Eyes unshaken, the sincerity is evident in Hayoung’s dark eyes and if she’s messing around, Eunji will have to deem her a damn good actress.

 

Eunji balances her erratic breathing to focus more on the girl before her, playing with a couple of dices in her pocket which she had always kept to calm herself down - it’s been years since she got them to deal with the withdrawal symptoms of quitting cigarettes but fidgeting with them had become a habit.

 

Cursing in her head, she sighs. Somehow, Eunji just got carried away and hurtled sharp words at someone who wasn’t supposed to receive them at all. Not her best moment, she’d admit. Usually, she controls her emotions, not the other way around.

 

“Are you supposed to be the scapegoat in this situation?” Eunji measures her words, still uncertain of what Hayoung is trying to assert. It’s common, an assigned member in a group of delinquents that is the ‘lowest-ranked’ to take all the blame when everything goes down the drain.

 

"I know it may sound like I’m just covering for them, but I swear I’m not. I’m not some pushover, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Hayoung clarifies, taking off her thin-rimmed glasses to wipe them with a light orange microfiber cloth from her pocket before putting them back on to look back at Eunji. “I genuinely meant it, It’s all on me.”

 

“Do you expect me to just say yes and move on with my day?” Eunji raises an eyebrow. The past few minutes had been a rollercoaster ride for her thoughts that Eunji dreads a headache descending upon her anytime soon. Which she can’t afford since her schedule’s up to four and there’s barely enough time between periods to pop into the infirmary for some much-needed paracetamol.

 

Hayoung scratches the back of her head, looking as if she finds Eunji troublesome. “I’d be lying if I said that’s what I’m hoping for.”

 

"You'd have to give me more than that, Oh Hayoung."

 

Hayoung frowns before looking at the concrete floor. Trampling a stray bottle cap with her rubber shoes to sate her hesitation, she parts her lips. "Okay so…" She pauses briefly before looking back at Eunji. “I work part-time in a bar. Got in a fight with some people who were obviously bad news. And now they have sent the girl earlier to warn me about these guys giving me a visit. I trust you know what I mean by ‘visit’?”

 

A visit… Hesitantly, Eunji nods. “I do.”

 

In delinquent lingo, that could mean several things. Mugging is definitely on top of the list, alarmingly so. Eunji’s senses sharpen, looking around for some sort of assailant out to get her student. If one of them got past the entrance security, there might be more.

 

“Are they students of Cheonju U?” she asks, remaining vigilant.

 

Hayoung shakes her head. “I don’t think so. They’re guys, plus they seem a lot older than me. I don’t know about the girl though.” She answers. “Jeong just threatened the girl earlier on my behalf. You see what I’m saying?

 

Rubbing her chin, Eunji nods. “Alright.” She has to admit that she’s a bit ashamed of her flawed judgment. “Does your parents know? It’s pretty unsafe that you’re on the radar of such people.”

 

A hint of a tumultuous storm passes Hayoung’s previously calm pupils before just as quickly reverting to her default expression. “I’m already independent,” she quickly provides forcing out a beam that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I already moved out long ago, no sense in informing them, is there?”

 

It is a bit worrying, but not remotely strange. Hayoung is at best already twenty-three. But living alone in these circumstances where some delinquents want to settle some score with her is not the safest situation. Depending on the scale of operations of such groups, they might have had her address down. And thus, a visit.

 

“Don’t worry, I’m crashing at my classmates’ places until this whole thing is settled.” Hayoung shrugs as if it’s no big deal. “It sure is a bother though, the rent around here isn’t cheap, and to keep paying when I’m not even sleeping in my own bed… I could have been just living on fewer jobs if that’s the case.”

 

Universities and several big companies are situated in the area, making the rent skyrocket around the particular neighborhood. People who value productivity and efficiency invest in rent to get the most out of their time and cut back on commute budget. Since Hayoung is a working student, it makes sense why she would opt to live around the area.

 

She then realizes something from Hayoung’s statement. “Fewer jobs? Just how many jobs do you have?” A little more and Eunji might wonder if the girl ever sleeps, considering that she also has her college workload to take care of.

 

“A college student can just go so far without financial support, Professor Jung.” Hayoung should probably sound more bothered than she is but the look on her face is unperturbed. 

 

No, it’s probably more like she’s already numb about her situation. How long has it been since Hayoung moved out? If it’s the whole duration of college, that will be around three years now.

