SM High School

Three handsome teachers, the heartthrob and also became the craze of female students and teachers at SM High School are walking in the hallways heading back to the staffroom after lunch break at the canteen. They are Kang Seulgi, Son Seungwan and Bae Jaehyun. Some of them try to gain their attention and sometimes obviously show their interest to the trio but none of them are given a chance to just go out for a date. Students also often give it a try but the teachers just ignore their antics. They only give a killer smile that makes their fans like them more. Even though they are surrounded by not-so-called fans, they know their limits and they are not supposed to do the same things, especially to students. They remember they are at school so they don't mind those flirts. They only response with smile

“Teacher Bae Jaehyun” the principal, Seo Joohyun, bump into the trio at the hallway

“Yes Ms. Seo” Jaehyun answer after they give polite bow to the principal

“We have a meeting after the school period. Did Teacher Choi Minho inform you already?”

“Yes, Choi Sonsaengnim already inform us in group chat”

“Bring the report that I asked you to prepare last week. I want to discuss on the meeting later”

“Sure Ms. Seo, I’ll bring it”

“Okay”

“Ms. Seo, are all teachers join the meeting?” asked Seulgi

“No, only science and mathematics teachers. Other subject will be on other days”

“Noted ma’am”

The principal excuses herself leaving Jaehyun, Seulgi and Seungwan at the hallway. Seungwan noticed that Jaehyun looked restless after Principal Seo leaving

“Jae, what’s wrong?” Seungwan asked

“You looked restless. Something is bothering you?” Seulgi add

Jaehyun shook his head “I have to pick up my noona at the airport later. Her flight will land at 4 PM. The meeting will start at 2:30 PM so I don’t think I could catch the time. Airport is far from here”

“Why not asked your appa or eomma?”

“Appa and eomma are both busy today. If I ask noona to ride a taxi, she’ll not agree knowing noona is scared to ride public transport alone. She would rather wait for me instead” Jaehyun suddenly gets an idea when he is looking at Seulgi and Seungwan “Hyung, can any of you help me?”

“Help for what?”

“Help me to pick up Joohyun noona at airport” Jaehyun begging with puppy eyes

“Don’t show that face. My hand itching want to punch you” Seulgi annoyed seeing Jaehyun doing aegyo that make him want to puke

“Hyung~” Jaehyun pouted but a few seconds later he went back to serious again “Please Seul hyung and Wan hyung. Help me, pretty please~”

“Sorry Jae, I have scheduled to train a choir team that will join the competition next week. I can’t skip it” said Seungwan. He is one of English teachers at SM High and also teacher in-charge of music club

“Seul hyung, the soccer team don’t have training of Thursday. Please go on my behalf” Jaehyun shook Seulgi's arms. Seulgi is a PE and visual art teacher. He coached the soccer team together with Jaehyun. Jaehyun teach Mathematics at SM High

Seulgi slump his shoulder because he know he can’t escape “Okay”

“Thanks hyung!” Jaehyun squeal as his problem solved

“But I don’t know your sister. I never meet her” Seulgi stated

“Don’t worry, I’ll solve that problem” Jaehyun grin then he drag Seulgi and Seungwan go to staffroom

………….

Seulgi now stands in front of the arrival hall holding a cardboard sign that Jaehyun wrote ‘WELCOME HOME, BAE JOOHYUN’ earlier. According to Jaehyun, it is the easiest way so that Seulgi and his sister can find each other since both of them never meet. The cardboard decorated beautifully by Jaehyun and Seungwan so that it could attract Jaehyun’s sister attention

“They just touched down” Seulgi mumble when he heard the arrival announcement of flight from Manchester

After 10 minutes of waiting, the passengers of the flight from Manchester showed up one by one. Seulgi holds up the cardboard so that the person that he is waiting for can see it clearly. He saw a petite and pretty woman walk in his direction dragging a purple suitcase. Her face seem cold and snobbish

“Could it be her?” Seulgi mumbled “I think that’s her. Her face looks like Jaehyun. Just a little bit scary”

“You are Bae Jaehyun’s friend that he sent to pick me up?” she asking Seulgi

“Yes, Ms. Bae. I am his friend. Jaehyun can’t come because he have meeting with principal”

“He told me already”

“By the way, I am Kang Seulgi” Seulgi stretch out his hand then Irene accept it

“I am Bae Joohyun but you can call me Irene. Only my family can call me Joohyun”

“Sure thing, let me bring your suitcase” Seulgi took the suitcase from Irene

Irene smiling like stupid as she admiring a muscular gentleman that walking in front of her. Seulgi have a well-built body. Irene assumed that Seulgi was a fitness freak. He also has a cute eye smile and charismatic gaze. She wondered how it would feel if she rested her head on that broad shoulder. His side profile looked so manly. She not surprise if a lot of woman fall for him because she is one of them

“There is my car” Seulgi pointed at his car at the parking lot across to them

“Okay” Irene says absentmindedly as her mind is still roaming around “Seulgi, can I hold your hand?” she asked hesitantly. She has trauma crossing the road so wherever she goes, she tries to avoid crossing if pedestrian lights or bridges are not available.

