Chapter 11
Just Us in Our Own Time and Space11.1: School – Staff Room
There was no Art lesson that day, so Seulgi had to submit her work personally at the staff room. Her excitement grew as she could not wait to find out what Ms Son thought of her work.
Ms Son have high expectations on me. I hope I don’t disappoint her.
Seulgi was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she did not notice the curled-up edge of the rug placed near one of the desks, which caused her to trip. In a failed attempt to find balance, her hand brushed past and knocked over a stack of papers from the same desk. Picking up the sheets strewn on the floor made it impossible not to see the content, which left Seulgi dumbfounded. Those were the question paper for the upcoming Chemistry quiz.
“Kang Seulgi! What are you doing at my desk?”
“I’m sorry, Mrs Choi. I didn’t mean to…,” Seulgi quickly flipped the papers over to face downwards.
“Stop playing dumb! Why are you snooping around at my area anyway?”
“I tripped over the rug and fell when I passed by your desk,” the fresh-looking bruise forming on Seulgi’s kneecap could attest to her words. Whether it would be taken into account was another story.
“Putting the blame on my rug to cover up your intention to cheat in my quiz? I have been wondering how someone like you could get distinction for my subject. Follow me to Mdm Cho for your punishment…”
“Shouldn’t we conduct an investigation first before jumping to conclusion?”
“Seulgi have seen the questions for the upcoming quiz. This is a clear-cut case of cheating.”
“Although she does, Seulgi also explains how she ended up seeing what she had no intention to see in the first place.”
“Ms Son, I understand you are new. As your Sunbae in teaching, let me share this tip with you. When students like Seulgi are caught red-handed in an act, they would pull up any excuse from the air to defend themselves. In other words, don’t be deceived by them.”
“Excuses or not, why not we take a look at the CCTV footages to find out?” Wendy suggested. “Cheating is a serious offence and the punishment is severe, so I don’t think that is too much to ask for.”
Thanks to modern technology that had created an indisputable method to prove something. None of the teachers present could argue against what they had watched.
“Hmmm… the rug that caused Seulgi to fall down… isn’t it the same one that almost tripped Mrs Park last week?” Wendy pointed out innocently. “Mrs Park mentioned that a worn rug could pose a potential hazard, and advised you to change it. You certainly have the nerve to ignore the warning from the principal.”
“Whatever…”
“Do you still need Seulgi at the Disciplinary Office with Mdm Cho?”
“There’s still some time away from the quiz. I would just change the questions,” upon returning to her desk, Mrs Choi made sure the rug was thoroughly shoved into the nearby trash bin and gone forever from the rest of the world.
“Seulgi, would you like to go to the sick bay to check for any fractures in your leg?”
“I’m fine, Ms Son,” Seulgi jumped like a kid to prove her point. “Actually, I am here to re-submit the artwork.”
Wendy took a moment to appraise the work. “You pay a lot of attention to Krystal Jung, don’t you? The details and expression you manage to capture are amazingly accurate. I can’t find a reason not to give you an ‘A’ grade for this one.”
“Thank you, Ms Son,” the compliments from Wendy were music to Seulgi’s ears.
“But it doesn’t explain what the letter ‘H’ represents in your recent piece of work. Krystal’s name does not contain ‘H’ as the starting letter… If it isn’t your best friend, could it be your crush then?”
“Ms Son!” Seulgi covered her face with the file was used to contain the work that she needed to submit.
“Who is this lucky dude? MinHO, SeHUN, BaekHYUN…”
“That person isn’t from the class…” Seulgi quickly stopped herself. She already regretted giving too much information.
“I’m only teasing you. I wasn’t expecting you to admit it,” Wendy chuckled, but let in a little seriousness due to what she was about to say next. “There’s nothing wrong with falling in love, but be careful not to let it affect your studies or even your life in general, especially when you are a girl.”
“Ms Son. Thank you for being concerned… and speaking up for me just now…”
“I simply speak up for what is righteous. If you are up to no good, there’s nothing much I can do either,” Wendy shrugged with a wink. “Are you sure you don’t need medical attention for your legs?”
“It’s nothing serious. Besides I can’t afford to miss any more classes.”
