Chapter Three

"Very good, Min-Hyo," Naomi said in Korean when her student seated himself. "You've done well with your vocabulary, and your grammar structure is almost perfect. You just need to work on your speed." She looked across the room to a girl in the front row. "I think you and Eun-Hwan would be good study partners. You can help her with her grammar." She picked up a piece of chalk and began to write names on the board behind her desk. "For your homework, I want you to meet with your partners and practice an English conversation. Transcribe it for me, and fill out the worksheet I'll pass out at the end of class-"

"Seongsaengnim," said Jung Jae-Hwa, standing suddenly in the middle of the room. Her classmates fell silent as Naomi turned to her student looking puzzled and a little hurt. "Seongsaengnim," Jae-Hwa plowed forward, "why did T.O.P-sshi come see you last week?"

A murmur of inquiry rose from the rest of the students, and Naomi saw immediately that class had ended for the day. They wanted to know what she had been up to with Choi Seunghyun. She finished writing the partners on the chalkboard before speaking and gathered the worksheets from her desk.

"Many of you may know this, but SM and YG have been selling dates with their idols to raise money for disaster relief in Japan," she said as she walked across the rows of desks, handing out papers. She was wearing black slacks and a green blouse that whispered gently as she walked, masking the tap of her brown flats. "About two weeks ago, Park-seongsaengnim had a date with T.O.P-sshi, and I met him when he brought her back. He came last week to take me to lunch."

A whispered chatter broke out like wildfire, and she clapped her hands for silence. "We spoke of my teaching and my childhood in America. That is all." She turned back to the chalkboard and placed a stick of chalk to it.

"But he kissed you," persisted Jae-Hwa.

The chalk in Naomi's hand screeched on the board and clattered to the floor, breaking into pieces. Naomi stood frozen for a moment before feeling herself start to tremble. She walked to her desk and sat down, rubbing her temple with two fingers. A white dust was left in the black hair she touched. "Yes, he did," she said tiredly. "I don't know why. I suppose he just wanted to."

A heavy hand touched her shoulder, and she looked up at Kang Min-Hyo. He gave her an apologetic smile. "Your business is your own," he told her quietly. "We worry for you, Seongsaengnim. That's all. Many of us-" He looked up at the rest of the class, who sat watching "-have been with you since you started teaching. You are our noona, and we care for you."

"You have always been good to us," put in Lee Eun-Hwan, coming up beside her partner. "We don't feel strange coming to you for help like some teachers. We don't want T.O.P-sshi to hurt you."

Jae-Hwa was looking very uncomfortable under the disapproving stare from Min-Hyo. She was one of the lowest-ranked students in the class in English and had made no secret of her dislike for Taylor-seongsaengnim. Min-Hyo was considerably more protective than the other students; his mother had died about the same time as her father, and they had shared the grief together in a healthy way without crossing the line between student and teacher.

"He said he'd never date a fan," Jae-Hwa continued, but she spoke slowly, testing the waters. "Like, not romantically."

Naomi couldn't help the wry little smile that crossed her face. "And what evidence do you have, Jae-Hwa, to say I'm a fan? I enjoy music for its own sake, not for who performs it. I don't consider myself a VIP, ELF, Cassiopeia, or anything like that. Regardless, I'm not in a relationship with T.O.P, and there's no need to be concerned for me."

"Taylor-sshi."

Naomi looked up to see a man standing in the doorway, filling it easily. She rose to her feet quickly, brushing off both Min-Hyo and Eun-Hwan as the principal stepped inside. His face was blank and cold like carved marble, and Naomi felt a bubble of dread snake up .

"Yes, Jung-sshi?" she asked. Her voice was barely kept from shaking by the presence of her two dearest students behind her. The principal rarely made visits to classes unless there had been a complaint lodged against the teacher or in the event of an emergency.

Principal Jung looked between Min-Hyo (who was twice is height easily) and Naomi with a stony expression. "A representative from the American Embassy is here to see you. He asks you come down immediately."

Naomi felt a hollow place where her stomach should have been, and she nodded to her boss with hands shaking. "Allow me to gather my papers for the next class, and I will come down shortly," she said, surprised that her voice didn't shake.

"Would you like me to come with you, Seongsaengnim?" Min-Hyo asked softly as Naomi bundled her tests and homework into file folders to put into her messenger bag and slung it over her shoulder.

She bit her lip, studied her desktop. "If you don't mind," she said quietly and cleared when she heard how her voice wobbled. "Class," she said, "until your next teacher comes in, I want you to read the next lesson and do the worksheets at the end. We'll go over them tomorrow after I answer your questions." She scribbled a quick note for the next teacher that Min-Hyo was with her and walked back to the door.

The gray-haired representative - the Korean-American Mr. Alfred Young - sat at the head of the conference table and gave Naomi and Min-Hyo a disapproving look when they entered. He adjusted his glasses self-importantly and shuffled a small stack of papers. "Ms. Taylor," he said in English and looked at her student, "why is he here?"

"Min-Hyo is here as support," Naomi said coldly. She sat in a high-backed office chair and looked at man in the eye. "Is there a reason you've brought me out of my glasses without so much as a warning, Mr. Young?" She had met the man on the few occasions she had checked-in at the Embassy, and he had been cold as ice every time. She had no liking for him, and it seemed he had no love lost on her.

Mr. Young rifled his papers in a clear show of power. "Ms. Taylor," he said, "the letters we've sent you have gone unanswered, or we would not have this conversation now."

"I never received any letters, Mr. Young," she said with a razor-edge to her tone.

"Those letters were warnings that your teaching visa was due to expire. If you cannot renew your visa and pay the 540,000[1] won fine for late renewal by the end of this week, you will be considered to be here illegally and forcibly removed from the country."

"You have to be kidding!" Naomi burst out, standing up so suddenly, her legs struck her chair. "You didn't send me any letters, Mr. Young. You made no attempt to contact me when the letters went unanswered. And now you choose to break this news to me on the premise of my place of work, not in the Embassy in private. I will renew my visa, and I will lodge a complaint against you. I don't know what I've done to insult you, but you've done nothing but sneer at me since we met. Good day, Mr. Young." She pushed her chair back hard enough to make it strike the wall as she turned for the door.

Min-Hyo looked at the middle-aged man with contempt as his teacher passed. "Taylor-seongsaengnim," he said deliberately, "has been one of the best things to happen to this school since I became a student. The teachers respect her. Her students love her. If you take her away, we will fight to get her back. Mark my words."

Don't forget: Reviews = faster updates!