tapping against the morning paper now travels toward her desk, the beat changing sporadically.  

Like any start of her day for the semester she'd idly wait in her office, prep for her lecture, read, or play a game on her phone. Thankfully, it was a short 15 second walk from her office to her class so she never had an issue with being late. She was also grateful that her classes started in the afternoon so her mornings were always wonderfully empty. 

It became a new form of pride for her to walk in exactly at 12:30 on the dot. When she first started teaching at the University it occurred completely by accident. Who knew that class prep and lesson plans could be overwhelming for a new teacher? For the first week it was constant all nighters and a constant fear of being late that created this unforeseen habit. But Mina prided herself with being a fast learner so after a couple months she was able to adjust to all the hectic schedules and free of all nighters, most of the time. Now, her reputation around campus was, well, very much the greatest achievement she’d accomplished in her 25 years of living.

-

“Oh you didn’t hear? Ms. Myoui is SUPER PROMPT to her class. Like it’s so scary you’d think she was Professor McGonagall. BOOM there she is!”

“Dude you need to get here now! Class unofficially officially starts 10 minutes before. You get here later and I’ll send my condolences to your family.”

“People usually say class starts 15 minutes after. Bruh, you’d be the biggest idiot to believe that for this class.”

“I knew a friend of a friend who once got here ONE SECOND after she entered her class one time and she never let that down. She called on them consistently in class for the rest of the semester. There was no downtime after that point. Don’t EVER be late to her class!”

-

Now the last was wasn't as bad, she had thought. To be fair it had looked like the student was very eager to participate throughout the lecture so of course Mina took it as a sign that they wanted to participate. Mina had assumed GE classes had low participation to begin with so she took the eagerness as a sign that her GE classes were maybe more enjoyable than others.

But as the comments and attentiveness continued for the professor, she had realized this was probably the most action and attention she’s ever had in her entire life. The more she heard about her “ungodly promptness” the more it fed into her desire to just keep being on time. It seemed very on brand for her personality as well. There really wasn’t an issue for being “on time” all the time, it was just how she was raised to respect appointments and other responsibilities.

"Respect the time of others,” an all too familiar voice reverberated in her head.

She froze, her eyes glazing over for a brief second. If it wasn’t for the aura Mina walked around with, students wouldn’t even bat an eye if a professor walked in on time until they started to calm the class down for lectures. The haze slowly clears from her eyes and she registers the clocks movement. 

12:29:10 PM

She pats are face. “Come on Mina, focus.” 

It was getting closer to the time for her to leave her quaint little office, head down the hall toward her classroom, and start another semester class full of students who are taking the class for the GE credits. Mina neatly folds the paper she’d been absently reading for last 20 minutes. She gives herself one last look over through her small desk mirror before bracing herself for the inevitable.  

—

12:30:00 

Silence.

12:30:05 

Students were beginning to shuffle around in their seats, the atmosphere becoming more tense as the seconds passed. All eyes staring holes at the door, waiting for the always prompt professor.

Someone gasped.

“SHE'S LATE FOR CLASS BY 10 SECONDS AND COUNTING? HOW IS THIS HAPPENING???"

Another student realizes it's someone whose repeating the class a third time now.

Everyone tenses.

12:30:15

“Yo, shut up. We don’t want to get in trouble the first day of school.”

Everyone is shooting  death stares at the door now. Everyone shooting invisible rays of tense dread onto the too heavy of a door. Waiting.

12:31:45

“So... does the ‘if the prof doesn’t arrive in the next 15 minutes we’re all dismissed’ rule still apply here or should we call it quits right now?”

What filled the room wasn’t relief. Students sunk deeper into their seats as silence embedded with tension soaked into their poor souls. The fear of breaking the silence becoming more terrifying than the ticking time bomb awaiting to enter the classroom. Suddenly, a loud smack reverberated throughout the classroom breaking the trance. A hushed “Shut it Jeong,” followed by an exasperated yelp of pain from the girl next to her could be heard from the far back corner. 

“Considering this is the first day, technically, if we leave we’re dropped from the class you big doofus.”

“Ah, you right.” The girl name Jeong shrugged unfazed by the threat being dropped.

Everyone seemed to agree to stay in their seats awaiting for the unexpected. This was unprecedented territory for Prof Myoui’s class. For some, the stress of the first day snatched 5 years of their life, for others could only pray for finals to come sooner.  

— 

12:28:30

“Alright, lets start another amazing semester!” Mina tried encouraging, giving herself a thumbs up through the small desk mirror she had.

She gave herself one last check before exiting her office.

Her hand reaching for the door handle, ready to leave, ready to start class, the door opened, and BAM.

The next thing she saw were papers flying EVERYWHERE. Her face instantly changing from her neutral gaze to a face of complete shock.

12:29:45

Papers are everywhere and now she's on the floor trying to help whoever poor soul ran face first into her door while also profusely apologizing for causing such a scene. Her hands feebly working to pick up the scattered papers. Her subconscious dreading the pull to uphold a reputation she never initially wanted. Finally, she grabbed the last piece of paper closest to her. She tried not to rush handing back the collection of crumpled papers to the frazzled victim who was nursing her head with one hand while picking up papers with the other.

What she was expecting was an over zealous student who was overly prepared but ended up waking up late for the first day of class. What she didn’t expect was a woman she had faintly recognized as one of the arts department professors wandering down her department.

She glances down at her watch.

12:30

She felt a slight pain of disappointment wash over her knowing her well known reputation is being challenged after 2.5 years of promptness. But the disappointment was quickly replaced with concern as she saw her colleague struggling with her papers.

Mina was never one to be lost for words but as she looked across at the professor she was slightly taken aback. 

Get a hold of yourself

Mina clears , “Dr. Son. I’m so sorry for—“ Mina gestures to the scene around them, why are words difficult right now, “This.”

Chaeyoung stands up haphazardly with papers now crumpled and disheveled from quickly collecting them. Mina hands her the rest of the papers and Chaeyoung gives a shy smile and curt “thank you” after receiving them.

A beat.

“So why —“

“Professor Myoui I’m — “

Mina raises a hand to stop Chaeyoung, “If you’re going to apologize, don’t. I’m just as responsible for smacking you in the face with my door as you were for running right into it.” Her own brow raised in confusion as she processed her verbal garbage. 

Chaeyoung shares the same look of confusion but they both end up having a good laugh out of it. Chaeyoung glances down to hide her flushed cheeks. Mina notes to herself that it's kind of cute. Chaeyoung rubs the back of her neck with her free hand, “Your door has a way of greeting new profs to the department. I’ll gladly accept this as initiation.”

Mina’s eyes furrow in confusion. A rise of panic surfaces in her stomach and she quickly checks her watch again. 

12:32

She was late but she also needed answers. 

To hell with my reputation, Mina thought.

Mina glances toward Chaeyoung again stretching her hand out, “Welcome to the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies. Professor Myoui of GE World History.”

Chaeyoung accepts the greeting with a smile so captivating Mina stores it away for for another day. Chaeyoung’s hand meets her own in a firm grip, “Thank you. Dr. Son from the Department of Music and Fine Arts here to teach a Core class with Dr. Kim.”

The handshake doesn’t last more than a second but Mina’s face is hurting from smiling and she’s late to class but she can’t just keep looking at Chaeyoung— Dr. Son’s eyes like this. Like she’s already falling — 

Wait

Mina releases her grip and gives a curt “I hope to see you around. I have a class to teach.” and rushes toward the direction of her class. Mina glances down at her watch one last time.

12:33:10

Wow was she late.