I swayed side to side, enough to not be able to hit Mr.Kim’s shoulder. Body contact with Mr.Kim was the last thing I ever wanted. My fingers fiddled nervously on my phone. Maybe I should just listen to music. I fiddled nervously to my bag, and took out a pair of pink earphones. Before I could insert one into my left ear…

“So, how are your other classes going?” Mr. Eli asked. I put down the earphone, and looked at him briefly.

“Alright, I guess. My chemistry teacher is kind of a joke though.” I murmured quietly. Mr.Kim chuckled as if he knew who I was talking about. I smiled awkwardly and put away the earphones into my pocket. “Ho…how old are you, Mr. Kim?” I looked at him, and he stared back indifferently.

“21 years old.” He answered back in a monotone voice. “Why? You interested?” He smirked playfully. I rolled my eyes and just looked out the window. “I’m joking, you know.” He said, nudging my shoulder. My hand grabbed the shoulder he nudged on, and I wiped it as if he spread something on it. He noticed. “Oh, come on. I don’t look unclean, do I?” I laughed and shook my head.

“Sorry. I just… I’m… not comfortable sitting with a guy on the bus.” I stuttered. Mr.Kim nodded as if he understood and shrugged. Suddenly, the bus came to a jolting stop. I felt the bus force its brakes, and my body lunging forward. I’m going to hit my hea—

“Got you.” My Kim grabbed my shoulders, and held me close in order to break my fall. The bus swerved until it finally hit the side of a pole. Screams filled the bus. I heard Mr.Kim’s heart pace rapidly pick up speed. Adrenaline rush. I looked up and stared at the bus driver who was now unconscious.

“What do we do?” I looked at Mr.Kim and realized that he was bleeding. “Mr.Kim! Your forehead.” Mr.Kim blinked a few times, and felt the pain registered into his brain.

“Auugh..” He groaned. His arms were still around my arms, wrapped extremely tightly.

“Get the people out of the bus!” We heard a booming voice outside of the crashed bus.

“Come on. Mr.Kim. Let’s get out of here.” I lifted his heavy arm around my shoulders, and tried to lift him. Damn. He’s heavy. We both made our way slowly out the bus, both of us limping. “Hold on, Mr. Kim. We’re almost there.” We both limped our way out of the bus, and was greeted by fellow civilians.

Mr.Kim sat on the sidewalk and groaned. His fingers dipped into his own blood, and he sighed in frustration. “Stay still.” I told him. I grabbed my phone and called Jaehyoon.

“Jaehyoon-oppa. Could you pick me and my friend up? We’ve sort of got into an accident.”

***

“Stay still, will you?” I dabbed the cloth into warm water, and pressed on Mr.Kim’s wound lightly. He groaned in pain, and grabbed my wrist. “If you want to stop groaning, and be in pain, then Mr.Kim, I suggest you let go of my wrist. I thought you were stronger than this, sir.” Mr.Kim just glared, and let go. I dabbed onto his wound some more until there was no more dry blood. “Alright. You’re all good. Let me just put this bandage, and you’re all done.”

I took out the wrapper and placed it on the wound.

 “Thank you.” Mr.Kim smiled weakly. I nodded and placed all the medical kits away. “How did you learn how to patch up a wound?”

“It’s a simple wound, teacher. How do you not know how? You’re a gym teacher. Students are prone to injuries when they play Basketball or Boxing. I’m kind of worried being in your class now.”

Mr.Kim laughed and tried to get up. He waddled, and was about to fall forward. I broke his fall and placed myself in front of him, holding him close. This is not appropriate at all. I told myself. I pushed him away from me slowly, and stared at Mr.Kim who has now practically fallen asleep.

“JAEHYOON!” I yelled. “JAEHYOON, help!” I couldn’t support his weight. Omona. Jaehyoon rushed in the bathroom and helped grab hold of Mr. Kim. “Bring him to my bedroom. He’s got a fever.”

***

I felt my eyes droop. I wanted to fall asleep but… I watched Mr. Kim snore soundly, and occasionally toss and turn. My hand hesitated its way to his forehead. He’s warm. I replaced the cloth with a warmer one, and placed it on his forehead. It’s 3:08 am. I couldn’t help but stare. I looked at him, and just watched him sleep.

He IS good-looking. Just like the students have been saying. There’s no way I could tell them that they were wrong. I ruffled my hair out of frustration, and went downstairs to the kitchen to warm myself some tea.

“You shouldn’t be up.” I poured the tea in the mug, and heard unfamiliar footsteps. I would have known if it was Jaehyoon. But it wasn’t.

“You got eyes behind the back of your head?” I heard my teacher’s voice. It’s so weird to hear him after-school hours. I turned around, and sipped on the mug again. I laughed and just shook my head. Then I noticed he changed into his normal clothes. “I better get going.”

“It’s 3:08 in the morning, teacher.” I let the mug down, and crossed my arms. “Your wound.” I pointed at his bandage. “Is not the only problem. You have a fever. A high one. I suggest you just stay for the night until morning, then Jaehyoon could drive you home.” I explained. I grabbed the thermometer and told him to open his mouth. “If you don’t believe me, then maybe the thermometer will tell you.” Mr. Kim pushed the thermometer away and just sighed.

“I believe you. Sheesh. Besides, I thought maybe I should leave now. Do you have any idea how weird it would be if a fellow classmate of yours see me come out of your house?” Mr. Kim sat on the vacant chair and poured himself some tea. I totally forgot about that. “I’ll end up losing my job if this ends up going to the office. A teacher staying at a student’s place. It won’t look good, trust me. We had a teacher a few years ago, and he got shunned, and fired immediately.”

“Then at least stay for another 2 hours. At 5:00am. No one will be up by then. You need to rest, teacher.”

“Have you slept?” He asked, this time, worried. I shook my head and quietly told him that he was one to blame. “You could have at least put me on your couch, not your bed.” I rolled my eyes.

“Could you at least say thank you?” I crossed my arms. “A thank you would have been nice.” Mr. Kim smiled and said:

“You’re feisty. Definitely, not the same girl at school.” He smirked and stretched. “I’ll sleep on the couch this time. I’m a bit stuffy, but I can handle it. After all, I’m quite a strong guy.” He winked.

“Pft. Says the person who can’t even handle a pinch of pain.” I laughed at his sarcastic expression. He let himself fall on the couch, and just glared playfully. This guy.  “Are you sure? I mean… you’re still in pretty bad shape and…” I held onto my elbow and studied my teacher who did not seem so comfy with the new bedding area.

“I’m sure. Are you trying to get some grades from me, Miss?” Mr. Kim joked. I rolled my eyes and just shook my head.

“Go to sleep.” I told him. “Don’t blame me for a sore back tomorrow, teacher.” I went up the stairs and laid on the bed.

“Goodnight!” I heard Mr. Kim yell from the couch. I laughed and responded back:

“Good night!”

And I swear I heard him laugh and mumble something. Oh well. Here’ to a new day. A weird relationship, that is.