< btw, I'm a bit too curious but why are you busy after work? Is it because of the snake? ]

[ no, I'm already invited for dinner... >

< oh, I see ;-; you like this man more ]

[ how do you even know this is a man?'-' >

< now I know, that's how I get the answers to the questions I do not directly ask ]

[ wow. Such a smart boy you are. >

< I know, but anyway, I guess I'm not good enough to have you instead of him ]

[ shut up already, I'm close to him, he's a sweet man, so I'm not going to dump him for you when we only met some months ago and that on top of that, you always embarrass me in front of your friends or dad >

< tf that's not true. I'm a sweet man too and never do that, damn liar ]

[ haha:D >

< Little shit:D ]

[ see, that man would never call me that >

< bcs he's an asswipe and smooth talker for sure ]

[ no, it's called "being respectful" and knowing me more than you do >

< I know you less than he does but let me tell you that I know enough to know that you're a brat girlie ]

[ stop calling me girlie, I'm not a girl anymore >

< womanie then?:) ]

[ so funny:D >

< I know, thats why I have so many friends ]

[ no its just bcs you're outgoing and pretty, and I'm pretty sure more than half of them are fake >

< you have a point, ngl, most of them are fake, but, thanks for acknowledging my beauty<3 ]

[ I'm not scared to tell the truth, compared to you >

< well, I'm not scared to tell the truth either. You're ugly and we both know it ]

[ thanks >

< I'm joking, you're pretty:c ]

[ sure try to save it >

< I mean it! If it was true, I wouldn't joke with you about it, trust me ]

< and we're all pretty in our own way anyway, but also, my dad would kill me if I was hurting someone feelings like that, so don't take it seriously, alright? I thought I could make this type of joke with you ]

< come on! DON'T ghost me, YOU ARE PRETTY ]

I screenshot this to keep some evidence in case I need it in the future, laughing at how cutely he is attempting to make it up.

[ alright, I accept it:> >

< did you just screenshot you little shit? ]

[ yes, watch me use it in the future:) maybe a fight, an argument you wanna win idk >

< well at least you didn't screenshot last nights text so...I'm fine ]

[ what if I do and show them to your friends if one day you try to make them believe you hate me. I'll make up a story to tell them you were asking me for a blowjob >

< girl. If you do that, be ready to live your last moment on this earth, got it? I'll kill you ]

[ jokes on you, I'm not scared to die >

< then I'll embarrass you in return ]

[ you think they'll care about it after what they read lmao? >

< I'm leaving ]

[ goodbye >

I do not hold back, but now that he is gone, I realize that I have been smiling this whole time in front of my phone. I sometimes feel like my phone makes me smile more than real people, in a way.

When I thought he would not come back out of ago, he makes my phone ring again.

< my dad wants to talk to you ]

[ what? Why? >

< I'm pretty sure your heart dropped on your lap right now:> ]

[ I'm not scared to talk to your dad... >

The picture that I used for his phone number appears on my screen, and the option to accept or decline the call waits for me to react. I am not a coward, so I pick up the call.

"Hello?" Mister Jeon's voice cause my heart to skip not one beat but multiple ones in a row, and I regret what I did with my finger. I should have pressed on the red circle. "Mister Jeon?"

"Yes, it's me. How are you doing?" a smile resonates through his voice, and I bite my lips, feeling pretty jittery because of him. I did not expect Joonha to actually do this, I sound so ridiculous. "I'm doing good...How about you?"

"I'm doing good as well. What is happening? Is something going on?" he asks me, and for some reason, I move onto my spot, fidgeting on the sofa and not knowing how to remain still. "Nothing, why?"

"Joonha told me you wanted to talk to me, so I thought something was wrong," he explains to me, and I understand where these questions came from. "Oh, I see...Well, I...I mean I like talking to you, but he just did that to annoy me because he knows how nervous I get when..." I have a hard time admitting that he is the cause of my state, feeling stupid. "When?" he asks for the rest of the sentence, sounding amused as if he knew what he is doing to me. "When I talk to you..."

"Ugh, that's why," a deep sound goes out of his mouth to cover my skin with shivers, and I gulp down. "Yeah. That's why," I repeat, having no other words to say but not wanting to make it even more awkward than it already is. "Alright then, I'm gonna pass him the phone if I'm making you nervous."

"No need to. You can hang up, Mister Jeon," I tell him to do, disappointed by how short this was but not knowing what we could talk about. "Oh, alright then. Have a good da— Oh wait, I wanted to ask for tomorrow, I know that he told me you'll come for dinner but that you were nervous to be with me only in the car, is that true?"

I hate this guy. He cannot keep anything to himself.

"No...I was just...I didn't want to make you do that when you have a lot of work and must want to just go home and chill," I tell some lies but also give some truth, and a humming sound fills my ear once more. "Don't worry about that. I pass near your house whenever I go back home, so that won't bother me at all."

