Chapter Text
I.
Haewon walks into the faculty office at 7.30 a.m. on Wednesday to find a single rose on her desk. It lies carelessly, like a brick thrown through a window. She picks up the note attached to it.
It reads,
"Dear Ms Oh,
Happy Wednesday! Your beauty commands the reddest rose pale in comparison, but I thought you might like a little colour that isn't you in the office :)
Love, Bae
Your Secret Admirer"
Haewon squints at the scratched-out name: Bae, the PE teacher.
Was Bae Jinsol going for discreet or is she just flat-out confessing? If the former, she had failed utterly. For a moment, Haewon worries about Ms Bae's students.
Then again, their little school in the suburbs that sees fewer enrolments each year wouldn’t have the highest standard of education.
She sighs and places the rose upright in her pen holder. It does look nice, and she would be lying if she said she didn’t like it, but painting Bae Jinsol loves Oh Haewon on the school building in bright red would at least stave off unnecessary questions from her colleagues, or worse, her students.
The sound of the door rattling open startles her, signalling that it’s about time for the other teachers to come in. She had spent too long thinking about Bae Jinsol. In a hurried attempt to hide the flower, Haewon knocks it over.
"Bro, can you believe it's only Wednesday? I feel like 3 weeks have passed, not 3 days.”
Nevermind. That familiar mellow voice could only belong to one Seol Yoona.
Yoona was (still is) a good friend she met in university, two fresh-faced girls with similar dreams. So it was pleasant to see her get assigned to Incheon last year. Of course,after they joined hands and squealed like schoolgirls, they both took the time to lament the condition of the slightly run-down school and complain about the principal’s power-tripping tendencies. Anyway, it’s nice to have someone else to rely on.
“Mornin’,” Haewon greets, bending to pick the flower up.
Yoona pauses when she rounds the corner, spotting the flower in Haewon’s hands. The slight quirk of her eyebrows indicates curiosity. “Oh~ what’s that? Happy Valentine’s Day to you.”
Valentine’s? Haewon quickly checks the date on her phone. She is mortified to see that it's the 14th.Jinsol couldn’t be any more obvious.
"Thanks. It's you-know-who,"Haewon answers wearily.
Yoona boots up her school PC, which makes a loud whirring sound. "Honestly, I’d be more surprised if it wasn't her. Did you guys finally get together?"
Used to the teasing, Haewon rolls her eyes. "Please, Ms Seol. It just appeared on my desk in the morning. She didn't even place it straight," she says, pinching her nose in frustration.
"MMhmm, ‘cause she placed it gay,"Yoona giggles. "I thought you were just showing off,” she continues playfully. “Like a ‘Look everyone, my roommate-slash-lover got me a rose for Valentine’s. Jealous?’ kind of situation."
Haewon scoffs at Yoona. Her mouth opens and closes like a dead fish, struggling to find the words to clap back (which rarely happens because she spends half her free time navigating through the quote retweets on Twitter).
Yoona sticks her tongue out in victory. At a loss for words, Haewon starts fake-punching Yoona through the low desk divider.
“Good morning!” God, it just gets worse. Haewon doesn’t miss the quirk of Yoona’s brows as she starts typing away on her damn phone.
“They’re serving tonkatsu for lunch today,” Jinsol says, coming over to their desks. Haewon can’t believe it—Jinsol is acting as if her sh*tty ballpoint scratch-out covered her whole name.
She raises her head to smile at Jinsol (compared to Haewon who sits at a comfortable 163cm, Jinsol is a towering figure). “You left early,” she remarks bluntly.
Jinsol hesitates, her eyes darting to the rose that had moved. “Sorry, I had something to do,” she places her hands on the backrest of Haewon’s chair and puts her weight on it, making Haewon lean back. “Why, did our Haewon-ie miss me? Can’t spend a minute away from Jinsol? Oh, my sweet-”
“I’m not driving you anymore.”
“NOOOO, I DIDN’T MEAN IT!” she starts shaking the chair roughly. “Haewon, please? I can’t walk 40 minutes to school. You’re gonna kill me and then nobody’s gonna make breakfast. You’ll burn the place down-”
Haewon overcomes the Jinsol-induced earthquake through sheer annoyance and forcibly covers her mouth to muffle her pleas. “If you return to your desk now, I might not accidentally get in the car and leave. Without you.”
She carefully removes her hand when Jinsol nods eagerly.
“I knew I could count on you! Love ya!” Jinsol blows her a kiss (which she actively dodges) before finally heading to her desk.
Haewon’s phone buzzes.
yoonie 🔒
@swithyoon
hello??? not a peep about that big ass flower in front of her…
and not her LYING when she ran a whole marathon on saturday? can’t walk 40 minutes or can’t spend 10 minutes away from O* H*****🙄 brb gonna kms :)))
7:46 AM ⋅ Feb 14
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5🔆1🔒
@jokebear03
have a safe trip!!! do you want me to burn your photocards so you can enjoy them in hell?