Seeing Irene looked slightly panic, Seulgi nods his head then offer his hand “Come”

Both of them crossing the road hold hands with each other. Seulgi holds Irene's hand until they reach his car. He put her suitcase in the trunk then opened the door for Irene. She was touched by a sweet gesture from Seulgi. They only have short conversations all the way to Irene’s house. The rest, Irene falls asleep due to jet lag and Seulgi doesn't want to disturb her. Besides, he’s not good at initiating talk with someone he just met. He think it’s better if Irene fall asleep instead of both of them feel awkward

………..

That night, Irene went to Jaehyun’s bedroom with paper bags. She knocked on the door before entering, then Jaehyun gave permission to enter his room. Jaehyun sit at his study table doing something on his laptop when Irene come in

“Noona, not sleep yet?”

“No, I’m not sleepy. Am I disturbing something?” Irene pull the stool from dressing table and sit beside her brother

“Nope, I’m not busy. Just finish preparing material for tomorrow lesson”

Irene smiles proudly at her brother. Jaehyun began his career at the end of last year. He showed his passion through Mathematics by becoming a Math teacher. Jaehyun chose an education major because he wanted to share his knowledge about that subject. His family support him all the way to achieve his dream

“How’s work so far?” asked Irene

“Everything is going well, noona. I have fun teaching my students and learn a lot from my senior” Jaehyun answer happily

“Glad to hear that. By the way, I bought a dress shirt and necktie for you. I think those colors suit you” Irene give the paper bags to Jaehyun

“Aigoo, thank you noona” Jaehyun take a look at the item in the paper bags

“Do you make friends with your colleague?”

“Yes, the handsome man that picked you up at the airport earlier is my best friend. Another one is Seungwan hyung. They are so nice to me. I feel like I have two brothers since I met them. We share a lot of things in common. Both of them also fun to be with” Jaehyun looked excited when he talked about Seulgi and Seungwan

“What about female teachers? None of them are your close friends?” Irene teasing her brother

Jaehyun scratches his head “That’s the problem, noona. There are a lot of female teachers who are obviously flirting with me. Not only me but Seulgi hyung and Seungwan hyung too. To be fair to everyone, we are not giving a lot of attention to them. We set the boundary with those teachers who showed their interest to us to avoid chaos in school. It is not funny if teachers fight because of us. Since I follow Seulgi hyung and Seungwan hyung, my relationship with female teachers is only as a colleague. We’re not that close to each other”

Irene laughs as she hears her brother complain “You’re that famous, huh?”

“You don’t know how many fans I have. The only female teachers that are not crazy about us are the one that is already married and our school principal, Ms. Seo. The rest are our fans. You know what is crazier? Our students are also crazy about us. Some of them even know our birthday. You see that stuff?” Jaehyun pointed at the cabinet “Those are gifts from them. I gave some stuff to eomma. Next time I’ll give to you too”

“You all are so funny” Irene clapped her hands as she laughing “Those gifts are cute and expensive anyway” Irene snort as she take one of the gift from the cabinet beside the table

“You can take anything you wanted”

“I’ll see if there is something that catch my attention”

“What about yourself, noona? Appa said you return for good. Has your contract with your former bank ended?” Jaehyun asking his sister

“Yes, the contract ended last month. I already received an interview invitation at one of the banks here. I’ll go next Monday”

“Oh, I hope you success”

“Thank you” Irene pats Jaehyun head softly

Jaehyun clears his throat “By the way noona, when will you plan to have a boyfriend or get married? Appa and eomma worry if you not get out of comfort zone and will stay single forever”

Irene giggle “I don’t have boyfriend yet but I have a target already” she wiggle her eyebrows

“Wow, may I know who that is?” Jaehyun curious yet excited

“Your friend…Kang Seulgi” Irene smirk

Jaehyun gasped. He stares at his sister in disbelief “Seulgi hyung? Seriously? How could you fall in love so fast?”