"Oh, okay then. That's all that mattered to me," I smile, loving this first call with him. "Perfect. I'll leave you alone now, I have to leave and go to work, so have a good day, and see you tomorrow."

"See you, and have a good day as well," I wait for him to hang up, hearing the call still continue for a few seconds, and he puts an end to it. I get my hand down to my lap to put my eyes on the screen, but now that I cannot hear his voice anymore, the beating of my heart catches all my attention, and I realize how hard and fast it is.

Something is wrong with me.

< he laughed at you lmaoo ]

I nibble on my inner cheek at the sight of this text, feeling like a dumbass he loves to make fun of.

[ what?! >

He calls me again, but after what happened, I think twice before picking it up. Mister Jeon said he had to leave, so this cannot be him again, right?

I heave a sigh but accept the call and wait for the person to speak. "Are you there?" he chuckles, and the tension in my body disappears. "Is it fun to mock me, you jerk?"

He cracks up, his contagious laughter making it hard not to let my body react the same way. "It's not mocking, it's teasing, so that's different."

"What the hell did he say?" I go back to this, willing to know what Mister Jeon told him about me. "He laughed when you hung up and said that you were stuttering a lot, but then he said that it was cute so don't be offended, okay?"

"He said it was cute?" I only focus on that, but he scoffs. "I knew you'd love this detail, but yeah, he said that was cute, so don't cry in your bed tonight because Mister Jeon laughed at you, alright?"

"Go to hell, Joonha," I pronounce his name to make it even more evident I hate his remarks, but he does not care at all. "I didn't plan on going to heaven anyway."

"Good..." I do not argue but leave some silence, and he yawns. "Yep, but whatever, I gotta go too, so see you tomorrow, little brat."

"See you, little dick," I hurry to hang up on him to not hear him, but not even one second later, he calls again. I giggle but pick up for the hundredth time today.

"Repeat what you just said," he orders me to do, not swallowing the bitterness I caused him. "What? What did I say?"

"Oh, you're playing to this game, uh?" he fakes a laugh, sounding more than sarcastic. "Yes, I am."

"Alright, see you, you're gonna regret that," he takes revenge by hanging up on me, but I do not send any text. I hope he will not say anything to his father. This is the worst he could do.

•••

10:10 am.

'JUNGKOOK'S P.O.V'

The first course of the day now over, I put all my stuff back in my bag while the students are leaving the room but keep my eyes on Hyunae to make sure she does not go out. I leave my book on the desk since I need it, and I wait for Hyunae to walk closer to the door to stop her. "Stay here for a few minutes, please," I tell her in a quiet voice, and she speaks to her friend but steps towards me.

I say goodbye to the last student once they are leaving, and I close the door, knowing Hyunae's friend is waiting for her in the hallways, and I move back to my desk, where my student is.

"What is wrong, Mister Jeon?" she pretends to not know the reason for me to have asked her to stay, so I open my book and get the drawing, which she made a few days ago, and I unfold it to put it down. I drop my book next to it, grip the back of my chair that is before me, and set my eyes on her. "Can you tell me what this is, Hyunae?"

In only the blink of an eye, her face turns red and gets covered with shame, knowing how wrong what she did is. "I apologize, Mister Jeon...I don't know what went through my head when I drew this..."

"You know why you did this, Hyunae. You cannot draw such a thing without willing to. You knew what it would look like, you knew what you were drawing, so you consciously did it. Do not lie to me," I correct her false apology that she probably does not even mean, my eyes remaining on her but never having hers on me. She is not even owning up to it.

"Your drawing skills are incredible, I know how good of an artist you are, and there is nothing wrong with drawing naked bodies, but my face should never have been on it," I point my finger on it, never taking my eyes off of her. "And I'm not scolding you just because this is me, I would have thought the same if it was any of my co-workers or a classmate who did not give you their consent. Would you want a young boy to do the same thing to you? Draw you in such a suggestive position and show it to one of his friends? Wouldn't you be upset and uncomfortable as well?"

"I would, Mister Jeon..." she does not move, keeping her hands behind her back, her head down, and remaining silent in front of me. I heave a sigh and straighten my back, hating what I am doing but knowing I cannot avoid this as if nothing happened.

"Look at me, Hyunae," I cross my arms, trying my best to not be too harsh but authoritative enough. She raises her chin up but reveals some glisten in her eyes. "You know how wrong this is, don't you?"