7:47 AM ⋅ Feb 14
Haewon catches Kyujin and Jiwoo dozing off during second-period Math—her class.
Now, asking a teacher their favourite students would be like asking a parent to name their favourite child. However, Haewon thinks it's human nature to like some people more than others. In this case, Kyujin and Jiwoo are her favourites.
While not exactly well-behaved, their cheerful demeanours and occasional over-the-top jokes bring the class together, creating a conducive environment for studying.
Also, Jiwoo sells snacks on the down-low out of her locker and Haewon is a frequent customer. While she can overlook that dodgy business (or “entrepreneurial endeavour” as Kyujin defends), she still has a job to do.
"Why are you guys so tired?" Haewon pauses while writing an integral equation, calling them out. "Focus, please."
Immediately, several nosy heads turn to look at them. Kyujin, in a half-asleep state, slips and knocks her head against Jiwoo’s with a conk.
"Ow!” Jiwoo exclaims. She lightly elbows Kyujin in retaliation—who elbows her back and hurriedly speaks to her in a hushed voice.
Jiwoo senses the tense atmosphere and catches on. “Sorry, Ms Oh," she smiles sheepishly and quickly slips out her math textbook from under the desk.
"We’re so sorry, Ms Oh. PE was exhausting," Kyujin explains, her eyes shimmering with guilt.
Bae Jinsol.
She seems to be a teacher whose reputation precedes her name. Even the middle school kids next door, separated by a simple chain link fence, whisper among themselves about how their futures look bleak when they see their seniors doing drills for PE.
Haewon sighs, dropping her hand from the whiteboard. "How many laps did Ms Bae make you guys run?"
"Eight," the class collectively groans.
“And drills after!” one student adds indignantly.
That sounds more like a punishment, or a threat some teachers in the 90s would use to scare their students. Bae Jinsol’s draconian lesson plan is probably illegal in Seoul, where parents love to micromanage every aspect of their children's education and complain if the teachers push them too much.
In the middle of Nowhere, Incheon (where extracurricular classes are actually optional), teachers are much more… respected.
Which Haewon does not feel. Not by a certain PE teacher.
"Didn’t I tell her not to do that before Math?" she mutters, feeling a bubbling urge to abandon class to smack Ms Bae.
She couldn't care less if Jinsol made the students do a pacer test or a whole-ass NBA draft before other classes (especially Yoona’s—History is sleep-inducing anyway) but Math is important! What if one of the kids is an aspiring investment banker who can't achieve their dreams because of PE?
"Ms Bae's lessons are way too tiring," Kyujin complains to no one in particular.
"Sorry, Ms Oh,” Jiwoo says, shrinking into her chair. “We swear it won’t happen again!"
Nodding in sympathy, Haewon feels a frown forming. "I'll see what I can do about it," she announces as her students cheer. "Anyways, back to integration. The CSATs are brutal with these…"
Haewon spots Jinsol queueing for tonkatsu, cheerfully chatting with the students beside her. She pictures her fitting right in if she was in uniform instead of her bright red tracksuit.
“Ms Bae?” Haewon calls politely. “Could I have a word with you?”
“Ah! Hae- Ms Oh,” Jinsol composes herself. “Of course! How about after lunch?” she suggests as the line moves forward.
Haewon sighs. To be fair, the energy that PE teachers use to jump about all day comes from food—and Jinsol particularly loves fried stuff.
She concedes. No big deal, they see each other all the time anyway.
"Of course. Enjoy your lunch, Ms Bae." As she’s about to leave, Jinsol grabs her arm, causing Haewon to turn around instinctively. Jinsol simply grins.
“Let’s eat together,” she says, a pink dusting her cheeks. This woman cannot be serious.
Haewon smiles awkwardly and looks at the long line of students behind her. “I would, but-”
“Oh, the students?” Jinsol senses. She turns around and beams at them. “Do you guys mind letting Ms Oh cut? I’d really appreciate it.”
The girls giggle bashfully and step back to leave a space. She had forgotten how handsome this housemate of hers was, having lived with her for quite some time now. In an all-girls school, she’s practically a prince.
“There,” Jinsol grins, holding out a tray for Haewon.She accepts Jinsol’s offer and ends up eating lunch at the cafeteria, with two hundred pairs of curious eyes glancing at them.
If not for this impromptu situation, she would be watching the newest idol videos holed up in the teachers’ pantry—remote enough to escape bothersome colleagues and students. No, for real. Why do students always come up to her to ask so many unrelated questions?
