(JiHyun’s POV)

When he walked through the door my entire world stopped. When he opened his mouth and introduced himself as Mr. Bang YongGuk I gulped. His voice. How was I supposed to pass this class with him as my teacher??? I didn’t even remember what class I was in right now. What was this – math? History? Biology? My friend Hara nudged me and I blinked furiously. Everyone in the class was staring at me, including Mr. Bang. When my eyes locked with his he smiled in an amused way and I swear I almost fell out of my seat.

“Introduce yourself!” Hara hissed.

Oh. Was that what we were doing now? I clumsily stood and introduced myself in a shaky voice.

“A-A-Annyeonghaseyo, N-Nam JiHyun imnida.”

Mr. Bang nodded and the rest of my classmates introduced themselves one by one. After the introductions, the lesson began. Apparently this was Advanced Chemistry. I took out my notebook and tried to focus but it was impossible. His hair was blond, the sides of his head were shaved and what hair was left was swept up over his forehead. His shirt wasn’t tight but his toned body was obvious to me. When the bell rang I jumped about a foot high and quickly packed up my things. I could’ve sworn I saw Mr. Bang staring after me when I left the room but I shook my head. I was just seeing what I wanted to see.

As soon as I got home from school and set foot in my room my phone rang. It was Hara and she was asking me if I understood the chemistry homework. I had no idea what she was talking about and I was still feeling too flustered to talk properly to her. I mumbled something about being tired and hung up. I mentally facepalmed as I remembered my botched introduction. Ugh, he probably thought I was so weird.

The next day in Chem I tried my best again to focus on the work but it was nearly impossible. I wrote the date and subject and that was it…plus when I checked the date later I had written it incorrectly. At the end of class Mr. Bang told everyone to pass their homework to the front and I froze. Omo. I hadn’t done the homework. I tried to scuttle out of the class but the doorway was crowded and I heard my name.

“Nam JiHyun-ssi?”

I reluctantly turned towards Mr. Bang. He waved me over and I shyly walked over to his desk.

“I don’t see your homework here…”

I didn’t say anything. I just kept staring the floor.

“You know that there is an academic penalty for failing to complete and hand in homework, right?”

I nodded, still staring at the floor.

“So why didn’t you do as you were supposed to?”

I squeezed my eyes shut. This was not how I wanted to be seen by Mr. Bang. I wasn’t a careless student. I really wasn’t.

“Nam JiHyun, I am talking to you.” He sounded irritated.

“Um…I…well…” What was I supposed to say? Oh, mianhe Mr. Bang but you’re so extremely attractive I couldn’t focus in class and I forgot to take the homework down. I looked up at him. Mistake. I literally felt my breath knocked out of me and I stared at him with my mouth slightly open. He narrowed his eyes a bit and tilted his head to the side.

“What is it?” He asked. “Why did you not complete your homework?”

I snapped out of my trance. I didn’t want an academic penalty. I was a perfect student. I needed to think of something.

“I…I didn’t understand.” I said, pretending to hang my head in shame. I peeked up at him and saw his face soften.

“Why didn’t you just say so? Do you have to go right now? I can help you.”

“Ah…sure…”

“Alright, let’s go to my office.”

My eyes widened as I watched him pack up his things and start towards the door. I quickly followed after him. When we got to his office he pulled out a chair for me and I quickly sat down. I was suddenly conscious of my appearance but what did that matter anyway? As much as I wished I did, I didn’t have a chance with Mr. Bang.

“Right. What didn’t you understand?”

Crap. I hadn’t thought this through. I thought back to what Hara had been ranting about over the phone.

“Um…the…different energy levels…of…the…”

“Oh, the energy levels of the electrons?”

“Yes, yes, that.” I nodded quickly.

He pulled a textbook towards him and flipped to the chapter we were doing. I found myself staring at his jawline and the way his top button was undone so I could see just a hint of his flawless skin. When he started explaining I was glad I already genuinely understood the topic because I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.

“Tell you what,” he said when he was through explaining, “why don’t you just do the homework right now? It’s not that much and I really hate for you to have a blemish on your perfect record.”

I nodded quickly again and pulled some binder sheets and a pen out of my bag to do the homework. I had only been working for a couple minutes when I felt like Mr. Bang was watching me again. Not as in looking at my paper to make sure I was going right but looking at me, my face, as I worked. I quickly looked up and saw his eyes shift from me to a random spot on the desk. In about 10 minutes I was finished and I handed my homework to him.

“Thank you, Mr. Bang, for letting me finish,” I said, bowing deeply.

“It’s no problem,” he said, “but…don’t tell anyone ok? I don’t want everyone thinking they can hand in work late.”

“Yes sir.”

He suddenly burst in a gummy smile and started laughing. “Sir?” he said incredulously, “Did you just call me ‘Sir’?”

“Erm…yes…if you don’t want me to –”

“No, no, it’s cute.”

I felt myself blushing and I knew Mr. Bang could tell.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, JiHyun-ssi.”

I was grateful for his dismissal and hurried out of the classroom.

(YongGuk’s POV)

It was my first day at Ijak-do Academy. I walked into the classroom and my eyes immediately fell on her but I quickly recovered and looked away. I hoped none of the students had noticed that, especially the girl that had caught my eye. I fought with myself not to keep looking her way as I introduced myself and asked the students to do the same. When her turn came, I listened intently and relished the excuse to look at her. I wanted to hear her voice which I was sure was just as beautiful as her face. She didn’t speak though, she just stared blankly at me. A girl next to her whispered something and she seemed to come to her senses. She stumbled over her introduction but I had caught her name and I intended to remember it.

JiHyun. Nam JiHyun. I smiled as I imagined calling her JiHyunnie and seeing her face light up when I did. The other students introduced themselves but I didn’t pay them nearly as much attention as I had to JiHyun. When class was over I watched her leave, making sure none of the other students saw me covertly looking at her. She was beautiful. She was the most beautiful person I had ever laid eyes on. I thought to myself that she was my type, at least outwardly since I didn’t know much about her yet. Short, impossibly cute, an innocent face, long wavy brown hair, a small waist – I quickly shook my head. Was I fantasizing about this girl? She looked barely a day over 16 and I was 23. Not to mention she was my student. Off-limits. She was off-limits.

The next day I did a better job of not looking at her. I had resolved that when she handed in her homework I would find something to pick at or compliment her on and I would save my greedy eyes for later when there was less of a chance of being seen but, lo and behold, when I leafed through the papers JiHyun’s wasn’t there. I looked up to the cluster of students by the door and saw her.

“Nam JiHyun-ssi?”

She turned around slowly. Was she scared of me or something? I knew I could be a bit intimidating at times…

I waved her over and she came. I questioned her about her homework but she just mumbled, looked down and wouldn’t answer. I got a little irritated. I don’t know why, I just didn’t like feeling that she wasn’t comfortable around me. I wanted her to look at me, smile and give me a good reason for not handing in her homework. Then she told me she hadn’t understood and I was actually glad. Now I had an excuse to see her privately. We went to my office so I could properly explain to her whatever it was she didn’t understand and I decided to let her do the homework then and there. Honestly, I just didn’t want her to leave yet. I tried not to stare at her while she did her work but I just couldn’t help it. She suddenly looked up at me and I pretended to be focused on a spot on the desk. Awkward. She finished her work in record time and handed it to me. I told her not to tell anyone about me allowing her to hand in her work late and you know what she said? “Yes, sir.” I almost died. I “accidentally” let it slip that it was cute that she said that and she blushed. She was too adorable. And I actually liked it when she called me “Sir”…