“I don’t love him yet but I already like him since first time I saw him” Irene say confidently

“Aigoo noona” Jaehyun sighs

“Why? Is he married or has a girlfriend? Tell me quickly before I make a move” Irene asks in a serious manner. From her tone, Jaehyun assume that his sister is not joking about her interest at Seulgi

“So far I have never seen him close with any woman. I can guarantee he is single. However, you need to work extra hard to gain his attention. Seulgi hyung is picky when it comes to women who want to be close to him. Seungwan hyung told me that Seul hyung used to be close with a woman but he cut their connection immediately when that woman did not respect him, his family and refused to understand him. To be exact, that woman only wants to take but doesn't want to give. Until now, Seulgi hyung don’t found a good match”

“Oh, that woman deserves it. What other info about him?” Irene urge her brother to tell more about her crush

Jaehyun tapping his chin “Seulgi hyung prioritize his body fitness. He have routine exercise at gym and morning run if he not tired. Seulgi hyung concern about his body fitness that’s why he have well-built body and it success make a lot of female drooling especially when he wearing sleeveless shirt. Hyung is PE and visual art teacher. He also a soccer coach for school team. His family opened a ramen restaurant at Seongsudong. It is one of the famous ramen restaurants.”

“Fun fact” Irene mumble

“That’s all the info for you. The rest you dig for yourself. Show your effort, noona” Jaehyun grin

“That is good enough. At least I know the basics about him. Em, when should I make a move?” Irene suddenly pouting

Jaehyun tapping his fingers on the table “Hyung always exercises at the park near his apartment complex on weekends if the weather is fine. You can start there”

“Does that mean I should exercise too?” Irene showing pitiful face since she is not into exercise

“Yes”

“But I never exercise outdoors. I usually run on a treadmill, do indoor exercise or Pilates. What if I do something stupid in front of him?”

“Hm, I’ll help you on your first time but next time you plan your move alone. I don’t want to be thirdwheel. It , noona”

“Thank you, my big boy!” Irene squeal

“We must wake up early if we want to see him because hyung starts early in the morning. Can you get up early?”

“Of course, I am morning person so wake up early is not problem” Irene say confidently

“Alright, hope the weather is fine this weekend” Jaehyun looks at Irene and smirks “Noona, consultant and information is not free even though we're family. It is very expensive because it involving personal information”

Irene glared at her brother as she knew what he wanted. “What do you want? Cash or item?”

Jaehyun grinning wide “I saw a new arrival soccer boot a few days ago. I want it as payment”

“Okay, we buy tomorrow”

“Yeay! Thank you, noona. I hope you and Seulgi hyung will date and get married. He is a nice man” Jaehyun chirped. Irene only shakes her head seeing her brother's antics. After that, she excused herself to go back to her room and sleep since her body still exhausted after long flight

………..

6:15 AM, Saturday, at the park near Seulgi’s apartment

Bae siblings show up for their morning run. Jaehyun is still sleepy. He slept late last night because of watching a soccer match with his appa while Irene was flashing a big smile when she saw her target just a few meters away from them. Seulgi stood up in front of his apartment entrance that was attached to the park while shutting his eyes tightly. He seems to enjoy the fresh morning air. Irene also noticed that Seulgi currently smiles like he enjoys himself to the fullest. That view make her heart beat like crazy

“Noona” Jaehyun waving his hands in front of Irene’s face but she did not respond “Noona!”

The older Bae startled then Jaehyun volume up his voice “Yah!” she smack his arm

“Noona, don’t day dream. It is still too early to dream. If you still sleepy, let’s go back”

“Bae Jaehyun, I’m not daydreaming. I just admiring a handsome man in front of me” Irene gritted her teeth

Jaehyun looking toward the same direction as his sister then he sighs when he noticed Seulgi currently doing warming up “Noona, staring is creepy”

“Let’s go before I sew your mouth. You’re talking too much” Irene drag her brother to greet Seulgi before that guy leave for run

When they get close to Seulgi, Irene pushes Jaehyun ahead of her because she is still awkward around him. Jaehyun who is the mastermind in Irene’s project is ready with a plan

“Seulgi hyung, good morning!”