First of all, even if she knows how to dress up for a first date, it depends on the location and vibe you're looking to give off. Are you going for cool? Fresh? Is it an amusem*nt park date? A library date? Search that up on Pinterest. (Also, that is an inappropriate question to ask a teacher. Please ask your friends about it instead.)
No, she does not have a lover. And no, she will not entertain any questions about Ms Seol.
After the first two batches of students opened an involuntary 'Oh Counselling Centre' during lunch, she started avoiding the cafeteria like the plague.
“This is so good, I could eat it every day,” Jinsol moans, stuffing her mouth with tonkatsu.
“If you like that so much, there’s a place by Songdo you’ll love,” Haewon shares, naturally reaching over to pick a grain of rice off Jinsol's face.
Jinsol perks up like a golden retriever, her eyes sparkling with expectation.
“We’ll go together next time,” she suggests coolly, though the corners of her lips can’t help but lift.
“About-”
“Anyway-”
Jinsol swallows and clears her throat. “Sorry, what did you want to say?”
“Right,” Haewon points her spoon at Jinsol accusingly. “Didn’t I tell you to stop giving my students such a hard time? They can’t be coming to class tired as hell from your unreasonable drills, Ms Bae. Are you going to take responsibility for their poor grades?”
“Excuse me?"Jinsol scoffs. She slams her spoon down. “They only have PE twice a week! If I don’t get them moving, they’ll only learn how to be unhealthy nerds. Are you going to take responsibility for their medical bills?”
Seol Yoona, who had just started her break time and gone to the cafeteria for tonkatsu, could hear their petty argument as she approached the table. She turns around and decides to sit far away from them.
yoonie 🔒
@swithyoon
someone stop me before i end up in jail for double homicide LOL🤪
12:34 PM ⋅ Feb 14
|
my princess bae🔒
@sportygirl_bae
WHAT HAPPENED?? ARE U OK
1:02 PM ⋅ Feb 14
"Oh, my Haewon!" Jinsol raps on the car window to grab the attention of the driver. She peeks in and smiles.
"What are you doing?" After 3 consecutive classes, Haewon doesn't have the energy to play along. "Get on."
Jinsol opens the door dramatically. "Thank you for the ride today as well, my benefactor and B.R.F., that's Best Roommate Forever, Math genius of Passionfruit High, Ms Oh Haewon."
“First of all, we’re not roommates. We’re housemates, get that right. Secondly, you’re welcome,” Haewon checks that Jinsol has her seatbelt on before she starts backing out.
“Right, B.H.F.” Jinsol corrects herself. “Speaking of BHC, should we get fried chicken for dinner?”
“Hey!”
“Is that a no?” she already has the delivery app open. “Figures, we already had tonkatsu for lunch.”
“That’s a yes, Jinsol. I’ve been craving chicken since last week,” Haewon salivates at the thought of piping hot juicy fried chicken. “Also, we’ve stayed together for two years and you don’t know how to differentiate between a ‘yes’ hey and a ‘no’ hey?”
“Hey~”
“And that’s a ‘no’ hey.”
“Nope!” Jinsol calls out proudly. “That’s a ‘maybe’ hey. We’re even.”
Haewon rolls her eyes. “We’re not even. I can tell what you’re thinking nine times out of ten.”
“So can I! How else would I know you wanted chicken?” Jinsol quips. “All your thoughts radiate out of your head into mine. Or is it permeate?”
“I’m so glad you don’t teach science,” Haewon mutters under her breath.
“I can hear you. I’ve placed first in school before, okay?”
“And yet here we are, in the same place,” Haewon retorts, unimpressed. “Also, your school had a hundred students. Doesn’t count.”
“It totally does! If I studied my ass off back then, I’d be a professor,” Jinsol huffs.
“But you didn’t. Why’s that?” Haewon prompts. They’ve had this conversation at least three times, and each time her dream job changes. First, it was a basketball player because she was the "ace" back in high school, then it was a Zumba instructor because she swears she has the talent for it... it'd take a while to list all her potential careers.
“Because I played too hard,” Jinsol sulks.
“That’s right. We all play a bit too hard. Sometimes some things just aren’t meant to be, Jinsol. Aren’t you happy being a PE teacher? What would you even do as a professor? Hoard chalk?”
“Ugh, that sounds boring.”
“Let’s just eat chicken and drink beer. Our ordinary lives are fun if we make it fun.”
“Hey!” Jinsol exclaims in awe as if Haewon just revealed she ghostwrote Shakespeare's plays. “You have to teach Philosophy at this rate! Oh Haewon, 2024: 'Our ordinary lives-”
"Are you ordering that chicken or not?"
my princess bae🔒
@sportygirl_bae
[chicken.jpg]
chicken with the bestie~ @jokebear03
7:32 PM ⋅ Feb 14