"I do, Mister Jeon," she answers in a trembling voice, striking a chord with me. I will not give in to her only because she is crying, she knew she should not do that, so she has to face the consequences for not respecting me. "Do not do that again then. I know that you must think that it is just a drawing so that's not a big deal because you didn't do anything to me, but I do not want to see myself pictured that way by an eighteen years old girl when I did not give her the permission. And I know what you have in your head at your age, so I know the reason why you wanted to draw that, but the problem is when you don't keep it in your head. So I'm not even mad about what you wrote, you can think about whatever you want, you can dream about whatever you want, I do not care, but you cannot do whatever you want with someone, let alone show it to other people," I do not ignore the truth, aware of what teenagers have in their minds and showing her that she is not disgusting for having them.

"I won't do it again, Mister Jeon. I promise," she wipes her tears away, making me feel like I am the bad guy. I do not tell her anything anymore to leave her alone but bend over and grab an eraser. I use it on the drawing and erase the face. "I know how long and how much a drawing like that requires, so I'm not ripping it off," I take it in my hand. "But I want you to never do this and remember that your fantasies have to stay in your head. Respect the others and what they are comfortable or uncomfortable with," I hand her the drawing, and she grabs it, kindly. "Thank you, Mister Jeon. I promise you that I will never do this again but remember what you told me. I apologize again for making you uncomfortable."

"I hope so," I do not put all my trust into her, feeling like she will forget this in a few days and do it again. "You can leave now."

"Thank you, Mister Jeon," she bows to me. "I apologize for disappointing you. I'll be a better person," she holds the drawing with both hands, and I let her leave the classroom. This is only the beginning of the day, but I already have to deal with such problems.

I try to stop thinking about this and walk out of the room with my bag, lock the door, and head downstairs to join my co-workers in the teachers' room. I enter it after someone passed by the door but see Harin occupying a corner of the table that I usually sit at. I run my fingers through my hair to pull it back and sit down next to her. "Hey," she greets me as if she noticed it was me before even looking, and I respond with the same.

"How are you?" she closes her notebook to focus her attention on me, and I put my stuff down. "Good, how about you?"

"Good too. Have you talked about the drawing to Hyunae yet?" her curiosity makes her ask for details about this, and I tell her about it. "I did. It's solved."

"Great, I hope this won't happen again," she softens her voice, and I agree with her. "I hope so too."

"Anyway," she brings her arms on the notebook to lean forth, and I take the pile of tests that I have to correct. "Are you free today? Y/n will be with her boss today, so we could eat at my house together."

"Y/n will be at her boss' house?" I only remember this part of the sentence, thinking about this morning's conversation I had with her. "Yes. Apparently, she's very close to him. I already stumbled upon her hanging out with him and all," she reveals more than I asked, and I cannot hide my surprise.

Hanging out and spending time with a boss shows more than simply being close to them.

"Oh, I guess that's a good thing," I grab my red pen to get to work. "Yeah..." she looks at what I am doing, not working on anything. "So, about dinner? Are you free today?"

"Yes, sure, but I can't leave Joonha alone, so I'll come with him," I accept the invitation, and a broad smile grows on her face. "Of course! I just know that he's young, so I wasn't sure whether he would be with his friends or not."

"Oh, no. He usually dines with me. I can't recall last time he was at a friend's house for dinner or something else," I let her know so that she does not forget to include him. "Ah, alright then."

I do not say anything more but correct the tests I have in front of me, not letting her stare disturb me but getting in my own bubble to do my work more efficiently.

•••

6:30 pm.

I step inside to finally come home after a long day, and I quickly close the door behind me once I see Choco run towards me. I take my shoes and jacket off and leave them where they have to be, but Joonha stands up from the sofa.

"Are you ready to go?" I ask him, heading towards the kitchen to get some water before leaving again to go to Harin's house. "No, but I have to, so yes," he texts someone, complaining about the fact that he has to see the woman he dislikes.

I grab hold of a glass and fill it with some water. "Did you know that y/n is actually busy because she's with her boss?" I ask him, curious to know if she told him about it. "Uh? No. She just told me someone had invited her for dinner already, and I knew it was a man, but not her boss."

"Oh, it's Harin who told me," I drink everything in one shot to be fast and move back to the front door, where he is waiting. "What if y/n didn't want us to know?" he thinks the same as I did when I heard the news, but I shrug. "Well. Just don't talk about it with her. I believe that if she told me, she knew that y/n would be okay with it."

"Oh no, you're totally wrong on that, dad," he chuckles as I put my shoes back on. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't care about what y/n wants or doesn't. Trust me."

I do not contradict him, not certain about the truth. "Yeah," I do not give another answer so that it does not sound like I am opining myself, and I open the door to let him out first, but he says goodbye to Choco before stepping out, and I then follow him, and lock the door.

I unlock the car that I did not park in the garage, and he goes in before I join him. I put my seatbelt on but notice that he is typing on his phone and smiling as if he was talking to a girlfriend. "Who is it?" I cannot hold back from trying to know, but he raises his head up and peeks at me.