“I am off, Santana. Thank you.”

“No problem, sweetie, and” Santana looked up, “Do you want any breakfast?”

“No, thanks, Santana,” I rejected, not the mood for any food. “Bye, Santana.”

Santana waved goodbye, “Fighting, Paige.”

Standing at the gate of the elementary school, I could feel a sense of excitement. I never attended school, not without any supervision, and they were not my most pleasant memory. Kids carrying school bag started to stream in, all happy faces.

“Good Morning,” I stepped into the staff room.

“Ah, you must be the new English teacher, Miss Paige,” A man at his forties, nearly balding, came with a hand shake. “Nice to meet you, I am the discipline master here, Mr Kim.”

“Nice to meet you,” I shook his hand. He had the same surname as Jonghyun and Key, why does everything around me have to do with them when I want to forget them?

“Here’s your schedule,” He took up the timetable that lay on his table, and handed it to me. “And, Miss Jae is on marital leave, so please take over her form class.”

“Yes, sir,” I examined the timetable, it was packed with classes.

“Class is about to start, your class is on the first floor. Wish you all the best.” He smiled.

“Thank you very much,” I gave a polite bow. It walked out to the corridor, filled with running kids. Then the bell rang, making the whole wall shook. According to the timetable, I need to head to class 1-1 on the first floor.

The feeling of worried and excitement just filled me. Finally, the class 1-1.

  I took a deep breath and slide open the door, the class went silent, or rather, shock. It was like they did not expect a teacher to come in. I walked into the classroom, trying to calm myself.

“Hi,” I gave a 90 degree bow, “I am your English teacher and replacement teacher for Miss Jae.”

I looked at the class and everyone was still frozen in motion. Suddenly, applauses broke out.

“Neomu Yeppeo!” someone shouted, everyone cheered.

“Settle down, please!” I tried to control the situation, and to my surprise, it did work. The class stopped shouting, and giving me their full attention.

“Thank you very much,” I smiled, “I hope I have fun teaching you all, please guide me along.”

“Yes.” The class replied.

Every week, 5 days a week, 8 hours a day, I spend my time at the elementary school. The class enjoyed my lessons more than expected. I was slowly fitting into their lives, laughing with them and giving my best at teaching.

Every night, after classes, I would spend quality time with Santana and other tenants. All of them are like a big family, welcoming every new member and making them feel like home. Even stall owners recognize me as time goes by, and because of their friendliness, it made me have the courage to carry my life normally. Jonghyun was out of my mind.

After a month living in Jeju, it was my first time ever to watch the television. I had so much work to do that I excused myself from gatherings every evenings. However, today was the start of the school holiday for a week.

“SM Town Concert, coming live on September. Let your dream come true.” The television announced.

SM town rang a bell, that familiar word that was hidden somewhere in my brain. Every piece of memory that I try to forget for the past few weeks came floating back to me. 

“Santana, what is the date today?” I asked Santana, who was sitting beside me on the crouch.

“Today is the… 3^rd of September,” she replied.

“Oh, okay,” I nodded slowly, listening to the television, but lost in train of my thoughts. The tickets that were passed to me a month ago was still in my wallet. I never took it out.

“Santana, I am tired, I am turning in early. Good night,” I pretend to stretch as I got up. For a moment I thought Santana saw through my pretence, 7pm was far too early for bed. But her reply was simply a smile and a goodnight. I escaped back to my room, where my wallet was. I threw the contents of my bag all over the table and pulled out the leather holder that held the tickets.

Date: 4 September 2010, Saturday
Time: 10.30PM
21 and Over
Venue: Conga Room 800W. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles

I knew a part of my mind was dying to go. The other however reminded me of my reason to run away from home in the first place. It was difficult to choose and I was missing them badly, too badly. Then came the knocking of the door, I jumped, not expecting anyone.

“Paige, are you asleep?” Santana’s voice was easy recognizable.

“No, hang on,” I quickly hide the ticket inside my wallet and placed it on the table. I stride across and opened the door, letting Santana in.

“I was wondering if you would like some fruits, my friend just sent it over from Australia: Fresh strawberries!” Santana smiled as she handed a box of strawberries to me.

“Thank you,” I smiled, looking at the box of strawberries, “they look super tasty.”

“Paige,” Santana looked at me, with the serious look on her face. She kept silence till I meet her gaze. “Don’t stop doing whatever you are going to do.”

I never knew how Santana saw through me, or maybe I was too easy to read. But her words are like courage itself. It told me to continue what I was deciding on, to choose what I really want. With no more time to waste, I picked up the phone and book a flight from Jeju at 7.55pm. Looking at my phone, I only had around half an hour to reach the airport. I care less and gather all my things, throwing the contents inside my bag.

“Santana! I need to go there,” I ran out of my room, breathless. I knew Santana could help me. Everything was ‘seen’ as soon as I decided on going.

“I will drive you there,” Santana grinned and grabbed her car keys.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

vroom vroom~

I want a mini cooper!!!!><

Cars are so ex recently, but publiv transport is worst than ever!

^^