Heart Attack and Robbery

“Okay class, I hope you still remember the assignment that I gave you last week…” said the English teacher, Ms. Madison Kwon.

The whole class murmured to each other, they were exchanging looks, some of them were smiling but some were completely in shock.

But Yena was unbothered.

She wasn’t even listening. Her head was laid down on the table, well hidden behind the book she put up as the fortress. She tried to listen but her eyes won’t cooperate with her ears. English is her weakest subject and even though the teacher is, according to the class nerd, Sakura, ‘hot as kimchi jjigae’, whatever that means, but she can’t stay awake once she starts talking.

“Class president,” called the teacher.

“Yes, Ms. Kwon!” replied the class president, Chaeyeon.

“Can you collect the papers from everyone in the class and leave them on my desk by today?”

“Yes, I will do it.”

“Make sure EVERYONE submit their assignment, okay?” asked the teacher in a sweet yet threatening voice.

Chaeyeon smiled and nooded, “Don’t worry, I will make sure they all submit by today.”

“Has everyone finished the assignment?” asked the teacher suddenly.

Ms. Kwon crossed her arms and looked around the class. Everyone was avoiding eye contact with her, well except one student. Sakura was looking at her with dreamy eyes. The girl in glasses even had her elbows on the desk, putting her chin on her palms as she was looking at the teacher.

Their eyes met and the teacher smiled tenderly at her.

“Have you finished it, Kkura-ya?” she asked.

Sakura smiled widely and nodded, “I’ve finished it the day you gave it to us. I have also proofread it 5 times, to make sure there’s no grammatical errors, and also I have re-write it on a new paper so that you can read my handwriting better, Ms. Kwon!”

“I know I can always count on a dependable student like you,” said the teacher, smiling.

Sakura smiled sheepishly and looked down, “Well, English is my favourite subject.”

Chaeyeon rolled her eyes.

“More like it’s her favourite teacher,” she muttered under her breath.

She and Sakura has been friends for 5 years and she knew well about Sakura’s crush on their English teacher. She tried to convince her that it’s an impossible relationship but Sakura said there’s nothing wrong with a little crush, since it also served as the motivation for her to study hard.

The teacher moves her attention towards the back row of the classroom. She saw everyone’s faces, except one. There was a book on the table, standing straight, opened, but it was upside down. She sighed, it’s the same student again.

“Yena,” she called.

But there was no response.

“Choi Yen-

Suddenly there was a sound of the siren. It was like a police siren and it echoes in the classroom. Yena suddenly sat up straight with her confused face. Her hair was disheveled and a few strands were stuck on her cheek, probably glued by the drool.

Yena stood up and shook her head, “I-I DIDN’T DO IT! I DIDN’T ROB THE BANK!”

The whole class went into a laughter fit. Yena looked around and finally realized that she was inside her classroom and not the bank. The sound of the siren came from her own phone, as she set it as her ringtone. She immediately reached inside her bag and turned it off.

Ms. Kwon cleared , “Choi Yena, you know that phones are not allowed to use during class, right?”

“I-I know that, and I didn’t use it, but I forgot to turn it off-

“And please, if you want to sleep, you better go home. This is not your bedroom!” the teacher cuts her of.

The whole class went silent.

Chaeyeon looked at Yena and shook her head. It’s not the first time Yena causing trouble in class. In fact, it’s the third time that week alone. Sakura on the other hand was looking at the teacher in awe.

“Why did you fell asleep in my class? Am I boring?” asked the teacher.

“No! You’re not! You’re interesting!”

“Then why?”

“I slept late last night watching… Money Heist. I’m sorry, I won’t do it again…”

Yena was looking at her with pleading eyes.

The teacher sighed, “Did you at least finished the assignment?”

Yena looked at her blankly.

“What assignment?”

**

“Hurry up, will you?”

“I’m almost there, just 5 more minutes!”

“You said that 45 minutes ago!”

Chaeyeon was almost at her limit, she’s going to be late for her part-time job and it’s all because of Yena. She’s working at a convenience store near her house for some extra money. She’s a senior now and there’s a lot of expenses for the tuition and exams.