Seulgi exercise halted when he heard Jaehyun voice “Jae? What are you doing here?” he felt weird seeing his friend suddenly show up this early. He remembers that Jaehyun is not a morning person and always gives excuses when he asks to exercise together. Jaehyun and Seungwan are the same. Both are anti to exercise and stuff

“I come to exercise…with my noona” Jaehyun pull Irene to stand beside him

“Oh, good morning, Irene” Seulgi smile

“Good morning, Seulgi” Irene shy but still keep cool

“No wonder you wake up early. I think your sister successfully drag you out of your room” Seulgi make fun of Jaehyun making the younger guy frown

“You’re right, I have hard time drag him out earlier” Irene said

“I know right. Your mom told me to push him from his bed to wake him up so you should do too. It work well”

Irene eyebrows creased when Seulgi talks about her mother “Do you close with eomma?”

“Pretty close because Seungwan and I hang out a lot with Jaehyun. We met your parents when we picked him up at home. Your appa also join us if he is free'' said Seulgi

“Oh I see” Irene is happy that Seulgi is close with her family. It make everything easy for her to close the gap between them

Jaehyun cleared his throat “Em, I think you two will not forget my existence, right?”

“Do you hear someone speaking, Irene?” Seulgi fooling around

“Hyung!” Jaehyun whine

“Aigoo, our Teacher Bae. Don’t cry. Hyung only play around” Seulgi pinch Jaehyun cheeks then Jaehyun slap his arm

“Jaehyun” Irene glared at her brother. She don’t like her brother hurting her crush

“If you two want to join me running, do warm up first” said Seulgi

“Okay” the sibling start warming up with Jaehyun taking the lead

…………

They jog around the park for three rounds already. The park is pretty big that makes Irene almost pass out. She stop as she can’t do it anymore

“Yah! Stop running!” she shout, stopping Jaehyun and Seulgi who already run slightly farther from her

The duo ran back to her “Noona, you okay?” Jaehyun caressing his sister's back. Irene looked like will pass out anytime. She is breathing heavily due to exhausted

“Do I look fine to you?”

“Ayy noona” Jaehyun rolled his eyes

“If you can’t continue, we can stop now. Let’s get a place to sit” said Seulgi

Irene melted hearing Seulgi’s soothing voice unlike Jaehyun who make her annoying without doing anything “Okay”

Jaehyun walks his sister to the nearest bench then carefully helps her to sit. It’s been a while since she exercise due to busy with her job so it’s not weird if her stamina is dropping

“I’ll buy drinks for us. What did you two want to drink?” asked Seulgi

“Hyung, let me buy for us. I want to get my phone is my car” Jaehyun quickly offer himself to give chance for his sister to being alone with Seulgi

“Okay then, mine as usual” said Seulgi as he sit again

“Buy mineral water for me” add Irene

“Okay” Jaehyun wink to his sister then he leave both of them

………

The atmosphere instantly feels awkward between both of them. The two of them don’t know how to begin their conversation. In the end, Seulgi break the awkward silence

“Jaehyun told me that you are working in Manchester. Do you come here for a holiday?” Seulgi questioning the woman beside her

“I came back for good. I've been working overseas for four years so I decided to return and find a job here. Besides, I want to spend time with my family” Irene said, staring at the small space between her and Seulgi. She want to get rid of the gap but she know it’s not time yet

“Oh, have you found a new job?”

“Yes, I’ll go for an interview next Monday. I hope I get that job”

“All the best for you” Seulgi say sincerely

“Thank you” Irene gave a sweet smile in return “Jaehyun said you and your friend take good care of him. Thank you for making him feel like have a sibling. I feel bad that I can’t spend a lot of time with my brother”

“It’s not a big deal. I and Seungwan are happy having him with us since both of us don’t have younger brother”

Irene nods her head slightly “Do you stay in that apartment?” she pointed at the apartment building

“Yes, I stayed in the gray building” Seulgi looking at the gray apartment building where he stayed since the past few years

“Do you stay with your family?”

“No, I’m alone. I do not stay with my family because our house is far from school. To avoid being stuck in traffic jams every morning, I purchased a unit here. I visit them at home or at our restaurant whenever I’m free”

“Oh I see. Jaehyun said your family run a ramen restaurant”

“True, we have a restaurant at Seongsudong. You can come with Jaehyun. He eat there for free”

“Seriously? Why don't you ask him to pay? Don’t pamper him. Jaehyun is too old for such stuff” Irene cackle

“My parents give him free food after they know he is my best friend. Jaehyun sometimes insists on helping at the restaurant. You know, Jaehyun and Seungwan work part-time as waiters at our restaurant during the school holiday. They flirt around with our customer”

“Yah, Jaehyun said he not flirt at school”

Seulgi snorted “He does not flirt at school but outside of school, he and Seungwan flirt a lot.