It was another school day and Ji Yoo woke up early. She got out of bed, got her things and went inside the bathroom (before Heechul could beat her to it). Ji Yoo took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. Then, she put on her underwear and, before she could put on her uniform, Ji Yoo took out what she called her “chest protector”. It was a really long cloth. She laid it out and slowly wrapped it around her chest. To be honest, Ji Yoo didn’t have much of a chest. It was something that she was annoyed of until she came to Yeoleum Academy. But still, she needed to make it flatter than it already was to avoid any kind of suspicion.

Five minutes later, Ji Yoo was done. She got out of the bathroom and was instantly greeted by an irate-looking Heechul.

“What took you so long?” He whined.

Ji Yoo raised an eyebrow. “Long? It’s only thirty minutes. You, on the other hand, take at least an hour to finish, and that’s only the shower part.”

Heechul smirked as he stood up. “It’s a necessity, my dear cousin. My skin wouldn’t look this beautiful if I don’t take care of it. You, on the other hand, shouldn’t waste your time trying to flatten your chest. It’s no use. It’s already flat. Very flat.”

Ji Yoo frowned. She tried to hit her cousin on the head but Heechul managed to dodge it. “Thanks for reminding me.” Ji Yoo said with heavy sarcasm.

“That’s what I’m here for, dear cousin.” Heechul replied with a haughty grin. “That’s what I’m here for.”


-♥-♥-♥-


Whether it’s with fear or admiration or both, every being on the hallway just froze when she passed by them. Lee Hyori was known as the teacher who struck fear and love in the hearts of many. She is beyond gorgeous, as most of the students would say. She had long, flowing, reddish-blond hair. Her figure statistics is unknown but everyone can tell her body can compete with the country’s top models. If her face could launch more than a thousand ships, then her smile could launch a million. But she’s not at all looks. Hyori is intelligent and is an effective teacher. But to be blunt, she’s one of the scariest teachers in the history of the Academy, if not THE scariest. To say that she was strict was an understatement. The subject English was already hard for most Korean students and she made it even harder. That’s why she earned the nickname “Scary Lee”.


-♥-♥-♥-


“Everyone, she’s here! She’s back!” The boy named Yongwoon shouted in a shaky, terrified voice. He looked like he was panicking and, as soon as they heard his words, the whole class too started to panic, minus two.

“Er, what’s going on?” A clueless Ji Yoo asked a worried-looking Sungmin. “Who’s back?”

Sungmin swallowed nervously first before answering. “Her. Scary Lee.”

Ji Yoo just frowned, still not getting it. “Huh?”

“Lee Hyori sonsaengnim,” Sungmin answered her inquiring look. “She’s the resident English teacher and the scariest one, in fact. She went to Japan last school year and we were all overjoyed. We thought it was permanent. Apparently, it’s not.”

“Scary… Lee?” Ji Yoo repeated. “Scary how?”

Sungmin swallowed nervously again. He had his right hand on his chest and the look of nervousness was now apparent on his face. “She’s very strict. Very and, I mean, very, very, very strict. She usually has punishments for those students who cannot answer her questions, and her questions are always very hard. Hard, that even Shim Changmin-sshi was at a loss with her questions two or three times in the past. And everyday, at least 4 students are humiliated in her class just because they couldn’t answer.”

“Scary.” Ji Yoo commented. “Wait… Rewind. Lee Hyori sonsaengnim is a female? There’s a female teacher? I thought there’s none since I remember Park sonsaengnim telling me that most here ‘hadn’t had much interaction with the female species’?”

“Aigoo.” Sungmin interjected. “Park sonsaengnim has a bad memory. There are two female teachers here: Lee Yoon Ji sonsaengnim and Lee Hyori sonsaengnim. Lee Yoon Ji sonsaengnim teaches the seniors so you don’t see much of her. And the boys here don’t go ‘crazy’ because she’s rather old. Then there’s Lee Hyori sonsaengnim.”

And as if Sungmin’s words were some kind of cue, a tall lady in a long, cream-colored pencil-styled skirt and a matching cream-colored long sleeved blouse entered the room. Silence immediately swept across the room. Lee Hyori sonsaengnim had a stern face on as she walked towards the middle of the front area. She placed her things on the table and stood there in front for about a minute.

“ She’s, she’s gorgeous.” Ji Yoo whispered in awe to Sungmin. The latter didn’t look at her but kept his face straight on Lee sonsaengnim.

“Yes, I have to agree she is.” He whispered back. “A number of students are crazy about her.”

“I can tell.” Ji Yoo answered, noticing that Hyukjae had drool rolling down the side of his face as he stared at the stunning teacher in front.

“But don’t be fooled by looks.” Sungmin said softly, glancing at Hyukjae for a split-second before returning his gaze in front. “She’s very scary, I tell you. Very, very scary.”