 

Technically, she's already an adult out of her nest. But Eunji can argue that in Korea, you never really leave your nest till you're financially stable, which she's obviously not. Either her parents aren’t financially stable to at least give her some allowance or… that.

 

“They don’t support your course, do they?” Eunji breaks her silence. She knows she isn’t supposed to pry, but her mind-to-mouth filter has always been dysfunctional with things she’s curious about.

 

Hayoung chuckles, still as carefree as she is whenever Eunji sees her. “Creative courses really aren’t popular among Asian parents, huh?” 

 

Eunji’s eyebrows crease by the minute. Why have a child when you're going to reject them for having dreams and values not aligned with yours? Eunji is a strong adherent of the mind-your-own-business camp but something like this is a bit hard to ignore. Hayoung then looks at her watch before motioning to walk past Eunji with a breezy smile before patting her on the shoulder. “Few minutes are up, Professor. Later.”

 

And she’s gone.

 

-

 

Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, Eunji says her goodbyes to the teachers present in the faculty room after her last class. Time flew by like a fast stream - her other classes are thankfully more normal and accommodating than her morning class. Plus, with her mind preoccupied with Hayoung’s situation, it wasn’t difficult to not be aware of the passage of time.

 

“Hey.” By the entrance of the building is one of the sources of her stress, Jeongyeon, who has an apprehensive look on her face. Despite her big words earlier, she appears distressed. 

 

“You didn’t do anything stupid and got us into detention, did you?” Jeongyeon narrows her eyes. “Because I’m telling you to save it for another day.”

 

She’s speaking casually as if talking to a same-aged fellow, bare of formalities. Eunji actually did not file detention since she’s still formulating a plan for the situation. But since this is interesting, she tilts her head, eyes glinting as her lips twitch up a little. “And if I don’t?”

 

Jeongyeon huffs, ruffling her short hair in annoyance before looking down on her, her height making her even more domineering. “, I don’t have time for this. I’m swallowing my pride and asking. Will you be responsible if one of us gets hurt?”

 

‘If one of them gets hurt’? Is she talking about Hayoung and the group of people she managed to piss off? They must be planning something reckless this evening if Jeongyeon is going this far to ask her to move her detention. But what is it?

 

“Okay, Yoo Jeongyeon. Let’s play a game.” Eunji says before looking over her shoulder. “I know there’s more of you. Come out.”

 

Silence greets her for a few seconds before Hayoung comes out first with a sigh, followed by a few more students, their bleached hair of different colors standing out, exuding their ‘problem students’ aura. Dyed hair isn’t against the student handbook by any means but many of the faculty still look down upon it, so most don’t dare try colors that are too creative.

 

“Game?” Jeongyeon asks, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

 

Eyes gather at their group the longer they stay collected, especially with the way her students dressed. “Let’s get off-campus first. We’re attracting attention.”

 

“Good idea.”

 

-

 

“Alright. Here will do.” Eunji places her backpack a few meters from the river. The far end of the Cheongju Riverside is barren of people, most of the people gathered by the center, so they avoided the unwanted attention. 

 

Taking off her blazer, Eunji folds it and places it beside her bag before stretching her limbs. Adults in their mid-twenties are prone to pulling their muscles at unexpected times during physical activity.

 

“Aren’t you gonna tell us why we’re here?” Hayoung asks on behalf of everyone who isn’t sure yet how to react to the turn of events, looking at her warily.

 

“Fifteen minutes.” Eunji rests a palm on her left shoulder, rolling it backward repeatedly, conditioning it to movement - Pop. Ugh, she sat in that office chair way too long.

 

“Fifteen minutes… what?” Wheein asks.

 

Usually, she would hate doing anything relating to like this - she’s a professor now and something like this isn’t the kind of activity she should be doing with her students. She’s barely been in this school for a month too. Times like this make her miss working in her previous school in Busan with normal students.

 

This game always gets her what she wants though. Without fail. And her curiosity regarding this whole situation is giving her fuel to go through with this.

 

“Try landing a hit on me within fifteen minutes.” Eunji goes for her knuckles this time, cracking them like peanuts.

 

Hyejin scoffs, rolling her eyes. “We can’t hit you. We may be like this but we’re not looking to get expelled.” She points out. “We threatened you during lunch, yes, but truthfully, we really just wanted to scare you into not giving us det