Wendy took out a cooling pad from the drawer and passed it to Seulgi to tame the bruises for the time being. As Seulgi reached out to receive the item, Wendy noticed the resin bangle on her wrist.
Did they still make these crafts nowadays? Wendy wondered nostalgically.
FLASHBACK: ABOUT TEN ODD YEARS AGO...
11.2: School – Assembly Hall
The school held weekly assembly in the hall as a means to broadcast announcements to the students. Each week, the teachers took turn to speak. Typically, the session lasted about half an hour, so the students were made to stand throughout the period. This week, it was Mr Han’s turn to take the stage. Just like how he conducted his History lessons, Mr Han read the announcements from his script monotonously.
While fighting to stay awake, Wendy fell slightly backwards onto Jihyun who was behind her.
“Are you okay?” Jihyun wrapped her arms around Wendy’s waist to catch her fall.
“No, I’m not. Maybe a short nap would help,” Wendy leaned her head against the crook in Jihyun’s neck.
“I am not a bed…” Jihyun giggled softly as she gently pulled Wendy away from her body. “That’s so ticklish…”
“Ticklish huh…” without a warning, Wendy jabbed the sides of Jihyun’s waist from behind with her forefingers.
“Ack! What’s that for…” Jihyun protested in shock, but still managed to keep the volume within the level of not alarming the whole school.
Cute… That was the first thought that crossed Wendy’s mind as she caught a glimpse of Jihyun’s blush from the corner of her eye. “You like it. I know right?”
“You think too highly of yourself.”
“Did I? Then why are you smiling?”
“What makes you think I am? You have eyes growing behind you?” Wendy felt Jihyun’s palm rubbing her back.
“Shut up and pay attention to the announcements!”
Wendy turned around and saw Jihyun rubbing the back of her head with a pained expression.
“Kwon Jihyun! You definitely need a refresher on how you should keep quiet when the teacher is speaking. See me at the staff room after this!”
“Mr Oh, I started it first, so you should punish me instead,” Wendy quickly jumped to Jihyun’s defence by admitting her fault.
Turning his attention towards Jihyun, Mr Oh made sure he sounded intimidating enough. “Did I wrong you this time, and that Wendy…”
“No, Sir. Wendy has got nothing to do with this. I would see you at the staff room later, as per your instruction.”
“Good that you know your place,” Mr Oh left with a sneer.
Several hours later…
11.3: School - Garden
Wendy made her way to the school garden with bento lunch. It was one of the longer school days of the week with lessons scheduled beyond lunch hours. Knowing that Jihyun would be missing lunch due to the punishment, Wendy decided to share the bento that her mother had packed for her with Jihyun. After all, it was her mischief that landed Jihyun in this predicament.
“Hey, it’s lunch time.”
“Thank you for the reminder, but there’s still a lot to clear,” Jihyun pointed at the never-ending patch of overgrown grass.
“No worries, I am here to help.”
“But this is my punishment.”
Ignoring Jihyun’s protest, Wendy helped herself to the extra pair of shears and started chopping the grass away. Once in a while, Wendy stole a few glances at Jihyun when she got bored. Even for performing an unassuming task like t the grass, the dedication that Jihyun displayed left Wendy intrigued. “Does this even feel like a punishment to you? And you being a member of the Gardening Club only adds on to the irony.”
Jihyun laughed at the comment. “There were more students than usual down for punishments on today, so all the slots for cleaning classrooms, toilets and other indoor school compounds are snapped up. They have no choice but to slot me in to take care of the garden.”
With an extra pair of hands, they could complete the work sooner, leaving them extra time for lunch. While they were eating, Wendy spotted some sauce on the left side of Jihyun’s lips. Instinctively, she used her thumb to wipe it off.
“Oops sorry, did I make you uncomfortable?” Wendy quickly apologised when Jihyun reacted with a flushed face on her touch.
“Huh? Erm… no… not at all,” Jihyun stuttered. To masked the awkwardness, Jihyun stuffed herself with food. “Ahjumma’s cooking is really good. The food is delicious.”