“It’s good to see you guys again.” Lee sonsaengnim said after a while. Even with her somewhat comforting voice, the students in front of her still looked afraid. She smiled inwardly. “Anyway, I’m Lee Hyori sonsaengnim and I’ll be your permanent teacher for English starting today and until the end of the term.”

She bowed and the students went on to bow and greet her formally. Then she continued to speak, now with a more formal tone of voice

“Even if it’s our first, official meeting for this term, I wouldn’t let you go all off easily. The substitute, Han sonsaengnim, told me that you had started on Literature, particularly literary genres and devices, just last week and I expect you to know something about that.”

She took out her list of the students’ names from her desk and started scanning. “Kim Ryeowook!” She called and the unlucky boy reluctantly stood up from his seat. It was obvious that he was shaking.

“Yes, sonsaengnim?”

“Give me one example of a literary device.”

 Ryeowook struggled to think but after a minute or two, he came up with nothing. It wasn’t entirely his fault. Han sonsaengnim, the substitute that handled their English class prior to Lee Hyori, was an old man that had a voice softer than a butterfly’s (if any species of butterflies could talk). Therefore, none of the students could have possibly absorbed anything in his class.

“Continue to stand.” Lee sonsaengnim instructed. The disappointment was obvious on her face. She looked at her list again and picked a name. “Kim Jongwoon”—the said boy slowly stood up as his name was called—“this is a lengthy narrative poem that contains mostly heroic deeds and events surrounding a certain culture or nation. One good example of this is the Iliad by Homer.”

Jongwoon frowned. He bit his lip then sighed. “I’m sorry, sonsaengnim, I don’t know the answer to that one.”

“Remain standing.” Lee sonsaengnim instructed. She took another look at the list. “Kim Ji Yoo.”

Ji Yoo’s eyes widened at the sound of her name but she stood up anyway. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, mostly due to Lee sonsaengnim’s cold and too formal tone.

“You’re the new student?” Lee Hyori-sonsaengnim inquired.

“Yes, sonsaengnim.” Ji Yoo replied.

“Then tell me, what is a paradox?”

After holding her breath for a minute, Ji Yoo finally breathed out. She expected a really hard question. Thankfully, she knew the answer to that particular question. “A paradox is one example of a literary device. It is a phrase that describes an idea made up of concepts that conflict with each other.”

For the first time, Lee sonsaengnim smiled. “Very well said. May you give us an example of that?”

“The famous line from Dicken’s novel, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’.” Ji Yoo answered confidently.

Lee sonsaengnim continued smiling. “Well done. You may sit down again.”

Ji Yoo sighed in relief as she sat down.

“Well done. You’re really smart.” Sungmin complimented in a hushed tone.

Ji Yoo just smiled at him. She looked around the classroom again and instantly met the cold eyes of Changmin. He was looking at her as if he was cursing her with a look. It only lasted for about half a second before Changmin turned his gaze back in front again, but Ji Yoo still shivered in her seat. She frowned.  

“And Changmin-sshi has another reason of wanting to kill me.” She murmured gravely.

“Don’t mind him.” Sungmin answered. “He’s pissed. His grades in Lee Hyori sonsaengnim’s class are always not as high as he wants it to be, at least not as high as the one he gets from his other classes.”

Ji Yoo could only sigh.

Lee Hyori continued to call on a few more names. Out of the 15 she called, only 3 answered her questions correctly. The first one was, of course, Ji Yoo, the second one was Changmin, and the third one was Kim Key—who only got the answer because his seatmate opened his notes and whispered the answer to him.

“Well, class.” Hyori sonsaengnim announced, unsmiling. “It looks like we still have a long way to go. Because of your performance today, I will give you all homework. List down at least 10 literary devices and give at least one sentence examples for each. Due tomorrow. Anyone who won’t turn in any homework will suffer great consequences, and don’t try to copy off of each other. I would know. Class dismissed.”

The students all stood up gravely from their seats and marched outside. Ji Yoo got her bag and was about to follow Sungmin out when the teacher called her.

“Kim Ji Yoo.” Hyori said. “Stay behind for a while.”

Ji Yoo nodded then turned to Sungmin. “You go on. I’ll just catch up with you.” He nodded and Ji Yoo stayed behind. She waited until all of the other students had gone out of the room (she earned another glare from Changmin when he passed by her) before she approached Lee Hyori.

“Sonsaengnim, you wanted to talk to me?” She inquired politely.

“Yes.” Hyori looked at her with apparent interest. She folded her arms and leaned on the desk behind her. “I just want to know how on Earth an intelligent girl like you ended up here, cross-dressing as a boy in an exclusive all-boys school.”
 

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