She sat on a chair beside Yena’s desk, watching her as she was writing her paper. Everyone else had left for the day, leaving only the two of them in class. Yena had been scribbling on the paper for what it seems a really long time but she barely wrote a paragraph. Chaeyeon glanced at her watch again, and shook her head.

“Come on Yena, I have to submit the papers on the teacher’s desk by today!”

“Class prez, what is the English word we use to describe something good?”

“Good?”

“No, something else. That’s elementary, duh,” Yena said, rolling her eyes.

Chaeyeon scoffed, “Fine!”

“How about, ‘great’, ‘amazing’, ‘extraordinary’, ‘flawless’, ‘fantastic’?”

Yena smiled.

Chaeyeon glared at her, “Why are you looking at me like that? Write it down!”

“Well, class prez.”

“What?”

Yena leaned forward on her desk, closer to Chaeyeon.

“I think you are great, amazing, extraordinary, flawless and fantastic.”

Chaeyeon looked at her, dumbfounded.

“You’re prefect, class prez,” Yena added with a wink.

Chaeyeon blinked her eyes a few times, fuming.

“Are you freaking kidding me right now? I’m already late and you’re talking nonsense with me?!”

“Okay, okay, relax, let’s just take a deep breath for a second? Too much stress is not good for you.”

“And who is the source of my stress??”

Yena grinned, “I’m flattered but let’s not get there.”

“It’s not a compliment-

Yena reached forward and touched her arm, causing her to flinch a little.

“Okay listen to me, my amazing class prez.”

“W-What?”

Yena smiled, “Why don’t you go home first? I’ll finish up writing my paper and I’ll drop it on Ms. Kwon’s desk, okay?”

“You? You’ll do that?”

Yena nodded, “Of course. I don’t want you to be late because of me.”

“Can I count on you, Choi Yena?” asked Chaeyeon, raising her eyebrow.

“You can’t count Choi Yena, because there’s only 1 of me.”

“This is why I don’t trust you-

Yena chuckled, “I’m just kidding! You can trust me.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

**

Ms. Madison Kwon was standing in front of the class the next day. It’s time for English lesson again. She was wearing a plaid sweater vest with a white shirt underneath and a black skirt. Sakura was drooling on her more than before. Apparently she likes girls in plaids.

Chaeyeon glanced at Yena who was sitting at the back row. But the latter didn’t notice her, she was busy looking out of the window. It seems like she was avoiding her gaze. She wondered if Yena had submitted the papers yesterday.

“So I’ve received your assignments yesterday,” said Ms. Kwon.

The class president quickly looked straight ahead, at their teacher. She felt relieved immediately. So Yena can be trusted after all. Maybe Yena is not that bad. She had known Yena for years but they had never really hang out together. It’s just that they have different interests, and have different group of friends. Yena is friends with Hyewon from the next class and also Yujin, a junior. The three of them are popular in school, Hyewon is a beauty, Yujin is a jock, while Yena is the moodmaker. While Chaeyeon mostly spends her time with her nerdy best friend, Sakura.

“Have you checked my paper, Ms. Kwon? How did I do?” asked Sakura eagerly.

“Well, I haven’t read the papers yet, Kkura.”

“But I’ve checked the names to see if everyone had submitted the papers,” added the teacher.

Chaeyeon smiled, “Everyone had submitted the papers, Ms. Kwon. I made sure of it. Even Yena had turned in hers.”

Ms. Kwon looked at Chaeyeon with creased eyebrows, “Really? That’s weird.”

The class president gulped, “Why? Is there something wrong, Ms. Kwon?”

The teacher nods, “There’s one paper missing.”

“W-Whose?”

“Yours.”

**

“Calm down, Jjae, don’t do anything harsh!” said Sakura as she was walking with her friend along the hallway.

Chaeyeon was stomping her feet as she walks, her eyes were red from crying earlier. The teacher said that her paper had went missing from the pile, and that she had to re-wr