“You enjoy the food? To be honest, these are actually leftovers from the dinner yesterday,” Wendy admitted with a hint
of embarrassment.
“That’s a lot of food for leftovers, considering that they tasted so good.”
“My dad did not come home for dinner again,” Wendy lamented. “He claimed that he was too busy with work that he forgot to inform my mum.”
“The F&B business is very competitive lately, with new establishments springing up every now and then. He must be working really hard to keep up.”
“I really hope that’s the case. Nowadays, he would come home, if he returned at all, smelling…”
“Are you here to serve your punishment or to have a picnic?” before Wendy could finish her sentence, Ms Hwang, the Biology teacher, who was also in charge of Gardening Club, came by to spot check.
“The grass was trimmed and the weed was mostly removed. Since there’s time left, I had a quick bite before my next lesson,” Jihyun explained.
Ms Hwang assessed the surrounding to verify Jihyun’s claim. “Fair enough. You are dismissed and may go ahead for your next lesson.”
On their way to their next lesson, Wendy took the time to admire the rows of flowering shrubs lining the path. While the artistic side of her was captivated by the vibrant hues that characterised each flower, she did not fail to notice the withered counterparts on the ground.
“What a shame. All that glory and beauty eventually reduce to this nothingness,” Wendy sighed as she squatted down to pick up a lifeless looking hibiscus.
“That’s not entirely true. This so-called nothingness is not as useless as we think. After death, they become compost, providing nutrients to support the growth of the next generation of flowers,” Jihyun winked triumphantly for debunking Wendy’s philosophical moments with her scientific explanations.
“Oh! If those remains of the dead plants are so nutritious, why waste time sweeping them away to be ended up in here,” not wanting to be outdone by her friend, Wendy opened a trash-bin to prove her point.
“I guess there’s too much of it that it is making the place untidy?” Jihyun shrugged.
“Precisely. Don’t mean to downplay the role of the dead plant as a form of fertiliser, but there’s too much of it anyway. I feel that we could put some of these flowers to good use while they are at the peak of their beauty, instead of just seeing them wasted into oblivion.”
“That’s an interesting point of view,” Jihyun’s eyes brightened, “What do you have in mind?”
“Nothing concrete yet. I’d need some time to gather my thoughts together,” Wendy was recalling the recent Art & Craft Club meeting, when Mr Oh’s wanted the members to brainstorm for some new project ideas. Taking one final glance at the flowering shrubs, Wendy could see her answers in them.
11.4: Wendy’s Home
Wendy was greeted by a whiff of aroma from the kitchen the moment she stepped into her home. Coupled with the fact that she was already hungry, Wendy could not wait to savour her mother’s cooking.
“Omma, you didn’t cook a lot of food today?”
“Oh dear! Is there too little food for you? Your appa won’t be coming home for dinner tonight, so I didn’t want to cook too much. Here, you can have some of mine.”
“No Omma, the amount of food is just nice for me. What I meant is your portion size. You can usually do better than that,” Wendy pointed at the tiny amount of food that occupied the area equivalent to a toddler’s palm.
“This is good. Anything more is bad for the waistline, you know?” Wendy’s mother cringed self-consciously as she felt the slight flab on her belly.
“What are you talking about? You are beautiful the way you are,” Wendy paused a while, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Did someone tell you something that…”
Wendy and her mother were distracted by the sound of the door unlocking. To their surprise, it was Wendy’s sister. From Wendy’s knowledge, her sister was supposed to have dinner outside with a friend, so she was not expecting to see her home this early. It turned out that the friend was held up by some school project, and could not make it last minute, so they had to call it off. Instead, Wendy’s sister bought some takeaways and joined them at the dinner table. Being the chatty type of person, she dominated the conversation and started talking about other topics, thus the exchange between Wendy and her mother was forgotten momentarily.
After dinner, Wendy retired to her room and her desktop. She wanted to do some research for her project proposal while the ideas she had earlier in school was still fresh in her head. A couple of hours later, Wendy found an interesting idea. As it involved the use of flowers, she hoped Jihyun would be able to link her up with the Gardening Club for help so that the project would not incur additional expenses by having to purchase the raw material from external sources.
Comments